It was, as always, another wonderful week!
Elder Yamane is absolutely incredible. He
is one of the many great companions I have had that knows the scriptures better
than I do and I am always so, so grateful when I am blessed with a companion
who is filled with a wealth of knowledge and recollection of the scriptures
because I learn so much from them about the scriptures and the doctrine found
within them-that has been one of the many ways I have loved learning from and
with such a spiritual giant, Elder Yamane.
We met so many incredible people this week
and had some truly remarkable and spiritual conversations and experiences with
them. A few, among the many, were Del, Shelly, Shandon, Ryan, Rebekah, Linda,
Buster, Meghan, Katelyn, Mark, and a number of people who's names I have no
idea how to spell because they were from Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, India and
one or two more that I can't remember...:)
Elder Yamane and I found great success in
our area this week in finding a few more investigators who want to learn and
progress, Travis, Mark, Shikuna and Jabon and having a number of
spiritual and impactful experiences with others. I love my Father and His Son.
I love teaching. I love serving. I love learning.-In summation, I absolutely
love the gospel and the work of sharing it!
We met Shikuna a few weeks ago when we were
out biking from one appointment to another and offered him a Book of Mormon,
sharing with him how it has changed and influenced or lives and how much it
meant to us and he started reading it as he walked away but when we went back
to see him for our scheduled appointment he wasn't there. This week we were in
the neighborhood and thought we would just try stopping by and he answered and
asked his uncle if we could come in and let us in. His family recently moved
here from Ethiopia so his parents and uncle understand but don't speak English.
He and his three siblings all speak English really well, however! We learned
that he had never been taught how to pray and didn't know how to pray but how
he frequently asked his friend to pray for him. We then taught him how to pray
and related prayer to each aspect of the restoration. It was such a precious
experience watching his expressions of joy and excitement overcome him at
different times throughout our conversation as we could almost tangibly feel
the Spirit in the room touching Shikuna and teaching him about how he was like
the Prophet Joseph Smith and how he too could pray. We were able to sit
together as he prayed for the first time and it was such a tender moment. After
he prayed and we were about to leave, his uncle, who had been sitting through
the entire lesson, thanked us in his native language for teaching Shikuna about
God and how to pray and was so grateful and sincere, Shikuna translated for us.
He and his brother, Jabon, both came to church with us yesterday and had a
magnificent experience. They loved it so much and when we asked Shikuna what he
had learned he simply said in his humble and sincere accented English, "I
learned that I need to be baptized to go to heaven." We had never
mentioned or talked about baptism with him but the Spirit is the real teacher
and we promised him we would talk about it more when we come to visit with him
again on Tuesday.
Keep the faith my dear family and friends,
Elder Ricks
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