Ok... so I have to tell yal the best story ever!!
I can´t remember if I already told you about Raul, but... let´s just say... I am SOO happy!! The first time we met Raul he accepted a Book of Mormon from us, but basically said "Alright I´ll take it, but I hope you know I´m going to have a LOT of hard questions that no one has ever been able to answer, including all my previous pastors"... so... we were a little worried since bible bashing is not our idea of fun, but agreed and said we´d be happy to answer all his questions. And, sure enough... the next time we came he had some pretty tough questions. Funny thing is, though, that the answers were ALL in the Book of Mormon, and ended up being pretty easy to answer. Nonetheless, he was really hard-headed for the first few weeks we met with him.
After a while, though, Raul started to realize that every single thing we taught him was what he had always thought was the truth before, and that the Book of Mormon really was written by prophets who were called of God. We would ALWAYS ask him to pray specifically about it to get an answer, but he always just brushed it aside and said he knew it was a book from God. FINALLY, one day we asked him AGAIN, and he rolled his eyes and said " yeees, chicas.... i did it.... and you were right" and told us all about the experience he had :) We were so happy! The charlas just kept getting better and better from there. Also, he came to church every week, and in 2 weeks read the WHOLE book of mormon, the whole Principles of the Gospel book (i havent even read all that!), and asked us for a triple so he could read more! It was AMAZING!! Usually you have to hastle people to come to church!
Anyways, the date we had scheduled for his baptism came and he still wasn´t prepared because he needed to quit smoking and also just be more sure of it. He´s smoked a full pack every single day for 38 years, so quiting was going to be hard. BUT.... this man is amazing! When he puts his mind to something, he´ll do it!
Anyways... long story short(er), he quit smoking in a week, and set his own baptismal date because he wanted to do it! Funny thing too... he´s a PE teacher, and hasn´t worn anything but sweats and tshits in 25 years.... not even to a wedding or ANYTHING! One day we talked about this and why we dress nicely for church, and the night before his baptism he surprised us when he said "I have something to show you" and brought out black dress pants, a nice button up shirt, and a brand new tie!! He had bought it all for church! We were so excited.
So... Saturday he got baptised!!! It was so special. We´ve had baptisms before, but I was so happy this day, just because I knew the HUUUUGE change Raul had made in his life, and the person he has become. The entire service he couldn´t stop smiling, and when he came out of the water he had the BIGGEST grin and a big thumbs up!
Anyways, that´s my story for the week. I wish I could tell you even more, but it would take HOURS!! I am so grateful that I had the priveledge of meeting Raul and being able to share the gospel with him. The gospel really does change lives. I know this is the work of the Lord, and that we are all a part of it. I love my Heavenly Father, and I hope to be the best person I can be so that I can please him.
I love you! Be good, smile lots!
xo, Hermana Churchill
PICTURES!! YAY!!
1. Raul always calls me... in english.... "Sister SMiles" and always teases me for smiling so much. Every time we come to his house he always has a bag of cookies or alfajores waiting for us, and this week he was so excited because he found these cookies for me (sonrisas = smiles)
2. The mission leader filled up the font and there was a whole bunch of dust and stuff, so we had to try to clean it out SUPER quick before the service started!! (Hermana Turley and Vanina just said i was looking for an excuse to go swiming... :)
3. RAUL´S BAPTISM!! :) Hermana Asay (President´s wife) even got to sneak out of a stake conference to come!
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