I know that you were all holding your breath, wondering what would come to us these changes, but to my everlasting happiness I get to stay with Elder Gila for another six weeks! And you know what we're gonna do? We're gonna BAPTIZE! I really love this guy; he's my favorite companion. We are really helping each other be the best that we can be and the Lord is seriously blessing us. We have been teaching this guy named Fabricio (aren't Latino names the best?) for a while and he is finally understanding the role and the importance of the Book of Mormon, which is the keystone of our religion. Elder Gila and I have learned that the best way to teach is through testimony and not through knowledge, through love and not through selfish desire. It is amazing to see the change in people's faces as the Spirit begins a process of enlightenment and they begin to understand their purpose and potential. I am so blessed to see this with Fabricio. He is coming along well; he is about thrity-five years old and he and his thirty-year-old sister live with and take care of their mother, who, in her late sixties, is coming under some mental disease where she hears things like voices and stuff. They tell me that it can get pretty hectic. Nonetheless, Fabricio's sister Viviana and his mother Elisabeth are both less active members and we're trying to help them all come to church and partake in the sweetness of the fruit of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
One miracle we saw this week was simple and powerful. We all know that knocking doors isn't very effective, but if we don't have anything else to do, then we have no choice. As we walk along the streets of Florida, it's amazing to see the Spirit work through us as we feel the impressions to go to a house that we see and find out that the person or people that live there really need to hear from us. (Even if they don't accept us.) Such a miracle happened this past Wednesday when we knocked the door of a lady named Teresa, who had recently lost her son, who was a father and a husband, to a terminal disease. This is why I know that our church is true: because the moment that she opened her door, she said that she was busy and that she didn't have time, that she didn't want to talk to us. All we said next was that we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many times we just say "we're missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ" or "we're representatives of Jesus Christ," but in this specific moment, Elder Gila named the title of the true church of God. And even when we do something as small as that, the Spirit testifies to others of truth. Call the name long, if you will, but behind it there is the power of God, which is eternal. After that, she stopped for a second and literally said "I think I need this." She then explained her situation and her loss. And after testifying of the Plan of Salvation, she began to feel peace. This peace comes from truth; it is a peace that is long-lasting. It endures through trial because it is accompanied with hope and faith. Anybody who has the ability to go on a mission and decides not to is making a huge mistake, because moments like these really fortify me for the rest of my life. These were just a few of the miracles we saw this week. Not even a hundredth part of what we actually saw could even be written. I love this work. I must now go and serve the beloved children of God.
LOVE,
Elder Plautz
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