got to talk to my momma!!!

Ola,

So I got to talk to my family for Mother's Day. Was wonderful to hear their voices and know that they're all doing great. And Grandpa's got a table reserved at the new Applebee's in town for the next 15 months until I get home!

The work is going along. We were so wonderfully blessed yesterday when some members in the ward decided to extend a helping hand. They bought a box full of necessary foods for the family we are teaching with 10 children, and drove us out there to deliver it! It was so kind of them, and I can't help but feel so blessed for the members that are so interested in our work!

We are still teaching Otaviano, and we are pushing his baptismal interview back, as he's had some complications with keeping the word of wisdom. We have some wonderful new investigators that we are working with, but they have some big changes to make in order to be ready for baptism (i.e. stop stealing electricity and water from the city!) For most of my life I never really thoguht about the gospel from an outsiders perspective. Being raised in the church it´s been my "culture". But now having investigators that we are "responsible" for, I´m always thinking about how we can better teach the gospel in order that they understand. Also, never before have I been so aware of everything going on in a ward.

My companion gets so nervous every Sunday with what the teachers say and how members treat their callings and resposibilities! Its come to my attention how crucial the members are for the success of an investigator/recent convert. Without the appropriate and consistent support and teaching from the members, an invesitgator/recent convert will become lost. The church is the doctrines of Jesus Christ, but wihtout members following the commandments and fulfilling their callings with real intent, the church is simply a building with people in it (D&C 88:77-78).

I loved the March Ensign- so full of powerful talks and testimonies of Christ. There is a great talk from our new Apostle, L. Todd Christopherson that talks about how we can be witnesses of Christ. I love the scripture 3 Nephi 18:24. Our light is Christ, and we too can share in HIs light by keeping His commandments and following his example by striving to have his attributes. WE are witnesses of Christ each and everyday when we do the things he would have us do! I forgot to bring wonderful scriptures and excerpts from "Jesus the Christ" to share, so instead I will tell a story that a young man in our ward shared during Fast and Testimony meeting last week.
There was a farmer who had a horse, and he would feed the horse occassionaly and take care of it. One day he went out to the barn and the horse was dead. So he went to town to the auction to find a new horse. At the auction he found an exceptional horse, but it was already sold. The farmer asked the owner if he could buy the horse for double what he sold it for. The owner agreed, but said "This is a very special horse". To make the horse walk you must shout "Stop" and to make the horse run to must shout "Hallelujah!" and to make the horse stop you must shout "Ainda Bem !" (Fortunately)So the farmer bought the horse and started to leave the auction when some assaultants came up to the man and started to beat on him. He got onto the horse and yelled at the men "Stop" and the horse started to walk. He remembered that the horse was special just then and so shouted "Ainda Bem" and the horse started to run. The assaultants chased after the man, and as he approached a cliff he yelled "Ainda Bem". The horse stopped just short of nearly falling off the cliff. The man was so suprised at his miraculous escape he shouted "Hallelujah" and the horse jumped off the cliff to both of their deaths.
The moral of the story is that your work is never down in the gospel. Sometimes we get close to the edge, the edge of temptation, the edge of sin, and then we think we're just fine and comfortable enough to shout our praises for having not fallen. But what we didnt realize is that we're already too close, and we fall into temptation. I think that's how the story goes, at least that's how I translated what he said. Pretty clever for a 12 year old kid though, I thought!

Love you all, have a great week!
Sister Tittelfitz