And now the story of Martha. She was so ready and we were so excited to meet with her to share the last two commandments and go over the baptismal interview questions to help prepare her. We went to see her on Tuesday like we had planned and to our dismay she wasn`t there. Her son-in-law told us that she had moved to live with her son in another area. We were devastated. We knew that there were problems in her family and we were sad that maybe things had just gotten too bad. We decided to pass by again on Wednesday to see if anything had changed. No. She still wasn`t there. So we left our number with her family and hoped that we would hear from her. Nothing. On Friday we started a fast in the afternoon as a district. I felt like we should pass by her house one more time as we still hadn`t heard anything. We went and there she was! She had been ill and had had to stay at her son`s home for a few days. We were a bit concerned that maybe she had forgotten about her baptism for that Saturday, but we asked when we could come to teach her again and she said that it had to be before Saturday because Saturday was her baptism. We were so happy and as we were walking away I stopped my companions and we said a prayer of thanks right there in the sidewalk. She was baptized on Saturday and I know that she felt something special.
The Lord answers our prayers. Big or small they are answered. Sometimes they are answered in ways you don`t expect, sometimes they are instant, and sometimes they take a while to be answered, but they are answered.
Sunday we had Stake Conference. It was a broadcast for all of Peru so that was cool. Did you know that Richard G. Scott spoke Spanish?! I didn`t. Elder Bednar used a translator. That`s cool too I guess haha. President Bednar spoke about repentance and it was really good. He talked about how it`s a sincere desire one has to change. He recounted a story of how a man who had had a difficult time in paying tithing and hadn`t paid tithing in a long time one day went to his Bishop with an envelope with his tithing and said that he wanted to have an interview to receive his temple recommend to be able to attend his daughter`s wedding. The Bishop said thank you for paying your tithing and that he could come back another day and they could talk about the need of worthiness to receive his temple recommend. That just because he had paid his tithing didn`t mean that he was worthy or ready to enter the temple. The man was furious and called his Stake President, President Bednar, saying that the Bishop was in error and that he needed a temple recommend. President Bednar explained that the Bishop was correct in his judgment. That just because he had paid his tithing, didn`t mean that he was repentant and was worthy to receive the ability to enter the temple. It might seem harsh but it`s true. Repentance isn`t something we do just because we want something, we do it because we want to align our lives and our will with the Father. I really liked his talk. President Scott talked about women and the importance to remember our femininity. The world is constantly trying to change us to be more like man and discount our sacred roles as women. I am so grateful for the blessings and gifts that come from being a daughter of God and I am grateful for the examples of exemplary women in my life.
I love you all so much. I love you and pray for you daily. Thank you for your prayers and support.
Love Hermana Butterfield
"The Lord answers our prayers."
ReplyDeleteVery true.