Monday, November 8, 2010
Hey Fam! How was your week?! Can you believe we are already well into the month of November? Crazy, huh! Well, a lot happened this week so I will fill you right in! But before I get started I just wanted to thank you for the AWESOME package! I finally got it on Wednesday and it was like Christmas! Me and Zuster Pierson were both dying about how cute the boots are! And they are so warm too! I also love having my brown boots and the Temple Ensign and the notes! THANKYOU SO MUCH!
Well, Ronald's baptism didn't end up going through. It was a sad couple of days but we definitely had the confirmation that it was the right thing. He was so excited and so set on getting baptized on November 6 and his baptismal interview went well on Tuesday but we had an appointment with him on Wednesday morning and he told us that he had slipped and smoked one time the night before. He didn't want to admit or think that that would stop his baptism from going through and I didn't really know how to address the situation right there in our appointment with our joint-teach member so I just went on with the lesson. Turns out that Zuster Pierson didn't catch the part in Dutch when he said he had smoked so it was a test of my integrity as to whether I was going to call the baptism off or just go through with it and hope that everything worked out. But I knew that I could not lie to my Heavenly Father and I knew that it would be best for Ronald if he wasn't baptized until he was fully living the Word of Wisdom. I called President Brubaker up and explained the situation and he got back to us really quickly. He had one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Wells get in contact with Ronald to try to work things out. It was a little intense and I have never prayed so hard in my life that Ronald's heart would be soft to receive the news. Ronald was pretty persistent and he and Elder Wells finally made an appointment to meet together so they could talk face to face and come to an agreement about what the will of the Lord was. They met together on Friday morning, right before we had an appointment set with Ronald. They prayed together and Ronald said that he still felt really good about it all, but Elder Wells knew it wasn't the right thing. Since Ronald just wouldn't take no for an answer, and our appointment was supposed to be starting, Elder Wells sent him into us and he went out to call President to ask for further advice. That appointment was difficult! I could see that Ronald was not open for the spirit and was not humble to be taught and we all knew that his baptism just couldn't go through. At the end of the appointment Elder Wells pulled him into a separate room to tell him that he could not get baptized on Saturday. I am so thankful that Elder Wells was so willing to do all of that! Ronald was really upset and without saying goodbye he rushed out of the church to work. We didn't know what was going to happen! When we got home we saw that we had missed a call from him so I called him back. He said that he was quite disappointed but that he felt that it was right. We felt such a sense of relief and were so thankful! He said that he was willing to work towards baptism the next week. WAHOO! We went further with our day and when we got out of another appointment we saw that we had a new message from Ronald. When I listened to the message I was in pure shock. He told us that he never wanted to meet with us again and that he would never join the church! I just wanted to cry! I called back and talked to him and he was not open for anything. After that he sent a lot of unkind texts and it ended in such a sad way. I am still hoping and praying, along with all of the ward members here, that he will come back around. He can do it!
So we are pretty much back at square one with missionary work, everyone has dropped us or lost interest. It is great though! The Lord has a plan for us and we continue to see miracles! Thank you for your prayers and support! THEY HELP! I love you all so much and I hope that you have a wonderful week! These are the last days and Satan’s influence is strong but as we continue reading the scriptures and praying we will have the Lord's power to overcome all temptations. I know that is true! I LOVE YOU!
Love, Lauren
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