a fin de que reciban el Evangelio restaurado

This week in the TRC Hna. Gorham and I taught Meredith and her Husband Ricardo. In the TRC, volunteers come and be investigators for us. We meet them and find out what there needs are, and then we return and teach them a lesson. All our lessons have been in English thus far- but we're gonna be teaching in Enspanol en la proxima semana!

Meredith came from Mexico about 15 years ago, and her husband knows a little Spanish too; he was so excited to tell us all about his familia-- todos sus hijos y sus ocho nineto. We taught them a lesson about the Plan of Salvation, and the Word of Wisdom. Ricardo was worried about La Palabra de Sabaduria, because he smokes and drinks. We talked about Joseph Smith-- they believe that he is a prophet, so his words must be really the words of God. Then we talked about why we keep commandments-- to show our love and trust in God. We read the end of D&C 89, and discussed the blessings of keeping this commandment, but Hermano Ricardo was still a little dubious.

'I don't know' he said, 'I smoke a lot.'

My companion and I pulled out our scriptures (that's a figure of speech-- we ALWAYS have out nuestras escrituras!) and we began to testify of the importance of keeping the commandments. I felt to open what is quickly becoming one of my favorite scriptures-- Alma 7:11-12.

'Hermano Ricardo, will you read this scripture for us?'

He began to read about the sacrifice of the Savior, about the Atonement and the Saviors ability to understand us perfectly. After a few lines, he stopped-- his eyes began to moisten, and he was quiet for a long time.

'Hermano Ricardo, what do you think about that scripture?'

'Well, what do you think?' he brushed away the tears, 'I have already quit. I quit right now.'

Part of me knows this is all pretend-- this man (not even a volunteer-- he's actually a worker at the MTC) doesn't need to quit smoking or drinking, and he doesn't need us to convince him to come to church, but he does need to be invited to Christ-- just like everyone we meet.

The spirit was so strong in that TRC room as he bore his testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. My companion and I added our witnesses that this church IS God's church on the earth-- This is his work, and we are all his children. I love to know that when we teach by the Spirit, when we teach through the scriptures, the Lord, who is always gathering his children, will gather us closer to him.