Trying my Testimony

This week, was heartbreaking to say the least. Really, I think I cried more this week than I did in the whole CCM. And that is saying A LOT.

On Wednesday, we went to go visit our family of investigators, not planned, but something we felt we needed to do. They finally had a date for a baptism, after months and months of teaching. All five of them had a date! The same date! And we go to visit them, and there are two new people sitting in their house! We greet everyone, talk for a bit, then ask if we can share something small with them. Just then the older guy visiting piped up. He is a pastor from the church right next door, that apparently the family has been attending throughout the week... He commanded us to leave, telling us that we need to find other sheep. These sheep already have a pastor, and they have been saved by the good word of the Bible. Long story short, he put into question every belief we have. And he used our own scripture against us, telling us that the field was white somewhere else, and that our job was to preach repentance unto the people who don’t know Jesus. After a half hour of listening to him, It began to turn into a battle of beliefs between him and my companion. Luckily, she looked at me just before she lost it, and I signaled to her to just listen, to not say anything. Then, once Pastor Lucas had finished his rant, We shared a quick testimony, (CHRIST LIVES) and thanked the family for always inviting us in, and listening to us. We left, and cried. For a good long while. It is funny how Satan works. How he tries to use the horrid accusations of others to tear down our testimony. But the ironic part is that it doesn’t tear down our testimony, it strengthens it. Throughout the whole rest of the week, we were able to testify with power and authority, and the people could feel this power. I KNOW this message is true!

We had a lesson with a Recent convert (the same one who asked if we could pause our fast!! Her name is Miriam), and we felt like we needed to change our plans. We had no idea what to change it to, but during the opening prayer, i remembered something my dad always taught us growing up. The story of King Benjamin! When all the people gather themselves to hear the words of the prophet, they turn the doors of their tents towards the temple. My dad always taught us growing up that THAT was the most important! When we have our doors towards the temple, or our sights set on the temple, we will never be lost. I can’t even describe the power that came into that lesson as we talked about the temple. As we talked about the importance of making the temple our goal, and how our lives can be blessed because of the temple. It was such a powerful lesson. One night, me and my cousin were trying to get to the temple in Bountiful. Neither of us knew the route very well, and my cousin was driving. Somehow we ended up lost in the neighborhoods surrounding the temple. In this moment, I remembered the lesson of my dad, and i knew that all we had to do was get to a place where we could see the lights from the temple, and we would make it safely there. We made it safely to the temple.

Make the temple your goal! If there is one single reason to stay on the straight and narrow path, THIS IS THE REASON. The temple blesses your life so much, and it brings experiences that can never be duplicated!

I love you all, and I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thank you for all your love and support! I love this work!

Love, Hermana Arave