Eternal Families

Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

 

I love all of you who read these letters.  But this week Brother and Sister Moody, and Sister Moody's dad are the ones that I love the most.  (Except of course my little cousin Annie, she is and always will be the favorite).  On Wednesday morning I had a pleasant and very unexpected surprise: six very good seats for the Saturday morning session of General Conference.  And the results of those six tickets: the husband of a long time member of the Church overcame much of his concern about whether or not the Apostles and Prophet of these days truly are called of God.  And Trevor, some who the english missionaries are teaching, decided he wants to be baptized on November 3rd.  I would consider that very successful.  Thank you Moodys very much.

 

I realize that for the last few weeks I've talked about a different family each week which doesn't make for very intesting reading.  So what I'm going to try and do is stick with one family for the next few weeks (assuming I stay in this area at transfers next week). 

 

A few weeks ago, we met a young couple walking outside their apartment: Kristina and Beranrdino (Berna) along with their 2 year old daughter, Naomi.  We only talked for a few moments about the importance of the family within the Gospel and the Church and they invited us to come to their home.  We tried for a few weeks but they were never both home together.  But Sunday night we finally caught both at home. 

 

They wanted to learn more about how our message can strengthen families and why members of the Church typically have strong families.  We began to explain that one of the main reasons is because through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (mormons), families don't begin when we're born and don't end when we die.  We told them that we lived with Heavenly Father (God) before being born and that after we die we can have the same chance.  Aka...there isn't the "until death do you part" in the marriages.  Thus, if our families are going to be together forever (think about how long forever means) then we need to learn to support and love each other now.  We also explained what exactly happens after we die (where we go and what opportunities we'll have). 

 

Both Bernardino and Kristina had many questions as we taught that we helped answer:

1. Where is my Grandpa who died three years ago?

2. Where was I before I was born?

3. Why am I here on earth (other than to work and help my family)?

 

It was a wonderful experience with them.  We went by last night and helped clear up more questions they had.  This Friday we are going back and teaching them at a local member's home.

 

I'll let you know how all of that goes next week.

 

Love you all,

-Elder Colton