this week we had what was the most intense lesson of my mission. we contacted a less active sister and her husband, who let us right in. the husband told us that they'd had a bad experience with the mormons before, but the sister asked us to share our message. i asked if there was anyone else who could join us, and two daughters very grudgingly joined. we started, and there was contention everywhere. we got to the topic of prophets in lesson 1, and they were already disagreeing with us. they had lots of issues with joseph smith. they were all talking over us so much that i stopped everything and said, "CAN WE EXPLAIN?" but very lovingly. :) they all stopped talking and the dad said "yes." one of the daughters, who couldn't have been older than 13, said "joseph smith is like a saint for you! you worship him!!" she was so adamant for a 13-year-old! so, i explained the restoration, and the dad told me that no one can see the face of god without burning, and his second daughter, who must've been 18, agreed. he started talking about moses and other prophets, but i didn't want to bible bash, so i just testified of joseph smith.
towards the end, the older daughter said "why do you keep saying 'testify,' as if you were there to see all of this? as i understand it, joseph smith lived a long time ago, and you didn't see him." i explained that "to testify is to declare the truth. and even though i didn't witness them, i KNOW these things are true." she said, "then shouldn't you say 'i BELIEVE' he was a prophet?" i immediately responded "i KNOW joseph smith was a prophet, because i asked god and he told me through personal revelation, which exists - which each of you can receive if you pray." they were all silent. those words felt like fire, because they conveyed the spirit of pure testimony. the spirit was strong in a way i've never known it before - strong, as in it gave me strength. honestly, the whole family was attacking our testimonies, but we were firm. and, in that moment, i've never been more sure that joseph smith saw god and jesus christ, and that he restored the one true church. i know these things with all my soul.
after all of them had rejected our invitation to attend church, we were about to leave when the mother said "wait, i have a question for you," and pointed at me. we sat back down, and she said, "god told you? how? and, how can i know?" i smiled at her and answered "through prayer." then, we explained about the holy ghost. i thought no one in that family had been touched by what we said, but we had somehow reached this woman's heart. she didn't come to church the next day, but now she knows the message of the restoration. i am so grateful to be a representative of christ in iquitos. i love preaching the gospel, i love doing the lord's work, and i testify that joseph smith was called of god to restore these truths i hold so dear.
last selfie with president and hermana gómez
find the cat :)
this is deysi's house, our pensionista
me and my companion, hermana osorio
LOVE YOU ALL,
hermana wood
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