The Spirit of Peace, August 26, 2013

Mamma Mia!!! And family!!!

I didn't get your email last week, but I got your email this week and your letter/pictures that you sent. I love the pictures!!! Everybody looks so dashing and gorgeous!!! haha. And nah, don't worry about the emails. I get most of them. 

Yep, I write Elder Michael Nielsen about every week. I love him. And that is exciting that school has started!!! Woo hoo!! Noelle is growing up way to fast. And in Arizona weather is weird. We pretty much get crazy lightening storms here every night, but only about 3 times has it rained. But the sunsets here are way pretty.

But anyways. This week has been crazy busy and fun. My new comp's name is Elder Bailey, he's a white kid from Hawaii but he is way cool. Very chill, hard working, and goal-oriented. I'm doing my best to train him, though I am still new out here too. But we now just cover one ward, Florence 1st Ward, which has opened up a lot of excellent opportunities. 

On Thursday we had an INCREDIBLE lesson with this crazy lady Renae, her husband Koge, and her friend "Bee". Elder Glaus and I met Renae while riding our bikes down the street and she is very open to talk and pretty funny. She loves the Bible and has a great testimony of Jesus Christ. But Elder Glaus and I never really got to explain our purpose as missionaries or the purpose of the Book of Mormon to her, so on Thursday Elder Bailey and I decided to do just that. As we explained and testified of the Book of Mormon, the Spirit of peace was incredible. At first we were just teaching Renae, but then Koge and Bee came out of their house. They were all there as we powerfully shared Joseph Smith's First Vision. The feeling of peace and truthfulness filled the atmosphere. Renae even muttered an astonished "wow" through the silence. We gave each of them a Book of Mormon and invited them to read and ask God themselves if it was true. They accepted and we checked up on them yesterday and they had already started reading. 

Elder Bailey and I were on the biggest spiritual high after we left that lesson on Thursday. The happiness that comes from bringing people closer to a knowledge of their God is unmistakeable. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. 

I want to testify of the power and eternal joy that comes from temple sealings. On Friday night we had a lesson with our investigator Anna and her family. Anna is preparing to be baptized this Saturday, August 31st, but last week she had to quit smoking and she was struggling with it. Don is Anna's husband, and he is a less active member because he works on Sunday and he smokes and enjoys drinking beer. Anna is really excited to be baptized, and more importantly, she wants to be sealed with her family in the Salt Lake Temple. But unfortunately Don doesn't want to give up beer or smoking yet, so it has been hard for Anna to do it on her own. 

Anyway, with Anna and Don on Friday we really tried to emphasize the importance of eternal families and how Don needs to be the leader and patriarch of this family. He must let go of his "concerns" and lead them towards being sealed as a family. Elder Bailey asked a really good question to Don when he said "What is really important to you Don? Is a beer more important than being sealed with your family for eternity? Is it really worth it?" The Spirit was so strong as we testified and saw the gears in Don's head turning. It was awesome!! Anna is still on date to be baptized and we know that Don is now trying to quit smoking and HOPEFULLY will stop drinking beer!!! We love this family so much. We just want to see them receive the blessings of the gospel. 

Last but not least, we met this awesome black guy named LaRon this last week. He was hilarious. He just got out of prison for 18 years. But he is super humble and knows the importance of Christ in our lives. We are gonna start teaching him. :)

I gotta go, but I love you all. The Restoration is one of the most monumental and important events that has every happened. Oh, and I'll send some pictures next week. I forgot my camera. But thanks for everything!!!

love, Elder Lambert