Week 5: Continually Coming Unto Christ

Hey Everyone!!!

This week was super awesome!!! I got to see a few people make steps towards Christ this week!

First, there is my investigator with a baptismal date. He is super cool. We taught him two lessons this week. He is in a really interesting position, because he has been talking to the missionaries for a while, but not super formally... so we were teaching him about the Book of Mormon, and I asked him how he felt about it. He said that
he has found lots of answers to his personal problems through reading it, gave us some examples, and then told us that he knows this Gospel is true. SO.... he is pretty much golden. I love talking with him!

We also work with a lot of less actives. One recently came back to church on his own, and so naturally, we decided to give him a visit. We got in contact with him, and though his schedule is pretty tight (working a couple jobs and going to college), we were able to fit in a time to visit him. He was super excited to meet with us! He has a really strong testimony of somethings - like the Godhead and the Book of Mormon - but really struggles with other things - like the church's stance on gay marriage and coffee. We've been talking with him about how he can come to know that Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson are true prophets and have the authority to give God's word on these matters. We talked about acting on the message to see if it is true (using John 7:17), and he seemed super happy to try it.

As we talked with him, one thing came up that concerned me quite a bit. He talked about how he was still imperfect, and how he felt that he was a burden to the church and to us as missionaries. This opened the way for a really great conversation with him - continually coming unto Christ. None of us are perfect, but that's ok! Coming unto Christ is an incredible and beautiful process, that everyone needs - not just less actives or investigators. I still have a long ways to go as well, but it isn't so much the distance, rather the direction we are facing that is important. Come unto Christ a little everyday! Read the scriptures, pray, go to the temple, go to church, serve someone. It will take time, but it will also be worth it!

Well... those are my thoughts for the week!

Love you all!

Hurrah for Israel!!

Elder O'Reilly

Went on splits with a Japanese Elder- Elder Koyama. It was fun to
speak more Japanese!

This is the Bishop, his family, and a less active member.
She's friends with one of our investigators - we hope we can have her help us teach!

A great family we had a dinner appointment with.