Agency

This week Victor got baptized!  He is a great example to me.  When we taught him about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity he thanked God for the commandments (“which I will definitely work to keep”) in the closing prayer!  He is so happy about getting closer to the Savior, being baptized, and changing his life for the better!  His baptismal interview finished about an hour or an hour and a half before he had to be at the church to get dressed for his baptism.  We did not feel very comfortable with that time frame but everything turned out well.  The only hitch was that we filled up the baptismal font the day before the baptism, but when we got there it was empty!  I think the problem was that the pump is so slow and quiet that it got turned on and no one noticed.  We put a bucket and a kitchen pot in the bathroom and the janitor’s closet to fill up and went back and forth with them to help the baptismal font fill up faster.  Luckily it was just high enough by the time we got to the baptism part.

Another investigator, we’ll call him “João,” is being an excellent example of praying and reading the scriptures regularly.  He hasn’t gotten an answer from God yet about the truthfulness of the First Vision and the Book of Mormon, but maybe this week!  We are also having a lot of trouble with coffee right now — João and Matheus are both struggling with not drinking coffee.  But I think a testimony of Joseph Smith will definitely help João with that.

Mother’s Day is popular in Brazil.  Here there are lots of “cars of sound” that drive around with loudspeakers playing ads.  This week there was a car of sound from the city congratulating all of the mothers.  Store fronts have lots of “mother” signs and balloons and it looks like the cake, chocolate, and flower shops have good business here as well.  It was good for building excitement for Sister Ribeiro and I about calling our families on Sunday!  Unfortunately, Mother’s Day is bad for taking people to church.  But we have high hopes for next week! 

Hopefully Emily and her family can go to church next week.  We talked with one of her daughters, I’ll call her “Amanda,” this week.  She had prayed and asked if “that church is worth it” but said she hadn’t gotten an answer.  We asked her how she felt when she prayed and she said “Well, I felt a really good, happy feeling and I got chills/goosebumps all over.” !  That reminded me of a scripture we often read with investigators:

And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.

3 Nephi 11:3

This is how the Nephites felt God’s voice when Christ came to visit the Americas.  This is the spirit!  We asked her if she thought that feeling was from God and what He was trying to tell her.  She thought about it and said “He was telling me the church is worth it!” We told her how special it was that God had responded to her question and she couldn’t stop smiling.

One thing we have been thinking about recently is agency.  We know some people who have difficult family situations — for example, living with spouses (but not legally married) who treat them quite badly.  These people have lots of faith in God, and they use this faith to pray to God about the trials they’re passing through. But they are only praying that God will make their husbands stop drinking, or shape up, or choose to get married to them. And when their spouses don’t change they feel frustrated that God isn’t hearing them, or they say they trust in His timing but are just waiting and watching to see what he’ll do.  The sad and very frustrating truth is that God can’t force people to change.  And while he can and does help us, he might want us to act as well.  It’s terrible, but the truth is that some of these people might need to choose to leave their spouses in order to follow God’s commandments (like the law of chastity) or to help their children and themselves (in cases of serious alcoholism.)  

Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

2 Nephi 2:27

Sometimes this seems really really sad.  But also it can be very happy — Victor is choosing liberty and eternal life!  When we follow the commandments we’re that much closer to liberty and eternal life — and eternal joy, rest, peace, etc.  And we can always hope and pray for people.  Alma the younger was visited by an angel that appeared because of the prayers of faith from his father and friends.  He chose to repent after remembering his father’s teachings about Christ.  

Hope you all have a great week!