He Still Lives (Week 31)

This week has been wonderful and Easter Sunday ended it off perfectly. Me and my companion Elder Memmott were privileged to speak in sacrament meeting. Elder Memmott's talk covered Jesus Christ's mortal ministry and His church. Both of our talks focused on the Atonement and the resurrection. My talk focused on the Book of Mormon and that it is another Testament that Jesus is the Christ; and the prophecies of Jesus Christ's Atonement. One of my favorite prophecies is Alma 34:8-10. Christ completed that final sacrifice, that infinite sacrifice. Jesus Christ paid the debt for all of our sins and mistakes, and made it possible to live again with Him and our Heavenly Father. In my talk I also talked about Christ's appearance in the ancient Americas, and what He taught the Nephites and Lamanites while He visited them. Sacrament meeting was a little backwards because the branch ran out of sacrament cups, so we gave our talks first while a member made an emergency run to the next closest church building to get more. Me and my companion both felt inspired to extend some bold commitments to the congregation during our talks. As you take the sacrament, focus on the Savior and close your eyes. Ponder on His love, example, and the sacrifice He made for you and I promise that you will feel the power of Christ's infinite atonement wash over you. After our talks the sacrament was blessed and passed. The spirit was so strong. I am so grateful for our savior Jesus Christ and what He did for us. 

B~ and J~ are getting baptized this Wednesday, April 23rd! We are teaching them their last lesson before they are baptized. We are going to talk about the Priesthood and church callings. We are also going to introduce Family Home Evening and get them started on doing that every Monday. I have been so blessed to be able to teach this family. It shows me that there are people out there that are prepared to receive the gospel and they can be found from knocking doors. Who would have thought that the most solid family in the mission would be found from tracting. I feel like they're the family I have been sent to Oklahoma to find. Watching their testimonies grow has strengthened mine, and I can't wait for Wednesday to watch them take this leap of faith. They are going to make amazing members! 

This week we had a cool finding experience. We were trying to visit C~ a potential investigator, and when we knocked on the door a man answered. He was nice and introduced himself as M~. He told us that C~ is his girlfriend and actually used to meet with missionaries, Elder Robb and Jenkins (my last companion in Shawnee). He said that he moved and didn't see them again. He told us he was struggling with alcohol and wants to quit. We told him our message would help him, and we set up a time to visit with him. It was pretty cool! When we got back to the apartment we looked for his teaching record and it was the first one in the area book, pretty crazy. We are going to be teaching him and C~ this week, yeah! yeah! 

Once again the work is hastening and this week is gonna be good! Keep me posted! 

Sincerely, Elder Watkins