This week we found a place where a whole bunch of Hispanics get together and play soccer in a gym. It was soooo fun and it definitely reminded me of how much I love and enjoy soccer. Some of them were pretty surprised when I scored and that was fun too😏 maybe I'll consider coming out of retirement and going into the big leagues when I get back.
We had a super cool lesson Gina this week which is somebody that we found last week. We testified of the Book of Mormon and of the Bible and she seemed pretty interested and also asked lots of questions to us about the Book of Mormon and also about our beliefs and stuff! So that was awesome. We are hoping to talk to her about baptism within the next 2 weeks because we are only able to see her once a week... But that's okay!
Dina and Astrid (the people we teach English) keep on having excuses of why they can't come to English class which is kinda sad because we even started teaching them a little about the Book of Mormon and even gave them one to read so we are gonna keep working with them.
This lady that we are teaching, Chris and she is dating a member, Brother Ramirez and sadly for them their refrigerator broke this last week so they called us and offered us some food because they weren't going to eat it all! So of course we took it! They gave us steak and chicken and other incredible things like that and we went home and studied and cooked and it was awesome. Also this week I made some super incredible fish, I was pretty proud of myself!
Oh also we were playing basketball last week and it was a pretty good game(my team was winning of course😉) and I went to go get a rebound and my companion was also going for the same ball and his elbow went right into my eye so I get a pretty nice cut and a little black eye which was so fun. Also in the same game my other companion basically broke his thumb haha, it was awesome!
The family of De La Rosa was out of town for this whole last week basically so some of the things we do on a weekly basis like Bible class and FHE had to be canceled because we normally do that at their house but that's okay because we just want tracting or stopped by potencials!
I have been reading and studying through the whole Triple (Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, & Pearl of Great Price) for the last couple months and so I finally finished it all up this last week which was super awesome! I read the experience that Joseph Smith had while he was praying in the Sacred Grove and I loved how he explained the ways he was feeling.
Joseph Smith - History 1:15-17
"After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction... just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound."
He was doing all good things, he wanted to go ask to know which church is true so he could know for himself. Satan knew that but he didn't want Joseph to know the truth, or do any good. So he did all that he could in his power to stop Joseph. Satan does this to us all, he tries everything in his power to stop us from doing good, making it feel like we are bound as if we are doomed. But we need to exort all of our energy and effort in trusting the Lord. Even after we do all that we can and put in all of our effort we might still feel the presence and binding power of Satan, but continue to keep pushing forward just as Joseph Smith did and at the at very moment when you are going to sink into despair and fall into destruction, if you have been exerting all of your strength to call upon our Lord and Savior I promise that he will deliver you out of the bondage that you are in, but we have to do everything in our power.
I love you all and I'm so thankful for all of your prayers and thoughts for me! I look up to you all and pray for you!
DO GOOD, BE GOOD
Love,
Elder T. Ricks
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