Tuesday, May 1, 2012

don't fall into a state of complacency [From 12 MAR 12]


We had such a great week! We didn’t' teach quite as much as in the past but with the Elder Perry conference and a couple other things. It was a great week!

(I do love the watch!!!!!! I really do wear it every day.)

So we are teaching a young guy and he had a baptismal date for the 25th but he felt he wasn't prepared and he was having a hard time understanding why he needed to be baptized again when he was as a child in the Catholic Church. We read Moroni 8 with him and explained that children don’t need baptism. They’re innocent. Baptism is for those that need repentance and children can't even sin so why would they need a remission of sin (baptism)? We also explained that baptism is a choice. We need to choose to follow Christ. We can't have anyone else; make that choice for us, no matter how good their intentions. I won't enter heaven because of the choices of someone else. I'll enter into God's presence because of the things I’ve done and what I’ve become. Agency is central to the plan of God. He will not force us nor can anyone else force us. Baptism is a choice. We explained it all to him in a much better, more loving but bold way and he took it well. Once we were done he looked at us and said, "I want to be baptized." we asked if he felt he could prepare by the 25th or for some time in April. He said he would feel better about April. So now his date is for April 8th. He also expressed to us that he knew he needed to learn more and really wanted to be prepared. So I pulled out a blank teaching record. We showed him everything someone needed to be taught, in order to be prepared for baptism. We showed him what he had already been taught and how much he had left. Also on there are 23 things he needed to do (commitments) before baptism. As we showed him I could tell he felt better about it. He knew that we would help him be prepared to make this sacred covenant. It was a pretty good lesson. We’re excited for him.

We had stake conference this past week. It was sooo good! President Bunker was there. It was fun to see people from Rohnert Park.

Usually I get enough sleep. The past two nights have been rough with the time change and then last night we talked for a while. We had a rough lesson just before. He was a less active member and we were bold with him and he didn't really like it. Basically we told him he needed to do more in order to continue progressing.  It was interesting. Afterward we talked a lot about complacency and the need for continual progression. It’s when we get okay with where we're at and feel as if we don't need anymore that we begin losing the Spirit. It’s like it says in 2 Nephi about the people saying they have a bible and they don't need anymore.

I could go on. Needless to say we didn’t get to sleep on time because we were talking about the lesson and how we can help him progress. Along with how we can make sure we don't fall into a state of complacency.

The beach was amazing! You’ll see photos on the SD card!
Oh! Time’s up.
Love you!!!
Hermana Stephenson

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