No Tea for Tony - July 14, 2014

You are going to have to forgive me for the short letter. We decided to go to a new internet cafe that is known for having faster internet and it is a lot faster but the keyboard is making me crazy. Some of the keys do not work so it hard to type.

Sarah was baptized! She was ready. She has been attending church for so long that most of the ward members thought she was a member. After her baptism, she bore her testimony about the journey of coming to this point. The best part for me was that she didn't really talk about the missionaries and how they helped her. She spoke about how the members reached out to her and taught the gospel in simple ways. I wish that all of our converts could have this experience. I really think if this happened that the new members would have a much deeper-rooted testimony.

I have found that a solid testimony comes from all of those around you. You lean on others until your desire to learn takes over and pushes you to understand for yourself. When the original growth of a testimony comes from the members there is a greater opportunity for success.

We have continued teaching Tony and his family. The first time we met, I misunderstood him. He has five children and an adopted son as well. This family is awesome! They are the kind of people that you pray for as missionaries. At our first appointment with them, they offered us some tea to be friendly and kind. We politely refused telling them that we believe that its harmful to our bodies and our spirit.

Well this week we taught them the Word of Wisdom. After we finished the lesson, we asked if they would make a commitment to obey the Word of Wisdom specifically to not drink tea. They smiled and said, “We stopped taking it three weeks ago.”

I was really confused and asked them why because we had not taught them this principle yet. Well it turns out that when we told them that it was harmful to the body and the spirit the first time we met, they chose as a family to stop drinking tea. Wow!

It was pretty cool! This family has truly been prepared by the Lord for the gospel. Every time we meet with them, they have well thought out questions. They are not attacking but just seeking for knowledge. It’s a really cool!

The Lira Branch is changing. There has been a great shift in the branch from just youth to a nice mix of youth and adults. The branch is working together to make things happen. This attitude really makes missionary work so much easier and more enjoyable.

This keyboard is ridiculous! I am going to give it up. The church is true and we are truly blessed because of it.

Sincerely,

Elder Bitter