Week 6

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!! It was so great to see all of your beautiful faces yesterday. It seems like it was just a month and a half ago that I saw you...oh wait...it was! 

This week I studied in 1 Nephi 14, when Nephi asks in prayer to understand the vision that his father, Lehi, had about the tree of life. He is brought to an understanding of what it meant because he prayed in faith. In Chapter 15 when his brothers complain about not understanding, Nephi asks (in verse 8) "...have ye inquired of the Lord?". He continues on (in verse 11) to say, "...If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you". Lamen and Lemuel were just as entitled to receiving revelation as Nephi was. The difference is that they didn't ask in faith. 

I've been studying in Preach My Gospel (pg. 93-95) about how I can improve my personal prayers and really strengthen my relationship with Heavenly Father. I know that my prayers are always answered, but recognizing bold answers has been a struggle. As I've been praying every night with specific questions or concerns I've been able to recognize more specific answers. 

I really prayed this week to be able to teach with the Spirit and to know what I should say in order to touch the hearts of our investigators. We were having a lesson with our miracle family and my prayer was answered very boldly. They didn't make it to church on Sunday which meant their baptismal date had to be pushed back to the 25th. Sister Biggs and I went into the lesson knowing that we would have to be bold with them in setting expectations and stressing the importance of baptism. There were a lot of distractions, but as we taught them simple doctrine the spirit was so strong that the room got really quiet and they all listened intently. I started sharing a personal experience about how I know the priesthood has been restored because of a blessing I received from my dad. afterwards we asked them if they would continue to prepare to be baptized onMay 25 by someone holding the proper priesthood authority. The dad looked at us and said, "I will!". I hadn't even remembered that priesthood blessing that my dad gave me until that moment when the spirit brought it to my remembrance. THE SPIRIT IS AMAZING!! God answers prayers. 

After our Zone Conference last Tuesday Sister Biggs and I went to this little Honduras restaurant and got baleada's! They were really good. It kind of reminded me of getting burritos in the middle of the night at Betos. 

(Crazy picture in the car) I went on my first exchange with Sister LeBaron this week. She's amazing! I also decided that my apartment is more ghetto than I thought after I saw how nice their apartment is. Oh well haha! 

I LOVE you all so much. Know that God will answer your prayers. {D&C 42:61}

Sincerely, Sister Matheson