Literal Fulfillment of Prophecy Happening Now

September 12, 2016

Katy West Zone Meeting

This week was great, even though it was hard, it still was rewarding and the hand of the Lord was clearly evident through it all.

We are still in the process of increasing our teaching pool. We are knocking on doors, asking members for referrals, and doing all that we can to find people to teach, because teaching is our most important role as missionaries. In Preach My Gospel it says "Find when you teach, and teach when you find." So we knock on people's doors and share as much of the Restoration with them as much as possible until they tell us to leave.

We did have one miracle on Sunday that was remarkable. We felt impressed to go knocking in a wealthy looking neighborhood. Usually, we don't knock in those kinds of places because we don't typically find many Hispanics. However, after knocking an entire street with pure rejection, a man with a beer in his hand called us over and said he'd listen to whatever message we were sharing. So we gladly obliged, and shared a summary of the Restoration with him, he loved it, accepted and committed to read The Book of Mormon, and wanted us to set up a return appointment with him. He only speaks English, so we might have to give him over to the English missionaries, but it was nice to see after a week of almost no one giving us the time of day.

Last night we had a ward mission activity titled "Meet the Mormons" so members brought their non-member friends and we watched certain segments from the movie "Meet the Mormons," as well as listened to our mission president speak. He shared a powerful message and brought up a scriptural passage from The Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 1:6 which reads:

"Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord."

This is a literal fulfillment of that prophecy happening right now in America. It especially is something powerful to use with Venezuelans, because right now many are leaving because it has become far too dangerous and the government too corrupt. Helping them understand that they have been preserved by the Lord and brought into this land for a purpose is something that we will try to focus on in our door approaches this week. Later on in the chapter, Lehi goes on to say that the Lord will prosper and protect those who keep His commandments. So there are great blessings promised for those who are faithful and decide to follow God.

If everyone understood the wonderful blessings that come to them and their family, they wouldn't open the door, look at our name tags and say,  "Not interested". If they had any idea about the powerful and life-changing message that we bring, they would be knocking on OUR doors or chasing US down. But it's all part of the work. From the beginning of time, those who have taught the Gospel have not seen a ton of success, percentage wise. But it's the few who do accept and convert that make it all worth it.

Have a great week!

Elder Josh Barrus