Josh's Mission Blog: Repentance is a Wonderful Thing

Sister Lincona leaves for Mexico tomorrow. We are pretty sad because she
is like the Hispanic grandmother we always wished we had but never did.

The work here in Katy is on the up and up. Benito is still doing really well, he's been keeping all his commitments and told us he feels really good when he reads in the Book of Mormon. He is definitely on track for his baptismal date on the 28th of August. The ward is really helping us out. We've at least received some names of people to go visit from members, which helps a lot. We still knock doors to show our faith, but most of our success comes from working with members.

Our other investigators from Venezuela are still progressing, but the husband left last week for Venezuela and Dubai for job training until October, so we'll still teach the 2 daughters and the less active mom, but they won't get baptized until their dad returns.

Shout out to my favorite, Franco from H3 (my first area) for accepting a baptismal date with him for August 27. He's been taught by missionaries for almost 3 years, and just last week accepted a baptismal date. I'm kind of bummed that I can't go to his big day, but I'm still super happy for him.

On Thursday we had zone conference. It was centered on The Gospel of Jesus Christ. We talked about how having a faith in Jesus Christ should lead you to repentance. President Mortensen also talked about the difference between the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and "The Convenient Messiah" that modern-day Christianity believes in. They say that all you need to do is accept Him as your Savior, and you're good, you've punched your ticket to heaven. However, in John 14:12, he Savior tells us what we should do if we believe in Him:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works
that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;
because I go unto my Father.

Now with the increased emphasis in the missionary program to "teach repentance and baptize converts," anytime we teach, we are inviting others to repent. It's true. Repentance is a wonderful thing, and what a blessing it is that Christ performed the Atonement so we have the opportunity to repent each time we stumble. He knows what He wants us to be, and knows how to help us do that and .repentance is the way. We should be grateful each and every day that The Savior suffered for all of our sins so that we can repent of them. He knows how to help us with our faults, all we have to do is ask.

Until next week.

Elder Josh Barrus