OFA ATU! Week 28

Hey everybody! Another great week here in the CAM. It's actually been
one of the best weeks of my entire mission! We were able to have so
much success in our finding and teaching this week. The Lord has been
blessing us in great abundance and it just fills me with gratitude!
Two of my favorite stories from this week:
First, on Tuesday we were out tracting this complex looking for YSAs.
We had been going for about an hour and a half and it was time for
bed, so we decided to knock one more building. Finally on the last
door ( it is ALWAYS the last door) a YSA girl named Ruby opens up! It
might have been our charming smiles but she seemed way interested,
took a Book of Mormon, and said we could come back on Thursday! So we
came back on Thursday and she actually remembered! Not only that, but
when we got there, she asked, "Is it okay if my family sits in with
us?" Uhhhhhhh of course that's okay! So we taught the entire family,
minus the stepdad who was at work, the restoration and they totally
accepted it! All 5 of them! They were all asking questions and were
super involved! They committed to read and pray about the Book of
Mormon as a family and personally and to come to church on Sunday! We
gave them the info for the family ward.
Come Sunday we went to the family ward they were gonna come to. We
waited out in the foyer.... Nothing... Church started.. Still
nothing... We decided to stick around until the sacrament was over.
During the sacrament we just sat out in the foyer and I was praying so
hard that this family would come, but still nothing. Right as the
sacrament was finishing up, we saw Rubys family walking down the hall.
I wanted to run up and hug them! Ruby was at work and her mom was
sick, but the stepdad brought the rest of them, and get this, he is a
member! He has been inactive for years!! This family is so ready for
the gospel! They are all gonna get baptized! We set up a return
appointment for Tuesday where we will pass them off to the family ward
elders. I am so excited to see how they will progress.
My second experience was with an old Tongan couple that Elder Johnson
and I got to interview for baptism. Salote and Metuisela Maniatu. I
interviewed Salote (the wife), and that was such a special experience.
We wept together as she shared in her broken English how she has come
to know that this gospel is true and that after a lifetime of
searching she finally feels like she is where she needs to be. After
their interviews, Salote said, "we are so happy, lets celebrate with a
song!" So she pulled out a ukulele and her and Metuisela sang to us.
The spirit was so strong as they sang. It filled me with love for
these precious people and gratitude for this beautiful gospel. Their
baptism the next day went perfectly, and we parted ways with an, "Ofa
atu" (I love you).
Have a great week everybody!
-Elder Francis