seven dwarfs

Hey family,

 

Thank you for the emails. They mean a lot. I love you all.

It rained a lot this week. Yesterday our car thermometer read 74 degrees at the lowest point. It felt great for a Sunday in July. We've been working hard this week and having fun. The baptism and confirmation this weekend went great! Our new member was so excited and looked so happy. Here family all came to support her as well. And her daughter told her after the baptism that she wants to be baptized now as well! We have a lesson set up for tonight, so we'll see how it goes. 

This week another recent convert in the ward called us up one morning and told us that she has a friend she wants us to meet. So that afternoon we all three biked over to her friend's house, got to know her, and had our first lesson. The lady is so sweet and very interested. She came to church yesterday as well and loved it. I think something I love even more than a high-potential referral is that this recent convert has been active in missionary work. Apparently she has just been raving about the church to all her friends in the area (which is fantastic because she lives in a highly concentrated latino area). She has been bearing her testimony about the church and been inviting her friends to meet with us. I just couldn't stop grinning when I found out and witnessed it in the lesson with her friend. What a joy :)

Pioneer Day fell on the day of our district meeting this week, but we stayed together as a zone and watched 17 Miracles. I was a little bummed that we were just watching a movie but decided that I wanted to receive revelation anyway. During the movie I thought, "Why were so many faithful saints not allowed to live? They're doing everything right and deserve what they want." And then I realized that that is the exact reason the Lord let them perish. The purpose of life is not to just live, but to live eternally. And the way we achieve that is in becoming more like Christ. Those pioneers who gave their all and suffered so much had qualified themselves in those faithful moments for an eternal award. They were the closest to Christ that they would ever be in their lives, and our Heavenly Father decided to secure them eternal life by calling them home at those respective times. It just seems to finally make a lot of sense to me.

Well I hope you enjoy the photos. Good luck with preparations for the arrival of los abuelos. I love you all!

Elder Joshua Gathro