Teach the word of God with all diligence

6/6  We found an amazing family this week. Many of our visits had been falling through, so we were spending a lot of time in the streets. On Thursday, we were on our way back to piso for lunch, and decided to do one more contact. It was a family from Bolivia. They stopped and talked to us, and were really receptive to our message. When we asked when we could pass by to teach them more, they invited us back the next day! We went the next day with a member, and taught a wonderful first lesson. The spirit was strong, and they could feel it as well. At the end of the lesson we invited them to be baptized, and after thinking about it for a few seconds, they accepted! The three of them, Jorge, Liliana, and Mateo are now preparing to be baptized for the end of this month. We are super excited for them!

Elder Lightfoot and I are teaching much more in unity now. We are both participating equally in lessons and contacts. Even with the recently divided area, instead of having less work, it seems like we are getting more. Elder Gonzalez and Elder Miller are tearing it up, and we have found more people with potential this week than any week before. Valencia 1 is growing so fast! It will be incredible to see what we can achieve between the 4 of us these next few months!

This week, there was one scripture that really stood out to me in Jacob 1:19. "And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day." I think many times I have taken for granted the importance and seriousness of my calling as a missionary. My companion and I are literally the only two people in our assigned area that know the truth and are charged with the responsibility of spreading it. If we don't fulfill that calling to the best of our ability, who will? The Lord has put us in charge of this part of His fold, and we need to do everything in our power to share His truth with everyone, because if we don't, we will be held responsible. The call we receive as missionaries can't be taken lightly. That really spoke to me this week.

Eating Paella at the ward barbeque

At a local park with other missionaries from his district