I got to go to Ventura this past week and go on an exchange with my old companion, Hermana Della-Piana. We had such a blast. I love her so much and I continue to be amazed by how good of a missionary she is and learn so much from her.
This month we had the goal to set 2 people on date to be baptized. We have been working with this family and we prayed about setting them on date for Febuary 8 and felt very good about that date. We had the lesson with them and extended the date and they said no. We received a text message that asked us to not come over anymore. We were really bummed.
We had felt so good about February 8th and two people on date to be baptized.
Sunday after church a father and daughter who we stopped teaching because they weren't ready to be baptized and wanted time to think about it, came up to us and asked us if we could come by. We set something up for Saturday. As the week went on, we had sports night on Friday and they both came. They had never come since I have been here so that was great. They enjoyed it and were very excited for us to come over the next day. Saturday we weren't really sure what to expect. It had been a while since we had last seen them, and we asked them if they had any questions. The father said he had been thinking a lot lately about what happens after we die. We explained the plan of salvation and how we can enter the celestial kingdom when we have followed Christ and have done the things he has asked like having faith, repenting, being baptized, having the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. We asked him what is holding him back from being able to enter the celestial kingdom. He said nothing. We said, Hermano if you aren't baptized by someone with the proper authority you can not enter. He said "Hermanas I know I have to be born again, I know." We asked him if he would be baptized by someone who had the priesthood authority and without hesitation he said yes. All the past times we had asked him he had said no and was very hesitant. He had had a baptismal date before so we asked him how he feels about having a date to be baptized. He said, Hermanas a month. We extended the date of Febuary 8 and without hesitation he said yes. What a miracle.
We have been working so hard this transfer and have kept a positive attitude and it is amazing to see how the Lord works. The district leaders baked us a cake because of how hard we have been working which was so nice.
We had a combined district council in Solvang which was fun. Solvang is this cute little town like Frankenmuth and they actually were filming for a Hallmark Christmas movie called Christmas in Solvang so I can't wait for that to come out.
There is a scripture I love in Mosiah 2:22 that talks about what God expects of us it says,
"And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you"I am so grateful to be able to be an instrument in this work. What a miracle!
**A Note from her Mom - Please pray for her safety as she travels by bike!
She loves getting emails. This is her address:
Email: lily.pita@missionary.org (Don't reply to this blog - it is a public site)
Her mailing address is:
Hermana Lily Pita
California Ventura Mission
3301 W Gonzales Road
Oxnard, CA 93036