I will never forget when Irmã Speigle invited Vitor to follow the example of Jesus Christ and sleep on his couch.
What does that even mean? Well Vitor lives with Maria do Carmo, they are not married and are not keep the law of chastity. He has a strong testimony of the Restored Gospel and we invited him to be baptized, the only problem is he needs to keep the commandments to be baptized and receive the blessings of the Gospel. Maria is a member of the Church, but less active.
So as missionaries we invite people. That is our purpose, to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel. So every time we meet with someone who is learning of the Gospel, we invite them to keep commitments so that they can gain a testimony of the teachings of Christ, so that they can truly come to know Him, truly come to feel His love, and so they can receive the blessings that Heavenly Father has prepared for them. We invite people to keep commitments that will give them the opportunity to put to the test God´s promises. We invite them to pray so they can learn for themselves that He responds, we invite them to read the Book of Mormon so that they can feel for themselves the Holy Ghost testify of the truthfulness. We invite people to sleep on the couch instead of break the law of chastity, so that they can witness for themselves the buckets of blessings that are poured out upon them for keep the commandments of God.
So when we invited Vitor to sleep on the couch, it was a real invite to witness for himself the blessings of keeping the commandments. In the end, Vitor didn´t sleep on the couch. He chose not to accept our invite.
Vitor has been investigating the church for over a year, and it hurts to see him trapped. It hurt because I know that he is searching for happiness, he knows where to find it, he just isn´t willing to act.
I lost a bit of faith after a stressful week with Vitor. I felt like no one here wants to change, they feel the truthfulness, but they just don´t trust that God really will provide the way. It had been a rough couple weeks.
but then there is Plácido and Manuela...
We found Plácdio when visiting a recent convert a few weeks back. We marked an appointment to meet with him and his girlfriend that he lives with. We began teaching them and within the first lesson we realized how prepared they were, how the events of their lives had brought them to that very moment and very time to hear the Gospel. They have suffered tragedy, and heartbreak together, and were searching for relief. On Monday we invited them to keep the law of chastity, because it is a commandment of God and by living it they would receive so many blessings. They agreed.
We invited Plácido to sleep on the couch, and marked an appointment to come back the next day to teach more and to follow up.
Unfortunately our appointment the following day fell through, and the next day fell through, which means we went back on Thursday, to follow up and see how it went. In the back of head I knew that they could not have possibly done it, why would he sleep on the couch? They don´t really even understand why it is so important to keep the law of chastity...it has been 3 days, they probably forgot about it.
When we got to the appointment Thursday, they greeted us happily, ever eager to hear more. We stepped into the little living room and to our surprise we saw something that brought pure joy to my heart.
A blanket crumpled up on the couch.
What did this mean? That Plácido slept on the couch. He did it! We followed up and had an incredible lesson. They were beaming with joy and excitement the whole lesson. We knew that they had really kept this commandment from that day they learned of it. We invited them to be baptized this weekend. We told them that it wasn´t enough to sleep on the couch and that they would have to live in separate houses, until they got married. They agreed!
LONG story short: Plácido and Manuela were baptized yesterday!!!!!!
The night before the baptism Plácido spent the night at his friend´s house and as of last night Manuela moved into her sister´s house about 30 minutes away by car. There she will stay until the paper work is finished for marriage, the wedding should be within a month or so.
In the end it turns out that there is hope. People can change. They are a huge example of faith and sacrifice.
I know that one day Vítor too will accept the invite to fully come unto Christ, even if it means first sleeping on the couch.
I love you all, and hope that everything is peachy back home. Life is really something.
Love,
Irmã McCrery
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