Testimony

photo 1. So we went to eat with a member yesterday, and to my suprise, she has a black cocker spaniel, so of course I had to take a picture with it! 

photo 2. it´s super green here, and I love it, and I´m gonna miss is 

This week we had an experience that I really learned a lot from and wanted to share with you. So we have an investigator (Jason) that we haven´t been able to see for about a month because he was on school vacation and he´s not from here, just lives here during the week while he goes to college. Finally though in this week we were able to see him and I´ll be honest, I was pretty excited to see if he´s progressed, read the book of mormon while he was away etc. But through the lesson we learned that no, and after we finished the lesson, he told us that for him, when we´ve come to visit he doesn´t feel anything, when he´s gone to church he doesn´t feel anything, and when he reads the book of mormon, he doesn´t feel anything. That there are other missionaries from a different church that visited him and his family while he was there, and that he wanted to go to the other church. To put it simple, I was pretty upset afterward. I couldn´t believe that he rejected everything after months of teaching him, and I started to wonder if maybe I wasn´t teaching by the spirit. To really hear someone say that nothing is true, it´s pretty hard, because for me, this gospel is everything. I couldn´t understand how it was that he didn´t feel anything when before he told us that when we started visiting him, he started to feel closer to God, but in this time with the other missionaries, he felt farther away from God. But I couldn´t form the words and I knew that that meant I shouldn´t say them, and that we needed to leave him behind. 

The next morning I woke up at 5:30 for who knows why, and the whole situation entered my mind again. I pretty much just felt empty inside, but then I started to think about my own testimony. I remembered an experience that we had in this lesson with Jason. He had told us that he prayed about the Book of Mormon every night and never recieved anything, and that when he read it he didn´t feel anything. I shared with him that if he would pray, and open his book of mormon to a random page and start reading, he would feel the truth. But that he had to be diligent and do it every day. As I was saying this, I was demonstrating it too. The page I fell on I only glanced at, but didn´t read it. But I knew what scripture was there, 2 Nephi 33:10 "And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good." As I remembered this experience, I knew that this only strengthened my testimony that much more that the Book of Mormon is true, and that this gospel is true. The feeling of emptiness left and I was filled with peace. 

I know that if we really strive to gain a testimony to know that this gospel is true, that we will receive and answer with study, prayer, and fasting. I´ve learned especially the power of fasting during this experience too, because I had been fasting to become a better person and missionary when all of this happened. I know the gospel is true, I know that our Heavenly Father loves us, and that He is with us every day. 

I love you, thank you for the emails every week. And sorry that I can´t always respond. I hope you have a great week, and that you can each think about your personal testimony of the gospel. 

Love, Hermana Leavitt