"O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh ... Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh, ... therefore I will lift up my voice to thee ... my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen." (2 Nephi 4: 34-35)

Monday, December 12, 2016

May 24, 2016
Hey Everybody!!

Alright this week was AWESOME!!!!!!!! until today and then it got a little less awesome. But still a great week!

This week was so great because we were able to see some incredible success among investigators and members. I want to share with you guys one success story!

So it all starts out that Sunday when my companion and I were going to an investigator's house to go to church with us when a little old lady passed us on the street, stopped us and said ``hey, I want you boys to do a family night at my house this week`` at first i was super confused, because i was thinking, ``who is she and why does she want me to go to her house??`` but after talking for just a bit I recognized her as a member of the ward. Her name is Irmã Francisca and she is 63 years old, but for here age she is flippin hilarious!! 

Later in the week, i think it was on Tuesday, we went to her house to plan with her when, and how she wants to do the family night. But she wasn´t there... BUT and this is a much better but, her granddaughter, Karita, who is inactive in the church was there!!! As we conversed with her at the gate I asked her if we could come in to share a small message with her. She happily accepted and let us in.

As we got to talking she shared with us why she has gone less active in the church but expressed the fact that she still had a testimony of the truth and even asked us to give her a blessing. We shared a spiritual message with and testified to her that there is nothing to lose when you keep the commandments. I could tell that she felt the spirit and liked the message.

That Saturday night we had a family night with Francisca, karita, her other granddaughters and a couple other members! and it was so good!! Then that Sunday she went to church and loved it. She said that all of the messages were for her!

Sunday afternoon we stopped by their house again to find all of them sleeping, other than Irmã Francisca. She talked to us and thanked about 100x for helping her granddaughter come to church. She said they had talked the night before and Karita expressed the fact that she knows she needs to go back to church and stay strong!

I can not tell you how sweet it was to her this little old lady thank us for simply doing our part. Also you guys have no idea how much I love Irmã francisca!!! She is the BEST!!

The week got slightly less awesome today when I found out I would be transfered... honestly it was like a knife in the heart. As much I love sweet little old Irmã Francisca I love this ward and the members here even more. The bishop here has treated me like his own brother and taught me so much. And I even have a black mom! But I know that in this new area there will be even more chances for me help the kingdom of God grow!!

Love,


Elder Rice