Week of miracles!!! And a little glimpse of the "Old Luke" :) ha ha ha!

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE when Luke starts out our Monday discussions with "We saw miracles this week!"  I love when he recognizes the Lord's hands in the work!

This week Luke and Elder Childs had a discussion with a couple named Jonathon and Milagos (sp?)  They are a young couple that is not married and they have a baby.  He is 21 and she is only 18!!!!  Wow that is young!  They started out and Jonathon was really interested but Milagos was not so much.  In fact she left during the discussion.  A little later she came back and they were in the middle of reading the Book of Mormon with Jonathon.  Suddenly she came in and joined in on the discussion.  Luke said it is another testament of the Book of Mormon!  She really opened up to them and as they were reading in 3 Nephi 18 they were talking about the sacrament and Sacrament meeting, they found out that her parents were taking the discussions but never got baptized because they weren't married.  So she had been to church.  I think they later got a little angry with some people from the church and stopped going.  As they got talking she made the realization that she needed to learn for herself and not go off her parent's opinion.  Also she said that there are imperfect people in all places.  So she started to listen and ask more and more questions.

It was a little tender mercy that she was already aware that they needed to be married in order to be baptized.  That's one obstacle that sometimes surprises people, but they are already aware.  Jonathon actually said that he would like to get married.  Great news!  

They both came to church!!!!  Milagos was actually a little bored, she's not used to the reverent type of church.  They went to visit them afterward and were a little nervous what they were going to say since Milagos said she was bored.  At first she said she had to leave to go to her parents house, so they thought they were just putting them off, but then she said she was going to call them and postpone because she had a lot of questions.  So they ended up staying an hour and a half!  Both Jonathon and Milagos are young and it's hard to keep their attention.  Luke likened it to the movie UP - "Squirrel!"  ha ha ha!  But they started out their questions with "How do you do weddings in your church!?"  and "How do I get baptized?"  So things are moving in the right direction and they have the goal of getting them married and ready for baptism by March 25th!  Exciting!  

They had some things to clear up, like Jonathon believing in reincarnation.  They taught him about the Spirit World.  And then they were talking about the Spirit and Jonathon said he has never felt the Spirit.  But then he went on to say how good he felt at church.  They helped him to realize that was the Spirit!  And then he said when they were having a discussion he felt really hot here, and pointed to his heart, again they helped him to recognize that was the Spirit!!!  I can't wait to hear how this young family progresses!

Another great couple they are teaching is Natalia and Gustavo.  Gustavo is in the funeral business and looks like a business man.  Luke said if he saw him on the street his first impression is that Gustavo wouldn't be interested.  But Gustavo is loving the discussions and the church!  They have a child with autism and so they have their trials with him.  But this week Gustavo went to an Elder's Quorum activity and LOVED it!  In fact on Sunday during Elder's Quorum he stood and thanked everyone and told them how welcome he felt and then shared that if they see he and his wife standing back a bit it is because they have this son with autism and apologized for some of his behaviors.  Everyone was so understanding and welcoming.  Gustavo really felt the Spirit!  And Natalia was reading from the Book of Mormon this week!  So they are having a great time teaching them and they are progressing so well!

It is so important to have members there at the discussions and this week they had 14 lessons with a member present!  That is amazing!  Luke said his perspective on the mission has really changed lately, now he feels so much love and charity in the work instead of treating it like a business and trying to get numbers.  What a great missionary!  

Of course he had some not so great moments too!  He had a discussion on the Law of Chastity that went bad.  The man was very defensive and accused Luke of judging him.  There was a kid that was with them that is leaving on his mission soon and after they got out of the discussion he said "I hope I don't ever have a discussion like that on my mission!"  Luke said "Oh you will!"  :) ha ha ha.  It's never fun to have to have the chastity discussion with people who live together and have for years.  It gets awkward.  But I'm proud of Luke for being bold and not candy coating the situation.

Another discussion that was not the greatest, the guy was so rude and was even on the phone during the discussion.  He was treating Luke and Elder Childs so disrespectfully.  Well that doesn't do well with Luke and Luke started to get defensive and a little bugged.  He said "The old Luke got control for a bit!"  ha ha ha!  Let's just say the Spirit was definitely not there and after Elder Childs had to tell Luke to "Chill, chill!"  ha ha ha!

So there's the good and the bad from the week!  Love this missionary of mine!