Elder Michael Scott Mathieu: Letters and Photos.....

Monday, Oct 4, 2010

My companion Elder Christensen is doing well. Living with the Bishop is great! That is so cool that our family sealings went so well! Wow!!! It made me so happy and I am super grateful for that!

This week we have been doing a lot of referral lessons with the ward during their 40-day fast. We also had some good appointments with our investigators. We taught Stefan and he has a baptismal date of Oct. 30th! He also got to watch General Conference.

We had our final lesson with Li. She is returning to China. She said that she would get baptized without hesitation if she believed in God. She is a very good person. Her fellow interns are going out to celebrate their education completion by drinking. We ask if she was going to as well. She said that she doesn’t drink and that it is a stupid thing to do. We gave her the information for the Mission Office in Hong Kong if she gets the job in Hong Kong. She is taking the Book of Mormon with her to China. Her mom is a Christian and who knows. All we can do now is pray.

We had another lesson with Ronga. He is still struggling to believe the true nature of God. We really explained it and so did Brother Lenox who came with us. Ronga said that he is going to ponder over what we said and he loves reading the BOM. It is getting better and better.

We also taught Aaron again. We helped him to remember the awesome times he had at Youth Conference and in church as a kid. Then we reviewed the Law of Chastity. He struggles with girls and drinking. But, he had put all the booze away and is repenting and reading and praying. He is making a great change. He knows that he needs to follow all the commandments of God.

We also taught Stephanie and she is doing a lot better. She said that she is seeing something changing in her. She said that there is a small seed of faith growing in her. This is one amazing leap for her!

Also the Zone Conference was great! We really learned how better to share the Book of Mormon. We also taught Brother Balleza's brother and wife again. They are doing well. She watched General Conference and loved it. She said that she believes every thing that they say. She is really interested in the Plan of Salvation. She is going to read and pray about the BOM. Her husband is not as ready to do so. But, it is impacting him a lot.

General Conference was great. I am going to work on being more grateful for all the wonderful things that Heavenly Father has given to me. And, I am going to work on pride. I am getting better and better on it, but it is not concord yet.

Elder Christensen and me with Aaron

Monday, Sept 27, 2010

This week was very good. The Zone Leader Conference was great and very inspiring. We didn’t have that much success this week until Sunday. That is when the magic happened! I had been fasting for the Lord to allow me to have the privilege of bringing another soul to him before I end my service. And, the ward has been doing a 40-day fast for missionary work. So, we went over to a referral lesson with the Baileza family on the day that they fasted. They are from the Philippines and we had a great spiritual lesson with them last week.

Well, Brother Baileza invited us and his brother and sister-in-law over to dinner yesterday. We all ate and had a great time talking, and the food was so good! Brother Baileza, at the end of the dinner, shared why we were there, and how the gospel has changed his life, and all the blessings that his family has received. He shared how he wants them to have the gospel in their lives and be able to have the same blessings his family has experienced. They agreed to listen to us.

We shared with them the restoration. We started with a hymn, and the daughter played it on the violin. It was a great start. We then bore testimony and taught the lesson. His brother's wife shared a very sacred experience with us. She had felt a very strong feeling when she was a child taking Communion for the first time. We explained that was the Spirit and that if she would read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it were true, she would have the same feeling come over her. She accepted and was excited to read. She was also excited to watch Conference and see the Prophet! She said that she never knew that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ, and that he translated the Book of Mormon. They committed to meet with us again!!!! It was so very cool. It was such an amazing immediate answer to the fast that I was having!

We also had a great testimony meeting in church. The only weird thing is that this was my last Fast and Testimony meeting as a full-time Missionary! I was very sad to experience that. But, it has to happen.