Hermana Ada Maria Daugs: Hunger and thirst after righteousness

Large Plates

Spanish zone conference, an exchange with Sister Torres, and Graciela & Juseli's baptism!!

Wow, what a week! I've got a lot to write about, so let's just jump right into it.

Tuesday was the Spanish Zone Conference! It was really cool because we did as much of it in Spanish as possible. Sister Schmeil even gave her training in Spanish! We were supposed to give a training too, but I got pulled out out Zone Conference to take someone to the airport. I heard that Sister Peterson and the Zone Leaders did well, though! That's pretty much all I have to say about zone conference because honestly I missed like half of it haha. That's ok though!

After Zone Conference, we started our exchange with Sister Torres and Sister Parmley. Me and Sister Torres headed out from there to meet up with Ines and her family because it was her birthday! We met at Kobe, and met me just say--wow. That was quite the experience. Kobe is one of those Japanese Steakhouse places where they cook at your table. We had so much fun, and ate so much food. If I were more wealthy I would be back there all the time.

The next day, we did a bunch of finding and had another lesson with our friend Dana. She's our Muslim friend, I think I've writte about her before. She's loving the Book of Mormon! We sat down with her this week and just talked about Jesus. She seems more and more open to Christianity every time we go over. I think she could really grow and progress, but it's definitely going to take some time. She really loves God, and she sees that we do too, and we really love Jesus. She said she wants to know what it feels like to have that love for both of them. I have full faith that if she keeps reading in the Book of Mormon with true intention, it's going to help her see that Jesus Christ really is her Savior. That's the point of the Book of Mormon, is it not? To testify of Jesus Christ.

On Thursday we had a good lesson with Rosalba!! We didn't meet with her last week because she was super sick & had family in town. But, when we started talking with her again this week she told us she had shared what she has been learning with her mom! Everyone please pray that she can recognize that she really is ready to be baptized! And that she can feel more comfortable at church!

We also had a Relief Society Thanksgiving party! Graciela, Juseli, and Dana all came and loved it. We all just ate soup and bread and desserts while we mingled amongst one another. Holy moly Latinos know how to make soup. It was so good for Graciela and Juseli to make a few more friends before their baptism, and for Dana to learn about just how awesome the Relief Society is!!

As for Saturday, we started off with service at 4Roots with the Language Zone, got a bike from a member, got dinner at a place owned by the founders of 4Roots (not on purpose!), and most importantly: Graciela and Juseli got Baptized!!

It was such a sweet experience. They brought Juselis 2 sons, Abraham and Pablo. Abraham is about 2, so he's kind of crazy but man oh man he is so cute. He loved the songs we sang and he gave lots of hugs and blew kisses to everyone when they were leaving. Pablo is 15, and he came to support his mom and grandma in their decision to be baptized! After their baptism, Juseli got up to bear her testimony and she just started crying because she was so grateful she had found the Church and the Gospel. I love em both so much!

Small Plates

Hunger and thirst after righteousness

This week in Come, Follow Me, you find this verse:

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord."

This was in reference to the Great Apostasy, but it also applies to the individual. Sometimes I think we, as members of the Church, forget that although the Great Apostasy has ended, many people are still in apostasy. "For there are many yet on the earth … who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it."

There are people who are still experiencing this famine. I like the way Amos puts it. Famine. I'm fairly certain that no one on this email list has ever experienced true famine. I know I certainly haven't. Famine is more than hunger. It's even more than starvation. It's feeling hungry, and looking around you to find that there is no food in sight to fill you. It's hopeless hunger.

It's a sobering thought.

Not only are there people out there who are spiritually hungry, but they don't even know what to do about it. They're lost. They're in a famine of hearing the words of God.

But, because we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and a Savior who knows us, we can rest assured that our brothers and sisters here on this earth do not have to remain in such a state for long.

The Savior Himself taught (and promised), "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."

They shall be filled.

Shall is a bold word, you know. That's a promise. And I'm not talking about a handshake, or a pinky promise. No, not even a Boy Scout "on my honor" kind of promise. That is our very own Savior, guaranteeing that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.

Graciela and Juseli were some of those people. They hungered for truth, and it showed. Sometimes you can't tell how hungry a person is until after you give them food. For example, when we went to Kobe on Tuesday, we were all chatting and enjoying each other's company and the show the chef was putting on. But, as soon as he was throwing mountains of fried rice on our plates, you could tell who was most hungry. Some of us ate a bite here, and a bite there, and watched the Chef as he continued to cook. Others devoured that food like they hadn't eaten in years. Their plates were clean by the time the chef was ready to load us up with more.

Graciela and Juseli soaked in our every word. They studied on their own. They took notes. And every time we returned, they were ready for more. These women were ready for the gospel. They hungered for so long. And just as the Savior promised, they were filled.

You know what the beautiful thing about all this is? At this kind of meal, there are always leftovers. And not the kind of leftovers that can be contained in a singular flimsy styrofoam box. No. Because, as good as Kobe was, this isn't Kobe. This is so much better. We're talking about the Bread of Life here. The Living Water. We're talking about He who fed five thousand with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes, and had 12 baskets of leftovers.

The gospel of Jesus Christ isn't some Japanese steakhouse you go to to feel filled for a while. Our Savior has promised that, "whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

There is no limit on the level to which we can be filled. We must partake of His love, and His grace, and His gospel every day. That's why we go to church every week: to be filled again by the Sacrament and everything it represents.

There is also no limit on how many people can be filled. Even if there were six thousand people in the multitude instead of five, the 5 loaves and 2 fishes still would have been enough.

This gospel is for everyone. All of us who hunger shall be filled. That includes those of us firm in the faith, and those of us who have long since lost that faith. It includes those who for a while may have thought they didn't need to be fed by Him, that they could satisfy their hunger elsewhere. And it especially includes those who are absolutely famished and know not where to find nourishment.

On Sunday, we watched Graciela and Juseli receive the Holy Ghost. Our friend Franci came to church with us, too. As she sat next to me on the pew, she leaned over and said, "I've felt for a long time that I've been missing something. I think this might be it."

It's as if she had said:

I see them up there, Graciela and Juseli. I see that they were hungry, and now they are filled.

But I'm hungry, too.