Sunday, November 1, 2009

The Importance of Repentance and Living The Gospel of Jesus Christ

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (late, I know..)

Well, the first week of a new transfer...

We had a Halloween party last Saturday. About 15 people showed up and we explained what halloween is, carved pumpkins, played games and ate food. It was great! Really relaxed - it's always like that in the small town branches.

The other day, my companion and I were walking and were stopped by a guy who asked us what God's (or the "Lord's") real name is. We immediately knew that he was a member of the Jehovah's Witness church. We let him talk to us for a while and then tried to suggest that Christ's name being Jesus or Jehovah doesn't really matter (both are correct) but living the Gospel of Christ is what we need to be doing on earth. In the end, he was nice (he might have been drunk) and gave us a pamphlet (he wouldn't accept ours).

Funny, yesterday we were stopped by a Jehovah's Witness woman who told us that God will cut off any who don't believe in Him. I asked her what we need to do to return to Heavenly Father. She replied that we need to study the Jehovah's Witness special Bible translation. I tried to talk about Faith, Repentance, Baptism etc., and then she said she had no time and left.

I like to have a very very very open mind when talking to other missionary-type people, but it's hard sometimes.

Church was great! Mr. Jung couldn't make it to church but the mother of the young man going to BYU (who asked about repentance) did. We had a great Gospel Principles class where our wise old member beautifully explained repentance and answered her questions - it was great. Translating for our foreign member is hard, but it makes me focus on what's being said in the meetings.

We also contacted a referral from Salt Lake. It turned out to be two 28 year old girls working at a hair shop close to our house. One of them visited Temple Square on a NuSkin business trip and said she "felt good" and felt like we were "different from other Christian churches where she feels a lot of negativity". They were funny and we hope to meet again.

All in all, a good week....The Church is true! Love, Elder Bocchino

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