What a Wonderful Week!

Decorating for the Suisse's to come!!!

Hi Family and Friends!
This has been such an amazing and marvelous week!! We started it off by knocking some great doors and meeting a really cool man that accepted a Book of Mormon. I have truly come to love this book so much, especially this last week. My personal study of it has increased and caused my personal testimony to grow so much more. We can learn such great spiritual truths from this book!!  On Tuesday we visited a member's house to talk about the Book of Mormon and the Bible and how they are both needed to have the fullness of the gospel. The Bible did contain all of the fullness of the gospel when it was first recorded, but the Lord knew that it would be changed by men. So He had the Book of Mormon recorded at the same time in order to give us the plain and precious parts that would be lost. I love the truths that are found in both books and the lessons that we can learn and apply to help us :) After we met with an investigator who doesn't have a lot of purpose in their life and isn't sure what they should be doing. That is also why we have the Book of Mormon, so we can know how to live happy lives :) That night we taught english class where we shared a timeline of how the Book of Mormon and Bible go together.

On Wednesday we had two lessons with our progressing investigators and a member was so so awesome to help us in both! The first is a young man who loves learning the gospel. We talked about the word of wisdom and how that blesses us so much in this life. We will have the rest of eternity to look back on what we did with this short time here on earth, and we live it to the fullest by keeping God's commandments! It sounds kind of crazy, but it is the truth :) Keeping the word of wisdom allows the body to work correctly and feel the subtle promptings of the spirit because we are in control. He committed to stop drinking tea!!

We then had a lesson with Victoria... she is an amazing person. We talked about the gospel of jesus Christ, and she had such great questions. She pulled a verse out of the Book of Mormon talking about how those who do not repent shall be cursed, but we talked about how every single person will have a second chance to choose God. No matter how many times we sin, He will always forgive us if we are willing to repent. We have to want to change and accept God's help. Then He will always help us because His arms are always open. She is understanding the gospel so well, and her pure heart is so learning. That night we knocked on a less active's door and were warmly welcomed right in. It was like talking to an American mother right at home! It was so nice :) She was very loving and said she honsetly didn't know why she doesn't attend church. She told us of her conversion, and how she needs to ask her daughter if she would like to learn about the gospel. I was reminded of Lehi's dream and the need for the constant nourshment from the word of God in order to be safely at the feet of the Savior. That is the power of the Book of Mormon

On Thursday we were able to do service for a really old cute adorable Lithuanian lady. We helped her haul firewood to heat her house for the winter, so it was awesome work! We met with a really cool indian student who has no Christian background whatsoever. It made me really grateful for the testimony and relationship I have with my Savior and Redeemer. We were able to skype a member to talk about missionary work, and she is so amazing. She herself decided that she could pick up her brother in a different city and drive him to church on Sunday. She is such a great example to us. 

On Friday we met with a potential new investigator who turned out to be a Jehovah Witness. It was a really interesting experience! It made my testimony of the Book of Mormon grow so much. I know that through this book we can come to know our Savior and His gospel. It is how we gain a testimony of the truthfullness of the gospel. They wouldn't accept our book, but they were nice people :) That night we had a lesson with Victoria at our chinese member's house. It was so awesome! We talked about living prophets, and the member's testimony was so strong. She shared great experiences of following the words of the prophets and receiving blessings. It was a little hard for Victoria to understand how to tell a man called of God from fake prophets but we don't have to worry about that because we can ask God ourselves who His prophet is in these latter days. He will surely manifest the truth to us. Victoria explained to us how she has been reading the Book of Mormon in the mornings but that that has become a problem because she loses track of time and then is late to class. So now she reads at night, and we are totally okay with that. She gives great dedication to the Lord and has such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. It was amazing.

On Saturday we helped the members clean the church. Then we had district meeting with President and Sister Harding because they visited Klaipeda! I love them so very much. They are so wise and close to the spirit. The examples of their lives are full of service. That night they helped us in a lesson with Victoria about word of wisdom and paying tithing. We were pretty nervous for the lesson, but the spirit guided us through. She is living the word of wisdom but we knew she would probably have a hard time with tithing. Her pure heart, however, completely understood how needed it is to pay tithing to the Lord. It is an expression of our love for Him, and He blesses us tremendulously when we do keep His commandments. We can then make sacred covenants to live with our families forever in temples, houses of our God. She doesn't work right now, but said she would pay tithing if she had a job. She is so accepting of all of God's commandments. She is really excited to be living according to the Lord's way. We are so happy for how she listens to the spirit and obeys the Lord. On Sunday she came to church and loves getting along with the members. She is the best!!!! Her testimony is growing so much and she is truly receiving blessings in her life for living according to the gospel. We are so blessed to be able to watch her grow. She will be ready for baptism in December! Heavenly Father blessed me while translating Sister Harding's talk for the congregation. 

Being a missionary is the biggest blessing. I know that as we continually pray to the Lord throughout our entire day, He will answer us. He will always answer us. I know that we sometimes have to have bad experiences to learn to turn to the Lord for help. I know that through repentance we can truly always remember Christ and change into happier people. I feel so blessed to be able to preach and teach this restored gospel and see it bring light into people lives. We all have this opportunity each day as we share the gospel with others, that they may be happy too. Truly happy :) 

I love you all, Love Sese Dzerman

A member's house that we visited for lunch and a lesson. They live in Kretinga which is a little outside of Klaipeda.