Building this City November 9, 2026
MUY BUENOS TARDES TODOS!!!
Buckle up this is a fun one!
First of all IRVIN GOT BAPTIZED!!!! All of your prayers totally worked!!! And once upon a time for his baptism we got to the church to fill the font about an hour before his baptism... because if the font is working properly then thats the perfect amount of time... but the font was not working properly... so it took 3 hours. But thats okay! That's 3 hours longer for Irvin to get to know the ward a little better! It was quite the adventure! Last time the font didn't work for the Elders' baptism we filled it with faith, prayer, and buckets of water.
Irvin has been prepared for this for a long long time. We found him because we gave him a folleto in the street and then he texted US!!! He came to church every week since then. During his first lesson we placed a fecha. Y'all should have seen how excited he got when we told him he could hold the priesthood and bless his family with it. He LOVES the Plan of Salvation and he is so excited to got to the temple (already recommended) with the Elders Quorum super soon. It was a really fantastic baptism. Now pray that we can teach his 11 year old daughter soon and he can baptize her himself. (He also LOVED it when we told him he could do that!)
MORE!
We had intercambios and I got to hang with Hermana Hirshi again! I love that girl so so much. Last time I went to her area I met one of her AMAZING converts. We got to go back to her house and I got to see her again. We had plans that we were unsure about to teach her about the temple. But then we walked in, sat down, and she asked US about the temple so we knew this was exactly what we needed to talk about. We showed her a little video to explain it better (than two gringas doing their best) and the Spirit reminded me that I KNOW WHERE IT TALKS ABOUT BAPTISMS FOR THE DEAD IN THE BIBLE!!! So the verses were in my hands by the time the video ended. Then she asked:
"Does it talk about baptisms for the dead in the Bible or the Book of Mormon?"
THE SPIRIT KNOWS EVERYTHING! We got to share the verses and now she wants to find her family names and go to the temple next week!!! ARE WE JOKING?!!?!
Because the Spirit helped us... 5 more Spirits have the opportunity to make covenants! JUST THIS WEEK!!!
You know what is just the cutest darndest thing on planet earth? A PRIMARY PROGRAM! There is nothing like watching a bunch of chiquitos sing their lil hearts out and share their testimonies and watching all their parents sob. And let me tell you... we work... every day... the Elders too... to invite people to our ward on Sunday. Yesterday capilla was FULL to the BRIM!!! And not because of us, or the Elders, but because these babies have testimonies to share. It was incredible!
Oh BTW I can teach men again 👍 but I still get to keep all the Elder's amazing conversas! Basically I'm spoiled rotten. What else is new?!
Okay time to talk-about-the-libro!
I would absolutely love everyone to read Alma 48 and 49 and to have a great time while doing it! Que gozoso!
Content of the scriptures is awesome, context with change your life though so here's some context⬇️
Amalickiah sucks. He's not even a punk he's just straight up nuts and a power hungry servant of Satan. He's the worst. He was stirring up all the people around him to anger against the Nephites so they'd wanna help him destroy them. Good freaking luck with that. At the exact same time he was hardening hearts and blinding some minds CAPTAIN FREAKING MORONI was ministering to his people. He was strengthening them in their faith, they fortified their cities, they all took care of each other. The Lamanites were fighting cuz their king manipulated them. The Nephities were defending their wives and their children and their right to freely worship Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. So obviously it doesn't work out that well for the Lamanites. Big surprise!
Then Alma 49?!?!?! Y'all remember Ammonihah that was leveled to literally dust by the Lamanites in Alma 16? Yeah its back and better than ever now. Absolutely fortified. Freaking ready to kick some Lamanite butt. The Lamanites were FLABBERGASTED to find their old playground was now a fortress. So as an effort to save their lives and to not waste their energy they tried to run their lil booties over to the city of Noah cuz that city is little and weak and would be easy to conquer real fast right? Tampoco. Not just Ammonihah was built up and supported but every neighboring city as well. Lamanites had a terrible day. 2ish chapters after this it got to the point that every time the Lamanites came in contact with Moroni they were absolutely terrified for their lives. Moroni was really really good at his job.
Why?
What is the lesson here yall? There's many. If you can think of one then please share it with me. These are my thoughts here.
Sometimes life feels like Alma 16. We're down or maybe our faith is struggling and it feels as though the Lamanites tear us down in one day and the world is gonna end. But then we sanctify ourselves. We built up our testimonies a bit. We build up our walls of faith so high that the Lamanites cannot even cast their stones over it.
But that's not all.
There's other cities here. Satan is trying to take down all of us. We need to sanctify and fortify ourselves AND the people around us. The Lord is hastening His work. We are building the Kingdom of God here people! You can get real big muscles by helping others build up their walls of faith. It is so time. Right now. Invite your friends to church. Hit your knees. Open your Book of Mormon and read that thing. If you have a ministering assignment go make that person your bestest friend. Satan wants to tear down us all... don't leave the neighboring cities helpless.
God loves you enough that Christ came to help you through this life and there's 2 records of it. Open your scriptures. Don't forget why you're here. You chose Him once. Choose Him again.
You are so loved! Song next week probably!
-Hermana Anderson❤️