Closest I'm Getting to America

April 8, 2019

 First off hope yall had a great conference this weekend!! We're not watching it here until the 21st but according to the coverage you can watch it here.  lds.org

Brother Soka from Herriman!

It seemed pretty good ;) Last week we had a baptism for 3 of our amis that we have been teaching! The Nigerian woman, Seur Augustine, that I've talked about in the past got baptized! After the baptism the next day I asked her how she liked it. She said not at all because it wasn't in a river and without a river our sins can't get "washed away". She was convinced that the sins were still with her because it was in standing water so I tried to explain to her that it is symbolic. She didn't really understand so I finally just told her that when they pulled the plug the sins went down the drain so they got washed away anyways and that made her happier. Phew! Besides that, the baptism went super good!

Family Home Evening

Felt like I was back in America this week after meeting 3 people from America!! AND get this! This one guy walked into our ward building and was speaking English (in a Ghanian accent), so we started talking to him. He said he works for the church and is from Utah. I asked him where. He said HERRIMAN, Utah!! I literally flipped. His name is Brother Soka and he said he lives in the Mountain View Stake! So, shout out to his stake president, President Peterson and Bishop Love! Next, we walked into a gas station and there was this young looking guy sitting there. I started talking to him in French thinking he was French and he said he was from Texas! He came here to help start a Baptist church here with his Togolais friend he met at bible school in Tennessee and has been here for 8 months. He was a pretty cool guy. I started asking about what he knew about our church. He said he had studied it in bible school and something about Joseph Smith and gold plates. I explained the whole first vision again and why there even was a restoration. Haha, suddenly friendly dude was gone and he started trying to attack the Book of Mormon. We had a good long talk about the need for the Book of Mormon and why it is important and at the end I told him that, like we read in Matt:8, If we ever want to know if a prophet is real or not, we have to "taste of their fruits". I bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and that it is the fruit of the restoration. I told him that if he ever wants to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet, if our church is true, if Jesus Christ is the savior of the world and visited other folds, and the true doctrine of Christ, he has to read the Book of Mormon and by the power of the holy Ghost he can know if it's true.

 Literally just after this we taught this lady who had lived in the Arizona for 4 years and had learned English really good. Once again, she was ok with everything about our message, except the Book of Mormon and the restoration. Once again, we taught why it was important and that it is the key stone of our religion. I know that that is true, that the Book of Mormon IS the keystone of our religion and that when men want to attack the church, they will attack the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, Apostasy, Christ's Church, Priesthood, Plan of salvation, you name it. It all comes down to the testimony of the Book of Mormon. Luckily for us this witness won't come through man, but by God himself, through the power of the Holy Ghost. From the one person who cannot lie, or deceive, but will tell us the 100% truth. So, when you have a question that holds the strings of your salvation, don't turn to man but turn to the One who gives salvation, and you won't ever be wrong. Have a great week! 

Love y'all!

Elder Briggs 

This advertisement was called "4-day prophetic invasion". Haha, my favorite one is the special prayers... but only for businessmen 🤔 hmm