This was a wonderful week. One of our investigators got baptized on Saturday, and we had various positive experiences throughout the week. Once we were walking with a member trying to chase down a young man in the ward to remind him of an activity and ask for a referral. My companion stopped at the door of an investigator we haven't seen for a while and knocked, letting the young man get out of our sights. However, the investigator opened the door and we had a wonderfully spiritual lesson for the first time in a while, to the point where he said he would be willing to be baptized as he came to know the things we taught were true. I believe it was a pivotal and necessary lesson in his spiritual growth, and I'm sure my companion was inspired to knock on the door.
With the increase in contacts we're doing, I've tried to spend a little bit more time with our area map, praying over where we should go. I felt prompted to go to a certain alley near the limit of our area. We went, and a young man there opened the door and let us speak to him in the moment. Inside, he asked profound questions and accepted The Book of Mormon. I felt as though we could trust him to just genuinely explore it this time around before we gave him a specific reading. The next day we dropped by again, and he practically recited the testimony of Joseph Smith from memory, knowing all the details and having a great many more deep questions for us. Unfortunately, he'll be traveling to Lima for a few weeks.
We also did divisions with a companionship that's struggling a bit in the zone. One is very new, and I went with him in our area. Not only did we have a miraculous day full of lessons and new investigators, but he also overcame his fear of talking with people on the street and started doing it for himself with enthusiasm by the end of the day. It was, all in all, a good week.
I was studying this week a little about repentance. I was thinking about the parable of the one lost sheep, and how the shepherd left the ninety-nine to find him. I thought perhaps the lost sheep had to travel in rain, across thorns and thistles in his path, through a river, and past rocky hills, before it finally collapsed in despair. It struck me that the shepherd as well would have to walk the same path in order to reach the lamb...in rain, across thorns and thistles, through a river, and past rocky hills. Our Shepherd only had one way to reach and rescue us, and that was to walk the same roads we walked on...through the same pain. For such, He performed the Atonement, suffering for our sins and dying. I know He is very familiar with our own paths, and will help us come back to the fold.