A great and a marvelous work

This week has been pretty miraculous. 

We had a really cool district meeting. Elder Gastelo wrote these slips with a Christlike attribute on them, we each took one and then taught the others about it. The Spirit was very powerful. We each happened to get the one that we most needed to learn about, it was muy lindo when we all got to share and be honest about our weaknesses and share our testimonies of Christ. 

Haha, guess what attribute I got? Patience. Woooeee, hahaha.

At the beginning of this traslado, the zone leaders had us do this cool activity where we had a prayer and asked the Lord how many people He had prepared to be baptized in our area for this traslado. Elder Bills and I both felt 5. Well, at this point in the traslado, that seems pretty impossible by our means- which I suppose it has always been. As in, it´s all only possible with the help of Him. We fought pretty hard to bring people to sacrament meeting this week. 

Earlier this week, the zone leaders proposed a special fast, they called it a ´fast of miracles.´ We would fast, asking the Lord for a specific miracle, and then by revelation we would choose a part of our area where we would just do street contacting. Elder Bills and I did it, the miracle we asked for was that we would be led to the people that the Lord had prepared to be baptized. Well, the first two people we talked to were really impressed because none of the evangelists had stopped to talk with them before because they were poor. The 3rd person yelled at us that he was anti-Christ. The fourth person, an 18 year old boy named German, had been reading and wanting to learn more of Christ. His mom had good experiences with the church 30 years ago. It was a very cool first lesson. We asked if he would pray to know if these things are true, and he said, ¨Ï already think it´s true. It just feels good.¨ But he said he would pray and ask.

Sunday, we had a ton of plans to bring a bunch of investigadores to church, they all fell through- except for with German. On the way to church, he said that he had prayed, and that when he asked if Joseph Smith was a prophet, he felt this inexplicable good, happy feeling like a fire in his chest.

We showed him the baptismal font and he asked if he could be baptized right then! Haha, German is a kapo. He has a lot of cool questions, and because of it he´s learned a lot in a very short amount of time. God really does answer prayers, and where there is faith there are also miracles, just as in the bible and all the holy scriptures.

German was the only one who we´ve been able to bring to church, but there´s a TON of other people that we´ve been working with, which is a huge blessing. It´s been a rollercoaster to see all of their progression, and sometimes digression. People of all different shapes and sizes and backgrounds and circumstances- but the gospel, the love of Jesus Christ for them, is the same for all of them.

I have found that the solution for every problem is found in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is my testimony, and in His name I give it. Amen.

Love, Leadership, y Humilidad - March 13, 2017

This week has been awesome and difficult. I wonder if those two things are ever truly separate, haha.

The doctor had me resting and taking this medicine for the concussion. I called Presidente Nuñez every other day to make sure I was doing alright- I was supposed to be resting mentally as well as physically and not stressing out. Well, one thing was stressing me out and it had to do with the music that was being listened to in the pension. I asked that we follow what´s in the mission manual and what Pres. Nuñez had told us as an inspired servant of the Lord, and was pretty reviled for it. It kinda has surprised me honestly. Anyways, Pres. Nuñez brought me in for a personal interview and told me that I could call him at any time if I needed, and pretty much told me to keep on following in trying to be obedient. He told me that as someone who was going to be a leader in the mission, that I needed to learn how to help and animar otras to do the work of the Señor. 

During the interview he didn´t say anything in reprimand, but I left feeling guilty- I realized that I hadn´t done all in my power to change the situation before going to him. From that moment on I decided I wouldn´t be made weak by the winds and anger of men, and I will always do all in my power instead of waiting for the Lord to save me by some miracle. 

The miracle happened when I did all in my power. Because for now, the rules for music are being followed. But the truth is it´s never easy. It shouldn´t always be a wrestle, but if it is, I know the Lord will give me the strength to go to bat for Him again and again. 

Haha, as for the WORK work of missionary work- This week we met with a bunch of people in an area we hadn´t explored before. I felt newfound courage, and we had a bunch of very successful street contacts. It has still been hard to bring people to the capilla, but little by little I see the Spirit of God growing in greater force here.

We have an antiguo investigador (I don´t know how the missionaries call that in english) that has received many of the lessons from many other missionaries, and they left him because he just wouldn´t make that final step of bautsimo. His name is Roberto. He´s really intelligent, and awesome, and has a huge understanding of many things about the gospel. But something he misunderstood (hopefully he understands better now) was faith. He sits there and tells us his testimony of God and Jesus Christ and how it´s obvious that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true, and then tells us that he has no faith... He said he was waiting until he has this undescribable faith(basically a perfect knowledge) before he got baptized. We taught very patiently and lovingly that faith is action, and we receive a real testimony of that something is true after we act, not before. He´s a smart guy, and we had to teach as if to a child- 

The gospel really is so simple. If it doesn´t feel simple, I invite you to focus on Christ, and somehow all the complicated stuff will become very simple. Not easy, mind you, simple. I have felt the Spirit helping me a lot- telling us very clearly when to go or when to stay and rest so I could recuperate, it´s built up my faith and my relationship with the Lord un monton.

By the way, for traslados I and Elder Bills and Elder Smith are staying. Elder Guirin se fue. Following are some scary pictures of when we were celebrating the year mark of my entrenador, Elder Bills, then a beautiful day we had, then pictures with the zona and the district, and then our pension.

By the way, we got Roberto to church. He´s actually asistido multiple times in the past. Hno. Atencio, the gospel principles teacher, was super awesome and... That lesson was inspired. I really think Roberto is a lot closer than he thinks. :)

Sorry if this letter is a little all over the place. I have been working on not thinking too much as express wishes from the President, haha.

On that note, I think I am pretty much healed at this point. Yeah, it´s been a process of faith and prayer, and I have no doubt it was impossible without the Lord´s help.

Elder Bills is a true friend. I am really grateful for him.

I love my Savior and am truly, truly grateful to know that He lives. 

Well, my letter will be better next week. See you guys!

​

March 13, 2017

You guys didn´t get my general one? I wrote a super long one. Maybe I should check to make sure if others got it or not, haha...

Thank you guys so much for the letters.

I´ve been trying to not take too much time at the cyber, that´s been a weakness of mine so far. I´m only supposed to use an hour and a half, and I have to pay for everything. I´m working to get everything I´m supposed to in.

I really love you guys. 

I ate a ton of meat this week- my very first asado! Elder Gastelo did it. He´s super awesome- mostly because he just helps us to laugh. Pretty simple guy, that´s cool. I hope he can help me out with the situation with Elder Smith. Some relationships all you can do is love and wait, do your best and let the Lord do the rest. 

I´m pretty sick right now, not too bad but I hope I get better. 

Working out has been fun. I mean, hard when your sick but other than that good.

Life is pretty much too easy, and yet really hard. Too easy because everything is provided for by God, really hard because I´m just little old me. But this is really great.

Love you guys. And I´m proud you´re my parents, I thought of that with Roberto. You guys really have been a huge spiritual strength and have taught me really well. I love you lots.

Mahalo and Aloha,

Elder Chock

Where Love is, there God is also - March 6, 2017

That title just seemed like a good thing to point out. Plus it´s a great song.

Sunday, in priesthood class, we were studying Chapter 5 of the teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, in that lesson it talks about the glorious nature of women and their importance in the plan of God... It was cool to watch these men of a wide range of ages all struggling to express their thoughts on something infinitely beautiful and sacred, it made me feel a lot less farther away from them in age, haha, or that is to say suddenly they all semed a lot younger.

I guess with that, it´s something that´s made me ponder and rejoice in a profound way... I am deeply grateful to the virtuous Women that have shaped my life and made me who I am. Truly, as said the prophet Gordon B. Hinckley, those that live up to their privileges cannot be constrained from the company of angels. I was going to say more about the subject, but I feel like it´s sacred enough if I just leave it, and for now bear my testimony His Daughters are truly crucial and necessary at every point in the Plan of Happiness authored by our Heavenly Father.

We´ve been working with a bunch of investigadores that have bautismo fechas, and we were really excited to finally get a bunch to the capilla, but at the end none of them arrived. That was a bummer. But a member that was menos activo named Josemaria that we´ve been working with (he´s been struggling with la palabra de sabiduria lately, or that is to say a certain addiction that harmed his activity in the church) has been coming consistently now, and it´s been a huge blessing to be there with him and see his progress. A truly wonderful and humble spirit. Struggles because his family is against him being a member, he´s pretty lonely. In his forties or so and doesn´t have any family or a career at this moment.

Anivel and Vanessa are a family that we´ve been working with. The first day, Anivel was cussing and saying a ton of pretty blasphemous things, whining about his life, saying that he only believes in himself and nothing more. We chatted for a while, Vanessa brought us empanadas, and then we left with a simple testimony. The next time, he was more calm, and had really earnest questions; they´ve accepted to be baptized the 8 of abril. It might be a bit of a wrestle getting them there, they drink and smoke and they said they´d never get married, but I think they´re closer than they think. :) A really earnest and sincere family, they´ve been really kind to us. We ate pig heads at their house last time, it was a bummer because it took a while for them to make it and then there wasn´t time for a lesson. My dad gave me some really awesome advice that sometimes we don´t have to give a powerful testimony or a special scripture but we just have to be there, I guess that was one of those moments, because we had planned a really cool lesson and we were going to talk to them about getting married (they are in their forties/fifties and both have a bunch of kids from other partnerships), and in the end we had to leave... Anivel drove us home, and on the way, while we were thanking him for the food and the ride, he thanked us, and said that we brought a ¨good wave¨ in his life. (Some things are better in castellano) It was a cool moment, and I felt peace knowing that even though things weren´t ideal, they knew we were siervos del Señor, or at least they were feeling the spirit changing their lives. They´re really wonderful.

Juan Acuña, with whom we had a really powerful first lesson in which he asked the difference between our church and others and then after we taught him, he said- What do I have to do to be baptized? has spoken with his family about the church and has been reading the Book of Mormon while he drives his truck. I hope we can help this guy keep progressing, he´s really awesome.

We have this family named the Claros, (there´s some girls our age that kinda flirt with us which is awkward) they´re boliviano and they all talk a ton, it´s kinda hard to keep the lesson focused but they´re sincere and want to be baptized. I think one of the brothers. Ricardo- he doesn´t talk as much but I think he´s gaining a testimony of these things.

We found this lady who is catholic, which usually means they tell us to go away; but we helped her and her son to throw away these nasty yard waste bags and then we talked a bit. She quit smoking with the help of the Church 20 yrs ago, which is awesome because she already has a good view of us, and knows that we teach truth because it works. Her name is Maria Antoinette.

We´re teaching this guy named Moises, and back in Bolivia he´d heard the missionaries before, but I guess they were yankees and he couldn´t understand them at all- he´s really open, and he gave a really sincere prayer asking to know if these things are true when we left.

One of the people we´re teaching, Roberto, has been receiving missionaries for quite a while... basically he says he doesn´t want to get baptized until he has faith, which is a little backwards. He´s really smart and he loves the United States and reading (he´s visited Utah before I believe, he speaks pretty good english). He has a strong testimony of God and Jesus Christ, and that the things we´re teaching are true, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that the Book of Mormon is true, but he just isn´t taking that last step yet. We keep trying to take smaller steps with him... We had a pretty cool lesson with him this last time, after sharing our testimonies he sat back and said, Wow. I want to see how you guys came to be like this. Can I visit your family? And I was like, sure! So he´s invited to Hawaii, just so you guys know. ;) I told him that my family is one of the grandest blessings that I´ve received from my Heavenly Father, but we made sure to tell him that the power of our testimonies that he was feeling was because of the Spirit and Jesus Christ, not because of the culture in which we were raised... We told him about General Conference, and he said, Well, I´ve never heard a prophet before. I think that could be the thing that helps him make that first step of faith. We could use your prayers.

We actually have a ton of people we´re working with and finding- the thing is, it´s been a huge challenge getting them to church, which is kinda the turning point. 

I love you all. And this work is really so fun. Oh, by the way, we were celebrating the birthday of Elder Colton (he and his companion have been struggling, we wanted to help motivate them) at the church today. We gave him a bunch of presents and stuff, and then we changed to go play soccer and left our stuff in the capilla, and a bunch of stuff was stolen... Pobre Elder Colton lost everything we´d given him and more. It was pretty sad. And Elder Gastelo lost all of his personal money. I was pretty lucky, they just took my sube (my card to use the busses) which was a bummer but not that bad. By the way, it says in the manual misional not to leave your stuff in the capilla, so, I guess lesson well learned. Sad though.

I love this missionary life. Actually, it´s not that different from the life I lived before, nor from the life that I want to live after my mission... My Savior has been changing me a lot, but... I guess what I´m trying to say is that every day, I continue to gain a stronger witness that this is the Truth, and I feel a stronger brightness of Hope and Love in Him. This is something that happened before and a process I´m committed to continue forevermore. In this life, when you live the gospel, your life might change a lot but yet never feels to unfamiliar... I guess I´m saying that the principles of Faith, Repentance, Hope, Love- basically, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, is constant. I have the same resources I´ve always had in my Father and my Savior. My love, honor, and respect for Them grows; I grow stronger in my obedience to them and service of my fellow man; but that same simple witness of the spirit is constant and sure, the same that has sustained me and freed me from the chains of death and hell until now, gives me enough strength to go forward rejoicing. 

I know that My Redeemer lives. I also know that Joseph Smith truly was a Prophet called of God. This truly is the greatest and the last dispensation, the final epoch or scroll, that was prophecied since the beginning, the time in preparation for the Second Coming, when the Great King Emmanuel, who is Jesus the Christ, will come and rule in righteousness. With that I close this letter in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I HIT MY HEAD - Feb 20, 2017

Haha, I want to cry and laugh really hard when I write that title. those who know me should laugh and not the other one, haha.

We had zone conference and I got to have a really cool interview with Presidente Nuñez. It was concentrated revelation packed into a few minutes- really powerful. I told him about some problems that were happening with other missionaries, and he told me to continue being a leader and not to give in to the easier thing, which is to do what everyone else is doing. He told me to read Doctrine and Covenants 121, and to listen to Jeffrey R. Holland to learn how to speak and reprender in a Christlike way. I left the zone conference feeling very inspired and invigorated and excited to do the work. I felt really good. The next day, we were about to leave the pension after studies in the afternoon (when the rest of Argentina takes the siesta) and I felt like something miraculous was coming; I told Elder Bills we better prepare ourselves for something really awesome. We walked around and did a lot of work, Elder Bills got an impression that we should change our plans and go to a different area to find a certain investigator. On the way, we saw this whole family sitting outside a kiosco sipping mate- we´d already talked to the mom and the daughter passing by, the mother had told us that she was raised Catholic but hadn´t been to church because she didn´t believe everything they taught. They were sitting outside and it was loud and there weren´t seats to fit us all around the table but we decided to sit ourselves down and have a lesson. It was as if the outside noise dimmed, the spirit made a nice little atmosphere around us as we testified of the glorious truths of the restoration. They accepted the light hungrily and earnestly, it was so exciting- we gave them all copies of El Libro de Mormón, they went around in a circle reading the challenge issued in Moroni capitulo 10... It was a very special, holy spirit that I, and I´m certain that they, felt. It was very exctiting as a missionary to get them all reading El Libro de Mormón. We found a very large family here in the plata, and I have a feeling that something very wondrous and special is beginning. At the end, they gave a humble and powerful prayer, and without us even mentioning a return appointment they prayed that ´these special servants whom Thou hast sent will come again, so we can have more wonderful experiences like this¨(you´re all welcome, I had to translate that from how it was in my mind). We set a return cita (appointment) for viernes (friday) and left.

Thursday, it was hot and because of miscommunication (Our celular fue robado (stolen)) we walked a long way to an almuerzo and they didn´t have it ready for us, we were walking back from that and I started to get this strange deja vu feeling, when suddenly I was sprawled out on the floor. Attack of the air conditioning box sticking out from the wall!... I hit my head pretty soundly, and apparently I didn´t talk to Elder Bills for a half hour after getting up. After a while I had to sit down and I was feeling pretty queasy, figured it was best just to get to the pension and rest. Well, I rested, and on viernes I was getting pretty excited to get out- Elder Bills gave me a blessing, I was pretty sure I´d be all healed and stuff. I got all our stuff ready to go, we were praying as we were going out the door, and the spirit said to me very clearly that ´No debemos ir.¨ (We shouldn´t go) 

Man, that was hard. We had a ton of super promising work, I pleaded with Heavenly Father, telling Him how deeply I wanted to get to work, but I accepted His will as being loving and wise and best for me and everyone else. The same thing happened on sabado(saturday). Basically we used this time to- well, my head hurt and I mostly slept. When I was awake and bored out of my mind we listened to talks. 

This time has been super milagroso para mi. Every moment I´ve had to submit my will to His, and I´ve received a whole ton of very special and sacred revelation.

You may be wondering if we communicated with anybody, well we tried (the other Elders broke their phone so nobody had one) and weren´t able to get in contact with anybody until last night. So Pres. y Hna. Nuñez are informed. I´ve been trying to get up and do things, not too crazy, I listen to the spirit (sometimes to make sure I take to sincere and earnest prayer) and that seems to work out. 

Actually this time has been very special. It´s been a great opportunity to develop more faith in Christ and become more like Him, believe it or not- a bunch of time and all I could really do was just pray in behalf of others, I gained a greater love and understanding of those around me. 

It´s kinda a miracle that I´m not having too big of a headache right now. It´s like, yesterday before church I felt great, once we got to church it hurt again- sometimes the Lord gives us just enough to do exactly what we need. 

I love the Lord. I feel strongly impressed to bear my testimony that HE LIVES, He lives who once was dead, He who suffered in Gethsemane, our Brother and our Savior, He lives. The chains of death and hell are no more; truly, because of Him we can live and receive newfound strength every day, He opened the way for us to overcome our fallen state and become as Gods through constant progress along the covenant pathway. Of Him were all the scriptures written, and all truth testifies that He lives.

I may not have very powerful words to express my love and veneration for that Son of God, but the testimony that I have received of Him gives me strength to overcome my pride (I believe anyone who has spent any amount of time with me should be impressed by the significance of that statement) and to endure every earthly pain or suffering- not only to endure it, but to continue rejoicing in my heart. My testimony of Jesus Christ is like a warm, invincible and peaceful happiness deep in the core of me- I have noticed that no matter what other spirits or influences surround me, no matter how dark or loud or hateful or destructive or seeping black, that this comforting assurance stays within me unmoved. 

I would urge you all to ponder your testimony of Christ, and then act as the Spirit suggests.

I also strongly encourage that you read D&C 121-123, the sections of revelation that the prophet Joseph Smith received in the ´temple´of Liberty Jail. These sections are filled with a heavenly and beautiful light.

¡BAUTISMO! Feb 13, 2017

As it always is, it was super stressful getting the baptism ready... But it was so wonderful. A re-lindo experience. Julia was baptized this Saturday. It was a really beautiful service, and a ton of the ward came to support her, including the setenta en nuestro barrio, the Krasnoselsky´s. She even got some of her family to come! She brought Marta, whom we were teaching but dropped us before, and then her bisnieto and his mom. The nieto, Albaro, was because he was walking by while we were teaching Julia (there´s always a ton of family there- now that Julia´s a member, looks like missionary work has opened up a bit more over in that neighborhood ;) ) and we kinda roped him in, hehe... We asked if he would help his bisabuela remember things, testified to him about his purpose, and he´s been helping us a lot. His mom came because she wanted to see what the heck her son was doing, haha- they really enjoyed the service and have asked us over to eat and teach them.

Missionary work is the best.

I had intercambios with the zone leaders this week- it was SUPER fun! Haha! Man, the missionary life is the most fun I´ve ever had. This investigator named Juan Bautista came out yelling at us that he was leaving home to Paraguay. We were like, uh, ok. Then he asked us if we wanted to talk to his wife. Innocently, we were like, yeah of course! We want to teach everyone! But then I guess he wanted us to back him up in a huge argument with his wife. She was crying and stuff, and he had all his bags packed and in the cart and everything. He started yelling at us and quoting the bible, saying his wife didn´t respect him- ¨Yo RESPETO a mi esposa. Yo RESPETO a mi esposa.¨He kept saying. I asked, ¨Do you love her?¨This sent him on another bible rage. It was pretty funny. Funny because he knows his drinking is a problem, and yet is super prideful about it when his wife asks him to stop. And he´s kinda drunk and very proud of his bible knowledge. 

Finally, I asked if he knew about the first and greatest commandment, to love God. He said yes and then went and changed the subject, arguing with Elder Pruner (zone leader) about that Jesus drank wine and so it was fine that he did. Finally he stopped and I asked again about the first and greatest commandment. Then, I told him clearly and firmly, ¨Usted esta adorando a su bebida.¨ There was a silence. Then all he could say was, ¨Eso es la verdad. Eso es la verdad. Asi es.¨ I couldn´t stop smiling. Haha, he said to my companion that I had a hard face like a rock, that I was like another Paraguayan because of how I understood him and spoke to him. Eh, just listening to the spirit is all, haha. 

Anyways, we continued to talk about Christ, and he tried to prove us on some things, and we just answered very simply. He kept saying things like (and everybody says this, I don´t know why they get so hung up on this thing) What´s the real name of God? And we got to this point where we simply said that Jehová is Jesucristo antes de nacer. At this he exploded- saying, That´s exactly what I found in the scriptures! But NOBODY knows it! Then he started going on about how the testigos and evangelicas and all those churches change the bible and stuff. It was hilarious, because we were like- yep. That´s what we came to talk to you about actually. Haha- at one point he said, Äsi me voy a unirme a su iglesia. Asi me voy a unirme a su iglesia. It was really quite the hilarious experience, I wish it had been recorded. He is 60 years old and has been preparing to bible bash us for about that long, and all that we had to do to confound him at every point was listen to the Holy Ghost. Pretty sure one of the funnest days I´ve had, that day haha. He asked if he could serve a mission like us if he joined, haha. If I wasn´t a missionary, I don´t know how easily I would respond to a drunk and angry man, but with the Spirit it´s actually no problem at all.

Anyways, funny how all we had to do was talk about Jesus Christ, and his marriage was saved. Made me think, because we didn´t even talk about marriage. A knowledge of Jesus Christ is the only thing that truly changes our persons, the one thing that everybody needs in whatever situation they´re in.

We threw together a musical number this last sunday, and I played the piano and everybody was overimpressed, it was pretty cool. Julia was confirmed and came to class and went to relief society, all awesome stuff. I´m out of time. Love you guys!

The district, baptism, general us being epic pictures, and a noche de hogar that the members did for Julia that was way extensive and super awesome. Members are way awesome. You members better be awesome to the missionaries.