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.
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