Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Another Baptism, Loving the Work!

Good morning to all!                  23 January 2012
           This week we had a Zone Conference in St. George. It is still weird for me to go down there for these things because of having served in St. George. The Zone Conference was about going back to the basics and understanding our purpose as missionaries. I think this will help our mission as a whole and we will be able to continue moving forward.
      The night after Zone Conference I had a pretty awesome experience. We had an extra companion for the night, Elder Ayala. His companion was in a different area, so we got the privilege of having him with us. The appointment in our area was pretty terrible, but the one lesson that we had for Elder Ayala's area was amazing. Some background for the story is that Elder Ayala has only been out for 4 weeks in the field. He is struggling to learn English, but has a great heart. This lesson we had was with a girl that is here studying from Peru, thus the lesson was in Spanish. It was going so great and we kept talking about the things that she needs to do in her life to come closer to Jesus Christ, and then Elder Ayala invites her to be baptized. She just kind of looks at him and says, "Ya, I was actually thinking about that a lot today. I want to do it!" When Elder Ayala heard this, he just lit up like a little kid on Christmas Day. It was so nice to see that joy and excitement that comes when a missionary is first out on his mission and is experiencing all of these things for the first time. I feel I still have excitement for the work and inviting people to be baptized, but I don’t have that same joy I would if I was first out. It is good to remember how great it is to be a servant of the Lord and how sacred this work really is. It was a good reminder to me that I can learn things from missionaries that do not have much experience in the mission.
       One miracle we had this week was with a lady named Mary Lou. She said she had been reading in the Book of Mormon this week and every time that she read, she got this feeling that she needed to be baptized. We were shocked at this statement and excited at the same time. We talked with her about the Holy Ghost and how that gives us feelings and how He gives us these thoughts to act upon. So she actually came to church this week and during Sacrament Meeting, she was just crying because of the messages that were being shared. I am so grateful for the Spirit and how that can change the hearts of anyone! We are hoping that we can set a baptismal date with her this week.
Went inside with rain, came out to a blizzard!
Update on the Weather – after the Winter storm hit the Northwest, we asked Chad if he was also THAWING OUT? Well we are not really thawing out down here in Utah. We are just catching the start of the storm. It hit here on Saturday pretty hard. We stopped by the church to make some copies. It was raining when we went in but when we came out, it was a blizzard. SEE ATTACHED PICTURE. So that was just the beginning, today it is still cold and it is supposed to snow. Hopefully it doesn’t get too bad, but whatever the weather, the work will go on.
      I feel that I am still becoming more bold in my missionary work. I feel I have turned the corner and am really understanding what I am supposed to do as a missionary and why this is so important. I feel that sometimes I have come off as rude to some people, but why present something that is some important with lightness of heart? This is eternal salvation! It isn’t something to be taken lightly, and for that reason, I am out working hard and helping others to understand how they can gain eternal life. I wrote last week about Kathy's baptism, well we had her confirmation yesterday. She is such an awesome convert! She is reading the Book of Mormon every night and is really taking these changes in stride. I look forward to big things from her in the future. We finally had another lesson with Cris after 2 weeks. Even after two weeks, I still have so much love for that man. I feel that he is so close to the point that he needs to reach. He has a testimony, but he just needs it to be confirmed by the Holy Ghost. Once he prays specifically for these things, he will be ready. I just want the best for him so bad.
      This week ended on a weird note. We have just been "dropping" a lot of people this week. If they aren’t sincere or want to do anything, we are leaving them to find people who are really prepared for this message. I think it will be an act of faith, but we are ready for the work that lies ahead of us.
      NEWS FROM HOME: Chad has been asking his father for information on his mission in Hawaii.  He has been hesitant because Chad’s experiences seem to be extraordinary.  Well Mom, tell Pops that his experiences on his mission aren’t less then mine. I just want to know what has happened on his mission and how I can learn from those things. He is hearing about my mission, so I want to hear about his too. Oh, and Mom, that goes for you too! Well I am glad that you had a good visit with Bethany and Nick. Nick is a good guy, he just has to break the barrier and it will be good from there. When I worked with him, it took a few days, but we finally broke the ice and he would talk to me. (I mentioned that Bethany said she misses Chad and can’t wait to try and corrupt him again!)  Well tell Bethany that she can try and corrupt me, but I don’t think it will be that easy anymore. Oh and I did get your package Mom. I sent home the sweaters just because they were sleeveless and I don’t really wear those that much. And I really like the new one that you sent me, but we aren’t allowed to wear in sweaters that have designs on them. They need to be solid, conservative colors. So I like it, but can’t wear it. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for the white shirts and the ties. I appreciate them both. Thank you for the emails and the support. I am extremely grateful to have that support from you and everyone at home! Have a good week and remember that the Lord is always there for us!      Live it, Love it, Preach it!   de la vina del Senor!    ELDER D

No comments: