Mah dearest friends n family n
stuff,
I hope you have all enjoyed your
holidays and eaten far too much candy and made some good memories. I sure
have!
LECCION DE LA SEMANA: DON´T DO WHAT
DOESN´T WORK. This week, I went on exchanges for the first time. I went with
one of our zone leaders, E. Walch, who also happens to be a gringo. It was
probably one of the most enlightening experiences of the mission so far! I
learned that there are many MANY different kinds of missionaries and that all
are valid so long as they take the necessary steps to have the spirit with them
always.
In every area, you need to adapt.
Every area has it´s strengths and weaknesses. E. Walch explained to me that if
you spend your time repeatedly doing things that don´t work hoping that
eventually they will, then you are embodying the definition of crazy. That
reminded me of my dad.
It´s true, though, in all aspects of
life. We can´t expect results if we fall into habits that don´t bring results.
The hard part is deliberately changing our behavior to experiment and find the
best methods to accomplish what we need to accomplish. That, and constantly
keeping track of the things that do and don´t work (because often times, we
don´t even realize that we have bad habits).
-------
While on exchanges, we went to a
certain house to follow up with a street-contact. There was a man there (family
of the contact), and we talked for a while. He wasn´t that interested, but we
talked until his family (and the original contact) arrived, and they brought a
TON of energy and excitement to the conversation!! Everybody was out on the
patio listening attentively, asking questions, and accepting committments. They
even brought us cheesecake. It felt like a sermon on the mount sorta deal. XD
Miguel left us :( That´s right, we
didn´t leave him - he left us. He saw us passing by one evening and told us to
come inside for a few minutes, in which he explained that he understands our
purpose and the sacredness of baptism, but it´s not something he is prepared to
do at this point in his life. He told us that we should dedicate our time to
others and continue sharing what we know. It was pretty sad, because I saw his
Book of Mormon and it´s marked all the way up to Moroni 10 - he really studied
that thing, but I suppose this just isn´t his time. We´re continuing to pray
for him and we plan to pass by once in a while to share brief messages and see
how he´s doing.
On the other hand, we passed by
Cristina´s house again. She wasn´t there, but her mom was, and she told us to
come back on Tuesday. She said she was going to invite her friends and family
to listen to us!! Woohoo! We´ve got high hopes for tomorrow. Also, the last
time, I accidentally left my Bible in their house, and Cristina´s mom told us
that Cristina´s been reading it intently! She really does believe that we´ve
come into her life for a purpose - I only hope and pray that we can live up to
that responsibility.
We got the news about transfers,
annnnnnd IM STAYING HERE WOOOOO!! I´m pretty happy about that, actually,
because of the latest promising investigators... also, I got permission to have
a coding class with some interested youth, so that´s something I can attempt
during these six weeks if they continue to be interested.
New Year´s was great! We had to be
in the house by 6:00, but that was great because it meant time to write, read,
study, and sleep. Truth be told, though, we didn´t sleep that much on New
Year´s. The fireworks were INSANELY loud and, due to the circumstances in our
house, we have to have the window open to hang both of our hammocks... also,
everybody here likes to blast music on their giant speakers XD.
BISHOP MOFFAT VISITED ME!!! WOO!!
It was such a great surprise. He delivered my Christmas package (THANK YOU
FAMILY I LOVE YOU YOU´RE THE BEST) and gave me a big hug and it just awesome.
My only regret is that I forgot to get a picture!!
That´s it for this week, guys.
Unfortunately, I can´t send photos this time because we´re in a cafe where the
machines don´t have SD slots and it´s not recognizing my USB cord..... GRR.
Next time.
I love all of you! I can tell you
that there´s no greater blessing in our lives than the Gospel. Embrace it, and
you will feel the loving embrace of our Heavenly Father. Live it, and the Lord
will give your life more purpose. Share it, and He will share with you the
blessings of eternal life and happiness.
Until next week!
Elder Carson
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