Mis queridos amigos,
I’m SO happy! My mission is a brand new adventure every
day, and I’m learning so many things that I will take with me all my life. You’ll
have to forgive my worsening english - it’s an inevitable consequence of my
self-imposed Spanish immersion. Apart from these weekly letters, I don’t even
use my native language. But yeah. Definitely learning more than I’m forgetting.
LECCIÓN DE LA SEMANA: When you trust God completely, you
don’t hesitate to do His will.
This last week, my companion and I wanted to change some
things. We hadn’t had much success the two weeks before, and more than anything
, we wanted to be instruments in the Lord’s hands to guide His children towards
eternal life. We decided to focus on following the Holy Ghost, and the result
is that we offered a boat-load of service to the members (see below). We had so
much fun doing it - service offers quite the variety of activities - and there
was a notable difference in the way the members treated us. in one afternoon,
we received THIRTEEN REFERRALS, just from following promptings we received.
Remember Alma, when he left the city of Ammonihah
discouraged? He was prompted to return, even after all his failed attempts to
spread the Gospel, and he HURRIEDLY rushed to obey the Lord’s command.
I have a testimony of the power of the Holy Ghost. I know
that if we will only listen to that still small voice, the rest of the things
we’re juggling in life will work out. We never need to stress about things we
can’t control when we follow the promptings of He who is always in control.
---------------
Due to the lack of success we had seen, I asked President
Reynoso for a blessing, and he made time in his schedule to attend to me. I
felt the love of my Heavenly Father through His chosen servant, and that day,
we found a FAMILY of investigators!!
... That family is made up of SEVEN people! Nely, the mom
and queen of the household, is the neighbor of Hna. Ana and Hno. Efraín, who we
had already taught before. She has FIVE kids, four of which are of-age to baptize.
Mario (18), Juliana and Julieta (twins - 12), Antonio (10), and Luis (7) are
their names. They’re SO fun to be around! Unfortunately, there are a few issues
between Nely and her boyfriend.... we arrived one day to their house, and she
began to cry telling us the details of the situation. I gave her a blessing,
and she expressed an unexpected testimony of the power of the priesthood!
Saraí is the girlfriend of Jonathan, a young man in the
ward, but fortunately (miraculously) they aren’t living together! We asked
permission to teach her because she lives outside our area (the missionaries
can’t enter her house because her mom is super Pentecostés) and the zone
leaders said yes! She’s already gone to church THREE times and has a desire to
be sealed in the temple!! Baptismal date: 9 June!!!
We found a young MARRIED couple (...even more miraculous)
close to the house of Hno. Mata (less-active). He had told us that his
neighbors "probably wouldn’t" accept the Gospel, and in an effort to
show him the power of a sincere testimony, we knkocked on the door in that very
instant! Fania and Dany opened up to us and let us in, telling us that they had
already taken lessons from the missionaries. What’s more - the husband, Dany,
told us that he’s already gone to church three times! They accepted a baptismal
date and everything! 9 June baybay! (You can imagine Hno. Mata’s surprise -
afterwards, he gave us a few more referrals :) ).
We cut grass for all of Hna. Livi’s neighbors! It was fun
because as we went, the neighbor-kids joined us in the service. "Grab a
machete and help!" we told them. Our plan was to invite them all to a
Family Home Evening that same night, but we got rained out hard-core. Next
time!
We painted Hna. Graciana’s house! It was cool. Elder
Coello has experience painting houses, so he did the kitchen - I, being a more
artistic painter, was assigned to the kids room, where I painted them a family
tree and some other little characters. The kids were all behind me giving me
suggestions. :) That was today, in the morning. Afterwards, they treated us to
empanadas and gave us FOUR referrals.
We went to the church building early one morning to help
clean! Elder Coello and I cleaned the baptismal font, and for the first time in
eight months (probably longer- ask my parents) I used a lawn-mower!! The bishop
got all emotional thanking us, so we had to fend him off with hugs and promises
of many baptisms!! haha.
That’ll be all for this week, folks! I love you all. As
you pass through difficult situations this week, remember never to hesitate in
following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Your life will be filled with love
and light.
Yours truly,
Elder Carson
**************
Painting - they had to ask the "tall"
gringo to reach above the door.
He just can´t help the panic attacks. The
thunder is too scary.
THE POWERFUL ELDERS OF PALMAS
The artist sculpting his finest piece...
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