So this week I really put it on my companion. His last companion was a little lazy so he had developed some bad habits. We started out the week looking and looking with no success. I was honestly going a little crazy. This was on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday we had a multi-zone conference. President Ferman, our mission president, talked about finding the needs of our investigator´s through sincere testimony and finding love for the people in our area. It hit home and meant a lot to me. I could feel that I (having just transferred to a new area) was struggling to love everyone right off. So I have put the people of my area first in my prayer´s and I can now feel my thoughts changing. They have changed about the drunks we run across, or the people who simply want to “cat call” at us.
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| Multizone Conference: our signs say, Amamos a nuestro Padre Celestial y a cada uno de sus hijos somos discipulos de Cristo Su hijo, el amor es nuestra principal motivación. It is one of the seven points of our culture as missionaries in the Honduras, Comayagüela Mission (We love our Heavenly Father and to each of his children we are disciples of Christ his son, Love is our motivation) |
The mission assistants talked to us about how we can convert and baptize more. They used the 4 minute barrier as an example for us missionaries to follow. Most missionaries believe that 20 baptisms for our mission is sufficient. I have been one of them. The mission assistants shared with us examples in the scriptures, like Peter baptizing 3,000 in one day, and also Nephi and Lehi with 8,000 baptisms in one day. It hit me hard.
My companion and I talked about it on the way home. We owe it to the Lord to offer baptism in every contact. In every step we take we need to invite the people to come unto Christ. I don´t know why I didn´t have this mentality from the beginning. The next day (Thursday) we went out to contact. I really wasn´t expecting much based on how our week had been going. At one point a thought came into my head, and I simply said to my companion, “We´re going to find a family of 4, ready for baptism before our day is through.” We went to work knocking doors. We felt ready. I was walking and didn´t really know where I was going. My companion was even looking at me kind of weird. The hill we were walking up was a dead end; but, I kept going. There at the end of this street we stood in front of a wood shack. It took a minute to want to knock the door; but, I felt the spirit so strongly. I finally called out “buenas” and this older guy answered. I quickly bore testimony about the Savior and what he did for him. I asked if we could enter his home and talk to his family. He was very excited and let us in!
The family has the Dad, the Mom, and two sons of the age for baptism. They also have a daughter who will complete 8 years next year. I was astonished as we taught the restoration about how open they were to the message. They agreed to another visit and agreed to pray about baptism.
This has taken me by surprise so many times when I think back on it. This has never happened to me; and, I´m so excited to go and talk to the family Garcia on Wednesday. They are Pentecostal; so we have a lot of similar beliefs. I hope their hearts can stay open to the message.
Elder Espiritu and I have been getting along really well. We both have a very charismatic attitude and people love talking to us. We had a drunk yell at us; so, we shared out testimonies of Christ and left the man in tears. It was really kind of a mixture of funny and sweet. He kept thanking us for telling him of the Saviors love for him.
On another note, I have been having a problem here in Nueva Capital: a lot of the women here are flirting with me. It is kind of weird they call me “gringito” (little gringo) and “lindo” (cute or hot) and my companion’s favorite "mi amor" (my love). Elder Espiritu always laughs because I do not always catch it when they are saying it and I think it is something else. Regardless, I try hard to focus on being a representative of Christ and to have his love for everyone. I want the best for all of them.
Sorry this letter is so short! I know my Savior lives. I know He loves us and want us to live with him again. I hope to share His love with everyone.
Wish me luck and
Keep on Truckin´
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| A Family Home Evening with Waleska, Ana, Katherine, Glenda, Yepsel, and William |
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| I finally hung my hammock! |
Christian really doesn't like the "cat-calling". He says it feels weird and says that they all say they want to take his eyes too (blue eyes). He said he had problems with it in his last area but not as much as it is happening now. (at least 6 times a day)
He continues to ask about his sisters. He is glad that Abby had fun at girls camp and that she was a good leader (YCL), gave good devotionals, and made all the new girls feel loved and welcome. He said he wishes he would have been more outgoing in the church before his mission and said he knows that anyone who tries will be strengthened by our Savior and will be a good example to others. It will be weird to have another child in our family leave the church's youth program in a year when Abby graduates.
Time is flying... he is sad to say seis meses (6 months) when people ask how much time he has in the mission. He still feels new but he is not, when he says six months to all the newer missionaries they want to know how he got through training and what they can do. They get new missionaries every six weeks.
He is excited to get the package we sent. It arrived in the sort facility in Tegucigalpa at 10:00am today.
