i gotta be honest with you guys.... it was a
stellar week! we worked our butts off in everything we did, found some
new investigatores, and one of them went to general conference!! it was
the first time that an investigator has attended church in a long time
in our sector. its been hard but we did it. now obviously our goal as
missionaries is not to have people go to church on sundays, its to
baptize, but hey we`re one step closer!
ill
talk more about our good friend that attended in a sec. but more than
anything it picked up our spirits a lot to have somebody there. this is
the toughest, most prideful sector ive had on my mission. of course i
understand that the Lord prepares people everywhere and that doesnt
exclude where im at, however the people in general where we work remind
me a lot of how Laman and Lemuel are described the book of mormon. #SUSN
... or for those of you that dont speak hashtag, straight up stiff
necked. there is a lot of pride, and its one of the hardest things to
help as a missionary cause its just like they put up a shield against
all of the blessings that God wants to give them in their lives. ive
never met so many people that need the gospel so much and have so many
reasons to accept it but wont open their hearts even just a little bit
to accept the fact that they cant do everything on their own. that in
reality they depend a lot more on God than they could ever imagine. all
of the good things they have are because of God`s mercy on them, and all
of the hard things they have in life are almost all biproducts of pride
and disobedience. but they believe its the other way around.
we`re
still working with Leo. he told us this week taht his plan to turn life
around is to sit and wait until God turns things around for him. He
didnt come to the conference.
We found about 3 or 4 other investigators that all have similar problems to Leo. Little money, no job, and addictions.
Joaquin
is 76 years old. his wife died of cancer last october and she had been a
faithful member for about 7 years before her death. Joaquin has talked
to missionaries but never had real desires to learn more about the
church. but we received a reference for him this past week and he
accepted us in. Hes also pretty stubborn, and tells us he never wants to
be baptized. but he came to general conference and liked it and
accepted another appt. for tonight. So were not giving up on him yet. In fact we invited President Dìaz to come with us tonight
for the lesson... its gonna be legit! its basically gonna be like us
carry a giant cannon with a ball into joaquins house and then if we can
get it in successfully all we need to do it light it off. Its impressive
how President can teach with the spirit so well. Were pumped for it.,
General
conference was amazing guys. I cant believe it was the last time ill
watch it in the mission! i dont want to go on too much about it, but i
think my favorite talks were Mervyn J. Arnold on saturday
about going to the rescue, and Elder Nelson from priesthood about being
a man of God! "I fear that too many of us have the priesthood
authority, but do not have the priesthood power". it made me think a lot
about how badly i want to be able to bless others. not jsut as a
missionary but for the rest of my life. if i would be willing to
sacrifice worldly desires to help those i love. We are "bearers" of the
priesthood, which implies we support a responsibility that is God given.
we had a goodbye dinner for another missionary couple last night. im still stuffed. also santiago is taking our truck from us on thursday... ;(
Life
is good. God is good. His love is uncomprehendable. I love the gospel,
and i know that its the only true path to be happy. Sometimes we get so
caught up in other things that like Elder Hallstrom said we first treat
things casually, then we ignore them, and then we forget them. Dont
forget spritiual experiences or impressions. Keep building your faith
every day.
Love you all.
-Elder Allred - Chilean street raptor
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