Hey guys!
Well this week had a lot of up’s and
down’s. A week of trial and learning to say the least.
I remember reading my best
buddy, Elder Ray’s email the week before, (Who’s Serving in Uganda) how he had
a day full of appointments and went out to work with optimism and excitement
and pretty much every appointment fell through. And the day was just a
beatdown. I remember thinking “Man that’s rough.” And then that experience came
right over to Monterrico, Jujuy. I feel you ARay..
We had a DAY full of
Appointments, Members that would come with us to show us references, A Branch
Activity to find members and old investigators, LOADS OF APPOINTMENTS. AND IT
ALL FELL THROUGH. OUR BACK UP PLANS FELL THROUGH. THE MEMBERS COULDN’T MAKE IT.
THE ACTIVITY WENT TO DUST AND IT RAINED HARD AND MAN IT WAS COLD AS A CROSSOVER
FROM ALLEN IVERSON. So we just resorted to knocking doors all day, and it
seemed like everyone got the memo to not let the lads with the white shirts and
ties in that day.
Although, out of all the 12938483 appointments
we had (or maybe just 11) two of them let us in for 10 minutes. We thought” At
least the people that let us in are progressing towards baptism” and haha you
know what? They ALL told us that they COULDN’T be baptized on the 19th.
What a day right?
I was
really beat down that day. It felt like everything was so good. To prepare 4
baptisms for the 19th and to have them all give us reasons why we
can’t and to have all of our appointments crash. It was pretty devastating. I
could tell my hijito was pretty bummed. I tried keeping a good attitude saying
there will be the next appointment, or we’ll find some new people. And it just
didn’t happen. I kept a smile and a good attitude, I verified with my district,
wrote in the Area Book, and just kinda broke down while praying. I felt the
love of my Heavenly Father comforting me. Sometimes I feel that’s just how it
goes sometimes in missionary work. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s not
just baptisms and finding great families every week and day. Sometimes the Lord
tests us a bit. To see how willing we are. It really sucked and really that day
was like the worst of it but this week wasn’t too far off from that trend.
The tender
mercies of this week is the Familia Caile (CHAI-LAY). I called Juan Pablo
Thursday (The day that everything hit the fan). I called him to see how he and
his family was doing after the recent passing of his Father. I didn’t want to
try to hassle him for an appointment, but without even asking him he said “Hermanos,
when can you come by and visit?” I was kind of shocked. I thought we would need
to give them a little space for them to mourn and recover a bit but they NEEDED
us. I feel like that was a blessing for our efforts. We set an appointment for
Friday. Juan Pablo received us into his home and his mom was there also. They
looked really good for people that just lost a loved one the week before. They
said the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation helped them to feel comfort during
all of this. That yeah, it was sad that they lost him, but they know they will
see him again. They also feel that we are a blessing in their home because they
fell at peace when we enter into their home and pray and when we share the
message we have. We answered all their questions they had about death and the
afterlife and they felt better. It was a very spiritual lesson. My companion
shared experiences that he felt the presence of his late friend and teammate
when he played his senior year of Soccer. My companion testified with power
about the plan of salvation. The Spirit was so strong.
Juan Pablo
asked us if we could come back the next day and teach his sister. Who has taken
the passing of her father really hard. We came back the next day and within 30
seconds of the arriving she was already in loads of tears. She asked us a lot
of questions and the answers brought her comfort. I felt impressed to ask her
if we could give her a priesthood blessing of comfort. She said we could and
the blessing was real powerful and spiritual. After the blessing she said she
felt a heat all throughout her body and a peace in her heart. She was at ease
and was happy. She received the peace she needed. The discussion was just
overwhelmed with the Spirit. I have really come to love this family, I’ve come
to worry about them and I really feel like they are chosen and prepared to join
the fold of the Good Shepherd, which is the Lord and follow his Gospel. I know
it. I just know that they will find more and more peace through this gospel.
This mission sometimes has the
difficult days but the Lord knows our capabilities and always has something in
store for our growth and progress.
I am
thankful for this week. I am thankful for my family. I am thankful that my
family will be together through all eternity through this marvelous plan that
are Heavenly Father has. That no matter what happens in this life, we will
ALWAYS be together. This is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Élder Batman
Rama Monterrico
Monterrico, Jujuy
La Misión Argentina Salta
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