Week 39, (April 10, 2017)
This week was good! I had the opportunity to go on splits with some of the missionaries in my zone. They are problem missionaries and we have been worried about them for a little. Part of my job as a zone leader is to help them in any way I can. But unfortunately, sometimes we can't help everyone. It's sad to see elders of the church of God not put themselves into something they chose to do.
I´ll tell you about one experience I had that was pretty cool this week.
So on Friday, I was on divisions but we were in my sector. I had the feeling to go up and work on the mountain that day but I didn't know why because we have only about 3 investigators up there. But like Elder Rasband said in conference, ¨Act on the first prompting¨ so, we called the other people and rescheduled our appointments. So we got on the bus and went up the mountain. Without any success happening, I was soooo confused as to why I received that prompting. I doubted it. And part of me was saying to go back down. But I still felt like we needed to be up there. Interestingly enough I had the feeling to go visit a reference that we couldn't find weeks before on the other side of the mountain. So we went over there. I had no idea why we went because I didn't know the references name or their address. I was so confused as to why I was going there. We got to the part to climb up to the pueblo and we saw a family, carrying a large amount of soda to their little store up this mountainside. So we went and helped them out and carried their soda for them. They were so grateful and were willing to listen to us. They gave us bottled water, and we taught them a little bit about the restoration. The Dad told us that they had been going through a really rough time as a family. He told us his prayers to God have been pleading for help to know what to do. So you can imagine my thoughts in that moment. What a testimony builder of not only listening to the spirit but of listening to the counsel of the prophets. I love mission life. And living in Cusco.
I have been learning so much here. Things I never dreamed I would know, I know how to give blessings to people in Spanish, I know how to teach people in Spanish. But that the fact that I'm becoming a teacher of the gospel just blows my mind.
This week my testimony has grown that God can make so much more of us than we ever could. We are nothing. But He, the almighty, made us from the dust of the earth, so that one day, we could be as he is. He loves us. He has done everything for us. And so has His son Jesus Christ. The more I learn, the more I work every day, the more I feel capable. The more I keep His commandments, the more liberated I feel, to make my own decisions. Because I know and have confidence that I can choose his will.
Love you all so much. Have a great week(:
Week 38 (April 3, 2017)
Hello, family and friends. I hope you're wonderful wherever you are and whatever you're doing. This week was a good week. We didn't get a lot of work done, but I got a lot of spiritual progress done, Personally. So this letter will be personal, but for everyone.
We started with our leadership conference on Tuesday, in which I fell asleep once, lol. No worries it was only when the assistants were talking. Joking. Don't take things so seriously. President Herrera talked to us about the mission and what we could do better and how we could get there. But in the end, he talked to us about our potential. Not just as missionaries, but as children of God. WE CAN BECOME AMAZING. But we have to let the Lord stretch us to find that amazing potential. For us, amazing things are in store. We need to be willing to receive it. We have the potential to become as God is now.
Wednesday and Thursday were filled with office work and planning.
Friday we gave our zone training. We talked to our zone about what it means to be missionaries. We shared with them a lot of scriptures about how we can be like Jesus Christ. It was a good time. BUT THE BEST TIME OF THE WEEK WAS CONFERENCE :)
I always have love general conference (well not always) I'm such a big fan of listening to God's prophets speak. I was so pumped for this conference that it was pretty much like Christmas for me. (Yes is was in English). I was so hyped because there is always one talk that stands out fro the rest and I was excited to see which one it would be. Saturday passed and I hadn't heard "the talk" yet. So I said to myself "it's fine, Sunday is the best day anyway". And then Sunday came and Sunday went and I hadn't been brought to tears by any of the talks. None of them dazzled my ears. I was somewhat disappointed. Frankly, I was kind of upset.
On the bus ride home I was put to think because that is what you do on public transportation and it was as if I heard my own voice telling me the following statement. "it's not about what you heard, it's about what you felt."
WOW...I was so lost in listening with my ears that I didn't even pay attention with my heart. So in that moment, I prayed. I told my Father in Heaven I was sorry, and that I didn't listen to my heart. Then suddenly the sweetest feeling of joy, peace, and knowledge washed over me. I knew that His prophets had spoken and that He was proud that I did my best to listen to them. I opened my heart and all at once my heart was full....
Chandler's computer crashed in the cybercafe, so we were not able to receive the third page of his letter.
Week 37 (March 27, 2017)
Well, another week down, this week was a bit weird but it was good! We started off with changes, and that means picking up, taking, and dropping off missionaries so they can get to their new sectors. So on Tuesday, we didn’t get the chance to work at all. Poor Elder Skousen’s comp left and he didn’t get a new one, so he is tagging along with us for a little while.
I’ll tell you a bit about some of our investigators now, lol.
Familia Mora Correna
These are some amazing people. They are a family of 4. Brady is the dad, Vilma is the mom, Arazeli and Yaritza are the two hijitas! (daughters). It’s hard to have visits with them all the time because they are the hardest working people I’ve ever seen. They don’t make a lot of money, but they have what they need. I hope they will accept what we are teaching them.
Alfredo
This guy is the coolest. He is 18 years old and makes money for his family. Like most families here he doesn’t have a father figure. He has to travel all the way to Abancay for a month to work and then comes back for a week or so. So it is hard to keep visiting him. He wants to be baptized and he wants to be part of Christ’s church. He just can’t when he is always traveling. So we’re going to have to talk to president and see what we can do.
Angel
Angel is awesome! He’s 14 and the only non-member in a less active family. But what is funny is that he’s the only one who comes to church, lol. Angel was going to get baptized about 4 years ago, but when he saw how hypocritical some of the members were he didn’t want to be part of it. But now we’re getting him interested again!!
Those are just a few of them, but they are my favorites, lol.
Holy cow ya’ll it is almost April. Freaking time is flying. I almost have 9 months out here. The mission is really cool. It’s stressful too. Sometimes I just want to lay sown and die, but you just gotta keep going. Other times I never want to do anything or go anywhere else. Missions are really weird, but they are cool. I would highly recommend one.
All in all, this week was just, normal.
Elder Haws
