Familia,
This
week we saw another month pass and this one was a big one for me because I completed
six months in the mission! I’m ¼ of the
way there! LOL! I celebrated with a half kilo of ice cream because while on a
mission, you’ve got to find every excuse to celebrate. On Saturday, my
companion celebrated his 22nd birthday by fasting so we still have
more celebrating to do.
At the beginning of the week we went to San Luis for our
Zone Conference and to have interviews with President Goates. During the Zone
Conference meetings, we focused a lot of our attention on exciting the youth to
engage in missionary work so we can teach their friends. We know that the ideal age for an
investigator to join the church is between fifteen and twenty- five years old
because if they join the church during this time they can still serve a
mission. This is what happened with Elder Martinez, so we know it’s possible
and it’s really cool to think about. We are actually teaching a lot of youth
right now so it was helpful to get advice and guidance from President Goates about
how to work with them. We also talked a lot about becoming more
Christlike. I have learned that as I
missionary who I am as a person and how I conduct myself is as important as
what I am doing. Becoming more
Christlike is a constant goal and process but it is a goal that is important to
work on, especially as a disciple of Christ.
Also in Zone Conference, we learned about our new
missionary schedule and my naptime went away. L But, we get two extra hours on PDay and received an increase in our
monthly allowance so we can purchase more fruits and vegetables to keep
ourselves healthy. So, that was a big win for the missionaries. We are also starting to have an interview
with President Goates at every transfer.
This is such a blessing because I can receive personal council and talk
with him about anything that is bothering me or things I need help with.
In via Mercedes we are witnessing a miracle play out because the
week before I came a couple just showed up to church. Daniel and Sandra have
been together for 31 years and they are basically just looking for the truth
and trying to find a place where they feel comfortable. We were able to teach
them this week and we had an awesome lesson. They had so many questions about everything
that makes our church different such as how we pay tithing and baptize. Daniel
told us that he's 52 years old and has never been really religious in his life
but he wants to know the truth before he dies. When we were telling them the
Joseph Smith story and explained to them that Joseph was searching for the
truth, Daniel said, “That's me!” We left them with Moroni’s promise and they
told us they feel the most comfortable in our church because of the ward for a
family that has welcomed them in with open arms. I'm really praying hard for
them because it's not very common that people are searching this hard for the
truth.
During the week we also challenged a less active family to bring
someone to church on Sunday and they came through! Federico Vega is a
16-year-old kid and he is such a stud! He’s going through some family problems
right now so we can't teach him at his house but we are teaching him in the
house of the less active family. This is actually so much better because we are
killing two birds with one stone by helping the family stay strong in the
gospel, while teaching their friend. We had such a cool lesson on Sunday night
with all of them. The Spirit was so strong and it was one of those lessons that
makes me want to just jump for joy. Federico has been Evangelical his whole
life and has always gone with his mom to church but he hasn’t felt truly
comfortable there. This is a golden situation for us and it helps that the
youth in the ward have already made Federico feel comfortable at church an in
their activities.
This week we were also able to get in touch with a less active lady
who recently got remarried to nonmember. We are trying to get the whole family
back involved with the Church by inviting the kids to play soccer with us and
finding other ways to engage the whole family. They have other family members in
the world who are less actives as well, so it’s a big group effort to get
everyone involved!
We are still teaching a bunch of families but since it's summer,
it's tough to have everyone together at the same time when we are teaching. But,
we are seeing small miracles every day as we are helping them come unto Christ.
I think that what I love most about the Church is the family aspect and how
much we concentration on families. I'm thousands of miles away, learning a new
language and I spending all my time with people I don't know but I love the way
I feel every Sunday with my ward family. It still takes so many Ls every week
while leading the music but I truly do feel at home and especially with our
investigators the come to church. I hope they feel the same thing I do.
On Saturday night we decided to call as many people as we could to
invite them to church. I called one of the young women to invite her boyfriendand while we were talking, she said he was with her, so I invited him
personally. As I was leading the first hymn, I saw them walk in together and it
was the coolest site. I had the biggest smile and totally messed up the opening
hymn because I was so distracted. Victor is actually such a stud and we are
praying that he has a family who we can teach as well.
It was a great week and we went so hard. The weather is finally
starting to cool down a bit and that is a small miracle. I’m really loving the
ward and especially the investigators who we are working with. I constantly see
the Lord’s hand helping us along the way and it is such a blessing!
Please pray for the family of Elder Martinez because they are
living in one of the cities in Chile that has been damaged because of the fires.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28
& 30
Have a good week!
Elder Roderick
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