Familia,
One
of the best things about being is South America is that there is literally
fresh fruit everywhere. Right now, grapefruits are in season and each time I
eat one, I feel like I’m in Palm Desert. Also, mandarins are just like big
clementines and I eat five every single day because they are so fresh and
sweet.
We
had a nice long week of work. I think we
taught more lessons during this week than I have during any other week on my
mission. We were really busy! During the week, on two separate occasions,
as we were finishing our lesson and inviting the investigator to read the Book
of Mormon, the investigator told us that they couldn’t read it because they don’t
know how to. This really struck me because one investigator, in particular,
also told us that she misses out on so many opportunities because she can’t
read. No one ever taught her how to read because she has had to work ever since
she was a little girl. Therefore, she never had the opportunity to learn. This experience was very humbling for me and
it made me very grateful for my two loving parents who made sure I went to
school. I really hope we can help these people grow closer to Christ and I pray
that we can carry the Spirit into their homes.
“And if men come unto me I will
show unto them their weaknesses. I give
unto men weakness that they may be humble… for if they humble themselves before
me, and have faith in me, then I will make weak things become strong.” Ether
12:27
This week we were able to teach Javier again, and the
main thing we are doing with him is helping him act on the things we are
teaching. He tells us that he believes in all of the things we teach and in our
lessons the Spirit is so strong but there isn’t much action after. So, we committed his family to read and pray
together while Javier is in the house. If
they do this, then it will get the other non-members of their family involved as
well. Then, eventually they can be an eternal
family! Javier’s family treats us so well and nothing would make me happier
than to see them all together in church.
We also taught Javier and Brenda and our lesson with them
was one of the best we had during the week. Javier is the son of a member in
our neighbor ward in Alvear and we found him while we were teaching his
less-active sister. Javier is the only
person in his family who isn’t a member of the Church so we’ve been working
extra hard with him so his entire family can be together in church. Javier already knows a lot of things about
the church so we are trying to help him expand his knowledge and then
hopefully, gain a testimony.
Another promising thing that happened this week occurred when
we invited one of the less-actives who we’ve been working with to join us in
our missionary work. We want her to have
a spiritual experience with missionary work so it can strengthen her testimony. So, we left her with the challenge to do some
missionary work. On Sunday, she walked into church with her boyfriend by her
side. I was so pumped to see that! It was such a great feeling to see their two
smiling faces in church together!
Well, the L I took this week was I accidentally broke the
basket we use to wash our clothes. So,
right now I’m using a plastic garbage bag to wash my clothes. I just toss in the clothes, some water and soap
then, I squish them all around. #roughlife
As a missionary, you’ve just got to find
a way to get the job done. I wouldn’t
recommend this technique to anyone, but it makes life a little bit more
interesting.
The “spiritual high” of the week was attending our Stake
Priesthood meeting. We heard all kinds
of talks about temple work, missionary work, parenting and helping kids prepare
for missions. It felt so comforting to be in a room full of Priesthood
holders. The power of the sacred
authority we hold was felt the entire night.
It was also nice to see some of my friends from Salto.
Back to the grind this week!
Elder Roderick
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