I would like to start off my email by telling you all a story of true faith, one that I believe you will enjoy.
Once upon a time there were two Sister missionaries who belonged to the Idaho Pocatello Mission. The dear Sisters had a fairly large area, and the district to which they belonged covered vast amounts of land in southern Idaho. One day after having some meetings and some appointments, the Sisters got into their cute, little Toyota and started driving; however, the Sisters forgot to check their gas gauge before getting into their car and driving away. After a while the car ran out of gas and the car came to a complete stop. The Sisters were bewildered and had no idea as to what could have happened until they noticed that there was absolutely no gas in the car. Confused and nervous the Sisters brainstormed and tried to be missionaries of solutions, not problems. Finally the Sisters got out of the car and did the only thing that they could think of. Yes........they filled the tank with a few gallons of WATER. They took the water that they had for emergencies and poured in all into the gas tank. The Sisters then got back in the car and prayed that the Lord might bless them and change the water into gas. One of the Sisters turned on the car, but to their surprise, NOTHING HAPPENED. Lesson learned? The faith of two Sister missionaries just outside Pocatello, Idaho is not great enough to turn water into combustible gasoline.
Gas: $2,50/gallon One Toyota Car: $30.000 Trial of Faith: Priceless
It is interesting to think about how much faith they must have had to have that idea and think that it would work. The Lord promises us miracles all the time, but we really do not understand how He will do them. I really like this story because, apart from being freaking hilarious, it helps me to realize that we all need to trust in the Lord so much and we need to rely on His ability to work whatever kind of miracle in our lives. No matter how big, no matter how small, he will be able to help us with any problem and He will do his part to help us.
So this week has been rather interesting. We had another training activity in Managua on Tuesday, and then Tuesday night I went to go speak to my Zone Leaders' investigator. Their investigator had been having some problems in deciding to get baptized and finalizing a date for his baptism. On the way back from Managua I was speaking to one of my Zone Leaders and he looked at me and said,"You need to go meet/talk to Denis tonight." I said, "Okay." Well, the other Zone Leader and I went looking for this man. He wasn't at home, he happened to be in the hospítal tending to his sick mother, so ZL 2 and I went on the hunt in the hospital. On the 4th floor we found him with his mother, the poor woman. Side note: Hospitals in Nicaragua are like hospitals from horror movies, with the light, the same look, feel eerie sense of something lurking about in the darkness waiting to come out and snatch you. After a few minutes of chatting with this man and his mother I told him that I would like to speak with him alone to see how much the "lazy boys" were teaching him. ;) We started talking and I started doing his interview with him. He answered all of the questions well, but there was something inside me that was telling me, "He's still doubting. There's a problem." and i was just like, "GOSH! What do I need to do? How can I help him?" ANd then I just started asking him a few other questions until I finally asked him what his worry was, why he was doubting everything. He explained it, laughed a little bit and then just looked at me. In that instant I was able to see him as a child of my Heavenly Father, I was able to love him and testify of what I knew, believed, and felt. I was able to help him. He got baptized on Saturday. That was an amazing experience that made me SO happy.
Wednesday was interesting, but I cannot remember why. Thursday and Friday we did "mini changes" in the Zone. I was assigned to be with an elder for 24 hours and then we went out to work together. We had so much fun and we worked really well together. I got to know him very quickly and we get along so very well. We talked about everything from surfing to Russian literature, from family to strange cultural identies. We talked about a lot of different things. We also found a few interesting people to teach. Then Saturday came and I helped the Zone Leaders out with their baptism and went to the Adult Session of Stake Conference with a recent convert family. Sunday was equally crazy and packed full of fun crying babies, crying adults, people running around in the hallways and missionaries trying to count the assistance of the conference fervently while having literally hundreds of people getting up and walking around, talking, eating you name it while the conference was happening. Fun stuff.
I just want you all to know that despite the amount of complaints I make, I really do love my mission. I love the opportunities that I have to help the Lord's work here in this part of His vineyard progress. I am so grateful for the wonderful people that I have met in every single one of my areas and for how much they care about me, how much they teach me and how much they are willing to sacrifice for my wellbeing. Right now I love this one family in my ward, the Acosta famliy. They are some amazing people. Next week I will tell you about them a little bit more. Apparently they have not been very happy with a lot of the missionaries that have been here in the past, but they love me and my companion and they are willing to help us do anything.
Well, I love this mission. I love this area. I love my companion. I love my investigators, my Savior, the family Acosta, the food here. I am so grateful for this blessed opportunity. I hope that you all have a great week and that you are all able to find peace, tranquility, and happiness this week as you go about your varied activities.
Grandma, I cannot wait to get back and go to Manti with you and Grandpa. I have never been that great of an artist, but I am good at public speaking and things dealing with writing creatively. Hahaha. Still proud of me?
Andrea and Alena...how's life? Maybe I'll have to save up money when I get back to invite you, your husbands and your children to Brick Oven. :P
Love,
Elder B
Once upon a time there were two Sister missionaries who belonged to the Idaho Pocatello Mission. The dear Sisters had a fairly large area, and the district to which they belonged covered vast amounts of land in southern Idaho. One day after having some meetings and some appointments, the Sisters got into their cute, little Toyota and started driving; however, the Sisters forgot to check their gas gauge before getting into their car and driving away. After a while the car ran out of gas and the car came to a complete stop. The Sisters were bewildered and had no idea as to what could have happened until they noticed that there was absolutely no gas in the car. Confused and nervous the Sisters brainstormed and tried to be missionaries of solutions, not problems. Finally the Sisters got out of the car and did the only thing that they could think of. Yes........they filled the tank with a few gallons of WATER. They took the water that they had for emergencies and poured in all into the gas tank. The Sisters then got back in the car and prayed that the Lord might bless them and change the water into gas. One of the Sisters turned on the car, but to their surprise, NOTHING HAPPENED. Lesson learned? The faith of two Sister missionaries just outside Pocatello, Idaho is not great enough to turn water into combustible gasoline.
Gas: $2,50/gallon One Toyota Car: $30.000 Trial of Faith: Priceless
It is interesting to think about how much faith they must have had to have that idea and think that it would work. The Lord promises us miracles all the time, but we really do not understand how He will do them. I really like this story because, apart from being freaking hilarious, it helps me to realize that we all need to trust in the Lord so much and we need to rely on His ability to work whatever kind of miracle in our lives. No matter how big, no matter how small, he will be able to help us with any problem and He will do his part to help us.
So this week has been rather interesting. We had another training activity in Managua on Tuesday, and then Tuesday night I went to go speak to my Zone Leaders' investigator. Their investigator had been having some problems in deciding to get baptized and finalizing a date for his baptism. On the way back from Managua I was speaking to one of my Zone Leaders and he looked at me and said,"You need to go meet/talk to Denis tonight." I said, "Okay." Well, the other Zone Leader and I went looking for this man. He wasn't at home, he happened to be in the hospítal tending to his sick mother, so ZL 2 and I went on the hunt in the hospital. On the 4th floor we found him with his mother, the poor woman. Side note: Hospitals in Nicaragua are like hospitals from horror movies, with the light, the same look, feel eerie sense of something lurking about in the darkness waiting to come out and snatch you. After a few minutes of chatting with this man and his mother I told him that I would like to speak with him alone to see how much the "lazy boys" were teaching him. ;) We started talking and I started doing his interview with him. He answered all of the questions well, but there was something inside me that was telling me, "He's still doubting. There's a problem." and i was just like, "GOSH! What do I need to do? How can I help him?" ANd then I just started asking him a few other questions until I finally asked him what his worry was, why he was doubting everything. He explained it, laughed a little bit and then just looked at me. In that instant I was able to see him as a child of my Heavenly Father, I was able to love him and testify of what I knew, believed, and felt. I was able to help him. He got baptized on Saturday. That was an amazing experience that made me SO happy.
Wednesday was interesting, but I cannot remember why. Thursday and Friday we did "mini changes" in the Zone. I was assigned to be with an elder for 24 hours and then we went out to work together. We had so much fun and we worked really well together. I got to know him very quickly and we get along so very well. We talked about everything from surfing to Russian literature, from family to strange cultural identies. We talked about a lot of different things. We also found a few interesting people to teach. Then Saturday came and I helped the Zone Leaders out with their baptism and went to the Adult Session of Stake Conference with a recent convert family. Sunday was equally crazy and packed full of fun crying babies, crying adults, people running around in the hallways and missionaries trying to count the assistance of the conference fervently while having literally hundreds of people getting up and walking around, talking, eating you name it while the conference was happening. Fun stuff.
I just want you all to know that despite the amount of complaints I make, I really do love my mission. I love the opportunities that I have to help the Lord's work here in this part of His vineyard progress. I am so grateful for the wonderful people that I have met in every single one of my areas and for how much they care about me, how much they teach me and how much they are willing to sacrifice for my wellbeing. Right now I love this one family in my ward, the Acosta famliy. They are some amazing people. Next week I will tell you about them a little bit more. Apparently they have not been very happy with a lot of the missionaries that have been here in the past, but they love me and my companion and they are willing to help us do anything.
Well, I love this mission. I love this area. I love my companion. I love my investigators, my Savior, the family Acosta, the food here. I am so grateful for this blessed opportunity. I hope that you all have a great week and that you are all able to find peace, tranquility, and happiness this week as you go about your varied activities.
Grandma, I cannot wait to get back and go to Manti with you and Grandpa. I have never been that great of an artist, but I am good at public speaking and things dealing with writing creatively. Hahaha. Still proud of me?
Andrea and Alena...how's life? Maybe I'll have to save up money when I get back to invite you, your husbands and your children to Brick Oven. :P
Love,
Elder B
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