HOOOOOLA my people! How are we all doing this fine day? I
hope all good, because I am feeling that way too. SOOOOOOO, this week was
pretty cool. Not too much as far as big crazy things, but we had cool
experiences and we got things done.
The biggest thing that happened was our Zone Conference in a
town called La Paz. La Paz in English is THE PEACE. Just in case you were
wondering what the title meant. It was super great! It took a little bit of
time to get there... We had to take two buses and stay the night with other
Elders in Santa Elena on Sunday night then another bus the following morning,
but we got there on time (or maybe a little late...) and had a great time. This
conference was focused a lot on Desires of the Heart and Faith. I’ll explain..
First, Hermana Westover took part of the time to talk about
our wants and wishes, or in other words, our desires. It was something that
really helped me. She talked about how sometimes we as missionaries might come
to the mission without the right idea in mind. Some people do it for their
family, others for ward members, others for their boyfriends and girlfriends.
But, the only two reasons that help us have the best mission that we can have,
to serve with all our heart, might, mind and strength are two things: Love for
the Lord and Service of other People. She said that if we didn’t come to the
mission for those reasons, or we did, but have lost those feelings and desires
in the time that we have been here, that we can pray to God to help us feel
better and give us those desires and feelings. It was a great part of the
Conference. I enjoyed it a lot and am planning to use it as soon as
possible. We can improve every day to make our mission the best it can be!
Presidente Westover talked about Faith. He shared a story of
a man that would row a boat and help people cross a river. The two oars that he
had were marked as FAITH and the other as WORKS. When the people asked him why
they were named this way, he said that if he tried rowing with only faith, he
would only go in circles. The same way with works. So he had to use both at the
same time, to get where he wanted to go. As he applied it to ourselves, he said
that as a mission it seems that we are working really hard and going out to
visit and find lots of people. But, after we are done teaching them, we aren’t
exactly having enough faith to help them progress and follow up with all of
their commitments. So we are working as a mission to now have and show more
faith in the work that we do so we aren’t working super hard without too much
effect in all the work that we do.
And lastly, from the conference we also were asked to bring
a few rocks to the meeting. We weren’t too sure what they were going to be used
for, but we were very well instructed at the end of the conference. We read the
bible together in Joshua chapter 3. We learned and recalled the story of the
Arch of the Covenant. The house of Israel was carrying the Arch, but came
across the Jordan River. They were instructed that the Lord would dry up the
River so they could cross, but only after they stepped in the waters and got
their feet wet. So that’s exactly what they did. After showing their faith and
acting, the Lord was able to carry out the miracle. Later in Joshua, it also
talks about how the children of Israel had gathered rocks from the riverbed and
stacked them as a memorial of the miracle. So, like in the story, we had
retrieved rocks and stacked them up in a showing of our devotion and
willingness to work harder and show more faith. It was a great Conference.
Back in Hernandarias, we had a good experiences this week.
We were teaching someone who has interest, a man named Pablo. He is super great
and has a lot of desire to learn more. So we were in the middle of our lesson
of the Plan of Salvation and it was going great. Then, his brother walks by,
who was super crazy drunk (keep in mind that this was at about 11 in the
morning) and starts talking to us, interrupting the lesson. He goes on to say a
bunch of crazy things and frankly ruined the lesson and the Spirit that was
present. I was honestly pretty annoyed, so we tried to (mostly) calmly ask him
to leave so we could finish the lesson. He didn’t really feel like it, so we
ended up having to end the lesson without a prayer and leave to avoid anymore
conflicts. After that, we weren’t able to see Pablo the rest of the week and we
weren’t able to teach him again, until Saturday night. We wanted to pass by for
Pablo and invite him to church the next day. And who was there in front of the
house? Pablo’s brother. I said to myself "Oh jeez, not this guy
again..." Not surprisingly, the guy was drunk again, but this time he was a
"Nice Drunk". On my mission I have encountered this many times and it
is always good when they are nice to the missionaries! So, Pablo invited us to
sit down and talk for a little bit. We sat and chatted and he turned out to be
really nice and enjoyable this time. It was great! We were just getting to know
him and he asked us if we would like to eat some Asado Lamb. We said "You
bet!" and after a few minutes, we were eating freshly cook lamb. It was
probably the best food I’ve had in a few months! So amazing. We are now friends
with the guy and he said that any time we want to go back and eat more asado,
he is always willing to help us.. Turns out to be a great guy. I was
reminded to not be so quite to judge a person because of the situation. When the opportunity is available, get to
know them. Friendships can develop from
the most unexpected situations.
We are also working a lot with one of the members here, a
guy named Alberto. He is a convert of about 6 months or so and is hoping to get
the Priesthood in a few months. He is a great guy and has a great testimony and
plenty of faith. He is resigned to a wheelchair after having been paralyzed on
his left side of the body. He works his hardest to share the Gospel with all of
this neighbors and friends and gets to church every week going backwards in his
wheelchair, pushing up and down the streets with his one good leg. A great
example of faith and works, if I do say so myself. Alberto is awesome.
I haven’t had too many “bad haircuts” on the mission…but
this new cut may fit in the "not my favorite". It
is SUPER long on top and SUPER short on the sides. Looks like I’ll be getting it fixed sometime
soon. It is hard finding a barber in new cities that cut it the way I like it. it isn't too bad, but not my favorite. It's not the worst. Also,
why do we eat our meals in our bedroom? That is the only room in the apartment
that has air conditioning, we die if we are in other parts of the apartment for
too long. My apartment now is MUCH
smaller than my others I have lived in so far.
The kitchen table we have doesn’t fit in the room, so we have to use our
end tables. It works, no complaints! We are so thankful to have air conditioning
at all!
Well. That’s about all that happened this week. I know that
everything I learned this week is true.
When we are humble and listen to what is being spoken and what the
spirit teaches us, we can strengthen our testimony. I don’t want to paddle in
circles, do you?
Thank you all, once again for all the love and support. Hope
all goes well this week. Love you all!
Chau
Elder Haley
We made Robinson's No Bake Cookies. YUM!
Pancakes and Eggs! Breakfast for lunch.
New haircut and PIZZA!
Dinner on the river
a few plazas from our viajes to and from zone conference.
Yes, there are palm trees
Rocks from the Zone Conference
Districts of Santa Elena and La Paz
This was sent to Elder Mitchell's mom from the Argentine who took the
picture. He sent her a follow request on Instagram. He was in a town
where they were waiting to move on to zone conference. He’s a member of the
Church and just put his papers in.
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