Hola!!
It was a pretty good week. Crazy and all over the place, but
a pretty good week. I learned a lot this week and have set a few goals to help
myself be a better missionary and also work to be a better man. Alright, let’s
get into the week.
Wednesday was a pretty good day. We had known for about a
week or two earlier that we were going to have a mission conference with Elder
Villar, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy. But, we weren’t planning to have the conference or have to be
in Santa Fe until about 1 o’clock. So, we were on our way to the banks here in
Santoto to take out our money for the transfer. But then we got a call from one
of the assistants. He asked us if we had gotten his message the night before,
which we hadn’t, and then continued to tell us that we were going to have to go
to Santa Fe to the mission office as soon as possible to be able to participate
in an interview with Elder Villar. What¿¿ But no, it was real. So we hurried
back to the pench and got to the offices as fast as we could. We showed up a
bit later that we were meant to, but we were still able to have personal, one
on one interviews with Elder Villar. He is super great and a man with a lot of
faith and ability to help teach others. So, the interview was good. He asked me
about my responsibilities as District Leader and also how my companion was and
then gave me a few counsels and tips for both areas. I was very grateful that I
had the special opportunity to have such an experience. Then, in between having
the interviews and the actual conference, we had a bit of time to greet all the
other missionaries and hang out, sharing experiences and memories and laughing
a lot. Because it was only the missionaries for the Zones of Santa Fe, and none
from Entre Rios, I wasn’t able to see all my friends. But I was able to see so
many people, including Elder Robinson, who, if he is reading this right now, is
one of my bestest friends in the ENTIRE WORLD. Love ya dude! Then the
conference. It was super good. First of all, we were able to listen to the
words and testimonies of Hermana and Presidente Westover. I love them so much!
They are so amazing. Hermana Westover shared a few thoughts on gratitude and
choosing to be Happy. Then Presidente shared his thoughts on what we look for
in "good investigadores" and how we can have the faith to find them
and help them progress. Then Elder Villar shared his thoughts with us. It was
actually a discussion more than anything. It absolutely wasn’t a talk or
lecture. It was great. We talked and shared our thoughts and learned more about
what our purpose as missionaries is and how we become better, more effective
missionaries. Throughout the conference, Elder Villar selected missionaries
from the audience and did a few scenarios and role plays. It was super cool to
learn and be able to share what we were learning. A few of the things
that he said that I really liked were these.
Faith is not a feeling or a state of being. It is a gift.
We do not know who the "prepared ones" are. We
cannot see a big arrow above their heads saying "Here! Talk to me!"
And it’s that way for a purpose. It is that way to help us have faith and learn
to trust in God and give our best efforts at all times. It was a great
conference and a nice time to get to see all the missionaries, catch up with
friends, and make a few new ones. I love missionaries so much! The conference
ended at about 7 or so and getting back to Santo Tome took long enough that we
were getting home right at the time to be going home from working. So that was
the entire day.
Thursday.
Thursday morning we weren’t really able to do too much
either because we had to leave early back to Santa Fe to be able to have yet
another conference with Elder Villar. But this time it was a Leadership
Counsel, and, this time, the meeting was in Parana, just across the river, but
in the other providence of Entre Rios. So, we left, got to the terminal in
Santa Fe, and got split up. All the Zone and District Leaders went to the
conference and traveled by colectivo, and the other guys, the companions of the
District Leaders, stayed in Santé Fe and worked. So, for the first time in my
mission, I left the providence of Santa Fe. And, Parana is so cool. I really
hope that I get transferred there sometime in the next year. It’s crazy how
different it is from Santa Fe. There are hills!! I haven’t seen hills my entire
mission! But when we got there, we went to a few stores and bought some food
then went to the church building we were meeting in and had some time to just
hang out. Then, the missionaries from Entre Rios that were having their
conference with Elder Villar were released and we were able to greet all of
them and have a bit more time to talk to them and have fun. Then, we had
the Leadership Counsel that consisted of all the Zone Leaders and District
Leaders in entire mission, not only in Santa Fe or Entre Rios, but all of them.
It was super cool. Once again, the meeting was not a lecture or lesson by Elder
Villar. It was a Counsel, so we were all able to share our thoughts and feeling
and experiences and what we have learned in the mission and how that could
apply to others. It was great. We learned a lot about Preach My Gospel, How to
find people to teach, and Obedience. It was all really good, and I, of course,
learned a lot and took lots of notes. It was a great experience and I am so
happy and grateful I have the opportunity to be a part of it.
Friday.
Friday morning was a morning of running errands. First, we
had to go to the church and send a picture quickly to the Office Elders of a
baptismal registration that they needed. Then we went to the banks and took out
all the money we are going to need for this transfer then went to the grocery
store to buy a few things to get us through the week. After that, we had a
little bit of time before lunch, so we went to go talk to people in the
streets. Sadly, absolutely no one was in the streets. It was super super hot so
most of the people were in their houses with air conditioning. But, we were
able to catch a few people outside their homes and talk to them. Lunch was with
members and then we had our Weekly Planning Session afterwards. We don’t have
too many investigadores after spending so much time with FML Penno and Mari the
past few weeks to help them prepare for their baptisms. So we made a lot of
plans to help us find a bunch of new people. Then, after the siesta, we went to
Fabian’s house and then took him to the church for a lesson. In the lesson, we
talked to him about the importance of coming to church and the sanctifying of
the Sabbath Day. Then we helped him set a few goals, including yet another
baptismal date. Some of the goals were to read the Book of Mormon daily and
pray at least three times every day. Also, we made plans for us to pass by and
take him to the church for this Sunday and also call him every night for a few
minutes to see how he was doing with his commitments. He seemed pretty excited
for all the goals and accepted each one. Then, afterwards, we spent some time
in the church with him and a few of the other members and youth. We had a small
English Class, then we played a bit of Ping Pong and basically had a good hour
or so just hanging out. Then, we had to go to the church and come back to look
for a few pamphlets because the Hermanas were all out and really needed some.
So we did that, and that was the day.
Saturday.
In the morning, we went to Las Vegas to visit a few people.
Although we weren’t planning to pass by for Jonathan, we were able see him and
talk to him for a few minutes. He is still without work, but is studying well
and told us that he was going to try to come to church the next day. Then we
visited a few other people, but no one was home. So we stopped by a less active
lady and talked to her for a while. She has been less active for a few years
now, but still continues to read her scriptures every day and pray often. In
fact, she said that God is probably sick and tired of her for how much she
prays. Then we shared with her a few minutes and read together in the Book of
Mormon. Really, she hasn’t been to church in a long time, but other than that,
she isn’t inactive. She continues to do all that she can to learn and worship
God, but she hasn’t been able to go to church for a few reasons, but mostly
because she has a son that requires special attencion and she can’t talk him to
church with her for the long distance. But, we read and prayed with her and had
a good morning. Then, on our way to lunch, we were doing some contacting and
came across the most sketchy house I have seen in a while. We were just walking
down a kind of abandoned road that no one passes by and Elder Gonzales, I’ll
give him all the credit, stops and asks "Do you think someone lives
here¿" I said that I highly doubted it, but hey, "Ya fue" let’s
try contacting there anyways. So we clapped and a few minutes later, a man came
out and seemed super surprised to see us. It was kind of funny. He took it as a
huge sign that God had sent us because he didn’t even live there and that no
one ever knocked there. So we got his address and told him that we actually had
been sent by God and that we were going to pass by and talk to him again in the
future. Then, right before lunch, we talked to a guy sitting on the corner who
was running a little store. We talked to him and gave him a pamphlet and
everything, introducing ourselves, and got to know him a little better. Elder
Gonzales asked him if he was married yet, and the guy responded no. So I asked
him how old he was, and he told us 16. It was so funny because the guy looks
like he has more than 23 years. After lunch and studies, we went back out into
the killer heat and went to see a few more people. We contacted a family that
was super great and seems to have a lot of potential. At first, the dad didn’t
want anything to do with us. But, we were able to talk to them a little bit
more and get to know them, tell them more about ourselves, and then they opened
up a little more. We also passed by Brenda y Carlos, who have been
investigators for a while, but stopped progressing. But we still pass by every
now and then. Brenda usually reads the Book of Mormon on her own, mostly
because she is always at home and gets bored sometimes, but we were able to
read with them in the Book of Mormon and answer a few questions that they had
about the Book of Mormon. After that, we went to visit a few more less active
members and to set up some citas to pass by them. Then, we went by the FML
Varino and had a visit with them. They are doing pretty well and had some
pretty big news, that after 5 years, HNO Varino was going to be receiving the
Melchizedek priesthood the following day! It was great news.
Sunday.
Sunday sure was a pretty crazy day. This week, we had Stake
Conference, so we had to go to Santa Fe in the morning. The wards here in
Santoto had planned that a colectivo bus would come by at different points in
town to pick up the members. We thought that it would be passing by the church
building at about 9 o’clock, so we were looking for Fabian at his house to take
him to church with us at about 830. But, unfortunately, the bus was actually
leaving the church at that same time, eight thirty. So, not only did Fabian not
wake up or come with us, but we had to literally run to the last stop in town
to be able and take the bus. You could say that it was a little stressful. But,
we got there and onto the bus and arrived in Santa Fe. It was a good
conference, from what I could hear and understand. Yet again, like the last
conference, I was in the very far back of the overflow and couldn’t really hear
too much. But, Hermana Westover had part of the conference and during her part
she read her testimony in Spanish and did really good!! Presidente Westover
again shared his and Hermana Westover’s experience as they were called to be
the Mission President and Wife of our mission. Gosh dang, I love them so much.
But, during the conference, lots of people were showing up after we had begun
and I had to move my spots a few times to give other people a place to sit. At
points I was standing, at others I wasn’t, but by the end of the Conference, I
found myself sat down next to the FML Penno. It was great to be able to see them
participating fully in the church and our activities and meetings. Sadly, Mari
wasn’t able to make it because she had gotten really super sick and has had to
be in bed for a few days now, but I know she would have been there too if her
health had permitted it. After the conference, we got back to the pension and
had lunch and studies and it was a good time. But then, as we were about to
leave, Elder Gonzales had a super bad headache and had to stay in the pench, so
I stayed too and got some studies done and caught up on my journal writing
again.
That’s the way the week went. Not too crazy of stories and
experiences, but it was still fun and we were able to get a work done and learn
a lot from Elder Villar and Presidente and Hermana Westover.
Pictures of Elder Robinson and Elder McOmie. Also…my
4th pair of insoles that I was finally able to replace. I try to wear them ALL
the way out so I don’t need new ones as often. My new pair of insoles
make my feet and knees so much happier! THANK YOU! Also, having hot
weather this time of year is so crazy. We passed by a house that was playing
Christmas music this week and I thought they were crazy. Then I remembered it
was November even though it is 90 degrees and 90% humidity! I loved the notes
from all of the Primary children, please tell them thank you!
This week, I have started to study more specifically on
Grace and learn more about the doctrine of Grace and how I can learn to use
Grace more in my life. I feel like I actually understood Grace pretty well
before, but now I am learning so much more about it. I listened to the talk by
Brad Wilcox titled "His Grace is Sufficient" which always helps me
understand better. I love the way he puts it, that "Jesus doesn’t make up
the difference, Jesus IS the difference." I know that Grace is a gift that
we all have at some degree or another, but I also wish to testify that I know
that through the Grace of Jesus Christ we can come to be more perfected and
worthy that we could ever do on our own and through our "Will Power."
I am so very grateful for the Atoning Sacrifice of my Lord, Savior and Redeemer
Jesus Christ and will strive every day to be more and more worthy of his Saving
Grace. I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Thank you for reading! Thank you for the love and support
that you all show me. I am so grateful for all that you do for me and my
family. Love you all!
Chau
Elder Haley
Elder McOmie
Elder Robinson
My dead insoles. So thankful for a new pair!
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