Wednesday, February 6, 2019

We made it to The Peace and ate on the River...

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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