Holy crap this week went by so fast. Time is really starting to fly by. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was sitting in this ciber writing you guys. Now I gotta remember what happened this week.
This week was a week of hard work. Lots of contacting and new investigators. We found 12 new investigators this week and we set baptismal dates with 11 people. That sounds great but setting a date is one thing and actually seeing them have the opportunity is another. We've got a lot of faith though and we're gonna work hard to see these people really come unto Jesus Christ. The most frustrating part though is even when we work our absolute hardest it still only covers a tiny percentage of what needs to be done. They have to exercise their agency to read the Book of Mormon, pray, come to church, and truly have a repentant heart. I just wish I could do that for them hahah. I've seen how much this gospel has blessed my life, and I just wish they'd take it a little more seriously. People here don't like to commit to much of anything. But hey thats okay. We got a wondeful text message this week from our recent convert Gaby. She is on vacation in Xalapa right now and is attending church there. She was so golden oh man. Super cool to see somneone really accept Jesus Christ. So yeah we have a lot of hopes for the coming weeks. This weekend Bertha couldn't be baptized. Her situation (vague I know, but it's her life so no details) has gotten worse and we haven't seen her in a few days. We're worried about her. But we'll find her this week and help her out. Someday it will work out. This weekend coming up we should have a baptism with a young man named Erik. He is a prime example of the power of the word of God. He started reading the Book of Mormon and he just can't get enough of the gospel. He is really stoked for his baptism and to leave his past life behind. His mom and sisters are slowly coming around as well. They used to hide when we came by but the other day we played kickball with them for a rato (a sec?) and now they kind of listen in on the lessons but refuse to participate. We're hoping through his example they'll all open up more. So yeah we're stoked for Erik.
I'm sending pictures with this email. Hopefully Jess has a chance to post them somewhere where people can see them. Mexico is super cool. I hope everybody likes my gelled combover. It's a mission rule to have a visible line in our hair so we GO HARD with the hair gel. Yeck hahah
As for other interesting things this week, the mission split. We went to Poza Rica on Saturday for a conference to say goodbye to President and Hermana Treviño and their family. They are truly great people. I didn't have a chance to get really attached but they are wonderful and I'll miss them. After the conference we ate Chinese food. YES. So good.
The mission split yesterday and President Lopez and Co. should get here by Thursday I think. I am excited to meet him and see what's gonna change and stay the same. As for now who knows who's in charge of us. ANARCHY!! Just kidding...
As many of you probably don't know or care, the Mexican presidential elections were yesterday and at like 6 pm we got a call from our zone leaders that we had to go straight home. Apparently somewhere in the mission there was some kind of something and they decided that all the missionaries needed to be inside. Who knows what happened but civil unrest is always cool. From what I heard today it sounds like Peña Nieto is gonna be the next president. Mexico is getting a nuevo rumbo as his slogan says.. I personally would have voted for Josefina. SER MUJER EN MEXICO VA SER DIFERENTE: LA MUJER TIENE PALABRA. Their slogans are so cool here. I especially loved how they sent cars driving around with speakers on top bumping classic Mexican pop songs but with the lyrics changed to have their name in it. Josefina changed Danza Cuduro to have her name in it hahah. I don't thnk copyright laws are really strict here. But what do I know.
This week I've been thinking a lot about trials. I think of the story in First Nefi 7 where Nefi's brothers tie him up, and rather than praying that he is freed, he prays for the strength to free himself. There's a great talk written by Bednar in the January (I think) Liahona or Ensign about that.. How much better is it to recieve the strength to push through trials rather than just have them be taken away! Much better! Because then we get double blessings. We will overcome that trial (so the trial goes away, there's a blessing) and as well we can learn and grow so much! We were not put on this earth to have it be easy. We were put here to learn, grow, and prove our devotion to the Lord. We can't learn and grow without getting hit in the face with trials a lot of the time. So my invitation to anybody reading this is to embrace your trials, love your problems, and echarles ganas (never quit? not a literal translation there). We can overcome any problem that comes our way.
I hope this letter finds everybody well and I hope you know I love you all.
Sale pues bye
Elder Jarman
No comments:
Post a Comment