Hay Estamos

Monday, January 14, 2013 4:46 PM

Well, this week definitely was an interesting one. But to start off, yes, I finally did receive one of the packages, and wow, thank you sooooo much mom! (and everyone else) It really was awesome to receive all of those treats, and the ties! I love them! But my favorite of all, the Utes stuff haha! How did you know that I needed pj’s that are long haha it really has been great, thank you all! :)

Well, on to this week and all of the craziness that happened this week. To start off, I don't even know where to start, so much has happened it is hard to remember what happened on what day, but here we go. So in the beginning of the week we had our weekly “junta” or gathering, with our district and zone, and wow, it really was powerful. I was reminded of what I haven't been doing here that we were doing in my last area, and I really think it is because we haven't been having as much success here as my last area. I kinda forgot to invite people to baptism on the first lesson, and boy have I realized what a difference it makes. For all of those people that are preparing to go on a mission, this is extremely important. If people don't know exactly why they are having missionary discussion's, they are never going to get baptized and are never going to progress, but, if they know right from the get go what we are there and what we are preparing them for, then the chances of them being baptized increases, significantly. After the junta, we had several interviews with some of our investigators for baptism, which we were super excited about, and they all went well. We were even able to put down a date with a couple, Areseli and Ramon, for this last Sunday. Everything kept going good, until Friday morning. So when had 3 investigators that were going to go baptized this last Sunday, and Friday in the morning we received a call that David, our other “possible” had a doubt and didn't want to get baptized on Sunday, and the problem is that he works everyday until 10, so we couldn't pass by that same night to check what happened and all. So that is how Friday started, and during the day little thing after little thing kept happening that just really got us down, but we still had hope, we had an appointment with Areseli and Ramon at 8 to go over to the chapel and talk with the bishop so he could get to know them a little bit more before their baptism, and we were just looking forward to that all day. Well we walk in the door, and the first thing that they say is well, we don't think we are going to be baptized this Sunday, but lets go over and talk with the bishop, but we changed our minds about this Sunday. So not only did they postpone their baptism, but they didn't give us any chance to find out why and talk with them to resolve their doubts, and we didn't have any time to resolve the doubts with bishop either, so you could say that when we walked into our house that night, we were defeated. We were tired, we had been rejected all day, not only did all of our baptismal dates fall, but also all of our other appointments. To be honest, it was the lowest point I had gotten on my mission, the first time when I responded to my district leader, how was today, and how are you, it wasn't a “super bien”. It was hard. I can now testify that whenever people say that a mission is hard, those who haven't gone on a mission have no idea. But, I learned an internal truth that night. As I was pondering about the day, what went wrong, where I went wrong, what I could have done better, my companion turned on a video that our President gave us about the atonement, two different talks from President Eyring and Elder Holland, for missionaries. It starts off with President Eyring talking about what Christ did after His crucifixion, and how even though He had finished a hard task, He went to the spirit world and He didn't stop His glorious work of saving souls. After, Elder Holland talks about how when we are rejected, when we are spit upon, when we are driven to our knees, that as representatives of Jesus Christ, we are standing shoulder to shoulder with the best life this world has ever seen. You can imagine the impact this had on me. I finally understand the statement of our area presidency that when we have faith in Christ and His atonement, we wont become discouraged, because we know we have the truth, we have a living prophet, and that through Christ, all pains can be resolved. As a missionary, a representative of Jesus, I have really finally come to know the healing part of the Atonement. We have all experienced the forgiving part of the Atonement because we have all sinned and have all repented of something, grave or not, but until this night I had never experienced the soul healing part of this great sacrifice of our Lord and King. I challenge you all to give it a try, to apply the atonement of Christ in your life in a way that you have never done before, to put aside the pains of yesterday aside, and that through the mercy of Christ, move on, and work harder. Just like President Eyring says, that the example of Christ working in the Spirit world after the atonement can give us the courage necessary to work even harder when we thing that we have finished a hard task in His service. Remember also, as members, we have taken upon us the Name of Christ. Think about that. Not only does that mean that we should do as he did/does, but as Elder Holland says, it means that we stand shoulder to shoulder with Him when we are in His service. You could say that I have only just begun to understand what it really means to serve God with all my heart might mind and strength, and I am beyond stoked to learn how to even more every day. I love this work, and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to leave everything, everyone, behind, in the service of my Lord. He lives, and I see His hand working miracles everyday. He lives, and what comfort this sweet sentence gives!

With all the love I can give,

Elder Noel