August 26, 2013
It´s Monday again. Wow. I cannot, cannot believe it! This week was the fastest week of my mission. And, it was a very good week. In fact, it was one of the best I can remember!
Sounds like things are going well at home as well! ...
Well, I´ll tell you a little about my week.
It was different from a normal week because my companion led the area. We thought it would be a good idea, given the need in the mission for leaders, for my companion to practice taking the lead now when there´s someone to fall back on and ask questions to if needed. So, Elder Monterroso took the lead in planning, guiding us around the city, and some of the teaching. And, he did a stellar job. He´s going to be a force for good in the mission.
We had two very good lessons with J and G, who keep on progressing. They´re keeping commitments (reading, praying, going to church) and seeing big changes in their lives. They´re more unified, they´re not as stressed and tense during the week, and they handle the problems that arise in a better way than before. This week we taught them the Law of Chastity and the message of the Restoration. Both were powerful lessons where the Spirit was present (which makes all the difference). They committed to search for a testimony of the Book of Mormon... and they´re going to get married! G is waiting for some ID papers to arrive (they should come this week), and then they can to choose a date to get married.
Sounds like things are going well at home as well! ...
Well, I´ll tell you a little about my week.
It was different from a normal week because my companion led the area. We thought it would be a good idea, given the need in the mission for leaders, for my companion to practice taking the lead now when there´s someone to fall back on and ask questions to if needed. So, Elder Monterroso took the lead in planning, guiding us around the city, and some of the teaching. And, he did a stellar job. He´s going to be a force for good in the mission.
We had two very good lessons with J and G, who keep on progressing. They´re keeping commitments (reading, praying, going to church) and seeing big changes in their lives. They´re more unified, they´re not as stressed and tense during the week, and they handle the problems that arise in a better way than before. This week we taught them the Law of Chastity and the message of the Restoration. Both were powerful lessons where the Spirit was present (which makes all the difference). They committed to search for a testimony of the Book of Mormon... and they´re going to get married! G is waiting for some ID papers to arrive (they should come this week), and then they can to choose a date to get married.
The interesting thing about J and G is that they had been taught by the Elders before. The last update on their status, written a few years ago, read something like ´Waiting for ID, aren´t keeping commitments, not much progress.´ And now, they have a true desire to repent and follow Christ. G wants to be baptized and J wants to return to activity so he can baptize her. I guess it´s true: everyone has their time, when they´re ready for the Gospel. Before, they weren´t ready - but now they are! And that gives me hope that some of the good investigators who I have taught in the past who weren´t ready yet... will be ready when the Elders come knocking sometime in the future.
I wish I could know what will happen in the future with each of the people that I talk to and teach... But it seems like most of the time, we only get to know a small part of the stories of the people whose lives we affect.
And on a similar note, we got a surprising phone call from the assistants this week informing us that we had a new investigator who was scheduled to be baptized next Saturday in our area. Some sister missionaries in the next zone had mistakenly been teaching an investigator who lives a block into our area. This investigator, named C, progressed rapidly and was all set to be baptized - but the sisters realized that she did not live within their area. She would have to be baptized and attend church in Ituzaingo 2.
So we got the phone call, and a few days later we went with our ward mission leader to an appointment to meet C - the sisters introduced us to her, we all talked for a little bit, and then the sisters left. We got to know C and told her how to get to church the next day (fortunately there´s a bus close by which will drop her off right in front of the church), and shared a message.
She´s really well prepared. The sisters found her in the very moment when she needed help in her life, and she´s found the spiritual help she needs in the Gospel. Now her great desire is to be baptized and have a new beginning. She will be baptized this Saturday.
But she scared us! The next day, we waited and waited for her to come to church, and she didn´t come! If she didn´t arrive to church, we would have to postpone the baptism, and we didn´t want to do that because 1) the sister missionaries would kill us and 2) we didn´t want to make C wait another week when she wanted so badly to be baptized. (The 5 minutes before Sacrament meeting starts are the worst 5 minutes of the entire week. It´s awful waiting for investigators who promised they would come to arrive, trying to have faith that they will come but wondering if, once again, you´ll be disappointed.) But in the end, she arrived right before the opening prayer, and all was well.
Relating this to my earlier point... Sometimes as missionaries we plant, sometimes we nourish, sometimes we harvest, sometimes we help retain and strengthen in the Gospel. I´m learning that it´s all the same; none of those things is better than the others. We just enjoy the privilege of being a part of someone´s conversion, whichever part it may be.
I do feel a little bad for the sisters, knowing how it feels to send a good investigator into the care of other missionaries. But they´ll be coming to the baptism, so it´s okay.
Other good experiences this week:
On Sunday we decided to go knocking doors on the very, very edge of our area, somewhere we had never gone before. We found lots of people who weren´t interested... and one who is. We gave a Book of Mormon to a girl named A who has investigated several different churches and hasn´t found what she´s looking for. Hopefully we´ll be able to pass by during the week and help her satisfy her spiritual thirst!
We´re progressing toward meeting our goals! Better this week than last week, better last week than the week before. And coming up: we´re going to have the best week yet.
That´s all I´ve got for today. Love you all so very much, and I´m happy to hear from you. My love to all.
Elder Stockton
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