Hi All,
I cannot recall where I placed the first half of June but I seem to have lost it....I don't know where it went. The hot water heater is.....in the process. The important thing is that I have hot water again.
As for Carlos, the dad, we've not seen him. He gets home really late from working in the orange orchards and they live in a....complicated area. We try to be out of there by about 7 or 7:30 pm at the latest, which is when he gets home so we'll see what we can do this week. If you remember that stupendous family that I'm always saying we're working with, well Gladis went to the government building today to finish their divorce process from her ex. We're stopping by tonight to have a family home evening. They are so so excited to be able to continue with the process that will lead them to baptism. With all of the paper work that lays ahead, I don't know how long it will take for them to be able to get the divorce finalized so she can get married. I really hope I can see them get baptized before I go home. If not, then it just wasn't meant to be and I still will work my hardest to make sure that they can be all ready. They talk like members sometimes and I love seeing how much they hunger and thirst after the scriptures. The Gospel truly changes those that let it into their hearts. It's so amazing.
Aside from that, this week was super super hard. The numbers are great. They are almost the highest level that's expected of the missionaries, but we fought and sweat for every single one of those lessons. There were 2 days that were just so hard, Thursday and Saturday, when everything fell through on us. We're in a bit of a transition stage right now in our area where we are letting go of the investigators that just don't progress and focusing on the people that we've been finding lately. This last week we found 12 new people, so we have plenty on our plate. It's just...so stressful sometimes. That must mean that I haven't been relying on the Lord sufficiently and that I have been trusting too much in myself. Humility check! After-all, it's not my work and this work will be done in the way of the Master and in no other way.
It's interesting that we can get so stressed out and in the middle of
what can be an irritating and frustrating trial, the Lord grants us a
tender mercy. I saw that last night. A guy I recognized for some reason
as we were in the street caught my eye so I said hi. He said hi back
then stopped and so I did too and walked over. When I asked his name he
got really close, slurred it out and asked for 10 pesos to go buy
marijuana. I told him I couldn't do that but that I could offer so much
more. We started to talk and I could tell right off that he'd been
drinking too. He tried to defend the merits of marijuana but in the end I
set up a lesson with him on Wednesday. He's a member. It was
interesting to see that when I became concerned and started talking to
him because I actually cared and not because I was being curious that
getting his next fix left his mind. The Atonement of Jesus
Christ heals all wounds.
Convert retention is a lot harder than it probably should be. The Salto stake is currently in a rocky moment and a lot of the wards are really struggling to function and operate at an efficient level. Convert retention is actually a bit of a world wide concern as of this last October. That was the subject of attention in the conferences that we had with Elder Viñas of the seventy and with Elder Oaks. It's a fight and a lot of times as full time missionaries, we're fighting it alone. Bit frustrating. But. That's okay. It's alright. This is a new kind of war and sometimes it takes a while to train the soldiers.
I think my highlights are the little miracles that we see in lessons or contacts. Another thing that Elder Barlow and I make a point of doing is bearing our testimony to each other each day and sharing the Tender Mercy 'o' the day that we saw. It helps a lot to reflect on the little things and the convictions that we have. The Spirit is always super strong. It helps after long hard days. :)
The ensign of June 2013, has a talk that really helped me like 2 weeks ago. You've probably read it already, but it really helped me with my perspective and the power of the sealing ordinances of the temple. http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/06/dear-are-the-sheep-that-have-wandered?lang=eng I was rather thankful for this talk. I know that the sealing that we were all born into protects each of us. I know that thanks to the strict obedience to temple covenants, I was brought back. I do not doubt these truths.
All in all, I'm one week closer to the end. It scares me sometimes. I don't want to go home. I love being out here. I don't want to go back into the world. I fear that I will be too weak to continue becoming the man that the Lord has made of me out here but we cannot have fear and faith in our hearts. The fires of faith are much more powerful than the choking and acrid smoke of fear.
Many are called and few are chosen, right? I seek to be one of the chosen. I seek to let the Lord guide my future as He has my past. Christ lives. That makes everything worth it. Everything. When we clutch at the straws in this life and it all seems to fall through our fingers, if we have that one eternal truth in our hearts, we can keep going. We can look up to the skies with the tears that streak stress worn features, and know that there is a God that lives and loves. That is enough. If I might steal an appropriate album title from Pelican, The Fire in our Throats will Beckon the Thaw. Let us fan the fires of faith, as urged Elder Holland this last conference. Let us thaw the frozen future and take a step into the black.
For now, "....I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down...." Nehemiah 6.3.
There is no time to waste. The moment has come for the headlong flight to the end and every second is a second that God has granted me life and strength to keep fighting.
Elder Simpson
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