April 7th, 2014
We didn't have any weddings this week, but I'm almost home, so I
thought I'd stick with the marriage theme.
First of all, thanks for reminding me
that it was going to be my birthday this week! Because if not,
I just might have forgotten. I was actually forgetting until I
logged on to my email account and saw 130 new messages today. Thanks
everyone! I'm sure it'll be a great day. And special
thanks to Granny and Jay for the package--yes it made it!
Well, I don't have a whole ton of time
left--lots to do on the computer today, if you can believe it.
Anyways, we had a pretty good week. I kind of forgot how
stressful and hard training a new missionary is. Not that Elder
C is difficult, it would be hard with anyone. He's a good kid
and doesn't complain about anything, but in two weeks in the MTC they
can't teach them a whole lot. I'm really tired! Hopefully
he learns what he needs to from me.
Remember how last Thursday we found 7
new investigators? Well, one of them who I didn't tell you
about was R. We were walking down the street and she was
sitting outside her house and we felt strongly that we should talk to
her. She told us that she really didn't know anything about God
and was a little frustrated because she's gone to the Catholic church
but doesn't feel like she learns anything because she doesn't know
how to read. We said a little prayer with her right there in
the street, invited her to church, and put an appointment to go back
on Sunday. On Sunday she was waiting for us and introduced us
to her husband, J. They're both in their 60s and they've been
married for only 6 years. They were both widowed and miraculously met
and got married. Quite the story that I don't have time to
tell. J doesn't know how to read either, so that's a major
obstacle, but we've been teaching them almost every day since Tuesday
and their faith has grown a lot already. R told us that she
really has a spiritual hunger and would just get so frustrated
sometimes because she couldn't find anything to satisfy it. She
says that this whole week, since we said the prayer with her in the
street, she's felt better. They came to the Saturday morning
session of conference and to both sessions on Sunday. Also, we
introduced them to our branch president who told them that he had
seen some manuals to help someone learn to read in the church. The
next day we stopped by to meet a member to come with us to a lesson
and he was there in his office. He had found the manuals--one
for the teacher and for the person who wants to learn to read. The
member who was going to come with us just happens to be a
kindergarten teacher (the primary president), so he gave her the
teacher's manual and gave her the assignment to teach R and J how to
read, and she accepted. So starting tomorrow she's going to
start giving them reading classes. Love this branch. Hopefully
they can learn how to read quickly so that they can read the Book of
Mormon, because until they read it it'll be hard for them to really
have a strong testimony.
Wednesday was a day I'll never forget.
Almost all morning we had lessons fall through, and in the
afternoon it looked like it would follow the same pattern after two
more fell through. It was about 5:00 and we had visited all our
plan a's and plan b's up to that point, so I said a prayer to ask
Heavenly Father where we should go. The thought came to me that
Elder C already knew where we should go, so I asked him and he said
that we should go with the C family. Remember them? It's
the pure-bred Lamanite family we met a few weeks ago that hardly
speaks Spanish. We hadn't seen them for a while at this point,
like almost a week. Usually they don't get home from work until
about 8:00, so I was thinking, "Ok, they're probably not home
but there's probably someone on the way that we're supposed to talk
to." But on the way there there was literally nobody in
the street, and when we got there, sure enough, there was the whole
family. Brother C was sitting outside with a can of beer and
when we got there he told us that he had given up on himself--he had
been addicted to alcohol for too long and wasn't going to be able to
quit. But he asked us to keep visiting his kids so that they
wouldn't follow his example. We asked him if we could say a
prayer and talk a little more and he said yes. He wasn't drunk
yet, so I wanted to give it one last try. We gathered the whole
family and after the prayer I knew we had to teach him about the
Atonement, but recognizing that they really don't know anything about
Christ, we started from the beginning. Elder C has this book of
Gospel art, so we pulled it out and went page by page, starting with
Christ's birth, explaining to them all the events of His life. We
talked about His baptism, His miracles, His teachings, His suffering
in Gethsemane, His death on the cross, and His Resurrection. They
were filled with wonder and amazement. With each new picture
they seemed more and more captivated, and more and more convinced of
the truth of all we were telling them. After talking about the
Resurrection, we asked Brother C "If this man had power to do
all these things, do you think he can help you stop drinking?"
He said yes. We invited them to be baptized. They
all said yes. We invited them to keep praying and to come to
church on sunday and they said they would. The last picture in
the art book was of the second coming. We explained to them
that Christ one day will come back, that He still lives and loves
each one of them. I hadn't felt the Spirit that strong for a
long time. They didn't end up coming to church on sunday, and
they're not sure how much time they're still going to be here in C,
but it was still such an amazing experience to be able to teach these
people who knew absolutely nothing about Christ who He is. He
is the Savior, and He has power to save each one of us. To top
it off, that night C and V came with us to visit an investigator, J,
and they're super awesome and shared super powerful testimonies in
the lesson. And he did come to church.
Well, that's how things are going right
now. I'm out of time and really don't have much else to report.
Thanks for your love and prayers. Have a fantastic week!
Elder Pew
April
17th, 2014
So spring
break just started this week here, so we decided to go on vacation as
well. Ok not really but we're not going to be in our area for
like half of the week. Tomorrow we have district class in M and
tomorrow night we have to be in G at 9:00 because Elder C has to
figure something out with his visa Wednesday morning, and then
Wednesday afternoon we have a follow up meeting with President Wagner
for all the new missionaries and their trainers, so won't be getting
back here until like Thursday. I'm a little bit worried since
that's a lot of time without being able to see our investigators and
converts, so remember them all in your prayers! And if anyone's
going to the temple, it would be just great if you could put their
names on the prayer roll there as well. Especially V and R
Paniagua. Thanks.
We had a pretty awesome
week. R and J have been going to the church every other day so
that the Primary president can teach them how to read. This
branch really just has the greatest members. They're more and
more convinced now that this is the true church and R is excited to
be baptized. Also, it turns out that R's son in law, who died
three years ago in an accident at work, just happens to be Brother
D's brother, and when he heard she had been listening to us and that
she has a baptismal date he got super excited and came back to church
this week! He told us that when he got baptized, she was one of
the first people to criticize him and tell him not to. The Lord
really does prepare people to receive the gospel. Look at her
now. Our branch president's wife told us that she stood up in
relief society this sunday and basically bore her testimony to
everyone about how she was stressed out and frustrated one day and
went outside her house when all of a sudden we came by and talked to
her and from that moment on she has been happy and peaceful and knows
that the church is true. Yes!
J is still doing great.
We've been teaching him the commandments this week and so far
so good. The only ones left are the law of chastity and the
word of wisdom, and I really doubt he has a problem with either of
them. He's halfway through 2 Nephi and came to church all by
himself this week and stayed for 3 hours. Unfortunately, his
family remains completely uninterested. Hopefully someday soon
they'll listen. We're really hoping we can get them to come to
his baptism in a few weeks and maybe from there on things will
change.
Wendesday we had interviews
with President Wagner. He told me that Elder R begged and
begged and begged to be my companion again for my last transfer, and
that he remembers his time with me as the "golden days."
We both found that to be really funny. But it was good
because he also told me that he's come a long way. Also I asked
him for advice for how to finish off the last two months of my
mission and he said not to think about it, talk about it, write about
it, or do anything different. Don't let the members know, don't
mention it in your letters, just business as usual. So in the
letters you write me just pretend like I'm going to be staying here
for another 3 years (and if it were up to me, I just might:).
On Thursday we were walking
to a lesson when a lady stopped us on the street and told us she
wanted us to go visit her. Her name is M and she and her
husband S had listened to the missionaries a few years ago and were
about to get baptized but S didn't pass his interview and they kind
of lost interest after that. But apparently they've had
"problems" in their marriage lately and want help. We
went Friday and taught them the Restoration. They accepted a
baptismal date for May 17th, but they didn't come to church and we
couldn't find them afterwards so we'll see what happens.
On Friday we were walking
down the street and a young couple was walking towards us and we felt
like we should talk to them. We did and they gave us their
address. We went by Saturday and they're super awesome. Their
names are G and M , they met in Mexico City and lived their for a
while. While they were there, they started going to some church
and got baptized, but when they got here, they started listening to
the Jehovah's witnesses who told them their baptism wasn't valid
(thank you!) so now they're kind of confused about what they should
do. Actually, not anymore, because we taught them the
Restoration and they understood and accepted everything, including a
baptismal date (May 24th). They're not legally married, but
they know that they need to be and have already been gathering
together the papers they need. They came to church yesterday
even though G has a nasty cut in his leg and can barely walk and
stayed the whole three hours, and we're super excited to go visit
them in a few hours.
Before the lesson with them
on Saturday, we felt like we should talk to a lady sitting in a chair
in front of her house. She was totally not interested, but she
told us the names of three of her neighbors so we went to contact
them. One of them was G and his wife C. When we contacted
them, I felt strongly that I should talk about families. He
accepted another appointment and we went sunday afternoon.
Apparently, they've just recently started to have problems with
their marriage and really need help. Also, they have 2 little
daughters and had another one that died as a baby 2 years ago, so
when we taught about eternal families the spirit was really strong.
They also accepted a baptismal date for May 24th. So
basically, the Spirit has been guiding us to the people who are ready
to receive the gospel, and they are many. Truly, the field is
white already to harvest.
E spoke in sacrament meeting
yesterday. She's so great. C, her, and L also are
visiting teachers now and they're going to call L as the first
counselor in the relief society presidency. Our converts are
going to help so much in this branch!
Basically, I'm loving my
life. Preach my Gospel says that there is no other work that is
more important, or more rewarding, than missionary work, and I know
that's true! It would be foolishness for someone to have the
opportunity to serve a mission and turn it down. You're only
hurting yourself. God's work will go forth, the only thing
that's left to decide is if we will have the joy of participating in
it or not. Count me in.
Have a great week everyone!
I love you all!
Elder Pew
