Week 7! "Ohh Sundays :)"

From 3/10/14

Love you all!

 

My pictures won`t upload :( Que lastima. But know that I still have two eyes, a nose, and smile as big as ever! Oh!! Also, Stake President "S" and one other person told me I look Guayaquileña!! Both in the same day. It was brilliant :)

We are drinking lots of hot chocolate and pansitos because of the colllld. And Hna C and I decided we are getting chubby, so we bought fulll yogurt and granola today for our future breakfasts heheh.

 

On to this week's events:

 

This week....we found a house!! I am a proud owner of a first floor apartment at a reasonable price and ample space for the things we need. We received the keys today, but instead of taking a picture, we have to send it to the mission secretaries heheh. We spent a portion of Saturday helping the family move things out so that the mission can move things in tomorrow. 

After looking for place after place and receiving several declinations from the secretaries, we know this apartment is top notch, because we have been able to compare our options. And this apartment is definitely the place they promised us the Lord has been preparing. Because the price, location, set up, people living in the floors around us is perfect. Ahh yes.

But one day as we were looking on the way to an appointment, we saw a blue house that appeared to be emptied. Tired and desperate, we knocked. Nada. Yep, it was definitely empty alright. But as Hna C was knocking, her ring fell off and rolled under the gate. Usually the homes here have some sort of gate before getting to the actual door of the house. This gate had slivers of space, or holes, as part of the design. We could see the ring. We tried stretching through the hole, reaching with our arms, and even with a branch of a plant Hna C saw nearby.

 

As she brainstormed nearby, I figured I`d try the quick solution: my leg. I lifted my skirt up just enough to fit my right leg through the hole. Determined, I stretched as far as I could to try and reach for the ring. Until, out of the corner of my eye I saw a man in a suit standing a few feet away towards the other side of the road. With my leg completely lodged in the gate, I cocked my head sideways just enough to see him standing there, facing me squarely, with an absolutely perplexed look on his face. No smile. Nothing. He just stared at me.

 

"Hola. Como esta?" I said a little too nonchalantly and quirkily. I`m pretty sure he thought I was robbing the place haha.

 

But when I dislodged my leg, and Hna C finally realized what was going on, we explained the lost ring situation, and the man was actually nice enough to help us retrieve it with a broom. He left pretty quickly after that, but who can blame him. Hna C and I had a good laugh out of the whole scenario and thought about going back to reenact the scene with a picture, but obviously that never came into fruition. hahah. But it was priceless.

Anyhow, this week was a little rough. There has been a situation in our ward from the very first Sunday I was here. Since our ward is a recently combined set of two wards, there is some difficulty with butting heads and unity with the members. At times I feel like we are simply burdens on the members of the ward because there are two sets of missionaries to feed, and it`s hard to find people in our sector willing to help us out with that. The stake president came yesterday and gave a beautiful and heart-felt talk in sacrament meeting about supporting the Lord`s servants.

 

I`m pretty sure people could hear me crying afterwards from outside the bathroom. I haven`t cried like that in a long time. But immediately following, and after having a "special meeting" between the missionaries and stake president, who said some very tender, encouraging things, we had the most productive ward counsel we have ever had before in our ward.  Instead of just talking about what we need to do, there was an air of action and excitement. We spoke of our members and investigators and of their needs, then went to action with solutions. It was an absolute answer to prayer, and quite immediate too. 

Every week, and every day, I feel something changing in our ward. There is more understanding and more unity. I cannot stress how important it is to serve one another, to fellowship, and to have that unity. Zion was not Zion without it. I even had an opportunity last week to go into the bishop`s home to ask him something, and realized what a good person he is. And how hard he is trying. And the most important eye-opener I`ve had thus far is that he called of God. How often do I say that just to say it? But really, these callings are from God. And however inadequate we might feel, if we do our part and put in our effort, the Lord will accomplish His purposes in His way. 

Just briefly I also want to bear my testimony of the importance of Sundays: the Sabbath Day. Every Sunday, there`s a period of about 30 minutes that is the most stressful (I guess I could say) of the entire week. Our ward here also starts at 9 am, like our ward at home. But we leave early in order to retrieve all the people who said they would go the days leading up to Sunday. 

And every Sunday, something happens where the investigators or less active members say they are unable to go. Satan works so hard on Sundays, I am a witness of it. But, if these investigators do not attend church, they cannot progress, and they cannot enter into the covenant of baptism. And that is an entire week of difference at the least. That`s a lot.

In Isaiah 58:13-14, it speaks of the blessing of church attendance. It says something about developing a delight in the Savior when we keep this commandment. In 3 Nephi 18:1-25 it also speaks of the importance of church. One part says that, as we know that the Lord is gathering His people, when we choose to attend sacrament meeting, we are the ones separating ourselves. We are the ones choosing between gathering ourselves within the house of Israel or not. Every Sunday counts.

Yesterday, out of 6 who said they would come, no one came. Until about 15 minutes into sacrament meeting, one gentleman called us and asked for directions to the building. This gentleman came from further away than the rest. He arrived by bus. And when we went outside to wait for him, we saw him arriving in crutches and hopping on one leg all the way down the sidewalk toward the church building.

Wow. That is what it`s all about. I don`t think I ever understood what it means to keep the Sabbath Day until now. And I still think there`s more to it that I still don`t quite know. 

But I`m starting to realize that it`s one way the Lord is gathering His children and distinguishing between the wheat and the tares. Our obedience is so important, but more than that, our willingness. We are needed in our wards, wherever that may be. Our talents, our service, and our support is needed. I feel that, through the missionaries, the Lord is testing our ward and giving them a chance to grow and strengthen. And, as a missionary, the Lord has not neglected us. Every time there has been something we have needed, He has introduced us to a new family or someone who could offer us just it is that we were looking for.

I am grateful for wards. I am grateful for the organization and structure of the church. I am grateful for good people who have nothing, and give everything. And I am grateful for those who truly understand our role as children of God, with truth that no one else has. Who are we without each other? I hate to say it, but God needs our faith and obedient service. And those who have been able to support the Lord`s servants in this way are the ones who may never know how grateful I am for them. 

Sister B said something in her letter to me about how the members find, and the missionaries teach. And I can testify that most of the investigators we have had were references from a member of the ward. And Hallelujah for them. One young lady of only 27 years old was able to receive a lesson of the Plan of Salvation in that way. Who, I recently found out, was ready to commit suicide. 

I am so grateful every day that I serve the Lord. There are some things that I can`t express in words, but I know this church is true. I know that God knows us, and our hearts. And I know that everything He commands has a purpose. With a little bit of faith and action, we can understand why. And with complete conversion unto Him. we won`t even feel the need to know why, we will simply do it. And we will be His.

"Good afternoon, President Richardson.

 

I think the Milagros de Marzo has begun for Hna C and me. This week was a little rough, but I`ve also been able to see how the Lord has blessed us.

 

It`s been a little rough because of all the distractions and obstacles as far as time goes. This week started off slow because of carnival. Then a couple days we had to prepare our own meals because at the time our mamitas were either unavailable or not established yet (now we have mamitas for the whole week, so we`re good :). Also, we were able to find an apartment and did a service project to clean and empty the furniture from it. Also, one day Hna C was feeling really unwell, so we had to take it a little slower than typical.

 

But despite the obstacles, I feel that the Lord is aware of our desires and has continued to bless us with incredible opportunities. For example, "H" was able to be baptized this week! It was a little bit of a sacrifice for him because his work called and said he would need to work this weekend, starting at 8:30-9:00 every morning, and not returning until about 9:30 at night. Regardless, he and President "A" were able to meet early (at 7am) one morning. President A emerged from the interview and pulled Hna C and me aside. With tears in his eyes, and complete tenderness in his voice, he related to us that H had experienced something so profound and scarring in his life. He said that H was a man well-prepared for this baptism, and that, although Pres A didn`t know what to say at one point during the interview, he simply knew H should be baptized. At the end, he looked down for a moment, silent, then looked back up into Hna C and my eyes and said, "Please take care of this man." And that was it.

 

Saturday morning, at 7am, H was baptized. He was so excited. And although only a trio of elders, two members from the ward, us, and H and President A were there, the room was filled with the presence of the Spirit and a sense of joy and love filled the room. H is a man who has changed dramatically...not in appearance of customs. But, in his countenance. He is so much brighter, there`s a light in his eyes, and his desire to reach outside of his previously enclosed way of living has grown tremendously. He took the initiative to ask his boss that, since he worked an extra hour Saturday, that he would be able to take an hour of work off in the morning Sunday so he could attend Sacrament Meeting.

 

That was one blessing of this week.

 

There are many more, but one more I feel was impactful was a brother we first visited Wednesday. His name is "C". He has a desire to be baptized, but the big problem is that he is not married to his "esposa." But, I was shocked with the way Hna C handled the situation, persistent and direct that they needed to be married....this week. So that he could be baptized the Saturday that came. And the crazy thing was that they were both so receptive to all of it. They opened up by saying that this is what they`ve wanted to do for so long."