Well... I have some pretty sad news. It seems that my companionship with Elder Doxey was meant to be short lived. last tuesday (or algo así) He had an emergency transfer to the sacred valley which is another zone in the mission. He was transfered to a town called Calca (creo) and I hope he`s doing great although I wont get the chance to find out until the change mtg which happens in about two weeks. Oh! and dont worry he wasnt transfered for any kind of iniquity, the mission just doesnt like to keep trios running for any longer than they have to.
We had a great time together though... I never thought that i would have the opportunity to preach the gospel in a foreign country with one of my very good buds. WE worked hard in Izcuchaca for two good weeks, unfortunately, he wont be here to witness the three batisms we are going to have next week! But we are going to count them as his converts anyhow. Maybe when i put up pictures of the baptismal service his parents can email them to him or something like that.
My thoughts on missionary work have changed a lot this week, and through the experiences we had with a few investigators I was able to think a little bit about my own personal conversion and how i came to know that this gospel is true.
The gospel is not easy. It isnt easy to accept, it isnt easy to live, and it isnt easy to share with your friends or neighbors, or even to live it in the midst of others who think that the book of mormon was written by the devil himself! I think this is how a lot of the people in Peru feel. I mentioned that we were going two have three baptisms next week. Well, they were originally planned for this week. What happened??? There was some opposition, and our investigators just couldnt hack it.
The first person we were going to baptize was the Sister Celestina. She is a single mother with 3 kids. We love to go out and help her herd her sheep, and then have a little lesson in her chakra. She has been an investigator for almost 3 months now. We almost left her, well actually we did... one night we passed by her house and told her that we would love to continue being her friend but that we could not continue having regular visits. She told us that she was going to attend church, and we almost shrugged this committment off thinking that we had committed her to come to church many times, and she had never come..... Well she came! And ever since we have been working toward baptism.
I thought a lot about what made the difference in her life, what was the key to her conversion, and in effect, what is the key to anyones conversion who wants to come to know the gospel of jesus christ? We had zone study this morning and something that was beat into our heads was the power of the book of mormon. Before, I´m not sure that i had put enough emphasis into the power of this book, and what significance it can have here in the work of the lord.
The book of mormon is the keystone of our religion. It clarifies all docrinal discrepancies that could be formed by hundreds of religions who all study the same book (bible) but interpret it differently. Most importantly, the promise that we find in moroni of the book of mormon is real. If we read this book, and meditate in our hearts what it says, and then ask heavenly father in the name of jesus christ if the book is true, we will recieve an answer.
Hma. Celestina recieved her answer of the truthfulness of the book of mormon. I though I was going to have time to explain the other families experience and more, but i dont have time! Sorry 30 minutes flys by pretty quickly.
Well Im bummed that i didnt get ONE SINGLE EMAIL THIS WEEK! But i hope that all of you are doing just wonderful and that all is well at home.
oh and p.s.
Im sorry that Obama is president again... looks like i am going to live in Peru for another 4 years ;)
Con mucho amor
Elder Neff.
No comments:
Post a Comment