“He softens the winters of our lives, but He also brightens our summers. Whether it is the best of times or the worst, He is with us. He has promised us that this will never change. But we are less faithful than He is…We sometimes neglect God. Sometimes we fail to keep his commandments that He gives us to make us happy. Sometimes we fail to commune with Him in prayer. ..We should strive for steadiness, and for a commitment to God that does not ebb and flow with the years of or the crises of our lives…if we wish to serve Him, we must serve our fellow men…we can make Him the center of our thoughts and His Son, Jesus Christ, the pattern for our behavior.” Thomas S. Monson
Sep. 26, 2011
Familia,
Mbae´ chapa? ¡Feliz primer día de la Primavera! Or in other words, Happy Spring! Spring officially began this Wednesday and it has started to warm up. I’ve decided that I like spring here. This week was super tranquilo. A great last week in Loma since changes/transfers are tonight and I am pretty sure that I’m leaving. Hermana Young is training so that means I will be transferred. I am very sad. I LOVE this area, my companion and my district. It has been one of the most treasured times of my mission. I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
So the highlights of the week: Little Justo got baptized!!! Whoo!! His parents, who were inactive are now coming back to church and we are so happy. Justo is a very intelligent, funny little guy and I have enjoyed teaching him. Hermano Rojas baptized Justo and it was my first baptism that actually started on time. The Spirit was very strong and little Justo couldn’t stop smiling after he got out of the water. Chulina. Hermano Rojas is in the Bishopric and came to one of the lessons with us. I think that was a key factor in getting Justo’s dad to come back to church. Visits are SO important. Knowing that people in the ward care about you, can make all the difference in coming back to church. It’s like the little flame of their testimony has to be lit again- they need to feel the love of the ward. That one visit that Hermano Rojas went on helped to get Justo baptized and who knows how many more baptisms will come as a result of that. It has eternal consequences.
Justo’s mom, Sonia, is doing very well. She described to us how she felt before we came to visit her, “It’s like I had an unquenchable thirst and hunger. I would eat and drink but I just wasn’t satisfied. Then when the hermanas came, and I started reading the Book of Mormon again and reading as a family, I felt filled. I was hungry only for the word of God.”
The talent show…well, in my view as a professional party planner, I think it was a complete disaster. However, there were some good moments, and I heard some good comments about it as well. For instance, when the young adults did the traditional Paraguayan dance and some primary boys did a really cute dance. What went wrong was that it started an hour late, and then another half an hour was needed to figure out the music after it started. There were no utensils to prepare the food, and some non-members, and a recent convert decided to do a less-appropriate dance. Well, you can always chalk it up to a good learning experience on what not to do next time. We need to work more closely with the leaders.
Cool lesson this week: We have been visiting the family Diez, who’s mom just passed away from cáncer. Hermana Diez and two of the four girls are members but the dad isn’t. We had never taught him before because he would always just say hi and leave. This time he came in and sat down when we arrived. I asked if he was tired from working and he told us that he is unemployed and feeling depressed. He said he doesn’t feel like he has a reason to wake up in the morning, with no job and the fact that his wife just died. He said he felt alone, like God has forgotten about him. Well, I have never had a spouse die of cancer, nor am I currently under the burden of being unemployed so I was thinking, “what can I say to him?” I know that Jesus Christ is the answer, because He always is. Then Hermana Young pulled out an amazing scripture found in 1 Nephi 21:14-16. “But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me-but he will show that he hath not. For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; they walls are continually before me.” Bam!!! He realized that God had not forgotten about him, that He is with us always, in the good times and the bad. Heavenly Father knows each one of us intimately and he never gives us more trials than we can handle. He gives us just enough to make us stretch, try us a little bit. When we pray, we should pray for the strength to make it through.
Aurora, our recent convert, who actually just got re-baptized, went to the temple for the first time. We are so happy for her. I love this area. There are so many strong members who work in the temple because it is so close.
So who really knows where changes/transfers will take me or with whom? All I know is that I can trust in the Lord, for this is His work and not ours. Also, I am most likely going to the temple this week (we get to go every 6 months around general conference). Woot, woot! Super excited! And General Conference this weekend! What could be better?
Taylor: “Tere vy’ aiteke, ko nde ara mbotyre!” That’s Guarani for Happy Birthday! Hope it was great.
PS- Stop growing up! You are getting so tall and pretty that when I get home I won’t even be able to recognize you!
Thanks for the love and support! Love you all!
Hermana Brittner
No comments:
Post a Comment