July 18, 2011

This week was good. It started off pretty slow but picked up at the end. I was actually studying the topic of adversity because we haven't had anybody going to church for the past couple weeks, and so I was trying to figure out why we weren't being blessed with that... and I learned a couple new things. Because adversity comes no matter what, sometimes it comes through our own mistakes and weaknesses and other times it comes because that is a part of life. But adversity basically exercises two attributes of Christ, faith and patience. Throughout my life I have always considered myself as one having faith, and in a way having patience. But I think it is the patience part that I have never understood. In fact i still don't understand it all that well. But what I think patience is... Is to have the faith to wait for problems and trials to be overcome, while never being content, with where you're at spiritually. And the reason while I say that is because I think God wants us to be disappointed when things aren't going right, but he wants us to be patient, as far as we wake up every morning with the faith that we are going to see results that day, and even when we don't have those results; we wake up with the same enthusiasm the next day as the day before by knowing that this is the day we are going to see results. And so then patience is really just long lasting faith that this is the day that we are going to see the results. Which is awesome, because if someone can learn this, then they could serve 2 years without having a single baptism, and come back with more faith than someone that had a baptism every week on their mission. I love it; because if we are truly living the gospel of Jesus Christ everyday and improving ourselves, no matter what happens in our life, we can be happy, and never decrease in our faith; which is exactly why faith is like a little seed that is grown by patience and diligence. One really cool experience that we had this week was when we were teaching with one of the members in our ward, investigators name Homero y Fernando. Like every lesson we have with them is just a bomb lesson, filled with the spirit. But they both accepted an invitation to come to church, not this week, but next week. And then the member just bore a powerful testimony of how satan was going to do everything he could after we left to put obstacles in their way of not going to church next sunday. And how they knew everything we said was true and how they wanted to go to church now, but that their desire will be tested so much in this next week. And it was awesome, because it was exactly what they needed to hear. I was thinking the exact same thing he said before he said it and was just praying that the spirit would direct him to say that. and boom he did. But man I just love bearing testimony. I was so good at it, in the beginning of my mission cause it seemed that it was all that I could say in spanish. And as I started developing more ability to speak then came a little less testimony and a little more speaking. But man testimony is where it is at. We have had so many powerful lessons this week because of it... whether that was my own testimony of that of my companion or that of a member. But I love yall so much and have a good week.