HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I can’t believe we have made
it to 2016. I feel like the time is flying by so fast. I don’t know about all
of you but time here in Chile is just rolling. I feel like there is never time
to even take a rest on a holiday. The holidays come and then they go and it was
just like a blink of an eye. It was a really great week for us here in Villa
Obispo.
This week has been one of many adventures and many errands. I feel like we have been running all over the place without stopping. Monday was half a p-day. Tuesday we had a meeting with President Bluth in Concepcion, Wednesday we went back to Concepcion to talk to President, Thursday we had a ward party for New Year’s Eve, Friday was New Years, and Saturday we had our Zone Conference which was super awesome.
I have literally had no time this week to even think about what I
was going to say to everyone but while I was sitting here I was reminded of
something that really helped me during the week.
So, to start this story off, I need to tell
you a little about
this investigator we have. We have this guy, his name is
Pablo. He is a 35 year old single man. The missionaries have been teaching him
for about 5 months. I got here when he had about one month listening to the missionaries.
We have done so much for this guy. We have prayed, fasted and gone out of our
way to help him receive his answer. There was one point where we were in the Baptismal
font, the Spirit entered the room and literally almost swept me off my feet. I
had never ever felt the spirit so strong. When I asked him to be baptized, he
looked at me with tears in his eyes and said NO. This guy has talked to our
Mission President and even a 70 who came to our Stake Conference. He literally
knows everything and he is just waiting until God tells him that it is his
time. This last Sunday he came to church. He was sitting alone so I ran up to
him and sat by him in sacrament. As we were taking the sacrament I looked at
his face and I thought of a question. Instead of interrupting the Spirit, I wrote
on a little note with the words:
"WHY DO WE DO ALL OF THIS??" I asked him the question.
Anyway, it went on to a good conversation that led to a lot of improvement.
But, the story I wanted to tell you was later, as I was thinking about that very
same question. I was thinking about how hard it is to be a member of the church
of Jesus Christ. How much we suffer. How much we are tried. How hard being a
faithful member really is. The leaders ask that we give all our time, all of our
effort, and what do we receive... money?... no we don’t receive anything
physical. I pondered the question: Why as members of the Church of Christ, WHY
DO WE DO ALL THIS? Why do we suffer, why do we serve, why do we shed tears of
pain when we see others in pain? WHY?
I was then turned to a scripture that one
of my old companions used to share.
It is found in 1 John 4:19:
We love him, because he first loved us.
This scripture is something so small, but it says so much.
WHY DO
WE DO ALL OF THIS??
It is because of LOVE.... LOVE FOR GOD!!!
I have felt so much
love in my life…from my family, from my friends, from all of you guys, but most
of all I have felt the LOVE of GOD. I could not imagine how God would feel if I
did not succeed. I can only imagine how a parent feels when someone they love
so much, their own child, makes a wrong decision or doesn’t succeed in
something. I can’t even imagine how God feels watching all his children go through
this battle of life. Watching them fall at times, watching them struggle, but
always loving them even with their weaknesses. I want to testify to each and
every one of you that GOD LOVES ALL OF US; No matter how hard our path, no
matter how bad our weaknesses. We have a Father in Heaven that loves us.
I love
each and every one of you and hope that each of you can feel HIS love each day.
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| we bought a bundle of ties for $30.00 |
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| more New Year's fun!!! |
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