Hola Familia y Amigos
It was great to hear from you all this past week! Thank you so much for your love and support and your letters and your emails. The shoulder thing with Trent sounds so weird. I'm glad that he is still able to hit the ball but that's so crazy that you are able to do that with a torn ligament in your shoulder. It's a cool blessing too. I'm glad that this week the news was no surgery, hopefully it will be the same next week.
And holy cow 54-3! And I am hearing that BYU is ranked #7? Wow! What a season to be on a mission. No, I'm just kidding. I am glad that they are doing so well. In all honesty, I would much rather be here in Puerto Rico on Saturdays serving the Lord, then being in Orem sitting on the couch watching football. This is where the Lord wants me to be and there is no other place I would rather be. But thanks for the updates and I hope they do well! Go Cougars!
Anywho, this week was absolutely awesome! I will start off with the best news! We have two more baptismal dates with the kids of Carmen, or Carmen's kids is how you say it in English (I think). Anyways, we were so pumped when we committed them to baptism. These kids are really shy but they absolutely love the Book of Mormon and they love learning about Jesus Christ and His gospel. When we asked Carmen if it would be OK to baptize her kids she said "of course." And then we asked if the kids wanted to be baptized and they said "of course" also! We were so excited but there was still more that had to be done this week.
In order to be baptized as a convert you have to go to church 3 times. So if we wanted to baptize those kids this transfer they needed to come to church this week. The problem is that they live so far away (about 30-45 minutes) from church and they have no car to get there. Luckily Carmen asked her dad if he could drive them down for church. He said he could but because the mom is in a coma, he would not be able to pick them up. Carmen demonstrated her faith in the Lord and she came to church without knowing if we would be able to find a ride back or not. We have great members in the branch of San Sebastian and they were more then willing to take her back home. The kids absolutely loved church, even though they are so shy. They loved the feelings that they felt there and they loved the opportunity to take the sacrament and think about Christ. They also loved making more friends. Carmen said that she loved it so much and that she will definitely be back.
I am so thankful for this awesome family and what is even more amazing is that the Lord basically gave us this family to teach. We didn't contact them or anything. They called us. But it's just another story to add to the principle that if you have faith and work hard and know that things are in the Lord's hands, He will bless you with more then you can imagine. I get to see that every single day and I know it to be true.
So if you are struggling right now in your life, get out and do something that the Lord wants you to do. Go to church. Read your scriptures. Say your prayers. Serve your fellow men. Work to become the best example of Christ that you can be. That's why we are here and I know that if you will demonstrate your faith and sacrifice your comfort by doing something that your Father in Heaven wants you to do, you will be blessed with more then you can imagine.
This week was also way cool because I got to go on a trade off with one of the Zone Leaders in Cabo Rojo. Cabo Rojo is actually right on the ocean and so I got to serve on eday in a city that's by the ocean. It was terrific! We had a baptismal interview with a guy who is a fisherman and believe it or not his house is literally on the docks. During the baptismal interview we were sitting on the docks looking out to the ocean talking about scriptures and our investigators. If I am making you jealous then good! Know that I love you and that you should come visit Puerto Rico when I am done :)
The gospel is so simple it is absolutely amazing. I love it. We had a lesson this week with a guy named Luis and Luis had thousands of questions. That was actually the lesson. He just asked us question after question after question. There isn't an answer to every question, but the simple truths of the gospel can answer many. It's amazing how simple and yet perfect the gospel is. It's definitely a testimony that this church and this gospel were organized and created by a Being who is not of this world. A Being with a perfect knowledge. I love it so much and I am so thankful that I have to opportunity to testify of these truths every single day.
But of course it's not the missionaries that do the convincing of man. It is the Spirit of the Lord. Yesterday me and Elder Blandon were contacting and we ran into this young man our age. I wish I could remember his name, but it's OK. Anywho he pulled up in his truck with his muddy dirt bike in the back and we started talking to him. It turns out that he actually races bikes for a living and he was out practicing for a tournament next week. Anyways, we started to talk to him about the gospel and when I started to talk my mind went absolutely blank and I couldn't think of anything to say! I couldn't speak Spanish anymore and I didn't know why! I didn't know what was going on. Luckily, the scripture in D&C popped into my head. It is the scripture which says open your mouth and it will be given unto you.
I opened my mouth and all of the sudden I started talking about the plan of salvation and the three questions that the plan answers: Where did we come from? Why are we here? And where are we going after this life? After I got done I was amazed at how clearly the Spirit was able to work through me and how clear my Spanish was. The guy was really interested and he began to ask about those questions. Elder Blandon and I were able to give great answers explaining the first two, but before answering the third question, we said that we would need more time to explain it. So we asked if we could come back during the week and he said he would love to have us back!
That was such an amazing experience to have and what is even better is I did absolutely nothing. The spirit of God is real and His job is to help testify of the truth and convince men that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. I usually almost never talk about the plan of salvation when I contact because we are usually talking about the restoration. But for this person, it worked. And it worked for this person because God knew exactly what His son needed. This guy needed to know that God is there, He loves him, and he wants the best for him. I was so thankful that I could have the experience to be the instrument in the hands of the Lord at that particular time! What a great experience. But the best part is that you don't have to be a missionary to have these experiences. You can do the same thing at home and I know that you will be able to have the exact same experiences.
I know that this Church is the Church that Jesus Christ has established in our days. He was at the head of the Church when it was restored almost 200 years ago, and He continues to be the Head of the Church today. I am so thankful for the opportunity that I have to serve Him and as much as I love you all, and miss you all, there is no better place for me to be right now.
I hope that you all have a good week this week. Thank you for all of your love and support. If you ever feel like it you can write me and say hi :) I'll try and say hi back :) Your letters and emails keep me going everyday so thank you so much.
I love you all. Remember to read and pray everyday and know that I am praying for you too!
Good luck!
With all the love in my heart, your son, brother, friend and missionary,
Elder Oviatt
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