Hola family and friends
Holy crap! That is so freaking awesome that BYU won. I read that and I yelled and all of the other elders shushed me because we are in an internet cafe so yeah. SO THEY WON!>!>!>! AHHHHHH yes . . . Go Cougars! I can't tell you how awesome that is. Will someone please tell me about it hahahaha. Mom was the one that told me the most so thanks mom. How did we win?!?! UGH hahah. I want to see the next game but it's OK, I'm here where I am supposed to be. There is no better work then this work. I know this is where the Lord wants me.
Trent, that's really hard to hear about your shoulder man. Hang in there. I know that everything in our life happens for a reason. Your Heavenly Father loves you and He wants the best for you. Don't be afraid to ask for His help and His strength during this next few weeks. I'll be praying for you man, good luck! I hope all goes well!
OK well, I think that is everything. Oh grandma and grandpa, I got your letter today. Thank you for the letter. I have been getting the big letters and I love them so much, thank you! I hope that all is going well with your house and whatnot! Keep me updated!
Well now I will tell you about my week. First off this week went by slow!!! But we had some great experiences and even better, we have our first baptismal date!!!!! Woohoo! I was so excited. So I will tell you about that now OK?
Our first baptismal date is for Maria. We taught her Wednesday night with three members. The members did absolutely awesome. I love teaching with members. The spirit was so strong. It felt like there was a fire in the room. I loved it! Me and Elder Blandon were actually not planning to commit Maria to baptism this week but the spirit was so strong. We looked at each other and we both knew that now was as good a time as ever would come so we asked her if she would prepare to be baptized on Sept. 27th. At first she was really timid and actually seemed like she was going to say no. But we told her that this is a goal for her to work towards and to try and demonstrate her faith in the Lord so that she can receive a witness. By the end of the lesson she said that she would commit and work towards baptism on the 27th. I can't tell you what an awesome feeling that was. We have been working with her forever and I know that the gospel has already started to change her life. Just the fact that she is willing to work towards baptism shows that she knows it too! I will keep you updated. These next few weeks should be fun-filled and stressful, but it'll be worth it. I will keep you updated with her.
I think the message of this week comes from the scripture in Ether 12:6 about how we won't receive a witness until after the trial of our faith. I have a great story about that, along with the maria story. Maria showed that she is willing to demonstrate her faith and I know that the Lord will bless her with a testimony. But as missionaries we have to live by the same principles too. And this Sunday me and Elder Blandon had such an experience.
Me and Elder Blandon have been frustrated these past few weeks because we have all of these great investigators but none of them ever come to church. We tried to commit Maria to come to church on Saturday but she has a problem. Her boyfriend visits Sunday mornings and so she usually can't come. We told her how important church was and how much she needed to go. She said "alright, if it rains tomorrow I will come to church, if not I will visit my boyfriend." I have to tell you that I have never prayed so hard for rain in my life hahaha.
Anywho, me and Elder Blandon were thinking of ways that we could get more people to chruch and he came up with the great idea of leaving for church two hours early on Sunday and going and contacting all of our investigators and the people who told us they would come to church. We left our house at 7:00 on Sunday morning and walked around for 2 hours trying to get people to come with us. Every person that we had invited previously wouldn't open their door to us. So we walked all around the city and had nothing to show for it. We were both a little down but not too bad. Anywho, at 8:30, after knocking the last house and starting to go back to the church, it started to sprinkle. And right then we got a call from a certain Maria on the telephone. We were both pumped. The Lord blessed us with rain on a cloudy Sunday morning, but more importantly, The Lord put a desire into the heart of one of our investigators to go to church. She called and said that she wanted to come but she needed a ride. Luckily Hermano Abraham was available and he took us up to Lechusa to pick her up.
She had a great experience at church and I think that we aren't going to have a problem with her having to decide between her boyfriend and church anymore. But what is cool about this experience is there is not a doubt in my mind that if we had not gone out 2 hours early, if we had done what we do every week and stay at home and eat and study and read letters, we would not have had maria at church with us that day. I know for a fact that we when demonstrate our faith in the Lord, He will bless us. He will bless us with those things that we need to be blessed with, or those things we have asked to be blessed with. Whether it be controlling the natural forces of the earth or changing the heart of an investigator, the Lord is real, His power is real, and He will help His children when they need it - and when they show that they really truly believe
Another experience I had was on Thursday during the middle of the day. We have a goal as a mission to teach a certain number of lessons every week. But our lessons were down this week because we had transfer meeting and because we have a lot of investigators who live about an hour away from town. Anywho, the point is, we needed lessons. And this day we weren't teaching any. We were contacting and trying to teach people, and it was going nowhere. After about an hour I started praying, pleading that Heavenly Father would bless us to be able to find a person to teach. And I kid you not, the very next house at which we knocked we were invited in for a lesson. Again, I know the Lord is there. He is our Father in Heaven and he loves us. When we do what He has asked us to do and when we live our lives the way that we should, He will send us blessings when we need them. I know this is true because I get to experience it every second of every day.
I want you to know that the mission isn't all roses and berries, there are a lot of frustrations and disappointments that come along with it too. Your letters and your packages and your love and support help me too look forward to the good times. And your support adds fuel to a fire that desperately needs help. Thank you for all that you have done for me. I know that the Lord will bless you!
I love you all and I can't wait to hear from you. I hope that school and work are going well for everyone. I thought a lot about home this week which is hard but that's OK. I know that you are living your lives the way the Lord wants you to live them and I am living mine the way the Lord wants me to live mine. Because of this I know that you are in His hands and that I have nothing to worry about.
My scripture reference this week is 3 Nephi 27 . . .an absolutely amazing scripture!
Have a great week and work hard. Know that I love you and I am praying for you everyday! Have a great week! Oh, and PS . . . GO COUGARS!!!!!!!!
Tulane this week right?
BYU 21 Tulane 17
With all the love in the world, your friend forever
Elder Oviatt
No comments:
Post a Comment