Seek out THE ONE

~Leadership Council with the boys~

Elder Reynolds, Elder Mooney and Elder Wilson

Hello Everyone!
Wow this week was a rough one not going to lie...lots of heartbreak haha. It's weird like I said how we can make such profound relationships in very little time. But that also means all the more hurt when we have to leave them.

So we found an investigator about a month back and he seemed golden. He came to the activities in the church and was coming to church. He was reading in the Book of Mormon and praying but still hadn't received his answer. We had a real powerful lesson with him as we taught about how God responds to us. At the very end of the lesson, he completely let it out. He said "Guys, I appreciate what you are doing but I can't do this. I started talking about this religion to my buddies and they roasted me. They started telling me about all that you guys have to do and all the rules you have to follow (such as the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom)." We then asked him if he received an answer and he responded "No." So a thought came to us that we were going to get answer THAT night. We taught him Moroni 10:3-5 and taught him the requisites and the costs of an answer. He said he would do it. So we prayed and it was a good prayer, but we could tell it wasn't heartfelt. It wasn't a real conversation with his real feelings attached. So after it ended we asked him if he felt something different, skeptically he responded "No." So we said alright we are going to pray again, but we really want you to express your feelings. We want you to talk to your Father as if He were here. So he said another prayer that was pretty heartfelt. I felt the spirit. So we waited a few minutes of silence and then asked him "Do you feel something different?" He said "No." I can testify of the reality of the gift of discernment. Both my companion and I knew that he had felt the spirit but was simply denying it. So my comp, with no fear, straight up told him the truth! haha And then I added on and said "Hey God answers in HIS way, in HIS time...We can't expect to have an angel appear before us. Maybe your answer is simply us telling you that this is the truth." Then it was quiet for a while and he really humbled himself and was like "Yes I know...I am expecting something big but I shouldn't. I just want to know like really know for sure." We then said yet ANOTHER prayer and man the spirit was super strong...there was no denying it, it seemed to be palpable. But then he was like "Yeah, I can't do this. There is no way I will be baptized in your church. In my church you can be saved and there aren't many rules like you guys'." It was super sad to hear that. After an experience like that I felt like Nephi telling his brothers that they just saw an angel so why are they denying it! We tried a bit more to explain a lot more but his heart was super hard. So we ended up leaving him, hoping that in some future moment other missionaries will be able to touch his heart. MAN!! It hurt....it hurt to see how much potential and how many blessings are waiting for him and having to leave him. #worstpartofmissionarywork
But then it made me think of the reason as to why we teach the restauracion (restoration), then the plan of salvation, and then the gospel of Jesus Christ AND THEN the commandments. It's because when we teach the HOW of gaining eternal life it seems like an impossible checklist to get done with no ending date nor hope nor light at the end of the tunnel. Just super hard things to do. But instead, we teach the blessings, we teach the WHY...and when they or we understand the WHY, the HOW seems to be a lot easier and a lot less stressful. Then the mind opens up and we begin to realize our potential and see the blessings and adquirir (acquire) more faith. Man I am super glad a perfect God has a perfect plan for us as imperfect as we are. I know we are in the truth. It's a lot...A LOT easier than we think. Once we throw off all the unneeded baggage we are constantly carrying around (pride), the road to eternal life is an enjoyable pain...haha I say that because I love lifting weights and feeling that pain because I know that what I'm really doing is getting better and getting stronger. Anyways...I love you all!!
Elder Reynolds
He shared an experience with us that he had this week:
This lady's name is Olivia Vargas. She is someone that I had no idea who existed on this earth and will honestly probably never see her again. To give some background, I was reading a conference talk awhile back and it said that we should pray everyday for at least one missionary experience, one opportunity to share the gospel. So I have been trying to do that everyday by praying that I will be able to find THE ONE. THE ONE that needs help today. Whether it be an investigator, my companion, other missionaries, a member, whoever it may be, I just want to be able to help THE ONE. So I've been looking for opportunities to seek out THE ONE amongst the 99. So we were contacting one day and this was a super poor part of our sector. Her house as at the verrrrry back. Like no one could ever possible find her unless looking for her. She was out chopping down weeds with her machete and so we went to help her. We started talking and presenting ourselves and then like after 10 minutes she finally said "I am a member of your church! I haven't gone in over 20 years because I have so many problems in my home and I am not worthy to go back." So she started telling us all her problems and started balling and telling us everything...we just listened. It was so spiritual and I just felt so much love. She is so so special to me. She then told us that she lives in a community and this was her only day here for like a few months and that she has been praying and praying and praying for something and then she looked at us and said "Thank you." We just said a little prayer with her and went on our way. As I looked back, she was waving and smiling her huge smile. So I went back and took a picture with her and man she has a special place in my heart. It was super cool to be able to minister to THE ONE. The work here is awesome!

Elder Reynolds and Olivia Vargas

Elder Reynolds, Elder Mooney and Elder Wilson

Elder Reynolds and his companion, Elder Peña

Getting the last of the Butterfingers...

Man, they are so good!!!

On splits...

and waking up pretty early...

to go work out haha!!!

Once we throw off all the unneeded baggage we are constantly carrying around (pride), the road to eternal life is an enjoyable pain...haha I say that because I love lifting weights and feeling that pain because I know that what I'm really doing is getting better and getting stronger.