I hope this week's been great for all of you. Mine has gone well, and has humbled me in a couple of ways.
The best news goes first though:
Ismael Ramirez was in Church again on Sunday and is doing super well! We've been learning a lot about how to "Start with the end in mind" with investigators and others, helping them to acheive a vision of not merely getting to baptism or activity, but also enduring to the end and receiving those key temple ordinances and really just preparing people to come unto Christ and stay with Him. We've been applying it like crazy with Ismael, and it's sticking really well. He's not just getting ready to get baptized or leaving behind bad habits. He's changing the entire course of his life, consciously and with specific goals in mind. He's excited to serve a mission in the coming year and is eager to get baptized so that he can continue on in the path. It's really exciting to teach him and strengthen his testimony.
That's the super good news. We had lunch with him and his mom yesterday, but she wasn't down for receiving the missionaries (though she's very grateful for all that we're doing for Ismael). We'll see what happens though when she sees her son get baptized. ;)
Other than that.... Oh, I guess I should mention that we also had a really successful Ward Night activity on Wednesday. It was really last-minute organized, but I set a commitment with the Bishop to organize solid Ward Night activities every other week, and so we had to come through. And we came through! It was just a game night that helped people get to know each other a lot better.
The week was difficult in one aspect because all of our plans were falling through and so we just had to get out and contact, which is normal. I've actually been doing a lot more tracting in this area than normal. The difference this week is that no one was letting us in. However, we were still able to do something, and I know that no missionary effort is wasted. There's something special about just keeping on and giving every single contact all that you can. It purifies you and just humbles you to accept God's will and the agency of others. If we keep on faithfully instead of just trying to bear through another difficult day, the contacting becomes purposeful and we're reminded why we're doing it in the first place. And that was a blessing the Lord gave us this week.
One thing that I forgot to mention from last week was that we had a super awesome conference with Elder Gonzalez of the 70! I loved it, and I'll send a picture from it.
But, that's all I can think to write for now!
Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Harris
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