This week has been pretty crazy! I've gotten to know the area so much better and there are a lot of great people around here. I'd love to show you guys some pictures of my companion and all, but it'll have to wait until next week. I think that I'll be staying here for the rest of my mission furthermore! We'll see though.
There are some cool members that help us out as missionaries, and a lot of solid, active, sealed families. Like: Familia García and then the Bishop, some recent converts who are working on getting into the temple (Familia Cantero), and then there's Famlia Dominguez who actually also has a son on his mission in Perú! It's great.
We're working with some less-actives right now, and one family did attend Church yesterday!!! César and María Galeano! It was nice to see them and I hope that they will be able to progress. I might need some ideas though. César can't read, and they don't have any sort of CD player, so we need a dependable way in which he can independently study and gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon..... I'm open to suggestions.
As far as I'm doing: well. This has been somewhat a trying point on my mission to see if I'll handle something I've never actually gone up against. So as to not mar anyone's image, I'll refrain from saying why it's been a trial, but I can say that the strength I gained in the office and the words of Prophets and Apostles, ancient and modern, can really give us refuge when we are totally alone. I testify of President Monson's call for us to be brave and to stand up for what it right, while I also testify of our need to be loving, understanding, and to reserve judgement. It's a difficult balance to achieve, but it's worth a lifetime of peace if you can achieve it.
I've been studying a lot about how to have a love that is truly Christlike, and I realized that all too often we fall in the trap of becoming bitter by the disappointment that we receive from others. But, I have learned some great lessons from the talks "Remember which way you face," in this last conference and "The Merciful Will Obtain Mercy" from April of 2012, as well as a beautiful scripture in Ephesians 4 that commands us to remove from ourselves all bitterness, all anger, and then invites us to be merciful with our fellowmen.
I know that having a Christlike love is possible in spite of our imperfections. I know that it is difficult when there are so many who do not want to forgive or who seek to harm and destroy us, but I know that with God, we can receive a mighty change in our hearts and grow humble and be filled with Christ's pure love. I testify of that as HIs representative.
I'm grateful to all of you for all that you do for me in your emails and I hope that you have a wonderful week. This week should be full of work and other activities, and then next week will already be change week again! How crazy!
Love,
Elder Harris
No comments:
Post a Comment