That's Portuguese, for no reason! This week has been eventful, and I feel good about it after all that's been going on.
I think that the biggest even on which I can comment is the quarterly interview/zone training meeting, that lasted WAY TOO LONG! We got there at 11:30 am and left at 7:30. It's normally supposed to last like three hours, but interviews never take that short of time, so it was kind of inevitable. But I think that there were a lot of missionaries that were needing some strengthening. I hope that last week I didn't cause you all to worry about the difficulties that I've been facing. Life just needs to be difficult sometimes, but I'm going to write more about that later on. I wanted to tell you all now that those difficulties and discouragements are passed, and that my companion and I are working together with a great deal more harmony and peace. It was all a matter of choice really, and thanks to our wonderful Mission President, my companion was able to make a choice that has resulted incredibly profitable for his spiritual and general well-being.
We continue in our hunt for investigators! Until now, we have two, but a bunch of possibilities. One of the two that we have used to have a baptismal date for June 27th, but that fell because she didn't attend Church yesterday. She's Luciana Cristaldo de Guzmán. She's gone through a lot, and used to attend an evangelical church called CFA. Her husband has a degenerative disease called Multiple Sclerosis and is mostly confined to a special bed, and she lost one of her 22 year-old sons a few years back. But, she has lots of faith in God, and we weren't sure if she was really actually interested, because we couldn't find her all of last week. All of the sudden, two nights ago, we had a lesson with her, and she'd read in the Book of Momon! She understands well and now understands why pray about it. We're excited to teach her the Plan of Salvation today and see if it doesn't give her more incentive to attend church and keep up with us.
The other we just had our second lesson with last night. His name is Ismael Ramirez, who's young, and has an older brother that lives in a different city who is a firm member of our Church. He (Ismael) wants to change his life, and he read the pamphlet that we gave him like ten times. It was so cool to teach him and see his understanding. He's just a little nervous when we're there, so we hope that he can relax and we can talk a little better.
In my interview with President, we mostly just talked about how to strengthen my companion and what I need to do to build him up. But I did share one thing. I talked about how emotionally unstable I often am. One day I'll feel great, but the next I'll get depressed. I always come back up, but I've always felt that there must be a way to not dip down so much or so frequently. And the answer is as it always has been: it's a matter of choice. I have realized so many times that happiness, true and lasting, should not depend on anything external. It doesn't matter what's going on around me, what all of the results of all my efforts are, or how my companion (or in the future, friends and family) are doing or treating me. My happiness must depend solely upon my decisions to follow the Savior and give my best. In reality, it should be centered on Him, who does never change. Therefore, in any given moment, we can be happy, or at least stable emotionally, because if we are doing something that isn't in accordance with our own happiness, then we can choose to change that and be happy knowing that through sincere repentance we will be forgiven. All of how we feel and react to the world around us is a matter of choice. It's this internal self-sufficiency. This isn't to be confused with indifference. We cannot just not care about what goes on. But we cannot let external things affect internal attributes. We must keep the external on the outside, and the internal where it should be. The Savior told us to weep with those that weep and mourn with those that mourn, not fall into the same despair that they might be feeling or give up as they may have. We can react and have the full array of emotions without compromising our own eternal hope and faith. That is the lesson that I've been learning, and it's something I hope we can all achieve. Have the Fount of Living Water within ourselves and not seek any other.
I love you all! I hope that this week goes wonderfully for everyone!
Love,
Elder Harris
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