One piece of great news--we finally had correlation with our ward mission leader! His name is Ismael, and he is preparing for a mission, so he is fairly inexperienced. But this is a great step towards coordinating our efforts with the members. It's been a tough week to find people, and I have walked a lot! Marcos is one of those who has been tough to find because of his work, and he also has a lot of doubts about the Book of Mormon, like that Indians aren't descendants of Jews. We tried to testify and I lent him a video called "Creemos en Cristo" by Elder Holland that I found at the distribution center. Hope that works. We did find a kid named Enrique, whose sister is a less-active member. He doesn't have too much interest, but we'll see what we can do. She really wants to start coming back to church. Many of our efforts to find and teach people only result in strengthening the members we used to teach them, but I guess that is part of our job. Paola is doing great. Last night we taught her with all the young single adults, who had been watching a movie. That was weird...because they were exactly like me and my friends hanging out before the mission. Sort of felt like another reality. Haha.
One of the people we contacted this week was Amado. He is
similar to a lot of people here in South America, who sometimes have a
hard time letting things go. The people here often tell us about their
same problems or grudges every time we visit them, and he kept telling
us about his wife who left him 6 months ago. I tried to tell him that he
needs to pray to have the Lord help him forget it and come to church
where can also relax from his worries. We also met a young man from
Florida working for the Peace Corps. It was nice talking in
English...except for the swear words he used.
One more experience. We were going to go to a city
nearby called Campo Nueve. Seeing as our area is HUGE, it is still in
our area. There is a store with American food, which many missionaries
have visited. I wanted to see that, but I also wanted to find out if
there were people there we could teach. But as we were walking (20
minutes) to the bus terminal, I had the feeling I shouldn't go. I had
felt that the night before, and I wrestled with it the whole way,
thinking about experiences of friends, family, and the scriptures where
people had followed the Spirit. Finally, I asked myself, if the Lord
wanted me to know that this is a bad idea, how would he make me feel?
The truth was, I felt awful, and finally, right when the ticket man was
pressuring us to buy our tickets, I told him we would go another day.
Still not sure why the Lord didn't want us to go. Like I said, we didn't
teach many people that day, but there were a few small things he may
have needed us to do. I was waiting to hear on the news that the bus
blew up or there was a fire in the city, haha, but divine answers are
not always that clear. We just have to trust in God.
It has been cold, and according to thermometers, we
have had some days just above freezing. The humidity and the cold means
that wet things don't dry at all...and no, the heated water in the font
does not work very well. But it sounds like you are all having a tough
time there, too.
Yes, that is probably the only time I will go to the
temple until my last day in the mission (unless some of my converts get
sealed!). I understand a lot more Guaraní...but still not very much. I
do miss some of the patriotism, but it is not something we think about.
We did sing the national anthem in the MTC.
And that's all for this week. I will find out the transfers tomorrow.
Still hoping I will train, and there has not been any indication so far
that that will not happen, but there is still the suspense. One more
thing that I have been wanting to say to you, Mom. These past
months I have been thinking a lot about how Sister Bednar and most women
who talk to us remind us that every mother thinks her son is an
excellent missionary, and we should live up to that. I have seen many
missionaries who are disobedient, unfocused, or prideful, and I don't
think their mothers know yet. But I do want you to know that you can be
proud of me. All I want is to serve the Lord, and I am trying to give
all my heart to this work. I love being a part of it, and I will never
do anything to bring shame to those I represent. It's not always easy,
but it is worth it, and I hope I can always say that I am the kind of
missionary my mom thinks I am.
Love,
-Elder Wesley Morgan
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