Monday, December 9, 2013

Weekend in Tobatí

I think I said this last year around this time, but there´s really nothing I´d rather be doing during Christmas than serving these people and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There´s also no place I´d rather be than back in Ca´acupé! We have been in Tobatí for 4 nights (we left Thursday night) and three days (we came back this morning). Luckily the wife of a member (who´s getting baptized this week) loaned us two mattresses. The members are pretty great there, though most are new converts--the group has only been there for 5 years--and are still learning how the church runs and the importance of rules and commandments. Good thing we have two obedient missionaries there right now.

There were 21 people in church--a rented house--and when the talks ran out with 25 minutes left in the meeting, one of the missionaries there asked me to give a talk. People warned me that would happen in the mission, but I never guessed it would be like that. I talked about D&C 97:8, one of my new favorite scriptures about being willing to sacrifice anything to keep our covenants, and Mosiah 5:2-5--the desire to avoid temptations and be faithful to our covenants all our lives. We found lots of families to teach, many of whom are very interested in praying to know the truth, so I hope there will continue to be growth up there.

I am also very glad to be back in my area. It was weird not going to church in my own area. I heard there weren´t many members in church, but I also heard that there weren´t the millions of people were expecting to visit the Basilica. There were quite a few, but it was interspersed throughout the week. We heard lots of music every morning and night while we were still in Ca´acupé, and we did feel a little out of place when large groups of people were heading towards the center of town. But I don´t think it was anything noteworthy on a global scale.

Rodrigo was baptized right after our English class, but due to a miscommunication he was not confirmed. Gah! Nothing that can be done to change that now. It was a great baptismal service. That morning we assigned lots of members to come and participate, and most of them did! It was amazing! I wish I knew more about how our other investigators and converts were, but I´ll find out. I do know that Liza, our recent convert, offered to give her talk a week early because her friend Sister Sostoa, who I had assigned for that week, wouldn´t be able to. Hope that makes sense. Basically, Liza is an awesome convert who is willing to do anything.

In our meeting with President Burger, we helped him give lots of assignments and callings to recent converts and more-or-less-active members. That is progress! We still haven´t been released...so we´ll continue to help as much as we can until that happens.

I am also learning patience with people who talk a lot. Sometimes, people here can just talk for 15-20 minutes without taking a break, and I get very frustrated because I don´t like to lose control of lessons. We had a great family who we wanted to teach about the Restoration, but we couldn´t get our testimonies in because they talked about all the terrible things their neighbor (who is a member) has done. It is frustrating that there are people who don´t find the truth only because they don´t let the missionaries get a word in. Haha, but I am also learning that the things they tell us might be very personal or important, and we should listen with love. One of the many things I learned in Tobatí.

Men´s Chorus has always had 180 men, as far as I know. Sometimes it just looks bigger with combined choirs. Hope things are well with the family and their various work, study, and calling situations. I love you all!

-Elder Morgan the Viejo*

*Viejo=old, older

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