Well, this week was super interesting and event filled, it flew by fast. Holy cow, the time is just flying by. I cant believe how fast this mission has gone by. AAAAAAHHHHHHH…..
Today, to enjoy our p day my companion and I went to a mall in Cumbaya called the Scala. We were there chillaxing and looking for some things my companion wanted and I was looking for a new belt which I still wasn’t able to find, in our course of navigating ourselves through this mall I heard like a woman shout my voice Elder Roberts. I was like what the heck, and I turned around and saw Sister Benalcasar and her two daughters. Hermana Benalcasar was my mamita in Calderon where I started my mission almost 2 years ago. I was surprised she still remembered me, she was one of my favorite mamitas. Her husband was the Stake President and I played the Violin at the Stake Conference session where he was released. President Benalcasar was also companions with Brother Bryce Beech in their mission together in Guyaquil South. It was so awesome catching up with her for a couple of minutes. She was like oh my gosh Elder Roberts you sound so different, your Spanish has gotten sooooo much better. It was a proud moment.
Anyways, we saw some cool miracles this week and had some cool experiences as well. One of which was on Wednesday I went to Cumbaya to go on a division with Elder Herandnez. Elder Hernandez is super cool, he is from San Pedro Sula Honduras, the same city as my companion from over a year ago Elder Pinto ( who is super cool and I am still in contact with.) Cumbaya has to be the richest part of the mission. It is probably the richest part of Quito, or at least the richest part of Quito within our mission. There are a lot of gringos that live there, it is a pretty stark contrast with the rest of the mission. Anyway, all of Wednesday I was just in shock at how much of a civilized place I was in. I am sure I will feel like that when I land back in the U.S. Our mamita on Wednesday was super cool, he was this guy who finished his mission like 2 years ago and is already married and stuff and he had some great counsel. After lunch, we shared our little thought and asked for references and said Elders, I have a reference for you but it has a price………he left and came back with an American Football and said, I will give you a reference if you play a little bit of ball with me out in the yard. OH MY GOSH. I haven’t thrown a football for the last 2 years of my life. Do you know how good that felt to play some quality catch. That was the best.
After we got back from lunch, Elder Hernandez and I went contacting, because the sector they are in is fairly new and Elder Hernandez and his companion from Guyaquil, Elder Vargas are opening it and they don’t have much of a program there. So we contacted and the sky got black and the floods came down. As we were drenched in the rain lightning was striking all over our sector. I am not even kidding, a lightning bolt striked like within 20 feet of Elder Hernandez and I and I screamed like a little girl. Oh my gosh, crazy stuff. I don’t think I have ever been so close to lightning in my life.
My companion set a personal record on our time together this change of finding new investigators. This last week we found 10 new investigators, all of them were found just through street contacting. We worked hard this week. This week we had to work in the rain and in the hot hot sun. I got pretty sunburnt despite applying large quantities of sunscreen. I guess being so high up in the Andes mountains and being so close to the sun there is nothing you can really do to not get sunburnt when you are a missionary.
But we worked. We worked, worked, worked, and found and taught. And we had 6 investigators at church yesterday which was really cool. It was great seeing so much progress in the sector, I am thankful that after I leave that Elder Gehring and whoever his companion will be will have a nice batch of people to work with.
Yesterday during church I was just casually sitting there after the intermediate hymn and the branch president is like and now Elder Roberts will give us a talk. I was like….what? But for those of you who know me know that I love talking and talking on the spot has never been a problem for me, so I was pumped I got up and I just poured my heart out to my brothers and sisters who I have grown to love so much in that small little house where we meet here in Yaruqui. I felt like it was probably the most powerful talk I gave in my life and just felt the spirit so strong. I know sharing our testimonies is one of the most powerful ways to get it to grow. If any of you want your testimonies to be stronger, go and share it. It will grow.
Our family of converts is so powerful. I love them more than I thought was even possible. This whole week they said Elders, tenemos una gran sorpresa por ustedes……and we were like whats up? And they were like, wait until Sunday……..On Sunday, Wilver and Veronica in their new white shirt and tie and her in her dress stood up and were sustained to be missionaries of the branch. They turned to us with tears in their eyes afterwords and said with a huge smile. Now we are missionaries just like you…..I cant think of any better missionaries to serve these wonderful people here than the dear Familia Quinchimbla.
Well life is going swell. I love being a missionary. I love this. I LOVE MY SAVIOR. I am glad that for these past two years I have been able to be an official representative of my perfect Savior Jesus Christ. That I have been able to carry his name on my chest and act as he would act and say what he would say. I am grateful for the power and the authority that has come with my sacred calling of being his representative. I have learned that in the mission you can know more about God or you can know God. I feel like I am knowing him better and better every day. I love my Heavenly Father and I know he loves me so much and loves every one of us. His mission is a mission of love. We show his love when we obey his commandments and when we do so we have a right to the richest blessings of the Heavens. I am going to take advantage of these last days I have as a full time missionary, but I will never stop being a missionary. When the day comes that I take off my tie and my nametag, I wont be going back to my old life. I can never go back and I never will go back. Even tho I wont be a missionary, I will continue as a consecrated disciple of Christ. I know there will be new opportunities and new ways to serve him. I will always represent my Savior. I love him. He lives. Gloria to God in the Highest!
Love, Elder Roberts
No comments:
Post a Comment