........

Monday, March 17, 2014

This week was super anticlimactic. I did a lot of stuff ....like knocking doors, and teaching. we put fecha with Arles, for this weekend, and he is pilas as crap. He loves it. We only have to teach him about tithing and then in the water. We had stake conference this week, which was a little different than normal, but that I will explain later. 

This week was pretty run of the mill. Lots of teaching and such. We have been trying to reactivate this family that is pretty much investigator status. They have been baptized members for 35 years, and still have doubts about Joseph Smith. It's a little hard to believe that somebody who has been a member so long still struggles with that, but everyone has their challenges. 

Its also getting to be about a trillion degrees here. We played soccer today, and I about died from the heat. I was done....didn´t want to play after an hour. I was beat. We spent the day with the ward mission leader and his assistant. The assistant's mom made us lunch...we had tongue.. SOO GOOD. 

This week wasn´t that spiritual...I didn´t have many super de duper out of the ordinary spiritual experiences. I did have two things that sort of made me shake my head.

The first one was with the owners of where we live. They have a son who is 18 and supposedly sort of troublesome. I really don´t think he is, but I think it is the Mom who is crazy. Anyways, on Saturday night I was washing clothes, and heard her just going to town on him, chewing him out. To be honest, she said a lot of things that I would never ever want to hear a mom say. I got this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I thought to myself, of course he doesn´t obey her, she doesnt love him...shakespeare said those who don´t show love, don´t love. All she does is just lecture him. And she is pretty brutal. Lots of swear words. I was just sick. So I acted like nothing was wrong, and went up to the roof to hang up my clothes. Poor A---- was up there, and It looked like he had been crying. There was no way to avoid him, so we started talking a little bit. I had stuff to do, but I let it all go, and just sat and talked with him.  He is finishing school, wants to be a dentist, and is just a Cody type teenager. Wants to just do his own thing. But If Cody, you switched worlds with him, you would realize how good you have it. This kid literally lives in a hell. It was good to see him go down the stairs smiling after talking and joking for a while, and I felt like he needed it, and I hope it helped him.

Then, again with this same family, the other experience. The owners are baptists, but all their family is Mormon, practically. Some years ago, the brother of the owner, who is a member, gave him a disc set of Doctrine and Covenants, and he was telling us about how they use it to teach the youth at their church....I couldn´t help but smile. He says its because we explain everything so simply and so directly, but its also relevant. And so they use them all the time. We explained a little bit about church stuff, and gave them some new discs, a liahona, and a proclamation to the world. hopefully his wife reads it. Especially the part about how a successful family is based on principles of love, respect, forgiveness, trust, etc. 

Stake conference. We had a stake conference that was a little different. It was a transmission from SLC to here. To all of Centro America, actually. Elder Martino, Elder Scott, Hermana Oscarson, and Elder Oaks spoke. IT WAS AWESOME. The best talk was Elder Scott, about the atonement. Even in Spanish, that man has power. I love his talks. And Elder Oaks was super good. He talked about how we can´t let our culture of our country get in the way of living the gospel culture, which is a BIG THING here. He talked about tithing, fasting, Sunday observance ( by the way, when God said, SEIS dias trabajarás, y harás toda tu obra, that means that if we are lazy in the week, we are breaking the sabbath!!!)  He came down super hard on the people, about how there is no excuse. Iit was super good. It makes me think of a quote by President. George Albert Smith.

 

"Within the last year, I have had the privilege of meeting and conversing on the gospel with some men who live in this community [Salt Lake City], not members of our Church. One man had resided here for twenty years, a man whose life is above reproach, a good citizen, a splendid business man, one who has kindly feelings towards our people. He told me that he had lived here twenty years, and he had come to the conclusion that we were just as good as our neighbors who are members of other churches; he could not see any difference in us.

I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that is no compliment to me. If the gospel of Jesus Christ does not make me a better man, then I have not developed as I should, and if our neighbors not in this Church can live among us from year to year and see no evidence of the benefits that come from keeping the commandments of God in our lives, then there is need for reform in Israel. …"

Point. Made.  If we don´t live our religion to a point that it makes people want to change, a reform is needed. And I have seen that for the last 21 months. Its something I hope to remember always. 

We are also having serious issues with problems of obedience in the zone.  It is all Latins, not to be rascist, but it is. And it is stuff that is just stupid. sleepovers, illegal divisions, etc. and it wouldn´t be so bad, or so crucial, if they weren´t our Lideres de Districto (District Leaders) that were doing it, and dragging along their brand new gringo companions, who are frankly all fed up with the crap. Presidente Smith also said, Well, with this decision, today either starts eternal happiness or eternal disillusionment. These elders are on the wrong of those two paths in the mission. I think God is preparing me to have kids that are a little rebellious, which is a scary thought. I don´t want rebellious kids...but anyways, it's a bit of a headache. Patience, Glassett, Patience.

Well, that is sort of it. I am super sore from soccer today, but it was fun. Gearing up for another week. This week is 21. Crazy.

I love you all!!!

Zach

Week of lots of stuff

Monday, March 10, 2014

This week was long, and hot. It is just getting hotter in this oven of a country, without signs of ceasing anytime soon. We are getting closer to holy week, so it just keeps getting hotter. This week we had a consejo de lideres de la mision, and then we had taller de zona. It made for a lot of trying to listen to an awesome message about the scattering of Israel and the gathering, the importance of missionary work, and all that fun stuff. We had a member of the temple presidency instruct us. WOW!  I learned stuff about my purpose as a missionary that I never knew before. He gave an awesome talk, and really helped me to see that even though people are starting to give me the....yeah, you are almost done!! It's pretty much over for ya!!! shpeel, I realized that just because my time ends doesn´t mean that the Lord´s time does. I have no excuse to get baggy....or trunky, as the rest of the world says it, because the work isn´t over. Just my part. I have been praying since zone conference that God would help me to be more consecrated, and I actually find it happening. I am barely ever thinking of home, and am super focused. sure, I have my moments, like when I notice that I get home before food expires, but those are few and far between. It's amazing to see how the Lord blesses us with what we want.

We have also been having to knock doors a lot this week. We have a shortage of investigators, and even though the prophet calls for more members, none of them really jump up and lift where they stand. They don´t realize that the work without the members doesn´t get done, or at least the efficiency is highly minimized. Dad, that was awesome that you went with the elders. Make that experience happen for others. The area 70, Elder Laboriel, came to our sacrament meeting on Sunday, which was a surprise, and he said that RMs have NO excuse not to be giving references to the missionaries. The two most important forces in the work in a ward are the ML and the Bishop. Get Bishop Allen on board with you, because if he doesn´t help you will not have a pull on the ward to be able to do much. So try to help people be included, or include themselves, in the work. My suggestion. Here is a whole different world, so I don´t know how it works there. But I do know that my life would be less stressful if the members helped. But the lord blesses us for our efforts, and I have truly seen that this week. We found people that we are teaching. I don´t know if they will all progress. Of course I want them to, and I know that God wants them to even more. But they have free will. But I will be doing all that I can to help them. We found a less active who hasn´t been to church in like 15 years, because he got baptized, and then started living with an evangelical lady who hated mormons, so he stopped going and went to her church. Deuteronomy 7:3-4, for those with scriptures handy. Anyways, he has been super corrupted by all the doctrine that they teach there, one of the most prolific and deeply rooted is that it doesn´t matter what church you go to, you can find salvation. People here believe that God won´t come for a church, but he will come for those who do his will. And even though he tries to back it up with scriptures, it doesn´t work. We talked about Ephesians 2:19-20, Ephesians 4:11-14, and all the other scriptures that talk about how there is a true church and it is the only way to salvation. Ephesians 4:5 talks about how there is only one way, and 3 Nephi 27:8 teaches us that it has to bear his name and teach his doctrine. So he tried using John 14:6, which states,  6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the ^away, the ^btruth, and the life: no man ^ccometh unto the Father, but by me.

now, that may be true, as it surely is. Eternal life is only obtained through the atonement of christ, but we also read in Matthew, 

 21 ¶Not every one that ^asaith unto me, ^bLord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that ^cdoeth the ^dwill of my Father which is in ^eheaven.

 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not^aprophesied in thy name? and in thy ^bname have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

 23 ^aAnd then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:^bdepart from me, ye that work ^ciniquity.

I bore testimony to this man that even though people go to church, and worship God, if they don´t keep the commandments and do God's will, and make the necessary covenants, and KEEP THEM, they will be cast out from the Lords presence and there will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth. He didn´t really have a response to that. I try not to be too severe with people, but sometimes they need a good shaking. I think about how he left the gold and eternal treasure that he had for something that isn´t going to ever really bring him lasting happiness. But oh well. We have citas to visit them this week, and I hope it goes well. We could use another family to teach. And God would like them back as well. 

I keep changing fonts to keep you all on your toes. Buckle up, buttercup.

Also, I have been reading the Book of Mormon over again, by theme. I was thinking about how I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and how I always talk about Moroni´s promise, but that I haven´t actually put that promise in practice for a while. So I started praying day and night and at all study times for a renewed testimony of the Book of Mormon. I waited and studied, and waited some more, just hoping for that burning sensation, that renewed light in my life, a dream, something....and got nothing. I kept praying and studying, just waiting and hoping. Towards the end of the week, I thought about how I hadn´t received a real answer...and then I thought about, later that day, how many times this week we have been able to teach about the Book of Mormon, and then it hit me....

God has been blessing me with opportunities to teach about and bear testimony of the Book of Mormon. What better way for me to keep helping my testimony of the Book of Mormon than to bear testimony of it?! I realized again that I know that it is true, and that the ¨Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."

I love you all!!!! 

Zach

Long week .......

So this week was super long, with not a lot to tell about. We had zone conference, which was good, but took all day. We also had an Elder in the zone who was going home the next day, and who disappeard for some of it...so I had to go look for him, but president came and helped out.  

From there, Wednesday was....I don´t really remember Wednesday. It will come to me....Wednesday we had a giant mix up with some other elders. We had to go look for a house with some elders in a really sketchy area. We were told to get off the bus at the church, so we did....and we waited, and we waited, and we waited some more...then some members came out of nowhere. Now, we were told to be at hibueras, so we got off the bus....and then come to find out that we were at Reparto, and that we had gotten of at the wrong place. So then we found the other elders, and found no house. I got pretty sunburned, and saw about six bajillion people smoking weed.

Thursday was another day of not being in our area. We had to help with houses again. 

Friday we spent all morning moving. And then nobody was home on Friday. It was rough. We did have two good lessons with important people, though.

Saturday was long. The Saturday before fast Sunday has a tradition of being a day when no investigators can see us, and nobody let's us in contacting. It also is always a bajillion degrees hotter than the other days. So it sucks. But we found a girl who is the girlfriend of the son of the owners of our apartments. And so we are going to teach her and baptize her. She just doesn´t know it yet. Our dueños (landlords) are SUPER BAPTIST. They play their crazy evangelical christian praises to god rock all the time, so I am pretty sick of it. SO I am going to baptize them all to stop having to listen to that music. 

Sunday was AWESOME, if for the sheer fact of one event. Marcos, our dad who got baptized the other week, bore his testimony. I could feel the spirit, and I know that he knows that this is all true. Dad, he also has your blue tie with flowers on it, the GAP one. He wore a white shirt with it. He is going to be a very good member with his whole family, who they want to baptize. His wife and daughter fasted with us, he can´t because he is diabetic, but he wanted to. They are awesome!!!!

Apart from that, not much else happened. There is a guy who lives close to where we work who lived a good time in the states, he got deported like five years ago, and speaks English. He got deported for dealing drugs....quality, right?? He uses more swear words than I would like to hear, but he seems to like us. Anyways, he always talks to us when we pass by his house, but he has a huge drinking problem. So we talk to him about how he needs to stop drinking and stuff, but it doesn´t really get through. Well, he disappeared for about a week, And I got really worried he had died. But it turns out that went and got himself in an AA program for a week and a half. And the first day out, he drinks. I thought, come on, dude, you gotta do better than that, and was immediately reprimanded by a thought that came to my head....He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone. Yeah. I got put in my place super quick. We are ALL sinners, and I read lately that ¨evangelizing is just one homeless telling another homeless where to get bread.¨ it was super humbling. We also talked to a member who is more or less active, named Luis McCarthy. he is super cool. He is a little nuts, but is super smart about church stuff. It's a lot of fun to talk to him, I really like him. He always asks about our families, so I always tell him you guys are good. 

And today. I went to the dentist, got my face fixed....sort of....and am just drinking in the time that is left!! I can´t believe it keeps going so fast....

P.S.  Also, forgot. In zone conference, we were being shown a slide show of the difference in between social, honorable and consecrated missionaries. I felt that I was right in the honorable zone....not bad, but not the best. And for a minute, I felt pretty good about it. The thought hit me,. Do you want to go home and say that you consecrated yourself to the Lord, or that you honorably spent 2 years in another country??? Needless to say, I was called to repent and change!!!! I am working on consecrating myself for my last four months.

I love you all!

zach

Zach, "I am captian america"

Zach, "TWO OF MY FAVORITE PEEPS IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD  Smith and Pau´u"

Happy Valentines Day

Monday, February 17, 2014

Well, Happy Valentines Day to all. It was celebrated in this lovely country by too much alcohol and ...

On the brightside, we had three baptisms. 

Marcos and Miriam and their youngest daughter, Daniela, got baptized on Saturday!!! It was awesome. Absolutely fantastic. It started a little late, but everyone came, and it was AMAZING. Miriam and Daniela came up out of the water crying. It was an awesome baptism. They did fantastic with their interviews and I love them.

Most of the week was spent in them, and finding new people. We found very few this week, which is not good. But the zone will have more baptisms this month than last month, we had 1 last month and hopefully 9 this month. It sucks...we try to do our part, and nothing. 

And the poor bishops wife fell and broke her foot doing visits, so that was sad.  Also, ...

Honestly, this week was sort of boring. Not much was worth talking about. We are working hard, doing everything normal...me and Fielding get along good, so that's nice. I don`t think we will have changes this week. Until next change. 

Today we played soccer on a big field with the other zone in the stake...I used my cleats!!! Elnicky was there, he is the zl in the other zone, and he made fun of me....bad idea on his part. I danced him a few times. And he remembers nothing that dad taught him, because he couldn't even do a throw in the right way. We won 10-6. 

Also, I saw Luis Rubio, the guy who dad fixed the tooth for, and his family today, we were in the Kennedy where they live, and we saw them. They want to communicate with you, dad but let me know to which address. His wife fell down a manhole and broke her back, so keep them in your prayers!!!

 

I bought El Milagro del Perdon (Miracle of Forgiveness) at the distribution center last Tuesday. I read it in less than a week....SUPER GOOD.  Even in Spanish. It helped me to see how real repentence really should be, and how to apply it in my own life, as well as the danger of sin. It also helps me to teach my investigators about repentance, and after reading it, when someone goes flake and doesn`t keep a commitment, its harder for me to take, because I know what they are doing and how bad the consequences will be. Really good book. I think Cody should read it before going on his mission. Like, soon. I wish i would have read it. It would have changed me before leaving....It should be part of the pre missionary library with the BofM and PMG. That would be my advice to cody. 

We also had consejo of leaders and zone workshop. In Consejo, president called us- literally, said, elders, I call you to repentance...to repent and change your ways. It was powerful. And since our job is to transmit what president says, I figured that it had to be done. I spent like an hour preparing some notes and scriptures on Wednesday night, and kept praying that I would be able to say something to our zone, who have almost all gone complacent and don`t care so much, that would maybe be able to touch them. I started talking about a block of scripture that is in Helaman 5, and relating it to us as elders. It is from 28 to the end, pretty much, and I related it to us as elders with our investigators, and how we need to repent to be able to call them to it, and how if no light comes from us, they will never change. It was the first time, in a very long time, that talking in front of people that aren`t investigators, I felt like the Lord was talking through me. Normally, people are talking and such during the time we talk. It was dead quiet. I could feel the fire burning in me as I was speaking, and knew that others could feel it as well. As I finished speaking, and not at all what I had planned, a scripture from dyc came to my mind that I had read that morning....BE YE CLEAN THAT BEAR THE VESSELS OF THE LORD. I ended with that. Nobody spoke, nobody talked....it made me think of something that a general authority said. ¨I always know when I am speaking with the spirit, because I learn something new every time I talk.¨ That is true. I learned so much just from my 15 minutes of instruction, and am still trying to figure everything out. But repentance is how we get back to the Lord, asi que do it!!!

Love you all!!!

Zach

TEMPLE

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

So today, we went to the temple, but due to the neanderthality of these computers, I am not able to do anything with photos, asi que sorry. I also want to send the photo of the donut, but I can forward that. So it will come later. I blame the cyber.

Anyways, it was a pretty good week in some aspects, and a not so good one in others. Our area is doing well...We have a new ward mission leader, and his assistant, and the bishop is making a push for the missionary work in the ward. In this whole country, missionary work is taking a back burner to temple work...but I believe it was President Kimball said that we shouldn`t make distinction between the two, for they are both the same redeeming labor. Remember that both of the works are equally important. I know mom loves family history, and Cody is getting ready to go on a mission, just as an example, but we should all be working in both fields. It is hard...I know I only work in one, but that is sort of my job right now. And I felt sort of selfish going to the temple today, knowing that I was there for somebody else, but I was so excited to go and just sit and learn and feel the spirit for myself. I think it was because I haven`t gone for a while, and I was going weekly before I left. But oh well. I do want to go to the temple when I get back.

Apart from that, the family that the Lord has trusted us with is progressing swimmingly for their baptism this week. Marcos, Miriam, and Daniela, the daughter of 13 years. We have talked a little to the other kids, but they are all older, and we never really find them at home. But Miriam, the mom, wants all the family to be baptized, so alli vamos. We have also been going out with a guy in our ward, but he goes to a different ward. Still helps us a ton, and yesterday we found a new investigator talking to people on his street.

We also have been making little progress with -----, a flaky investigator. She reads, prays, knows that she needs to get baptized, but she disappears Sundays, and we can never find her. she goes to Danli, Siguatepeque, Comayaguela, everywhere but here. And I am learning a little bit of what I was like for a while...I knew it was true, deep down, but wasn`t willing to sacrifice, or really commit myself, due to a lack of devotion. At this point, I am left to really just pray and do my part, which isn`t much. She needs to make the change.

 As for Marcos and Miriam, they are golden. We told Miriam that it was a commandment that God gave us to not drink coffee, and she got rid of all the coffee and the coffee maker. Ha.  I was in shock. Her response was, ¨Well, if that is needed, why should it hold me back?¨ I was taught a lesson in faithful obedience. It's a commandment, so just do it. 

Apart from that stuff, we spent the last week working with them and in meetings, ward council and PEC. It's long, because the ward is sort of starting over right now. But its worth it. We watched a video...feed my sheep,. It was old, but teaches a good point. I thought about how sometimes, in what I imagine normal life must be like, it seems hard to share the gospel. I don`t understand that concept, because my last 20 months have been about that. But what watching this movie thing did for me was help me to see that even though life will be hectic getting back with school and work and all, there needs to be time in my life to share the gospel still. That will really be the test, I feel like, to see if I was a good missionary. If I learned how to listen to the spirit and teach by action and bear testimony. 

Also, no camera yet. I haven`t had the chance to go by costco, but should next week. I bought some stuff at the distribution center with my card, so those gastos should appear. I don`t know what gasto is in english. 

The zone, on the bad side, is doing not good. We are losing baptismal dates left and right. We had plans for 20 this month, and we will be lucky if we finish with 8. It's rough, and stressing me out a little bit. I don`t like it. but, I am responsible to some degree, and something I am doing needs to change. 

That is pretty much it. I love all of you!!!

Zach

 

Super happy eating his 21 liempira donut.  (About one dollar.)

Elder Lawson eating one of Zach's favorite Guatemalan/Honduran foods.  What is it called you ask?  I have no idea...

 

Week of nothing....mostly.

Monday, February 3, 2014

So this week was super short, but full of good surprises. To start, pday on Tuesday, than divisions with the AP's on Wednesday.  Thursday was a craphole.  Friday was spent in immigration, and Saturday was okay, I guess. Sunday was fun because it was Sunday, but it's pday again.

Well...to start, I guess I will talk about divisions. I went with Elder Mendoza, one of my former ZL now AP buddies. He is Mexican, but he looks gringo, and I love him. He is awesome. Anyway, we went with the family that we had found last week that came to church, Marcos and Miriam, with the intention of putting a baptismal date. We had left them with a Book of Mormon, and left the challenge to read it. Normally, in this country, and no offense to any Hondurans reading, people don´t read. They only read if we read with them. And sometimes they lie to us. That is always easy to figure out. ( -I ask- My favorite part was with the dragon. Yours?? -they respond- I liked the dragon too!!). But when we got to the house, and asked if they had read, Miriam starts saying, ¨Yeah, those brothers of Nephi were real downers and complainers, right?? And it was sad that they had to leave their house and everything, but God promised them better, huh???¨ I looked at Elder Mendoza, and we both had our mouths open. I think I swallowed a fly. Then, she said, ¨At first I had doubts about it, but then I realized that this Nephi kid was a prophet, and he talked about God. So this book is probably true. I am just waiting for the actual answer still.¨ Again, Mendoza and I locked eyes......?????? WHAT IS HAPPENING???? So, then, I said, Hermana, you should be teaching us....She sort of laughed, but it was true. We challenged her and her husband to be baptized the 15th, and they accepted!! They are already married, hallelujah ( or halleyuya as mason used to say), and we are still working with them. They came to church yesterday. It was bomb. They are great. We also left them 3 Nefi 11, and when I went back with Fielding, the dad was like, ¨yeah, its super important that Jesus gave Nefi power to baptize, because he couldn´t without it.¨ and then Miriam goes, ¨and I thought it was interesting that it took them three times to hear the voice coming from God in heaven....¨ some seriously prepared people. The ward is helping us a ton too!!! The bishop is pilas, and wants to visit them.

Apart from that, the week was so so. I lie. We also found a dope new investigator, Moises. Probably one of the smartest 18 year olds I have ever met.  He starts asking us questions like, why did we need a new  religion if Christ had Judaism?? And why didn´t they write the Book of Mormon in Hebrew if they were from Jerusalem? And where does it talk about organized religion in the bible?? These are smart people questions here in this world....so we are going back to explain more. 

Apart from that, I spent 8 hours getting my residency renewed on Friday, so that killed our day. And then we had to go do an interview on Thursday, which killed Thursday. But for those two other experiences, it was a good week.

I also ate a donut that was worth 21 lempiras. It is a normal donut, with a hole in it, but the dough was filled with jelly, and it was covered in powdered sugar. I am waiting from the picture from the AP Lawson...he was supposed to send it to me, dagnabit. But it was SO GOOD. 

And also. When I was at immigration, there was a family of gringos there that live in Siguatepeque, in mission Comayaguela. they are a family from Florida that live here because the job of the father is to teach pastors how to be pastors. It was interesting to talk with them. They were super surprised that we don´t get paid, that we can´t talk to our family, that we have no training....and when I asked them when they were going back to the states, they responded...When the Lord commands it. The thought came to my head...How do you know if the Lord commands it?? Who tells you?? And where do you go??? It was so nice to know that when revelation comes, when the Lord speaks, there is somebody who can tell me.  Who can let me know, So I am not left to guess in the dark if its real or not. 

That is pretty much my week. If I don´t write on Monday, I will write on Tuesday.  Next week we go to the temple. So our pday could change. Just fyi. 

Shoutout to DAVID LONGHURST. HE finishes his mission this week....which I cannot believe. I doubt he is reading this, but I don´t blame him. I rarely read things that are longer than a paragraph. Way to go home big, bud!!!! Love ya Dave, see ya in five months!!!!

Love you all,

 

Zach

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

So, sorry about the pday thing. We had a ZL-DL-Sister training leader conference yesterday. This whole change is interviews, and Pres is swamped, and the only day to do it was a Monday. So, for that reason, it was changed. nothing giant.

We also had a fairly interesting week. Lots of finding, knocking doors and such. That is something that for a while, I didn`t really do. But here, we have to, because nobody really helps us otherwise. We got rejected pretty much every time. Its sort of sad, knowing what they are rejecting, but I can`t really help them beyond what they want. 

We did get a few very good references this week. We found a lady who we had sort of dropped, Carmen who couldn`t get baptized due to a .......  Anyway, we called a lady in our phone whose name is also Carmen. Or intented to call her. One is under Carmen and the other one is Carmen----, and my comp called the wrong one and set up a cita with the wrong Carmen....but in the end, it turned out to be the right Carmen. She is totally ready to get baptized. She knows its all true...and just needed to see us. I started thinking about how it was that the ¨error¨ of talking to her came to be. It started with contacting a totally different house in a gated neighborhood, and told us to come back, and that her name was Carmen. But we didn`t get a phone number. We went over a few times, but she was never home. Then we found her aunt, who gave us a phone number, and sent us on our way. Due to the length of the name, I had to save it all squished together, which pushed it to a different place on the list of the phonebook. then, my comp calls the Carmen in the phone, talks to her, sets up the appointment, and we go to the wrong house. We figured out what we did, and went over to the right house, and had an awesome lesson. I couldn`t help thinking how Christ had to have set that all up. Like, in the bible with the ass and the triumphal entry, or the upper room for the passover dinner, or Peter and the tax money in the fish. Christ really does know everything, and more important, he knows all of us. 

Then we found another guy, Marcos, who is the uncle of the kid I baptized in Yuscaran, Christian. Small world. He would have come to church on Sunday, except he just had stomach surgery, and he sneezed and a stitch burst. So, he couldn`t come. But we found another family, Marcos and Miriam, who came to church on Sunday, and our lesson was on Saturday. They loved it!!! They live next door to the old WML, so he gave us the reference. They told us that they are looking for the true church, and that they hope this one is it. They are good people who are seeking the truth, and I believe the Lord wants to bless them greatly....

To finish up, the only other thing that is on my mind right now is what happened last night. We have dinner every Monday with a family that aren`t members, but they love the missionaries. The parents both work in Asian restaurants, and can`t get Sundays off.  They have 4 children 3 daughters, 16, 13, and 11, and a 3 year old son. They oldest daughter ....and the other three live at home. But they love us, and feed us, and it's great. They are awesome people. Well, the youngest son has some mental and physical issues. When he was a fetus, his mom had an injection that she didn`t know she was supposed to have pregnant, and it interrupted the development of the connective brain tissue. So his right and left brain don`t communicate so well. he can't walk, can't talk, but always smiles and laughs. He is very smart, he knows when people are speaking to him, and he responds, in his own way....but we had a very spiritual experience with them last night. 

We had planned to talk about the restoration with them....but we got there and the dad started talking about how he doesn`t understand why the son, doesn`t get better faster, if the doctors promised that he would walk, and he has faith in God. I shared the story of the man who was healed in stages in Mark 8, where the man sees men as walking trees after Christ spits on his eyes, and places his hands on him. then Christ makes it so that he can see, and he can see afar, and very clearly. Then Elder Fielding talked about how God loves little children, and about how if their son is like this, it is for a purpose. And that God knows it, and they knew it, but know, they are being tested.

Then, as I was looking at Cristofer, and his giant smile, and trying to pick through my thoughts to find the inspiration....The clearest prompting came, and I knew it was the right one. I was supposed to talk about Tyler.

I explained the whole story, and did as much as I could without crying. But it got to the point where I couldn't keep the tears in. I explained how I watched Tyler change, from August to December, and how, even though my brain didn`t register at the time, terrifying for me to watch. About how he died, and about how that has affected me my whole life. But not just me: his family, as well. Especially his parents. I talked about how I don`t know exactly what they have gone through, or what they had experienced, but that I did know that they learned something from it. About how maybe, just maybe, the 8 years that Tyler was on this earth was for us, more than it was for him. About how all will be made right through the atonement of Christ, and even though now we don`t get it, one day, it will all be so clear, and all the grief and sorrow will be gone. I keep a photo of Tyler next to my manual misional, in my pocket. so I pulled it out and showed it to them. The part where I really broke was talking about how even though he couldn`t talk, or walk, or move, he could smile. And man, did he smile.....

My comp talked about the ":Like a Broken Vessel" talk from conference, and how all will be made right, about how things are just for moments, and God knows why. 

The Dad, Manuel, talked about how when the doctors told him that the pregnancy would be a dangerous one, and they advised him to abort, he wouldn`t, because he had faith in God. And then, when his kid was born with issues, he said he stills feels like his faith betrayed him. 

So I shared the Mark 9 about I believe, help though my unbelief. 

I could truly feel the spirit...and even though it wasn`t what we planned, it was what the Lord needed. I got home and started thinking...and writing the experience down in my journal. and I started thinking.......and thinking.....about all the experiences that have happened to me in my life. About Tyler, MaryLynn, all of that. And how much I attribute of what I know today to those tragic, dark events in my life. Of the darkest times in my life, I realize that I have gained the greatest growth. and then I thought about Christ.

About how he bled at every pore, how he was a man of sorrow, chastised for my transgression, and bruised for my iniquities. About how he suffered sickness, and temptation, and death, to succor me, and to break the bonds of death. About how he trembled, and had angels minister to him, and how they took him like a lamb to the slaughter, not once opening his mouth. About how without breaking a bone, they nailed him to that cross, and how he felt so alone, and so torn...I think of that event, and how it was the darkest hour in the history of mankind....and yet the learning, and light, that came from it. About how much hope and joy comes from such terribleness....and about how one day, we will be in front of Him, who bore it all, and will still not understand, not even in the slightest degree, what he did for me. For me. And how unworthy and such a useless servant. To quote Nephi, o wretched man am I! How many blessings does he bless me with, how deep and unfathomable his love, and how great is acceptance of the work I do, which will never even be close to enough!!!! Oh, How I love the Lord....

Christ lives. We will all live. And we will all be perfect....

Love to all. 

Zach