Monday, January 23, 2012

Una otra semana ha venido y pasado (another week has come and gone)

Querido Mío,

Well, if I were to describe the highlight of this past week with one word, it would be "numbers." A demand from the Presidente and highly reinforced by the Zone Leaders was numbers this week. More specifically, by the end of this week they wanted every companionship in the mission to have 14 New Investigators and 7 with a future Baptismal Date. Yeah, I know it sounds pretty crazy, but those are the expectations of the mission and we have to do our best to reach it. In the end, we did not end up reaching that goal, but we had the best week(dealing with numbers) yet. That just shows how imortant goals are in any aspect of life. If we set goals that make us stretch and are reachable, our performance is going to improve. I am still trying to find my way around goal setting and how to plan effectively, but it has improved drastically to this point. Goals help little things in your life progress more rapidly. Goals are a good thing.

We had a bundle of success this week and found many new good people to work with, but there was also the opposing force surely making itself widely known. To this point in my mission I have truly seen the power that Satan has over missionary work. He does all that he can to try and stop you from achieving your goals and progressing the work. He works through the sun beating down on us every day, the annoying dogs that bite you and bark uncontrollably when you are trying to teach...I could make a much longer list of this but it would take too long. I think you can get the picture. The devil sure has a pretty sure power over the goodness that we bring to all of these people. He finds ways to blind their eyes, so they cannot even take a chance and try to find to truth. The thing that we need to remember as missionaries out here is that we have a greater power. God chooses the weak and simple to proclaim his Gospel to the world so that he can strengthen them.

Marcos and Eduardo Arce are kinda being a little tough right now. They did not wake up for church this Sunday and they will not be courageous and trustworthy enough to accept another baptismal date. We really only have to teach them a few more things and they will be well on their way towards baptism. I don´t remember if I told you about Sol Zuna(11) last week, but she is basically our last chance on a baptism for this transfer. She is well set for this Saturday the 28th, but we definitely still need to keep her in our prayers to secure that. Her family is going through a hard time economically and is trying to start up some new business added on to their Kiosco in their house to make more money to support the family. We still need to talk to her dad about the baptism also, so let´s hope everything can go well with her. The more time goes by in this transfer, the more I want to stay in Colonia Bombal for next transfer also because we are getting some really good potential baptisms for the next few weeks. My favorite one is this one lady from Croatia called Marcela Pojmaevich. I can´t pronounce her name, but she is a way cool lady.

I learned a bit of Ketchwa(don´t know how to spell it...) at Saturday lunch by some people we sat next to at the fair.
Esperacho- Thank You
Nimaps- You are Welcome

Spiritual Thought:Mosíah 23:21-22

21 Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to achasten his people; yea, he trieth their bpatience and their faith.

22 Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his atrust in him the same shall be blifted up at the last day.

Trials. I read this analogy type thing that relates how God gives us trials to pottery. Mostly because I have just been missing me some pottery lately. It is quite the fun hobby, and I may or may not take it up when I come home. It goes as follows: God represents the potter and we represent his clay. It is his job to keep to world spinning. Then he has to put pressure on us for us to grow. I forgot how the rest of it goes...Just imagine the rest of it yourself. Let yourself be molded in the hands of God, and you will find growth in your life.

Thanks for everything. I´ve always got my family and friends in the back of my mind all the time. Keep them prayers coming for me and the others that I teach. Love you all

Querido amigos y familia,

Elder Larisch

La Iglesia es verdadera!