I´ll start with our investigators:
Victoria - gonna baptize her Saturday. Golden investigator. Reading the LdM (Libre de Mormon) on her own (randomly chose Jacob 5 as her first chapter ever hahahah). Super prepared.
Emmanuel - 15 year old kid who is super friendly and willing to act, at least it seems. He was on a fast track for the 9th of Nov
until we saw him smoking something a little stronger than your average
cigarette on Sat. He´s been hiding from us ever since and didn´t come
to church yesterday. Pray for him. We´re gonna find him and help him,
but we need all the help we can get!
Maxi - Boss. Hog. Got out of jail 3 weeks ago and is
practically jumping into the waters of baptism. Problem is he works
basically 10000 hours a week and we didn´t find him this week until Saturday, just randomly walking on the street. Nov. 16
is his date. Super willing and shows a lot of faith. Maybe not the most
educated in the world and I wonder at times if he understands what
we´re teaching him.
These are our big three. Now brief story time. We received a reference and went and clapped this family's door at 9pm (1/2 hour before we call it a night - side note, our schedule is 30 minutes later than the standard missionary 6:30-10:30
because the culture here is one of laziness. Everyone lives like a
teenager - stay up all night, sleep in, take a 2 hour nap in the
afternoon. Best part, we missionaries still have to get up early and
don´t get to nap). Anyway, someone opened the door and motioned to us
to wait, so we did. 5 minutes pass and I give another super strong clap.
Out walks a 40 or so year old man with his 1 year old son walking in
one of those circular baby things (walker) behind him. Seems normal until he
pulls out a 10 inch David Bowie hunting knife and starts to unsheath it.
"Se va" he says (Directly translated - you leave. What he really meant -
get lost before I stab you). Honestly, I was pretty scared, and then
pretty embarrassed afterwards. My initial reaction was just to walk
away, and I started to back away. My comp, however, asked him if we
could share a message about Jesus Christ. "se VA." As I walked away, I
regretted not standing stronger. I´m a servant and representative of
Jesus Christ. Faith and fear cannot coexist. I wish I would have told
him "no va a hacer nada. Sabemos que usted es un hijo de Dios, y estamos
aqui a ayudarle a vivir con su Papá otra vez." Well, I didn´t. Lesson
learned. Authority comes with the calling, but power comes with faith.
Watch. It´s coming.
S/o to Rory for the email. Keep doing your thing. Love hearing from you.
Everyone else that I haven't been able to write back, I'm thinking about you and your letters are MUCH appreciated.
Also s/o to Jesse Dimick for everything. You rock.
My
message for this week comes from 1 Nephi 16, (Book of Mormon) and comes from an intense
study I have commenced to help me reconcile and pack away thoughts and
yearning for you all, my home land. I encourage ALL to read this
chapter. Basically, the conclusion I reached (surface level) is that we
all must enter our own personal "wildernesses" in order to really grow
and progress. This takes many forms, mine being the mission. Don´t get
me wrong, I love this work. But I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be more
comfortable in the good old USA . Nephi and his family embark into the
literal wilderness. It sucks. In the wilderness, we have 2 choices. Good
attitude or bad attitude. Attitude is altitude. Because you know what?
It´s almost certainly gonna get worse before it gets better. Adversity
is inevitable. For Nephi, it was a broken bow. and thus now way to feed
his family. Right now for me, its the knowledge that my brother and best
friend is suffering. Literally, ACL surgery is the most pain I've ever
experienced. But the benefit of a good attitude, coupled with the lesson
of Nephi's eventual victory, is that with the help of our Father in
Heaven, our wilderness will be bearable, and the result of having
endured: indescribable joy. That's what I'm working for right now.
Literally, it's to bring this knowledge and assurance to the people of
Limache, Salta, Argentina. Long term, I'm working towards that day in 2
years when I see ya'll again, and 3 years when I see 52 again. "There must needs be opposition in all things." If we don't know pain and
discomfort, how can we recognize bliss?
Now for some logistics:
P-day (preparation day - every Monday) is a
literal renewal of motivation and energy. To be able to hear about how
things are in my other life is incredibly satisfying.
I'm gonna buy sunscreen, but its way expensive. Might need some more money later.
Could you email me some family pictures?
Also, could you try hard to find some different pictures/paintings of Isaac and Abraham at the alter and email them to me?
Please specify to everyone that I print my emails and read them
throughout the day before I write!! Don´t hold back. Email is the
fastest and easiest way to communicate!!!
I'll send you a list of stuff I'd like in a package next week.
Pic:
Wall next to my bed with dope quote and my boys. Family pics are bookmarks in my scrips :)
Love ya'll,
Gang love
Go Raiders
Keep the Faith
Elder Blake
Julia here: Here's the quote from the pic. Jeffrey R. Holland is one of our church leaders (one of our 12 Apostles, to be more precise). He gives the MOST amazing talks. Look him up on youtube or your favorite search engine. It will be worth your time!) :
“The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead; we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future.”
― Jeffrey R. Holland, Created for Greater Things
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