February 15, 2012

The church is still true

It seems like yesterday was P day, the weeks go by so fast. But there was a lot that happened in between too. On Thursday we had zone conference, and that was so cool. We have been learning a lot about faith. In preparation for Bishop McMullin's visit he gave us two talks to study, both by Elder Bednar - Ask in faith and seek learning by faith. They both focus a lot on the responsibility we have to act. That true faith really leads to action. I've learned a lot about that principle in the past week, and how each thing we learn and do needs to lead to action, to applying the Atonement to make a positive change in our lives. In zone conference we learned about how our planning, studies and teaching should all be working together so that we receive revelation for our investigators and their needs and then help them develop the faith to repent and accept Jesus Christ and the Atonement in their lives. It's amazing how profound the simple things are. On Sunday, we had stake conference in the Caguas Stake. We had one couple who committed to coming and one who said they might be able to but neither ended up coming. I wished they had because it was a really great meeting. The stake president, President Santos spoke. His talk was so humble and genuine and I could see the love he had for the people of the stake. I wish our investigators could have seen that, the kind of leaders we have in the church. Bishop McMullin's talk was powerful. He only had about 20 minutes to speak, and even less because it was being interpreted, but he exhorted the members of the Caguas stake to get their Patriarchal Blessings, and encourage their youth to do the same, and to pay their tithing. He was very straightforward and bold about that. He said "We cannot change the economic situation in the United States or Puerto Rico but pay your tithing..If you pay your tithing your children will never go without. If you pay your tithing the God of Heaven will never leave your cupboards empty". The next day we had a mission conference where he spoke to all the missionaries. He taught us a lot about how we need to be letting our missions change who we are, and that we will never be the same people. That is what the Atonement is all about. He also taught us a lot about how the Spirit works and how it communicates to us. It is a conscious effort on our part to receive and act on the impressions we get from the Spirit. I love the mission, and I am learning so much.

Up until this week, Elder Visker's bike has been broken but he got it fixed and we have been going out on bikes all day. It's been a lot of fun, but on Monday after the conference, about 15 minutes after we left, it started dumping rain on us. It was a lot of fun and we rode all around Juncos looking for people. We got rained on yesterday too, but not as bad. The other night we went to talk to the Rodriguez family, to see what had happened and where their doubt was. We were nervous to go over but when we got there they invited us in and we started talking. They said they recognized that baptism was a really strong commitment, and they wanted to make sure they were ready. We assured them that they wouldn't have to make that commitment until they knew they were ready for it, and they said they would like us to keep coming over. They said they were still reading from the Book of Mormon and praying daily. We had a lot of appointments with investigators fall through this week but we have made contact with everyone and they're all still doing well, it's just been hard to get any appointments. We were contacting in Manuel and Keila's urbanization and we found Manuel's dad, who lives there too. He said he'd talked to missionaries before and had the Book of Mormon. So that might end up being really good too, we may have an opportunity to teach Manuel's parents. The work has been going forward here, and I continue to see the Lord's hand in the work and in my own life. I know this is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and that He is at the head of this church. I love this gospel and the opportunity I have to share it.

I love you,

Elder Duclos