27 January 2014 A good and Sad Week.

27 January 2014

Letter to all:

Well this week was good and sad at the same time.

Good because Elder Soarez (of the Presidency of the 70) came to visit the 2 missions in Nicaragua.  He was acting under the apostolic keys of Elder Cook.  It was great, I learned a lot.  He spoke about how we need to represent the Lord well.  As missionaries we are not here just to be good missionaries but to represent Christ well, to do and say exactly what he would do.  He also pronounced an apostolic blessing upon us.  I really learned a ton but I don´t have the words to written down what I learned.  The 2 mission presidents spoke as well with their wives and Elder Ocha and his wife.  Now it´s time to apply what the spirit put in my heart.

In district meeting this week, 2 sisters spoke about diligence, that it´s not necessarily doing things more frequently but doing things better than before.  Then if we completely fail, we will get up and do it even better the next time.  God doesn´t really care about the things we have done, but what we are going to do right now and forward.  He watches our every step and he knows how much diligence we put forth.  This message was very helpful for what happened Saturday night.

Saturday night we went to visit Carlos and Jackalin, they told us that they had decided not to get baptized.  We talked with them for a while, he wanted to do it, she didn´t.  We invited her to pray on her knees and to ask God if she needed to get baptized tomorrow.  When she asked the spirit was strong.  She even told us, I feel peace, and I felt a power as she prayed.  But seconds after she had said that she said but....It´s just not time yet.  Then they said they are thinking of going to her parents’ church.  It was one of the saddest moments of my mission.  It anguished my very soul to hear these things and so see them reject a clear answer from the Lord.  

We´ll keep working with them to see if we can save them from this and get them baptized later on.  

Sadly that just how it is sometimes, God cannot rob us of our agency, no matter how hard someone prays for another person.  But we can have hope that later on they will realized their need to come back unto God.  I know I have learned and I am learning from this experience, it´s saddening though.

Cristian came to church, she is doing very well, and she told us that every time we come to visit her she feels at peace.   She told us that that´s the second sign that God has given her.  She wants to get baptized, the only problem is that we need to get them married.

This week, Elder Amado will be visiting the mission.  I hope this week will be a great one!  Every week is good and every week I learn.  We just got to keep at it, and be diligent!

Take care!

Elder Willden