Week 58:Milagritos and Big Miracles

Milagritos and Big Miracles

 

We had another miracle.  Add this onto the huge stack of miracles that I've seen these past 13 months of my life.  We went to visit Josque  and taught him about baptism.  The Spirit was so strong you could slip in another dimension. I can't explain how happy everyone was in that room.  I asked about baptism and he said yeah!  He accepted a baptismal date for the 2nd of September, the date that my companion and I both felt that he would accept.

It is like I know things through the Spirit now.  I knew that he would accept before going.  It's like the Spirit of Prophecy.  I can't even explain it.  I just know some things now that help me with the work.  I guess, well no, I know, that it is--because of what Moroni 10:5 says--the power of the Spirit can tell us the truth of all things.  

When something is borne of the Spirit I can feel it and recognize it and I know it is true.  It happens with my testimony and in my life with every day decisions.  Like, should I take this bus?  I just pray and I feel like I should or shouldn't. 

Is this person prepared to hear us?  If yes, I turn around in the street, walk up to him and say, "I felt like I should ask you to church--can you come this week?"  He says, "Yes, I'd love to.  In fact, just before my brother died, we visited the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I'd like to come again.”  Countless events like that have happened throughout my whole mission.  I've also seen people get completely healed.

I can't explain how many straight up miracles I have seen this week.  From people just walking up to us asking, "Can you teach me about the gospel?" to complete healings of the sick.  We've seen little miracles, or milagritos, and big miracles. It all depends on the faith. I'll share some...

 

We found a guy named Angel because we were walking down the street and I had a strong strong impression that I needed to talk to a teenager across the street at the end of a walkway.  I shrugged it off and kept walking, thinking it would be weird to just approach him after already having passed by and how far away he was, but then I decided to be obedient and follow the prompting.

I said, "Hey, I felt like I should talk to you.  Would you like to go to church with us tomorrow?"  He said, "Yeah I'd love to, let me ask my mom though."  So he asked his mom and it turns out they are members who were baptized many years before but have recently fallen out of activity due to severe family problems.

We went to look for Angel today and the mom told us that she was looking for a sign that God was inviting her back to activity.  I felt very strongly to say these words, "You have the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  That means you can feel and know if what I'm saying is true.  Hermana, I know without doubt, that God is calling you."  Her countenance changed vividly and she thanked us for all that we had done and invited us to a family night activity for this week.  She said she'd try to be active again and that God was calling her back. How cool was that.

 

We were walking home and I felt a powerful impression to talk to a man in his store. I did.  He said he is really interested in this message.  I felt strongly to give him a Book of Mormon.  I did and he thanked us.  We came back today and he had already read it.  He invited us in and accepted a baptismal date for the 23rd of September. He is 18 years old and is going to take off work to go to church next Sunday.  Such a great guy.  We met only two days ago.

 

That stuff happens all the time. We'll get an impression, "You need to stop here and contact these people."  We'll do it and something awesome will happen that results in me being filled with immense love and happiness, and in people hearing and believing a little bit more in Jesus Christ.

 

Today we were walking through a neighborhood that the missionaries before had already contacted a lot and we felt like we should go back and knock on a door. We did, nobody answered.  I was confused.  I knew that we followed a prompting to turn back and wondered why nobody was there. Then I felt an even stronger impression to knock on the door of the law firm that I didn't notice before returning back the second time.  I thought to myself, "No, come on, you don't want to knock on the door of a law firm to preach the gospel, it's a business for goodness sake."  But I knew it was a prompting so we knocked anyways.

A 24-year-old man answered the door.  I said what I felt prompted to say, "We share a message about the meaning of life, would you like to hear it?"  He said, "Yeah," and let us right in.

It was the easiest contact I've ever had in the WHOLE MISSION.  He sat us down, we offered a prayer, explained everything.  He was extremely interested in our message and the Spirit was powerful in that room.  He agreed to be baptized next month.  Just like that.

It was the easiest lesson I've ever given.  He just accepted us, brought us right on in to a little part of the law firm office, and agreed to be baptized after feeling the Spirit.  I mean these things happen all the time now.  It's awesome.

 

I'm so happy I chose to listen to these promptings.  I'm learning to recognize the voice of my Savior more and more.  I've learned that the Spirit brings us to believe in Christ and Christ brings us to believe in Heavenly Father.  I've found great peace as I've tried to trust more in the Spirit and consequently feel the abundant love that God has for me.

It's interesting.  I've never felt so much love for ordinary people as I have here in Guatemala.  How I love these people.  I cannot tell you.  When we are in God's service, truly, we get Godlike love. And wow. Does He sure love His children! 

 

We had seven investigators come to church, including a man we found yesterday who wanted to change his life.  He said he would keep coming and asked if he should start wearing a white shirt.  The Sunday School lesson was so good today.  It was about the Book of Mormon.

Everyone likes the piano and they talk about it in their talks in Sacrament meeting.  I've learned the importance of just playing from the heart instead of just the music.  It's important for the Spirit, I think.

 

Side note.  Another little miracle happened. I went to a thrift store and found an electronic chess board which I bought for seven bucks. It had no batteries nor pieces, but I bought it. It turns out that it teaches you how to play chess with computers.  It shows the best move to make and senses when you move and shows what to do.  I love it so much.  I bought chess pieces for a buck and I can play against the chess computer by myself when I can.  It's a tender mercy of the Lord that I want to take the time to recognize.  It's like God saying, "Hey Blake, thanks for what you've done this last year, keep up the good work."  ha ha.

Anyways, that's all.

 

Love,

Elder Young

Week 57:Elder Young in Xela

[Note: Elder Blake Young's brother, Brandyn, briefly visited him in Xela.  Brandyn was in a nearby Guatemalan city participating in a two-week humanitarian dental clinic with Volunteers-Around-the-World.] 

What a great day. Eleven investigators said they would come, but the first five we went to said they couldn’t which was sad. But the Perez family came and also Diego and Brandyn brought four friends so we had ten assitences [Spanish for "people who attended church"] today. Ha ha. It was so fun. 

I loved the reunions today.  They were super spiritual and the investigators loved them.  I got to give some good comments in the class that I think helped them out a lot. Brandyn also said some cool stuff to help them out. He got to meet the investigators and help them out. It was awesome, I was filled with indescribable joy like It's unimaginable. It was great. 

We [Brandyn and I] got to talk for about 12 minutes or so together and he came to all the classes. It was a pleasure to see and talk to him. What a great brother he is. I feel so much happiness in my life right now. Anyway, we talked and had a great lesson; then we went out to work for the day. 

We [my companion and I] did a lot fun stuff and made a lot of new friends, but the best was the night. 

We found a girl named Ana that I felt like we should teach even though it was late at night. We taught the first lesson and then I bore my testimony. The spirit literally filled the room. I looked in her eyes and said ,"I know that this church is true, would you like to be baptized if you find that out too?" she said yes.  I asked if she would be baptized the 22nd of next month and she said yes. A scripture came to my mind that I knew somehow with all my souI that I needed to share.  I knew it was in 3rd Nephi chapter 11, but I didn't know where. I pulled out my companion's Book of Mormon and opened it to a random page.  There was the scripture verse on the exact page I opened up. I handed her the opened book. She read it and felt the spirit really strong.  The spirit was so strong you could have cut it with a knife.  I said, "This feeling that you can feel right now as I am talking with you is the spirit. You have felt the spirit and this is how your answer will come."  She loved the message and told us to come back. 

Then it turns out this is where the story gets more awesome. She had a dream last night that she was baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints and was looking for what it meant.  When we shared that scripture of how she could receive an answer in her heart and mind she said she understood it. How awesome is it that she had that dream of a baptism in a Mormon church, and the day of the dream, we came, I told her about the Mormon church and asked to baptize her. 

I know that this church is true. I've had so many miracles in the mission. I love this gospel so much.  It means so much to me. I know that we found her and said exactly what we should have said to her.  It was amazing and a miracle that we were able to have that great spiritual experience. What a great time. The spiritual experiences that I have had are worth all of the world to me. How happy am I. How blessed am I . How God loves me and I love him. Goodnight. 

Week 56:Elder Young's thoughts on missionary work

What a miracle day. We contacted a whole lot and did the work like we should. The secret to the gospel is live it, breath it, and test it always. Faith, I've found, grows a lot like a fire. If we feed it with actions, it grows higher. I've found, mysteriously, that in the mission there are a lot of spiritual would-be giants who have a whole bunch of wood stored up but are afraid of acting and throwing it in. They are satisfied with warming themselves with their little coals and the occasional warmth from another and fail to realize that by acting courageously on what they teach, they will help others more as well as themselves. Many missionaries hide behind memorized phrases and introductions and when they get rejected they shrug as if they could see why they were rejected, then they keep on doing the same thing. Sometimes I feel like saying... hey wake up guys!!. This is true or it's not. There is no point in knocking on any door and sacrificing 2 years of your life just to be satisfied with routines and robotic like actions. If we believe that the atonement is true and that Jesus Christ suffered for our sins, surely we can have the courage to individualize our contacts, and speak from the heart instead of the lips. It's interesting how the apostasy, when described to Joseph was a disconnect between the mouth and the heart. I've seen way too many missionaries that just recite something memorized, take rejection, and pat themselves on the back at the end of the day. Or they give a blessing without pausing to feel the spirit, or they will contact every single house without once asking God where to go. 

Can you imagine! No! If you serve a mission like that, you are doomed to hate it and probably will go inactive afterwards. The power and faith and change that a mission brings is the conversion of wood into fire. It's saying, "Repent and be saved"and meaning it. It's feeling the warmth in our own lives and telling people to try it out for themselves. It's not faking anything. There are too many missionaries who are shivering on the inside, yet saying they are feeling the fire. They have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. I've started only contacting houses if I really believe in what I am saying, and if I feel like God sent me there. I don't say anything that isn't honest or a half truth. I say what I believe. I am converting into a disciple of Christ inside and out, who is motivated by sincerity and not obligation. I've tried out the gospel in my life. It works. I feel happy. I share the happiness. I feel happy for sharing it. I'm happy. I've found that that method of sharing the gospel is so much better than doing it out of obligation. God doesn't want fakers, he wants believers who recognize the trials of life at the first part of the sentence, yet testify of God's goodness at the end. He needs true disciples. That's why he sends people, with problems, difficulties, doubts and fears to knock on doors instead of robots with smiley faces plastered on. Now when I contact I ask "Do you believe in God? Because I REALLY do, after looking a long time, I've found what I believe is true about him. What I have to share really will bless your life. You can actually really have a family that lasts forever, you can actually pray and get answers to your prayers, God actually speaks through a prophet today. Can you please give me 10 minutes to share something with you that could possibly change your life?"Each time I talk it changes. In almost every door I knock on I can enter and teach a lesson now or set an appointment for another day or at least find out if they want the restored gospel. It's a lot happier this way. I love it so much. 

Anyway, we came back to the house and I was sitting thinking about how I had worked all that night doing God's will instead of mine and wondering if he was grateful or not for it or if he would show it to me. As I thought in that theme, a sister from the church came and gave us a huge, hot calzone that smelled amazing. It was delicious. As I ate it my mind was funneled into thinking of the rain and cold and rejections of the night that we had just faced. I then had the thought come clearly ÿes, I am grateful for what you do". I smiled and looked at the dictionary I was studying and found I was on the page for the definition of "perdon"or forgiveness. I felt a great peace come over me and I smiled and gave thanks to God for the clones and the opportunity we had to be workers in the vineyard that cold and rainy night of rejection. These little personal revelation come every single day now. I know that the tender mercies actually really are everywhere, if we would but keep the commandments then we might be able to see them more in our life. They come by our faith. They are everywhere almost in every moment. They are all around us as Nephi says.

 This church is true. I know that. I'm happy. I'm not perfect, but I try, and Jesus Christ makes up the rest, so I am happy, dependant on Christ... yes, but independent from stress, the world and the pain caused by iniquity. God is great. Good night. 

Week 55: Working in a Little town Near Quetzaltenango

WOWOWOWOWOW I LOVE LOVE LOVE this area. I feel so happy here. The area is completely flat with huge mountains in the background. It's really small, they have a piano in the chapel (close to our house) and the members are ÄWESOME"I love them so much. WHAT A GREAT DAY. We contacted today . I love sharing the gospel, it just feels great. Miracles happend today. I told my comp we were only going to go where we felt like the spirit told us to go. We went and were completely guided, every house we knocked on after deliberately  walking to it was somebody who wanted to read the book of Mormon or learn more. One girl even said she would  be baptized. Another guy said he'd be baptized too. The girl is Eliza and the guy is Silvestre. We found the Parez family.  They consist of one woman who recently got baptized  and her son.. So sincere. We sang hymns and they loved it so much. It was great and Silvestre agreed to baptism for the 19th. Then we went to visit Walter and Marlene. We taught them at a members house and Walter and I are like best friends. We hit it off so well. I feel like I was called here just to find the people we found today. We also found a woman who accepted a book of Mormon like the treasure that it was and said she would read it. It was an AMAZING lesson. I met some members, THEY are all SOOOO AMAZING. My comp, Elder Diaz, is a great guy. I love him already. He's a Latino from Honduras. He is probably one of the most enjoyable companions I've had so far and he is very spiritual.. He's 21 years old and is completely devoted and dedicated. And best of all, he is fine with helping more with Spanish. YESSSS. 

Basically, I am in love with this area, the house is great, I love everything here and I want to stay for a good long time.I hit it off with people like normal back at home and I have become more Christ like and have enjoyed many crazy spiritual blessings.

Great day. 

When I got here there weren't any baptismal dates planned, the first day we have two already. I don't even think about numbers at all but It's just cool that when you forget yourself and go to work, it all works out in the end.