23 August 2016 - Not My Will but Thine Be Done

Buenas! Well this week was a bit of a long one for us. But it has made me reflect a lot on many things that have happened in my mission. Really sometimes it is so hard but God has a purpose in everything. Saturday was one of the longest days that I have had in my mission. We had investigator that was scheduled to have his baptismal interview on Saturday... Hermano Mynor... but he never showed up and he did not pick up his phone and he was not home... it was a little like he fell off the face of the plant. And he did not come to church on Sunday and we still have not had contact with him. Really we have no idea what happened with him but we feel that right now is not his time to fully be able to accept the Gospel in his life. And on Saturday afternoon we went to visit a family that we have been teaching Erick and Dorcus... I think that I wrote about them last week... well they were not home. So I called Hermano Erick to see what happened and when we could visit them... and well he told me that they had moved the day before and would not be returning to Linda Vista again... So in the space of 1 day we had 3 baptisms fall. And it was really hard... but I learned a really important lesson from this. During that afternoon which was one of the longest afternoons of my mission I reflected a lot and I had one thought over and over again. This is Gods will. He needed us to learn something from that experience. And it made me think a lot about just everything that has happened in my mission... and how really everything is Gods will. And on Sunday in Church the Bishop gave a talk about the will of God. And he used a lot from a article in the Liahona this month... August from Elder Bednar. And really just listening to that I felt completely at peace. Knowing that I had done all that I needed to but that it was God's will that these people were not baptized in that time. Really I know that we just need to submit our will to God's will and do the things that God wants us to do. Like Christ in the Garden of Gethsamne when he suffered for all of our sins he said ´Not my will but thine be done¨ Really that is why we are here.... to do God's will and by doing that we can grow. Really I am thankful for those experiences that I had this week and for the things that I learned that will not only apply to my mission but also to my life. And that the Atonement really is becoming real to me. It has to be personal for us and really in the last week I have come to understand it a lot better and to really feel that I am closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And on a lighter note we are going to have a baptism this week. Hermana Valentina. She is 10 and her mom is a less active member that is reactivating. She was never baptized because her grandma got sick and so they stopped going to Church. But she is great and she has a HUGE desire to learn more about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and follow them. Yesterday she told us that she wants to be baptized on Thursday so we will be running around a little this week trying to get everything set up and ready especially because we have divisions with the Hermana Leaders today. But it will be really good. I just hope that everything goes really well because she has a huge fear of water and drowning but I know with lots of faith and prayers that everything will go really well... But I hope that you all have a great week! God loves each of you! Les amo mucho!!! Hermana Stewart