{2.25.15} Turning Outward

Wow, this week has been absolutely amazing.

It started of really rough. After P-Day, my companion Elder Kalama got really sick with the flu. We had to all stay in our Casa for 2 days--which meant missing class and not teaching our investigators. It was super frustrating. He asked me to give him a blessing, and although Ive given other blessings before and felt directed by the spirit, this time I could hear the prompting clearer than I ever have before and knew exactly what to bless him with.

The first day he got better, I got sick after lunch. So ive been sick 2 of my 3 weeks here, which is ridiculous. It progressed over 4 days from nausea, to diarrhea, to strep throat, to sinus infection hahaha. At least thats what it felt like. I refused to miss class tho, so every time I prayed (which is at least 20 days) I just prayed to my heavenly father to give me strength to make it the next scheduled event on our schedule. Each time I was somehow able to make it, despite having a pounding headache, burning throat, or whatever symptoms were nagging at me. I was also blessed because everytime we taught an investigator, my sickness would be ENTIRELY gone during our lesson, and would come back about 20 mins after.

Because we had fallen behind with our investigators, our lessons werent going as well as and we were super frustrated as a companionship. Thats when we decided to evaluate ourselves to see if the problem was something we were doing. We decided to change a few, small things to try and be more exactly obedient as we read about in the book of Helaman. The following day, we had TRC (where we teach real people who live in Mexico City). Our first lesson was a father and 2 boys, and we taught them about how to prepare for a mission. Our second was with a bishop, who actually ended up teaching us hahahah. Our 3 was with a sweet old woman. She was pretending to be an investigator. As we asked her questions, I could barely understand was she was saying because she spoke soooo fast, but also because she had a very soft, high voice. Although I could not understand what she was saying, the Holy Ghost told me exactly what I needed to tell her. I gave her a simple overview of what wed be teaching her based on her needs, as we are taught to do in our first lesson with an investigator. I told her about families, and how they can be together forever. I shared with her that because God is our loving father, he wants our families to always be together. Because of this, he has restored the same church with the same Priesthood authority that Christ lead during his ministry. I testified to her that it is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ that families can be together forever, and that is why God has restored his church through a prophet in our day. 

We asked her to offer the closing prayer, and as she did she thanked Heavenly Father for us, our preparation, and our willingness to serve. She began to cry, and she thanked him for the missionaries that taught her and her family originally. After the prayer, she broke character and talked to us for 20 mins. She said that we reminded her so much of the missionaries that originally taught her. She told us about all the family members of hers that had been baptized, and the those who hadnt. She said she knew we were an answer to he prayers and that she knew now she needed to work harder to be a missionary to her family so the rest could join the church. Through their baptisms, she can be with them forever.

We had a similar experience with one of our progressing investigators, Mirna. Our progressing investigators are our teachers, but they base them off of investigators they had on their missions (usually that didnt accept the gospel and werent baptized, i think). Our lesson had the same fluidity, the same spirit, and our teacher Hermana Aguirre told us, like the sweet old lady Carmen, that we had taught to something that she had needed to hear for her own personal life (as Hermana Aguirre, not Mirna).

My testimony this week is that when you consecrate yourself, and turn yourself over entirely to God´s work, you can and you will bring others closer to Jesus Christ. Elder Bednar taught at the Christmas Devotional in the Provo MTC a few years ago that missionary work, and charity, is completely selfless. Instead of turning in, and saying ``Im working so hard, why am I not about sucesss? Ive left this or that or my relationship or whatever and the Lord isnt blessing me´´ If we do that, we will not be as successful, or happy. Instead, we need to not turn inward, but turn outward towards others. Just as Jesus did. After fasting 40 days and being tempted by the devil, he called his angels not to him, but send them to John in his trials in prison. In your hardest moments, turn outwards towards others. Its not about you, but what you can do for others.