Called to Serve : Hola Todos

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had the best week of your life... Let's be real, that
probably didn't happen, but maybe your week wasn't the best. If
that's the case, hang in there. I love ya, and the lord loves you
even more. Prayer will get you through everything, never forget that.

It was a pretty good week here in Vecindario. There's always good and
bad to everything, but life's easier when you remember the good, so
that's gonna be my focus with this email. This week we had an awesome
ward activity. We hiked to this waterfall as a ward. The hike was
super pretty, but pretty hard for a lot of the members. Most of them
went home and barely made it to church the next day because they were
so sore.

One of the best parts of this week was we baptized one of our
investigators, the Cuban who has been reading the Book of Mormon like
crazy. Holy cow, he is such an incredible example for me. This man
went from never having prayed in his entire life to reading and
praying every day, and absolutely loving church. You truly can see the
change in his countenance that has come by his decisions to grow his
faith and change his life by accepting and living the gospel. It
truly was an unreal experience to baptize someone. As I stood there
in the front with him, the mission became way more real. I realized
where I was, what was happening, and how lucky I was to be there at
that moment. I cannot even describe it completely, but it truly was a
special experience.

One thing that really helped me a lot this week that I would like to
share with you is the story of Peter and the Savior walking on water.
The scripture is the following

Matthew 14:
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking
on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were
troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it
is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come
unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he
walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning
to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and
said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

There are so many times where my faith is tested out here. There are
times where I feel like there is no light at the end of the tunnel
with some of these investigators, like I will never be even close to a
perfect teacher, or like I will never be able to speak this language
fluently or understand it completely. Like Peter, we need to keep our
eye on the savior though and on our goals. Forget about the obstacles
that are all around us. But we aren't perfect though. There will be
times where we can't just forget about those trials that are around us
that easily, and our faith may dwindle a bit, but if we look back to
the savior, he will catch us before we fall, and pull us out of any
difficult situation. I love this scripture from Mosiah 29, which says

20 But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves
before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver
them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all
cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards
them that put their trust in him.

The Lord really will lead us on the right path, and help us, but we
have to humble ourselves and trust him. Sometimes it's really hard to
do that, but it becomes easier when we have the right perspective. The
lord knows the past the present and the future of our lives. He has
divine potential for each and every one of us. He wants us to be
successful and happy here and in the eternities. We just need to do
the things that are right and trust him. Even when we do all that
though, it doesn't mean that the hard times go away, but as we trust
in the lord, he fills our hearts with the hope to make it through.
Obedience to the gospel really will make one happier right now, and
forever.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Hope all is well with everyone, have a great week

Elder Baron