If you are wondering about the title, Beso means kiss. The weirdest
experience of this week happened one day while we were passing by the
houses of some old investigators who live around here. I said hi to
this guy across the street, and he said hi back and gave me this huge
smile. Wow I thought, this guy must be interested. We crossed the
street to talk to him. We began to talk and he told us he was Muslim.
Well, as we kinda got to that point where he wasn't really interested
and we were going to talk to some other people, he said goodbye by
grabbing the back of my head, pulling it towards him and kissed me on
the cheek. Top 10 weirdest experiences of my life. He told me it was
normal in his culture, but still something I am very grateful is not a
thing in the USA.
This week we had some pretty solid experiences. On Sunday, we finally
got this less active guy to come to church we have been working with
for like 6 months! One of my goals was to see him come before I left,
so I was super stoked that he finally came. We also found a pretty
solid investigator who has already read all of 1 Nephi in the Book of
Mormon this week and is really liking the lessons, so we are keeping
our fingers crossed there. Other than that, we worked hard here and
we are going to do the same thing this coming week. I'm 99% positive
I leave the islands next Monday so I am going to do my absolute best
to finish strong this week and leave as many as I can with my
testimony of the Savior and his restored Gospel.
Ya know, sometimes a mission is hard. Ya know, sometimes I really miss
the beach. But ya know what else? I have learned things here that I
could not have learned anywhere else. I've learned here that I am
pretty weak when it really comes down to it. Sometimes I look at the
work here and I go to bed a little sad with the numbers that I've
written down that night. But this week the talk "I am a Child of God"
really brought me a ton of peace and comfort. Especially this part
"Recently, I was in a meeting with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. In
teaching the principle that mortal life can be agonizing but our
hardships have eternal purpose--even if we do not understand it at the
time--Elder Holland said, “You can have what you want, or you can have
something better.”"
We can have what we want, or we can have something better. Que fuerte
I know that I'm on a mission, and I know that some weeks are hard
because those trials are exactly what I need to help me progress
towards exaltation and eternal happiness. I just need to be patient,
keep my eyes open for the miracles, stay focused, and make the best of
everything that comes my way.
Hey, I love each and every one of you. Thanks for all that each of
you have done for me in my life. Have the week you have
Elder Baron
HEY EVERYONE,
If you wrote me this week and I did not write you back, my dearest
apologies, but we went to this crocodile park today and that took
quite a long time. It was sweet though. These Spaniards are crazy!
There was also these monkeys there too that we got to feed bananas, so
I would say today was a pretty successful p day.
Oh man this week was way way tiring. We are doing our best to get
lessons here but most of the work we are doing here now is with the
less actives and trying to find some new investigators. The mission
truly has gotten harder and harder, but I've been saying it since
September and I will say it again, with sacrifice comes happiness.
Although we are kinda bummed we don't have a ton of people to teach
right now, and it's hard to wake up to a day where you know you are
going to work all day stopping people in the streets, the Lord has
provided for us. We see little miracles every day with the people the
Lord prepares and puts in our path. Even more than that though, as we
give it our all to love each and every one of the people who pass us,
and we focus on these people as our brothers and sisters, we feel more
love from the Lord in our lives. I'm going to leave this area soon,
and I'm going to do my best to leave it better than I found it, or at
least with more people to teach!
One thing that was hard about this week is that our recent convert who
has been passing through a bunch of trials was hit again by the fiery
darts of the adversary with a death in the Family. He's fallen away a
little bit again which absolutely is one of the most heartbreaking
things for me. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, and he will
defend his faith still, but he has trouble getting to church every
week. This week we had a really powerful lesson with him though. We
shared the story of the prophet Joseph who complains to the Lord after
so much affliction. The Lords reply brings the prophet a lot of peace
though, as he explains to him that all these things will be for his
benefit. We also shared with him the story of Job from the Bible.
Job was a man who had it all both spiritually and temporally. Yet,
the Lord permitted Satan to try Job with the worst trials possible.
Job never gave up on the Lord though, and to the very end, he
testified of the Divinity of the Savior, despite his trials. In the
End Job was rewarded with double that he had before. We were able to
feel the spirit so strong during this lesson with Jorge and it was
one of the most powerful experiences I have had on my mission.
My little thought I want to leave with you all is this.. Let us all be
like Job, trusting in the Lord to the very end. As it says in Job 23
verse 10
10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall
come forth as gold.
the Lord will make us Golden as we trust in him and persevere to the
End. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
Elder Baron
Well,
I would say the best thing that happened this week was when we went to
the house of the first counselor in the stake presidency's brother's
house if you followed me on that one. He's been inactive for almost a
decade. We passed by him a couple months ago, and he told us he
didn't believe any of this stuff and that he had absolutely no desire
to come back to church because well, it didn't seem real. Last week
we passed by just to see how he was doing and share some love. He
wasn't there but his inactive stepdad or someone like that was. We
decided to leave a card with him with our phone number on it, and we
told the step dad to have him call us when he got home. A couple days
later I was surprised when he actually called! I was even more
surprised when he told us we could come share a message with him.
Even more surprised when he told us he was going to repent completely
and come back to church once again! He told us that very day that
we passed by, he was talking to another inactive member who was
telling him about how she didn't agree with the church on one thing,
and as they talked, he began to disagree with her, and the more he
talked, the more and more he realized that the church was true. He
had always known it, but up until that day, he had rejected the spirit
which had been trying to testify to him that the church was true. He
said that when he got home from his trip and got our card, that we had
passed by that very same day. In a time in my mission in this area
where a lot of the investigators here are struggling, this was an
incredibly amazing experience and one that really motivated me to keep
trying with these people. Maybe not now, but some day, these people
will accept the spirit and accept these things are true.
Conference was absolutely amazing this time. From Eyering's inspiring
first talk inviting us to take advantage of the conference by
preparing ourselves to receive personal revelation to Jeffrey R
Holland's closing remarks about how we must continue on, persevering
through doubts, trials, and our own faults, and be carried forward by
the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I felt so blessed to be able to be
listening. One of the littlest things that happened in the conference
that many may not have noticed that inspired me the most was when the
Motab was singing Come Thou Fount. One of the men singing in the
choir was weeping as he sang that song. I could feel the spirit so
strong, as it was evident that this man was not just singing, but he
was pouring out his heart in testimony of the Savior as he did so.
That really touched me, and inspired me to move forward this week.
Now, I Don't know what the Lord has in store for me this week, but I
know one thing. I Know that Christ Lives. I know that this is his
Church. I know that the fullness of the blessings of the Atonement
are available only in this church. I may not baptize many people in my
mission here, but I will pour out my heart and make sure that these
people, as many as possible will hear my testimony.
Since I seem to like the word pour today, I would like to share one
more thing that we learned last Monday night in a family home evening
with some Norwegians and people from England. The lesson was about
prayer, and how we should pray. Many times we pray, and we want an
answer. But we really are kinda iffy on how willing we are to accept
the will of the Lord. If we really want to be lead by the Lord in our
lives and do what he wants us to do, we must pour out our hearts in
prayer, with the humility to listen and obey whatever he tells us. As
we do this, we will be led to happiness and joy in all things.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
To all, have a rad week, and those who are out there serving missions.
Que el Señor les bendiga y que les guíe hacia éxito! May the Lord
bless you and lead you to success
Elder Baron
