Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Chapter 10: And So it Begins

Christmas season is begun as the beginning of Diciembre makes it to town. This season we need to really focus on our Savior.

Another beginning is the beginning of all my troubles when the transfer cycle will start anew this next week. All of the issues with finances sprout from 2 things: Things done before my time and things that happen during changes week. We are about to see a new world of problems begin to erupt and I´ll tell you how the week develops next Saturday.

I am glad to hear that the holiday spirit is growing in the house and that St. Nicholas made his was to Utah once again. ;) I was able to fill the shoes of Elder Hoover, Myself, and one Elder that was staying the night with us with candy (and subsequently ants :P Ooops). I was even able to get the ornaments that Sister Wilkinson gave to us and put them in the shoes. :)

We actually have quite a few more investigators progressing right now, one of which is Jorge and he is coming out and teaching with us even though he´s not a member. He loves the mission work and he should be getting baptized on the 14 of December. :D We´re very excited for him.

We also had a small miracle in our area this week and I would love to share it with you. We were looking for new people to teach and we were walking down a street that we don´t normally use, but we were given a reference and we were searching for them. Out of nowhere Elder Hoover starts talking to a family that looks like they are not interested (sometimes you can tell by their reaction to us as we walk by, but this time he said that he just felt like he should talk to them) and it was really really awkward. It didn´t flow the normal way that they normally do but somehow, as we showed that we were fun and "normal" they started opening up and right when we were about to set a return date I felt the need to ask them if we could share a small message right then and there! It was really strange that they said yes and then I looked at Elder Hoover thinking "What are we going to teach?" To be honest, I had no idea, but Elder Hoover asked them if we could share a video, the He is the Gift video and they said yes. :) I only had it in English, but most of the family spoke Caribbean English and the only one who didn´t spent time in the USA so he understood how to read it! If that wasn´t a miracle enough, after the video, we asked them how they felt about the video and what it´s message was and as the Father of the family was sharing he almost started to cry and I could feel the Spirit so strong that I felt like if I moved to fast it would pull it apart because it was so present and so delicate. Everyone in the room could feel our sincerity and the Spirit of the Lord. The atmosphere was completely changed from the awkward beginning that we had and they actually told us to come by whenever we want (we are going to visit them today). It was such an amazing experience and I can´t describe how grateful I´ve been in the last week for the blessings like this.

This last week my breaks have been the time I´ve spent in the field because when I´m in the office I´m stress and preparing for Changes week, but when I´m in the field I can forget the office and focus on my real calling. It helps me get rid of the stress that I have (at least for a time) and focus on the work of the Lord. I´ve been loving every moment that I have to teach, even though sometimes it´s hard to find someone to teach. We are hoping, praying, and doing everything else that we can to have as many people come to church tomorrow as possible. I hope to see the fruits of our labor soon.

Love,
Elder VanderMeyden

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