"This week went pretty well. We are starting to find new people again, which is always fun. We weren`t able to teach Eduardo and Paula again last Tuesday because they had a parent teacher meeting with their son but we have another appointment with them tomorrow. I am starting to realize that a lot of times the Lord will bless us in missionary opportunities when we least likely expect it. For example, about two weeks ago we contacted a man in the street with the family, and he was rushed but gave us his address (in another apartment building, our sector has tons) and told us to come by. So we went by a few days later, and the receptionist told us that the number was wrong, but was friendly with us and said she would look for the man`s name in the list of renters. While she was looking, a woman came out of the elevator and started asking us questions about the church, then later told us that her grandpa used to be a bishop, but she is not a member. She told we could come teach her family and gave us her address. We went by her house Thursday and taught her and her daughter. So it turns out that the address of the contact was incorrect, but through it the Lord led us to another person that was waiting for us. Pretty interesting how He works.
"Please tell Grandma happy 25th birthday for me! I love you grandma and thanks for all of the letters and packages, they truly make me feel loved.
"There were sadly no investigators that came to the conference but we have high hopes that some will come to church next Sunday. We gringos got to watch it in English in the high priest room. I got to sit by Elder Butterfield and Elder Mawhinney while we watched it, which was good times (and spiritual times, too) all around.
"There are a ton of tiny parks in our sector, on one side of the Gran Avenida (the grand avenue, of course) and on the other side of that street there is only one. It is like a division between the rich and not so rich part of our sector. It is kinda weird how drastic the change is just from crossing the street. We do divisions about 2 to 3 times a change and they are always for 24 hours, sometimes I go to the other sector and sometimes I stay where I am.
"Today for our district activity we met in the stake center (Barrio San Miguel, Saint Michael haha) and made guacamole and ate chips and guacamole for lunch. It was pretty fun.
"General Conference was amazing, but I must say that my favorite session was the priesthood session. President Eyring and President Uchtdorf`s talks about priesthood service were incredible. They inspired me to serve with all my strength in my mission and also throughout my life. I thought about how in the pre existence I probably begged to be foreordained to serve a mission, probably in this exact place so that I could serve my brothers and sisters and I am very grateful for the opportunities that I have to serve every day in this work. I also know that I will be able to continue to serve in various callings in the church throughout my life, but nothing compares to these two years. I think that the mission is not so much about "getting" baptisms or the numbers that we achieve. It is more about becoming a missionary (as Elder Bednar said in a talk a few years ago). I think the point of the mission is to teach us self discipline and how to listen to the spirit so that we can be better fathers, husbands, and leaders in the future. I was reading a little story that Elder Carpenter had, about a man that lived in the mountains and one day while he was praying received a revelation from God telling him to get up and go push a giant boulder outside of his house. The man was obedient and spent months from sun up to sun down pushing against the rock, but it wouldn`t budge. One day Satan arrived to tempt him, telling him that he was wasting his time and efforts with a task that was impossible, and that he should just give up. The man became discouraged, but decided to consult the Lord in prayer before quitting. In his prayer, the Lord explained him that he had never commanded him to move the rock, just to push against it, and then told the man to look at himself and see how much he had grown in strenth by pushing against the rock as hard as he could every day. The man realized that it was not moving the rock that was important, but rather the experience that he had gained by being obedient to the Lord`s will for him. Interesting.
"Well that is all for today, thank you for your emails, dear elders, etc. I love you all very much."
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