Vina Del Mar, Chile

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Week78: A big can of Humble Juice with a side of anti-denial

Hola! Buenos Dias Todos!

This week was a week of work, of meetings, of taking heat, of teaching, of protecting, and of being taken out of denial. So in short, it was good normal week in the mission :)

This week we worked hard! We were determined to find people to teach and got to the point where we had to teach in doorsteps (Because we cant enter houses with women who are alone). This week we taught a really good lady in the doorstep and it was actually a good lesson. L is a grandma who is raising 3 grand kids because the government took them from their mom and gave them to the grandma. While we were talking she talked about how her sister (Who is evangelic) told her not to talk to us because we don't believe in God and we worship a Joseph Smith. It was a perfect moment to teach lesson 1! We taught her and she understood very well (Which is difficult to achieve here because the people are more attached to the catholic church than they are to Jesus). She said she is going to pray and ask if what we taught was true and if she gets an answer that she will get baptized with her grand kids as well. So please pray that she can get her answer :)

It was a week of taking heat and a big can of Humble Juice. This week we got all of our district leaders and the sister training leaders. We started and were teaching but the spirit wasnt there. We could just feel tension and then the sister training leaders said something that let me know what was up. We had to throw away all of our plans for the meeting and sit down and talk to everyone. We had to ask why they were angry or frustrated with us. They were angry at us that we had been correcting them for the things that they weren't doing instead of just being happy with the good that they had done. In the end they basically complained that when they did something wrong that we corrected them instead of letting them continue messing up. They didn't like that we weren't verifying there work and if they were contacting people and that we were expecting results from them. They said all of this in a very mean attacking way. It hurt to hear, not because of what they were saying I was doing wrong because I was glad to hear what they thought I was doing wrong (In order to fix it) but they also said lots of mean things about the things that I am 100 percent sure that I was doing right and complaining about that. After just accepting everything that they said we asked for their help to fix some problems that anyone can fix and to help us focus on the problems that only we can fix. 

I left that meeting very angry, not because I was told that I wasn't perfect, but because they all told me the things that I had to fix in the zone and they took no responsibility for anything. They explained that their faults were the same as mine but they didn't say that they were  wrong for having them. Afterwards everyone else was happy because they got to rant and attack me and I wasn't willing to attack them back. But I talked to the assistants explaining what I had been doing and what the other leaders had said and asked which was right so that i could do the right thing for the zone and he said what I had been doing was right. It was just hard to hear the mean things that they said as well. But now the zone is happier with us, but I am frustrated with them ha ha.

It was a week of protecting. In our sector there are lots and lots of Jehovah Witnesses. They all as a congregation go out and knock doors and give out magazines and stuff. One day we were doing a contact at a house and the family was pretty good. We were about to leave but then we noticed to Jehovah witnesses close by that were about to talk to the family that we had just contacted. So that the Jehovah witnesses wouldn't talk with them I stalled the conversation so that we stayed in the door talking to the family. We did that for about 10 minutes until all of the Jehovah witnesses had walked by ha ha :) 

This week I have been reading a lot about the wars in the Book of Mormon and about the 2000 stripling warriors. It was a perfect week because I was looking for a lot of guide on how to lead the zone. Moroni, Lehi, and Teancum were amazing leaders and I learned so much from them on what to do. I also learned how to be a fantastic person by reading about the example of the 2000 stripling warriors. I want to invite you all to read about them looking for their character (I dont remember how to say the word in English) Su naturaleza o forma de ser (The way they are? The form of being?) Basically the character traits of the 2000 stripling warriors and what they were like. Then look at yourself and ask if you are like that. Then fix what isnt like them. I have started doing it and it has helped a lot :)

A part of what they said is they talk about the teachings of their mothers and that they didn't doubt that their mothers were sure about the teachings that they had given them. So I started to ponder on the teachings of my mother and what she wanted me to know. I was reminded of every time that she passed for a hard moment or needed a miracle. We would all make fun of her saying how crazy her desire was. But then she would say "I have faith" and everyone would immediately stop making fun of her because "When mom has faith, it happens." After pondering that I decided that I needed to have the faith that my mother had, not doubting at all, because I knew that she believed 100%. 

This week I was taken out of denial. Lots of missionaries make fun of me for being an old missionary. I always tell them no and that I have a ton of time left to get stuff done. Well I was taken out of denial because all of the sisters who arrived to the mission with me are all having interviews and the last dinner with president today and will be in their house on Wednesday. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not becoming trunky and wanting to be home, actually the opposite. I am realizing that the mission will end, and that end is coming soon, and that I have to achieve everything I want to achieve in a very short amount of time. The end of a mission doesn't seem real and doesn't seem like it will ever happen, but now I am realizing that it is real, and that some day decently soon I am going to have to give up these plaques and the power and authority that God has given me. It hurts thinking about that. But It gives me encouragement that I have been trained and prepared and am ready to take out the trash to get what God wants done, done.

Just want to share my testimony of prayer. This week I can testify completely without a doubt that prayer works. Not always in our own time, but it does work. God wants to hear us and talk to us. He wants to comfort us and help us. I know that he lives, and that this is the church that he has given us to prepare to live with him again. I know that it was restored by Joseph Smith, and because of that the greatest work and blessings are available to everyone in the world if they want to participate.

I Love you all! Stay Golden!

Love,
Elder Nielson

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