Super crazy week. As I said last week, we had a lot to do. We had zone training on Tuesday, and then did two exchanges back to back. The worst part is that we didn´t have any investigators in church! Gustavo and his family went out of town for the weekend, and Maru got sick. There was one man though, his name is Angel, he is the boyfriend of Milenka. He´s the miracle investigator that I told ya´ll about a few weeks ago that came to church out of no where, remember him? Well they´ve been coming the last few weeks and are progressing nicely. They live together and he can´t be baptized until they get married, and they can´t get married until the divorce of her previous marraige is finalized, and that´s taking a while because she´s a forgeiner. *sigh* there always seems to be something. But it´s okay! Because he really likes church and so far has been really well fellowshipped by the ward. He´ll be a life long member for sure, it´s just gonna take a little longer than normal.
The new transfer cycle starts today. Me and elder Patterson are staying together. We´re going to baptize Marisol and her family, and this other really cool family that we found on Monday, and a man named Leo, and a man named Emilio. Those are our goals for this transfer. Please continue praying for Marisol and her family, especially Gustavo. Marisol just needs the courage to be baptized to show her husband the example he needs.
I would like to share a cool miracle that happened to me and elder Hill while we were on an exchange. The night before while I was planning I got the feeling that I should right the name of "Hector", a man I had taught about a month earlier and then never returned to visit, (he told us not to come back). I didn´t want to put his name down, but I couldn´t shake the feeling, and in all honesty I wrote it down having no intensions to pass by. Well the following evening we are in a neighboring town and ALL of our plans fail us and I literally had no idea what to do. So we did what we always do in these situations: I said a prayer with my companion. I just asked for guidance and for help to know what it was that the Lord wanted us to do. I opened my planner and seriously, even though it was full of names, there was only one name I could see: "Hector". So I said, "fine we´ll go see him", and we headed over there. I was not expecting what awaited us. There was a man on his porch, Bryan, and he called us over and started talking. He´s from Paraguay and knows the missionaries, he was going to be baptized in Paraguay but for whatever reason he had to move before his baptism. We met him, his friend, and his two neighbors (who as it turns out, are the parents of Hector!) and they all had spoken to missionaries and now want to learn more. Really cool. miracle.
That is another testimony builder for me that the Lord has a purpose in everything. I had literally planned a perfect day. Set appointments at every hour, and EVERYTHING failed us. Once I figured out the "why" behind it, it made sense, but before then it was pretty frustrating. It took a lot of faith for me to trust the Lord, that there really was something for us to do there that night, and that He would show me what it was. I think that is a principle in life that is hard for us all to master: trusting the Lord, His ways, and His timing. If we can learn to have faith, but I´m talking about real faith, complete trust in Him, then our trials won´t be as burdensom, and we will be able to enure them better. Sometimes the Lord let´s us go down one path just a little bit so that we learn with a surety that the OTHER path is the one He wants us on, and that those are the things he wants us doing. That is what happened to me that night, but if I hadn´t excersized my faith and really trusted him, and done my part, I would have never discovered the end result and what He really actually wanted me to be doing that night. So the invitation this time is this: that we all try to trust in Him a little more, and that we grow our faith to be as great as the prophets of old, to be as big as a California Redwood (General Sherman Tree type trees).
Okay this has been really long, I´m sorry! I¨ll leave you with this, that I know that Christ lives, and that He directs this work. I feel His influence everyday and have come to understand the importance of the Holy Spirit in all that I do, missionary or not. I understand a little better everyday the power of FAITH and the heights and depths I am able to reach when I have REAL FAITH. The Church is true, this work is real, and God lives. I love you all so so much! I hope you have a fabulous week and that your faith increases. Love love love!
Elder Webb
Wrong roads...
Build your faith!
Faith like this tree...
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