Leaving it to Him

Learning all the while...

Hi all! How is everyone doing!? Good!? Great. I'm doing just fine and dandy o'er yonder. Tons of work, tons of learning and spiritual experiences, and all that song and dance. Elder Aaron Adams, The Zone Leader from Villa Alemana (I'm in the Zone of Villa Alemana Oeste), just informed me that our two companionships had the lowest sums of Houses Entered on Contacts, a Key Indicator in our mission. Houses Entered (or CE, for Casas Entradas) is where you knock on a door, and get into the house to teach a lesson when you meet someone for the first time. Right off the Bat. Well, Him and I tied for last with 6 Houses Entered into for the month of February. He informs me that I was THE worst in all the mission with 5 Houses Entered for January. But whatever, because we both baptize people and get references from the members, so it's all good. But enough about numbers, they don't mean anything except whether I get yelled at or not.

So this week I learned a lesson. From a certain blessing which I received a few years ago, it told me that God would always give me answers to my sincere prayers. I find it interesting that it specifically mentions receiving answers from other people. For weeks now I've been praying and fasting to know what to do with the Pérez Family, who have been the center of my letters home, prayers, and thoughts for a few months now. Well, we had long talk with them for a while, mostly the Mom, who's not a member yet, and about her doubts. We taught a very slow, clear, unmistakable lesson about the Restoration, wherein the Spirit was felt very strongly, and she expressed her concerns about the Word of Wisdom. Actually, she said that there was no way in heck that she was going to give up Tea. We asked her to try it for 14 days, and said that we were asking her to do the impossible. I found the entire thing very hypocritical because all she ever talks about is how much faith she has, but refused to test God in this Trail of Faith. After about an hour and a half with them, we were feeling pretty discouraged about it all. I was baffled as to what we should do to help her. After talking with my companion for a little bit, he said, "It might be best if we just drop them, we're wasting way too much time over there." The thought had yet to cross my mind, and appeared very absurd to drop an investigator who was willing to have us in her house whenever, but I knew it was the right thing to do. We were spending about 5 hours each week over in there house, a considerable amount of time, and she wasn't progressing. She doesn't view us as missionaries, but rather calls us, "My little ones," calls us by our first names, and doesn't like to shake our hands in a conventional manner. All in all, the situation had become way too casual. We weren't the teachers to her. We were kids practicing Spanish and sharing good principles. So what we're going to do, we're going to drop them. Not for good, but for a few weeks, with the challenge to continue to read the Book of Mormon, and to Pray always. We'll see how the Spirit works within them in our absence, and see their reaction in a few weeks. In other words, we're leaving it all up to the Spirit and the Ward for a little while. Just have to Trust in God.

e'horspool