Hello!
Hey sorry I sent the pix and letter so late! I didn’t have much
time until this morning when we played soccer at the church! We had a ton of
investigators yesterday at church (6) and so I was thinking about them the
whole time! We are teaching a new Haitian man that is awesome and speaks really
cool haha! I will try and take a pic with him next week. Then this Sunday Pedro
received the priesthood! It was so awesome. He asked me to join in on the
circle and afterwards in tears he thanked me for everything. It was a super
special moment and made me so happy. Update on the older gentleman and the
young girl. The little girl will now be baptized the first Saturday of May. Her
parents have to work this weekend. Then the other one we are still waiting to
see if he will chose to get baptized this week or next week. He is awesome and
has totally quit smoking! He was smoking a pack every two days when we first
met him. We don’t have a ton of investigators but the ones we have are super
great. Next Monday we will have area changes and I am curious to know what
happens. I love the ward and people here but I am doing my best to put my
confidence in my president to make changes based on the will of the Lord. Oh,
this last week we had two little earthquakes. It was super cool to feel them.
My comp wanted to keep working because it happened in the middle of studies but
I told him that I wanted to just chill and feel the earthquake because I haven’t
felt many. Then this week we had another capilla abierta (church openhouse). It
was the ward Los Cerrillos of the stake Los Cerrillos. The guy told me he puts
all the photos on FB so you could try looking for them! It was a fun
time.
Well I am just about to finish the New Testament! I am in
Revelations and its a pretty crazy book! There is a lot I don’t understand but
luckily I have a guide. It is super cool and talks about a lot of prophecies.
I have loved reading the NT to learn and understand a lot about the
temple and just where a lot of our doctrine comes from.
Today we had the census for all of Chile I believe. So we have
to stay here in the pension until a certain time. Everyone has the day off so
that everyone will be home in the houses. So we were told to do our weekly
planning today. As you know, I haven't really clicked very well with my companion.
I have decided to put a solid effort into being more outgoing and excited with
his ideas. It has had a good effect. He is also a little more chill too. So at
least we should be able to end this change on a good note. :-) I am happy about
that. Next change I am hoping to be made senior companion. I will have nearly
10 months on the mission and that is the time it usually happens. There are
many from my group that are senior comp already, but I'm doing my best to not
let that discourage me. We will see!
I want to share some of the things I have learned so far on the
mission. I think one of the biggest things I have learned is patience. I have
had to learn how to adjust my needs and desires with six different companions
already. So not only have I learned what my needs and desires really are, I
have learned how to accept others. I have learned that the Lord knows what's
best and as long as I am living worthy, he will bless me. Yes sometimes it
takes a while but the joy always follows hard times. I have learned how to get
along with companions that I didn't get along with in the beginning. I have
learned how to talk about things that bug me. I have learned how to set goals
and plan my days in order to achieve them. I have learned the power of prayer. I
have been given answers to prayers through the scriptures, feelings, lessons,
companions, and other members. It is amazing how it works. Other things I still
haven't been given an answer but I feel at peace that it will come. I have
learned how to speak another language. It was one of the hardest things I have
done. Because of that, I learned how to trust in the Lord. I have always been
someone a little short on personal confidence. I always did my best to not show
it but it was always there. There were a lot of things I wanted to do but I
didn't believe I could do it. The mission has had a tremendous impact on that.
I have had to do several things I never thought I would be able to do. With all
those experiences, I have learned that my confidence needs to be in the Lord
and in the Holy Ghost. By changing my point of view to that, I have seen many
great changes. I have more confidence talking and teaching because I know the
holy ghost will put words in my mouth. I have more confidence when having
different tasks or sad moments because I know the Lord knows me and is aware of
those things. I have also learned how to enjoy reading. I did not like to read
at all before the mission. Now I love it and read anytime I have the chance. I
have learned that this decision to be out here is one of the best ever. I know
that through the mission I will learn how to be a better father and a husband. I will
be able to work hard enough to achieve the career I want to do. But yes, in
other words, I have learned a ton in the last nine months. I am super grateful
to be out here. Don't ever quit putting your confidence in the Lord. I know
everything is much better on his side. I know how vital this life is for our
salvation which makes me want to do all that I can to help others see the light
of Christ in their lives.
One more cool story, this week we were walking along a road right as someone pulled off the freeway because she got a flat tire. She told us she
needed help and that she was pregnant and couldn't do much. I immediately told
her we could change it for her right there. She opened her trunk and I saw the
stuff to change the tire and pulled it out and changed her tire in less than 10
minutes. I have only changed one tire in my life but in that moment I knew
exactly how to do it. It made me realize that we really are representatives of
Christ. Part of our calling is to serve so he is going to put people in our path who we can serve. He will also help us know what and how to help even if
we haven't had much practice ha ha!! Anyways that was a cool story from this
week, I hope you are doing great!
Love Elder Walz
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| No problem! |
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| Twins :) |
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| My brother from another mother! |
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