Week 52: Harvest‏

In Doctrine and Covenants section four we read that "The field is white, all ready to harvest" and to be perfectly honest, for a while there, I wasn't quite sure that that promise applied to Montufar II. Elder Gil and I went through a pretty rough patch over these last few months that we had together...and there came a point when we weren't sure that we were going to be able to see any of the fruits of our labor while we were together.

...until this week.

This week was like the culmination of all the stuff we had gone through all just sort of coming to a head, like a climax. In both the office and in our area we were able to see a lot of blessings:

Saturday: Right after I finished my letter home, our new mission president and his wife burst-ed through the doors with all the "gung-ho" to put me in a startled sort of coma.

The Caffaros had arrived to the South Mission.

We got right down to business explaining to them everything that they needed to do on the financial front. It was overall an incredible conversation, I learned a lot from both president and sister Caffaro. They were very humble and ready to learn with us, and they brought a sense of excitement that completely floored me. It will be a great opportunity to get to know them better.

When we left the offices the sun was already hung low behind the Guatemalan clouds...and I just thought to myself about how glad I am to be able to be here. I have learned so much over the past year, about who I am and how I can better contribute to the human family. I am enamored by the culture and the lifestyle here in this country, every day seems like it's an adventure, that at the end of every day I can't wait to flip open my journal and write in the next chapter.

I am so happy to be a missionary.

Sunday: Today was a day that I will hold close to me for a very long time. Right after the regular 3-hour meetings, we held a baptism service for Walter and Ingrid Franco. I have grown to love this couple so much, they have a sincere desire to follow our Savior Jesus Christ and they have both come to knowledge of the truth through study and prayer.

They asked our Bishop to be the one who effectuated the ordinance for them, and to see them in the Baptismal Font was a sight I hope to never forget.

The entire service was an incredible experience, especially because President and Sister Caffaro and the Trapnells were able to come to see it. I felt like I was on top of the world! My testimony was fortified tenfold throughout the entire course of that Sunday Afternoon.

Walter and Ingrid did it!

Monday: Today went by pretty fast, we were in the area offices for a while with Sister Caffaro. It was definitely a fun day, she was very nice and asked me about million great questions about the mission and about the country of Guatemala. It was fun to get to know her better and see how excited she is to serve the Lord and help this mission.

That night we visited some less-active members and had some good lessons!

Tuesday: This morning we had interviews with the Caffaros (It was like the first week of school: 4 "getting to know you" days in a row) where we had a great conversation about how we have personal conversions to the Gospel of Jesus Christ during the course of our mission. Another great day...that afternoon Elder Gil and I taught a lot of lessons and did a lot of tracting...it was such a blessing to have a good day!

Wednesday: A lot of our appointments fell through today but we were able to teach one of our investigators: Ana Victoria. She's a youth that we taught about 4 months ago as a referral from a member, and thought that she was never going to progress...until one day when we went to a member's house only to find her there too, after a chat that we had she said that she has a goal to be Baptized and that she wants to go to church with the member family (the Pascuals). A little bit surprised we said that we would come back another day to teach her and left her a chapter in the Book of Mormon to read. 

When we came back she had read (and understood) the entire thing, and she had a list of questions for us (what is the difference between a Disciple and an Apostle? What is the Word of Wisdom? When can I be baptized?). Since then she has grown immensely on a spiritual scale and currently has a baptismal date set for August 2nd.

We'll see where that goes...

Thursday: Today was weekly planning, and Elder Gil and I had a great little chat about how we are doing as companions...and the truth is that neither of us can complain at all...we are both very content!

Friday: Yesterday we taught Manuela (who is also progressing VERY well)...she continues to receive answers to prayer through the dreams that she is having. I wish my dreams would have some sort of eternal significance like that...I mean, if I am supposed to be receiving messages from heaven through my dreams I feel like the major underlying message would be that I am a total nut case.

...Anyways, that was how my week went! I hope you are all well and I'll talk to you later!    

Mom's note:  Today our family was delighted to meet Pres. and Sis. Stay at their home ward, Cottonwood Heights 5th, homecoming talk.  It was wonderful to hear their stories of miracles both with those the missionaries teach and the miracles that happened within each of the missionaries.  They shared they had over 700 missionaries in 3 years and they have more missionaries at home then still in Guatemala.  We also met Pres. and Sis Nicholias from the CCM.  Both of these couples remember Elder Monson with love.  They say he is hard working, taught them a lot, helped them, was prepared and ready when he got there, they are not surprised he is doing so well and they LOVE him!  What a treat!!!