Wish me luck; I hope it doesn't eat my face.
Another week has come
and gone, and with it, much success and many miracles! One thing I love about
the work is that we get to see the hand of the Lord in so many peoples lives all
the time! I don't know if missionaries actually get more miracles and help than
others, I think most of it just comes down to us being more aware of it since
we're looking for it.
Tuesday we had interviews with President
Castro again. This time was very different, but very good at the same time. We
didn't go one on one into these interviews; they were companionship interviews.
This time we were accounting for our obedience, just as a family would in a
tithing settlement. It felt great to respond positively for the things we've
been doing right! I need to do a bit better at starting my studies at 8:00
prompt (Shaving's a killer!) but President was very happy with our efforts and
the things we've been getting done. We also did our stake report, and that was
a great chance to report on the progress to him and the stake president. In our
zone, the numbers this last transfer have almost doubled since we started!
Everyone is excited for the miracles we've accomplished so far, and the chance
to do more in the next two weeks.
Some of the highlights of the
week are as follows. As Elder Lee and I were walking along, we saw a guy we'd
seen before and went up to talk with him. His name is Efrain, from El Salvador,
and he's awesome! He's had a trial come up in his life recently; his brother
was hit by a car and is in a coma, but that's awakened in him a desire to get
closer to God and he was very excited to learn more. He wants to come to
church, when we find a ride for him.
Then, as Elder Passey and I
were on an Exchange, we met a guy walking past us who, when we said hello, said,
"hey Elders!" When we asked him about it, he said his name is Sergio, and he
used to meet with the missionaries all the time. After a few transfers, they
lost track of him and he moved to the avenue. He didn't want to talk much then,
but later on, Elder Lee and I saw him sitting outside a restaurant, and he
invited us over to teach him! He didn't remember everything, but teaching him
felt more like a role-play practice: everything he said was perfect! When we
asked him if he believed Joseph Smith was a prophet, he said "He could have
been..." and when we asked what it would mean to him if he knew that he was, he
said "It would change everything! I'd be going to the Mormon church!" Then,
when we invited him to be baptized he said yes before we even finished the
question. We're seeing him again today so we'll see how it
goes!
Finally, one of my favorite people I've ever met tracting was
a man named Hong (pronounced Hwong with a super soft g) from Vietnam! He was
super excited to see us and very friendly; he spent about 30 minutes telling us
all about what his people believe. (It's very weird, he basically told us
"We're all going to hell; but don't worry! It's happy there. Then, if you
don't do anything bad there, you get to go to heaven. But you also got to buy
'hell money' so that you have money when you're in hell, otherwise you can't get
anything like clothes or food or stuff." It was cool!) He really connected
with what we taught him about finding peace, and when we asked if we could pray
with him, he was super confused for a bit, but when we explained how it worked
really carefully, he invited us into his house and we got to pray for him and
his family! He also wants a Book of Mormon in Vietnamese!
We'll be
calling around 4-5 our time, so I'm not sure when that is for you. I hope you
all have a wonderful week, WELL DONE DAD ON THE
TRIATHLON!!
Love,
Elder Matthew David Clough
