We are a Mission of Miracles

Cool to see Jonathan playing so much bball. And I’m really gonna miss Brother Plante. Sad to hear he passed away. Sure going to miss him, his jokes, his smile, his laugh and of course his excellent cooking. He really meant a lot to me. Sounds like his funeral went well.

This week, my companion and I were off to Xela for the leaders meeting. It was great. Getting there is an experience itself. For my comp., the bus rides are the worst. He says there`s no room, it`s always pacted [packed], the music is really loud, the driver is crazy and so on...which is all true. But honestly I kinda like traveling cuz we pass by a bunch of small towns, we get to see different people and the countryside, and when everyone winds down a bit, it gives me time to read. Right now, I`m reading the 4 books from the mision library in Spanish. It’s great. Anyways, the leaders meeting was awesome, even though we were pretty exhausted after the bus ride and having to wake up really early. Pte. Smith talked about the accomplishments of last year and the goals for this year. He also presented a new standard for the mission. ¨We are a mission of miracles¨. It then consists of two scriptures:

D&C 29:7  And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts;

Moroni 7:37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain.

Also, there are four main points. I`ll just sum it up into one. We are to find families everyday and teach repentance by the spirit and to baptize each week. Pretty big vision right? But I know it comes from God. I have faith that it's possible. The assistants talked about the Book of Mormon. Could you teach any topic just from the Book of Mormon? Our investigators need to be reading the Book of Mormon everyday. And we can help our investigators do that by the way that we present and invite them to read and pray. We practiced and did role plays on how to invite our investigators to read and pray and to spark in them a desire to read it. All in all it was very good. This work is exciting. And an extra bonus was that there was lasagna for lunch. Delicioso!

The next day, we did divisions with the assistants. Both assistants came to our area. It was cool because we`ve been working in San Lorenzo and in the main city. With all four of us we could cover even more ground and teach more people. Elder Chavez and I taught a woman named Ilda. She was very receptive to our message. Unfortunately her husband doesn`t want anything to do with us. We also taught a woman named Alejandra. She accepted a baptismal date and we planned another appointment! Awesome. We were able to stop by and share a quick message with Yamilet and Fernando. They were baptized last month. We`ve been trying to teach the mom, Lilian, as well, but just when we got there, she took a phone call and didn`t come back until we had finished the lesson. Anyways we were able to contact a lot of people on the way, people who in the following days turned out to be positive! Miracles. I really liked the way in which Elder Chavez taught. He used a lot of inspired questions and really got the listeners engaged. Hope to improve in that aspect. 

Side note. At the end of the day, Elder Perez, the other asistent, had to sleep on a broken cot because we didn`t have anything else. He just put one of our suitcases underneath to help support it. Woke up pretty sore poor guy. I should have given him my bed.

My companion and I were able to find a couple to teach. Oscar works selling perfumes and fragrances whereas his girlfriend, Yojaira, attends a small store selling american products. They’re not married, don`t live together but are expecting a child. We`ve only had one lesson with them but they`re interested. Can’t wait to teach them about eternal families. And the other day, we passed by with Yojaira and she had already read the Restoration pamphlet and had some good questions. It’s great when investigators have good questions. We hope to continue working with them this week, help them accept a baptismal date and to come to church.

I`ve been reading in Mosiah, the Abinadi chapters. My faith was strengthened as I read Abinadi’s bold words spoken to king Noah and his priests. He declared repentance and the absolute need for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice. Even by keeping the commandments, it`s not enough. I know we need Christ.

Hope everyone has a great week! Adiós!

Elder Hicken