Hola a mi increíble, amorosa, maravillosa Familia,
I have had many thoughts on how you all have been doing lately as my heart goes out to you often. I pray so much for each of you and hope you know that so my prayers can reach you and your needs. I love this mission of mine for Jesus Christ. I know I have said it plenty of times but I don´t get tired of it because I think each of you that has served a mission knows exactly what I am talking about. I have definitely felt qualified by the Lord this week and I love Him for His mercy and His support towards me. In the beginning of the week, I was feeling a little overwhelmed and stressed for not having the best progress in our sector and now being called as District Leader to be an EXAMPLE for other missionaries. It was not the best feeling. And on top of it, Elder Roundy and I were having some dumb little issues between us. I know there shouldn´t be issues in the companionship but we´re human. What do you expect? I realized that things weren´t going to get better unless I took a step back and solved it. I decided to turn to the Lord´s scriptures especially for me: my patriarchal blessing. It was such a relief to see that the recent situations I have been in about leadership and discouragement are part of this blessing that I was reading. It was as if the Lord was in the room speaking to me. I felt a great peace and spirit last Tuesday night and it seems like since then, there is a new energy and excitement in the work. We have found some great new people this past week including a family that we have put a baptismal date with. The parents are named Cludio and Ynéz. They have 3 daughters (Rosangela 11, Sasha 9, Ignacia 1 month). We found them through a reference given to us by Ynéz´s sister, Bernarda. If you don´t remember, Bernarda is the less-active mom of Bayron whom we were teaching to get baptized back in October but ended up not wanting to do it. There is always a better way to do missionary work when members are involved!!!!! The other family tie to them is that Claudio´s brother, Andrés, and all of his family are members and use to live in our ward but now live in another stake in the mission. In fact, the son of Andrés is going on his mission to Colombia at the end of March and knows Lehi, our ward mission leader, who is leaving for his mission tomorrow! It is absolutely amazing how the Lord ties in everything to bring people to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are absolutely no coincidences here!
Yesterday, our ward had a baptism in the Stake Center. His name is Gonzalo, he is 8 years old, and he is the son of the 1st counselor in the Stake Presidency, President Mujica. The baptismal service was a simple and very special experience for me just to see another child of God enter into His Kingdom through the waters of baptism. Elder Roundy, Bishop Ortega (our bishop), and I sang at the service and I enjoyed the whole thing overall. I felt a strong love in the family of this child during the service, especially when his parents and little sister stood up with him at the pulpit to bear their testimonies with him of our Savior and the power in baptism and humbling ourselves to follow Him.
Going on with the past week, a couple significant things I want to point out are that a lot of the youth here give the name "Gringolandia" to the United States. Haha! Just for the fact that all the Gringos come from the U.S. Go figure! Also, I tried pastel de Choclo (corn casserole) this past week. It is a popular dish in the south and countryside, but the Hermana Daisy, who cooks amazing, made it for me because she new I hadn´t tried it before. It is like the pastel de papas (potato casserole) that we had at the Pomar´s house before my mission but with mashed corn instead. I am not to much of a fan of it but we try new things all the time on the mish, so oh well. Another odd thing about Chile is that there are always guys riding around on normal pedal bicycles that have a l-cylinder engine attached to them. It is the funniest thing to see because you just need to pedal for a little bit to get it going and then you´re off to the races. Haha!
I want to finish with a trivia question that I´ve been curious about: The Star of David was the sign of the coming of the Messiah. How did the Star of David become the symbol of the Jews when they don´t believe that the Messiah has come yet? If anyone can help me out there, I would be able to sleep better at night. Haha! Thanks!
I love you all and want you to know that we can all be angels of the Lord in His work. Look up Alma 13:21-24 to understand your calling a little better as well as D&C 84:88. Until next week, I leave with a blessing and all my love!
Con un abrazo fuerte,
Elder Josh Boaz
Monday, February 15, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
I'm working and happy!
Hola a mi amada familia, Feb. 8th, 2010
So changes came and......I am staying in Progreso in Santiago. Big surprise! Haha, Just kidding. The Zone Leaders had me convinced the whole night of change calls that I was going to another zone as a District Leader. Then, at bed time they called me at the end of the night to tell me that I am staying with Elder Roundy and that I will be District Leader now. We got a good laugh out of the whole situation because they got me REALLY good. Haha! I am excited to be able to help and support another companionship in the Zone. I know it isn't anything to extraordinary in the mission, just another responsibility that the Lord is having me fulfill in my calling to serve him. I don't feel very prepared for it but I suppose that the mission gives a TONS of experiences that we aren't ready for. I ask for your prayers that I might be able to fulfill what the Lord needs me to do and feel comforted in the process.
This past week has been yet another tough but satisfying week of work. I feel a big responsibility to raise my personal standards of excellence in the mission work. I know that I can show Elder Roundy how to work much more effectively in the missionary work. He is so supportive, outgoing, and driven. I know we will see baptisms and souls changed this next change. This past week had some pretty memorable mission experiences. First off, we had a lesson this week with a lady named Mareli. Her 45 year old son has been a drug-addict for some time and it is affecting her badly. She had been praying recently for a church to join and to strengthen her when we knocked on her door. She let us in and asked why God doesn't answer prayers when we know He exists. I felt bad for her question but reassured her that God ALWAYS listens and blesses us in His time. We taught her the Restoration and she said she would be baptized if she received and answer in the prayer. I knew that our message was an answer to her prayers. She didn't come to church yesterday but we will be visiting her this week to see how she is doing. It is moments like that that rejuvenate me in this work. I know that there is ALWAYS someone out there who is looking for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to bless them. We just have to keep plugging along and eventually will find them. Nevertheless, contacting on the streets and at doors is such a difficult part of the work for me and it's the majority of what we do here. I feel bad for European missionaries that have to deal with all the cold, closed people. South America is a little bit more open and receptive but even then, there are days when NO ONE wants to talk to you and everyone is rude. It is somewhat discouraging but we must just press on.
Alma 17:11 says, "And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls."
I have applied that much to this work when times are difficult because Christ always finds a way to show us that we are helping and serving Him. We just need to be in the right mindset.
Ok, so on Friday, we were suppose to have lunch with a member in our ward that is a decent chef but he got really sick at the last second. He called us and told us to go buy some food for ourselves and that he would pay us back afterwards. We knew that there are four Chinese restaurants at the top of our area so we hit one of them up. The Mongolian beef and springs with rice were INCREDIBLE. And on top of it, the restaurant was legit, not ghetto! But the best part of it all was that they were playing pure Coldplay songs during the whole time that we were eating. So here is the situation, if you can picture this glorious setting: Eating Chinese Food while listening to Coldplay songs and being in Chile at the same time. There is not a better triple-C combination that I can think of at this moment. That should wrap up the things that will interest you all this week in my mission and if they didn't, my bad. Haha!
I love you all and thank you for your support. I know this work is true with all my heart and know that the Lord guides and edifies us when we come to Him. May you all turn to the Lord more this week.
Con afecto,
Elder Josh Boaz
So changes came and......I am staying in Progreso in Santiago. Big surprise! Haha, Just kidding. The Zone Leaders had me convinced the whole night of change calls that I was going to another zone as a District Leader. Then, at bed time they called me at the end of the night to tell me that I am staying with Elder Roundy and that I will be District Leader now. We got a good laugh out of the whole situation because they got me REALLY good. Haha! I am excited to be able to help and support another companionship in the Zone. I know it isn't anything to extraordinary in the mission, just another responsibility that the Lord is having me fulfill in my calling to serve him. I don't feel very prepared for it but I suppose that the mission gives a TONS of experiences that we aren't ready for. I ask for your prayers that I might be able to fulfill what the Lord needs me to do and feel comforted in the process.
This past week has been yet another tough but satisfying week of work. I feel a big responsibility to raise my personal standards of excellence in the mission work. I know that I can show Elder Roundy how to work much more effectively in the missionary work. He is so supportive, outgoing, and driven. I know we will see baptisms and souls changed this next change. This past week had some pretty memorable mission experiences. First off, we had a lesson this week with a lady named Mareli. Her 45 year old son has been a drug-addict for some time and it is affecting her badly. She had been praying recently for a church to join and to strengthen her when we knocked on her door. She let us in and asked why God doesn't answer prayers when we know He exists. I felt bad for her question but reassured her that God ALWAYS listens and blesses us in His time. We taught her the Restoration and she said she would be baptized if she received and answer in the prayer. I knew that our message was an answer to her prayers. She didn't come to church yesterday but we will be visiting her this week to see how she is doing. It is moments like that that rejuvenate me in this work. I know that there is ALWAYS someone out there who is looking for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to bless them. We just have to keep plugging along and eventually will find them. Nevertheless, contacting on the streets and at doors is such a difficult part of the work for me and it's the majority of what we do here. I feel bad for European missionaries that have to deal with all the cold, closed people. South America is a little bit more open and receptive but even then, there are days when NO ONE wants to talk to you and everyone is rude. It is somewhat discouraging but we must just press on.
Alma 17:11 says, "And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls."
I have applied that much to this work when times are difficult because Christ always finds a way to show us that we are helping and serving Him. We just need to be in the right mindset.
Ok, so on Friday, we were suppose to have lunch with a member in our ward that is a decent chef but he got really sick at the last second. He called us and told us to go buy some food for ourselves and that he would pay us back afterwards. We knew that there are four Chinese restaurants at the top of our area so we hit one of them up. The Mongolian beef and springs with rice were INCREDIBLE. And on top of it, the restaurant was legit, not ghetto! But the best part of it all was that they were playing pure Coldplay songs during the whole time that we were eating. So here is the situation, if you can picture this glorious setting: Eating Chinese Food while listening to Coldplay songs and being in Chile at the same time. There is not a better triple-C combination that I can think of at this moment. That should wrap up the things that will interest you all this week in my mission and if they didn't, my bad. Haha!
I love you all and thank you for your support. I know this work is true with all my heart and know that the Lord guides and edifies us when we come to Him. May you all turn to the Lord more this week.
Con afecto,
Elder Josh Boaz
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