So this past week was an odd one. It
started really good and finished really good, but the in between was
rough. It started off just like last week, finding and taking out
baptismal dates. So on Monday we went to go teach the family of Mabel
and Nestor. They have two children that are members, yet they are not
because they both need to do divorces and then need to get married. It's
complicated. But when we went, we taught the sister of Nestor, Isabel,
who has been having a lot of family problems lately. We had originally
planned to teach the parable of the sower and talk about the types of
people we can be. Usually, if there is a new investigator, we change the
plans to be about the Restoration or the plan of salvation, but this
time I felt prompted to keep talking about the same thing. So, as we
explained that and that we all have the agency to choose eternal life
through Christ or to choose misery through the devil, they all
understood the importance of every decision we make. We turned to
Isabel and invited her to be baptized as one of these key choices to
become clean of all her past actions and to keep progressing and be
saved through Jesus Christ. She wasn't quite sure. But then Nestor
started to read a verse from the Book of Mormon and explained it in such a
way that permitted the spirit to touch her heart. She broke down in
tears and expressed the great desire she has to get baptized. We
testified and then closed the lesson with a pray offered by her. I'm not
sure how familiar you are with the first prayer of King Lamoni in the
Book of Alma, but her prayer was somewhat similar to that one. She
prayed and thanked God for having been able to know two angels, us, and
to have received this great message from Him. She prayed to be able to
make it to the waters of baptism and to also help her son be baptized
and understand the importance of following Jesus's example. It was
amazing! It was one of my favorite lessons that I have had on my
mission. We have been trying to meet back with her, but she is having a
lot of family problems in her home and hasn't found time to be able to
have another lesson. We keep in contact through the phone.
Another great experience from the beginning of last
week was when we found Noelia. We had contacted her husband, Daniel,
about two months ago and we always stop and talk with him in the street
when he is on his way to work, but we have never been able to have a
lesson with him or with his family. One day of last week while we were
outside his house and talking, we asked to come by and teach him again
and he didn't know when he would be able to based on his crazy schedule.
Then, his wife from the window asked, and why don't you just come and
teach me then? So, we set up an appointment and came by with Claudia, an
amazing member. They immediately became friends. In fact, they already
share a lot of the same friends in the neighborhood. So we let them
socialize for a bit and then started to teach about the plan of
salvation. She had a lot of great questions and was really interested!
She's going to go play volleyball with Claudia and some other women from
the church another day. She's awesome!
We also were blessed to find Debora this week.
Debora has a sad story. She is recently starting to forgive God for
having let her daughter die at 18 years old. She has been mad at Him for
several years now and didn't want anything to do with Him. But when we
came by and started to testify that her family can be eternal and she
will be able to see her daughter again if she starts to follow this path
through baptism, she was excited and wanted to know more!
Unfortunately, she also has a terrible schedule and we cannot find her
very often. She is going to try to get off work a little early to be able
to talk to us more.
Claudia made some huge success this week. She came
to church and gave us her cigarettes and said she will be stopping to
smoke this week. She said that she wants to get baptized and is
determined to work for it. Elder Borgersen and I gave her a blessing
after all the meetings and blessed her that she will have the strength
and will power to be able to drop the addiction forever. Believe in
miracles and they happen. So, we'll wait and see.
Wednesday through Friday were tough. We walked a lot
and had a lot of lessons fall through. But, it was a good time to
reflect on the Savior's experience in the garden and on the cross and
know that it was never easy for him, so it shouldn't be easy for us
either. We must work for our salvation because it isn't a cheap
experience.
The perseverance paid off. On Sunday we were able
to have four investigators at church and each had an amazing experience.
The best were those of our neighbors. So Pricila and Dario came to
church and stayed all three hours! They almost left, but Dario said he
felt so good there and wanted to stay and see why. SO they came back
and stayed the whole time! Dario has suffered from a phobia of people
and the world in general for years, but he was so open and was actually
talking and responding to the questions in the classes.
Our other neighbor, Dani, surprised me so much! As
we were getting ready in the morning to go to church, we saw her and her
nephew who is almost her age come home at seven in the morning!!! Dani
slept for an hour, got back up, and went to church all without even
having been challenged! She has been watching movies of the church and
Mormon messages to learn more because we haven't ever had a formal
discussion. She even began to read in the Book of Mormon and is
finishing first Nephi. She told me that it has made her cry and she
feels something so different about all of this. When she was at church,
she was absorbing every minute and every words that was said. When the
meeting started, the bishop came down and told me to give a short message
of 7 minutes, so I told how I gained my own testimony and I challenged
anyone in the congregation who is doubting or questioning to ask God in a
prayer and the answer will be given. It was perfect for the
investigators. I had no clue what I was going to say, but it came out
perfectly and I almost cried, but I held in the tears. But later on Dani
was making more comments about how great she feels in the church and
how she loves the classes! Our gospel principles teacher gave an amazing
lesson about Jesus Christ and the need of a savior. She also touched a
bit on eternal families and it was perfect! Dani leaned over to me and
said that's what she wants. She wants her family to change and be
eternal. After that, in Relief Society and in quorum the lesson was
about baptism and the gift of the holy ghost. It was awesome!!! Perfect
for investigators! We left church feeling really great and walked back
with Pricila, Dario, Dani, and I held Ama, Pricila's baby who's SOOO cute.
:) Great day.
The bad news of this week is that my memory card was
infected with some type of virus that has infected my pictures from the
past three months. . . SO it appears like they were erased, but the
memory is still being used. SO, we are hoping that I can get a technical
guy to restore the lost files. I really want those pictures! They're
the pictures of these past amazing months that I've been with Elder
Borgersen. I want to keep those memories. Pray for my memory card to
work!
Anyway, I've got so many things to write and no
time! I wish that you could all see what happens her in Argentina. It's
truly a miracle. Everything that happens is because the Lord's hand is
touching the hearts of his children. I know that I am being used as His
instrument and am being blessed for my service. The time passes so fast.
It's almost sad. I love being a missionary and know that everyone can
receive more joy by helping in this great work! I love you all and hope
you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Blake W. Cowan
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