Jan. 24, 2011
Mom!
Thank you for everything! I got the Dear Elder package and it was so great! Also, a Sister in the branch wants me to ask you for an american soup recipe. I thought of hamburger potato soup. I think she wants to make it for me haha she's so cool. She's the stake Relief Society President. But yeah, doesn't really matter what kind of soup. Oh and thank you for your incites regarding the Holy Ghost. Love you!
Bubster
Hey!
Aubrey, those pictures were awesome! Haley...
For Student Body Retreat, I honestly think that whatever you think would be good will be the best thing. I always felt that the people who were honest, who had been working hard, were the ones to send to such things. Just be honest and point out why you want to go. I love that scripture about how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who publish peace and declare glad tidings and what not. It's so awesome! I think my favorite right now is Alma chapter 32. I'm working on memorizing it and I love it.
That's so cool to hear about BYU, I wish I could see a game or two. Jimmer is a stud.
This week was really interesting. I'll start with the coolest part. We met a young lady in the branch who just got married. We met her last week on Sunday and found out she hadn't been baptized. We started to teach her this week. Every commitment we left with her, she accepted excitedly. She told us she felt in her heart that everything was true and she'd known it for awhile. She got baptized and confirmed yesterday. It was so great!
The work is rolling along, but our other investigators are hard to find. I can't help but get frustrated when we walk a couple miles to get to a house in the midday heat and come to find that the people aren't home.
There's a family in our branch that needs your prayers. The Garcia Rucun family. Some gang members are threatening them. It's horrible. We see the damage and fear caused by secret combinations every day. It's so real and so evil. There are so many good people here, but they're being intimidated and forced into fear by really sick people.
This week was kind of tough for me. I went on divisions with our district leader Elder Johnson and it was a challenge but he told me this cool story about a former companion of his named Elder Savage. He told me a story about one night when they were walking towards the house. This was the third week of Elder Savage's last transfer before going home. That day they had contacted and taught a new family and Elder Johnson felt like it was a really good day. All of the sudden, Elder Savage said, "Elder, help me. I don't have faith." Elder Johnson asked, "What in the world do you mean? If anyone lacks faith between the two of us, it's me." Elder Savage explained, "No, I don't have the faith to contact right now. I don't have the Spirit. Please can we go knock on some doors!" Elder Johnson agreed and told him "Alright, and we'll contact for three hours tomorrow." (Keep in mind they were in La Maquina, the hottest place on earth). Elder Savage said, "Really? You'd do that?" They did it. And they didn't find a single person who was willing to listen. But afterwards, Elder Savage said, "Thanks Elder, I have the Spirit again." That was the third last week of his mission.
After Elder Johnson told me that, I got to thinking. And I started thinking about how I want that kind of faith. It led to a feeling of motivation to do better. But bit by bit it turned into a feeling of worthlessness. Thoughts like, "I can't even wake up earlier than 6:20 to work out in the mornings. How am I going to change all these other things?" It was really annoying. But I cleared my mind, read "Preach My Gospel" and talked to Elder Tacam. And I feel better about things. But I still get those feelings once in awhile. I realize that patience is an essential element of faith. And I also realize that I am making progress. Sometimes I want to talk to my future self and just see what's in store. But that would be cheating.
Thanks for your responses to my question! I have another...
How can I have faith to look forward with an eye single to the glory of God?
I wonder what some of my friends think when they read my letters haha. Some of the things I say must sound so weird and foreign. I think about how some of them are out partying and studying and I'm down here in Guatemala participating in the great and marvelous work of the Lord. And it really is great and marvelous. Being a missionary is hard, but so worth the effort. When people realize that the things we are teaching really are true, I feel such a sense of excitment and joy. When they reject it, I get sad. We asked one of our investigators, Arlin, if Christ Himself told her in person that these things we were teaching are true, would she get baptized. She said no. We asked her why. She shrugged her shoulders.
Stuff like that is tough.
Dang, time flies on Mondays haha I gotta go. I hope you're all doing great! Good luck with things and have an awesome week. Thank you for everything!
Love always,
Elder Austin Tyler
