Hello everyone,
Really this week was a
week of miracles. So I don´t know if I had talked about a girl that we started
teaching on Sunday in my last email. We met with this girl that has been coming
to church for like 3 years and the only problem that she had was that she
wanted to get married with a 17 year old member so that she could get baptize…
ya not gonna happen. But we started teaching her on Sunday and we found out
that she wants to change her life right. Well who is better prepared to help
people change their lives through Jesus Christ than the missionaries that He
sends to people. Anyway so we placed a baptism date with her for Saturday. Wow.
We really needed to cover a lot of material to see if she really had a
testimony of the church that it was true and all that jazz. We started with
things on Tuesday. We taught the law of chastity, the word of wisdom, tithing
on Wednesday, and follow the prophet on Thursday and then after that was her
interview. Wooooooohooooooo she passed and yes she got baptized on Saturday. It
was kind of weird to think that about a week ago we didn´t even know that she
existed and then we helped her get baptized. It really was a miracle to show
that God is preparing His people no matter where they are or what they are
doing. God knows what they need and He will prepare them in their own due time.
She is a great young lady. She is a little shy but she has a strong testimony
that the church is true. That it is going to help her find a lot of people and
joy in her life. I’m thankful to my Father in Heaven for the opportunity that I
had to get to know her and help her take these steps in her life to have a
better life through the gospel.
Other than that we
just have been working super super hard in an area that missionaries have never
entered in before. Mostly because it’s super far away from the church but its
soo cool going to a place where the people really haven´t even heard of the
missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ. It’s like I am just opening up a
whole new country to the gospel. We are teaching a TON but we are still looking
for those people who really are prepared to enter into the kingdom of God here
on the earth. It’s cool because the people really just let us come into their
houses and we just teach them. It’s cool because we are teaching like 50
lessons a week and I feel like I am just biding my time to find that one golden
person that is going to progress in the gospel. I guess that is one thing here
in Paraguay I haven´t really ever thought about. People here will let you into
their house really without denying you. Ya there are those people who will flat
out tell you to go away, but about 80 percent of the time the people will let
you in and let you teach, but in the end they really have no intention of
changing their life. Sometimes it’s a little frustrating because we get into
people´s houses and they are soo cool and seem so prepared, but in the end they
say that they don´t want to change religion. AHHHHH but I know that the Lord is
just testing us to see if we will be diligent to find those people who will
accept the gospel.
I went and did divisions
this last week and I went to a place called Barrio 4. It was right next to
Presidente Franco, where I started my
mission. It was cool because I got to see a lot of the stuff that was familiar
to me when I started my mission. Lots of memories and lots of trials hahahaha
We taught a ton in Barrio 4 but in the end we really didn´t find anyone that
was prepared. We found a few people who are interested and the missionaries are
going to keep working with them to help them develop a greater interest.
One cool experience
that I had this last week while I was reading the scriptures was when I was
reading about the faith. And there was a reference that lead to 1 Nephi 17 I
think, when Nephi is building a ship, and his brothers don´t believe that he
can do it. At first I was like what? How is building a ship talking about
faith? But then I found a sweet scripture Where it says something like this, ( I’m
translating) Why are you murmuring against my father, and to do what the Lord
has commanded me. Why does it seem like something strange that the Lord would
command me to build a ship....... It’s because his brothers were doubting his
capability........... If the Lord told me to command this water that it would
turn up and be dry land, it would come to pass. If the Lord has such great
power, and has worked so many miracles unto the children of men, how is it that
He cannot teach me to build a ship? whooohooooo When I read that it was super
cool because really the Lord has such power and can work so many miracles if we
have the faith in Him. I had to change the phrase a little bit. ¨If the Lord
has such great power, and has worked so many miracles unto the children of men,
how is that He cannot teach me, Elder Beatty, to baptize every week? Yeah it
was sooo cool and I felt that really if I build my faith the Lord will help me
accomplish that goal. I know it’s not only talking about helping me become a
better missionary but it can apply to any aspect of life. The Lord can teach us
to be a better husband, a better student, a better son or daughter. ONLY if we
show our faith to Him, He will be able to help us accomplish the goal.
One funny experience
that we had this last week was that we contacted a guy who was super catholic.
We started talking about why there were so many churches today really if there
is only 1 God. He said that it was a good question and that really it was based
on the interpretation of the scriptures. He said that in the end we should all
come together, drop our differences and worship God. We started talking about
the founders of churches and how the churches are based off the beliefs of the
founders and in the end he asked us who founded our church. It was super cool
because my companion and I answered at the same time.... Jesus Christ......
BOOOOOMMMMM It was so funny to see the look on the guys face. He was going to
say something after we answered him but the answer that we gave him really just
struck him dumb. And then he started giving us the usual catholic beliefs about
how the church is founded on Peter instead of revelations blah blah blah. We didn´t
teach him but it was super funny to see the look on his face when we told him
that the church we represent was founded by Jesus Christ.
Here is a random fact
in the life of Elder Beatty…….practically every day since I have gotten to this
area I have eaten rice, eggs, and hotdogs for lunch. YUM YUM!
Well everyone I’ve got
to roll. We came to Asuncion for a leadership council and I’ve got to take a 6
hour bus ride back to my area so that I can sleep. I love you all. The gospel
is true and really nothing could ever be so sweet and precious in our lives
than to live the teachings of the Savior and be blessed by living the
commandments. I know the gospel is real. It tranforms us into people that the Lord
wants us to be. I love you all and hope you have a super fantastic day.
Rohayhu
Elder Beatty
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