Here are the most recent emails that Paul has sent from Argentina. Due to being out of the country myself, I have been very negligent about updating this blog. I will try to be better.
October 7, 2009
I got transferred to another province, and here in Chaco. Don't really have a whole lot to say about my new area, as I don't really know it that well. I have two companions—Elder Johnson and Elder Callaghan. They're both really hard workers, and I'm excited to be here with them. I miss my old area, but Chaco is a whole lot nicer than Posadas. The city is a LOT cleaner. The people here are generally a poorer, but my area is in the richest part of town and we have basically everything. The apartment even has washing machine and an oven!! Looks like I don't have to fry anymore. Today we went to the store, and they have Snickers bars. Man, was that exciting. They also have brownie mix. Still no peanut butter though. That's okay though, because WE HAVE HOT WATER!!
Conference was amazing. I loved every single talk, but I think that the most powerful was the one in which Jeffery R. Holland testified of the Book of Mormon. I wash I could duplicate the power with which he spoke. Every single one of my investigators would already be baptized. Unfortunately for them, they only have me. I do the best I can though. I also liked one of the talks from Elder Bednar (I think it was from the priesthood session) in which he talked about what we should do with our families. It made me feel like my whole letter writing has been a bit of a failure, in that I hardly ever bear my testimony to you guys. I´m going to try to do better though, so here I go.
This last week when I was reading in my scriptures (something missionaries do quite often, actually) I found a scripture that explained a lot of the questions that I've been having in my life. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it again afterward. It might sound silly, but it really bothered me that I couldn't find this scripture, and I had even begun to think that I'd imagined it. It was very discouraging. During conference, one of the twelve started talking about the same subject that this particular scripture pertains to. I prayed that he would quote the scripture I was desperately looking for in his talk, so that I would have the reference when the Ensign comes
next month. In answer to my prayer, the speaker concluded quoting the scripture that I'd been seeking.
That story might seem very simple to other people, but it was very important to me. I know that the Lord loves each and every one of us enough to have one of His servants answer our prayers. When we pray with humility and faith, everything is possible for us. I know that
God loves you all and is watching over you.
I was also touched by something that President Monson shared about doing a good deed every day. I would like to start sharing small acts of kindness with each other so that we focus more on the good that we do every day. When we focus on the positive, we are blessed with better lives. This week (don´t get mad Mom) I did the dishes twice for the six other elders that live in our apartment. Everyone is supposedly supposed to do their own dishes after using them, but things rarely work out like that. This week, when the dishes piled up, I cleaned them.
October 14, 2009
The area here is really nice. The toilets all accept toilet paper and everything. In my old area it wasn't always quite so simple. In our apartment the toilet worked fine, but in some of the members houses we just had to throw it away in the trash. Some missionaries have a little bit of trouble adjusting. In my last area we could shower, we just had to use an electric shower head. They work okay most of the time, but they're a lot more finicky than ones that have a hot water heater.
I had a very interesting experience last week. We went out to go work with one of the local members, and he was so excited to be out with the missionaries that it bordered on ridiculous. He jumped at every opportunity to contact people in the street. Not only that, but he seemed to be looking for exactly the people that our mission president tells us to contact, families, potential priesthood holders etc. By the end of the night, this brother was actually singing in the streets the hymns of the church. I'm not exaggerating. He taught better than I did, and seemed to follow the things taught in Preach my Gospel better than me to. The worst part was when I realized that this brother was not a returned missionary, and that he was baptized only two years ago.
Being out with Brother Marcus was very humbling, he's a much better missionary than I am. Unfortunately, he has a family to take care of, so the people here are going to have to settle for me. All I can do is try to take the excitement that he has for the work and apply it in my mission. My point is, we have to try and improve ourselves as instruments in the hands of the Lord rather than compare ourselves to others.
Today I want to bear my testimony to you guys about the power of scripture study. As Elder Holland quoted this conference, those who hold to the rod and treasure up the words of Christ will not be deceived and will not be failed by their testimonies in the last days. I would like to add my own humble, personal testimony of the Savior. Living the gospel is not easy. It requires a painfully acute awareness of ones own faults. Sometimes we become discouraged and think that we can not do anything. Last week, I had a day like that.
I woke up completely on the wrong side of the bed and was angry with people for no reason whatsoever. I got discouraged and started to think a lot about my shortcomings as a missionary. I barely found the energy to study, but as I did so I began to receive comfort from the scriptures. I read from Moroni 7:33 and realized that all I needed to do was ask the Lord for help and he would give it to me.
When we show our faith in God by reading the scriptures, He can help us with guidance in our lives.
