This week we recieved two sister missionaries from the MTC because
they were advanced in Spanish and didn't need to stay for language
purposes in the MTC. Other than that this week was spent going to the
area and preparing for leadership council and zone conferences which we
have this coming week. Preparing for both leadership council and zone
conferences in the same week has been a little hectic but not as bad as I
thought it was going to be.
Thursday night as I was talking on the phone with
President Goates about some questions we had in regards to zone
conferences I asked if he would be coming to the offices at any point on
friday. He mentioned that he wouldn't be but that he would be
accompanying some missionaries for the day. That sounded pretty
interesting to me because he hadn't had the time until then to go out
with the missionaries. I was pretty excited to ask who he would be going
out with but before I was able to he asked me, "what do you guys have
planned for tomorrow?" .... Doh! We were planning on organizing
leadership council and zone conferences in the morning and then going
out to the area in the afternoon but he wasn't able to for some plans
that he had in the evening. So we decided on reversing our schedule and
going out with President Goates to our area in the morning.
He arrived nice and early to do companionship study
with us then we left to Villa del Parque in our normal mode of
transportation... the bus. It was pretty funny to get on the bus and
ride to the area with the mission president.
We were able to follow the plans we made for the
morning pretty well as many people are often home in the mornings. On
top of that, we were able to talk to some unplanned contacts which the
Lord surely guided us to. I'll share an experience of one of those
contacts right now.
After our lunch appointment we went to the bus stop
to head back to the offices. At that point it was the siesta hour so
there weren't any people on the streets. Approaching the bus stop we saw
a lady seated on the curb waiting for the bus. As we got closer we
realized that she was crying. We kind of looked at one another in
hesitation wondering what we were going to do. We all knew that we
couldn't just leave her there but we didn't know what to do for a few
moments. After a few seconds we initiated a conversation with her and
found out what her problem was. Her grandfather, who basically raised
her, is very sick and it doesn't look like he is going to make it much
longer. She felt useless because she doesn't have a job or any way to
help him and that's all she wants to do. We were able to help her feel a
little better for the moment and get her contact information to go by
another day. She looked a little happier and lighter after that. Our
conversation was cut short when the bus came but that experience was a
testimony to me, on top of all the other experiences of the morning,
that the Lord was guiding us. Later that evening as I reflected on that
experience it brought some more in-depth thoughts to me as to my calling
as a missionary.
I thought about how us missionaries are called as
representatives of Jesus Christ so I thought of Christ taking our
position in that situation. After thinking of that I realized that
Christ would have never hesitated and I felt a little ashamed that I did
so. But realizing that I am not perfect I felt a sense peace and
happiness that, in the end, we attempted to do as he would have done -
show compassion and invite her to come unto Him.
Hope everyone is doing well!
- Elder Rainock
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