Hi family and Friends!!
Another amazing week in December. I love this month. I love it even more being here with the Lamanites. And even more because #iluminarelmundo. I think we’ve handed out a million and one little christmas cards and invite EVERYONE we see to watch the video that the church has. Taxi drivers. People on the streets. Tiendas. Restaurantes. We’ve gotten some funny looks because we really are just so excited about this! :)
This week we were blessed to find a lot of new FAMILIES. Dad, mom, kids. Its always the best to teach a family as a whole because testifying about eternal families applies directly and powerfully. We were in a lesson with one of our investigators named Betti. She’s progressing well, loves the Book of Mormon and feels that our church is true... but has told us that the reason she can’t come to church or get baptized is because her husband doesn’t want anything to do with it and is pretty distanced from religion. We’ve been trying to plan a time for a while when we could meet her husband, but we’ve never found him home. Well... as we were in the middle of our lesson, the gate opened and a few minutes later walked in her husband. I was expecting to get a good talking to... or at least a gruff, unfriendly man. We introduced ourselves, asked a few questions and kept going with the lesson, now teaching both the husband and wife. I really felt the spirit strongly and as we finished her husband told us that he was really feeling empty and like he’s been needing God more in his life. He thanked us for coming to his home and wondered when we could come back to teach them more. Wow. The iceberg became the... strength and this week we have a lesson to go back with them.
We had a cool experience with prayer on Wednesday. We had to go to Quito for a doctors appointment for my companion... which is about 3 hours away. We thought we left on time, but the bus went slow, there was traffic and we started to get a little worried... because its super important to get to the appointments on time. After awhile we decided that the best option was just to get a taxi, ask him to put the petal to the metal and hope to get there on time. We had 25 minutes until we were supposed to be there and when we asked the taxi driver, he said it would at least be 35 minutes if the traffic was good. Well. That was a little stressful. Hermana Bybee and I decided to say a prayer in the back of the taxi that somehow we could see a miracle and arrive on time. A while later, the driver took a turn to go on another road that he forgot about, the road was super fast, we started sharing part of the restoration, and before we knew it, he pulled up to the doctors office and it was 5 minutes before we were supposed to be there. Little experiences where the Lord tells you "I AM listening. I WILL help you. I DO love you"
I live in an amazing, beautiful place. With amazingly humble and grateful people. Isn’t it interesting that those that have the least, often times are those that are the MOST happy. We were in a lesson this week in a rather poor and smaller home. The dad was telling us that as a child he went many days without food and normally had rice and eggs for their meals. He said that sometimes he gets frustrated with his kids when they don’t eat everything on their plate because they might not have a lot, but they do have a lot more than some people. I began to think about life at home. How ungrateful are we at times. We don’t finish our food because its not the right flavor. We go back into McDonalds and demand a new one when they put ketchup on our hamburger instead of mayonnaise. Haha. I’m guilty of some of these things in my life. But obviously... when we’re dwelling on the things we DON’T have, we won’t be happy with the things we DO have. I sure am learning a big lesson from these people. I think we all could. That joy comes when we smile and give thanks. Joy doesn’t come from having THINGS, but from having a grateful heart. The Lamanites sure have figured out that one a lot faster that some of us. :)
I’ve also felt this week the JOY that comes from simple service. It’s so exciting to me to hear about all the services that you all are doing at home. Service truly does change us from the inside out. I think that’s why missions are so happy. Not because its all skipping and rainbows (speaking of... we saw a Gorgeous rainbow this week! I’ll try and send a pic next time), but because 24/7 you’re here to serve and think of others. I’ve seen that the greatest, most inspirational people in my life are those who serve. Those who think about the happiness of other people before themselves. "Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28. HE is our perfect example. So grand and great, yet so humble and kind. He LOST His life for others, so in return, He truly found it. And so can we. I know with out a doubt that life has so much more meaning when it is spent in the service of our brothers and sisters.
May we all ILUMINAR EL MUNDO this month. Its the very best way to spend Christmas :)
Love you!!!
Hermana Yorgason
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