Querido
la Familia Sanderson,
3/04/2013
Just
wanted to remind you all of a few things. This coming week is transfers and who
knows if I'll get moved so yeah don't mail anything. President Trayner is going
to do a huge transfer in preparation of the new mission president that is going
to be coming in this June. I don't want to leave Rio Bravo, its by far the
awesomest area in the mission and I am so lucky to be here. Yesterday one of the
Assistants, Elder De La Fuente, called me up and said that an Elder might be
going home early due to medical reasons and I might have to fill his spot as
the Zone Leader in Brownsville. Hopefully that doesn't happen haha I don't
think I'm ready to be a zone leader, I'm way too young. But yeah, hopefully I
stay here in good ol' Laredo.
This week
we found an awesome family. It was another testimony of how perfectly in
control our heavenly Father is. We were
walking down this street towards a former investigator because our appointment
fell through. We had never worked this area before much so we thought that we
would knock a few doors, looking for clues if there could possibly be a family
living there. We had this strong impression to knock this door and this young
woman answers the door. She quickly explained that she only spoke Spanish. We
answered back, "pues hermana hablamos espanol tambien." haha I love
the shock on people's faces when they find out two strange white boys can speak
their language. Anyways we began teacher the woman and these 2 kids that were
there. Turns out the woman, Melissa, is just the families babysitter but lives
with a friend who is a member who just immigrated here all the way from
Honduras. After setting a baptismal date with her we took down her address and
made an appointment with her the next day. We also set up appointment to teach
the family that lives there. They are the Chick family (a strange name for a
Hispanic family huh). So the next day we go over to Melissa's and we teach her
and her 4 roommates. they all accepted baptismal dates and they all came to
church this Sunday. They are so legit! Anyways after the lesson the friend that
is a member shows up, her name is Reina. She just crossed over here about 2
weeks ago and has been searching for the church. She is an awesome member and
has really provided a lot of fellowship for Melissa, Lupita, Jackie, and Norma.
Their baptismal dates are for the 31st of March.
Ok Nate
so here is the story with Omar. We found Omar about 2 months ago. He was a
former investigator from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. He is a party boy and loves to
live his life with the attitude of "eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow
we die." He is an awesome guy but his moral compass is a bit skewed. His
conversion process was relatively slow. The biggest factor in his conversion
was the Book of Mormon. In order to get
baptized Omar had to give up Heroin, Drinking, Smoking, and law of Chastity
issues. What really made him decide to change is when he was reading in 3rd
Nephi 17. In this chapter the Savior heals the multitude of Nephites. After he read that he called us to come over.
We came over and he told us how he wanted to give everything up...just to feel
what it was like to be healed by the Savior. That was the turning point in his
repentance process. After that first encounter of what the love of Christ could
do for him he "threw down his weapons of rebellion" and followed our
Savior. He still struggled and faltered along the way, but he could never deny
that this what he needed, and so from there he drew forth enough strength to
overcome his addictions.
Ok, and
to answer your second question about sacrifice. Nathan, I don't really feel as
though I have sacrificed that much. The closer I get to my Savior the more I
realize how little he truly asks of us. Yes I had to give up some opportunities
and other social things, but as you will soon find out...the mission is worth
it. I am convinced that the reason
Missionaries are asked to give up so much is because now it puts us in a
position that we can ask our investigators to make sacrifices. Because I have
sacrificed somethings, I could then ask Omar to sacrifice his past and begin
anew. These sacrifices are not limited
to just the full-time missionaries, but to all followers of Jesus Christ. Sacrifice is necessary. I think that we must
all spend a few minutes in the Garden of Gethsemane or walk a few steps up
Calvary before we truly can begin to call us disciples of Christ. To call
yourself a disciple of Christ we must be willing to take a portion of the pain
or sorrows that He so willingly took upon himself. Sometimes these sacrifices
are not fun or they might hurt us at times, but Christ bears the signs that
pains and afflictions come from sacrifice in the service of others, sometimes
we will have to as well. When I first entered the MTC I promised my Heavenly
Father and my Savior that I would stand tall and faithful in whatever was asked
of me. One of my main goals on my mission
is that when I arrive home and deliver my "homecoming" talk, I wish
to be able to say that I, like the Savior, suffered the will of my Father from
the beginning. I hope to be able to do that. Nathan, there is a huge difference
between bearing witness of the Savior, and being a witness of the Savior. I
believe the difference is sacrifice. So what are we going to sacrifice, when
the bright morning star Jesus Christ sacrificed everything in our behalf?
I love
you all and I hope all is well. Hope this helps with your talk! Tenga Exito!
con muchisimos
amor
Elder
Sanderson
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