Hola! This week has been pretty good! Elder Zuniga has left,
right now I am in my area, in Bucarica, but I am with Elder Aguilar. So after
we are done, we are going to the bus terminal to pick up my new companion,
Elder Hildebrandt. It’s weird, he's from Peru, but he has a Gringo name (pronounced in Spanish
EEL-DAY-BRAN, pronounced in English: HILL-DUH-BRANT) I am gonna start from the
beginning of the week.
Last time I recorded I realized that I sounded really
depressed. To some extent that has been true. Last week was really hard. But I
want you all to know that I am happy and healthy. That there are always good
things that happen. A couple of weeks ago we went out to Santisimo, which if
you remember the Christos in Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, its kind like that. I
will send pictures next week. I don’t have my camera, and Zuniga has the cable
(I was using his) So I need to go get one of those. Anyway, that was really
cool. You have to walk a trail a little bit and then you have to take a cable
car and its CLEAR up a mountain and a lot of jungle. Then when you get up
there, (we went at night, we shifted our P-Day over) so our Zone went up there,
and it was really cool. First of all, it’s a big tourist thing. There’s music,
a light show and fountains, kinda like at City Creek but with a lot more lights
and water, and a 200 foot tall statue of Christ looking over Bucaramanga, and
you can take an elevator up the back of the statue and look out over Bucaramanga.
There are also lookouts down lower. I got some cool pictures of the city at
night. It was SUPER fun. Then, fast forward to this last Monday, we kinda just
prepared for Zuniga to leave. Not a lot more than that. Tuesday and Wednesday,
Zuniga was sick. The last little bit of his mission, his stomach decided “No
more. I’m done.” Funny story: So Monday, we were invited over to Hermano
Cuadros’ house for almuerzo. It was goat with rice and meat in it. Saturday,
Zuniga told me what the meat was. Come to find out, there was intestine,
stomach, etc. We are NOT supposed to eat that. It can make gringos REALLY sick.
But Zuniga told me “nothing has made you sick so far, so I kinda wanna see if
you die…” I thought “Gee thanks…” But I ate that and I was just fine, so Zuniga
tells me that I can handle anything.
So Thursday, we had a really stinkin’ good day as far as
lessons and everything. We got a couple new investigators. It was good day. We
had a lesson that was really interesting. With the familia Bautista, Larice is
a recent convert, and her non-member daughter Angie that we are teaching. When
you baptize someone, you have to teach them all the lessons over again. We were
in the process of doing that, and Angie wanted to know more. Then, her niece
Paola came over and we shared a message with her. Then a friend came over,
Andrea, and we were teaching about the Book of Mormon, because Angie wasn’t
reading. Andrea then came out of the kitchen, and she said, “Ok, ok, ok, wait,
I want to know more.” So we taught her lesson one. Our original plan was to
teach the word of wisdom, but we went in there and Angie’s boyfriend was sooooo
smashed. When he is sober he is pretty quiet, but when he is drunk he is not.
He speaks pretty good English, but when he is drunk he uses a lot of movie
quotes like “I’ll be back…” Anyway, we
started teaching the first lesson to Andrea, and he was so interested and ready
to go. But he got confused really fast.
Like teaching a 5 year old. Big, big guy smashed out of his gourd. I don’t want
to say smashed, because that sounds mean. I do love him. He got really confused
and at one point he asked us “wait wait wait, so Joseph Smith is God?!” We had
to clarify that that definitely was not the case. But we really enjoyed our
lesson with Andrea.
Friday, we had a few lessons, and then Saturday, we cleaned
the house. It was kind of a slow day like they are before a change. We had to
go buy Zuniga a new suit because he ripped his. Sunday, we had stake conference
that was really spiritual, then Sunday night Elder Zuniga left. That was really
hard because I really do love him. Its hard when you get really close to
someone, where you are together 24/7, times when you get along and when you
fight… he’s like a best friend to me. So I stayed with the Elders in La Cumbre,
the next area over, last night and it was kinda sketchy. Kinda sucky. I didn’t
enjoy that. I like being in my apartment. I feel like this has become my home
in Colombia. I feel the weight in having to direct this area now, so I could
use your prayers. I feel like everything is on my shoulders, and its partially
true. Keep praying for me!
I received my first letters from home this week. From Mary
and Kory, and another one from the Sunday School class from DaNeel Norr. The
reason why things take so long to get here is that they search everything. It
takes awhile. So quit sending the drugs….. just kidding haha.
The letter that Samuel sent me sure made me feel good. It
was a picture of me with my arms open and him running towards me with my
nametag. It said “I cant wait for you to come home!” You can ask Zuniga, I just
about cried. It was really great. I felt very good. Also, all the letters were
fantastic. I laughed really hard at Kory’s. I will write them and give them my
thanks. It sure kept me happy.
As far as more of the work goes, Christian and Miladys will
be baptized this Saturday, and I will have the pleasure of doing that. It was
going to be a couple weeks ago, but it didn’t work. But I will baptize, and my
new companion will maybe confirm. I believe they are truly ready and I am
excited. The work of God goes on. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from
progressing. I know that to be true.
I have some thoughts on Laman and Lemuel for this week. I
have been praying about it and the spirit really brought understanding to my
mind. Awhile back we had a training by one of the area seventy, and he talked
about living for law or principle. And it talked about why we do things. Living
for law is doing it because its what you are supposed to do. Living for
principle is doing it because you have searched for the reason why and you know
the blessings you might receive. So the question is… which one are we blessed
for? The answer?... both. We are blessed for law and principle. The difference
is that we will never be happy unless we live for principle. You can live for
law and do the things you should, but you will never be happy doing them until
you live for principle and know the reason why you are doing them. I believe
that this is what Laman and Lemuel didn’t do right. They knew what was right
and they went along, but eventually that wasn’t enough. They needed to do as
Nephi did. They needed to ask. At the time that they left Jerusalem, where were
Nephi, Laman, and Lemuels faith? They were exactly the same. The difference is
that while Laman and Lemuel followed anyway, and that’s good because it saved
them from destruction, but Nephi asked for answers for himself. He exercised
faith. Nephi’s faith grew, While Laman and Lemuel’s stayed stagnant. We know
that if we don’t exercise our faith, it gets weaker. So, they lived only for
law. They received the same blessing in that they weren’t destroyed with
Jerusalem. But Nephi was blessed more even in that he received glorious things
from God. He even had the faith, when they went back to Jerusalem, to chop off
Laban’s head. I don’t think we appreciate how hard that was for him. Even in
ancient Jerusalem, that wasn’t normal. I think sometimes that we forget that.
So Laman and Lemuel allowed their faith to be stagnant, so it slipped back
until finally, they lost it. That is the difference. We need to obey, but we
should also seek out the reason why. Not “why are you making me do this?” but
rather “what mercy are you extending to me, Lord, by asking me to obey this
commandment?”. Then shall we be blessed. Then the gospel will be sweet. Living
for law, eventually, will not be enough.
So after that I will bear my testimony. I know the church is
true. I know that God gives us commandments because he loves us. I know that if
we will ask him the reasons why with real intent to follow, he will bless us
infinitely. Not only will we be saved from destruction, but also we will be
happy. This is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and He is the head of it. I know
that with all of my heart. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It was
translated by a man named Joseph Smith who was chosen to restore this gospel in
its entirety. Today we are lead by Thomas Spencer Monson, who receives
revelation from God, along with the quorum of the 12, the quorums of the 70,
and all other leaders. This is the kingdom of God. I know these things, and I
extend an invitation, if you are living for law: If you are not obeying, start
now. If you have to live for law for awhile, DO IT. Put the Lord to the test.
See what living his commandments will do for you and your family. Secondly, if
you are obeying the law, have the faith and take the time to ask why. Exercise
your faith. Talk to Heavenly Father and he will answer you. Be willing to act
on that answer. If you are living both these things, continue, endure, and
enjoy to the end. I share these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Love you all so much.
Elder Lewis
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