God loves a Champion and life lessons learned dress shopping….

God loves a Champion and life lessons learned dress shopping….

This week started off on Tuesday with a district meeting where comemos pizza for el first time in 1 year! Oh it was divine. Then we had a reunion de districto that went pretty good. Then on martes we, well... we walked all day... and continued to walk.

Wednesday we had a work visit from the other area, and he stayed up till 2 am, spilling a lot of stuff. I did what I could to help. We past the next day with a few lessons and then I called the President in the night. This other companionship was having problems.. (made my companionship look a lot better :) We all changed back the next day and planned for the week.

We taught Walter Ramirez who is reading the Book of Mormon but his wife doesn’t want to hear anything. He owns a little restaurant which is why he can’t come to church.

We taught the parents of Joel Ojeda. He is our baptism for this week. A joven who has 20 years, his parents aren’t married so they can’t be baptized, so that is why other missionaries never bothered teaching them. So now their 20 year old son wants to be baptized and the parents aren’t happy. So we passed by to teach them. They own a bread shop and we told them we would make bread for them this Saturday.

We then taught a less active that has 18 rueben ballacios. His family doesn’t want us to teach him. He is a great kid.

Then we stopped by a less active. She has 3 kids. One of 19 years that lives a part. They’ve never got along good, and she doesn’t even want him to listen to us. We invited him this last week and he’s super excited and preparing to be baptized this October.

Friday we had a capcatiacion were our Mission President changed my view. He said, “God Loves a Champion.” He said, not a winner but a champion. A BYU technical coordinator said that to him years ago, and it changed his opinion. He used a bunch of examples like Messi or Michael Jordan, it was like a half time football pep talk, and now I left with fire! Whoo! The rest of the day we didn’t have one lesson. But we are super excited! It made me think a lot about how I was raised (and with the exception of AP physics or calculus my senior year) quitting or 2nd place wasn’t an option. You always taught me to do my best and that’s what we are striving to turn around here along with focusing on the families, not baptizing little kids. The investigator has to come to all 3 hours of church for 3 times, AND make a donation, whether it is fast offerings, or another donation to help retain the converts. I first saw it as a really hard thing, but sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven, and we should see an increase in success.

The President, looking at the numbers, asked me and my companion how many less actives were in our ward, 800. So we are dividing the area, and 2 new missionaries are going to come! We spent the rest of the day looking for houses for them. The next day after finding nothing the entire zone came into our area looking for new houses and we still haven’t found anything for the new companionship.

The rest of that day we had a noche de hogar with a family with the smiley face. One of the 3 min lessons we do. We also found new people. That’s our biggest problem. We haven’t found any new people.

Sunday I gave a good talk in church, I thought it went well. We also stopped and gave a great lesson with Alexander.

My companion and I are doing great. I’m learning a lot personally with patience and helping instead of criticizing. For example he got up to a family in the street and just yelled “HEY CAN WE GIVE YOU A PAMPLET”... the percentage of the people that turn and run expecting a robbery is quite high ;) We are working on it. The other day we came back to our house at 830 and we walked through the door and I thought, “Wait, there’s some more time till 9”, so I asked if we could go back out. He’d already taken off his shirt and tie and was lying in bed so he said no. I prayed and asked again, and to my surprise he got up and left. So we started contacting a bunch of families and none of them were from our area but all 3 had family who were Mormons. It was a great experience. I’m learning a lot. My area is great, it’s just the weakest link is us finding new people. The scriptures say that the puretas de infierno estan abiertos, and I’m a testament of that because well IT’S SOO HOTT!!! It’s ridiculous, I’m leaving a dessert. The people here, they make me laugh, they told me, because of the heat earthquakes will start happening... I questioned them and they said it is it soooo hot that the earth tries to shake off the sweat, I am laughing because their logic makes no sense... until last night when we had a little tremor! They are not earthquakes per say but the earth just shakes a little. Enough that if you aren’t paying attention or looking at something you wouldn’t even feel it. Any way…So I think this week we are going to work really hard on finding families, pray for that, that the families will come. And remember, God loves a champion. The person who says winning isn’t important is a liar, because Satan has lost, and that’s why he’s struggling, because he doesn’t want to lose, No one does! But God loves a champion that struggles and that gets back up. Someone that in the final 3 seconds on the shot clock throws in the three, that tells his team give me the ball, I’ll do it. God loves the champion that with 30 seconds on the clock calls for the hike shotgun formation and throws the hail Mary for 100 yards. God love the champion that in the 120 minute divides the defense and pulls a chalakaka into the goal! God loves a champion that beaten bruised and has nothing left to give, falls on his knees a prays for more, thanks God for what he has and looks into his eyes and like Caleb the 90 year old Israelite in Joshua 14:12 says,

12 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.

May we all say the same, Give ME THIS MOUTAIN, because the Lord WILL be with me.
Love you all and praying for you, it’s crazy here thousands of miles away to see the answers of my prayers and to look at how much you’re being blessed.

Elder Grow