It's been a good week;(I think I say
that in every letter, haha:)
This week has been pretty rough, not
gonna lie, but I also feel that I have grown a lot. We had a lot of fall
throughs on appointments and things and it's been hard with some
investigators. We actually had 2 investigators that we dropped this week;
their names are Dei and Daro. They are boyfriend and girlfriend and they
had been being taught for a while now since before I got here and had baptismal
dates and all; they just have not been going to church and it's been for the
past 3 or 4 weeks and we have the hardest time getting a hold of
them, they are really super busy right now, and we had a lesson where
we just sat down with them and asked if they still wanted to learn. They
told us that they did and we talked about how they needed to make it a priority
and set a new baptismal date and all and then the next Sunday they didn't show
up to church again and then we had an appointment and they didn't show up to
that either even though the morning of we called to remind and Dei said that
they'd be there.. So we went and had a talk with them and went to Dei's house
and told about the situation and that we can't keep doing this, and they just
said that they are super busy right now and we mutually decided to stop
teaching them. Hopefully they will have a desire to make the gospel more
of a priority! They are real great and we are going to visit them occasionally
still. It's just sad. I feel like I didn't stress the importance of the
gospel as much as I should have.. But we can try and help them learn again.
We have another investigator,
Tiavii's family and she said that they need to take a break for the week
because she just has a lot of things to take care of and financial stuff. But
we called her this morning and she said that she is cool to start
meeting with us again this week!
We did a special fast for our
District and Branch with all of us missionaries and the branch and district
leaders; because there has been a lot of contention and members being offended
and everything. Battambang is really growing a ton right now and we are
on the verge of having a third branch here and it just seems like Satan is
working harder than ever to crush the growth here because it's now or
never. And we just have noticed that it's been really rough the past
while and that there are a lot of people struggling and having their faith
tested. So we all united in our fast on Sunday to help us overcome the
efforts of the adversary and that the members might be strengthened and
unified. I feel so blessed to be here, there is definitely no shortage of
work and things to do; so much to do and only so much time, isn't that what
life is like? There is a lot of work to do and even though this past week
has been rough with some investigators and appointments falling through I am
confident that as we move forward with faith things will continue to progress
and all will work out.
I have been working on setting goals
for my personal development this week too; which has been great! I guess that
before my mission I thought that when I was a missionary I'd be a super
righteous person who feels strong all of the time and has the Spirit all of the
time as well. In reality I feel that I have come to learn so much about
my weaknesses and about myself. It seems like on a mission the Lord
stretches you as far as you can go; you really start to see all of the many
things that you have to work on and all of my many weaknesses and it's
tough. It's hard to face your weaknesses and try to overcome them.
I feel like I was good before my mission but that I definitely was not perfect
and had a lot of rough spots. I feel like a mission is polishing me,
which isn't always the funniest, and that the past few months have been
very humbling. I feel like the Lord is stretching me to the max so and
showing me all of my weaknesses so that I will recognize my dependence on
Him and rely on Him in order to change and become who He wants me to be.
Something that I've done and my zone leader committed me to do during our
exchange together last week was think of the person I want to be at the end my
mission and set goals to help me become that person, so I'm going to
set goals for every transfer on Christ like attributes and things I feel
that I need to work on in order to become the missionary that the Lord wants me
to be. So we'll see in 20 months if I've become that person! I'll do my
best! Ether 12:27 comes to mind. I can say hands down that a mission
is the hardest thing I have done, hands down. But I can say that I have
grown more than ever I just feel myself and my priorities changing. It
just seems like family and the gospel are just becoming so important to me, of
course they were before too!..but I just can see myself changing for the
better.. I've just learned and grown so much, and it's only been 4 months!, and
I am sure that things are going to just get better and better, I am excited for
what the future has to offer.
Anywho, sorry I feel like my emails
are very confusing; I need to try and express my thoughts more simply.. but I
just get on here and type away; it's almost like my "backup
journal"! I hope and pray that some of my experiences and things on
my mission will be of benefit to you.
I'm more excited than ever for
conference thanks for the heads up on talks to look out for; Thanks for all of
your emails! They lift me and tell me things that I exactly needed to
hear. I love hearing about how life is treating you and your words
of encouragement cheer me up, make me laugh, and just inspire me. Thanks, I
love you so fetching much! :)
Have a super week!
Love,
Elder "Katumsaw"
(that is the khmer word for Garlic
and what many members call me:)
Some Pics! We went on the famous
Battambang bamboo train! Fun seeing the country side, really dry right now but
the rainy season starts in a month or two...the District President, President
Buuno; wanted me to take his picture for something. This is the District
President's grandson, one of the cutest Cambodians; his name is Banuvwatt but
he also goes by Josep:)
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