Alright I figure its time i actually update people on how the work is doing and how i am haha! I havent even sent pictures in a bit aswell so I will update everything.
Things have been doing good here in Quetzal! The weather had actually been cooling off and it felt like spring everyday for a few weeks. But we had the eclipse on saturday and the days leading up to that were so bloody hot it felt like July again and it was just walking around completely soaked in sweat no matter where you were! But honestly i still think i would take the heat over uncomfortable cold haha.
Speaking of being soaked, we had a huge rainstorm at the beginning of last week, and we have had quite a few up until this point but i had managed to never have to walk through a puddle or intentionally get my shoes wet just by picking my path correctly or going around different roads when some are flooded. Most missionaries just dont care and walk right through them so i end up looking like a scrub, but i prefer not to have wet shoes! But because the drainage system here is soooo bad every 4 way was filled with water almost to our knees from rain water after this storm. So we just sloshed through all the lagoons all night, knocking endlessly. It was the closest i have been to swimming in awhile.
The work here has been tough but we have managed to stay completely busy for hours everyday. We cover two wards in this area, and we are working with both to get in line with the church standards and doing all they are expected to do from leaders and members as far as missionary work. After being through the general handbook so much, i have been pleasantly surprised (but the same time not surprised at all) about the order of the Lord's church. Its obvious in everything, that it is not a church of man. The missionaries here before just worked the two areas as one before, but now as we have gotten more structure in both the wards and mission leaders, me and my comp have been working specific days in each ward and that has been working very well. Transfers are coming up, and i might be leaving the area! The worst part is we have 5 baptisms lined up for just about right after i leave here that i wont be able to see after working so hard here. But i am the smallest of significance in their journey to get baptized, and the most important thing is that they are taking the step.
Personally im doing very great, and i have never enjoyed the mission more. It just continues to get better as you grow more humble and love the Lord more. Something that caught me off guard though, was this last week i was hanging out with one of our AP's and we were talking about things before the mission. I told him i used to be a bigger guy and that i played football and was a successful lifter, and he looks me up and down and he goes, you?! He was like, youre not a big guy you cant weigh over like 160 right now.
And that was one of the first times in my life i havent been regarded as big or strong but the guy was completely right! Ive changed a lot and had other things to focus on but it took me off guard! I had to chuckle when i couldnt defent myself.
Something that I have pondered this week spiritually, was how tailor made our lives are for us. Where we are in our lives, whatever trials or triumphs, blessings or misfortunes we have, it is the place where we have the most opportunity to grow. More than if we were in any other state of being you could think of. For us to think we'd be better off if things were different, or if we hadnt or had made a specific decision, it is to deny the divine influence God has in our life! And as i pondered more, i realized that even for people who are away from the gospel or truth for most of their life, whenever they choose the right, that path was the best one for them. Better than they could have had, had they decided to change one minute earlier. Because they had to experience all they did to learn the lessons they needed to, and to appreciate the atonement as much as they can. Think of how tailor made and perfect our lives have to be specifically for all of us for the ways we need to grow individually, to be the route that is most ideal for us to grow closer to the Lord. Where you live, the blessings you have or dont, anything you could think of, you are standing where you are because your Father in Heaven loves you enough to put you in the singularly specific place in the word you need to be in.
How comforting is accepting this truth! We dont need to look in the past, regret past sins that we have repented for, or sorrow for a trial we have or a weighty decision we made when in hindsight maybe we think we could have done something different. As long as you are with the Lord and turn to him to direct your life we have nothing to worry about. The genius is how he uses the wrong turns and lowpoints in our life for our eventual growth. And if we ever feel like he has nothing to do with our lives or where we are, we are sorely wrong! No wonder not a single person has lived the same life, we arent cookie cutter cut outs or part of an algorithm like we could have been. God loves us specifically and individually, and if you have faith enough to except and remember this fact to apply it to your life, the peace is freeing.
I know our savior lives, i know his hand is in every part of your life in every decision you make. He knows every part of your life because he felt it all, and knows how to help you whether you want it now or not. Turn to him and let him guide your life, submit to him, and we will recieve exaltation.
-elder b
