Correo Semanal‏

When the Lord promises that He will open up the windows of Heaven and pour out the blessings so much that there won't be enough room for them, He wasn't kidding. What a strange, incredible, miracle of a week, wow. When you work so hard trying to get your investigators to come to church, day after day, hounding them, calling them, visiting them, helping them learn how to pray and receive revelation and then Sunday comes around and none of those people show up, it's devastating. But the truth is, God simply wants you to put in your full effort and He has promised that the blessings will come, in unexpected ways that's for sure. So let me explain a bit of what I'm talking about, pa'que entiendan (Panamanian speak) haha. SO our ZLs have been preparing this girl to be baptized and last week she decided to bring her boyfriend Leo to a FHE so that he could learn what she was doing and that he could decide to be baptized as well. He loved it, and just so happens to live in our area. We set an appointment with him to talk about the church and try to set a baptismal date with him, a little bit after his girlfriend who was getting baptized this Saturday. We went and visited with him and he says "Yeah, WE'RE getting baptized this weekend" and Elder Johnson and I were thinking "umm...well you need to be taught a bit first and prepare, go to church, repent, etc" lots of little steps one needs to take before being baptized. But turns out that he had been reading the lesson pamphlets the whole time, had even been to church a few times awhile back with a guy that's on a mission right now, so he was all set! Wow. He and his girlfriend were both going to get baptized together because she's said that she wants an eternal marriage in the temple or no marriage at all, which also motivated him, haha. But don't worry, this guy is getting baptized for the right motives, he really believes in these commandments and the Gospel. They couldn't make it on Saturday, when the girl's little brother was getting baptized. They had planned to do it all together, along with this other woman that fell from the heavens for the ZLs, a lady that showed up and said "I want to be baptized". That's a whole 'nother story, if you want to hear about that, I imagine that Elder Kevin Jones or Elder Ian Livesay have blogs that you can read it on. Anyway, our guy Leo and his girlfriend both got baptized yesterday woot!!! So cool. I've never seen a blessing come out of nowhere at all on the mission, so unbelievably amazing.

Another blessing of the week, this one is really cool as well. A couple came to church last week and sat in front of me, and I didn't know who they were so I introduced myself and asked who they were. The lady (Cristina) said she was a member and got baptized back when she was 14 but had been really less active for a while, and that her husband (Elvis), was a non member. She called me Elder so I assumed that she was a member or an investigator of the ZLs. She said that her younger sister who lives in Arraijan had been bugging/motivating her to go back to church because Cristina has a little 2 year old girl and wanted her little niece to grow up in the Church. Then she decided to come, with her husband who is really cool, plus he has an awesome name, Elvis! We met with them this past Saturday before the baptism and talked all about the church, what he thought, getting to know them both because we had like no idea who they were. They both work for American clothing stores, him at Kenneth Cole and she at another I can't remember, very similar. He said that he loves how our church teaches that families can be together forever, which is completely different than what he had grown up hearing in his Catholic background. He and his wife really want that, and she's been motivating him. We set a baptismal date with him for this coming 27th of April! We have to get them married too that's why we set it for so far away, but they're both really excited and we're starting the marriage process for them today. I love that young couple, they're going to have an eternal family in just a matter of time, all because the Lord offers it so readily to all that are willing to achieve such blessings.

I borrowed a book from Elder Jones which is called "Believing Christ"; not believing IN Christ, notice the difference? It's amazing, changing my whole perspective of the Atonement, which de hecho, we just had yesterday, HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE! No one gave me any dyed eggs or chocolate bunnies or anything here, haha :P This author of the book uses so many metaphors to describe the Atonement and make it more personal. He said this one that I'm going to paraphrase because I don't know it perfectly. "Those who say they have faith in Christ but their actions don't reflect that same faith are like people that sit in a dark and cold room. They sit there and even though there are lamps and heaters all around them, they don't get up to turn them on. They believe in the electricity, and believe that the heater will make them feel warm, but they never get up to test the electricity, and see if they actually work". It's one thing to believe in Jesus Christ, and it's another thing entirely to BELIEVE Christ. Believe everything that He has promised. He has promised us repentance for our sins, eternal life, eternal marriage, resurrection, living with Him and our Father in Heaven. What else can we possibly ask for? Nothing. We must try our faith and flip on the switch. The Savior is always calling His sheep, time after time, and only a few of them listen to Him and hear His voice. Don't be deaf to His call, because He will soon divide the goats from the sheep.

I leave you with my testimony that there is so much, so many things that we owe our Heavenly Father. We can try and try all we can to try to pay the debt that we've created, but until we join our account with the Great Creditor, we will always be in the dark and always be on the verge of bankruptcy. I invite you all to read and study the Atonement more this week, look up scriptures, read Conference talks about it (pre-gaming for next week baby!), and pray and ponder what the Atonement really means to you.

I love you all, have a wonderful week. Know that I am always here for you, fighting for the faith.