Week 21

February 19, 2018

“Jacobo y Rubis!!!!!”

Dear familia, amigos y el mundo!!!!

     What miracles did pass this week!!! But, as always, a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM WHO IS THE GREATEST MOM IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!!!! Seriously, I would not be the person I am today if my mom wasn’t my mom! She truly taught me what the Book of Mormon says about the stripling warriors who were taught by their mothers! MOMS ARE GREAT! But, my mom is the best! Happy birthday and I hope it’s amazing! I’m actually celebrating it later in the night with Evelyn and Pastor who are in the process of marriage! So, I’ll send those pictures for you next week!

     What happened this week? First of all, the normal hard work of every day kinda just starts to blend together now. This past week flew by so fast!! But, Jacobo and Rubis got to receive one of the greatest blessings ever…baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost!! So, I’d like to share with you all the story of Jacobo rapidito (quickly)! So, he was initially a contact we made while we were walking along the street. We were just talking to people and we passed by his house and his door was wide open. He saw us and he was like, “Come on in!” We just told him we were stopping by really fast and that we wanted to share a message with him the next day. He was like, “Of course!” Well, at first it was kinda just presenting who we were and then we slowly, little by little, were able to give all of the lessons. Now he loves the Book of Mormon and the Bible! This is great because he always checks the bible references to make sure everything is true. It’s kind of funny. At first, he didn’t have a strong testimony and we had planned his baptism for an earlier date. But, he just wasn’t ready. He still had too many questions and hadn’t truly prayed to know the answers. Well, after coming to church a few times and when my new comp came I asked him directly, "Have you prayed to know the answers?" and he, to my surprise said, "Sí!" I was a bit shocked, but I asked, "How did you feel after you prayed?" He then described it as something smooth, calm, and warming and I was like, “HERMANO!! That’s the Spirit testifying to you that this Book is true and that means that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he translated the book!” He understood, and I invited him to continue to pray and find out for himself. The next week came and we decided to ask the baptismal questions to see if he was ready. And, he believed it all! In one week his heart had completely changed! Pretty amazing stuff.

     Now for Rubis, she is an interesting story one for sure. She was always great! She always read, took notes, and wrote summaries of chapters and of the pamphlets. And so, feeling prompted and because of a situation she was in health-wise we asked her if she would like to be baptized earlier? Well, she didn’t come to church the past week because she was really sick. But, the problem was that she couldn’t be baptized this week because she’s going to have surgery on her knee on Friday and she can’t leave her house for 3 MONTHS!!! We didn’t know what to do? But I knew that she was strong and already had a strong testimony. She was firm in her faith. We called the Zone Leaders and asked if it was possible for her to be baptized earlier? They said, “Yes!” So, she will have her interview on the same day as the planned baptism but, in the morning before her baptism (this is very rare). It all went very well, and she was baptized! What a miracle!! We are now arranging plans for members to visit her and to bring her the sacrament and help teach her for the next 3 months at her home. We need to help her stay firm in her beliefs even when she can’t come to church. The baptism was great and powerful!

     I had the opportunity to baptize Rubis and Presidente Pover baptized Jacobo. It was such a sweet baptism and as always, the testimonies hit me! Rubis’ was short and sweet but powerful! She started to tear up and her testimony just showed me how much she actually knew and how strong her testimony actually is! Jacobo’s was great as well! His was a bit longer but, powerful as well. When he described the difference that he felt with us as missionaries as well as in our church compared to other churches that he had attended he said it was something different and special. And he knew there was something we had that he needed in his life. He felt that. He said, “Amen.” And then he just stood up there for a few more seconds while tears filled his eyes and his two hands were clasped together. He just said, “Thank you!” and then he sat down. Man, that killed me! I know even more now that this Church is the Church of God and His son Jesus Christ. 

    The next day was Sunday, and I had a trial of faith or a trial of something. Because we had zero of our investigators come to church, zero! The number zero! We did have Jacobo and Rubis there, but they are members now! I spent all morning calling people and then we visited people to ask if they would be coming? Of course we received the “yes’s” and some “no’s” but, we had received enough “yes's” to have had at least 10 investigator’s at church. I literally talked face to face with them and they had said, “Yes, we’ll be coming!” Then, I called Sharik y Melani who had a baptismal date for this week too. Their sister who is a member is sick and so we arranged for a neighbor to help us and also the mom said, “Yes, they will go.” Well, I call right before lunch and they said no because they were having lunch with their mom far away.... I got a little frustrated because of a few reasons, but mainly my heart was just broken. I have been working so hard with them and trying my hardest to help them and they can’t come to church because of lunch? When we finally got to church I had hoped for at least a few of them to come. But none showed up! I felt really down and un-motivated. I just sat down and looked at the ground when a church leader from the other branch saw me and asked if I was sad? I said yes and then explained. He had served a mission in Bolivia. I was just going leave and go into the bathroom when he grabbed me and looked me in the eyes and said, “Es duro, yo sé, yo sé, es muy duro...” (It’s hard, I know, I know, it’s very hard…) He gave me a huge hug and then he explained what it was like for him while he was on his mission as well as some other things. And I felt for one of the first times in a while true sincere love from a person I had never even talked too. He had met me 2 minutes before and yet he gave me the biggest hug! And that’s what I will remember and that’s what I needed. I was just overwhelmed and honestly started to cry a bit and he just saw and he tried to help. When he hugged me that was the first time I felt like someone really cared for me. TRULY cared for me while on the mission. My comp cares, my zone leaders care, but this was different. All I know is that it helped. 

     Yesterday was hard on me but, it can’t destroy what I know. I know the gospel blesses families! I know it does. And, hard things happen. The Book of Mormon is true. My invitation is to read it and pray. 

Love,

Elder Weaver