This week I've been trying to be like Moroni again. But first, I want to talk about how this week has gone.
First of all, my companion and I have had a lot of cool personal miracles. For example, we have a washing machine now! Secondly, we have invested in a returnable bottle of coke. And that truly is a gift from above. We also have been able to find a lot of people to teach this week. I've found that most people are willing to listen to us teach, but not everyone is willing to keep commitments. So the good thing is that we've been able to find so many. Maybe a few of them will be interested in getting baptized.
If not, at least we know that we have been giving our best effort to invite them. A lot of what I've learned this past week is that the physical numbers that we have to report in each week don't mean that much on a spiritual level. To further explain this, I should explain that we need to report four numbers to our zone leaders each week: number of baptisms, number of members with a baptismal date that went to church that week, number of investigators that were in church, and the number of new investigators for that week. We keep these numbers because experience has taught the church that the easiest way to see if an investigator is progressing in the church is if they are coming to sacrament meeting. What these numbers don't show though are the other things that we do in the mission.
For example, we never mention how many less actives we've been able to help reactivate. We don't talk about how we might of helped a bishop to hold ward council. We don't talk about any of the ways that we've been able to strengthen the ward, or the way that less actives have been strengthened. For example, we have this great family in the ward that is less active. But even though they have been less active, they have been willing to feed the missionaries on a weekly basis. Because of this, my companion knows that they hadn't been to church in at least three months. But for the past two weeks they have gone and attended all three hours of church. And the way things have been going, their reactivation will benefit their extended family.
It was just a good reminder for me that even if our reportable numbers seem down for a time, the Lord is still continuing to do his work through us. The message of His gospel doesn't end with baptism or attending the temple. Enduring to the end literally means to the end. And the reward for such is exaltation.
As I said before, I've still been trying to be like Moroni. I say this because of the things that here writes in Mormon 9. To give it a brief summary, he writes about how God is a God of miracles, and I just love the way that he does it. He starts by listing all of the miracles that have been recorded in the book of Mormon and the Old Testament, and asks us how we can believe that God is the same yesterday today and forever, and yet not continue to perform miracles. and then to provide further evidence of this he talks about how we can tell who are messengers of God by the miracles that they work. In it he says:
in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover; (Mormon 9:24)
Here in Obregon, I have had the chance to perform each of these miracles in one form or another. The exception is the one about taking up serpents. I've still not found any snakes in Obregon. I'm sure I'll find them eventually though.
The point though that I want to get across, is that God is a God of miracles, which has been one of the most profound ways that I've been able to reach people. As I said in my last email, everyone here worships Saint Judas, who I learned was the Saint of lost causes. Everyone here is searching for a miracle from God in their lives, and I believe that the same thing happens in the states as well. We are all looking for some sort of Divine assistance or bit of luck. But often at times we forget the source of where that assistance comes from.
If anything in our lives is good, it has to come from God. And God, is our loving father in heaven. He delights in blessing us and helping us. But our ability to receive miracles is based on our faith. This is why in the next verse of Mormon 9, Moroni writes:
And whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him will I confirm all my words, even unto the ends of the earth.(Mormon 9:25)
For example, a few weeks ago, my companion and I decided to visit a part of our area called Quechaweca for the first time. As I mentioned in previous letters, this is a small town that should technically be it's own area but it just ended up in our area. On our first day, the branch president (Who is like a pastor for small congregations for my non member friends) offered to give us a ride before he went to work. But we had to leave so early that neither I nor my companion had time to eat breakfast that morning, and we didn't have a lunch appointment there either on account of no one knowing us yet. I was about to say a prayer and call that day a fast, when I decided instead to pray for breakfast. It was a strange prompting, but I felt that it was inspired, and I knew that I had the faith for God to deliver on this promise is some manner. So that's what I did.
When we got to Quechaweca, we started by visiting a few of the members there to ask for references and to get to know the town a little bit better. When we went to the first house, the family invited us in and offered us breakfast. Then after breakfast, they asked us if we wanted to join them for lunch. I know that this sounds like a somewhat silly thing to pray for, but in that moment, that was what I felt I needed, and the Lord was able to provide.
The same thing goes for any other type of miracle that is just, so long as we have sufficient faith. One of the greatest tools that the adversary tries to use so as to keep us from receiving miracles, is to tell us that God either can't do something or is unwilling to help us. and this is completely false. If we eliminate our doubts, and put our trust in the Lord, all things are possible.
That's all for now
Elder Gooden
