Hey Family!
Well this week we had some kinda cool things happen with people that we are teaching, as well as some changes for the month of May.
In the mission council last week, and then also in the multi zone, we were informed that during the month of May we would be working without numbers at all. Every six months there is a little missionary survey thing that all of the missionaries take. Although Guatemala City South ranked number 1 in almost all of the categories, we still weren’t making it above 50% in almost all of the questions about teaching. So to make a really long story short, there are 0 numbers during this month, meaning there weren’t goals put as a mission for baptisms, every zone didn’t put goals, and every area didn’t put goals. Also, in mission council we made a self evaluation card that has 10 questions that have to do with the way we teach, that we now do after every lesson.
Flor was suppose to get baptized this Saturday but is now living in Baberena, which is a little far away and it is part of a different area. We passed the reference on and hopefully the sisters that are there will contact her and she can still be baptized soon. Obviously I wish that she was still living here so that we could teach her and have the baptism here, but the important part is not that we teach her and that she is baptized here. The most important thing is that she can still get baptized and that she can be faithful to the covenant of baptism.
Diego is progressing very well! He knows so much about the gospel and really does want to get baptized. The only thing is that he has a girlfriend who is a member of the church, and he wants to make sure that he gets baptized for himself and not just because his girlfriend is a member . We are planning to try to go to the temple with him on Saturday the 18th.
On Sunday a member brought her friend to church, her name is Marilin and yesterday we had our first lesson with her. In the lesson we talked about the Book of Mormon because she had questions about it. At the end of the lesson she offered the prayer and was really able to open the heavens and not just talk to the ceiling. Ñ= Her prayer was very awesome. In the prayer she gave thanks that we were finally there to teach her as she has wanted for so long. And she also prayed that she would be able to continue going to church, and also that it wouldn’t just be one or two visits and then no more but that she would be able to really follow God and be able to learn a bunch. It is still super early in the teaching process and a lot of things could happen, but we are feeling super positive about the possibilities with her.
Two of the big focuses in the mission right now is the way that we are praying, and reading in the Book of Mormon. Although these things are really focused on the person being taught they also apply to our lives. A prayer is not just simply talking, but rather, when we pray we have the opportunity to open the heavens. When we pray we truly should go to our quiet place like is says in the scriptures and then really express all of our thoughts, concerns, and also ask of God. When we read in the BOM we should not just simply just read the words, but rather, we should learn how to savor the scriptures. Learn how to read slowly, and with pauses, really taking the time to allow the spirit to teach us. After all, the spirit is the best teacher that there is. I know because I am personally trying to make these changes, that if we apply these two basic principles to our life that we will have a deeper, lasting conversion to those things that we know to be true. That truly when Christ returns for his own he will have no problem recognizing us, because our banner will be clear, our banner being that of discipleship.
I love you all so much and hope the best for you all!
Love,
Elder Marks
Well this week we had some kinda cool things happen with people that we are teaching, as well as some changes for the month of May.
In the mission council last week, and then also in the multi zone, we were informed that during the month of May we would be working without numbers at all. Every six months there is a little missionary survey thing that all of the missionaries take. Although Guatemala City South ranked number 1 in almost all of the categories, we still weren’t making it above 50% in almost all of the questions about teaching. So to make a really long story short, there are 0 numbers during this month, meaning there weren’t goals put as a mission for baptisms, every zone didn’t put goals, and every area didn’t put goals. Also, in mission council we made a self evaluation card that has 10 questions that have to do with the way we teach, that we now do after every lesson.
Flor was suppose to get baptized this Saturday but is now living in Baberena, which is a little far away and it is part of a different area. We passed the reference on and hopefully the sisters that are there will contact her and she can still be baptized soon. Obviously I wish that she was still living here so that we could teach her and have the baptism here, but the important part is not that we teach her and that she is baptized here. The most important thing is that she can still get baptized and that she can be faithful to the covenant of baptism.
Diego is progressing very well! He knows so much about the gospel and really does want to get baptized. The only thing is that he has a girlfriend who is a member of the church, and he wants to make sure that he gets baptized for himself and not just because his girlfriend is a member . We are planning to try to go to the temple with him on Saturday the 18th.
On Sunday a member brought her friend to church, her name is Marilin and yesterday we had our first lesson with her. In the lesson we talked about the Book of Mormon because she had questions about it. At the end of the lesson she offered the prayer and was really able to open the heavens and not just talk to the ceiling. Ñ= Her prayer was very awesome. In the prayer she gave thanks that we were finally there to teach her as she has wanted for so long. And she also prayed that she would be able to continue going to church, and also that it wouldn’t just be one or two visits and then no more but that she would be able to really follow God and be able to learn a bunch. It is still super early in the teaching process and a lot of things could happen, but we are feeling super positive about the possibilities with her.
Two of the big focuses in the mission right now is the way that we are praying, and reading in the Book of Mormon. Although these things are really focused on the person being taught they also apply to our lives. A prayer is not just simply talking, but rather, when we pray we have the opportunity to open the heavens. When we pray we truly should go to our quiet place like is says in the scriptures and then really express all of our thoughts, concerns, and also ask of God. When we read in the BOM we should not just simply just read the words, but rather, we should learn how to savor the scriptures. Learn how to read slowly, and with pauses, really taking the time to allow the spirit to teach us. After all, the spirit is the best teacher that there is. I know because I am personally trying to make these changes, that if we apply these two basic principles to our life that we will have a deeper, lasting conversion to those things that we know to be true. That truly when Christ returns for his own he will have no problem recognizing us, because our banner will be clear, our banner being that of discipleship.
I love you all so much and hope the best for you all!
Love,
Elder Marks