Serving with All of our Hearts - April 24, 2017

Buenas Tardes a Todos, Well we finished the first week of this transfer doing everything that we can to continue to preach this gospel with all of our hearts, mights, minds, and strengths. On Tuesday I was able to recieve Elder Fuentes and he came ready to work and so prepared to do this work. I felt bad for him because I had scheduled lessons at every hour on Tuesday afternoon. The curves in the highways here didnt help him a lot and as he got off the bus I asked him if he had had to get off and had gotten wet in some rain. He said that he was throwing up the whole way here because he was so car sick (poor guy). I told him that I was sorry, there wasnt any time to rest because we had 5 appointments that we had to get to right then. There wasnt any time to eat or anything and we got right to work. It has been an interesting week. Last night as we were meeting with Oscar our ward mission leader he was asking me if I had ever cried in my mission. And I asked him why he was asking me that. He then asked me if I had come to love the people enough that when they dont want to be baptized that I cry. It was very interesting for me to think that. I have felt at times throughout my mission as if I have wanted to but it was a great lesson for me to learn and to learn more than anything the way that God feels when we dont complete with our "commitments" and use our agency to choose what is truly best for us. I hope that my emails dont sound too somber, I truly love this work yet I have felt myself come to love each person that accepts to listen to us and have felt a desire for them to recieve these eternal blessings that Heavenly Father has for us. So, this week we have seen some awesome progress. First off with Gisela. Yesterday she came to church but this time she brought all of her nephews that live in front of her house. What was even greater was to hear that after we taught her the lesson of Joseph Smith and the Restoration, she went to school the next day and shared the same lesson with all of her friends!! I dont know how she shared it because all of her friends afterwards told her that she needed to be baptized there because it sounded so special. It was awesome to see this special experience with her. With Juan, well we have been battling a ton with him. We have had lessons with him of 2 hours several times this week. It has been hard to see just how hard he is struggling to get rid of these temptations in his life of coffee and alcohol. On Saturday we had a lesson with him and we read Alma 42 with him. He told us that he had gone 3 days without drinking coffee, which is the most he has done this whole time. Yet after the lesson his brother came by and convinced him to go to a fiesta here. Juan thought he would be able to resist the temptation of the beer there, but it turns out his brother took him to see if he would fall into that temptation and he did. It was sad yet it will be a great opportunity for him to recieve a testimony of the power of the Atonement. The last experience is with a soccer team that we contacted about a month ago. After a constant battle with them to stop drinking coffee as well, we read with them the story of Daniel in the bible. We gave them the challenge to not drink coffee for 10 days and see what happens. After the 5th day yesterday they told us they were ready to be baptized this saturday!! So we are hoping and praying for them. They are now known as the "Mormon Team" here in San Blas and in their league and they love it. It has been awesome to teach them and see their progress. Honestly here we have so many reasons to be grateful. We are seeing the power of the gospel work in the lives of many people here. The field is truly white here, it might take longer to mature and be ready for the harvest but the seeds have been planted here by the Hand of God. I am thankful to be here in this work, I love it and I know that it is HIS work, that being Jesus Christ himself. I hope that you all have a great week and are able to create your own gospel experiences. Elder Peterson