Holy goodness! Can we just say what a blessing this life is? I have just had a great week and I am so grateful for the blessings of being a missionary and just being alive. This past week my family and I just celebrated great achievements in missionary work! My sister completed her 9 month mark as a missionary, and is now HALFWAY through the mission. Ummm, what? I swear we just dropped her off at the airport and we should be at Spires right now. No joke. This time has gone by so fast. And Ive been a missionary 6 months? Half a year? What? No! Thats so crazy. But so true. How grateful I am for not being perfect and for a Lord who gives me time to become a better person each day. And completely unrelated, Im dying in this internet cafe. Figuratively. Its so hot. Blehhh. Sweat. JOY! I choose my attitude.
0kay, congrats to Natalie and Paola! IM SO EXCITED FOR MY TWO BEST FRIENDS!!! AHHHHHl. And Natalies going to JAPAN!? How fun! And Paola to Chiclayo!!?? Im sure shell run into siome of my best MTC friends there. How grateful I am for missionary work and my friends who are my examples. For those of you who dont know these two sisters, we grew up in the youth program of the church together and we are now going to serve missions together!
And my best friend and cousin Kacie is going on her mission in 2 weeks? AHH! MISSIONS!
I did bring my camera cord today so hopefully we can getthose 30 pictures uploaded!
Okay, are you ready for some good stories? First and foremost, I ran into a cactus this week! No joke! I was walking with Elder Vallejo and WABAM! I walked sideways into a cactus. Luckily, nothing poked me, but man I was laughing. I cant walk in a straight linet o save my life. This past week, I also found MAC n CHEESE in the store! YUM! I about cried when I ate it. It was perfectly artificial and plastic tasting! All it was missing was some Netflix and some family members! But it was good. I also attempted to make Burritos last night, but the avocados were old and the beans were kind of burnt. Fail.. OH! I ate CHINESE food for the first time in 6 months, too. Definitely sentimental. A family invited us over for lunch and CHINESE! I only suffered in the bathroom for a bit, so it was worth it.
What did I do for my 6 month mark? First and foremost, I made a 50 lessons learned in the mission list and after I wrote it, I laughed a lot because my grammar was HORRIBLE! What has happened? Sad day. But the lessons I learned were awesome and Ill send them home when I make it to the post office. Oh! And I burned my tie, but there was a huge failure. So I was trying to figure out how to burn it quickly so that I could watch it burn then go to bed, so I bought alcohol to get it to burn! but who knew I needed like beer alcohol? I didnt! I bought rubbing alcohol! Gosh dang it. It didnt burn. Well, a part did. Theres a reason I never liked burning things. The poor tie is now of no use. Whatever!
You ready for the biggest lesson Ive learned this past half a year? Ive learned that the reason work and sacrifice is because of love. I hope to explain that today. But first, we need some Mother Theresa in our life. She said that
There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of work. This is where teh respect and the love and devotion come in--that we do it to God, to Christ and that is why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.
Thank you Anna Baird for that quote!
This past week we had a Zone Conference that was all about the love Heavenly Father has for us. President received revelation that we needed to double the amount of baptisms in the mission. How do we do that? Well, one way is by inviting people to baptism EACH lesson. Now, earthly RJ would have said no. But listen! If we love the people were teaching, we also want them to be baptized so that they can take the stpes to live with God again. God loves us, thats why we have a way to get back to him! Well, my companion and I were on fire about that and we have seen so much success! Some people have said no, but we then explain why we want that step. If they KNOW its true, then they will. Thats all we ask. If they have a purpose to go to church, its because they want to know if they should be baptized. Life changer. I love my people, so I will invite.
As my mission president spoke about the love my Heavenly Father has for me, he also spoke of our earthly parents. I couldnt help but get a little emotional because the past 6 months have been rough. I have really been humbled and come to see the love that my parents have for me. They have read my journal they just received and have read first hand the frustrations and sadness of missionary work. But they have also seen the many miracles that come. How I love my parents and my father who sacrifices so much for me so that I can be happy. Who lives through continuous pain and never gives up so that I can see the hope of perservering to the end. My darling mother who stands by my dads side and works tirelessly so that my sister and I can help others, even though my mom needs help as well. I wish to share with you all a few stories from this week about love:
We met a man named Rocki and he has cerebral palsy. He doesnt talk much, but is super awesome. Hes old, and I thought he was mentally handicapped so I rarely spoke to him. He lives with less actives. But this week I found out that he speaks really well and he can be baptized! I cant understand his slurred speach from his handicaps, but I love him! He willb e baptized this February we hope! How grateful I am for him and the love that I know the Lord has for him.
Friday night we were walking around and working and visiting and it got late. We had about 45 minutes left till 9pm, when we had to be back at home and I wanted pizza. It was being sold really close to where we were and man was I hungry! No one wanted to meet with us, and we were running out of options. As we were walking, I thought of this in my head and then a thought simply ran into my mind: I realized that I love the people of Bolivia so I will visit them till the last possible minute of each day! We went to a house where usually no one is home, and peopel were home! Even an old investigator and a less active! I realized that blessings do come from work. That when we overcome the inner lazy, we become AMAZING!
My grandpa taught Do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, regardless of personal pleasure. I love that! Its so sassy, but true! But maybe we can just mold it a little bit. Do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and do it for love. Be sure to see that it is not WITH love, but FOR love. When we do these things, we should already love the person whom we are serving. Its so important. We work because we love. We serve because we love. We live because we love.
I also recognize that there may be times when we feel like we are doing SO MUCH because we love someone, but they arent doing anything else in return. Ask my mom. I definitely should have done some dishes while she was busily working. When these moments come, we must think of He who loves us the most that He sent His son to die for us and to help us Home.
I love the lyrics from a song called Just a Prayer Away
If youve done all that you can, and its still not enough
And you feel the life you want is just a dream
If youve given all youve got and dont have the strength to stand
All you have to do is get down on your knees.
Though the road keep sgetting longer and youre far away from home
Just remember someone loves you more than you could ever know.
Every night and every morning, in sunshine or in rain
No matter where, Hes always there, just one prayer away.
This week I invite you to take some time from your schedule to find someone who needs some help. Who0 needs to know theyre loved. But before you perform this act of service, pray. Express your love to your God and ask for His guidance to help your friend, and you yourself. Ask for Him to help you bioth feel the indescribable joy that comes from the knowledge of a divine heritage. I promise that as you do this, you will feel that joy. That brightness that comes during a story week. I promise that you will come closer to Christ.
I pray that each of you has a great week. We have investigators that are progressing little by little. Rocki is one. Along with some youth named Gabriel and David who have a lot of questions, but love the Lord.
And on another random note, theres a restaurant called KFC here, but its Kathya Friend Chicken. Gotta love Santa Cruz!!
Con amor,
Elder Risueño
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