Hello Family!
Happy Monday. I really hope all is well with you all and that you are
enjoying the warm summer weather in the US! This week has been crazy,
and I cant wait to share with you some of the happenings:
On a happier note, I found PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY this week! Yay me!
I shared it with my companion and we are both just so happy to have
our lives touched by such a blessing as a PBnJ sandwich!
So on a sadder note, Thomas isn't getting baptized. Well, not for a
while. He had a baptismal date set for last Saturday and he told us he
was ready and all that, but something happened and when we went to
visit him on Wednesday to see how he was, he pelted us with doubts and
stuff and it was a long lesson. I have never been so tired and so
focused on the Spirit to see how I could help him. It came down to
being time to get home and I just said a prayer and I told him, ¨Hno
Thomas, as an authorized representative of Jesus Christ, I testify…¨
and that's all I remember. I think that's all that matters. That I
shared with him that I had the power to tell him that Satan could
never win and would never win. That is what I learned. That as an
authorized representative of Jesus Christ, I had the authority of the
priesthood. Satan will never have that power and he will never win.
On a good note, we brought a FAMILY back to reactivity. They have been
to church enough, and have had interviews that they are no longer less
actives. We also are so ready for the two young jovens to be baptized
this Saturday! And we are filling out mission papers for the son to go
on a mission!
Just yesterday a sister came up to me and asked me if I would baptize
her 8 year od son this Wednesday. How special it will be, on the year
anniversary of my being set apart as a missionary, I will enter the
waters of baptism for the first time! And then on Saturday I will go
in again to baptize Leo Paocara.
This morning I watched a video that Ellyn sent me and she reminded me
that the most important change in our missions is OURSELVES! And that
is what I have thought about all this week. With the problems with
Thomas, but also with the joys of other people, I have to see who I am
becoming at the end of each day. Exactly one year ago today, at my
farewell, my good friend Rachel Lockhart sang the following:
I need thee evry hour most Holy One
Oh make me thine indeed, thou blessed son.
Guys, lets just reflect on those inspiring lyrics. What does it mean
to be made His? What kind of work does that include from us? I can
tell you it is not an overnight task. It is a lifelong task. It is a
task for eternity. But that is my deepest wish. That no matter how
many baptisms or rescues I have, no matter how high my numbers are
each week, that I am becoming more like my Savior. I promise each of
you at home that He needs us just as much as we need Him. There are
people to comfort, people to console, and people to save. And if we do
what He wants us to do, regardless of our imperfections, we will find
real purpose in our life.
I need thee, Oh I need thee,
Evry hour I need thee.
Oh, bless me now my Savior
I come to thee.
And happy one year mark to me this year. :)
Elder Risueño
enjoying the warm summer weather in the US! This week has been crazy,
and I cant wait to share with you some of the happenings:
On a happier note, I found PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY this week! Yay me!
I shared it with my companion and we are both just so happy to have
our lives touched by such a blessing as a PBnJ sandwich!
So on a sadder note, Thomas isn't getting baptized. Well, not for a
while. He had a baptismal date set for last Saturday and he told us he
was ready and all that, but something happened and when we went to
visit him on Wednesday to see how he was, he pelted us with doubts and
stuff and it was a long lesson. I have never been so tired and so
focused on the Spirit to see how I could help him. It came down to
being time to get home and I just said a prayer and I told him, ¨Hno
Thomas, as an authorized representative of Jesus Christ, I testify…¨
and that's all I remember. I think that's all that matters. That I
shared with him that I had the power to tell him that Satan could
never win and would never win. That is what I learned. That as an
authorized representative of Jesus Christ, I had the authority of the
priesthood. Satan will never have that power and he will never win.
On a good note, we brought a FAMILY back to reactivity. They have been
to church enough, and have had interviews that they are no longer less
actives. We also are so ready for the two young jovens to be baptized
this Saturday! And we are filling out mission papers for the son to go
on a mission!
Just yesterday a sister came up to me and asked me if I would baptize
her 8 year od son this Wednesday. How special it will be, on the year
anniversary of my being set apart as a missionary, I will enter the
waters of baptism for the first time! And then on Saturday I will go
in again to baptize Leo Paocara.
This morning I watched a video that Ellyn sent me and she reminded me
that the most important change in our missions is OURSELVES! And that
is what I have thought about all this week. With the problems with
Thomas, but also with the joys of other people, I have to see who I am
becoming at the end of each day. Exactly one year ago today, at my
farewell, my good friend Rachel Lockhart sang the following:
I need thee evry hour most Holy One
Oh make me thine indeed, thou blessed son.
Guys, lets just reflect on those inspiring lyrics. What does it mean
to be made His? What kind of work does that include from us? I can
tell you it is not an overnight task. It is a lifelong task. It is a
task for eternity. But that is my deepest wish. That no matter how
many baptisms or rescues I have, no matter how high my numbers are
each week, that I am becoming more like my Savior. I promise each of
you at home that He needs us just as much as we need Him. There are
people to comfort, people to console, and people to save. And if we do
what He wants us to do, regardless of our imperfections, we will find
real purpose in our life.
I need thee, Oh I need thee,
Evry hour I need thee.
Oh, bless me now my Savior
I come to thee.
And happy one year mark to me this year. :)
Elder Risueño
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