The Unseen Power to Aid Me and You (Week 56)

Dearest family and friends!

This week has been SO HARD, but great. I cant explain how, after so many times just reflecting on the person I've become and the person I'm becoming, I just get on my knees and tell God, Thanks.

MY BIRTHDAY CAME EARLY THIS WEEK! I kind of laughed as I saw that my parents birthday package was not typical for a 20 year old. The main component was a scripture bag and a book called Angels by Donald Parry. OH MY GOSH! To all you latter day saint doctrine loving readers out there, my dad sent me an amazing book. I got about 2 hours to just read and soak in the beauty of this book. It has changed my life. I am constantly looking to see where the angels are leading me and to see their hands in my life

My companion and I are progressing so swimmingly. We are teaching great lessons and I feel like we are bringing the spirit in as strongly as we can through inspired and guided questions. We speak only a little bit now and let the questions and desires of our investigators guide our lessons. I can't wait to share more of this method when I get home. My district is enjoying the blessings too. We practice A TON on seeing where each investigator is on their conversion journey and how we can help them progress through scripture study. LOVE.

The only problem? The people reject our invitations and don't want us to visit them. We had an AMAZING lesson based on John 21 with an investigator on Friday and invited him to leave his work so that he could follow Christ more (works in a bar Saturday nights and Sunday mornings) and he said yes in the moment, but when Sunday came he said no and sadly we won't return to teach him. It's been like that all week. But I still work. I still smile. And I still search for new people and I still love the Lord. (A big thanks to mom, dad, and bishop for going to the temple on Friday. We had 6 lessons in about 6 hours that day. Thanks thanks thanks.)

This week I just wish to address each of you as my fellow missionaries. Each of you, I hope, is trying to know God on a more personal level, and in turn share that love with others. It's not an easy task. I have learned that so clearly this week. But how grateful I am for the comfort that comes from an amazing talk called Missionary Work and the Atonement by Elder Holland. He shares with us the following:

¨The Atonement will carry the missionaries perhaps even more importantly than it will carry the investigators. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, and the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him--the Way, the Truth, the Life.¨

To those of you who are suffering in whatever manner, I remind you that you are surrounded by angels who love you and are watching over you. They are sent there by direction from the One who loves you more than anyone, your Heavenly Father. My simple invitation to you comes, as usual, in the form of a hymn entitled, Let Us All Press On:

We will not retreat, though our numbers may be few

When compared with the opposite host in view
But an unseen powr (ANGELS!!!) will aid me and you

In the glorious cause of truth.

My fellow missionaries, Let us all Press on LOOKING FOR THE ANGELS IN OUR LIVES! That's what I want you all to know. That I love my Savior. I love what He has done for me and what He continues to do for me. I will not give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the cause of Christ. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me and when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. (See Fellowship of the Unashamed by President Eyring. And memorize it.)

For a dollar!

Elder Risueño

Los Milagros Empiezan con MI! (Week 55)

Hello dearest family and friends!

Well, I am now 13 months old!!! And my sister is 16 months old!! that's so crazy! I cant believe she's finishing up.

So I love herbal tea. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Random habit found in Bolivia. Its so good to drink after lunch and or before bed. 

And I know I've gained some weight, but it got kind of awkward when I went to sit on the edge of my comps bed to help him with some struggles and as I sat down WABAM! We both fell to the floor as I broke the wooden bed frame. WHATEVER! I laughed and it took forever to fix, but I love life!

This week has been difficult, but my last name is RISUEÑO, so I have to keep smiling and I am! Last Monday we had an amazing lesson that changed my life. So we made a book of miracles for a family that we're helping and as I wrote the word MILAGRO, I saw that the first two letters were MI, or in English, ME! And that's when I came up with the phrase, Los milagros empiezan con mi! Miracles start with ME! I shared with the family that for us to see miracles, WE need to have the faith to see them! But a great elder in my district, Elder Marcely, changed my thoughts. He taught that WE need to be the first and most important miracle in our lives! Before I can expect to see a miracle with someone else or a miracle with my work, I need to have a miracle happen within my Spirit. 

That led me to one of my favorite parts of the hymn I Believe in Christ:
I believe in Christ; he stands supreme!

From him I'll gain my fondest dream;

And while I strive through grief and pain,

His voice is heard: "Ye shall obtain."

I wish to add something to what this verse teaches. Even if we aren't striving through grief in pain, even if we are dancing through joy and relief, we need to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. Each person seeks that voice. No matter where we are, no matter how far or how close we are to Him, we seek Him. With all we have. And until we find Him, we are not eternally filled. My dearest family, the miracles of Jesus Christ were not just for those who were blind, or lame, or leprous. The miracles are for each and every one of us. The Lord will seek us if we cant come to Him, but He looks at our desires. I invite each of you to seek that voice. To find the comfort to keep you going this week. Yesterday we went from having 160 people in sacrament meeting to having 110. When I saw how many people weren't there, even a someone set to receive the Melchesedek Priesthood, I wasn't angry. I wanted to go find them and tell them I loved them and wanted them back. I know the Shepherd thinks the same things about His lost sheep. I pray that you recognize a great miracle this week, a miracle in yourself. Don't just go through the motions of life because its what you're supposed to do. Do it because you're becoming something. And let us live in such a manner that we can stand with Him one day.

I believe in Christ; so come what may,

With him I'll stand in that great day

When on this earth he comes again

To rule among the sons of men.

Con amor,

Elder Risueño

P.S. I also invite you to learn a spanish phrase this week: LOS MILAGROS EMPIEZAN CON MI!

Saving Souls with Eternity and PB&J (Week 54)

Hello family!

This week has been really great and I cant wait to share some of the fun stories of what has been happening here in Tarija, Bolivia!

So for a fun thing, we are working with families so we are trying to find fun activities and such for Family Home Evening and I came up with the idea of introducing something so strange… PB N J SANDWICHES! That’s right. We are now going to our families and not only saving them eternally, but showing them the love we have for Peanut Butter! We have had so much success and Ive had a ton of fun! J

Another fun thing this week was that an Assistant to the President joined us yet again for a few hours during our proselyting. Its not very common that the APs accompany us since were not Zone Leaders, but they love being with us! The second time in 3 weeks they’ve come to be with us. My companion says it’s a sign Im bound to be an AP, but I know its because my mouth is almost as big as my heart, and they love how I make them laugh. But I loved being with Elder Knight for a time. How I feel so blessed to have so many people here in Bolivia who touch my life!

This week has been a great week for us, musically, as well. A few days ago we had a Zone Conference and each of the five zones was in charge of a musical number… And I ended up accompanying three of those five. And only one was really a musical number arrangement. And it was one of my favorite pieces, Savior Redeemer, of my Soul. I hadn’t played it in more than 6 months, I only practiced it once before the meeting, but I knew the Lord had given me this talent to bless the lives of others. So I played it. And somehow I finished the piece and saw my Mission President with tears In his eyes. The room was quiet because the spirit was so present with us and I knew that I had made mistakes, but I had shared my love and my testimony through this piece. I firmly believe I was blessed with this gift because the Lord knew I would use it to bless his children. I thank my parents, and my amazing teacher Grandma Nancy Cotter for always reminding me that for a listener who needs the Lord, they look not for a song of perfection, they look for a song of testimony and of love for the Savior.

One of the text from the hymn teaches us the following:

Oer rule mine acts to serve thine ends,

Change frowning foes to smiling friends

Chasten my soul till I shall be

In perfect harmony with thee

Make me more worthy of thy love

And fit me for thy life above.

As my teary eyed president shook the hand of Hna Thorley, who had sang, and as he shook my hand, I just marveled at the piano. I thought of the sons of Mosiah who had been instruments in the hands of the Lord. (Mosiah 27:36)   I had been that instrument. And each of us can be. From being a pianist, I will forever remember that the Lord doesn’t and will never require immediate perfection from His instruments like us. He requires humility, love, and a testimony. He wants to fit us for His kingdom, but to do so He must use us to build his kingdom and He must tune and refine us until we are in perfect harmony with him.  Mother Theresa said, "Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love."  Use her example and do some small things this week with great love as an instrument in the hands of the Lord.

This week we have found many families to teach. It has been a miracle. We have 4 investigators with baptismal dates for the 6^th of September. No one knows why I love that date so much haha. Well work for that date!

I love you all and I love that I found Kraft Mac n Cheese this week in the supermarket!

For a dollar,

The elder who is now using normal shoes because his toenail is slowly coming back to life.

Elder Risueño

Doing our Good Turn Daily (Week 53)

Hello family!
Happy Monday, as usual. I hope you are all enjoying your summer
vacation and just loving life at home. Life here is really awesome!
On a great note: My big toe is doing super well! Friday they took off
my bandage and now Im walking fine! Yay me! And after looking for like
3 hours, I found sandals that fit me and were my size. People thought
my shoe size, 46 in Bolivia, was a joke. But I found sandals! And even
a member of the Area 70 commented on my amazing sandals. Good thing he
was laughing! He also told me I played piano well during Sacrament
Meeting! Yay for Elder Valderrama.
I am still here in Tabladita. It'll be my 4th transfer here so Ill mark
just under 6 months in the same area. Elder Fasabi and I are still
together and that is perfect. I am so excited to be able to spend my
20th birthday in a great area with a great companion. And my friend
Hna Davenport is back in my ward and Elder Gygi, my best friend in the
mission, is my Zone Leader. Happy Birthday RJ!
So this week was kind of hard. But it was a great time to reflect and
I love those times. I thought back to when I was a Boy Scout. I used
to be a self proclaimed Anti Boy Scout for most of my life. I hated
camping and tying knots so I decided the Eagle Scout award wasn’t
worth it. Then after many years, my perspective changed one day. I saw
Scouting in a new light. It wasn’t all about the merit badges and
fulfilling the requirements and camping. Rather, it was all about
changing who I was and becoming a better representative of God and my
country. And it was that moment, that I decided to become an Eagle
Scout. The requirements were more like handrails on the trail to
manhood. I loved the slogan, ¨Do a good turn daily¨ because I saw it
as turning to Christ. Once I received my Eagle Scout award I spoke of
how we must follow the example of the flowers who turn to the Sun each
day, and we must turn to the Son each day. As I reflected on this part
of my life, I was led to the following text of a hymn:
Where can I turn for peace?
Where is my solace
When other sources cease to make me whole?

It continues…
Where, when my aching grows,
Where, when I languish,
Where, in my need to know, where can I run?
Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish?
Who, who can understand?
He, only One.

I was reminded that we must be a person who sees being a member of the
Church because we love eating refreshments or chatting with others. We
must be a member who goes to church because we feel refreshed by
Christ and we have time to chat with His Spirit. Last night I was
taught a very powerful lesson: I was prompted to go visit a Less
Active I hadn’t taught in months. I thought he didn’t like me and he
was part of the sisters area so I kind of forgot about him. Well, God
said we needed to go back. At that moment. So we went. And he was
drunk. He told us of how he loved how I was always so positive and he
used us an excuse to not drink. (He would tell his friend he couldn’t
drink because the elders were going to visit him each day.) Then we
stopped visiting him and he turned to drinking. And it was that moment
that he needed us. Jose Maria needed more love from the Lord then and
he will need it much more. He said that he believed that the Lord had
let us stop visiting him to see how he could do alone. But Jose
couldn’t do it alone and fell again. And now he is starting his
journey, yet again with the Savior. He will work to turn to the Savior
each day.
This week I invite each of you to find a hymn that you can read, sing,
or listen to, before you pray. I know that it will help each of you
not just turn to the Lord daily, but do a good turn daily. As you
listen to the hymn, I know that you will be find the Lord even closer
to you than before.
He answers privately, (not in crowded areas)
Reaches my reaching
In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend.
Gentle the peace he finds for my beseeching.
Constant he is and kind,
Love without end.

I love each of you and hope you all have a good week.

Love,
The elder with only nine toe nails… Elder Risueño