Hi mum! Well what A week I had this week!
First of all, Zaim was baptized! Wohoo!
We had 2 other baptisms at the same time.
I am sure you perceived from my last letter that it was a pretty rough week! Thankfully, God is good and this week was so so sweet. Inasmuch as we have those rough times in life, often we forget that the blessings from our trials are just around the corner - This week was awesome.
Mum! Zaim was baptized! Oh man, the journey with him was so sweet. We found Zaim on the road, on 7 April, invited him to a devotional (watching the video "Because He Lives") and he really liked it, so he wanted to meet after it, taught him, invited him to general conference, he came to 6 Hours worth of conference! (More than 95% of the members here, haha) And continued to meet with us, showing some incredible faith and willingness to follow the divine path of the Lord Jesus Christ, and within 4 weeks was baptized a member of His church, wow! He was very much prepared by the Lord, I have no doubt about this whatsoever. Mum I say it once again, witnessing someone act on their faith and make covenants with God is one of the most beautiful things you can ever witness. He is so cool and so incredibly loving! He will make a great member of the Church.
My companion was sick this week, so I had a wonderful opportunity to serve him and had a lot of personal time to study. It was good. It gave me time to put things into perspective, learn more about my own spirituality and gave me plenty of opportunity to recognize the hand of the Lord in my life. And oh how merciful he has been!
In a discussion with my companion, we were defining what makes a great missionary (or man). The mutual answer we came up with was that "Greatness is the capacity to Sacrifice and devote yourself fully to God." I have been reading and thinking a lot about true consecration, true devotion and the discipline required to achieve both of these things. I realized that the essence to it all, the true success of a missionary really hinges on one thing - Charity - the Pure Love of Christ, which I believe to be a condition or state of mind, rather than an act. If a missionary has Charity then not only is his behavior changed, his heart and nature is changed as well. Charity changes and transforms the state of the heart into what the Lord would have it be. I may be doing all the right things because I want to be obedient, but what is my heart saying? Moroni Chapter 10 promises us that when we pray, we will receive a spiritual confirmation only on the terms of a "sincere heart, with real intent having faith in Christ", if not then our prayers are in vain and the Lord will not bless us accordingly! Are our actions and the desires of our heart acting in harmony? Are the desires of our hearts aligned with the Will of God? Are we ready to accept His Will for our lives? If we develop the charity in order to do so, our natures begin to change, it is then that we begin to transform ourselves and the rate at which we become more like our Savior is hastened. It is then that we are living how the Lord would have us live!
But what has this got to do with the rough week that I had?
I can attribute the feelings of extreme joy that I felt this week to my Loving Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ, and the perfect love that they have for us. Often times we don't understand the trials they put before us are designed in one way or another to benefit us. It is summed up nicely in this mormon message here:
As we are tested, we learn patience, long suffering and an increased capacity to wait on the Lord. We are Refined. We become better. We learn Charity. As we submit to the will of the Lord, he will always be there with us, blessing us every step of the way. So much for a rough week!
Time grows short, This email groweth long.
Zoti ju bekoftë!
Love Elder Waters
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