so this was a crazy week. went to the temple with everyone who is going home and it was way sweet. then my comp got really sick. and then a bunch of other people in the zone were sick and we had to run around like crazy to buy them medicine. and then between all of that we had 3 baptisms!! so yes it was quite an eventful last week.
so as far as the baptismsm go: we went out a few weeks ago and found Jose and Amalia. they are friends from some people that got baptized in march. they started coming to church and were super recptive and just prepared by God so they were married and baptized on saturday. then there was william. about a month ago we were teaching him and his dad and they had started coming to church and it was all good but then his dad stopped coming. then we found out that william was going to seminary and he showed up by himself to church. so we taught him and he got baptized!! so yeah the truth is we didnt do anything special, God just blessed us!
so this week i tried really hard to learn more in my study, and i did. here are my 2 favorite things:
1. daniel, shadrach, meshach, and abed-nego are amazing. in 6 chapters it talks about 3 life or death situations that they were put in, and they trusted in God even though they knew that they could be killed for doing it. i love what they say here (Dan 3:17-18)
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up
so they had the faith that they would be saved but they knew that if it wasnt God´s will they would be burnt, but even knowing that they might die they were never afraid to stand up for what they believed in.
2. as missionaries we often talk about Ammon and his brothers and how they baptized thousands, and from reading the scriptures it sounds like it was pretty easy. some service, suffer a little, a couple good lessons, and BOOM thousands of baptisms. and all of them stayed active. i have always thought wow that was easy for them, but then i found this.
11 And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain—
and it hit me. it was not easy, not for Ammon or his brothers and it wasnt easy for the thousands converted. repentance is not so easy, but it is worth it.
answers to moms questions:
the truth is i have no idea how im feeling. i think more than anything it is like a pit in my stomache, i know that isnt what you want to hear, but im so sad to leave guatemala, im so sad to take off the name tag, im going to miss my friends in the mission, the people, the members, even the people that dont want anything. yes im excited to see you guys, to sleep, to take a hot shower, to eat america food, but the honest truth is this stinks!
my comp is doing well. it is always hard to be someone's last comp but he is doing a great job. as far as investigators the truth is that we have baptized them all or we have dropped them. i feel really bad that im not really leaving anything for vences but he will be just fine. here is my schedule: the rest of tody - print pictures and pack. tomorrow - meeting with the zone, say goodbye, finish packing and say goodbye to members. wednesday - go to reu have the change meeting, eat lunch with president, have my last interview with him, go to guatemala city and stay the night there. thursday - airplanes.
yes all of us who are going home went to the temple together on wednesday, it was great. im really nervous about coming home because like you know everyone says that when someone comes home they have to get married............. i thought it was crap and that no one was going to tell me that but everyone is. to make things worse, in the temple i opened up the scriptures and it opened up to D&C 132 (if you dont remember look it up....)...... so yeah.......im excited to see you and to be able to sleep, i am so exhausted. i have no idea what i want to eat. i would love a sweet breakfast then next day but im sure what ever you make or whatever we buy will be wonderful.
SO............i cannot believe this. where did the last 25 months go? well im on my way home and these are my last thoughts... i remember my first day in the CCM, i remember getting to Brillantes and thinking that the language they taught me in the CCM was not what i was hearing. i remember sweating way too much. i remember miracle after miracle after miracle. but also heartbreak and failure time and again. i have never walked so much in my life, i have never sweat so much, or been so frustrated or stressed, but i have never been happier. i came on my mission to try and help people come to Christ through baptism, but what has happened is that i have come to Him through being here. now i can start to understand all that Jesus has done for me, how much He suffered so that i can be forgiven. i can start to understand the love that He felt that motivated Him to perform the atonement. i have felt it for me and for the Guatemalans that i have been able to meet here. this is the most wonderful thing there is. it is ending and even though i knew this moment was coming it doesnt make it any easier. so i will take all of the good memories, lessons, and friendships from these 25 months and i will take them home and then forward with me, for the rest of my life.
i love you all, thank you for the prayers, the advice, suport, and packages
so that is about it. i guess i cant really say ¨i hope you have a great week¨.... so i wont
love
elder meyer
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