Sometimes the Mission is Hard

Sometimes the mission... is hard....

#Pride#Drunks#chapinsskipchurchtodance

This week was likely one of the most difficult up to this point in the mission because all of our most positive investigators have stopped progressing or given in to old habits. Not to mention the members of the Pueblo Nuevo branch don't seem to be interested in the missionary effort. The absolutely golden family of Balis Velasquez that we have been working with has proven to be a little more difficult than I was imagining it would be. Balis, the head of the family and deciding-factor in whether or not the family baptizes responded incredibly positively after a powerful lesson accepting the commitment to pray about the truthfulness of the church. We visited his home thew next day; he was not home but his wife told us that he had woken her up in the middle of the night telling her about a dream that he had. In  the dream he found himself in the chapel sitting next to us as a man in white stood at the pulpit bearing testimony of what we had taught him and declaring that the church was true. My companion and I were naturally extremely happy and asked his wife (Dtzuli) what the dream meant. She answered saying that they needed to be baptized! Yet when Balis returned home,confirming the dream, he told us that when he was younger a local evangelical church had helped him overcome some marital problems and that he had wanted to be a pastor. He told us that he could not deny some of the good experiences that he had in this church. We explained to him that Christ supports those that seek him earnestly even if they may not be looking for him in the right places. Thus, we went over the restoration with him again and found that he had doubts about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Now it is just up to him to pray and accept the answer that he has already received, satan uses the pride to keep the people from accepting that the truth...plus he didn't attend church because there was a dance (which many of the members attended as well)... As for our other investigators, they have been falling back into old habits, listening to angry pastors, or simply avoiding us. Right now it feels like we don't have anything, although my comp and I have evaluated ourselves and found some things that we are going to change, so let's hope we see some good changes in the future. 

I am banking on the new mission president to be a little more strict; the disobedience in the mission makes me sick, and it is something quite contagious. While on divisions with my ZONE LEADER he insisted on taking a 2 hour rest and slept in until 10 the next morning. I am not good at putting the hammer down, but I told him that what he was doing wasn't correct, as nice as I could,,, yet in the end I realize that being nice just dosn't work sometimes. It is especially frustrating when the entire zone decides to stick around and playsoccer for 2 hours after zone meeting rather than get to work. in protest I didn't play and was made fun of, and in the end of it all our zone is number one in the mission right now. I know that we can do SO much better. In mission Retalhueu popularity and consecratiuon don't go together. I want desperately that my fellow missionaries understand why they are here and what they are doing. One of the greatest challenges for my faith in the mission has been the lack devotion and in the mission its frustrating when I realize that I am not making the impact I need to be. ugh... poco a poco, right?

Well thats the gig, its not the happiest one but in spite of difficulties i know that the church is true the lord will see his work completed, especially through making the weaknesses of his servants strengths if they will but humble themselves in faith. I love you all.   -Elder Davis

P.S. I got my package :)