Hope everyone is doing great. I don't think this letter will be too crazy long, but I always think that and then end up writing a lot. So, first off, the pictures. The first picture is me on a bridge with an awesome view, the second is Elder Rojas and I, and the third is Miguel, Edine, and I. The fourth picture, FINALLY, is the familia Quispe. Okay, are they not just like, the most loveable looking people in the whole wide world? They are. Finally we had a chance to sit down with the both of them yesterday and talk, and it was good. We're really gonna start hammering them to get married and start progressing, cuz they're ready.
Just random tidbit of information I never let you all know about my comp. He is 26. Haha. Fortunately, we get along really well, so it's not a problem, but it just is funny.
So, I guess starting in October, starts the rainy months here in the jungle. So, like, every night, it POURS now. And then, sometimes in the day. When it's not raining, the sun is roasting the water off the ground, so it makes a nice sauna effect, and we have the pleasure of sweating like a couple of pigs. Hahaha it's really cool though, I like the rain a lot, it makes it a lot fresher here. I also don't know if I told ya'll, we are washing all our clothes by hand now. That's a really fun time. It's actually not as hard as I thought it would be, and my clothes seem cleaner now, so I like that. But, I think we need to ask the President for an iron. Haha.
So, this week, again, worked a lot with less actives. We are starting to do an English class! Thursday we had the first one, and 3 people came, one of them an investigator named Christian. (I'll talk more about him in a sec.) But, it was a lot of fun. We learned the basics, and they liked it, and they are gonna invite their friends. We have one planned for Tuesday, and another forThursday.
We also had Mission Night on Friday, and have another one planned. We watched The Testaments, ate popcorn, drank Inca Kola, and then we shared our testimonies. We had a bunch of investigators come, but we'll see how/if they progress.
I have hit 1 year since starting writing in a journal, so I've occasionally been reading what I was doing a year ago, and by golly this year went fast. Wow. But, it's cool to remember. I like journals. Write in them if you're not!
Oh I forgot to tell ya'll about some dude I met last week from Cuttinshoot, Texas (he told me it's called that cuz you either get cut or shot there). He is here looking for gold in the mountains, but it was an interesting conversation. Apparently ALL of his family is Mormon, except him. I gave him a contact card and taught a short lesson in the street, but WOW is it weird to teach in English. Seriously. I slipped into Spanish 3 times in the 5 minutes we were talking haha. I can talk in English about normal stuff, but when I start teaching, I slip into Spanish haha. It's weird.
So, Christian is a young man here who is really interested, but, his dad doesn't like our church. So, we are gonna go try to work with him. Shaber is another young man, who yesterdaycommited to be baptized, so we're working with him. Both of them are really sincere, and I think they can progress a lot.
Okay. So, let me prelude this with, this week was good, and I'm fine, but I had 2 interesting experiences this week, that I'd like to share. First off, we were teaching a less active member who fills us FULL of excuses as to why she shouldn't come back to church. Her name is Yellin. Anyways, we were teaching her on Saturday, and I was bearing my testimony to her, and I told her, "Hermana, yo SÉ que estas cosas son verdaderas. Yo lo sé." And, BLAM! Obviously, I knew this things were true before, and all that, but I just got a super powerful confirmation that they ARE true, and that I do KNOW that they are true. So, it was super good. Unfortunately, Sunday, she didn't come. A lot of the less actives we have been working with didn't. So, I was a little frustrated, but I was thinking of a way to kind of jokingly, but seriously, let them know that we were waiting and that we really do want to see them in the church. I was talking about it with my comp, and he was like, "Hey. I don't want to like, offend you or anything. But, some of these people, the problem is... they just don't care." AAAAAAANNNDDDD... I got a lil teary eyed... haha. Okay. So, before you all start stressing that I'm sad, I'm not! It was interesting, and I'm going to share my thoughts with you.
I got emotional, because it's true. There are some people, who just don't care. Thats all there is to it. And the reason I was emotional, is because I do have such a testimony of these things. I know that this isn't just something cool to do. This is the salvation of these people. When they reject the message, the are rejecting Christ. I was reading my scriptures last week and was reading 3 Nephi 17. Go read that, and you'll understand the thought I want to share. So, first off, Christ had compassion on the people, and decided to stay and bless them. So, here we see the love of Christ for the people. Later, it says that Christ groaned within himself, and he pleads to Heavenly Father because of the wickedness of the House of Israel, and starts to pray. When he finishes his prayer, he sees that all of the people are overwhelmed by joy, and then tells them that they are blessed, and that his joy is complete in them. But then, he cries. Now, this is the thought I had yesterday after this happened. Christ saw the faith of these people, and he loved them. But, he also loved the people in Jerusalem, who rejected him, spit upon him, mocked him, and ultimately, killed him. I believe Christ in this moment, Christ was crying for 2 reasons. One, because of the utter joy that he felt in seeing the faith and joy of the conversion of the people, and two, because of the hardness of the hearts of the people who rejected him, and who will reject him.
Okay. I don't know if you all understand where I'm coming from here. I just thought that maybe, Christ was crying for his joy that he felt seeing the conversion, and the sorrow for the people who could never feel that. That's not a bad cry, is it? That's how I felt yesterday. I sorrowed for the people who don't care, who don't want to make the effort. But, when I remember the people who walk 2 hours in the rain to come to church, when I remember the people who have recieved their testimony through their faith, those whose lives have been blessed through the gospel of Christ, I joy for them. I feel like this week, I have seen a little through the eyes of Christ, and I understand a little more His perfect love that He offers for each and every one of us. Everyone can choose to embrace or reject the love, but He offers it nonetheless. What a beautiful knowledge.
I know this church is true. I know it. I know that Christ truely lives, and that He loves us, more than we can comprehend. We can read and learn about His love in the scriptures, and we can express our gratitude for that love through prayer, and our actions. I'm so grateful to be here, teaching these wonderful people. Whether they accept the message or not, I'm here to love and serve them, so, that's just what I'll do. Thanks for everything. Love and miss you all! Hope all is well! And I hope my spiritual thought made some amount of sense. Haha. Until next week!
Elder Richman
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