June 6, 2011

FAMILY!!!!
THANKS for the awesome letter!!!! How great it is to hear all this!!!

This week for me has been blessing alley!!!!!!!!!! BLESSINGS!!!!!!!! Where do I start? Yesterday we had a baptism of a man named Vicente Benitez Irayales. (I think that is how you spell his last name.) For about two months the missionaries were working with him and he was drinking and smoking every day (was, as in a long time ago). While I was here there was one night when he left with his friends, one of the first times I saw him. He is about 29. He has made such great progress. Then after his baptism we were walking to his house and he passed us on his motor bike with his friend that he was taking home. He was excited. Then I began to worry a little bit if he was drinking to celebrate his baptism. He had really only been out-going when he was drinking. He is a rather timid guy but that shows how bad my faith was. We got to his house and were waiting for him then we began to talk. He was blessed and changed through Christ. He was telling us that he had such a desire to serve everyone now. That was why he was driving his friend home. He started thanking us in Portuguese but I could understand pretty much everything he said. The spirit was so strong there. They invited us to eat today again in their house at noon. Wow, and now his sister is showing interest in listening to us and going to church.
Another thing happened the day before. (Well one thing I didn’t mention is that Elder Anderson, who I lived with in Concepción is now serving in GUESS... Kennedy ha ha, so he has been meeting people I knew when I started my mission.) Saturday he called me and said "There is someone who wants to talk to you" and before I could ask him who, or what was going on, I found myself talking to Gabriela and Victor!!!!! They said that they had had some hard times and it was hard to go to church but that they are going to be going back and Elder Anderson is going to be helping them go to the temple!!!!!!!. Before I go any further Elder Anderson is awesome. Mom, Dad, don’t be surprised if in 2 or 3 years I have the idea to make a trip down to Colorado ha ha. So he is a great missionary (after a long time of lazy missionaries) that will be in Kennedy. While I have been gone there have been some skeptical missionaries serving there.
There is a joven here (joven = youth) who we visited and had a great lesson with. He was a little less active and he came to church – MIRACLE - and told my companion (not flat out, but he was thinking it) that he wants to serve a mission and wants to help his family. When we were sharing with him on Saturday he was asking us a lot about our missions and how were our families. I mentioned most of the blessings that we are receiving, as did my companion. The spirit was strong. Then he mentioned that he really was the only young man that could support his family. He is a strong asset to his family and oh ya, one more detail. He is the only member in his family!
So the blessings of heaven are falling!!
But like I said thanks for the letter, for hearing of all the blessings. I think that the only reasonable response is that the church is true! It just makes you feel sooo good!
This week we have plans to have a dinner with a less active family. We are going to be making pumpkin pie for them, MMMMmmmmm!!!! Exciting! I will write a letter to Alex Cobb. Tell him to expect a letter from Paraguay!
I was reading in Alma, when Alma was teaching in Ammonihah. They rejected his call to repentance and they accused him of being only one man that God called. (Alma 9:2). He left, sad, because he had no success neither baptisms. Then an angel came to him and said go back and bear your afflictions with patience. He goes back and gets his new companion, Amulek. Then they go back "two by two" (D&C 42:6) to preach. The city is astonished that there are two missionaries, ha ha. They preach that if they do not repent God will destroy the city but of course they don´t believe them, which makes the scripture Alma 16:9-10 just that much better and also the scripture Alma 3:26-27.
I love the Book of Mormon. I know it is true. We need to read it day after day. I know I wasn’t too excited to do that before the mission but now I kinda understand why ha ha. But thanks for everything.

Con MUCHISIMO AMOR,
Élder Lucas Rodgers