A fullness of Joy

Joaquin, welcome to the program.

Dear Family,

Transfers. I`m staying with my companion..... sooo there`s nothing new. To be honest, I thought he would be leaving, and that I would train my last 2 transfers but I guess that`s not what the Lord wants. It`s weird because just when you think that you`re at the end of your mission; you already know alot of things, you think that there`s not really much left to learn just work until the end, The Lord shows you otherwise. I`m learning a TON of patience and charity. 

Besides that, I am having a great time working with the members, finding great new people, and working on bettering myself! Thank you for all your letters, prayers, and encouragement. I don`t really have an experience that stood out. Just that I`ve seen the power of being a true representative of Jesus Christ and seeing lives change, even my own. 

I would like to talk about the joy I feel because it seems as if some people don`t understand the JOY of being a missionary. What is joy? It`s a little more than happiness. Happiness comes from completing desires, or what you set out for. The world can even feel happy as they sin. That`s why the keep sinning because it makes them feel good. You can also feel happy as you do what`s right. Joy is a different level of happiness in which the world cannot and does not feel. As we look in Alma 29:10, joy comes from the repentant sinner. As we repent and draw nearer to God, we feel a great joy. ``There can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy (Alma 36:21).´´ However, the joy is not full. If we continue in Alma 29:13, as we share the gospel and what we`ve felt, we experience a fullness of joy. This is confirmed in 3 Nefi 28 at the end of verse 9 and beginning of verse 10. This is how I feel and all the missionaries in the world. We have this fullness of joy that cannot be contained. Continuing in Alma 29:14, his joy was MORE full because of the success of his brotheren. So here are the levels;

Happiness = Fulfilling one`s desires

Joy = Having repented

Fullness of Joy = Sharing the gospel

Joy is even more full = Success of our family, friends in sharing the gospel

And there are no limits! 

-Elder Walker

Miracles follow Obedience

Dear Family,

This week went really well, and I know why. Like I said before, the better days always come after the harder ones. I decided to be Exactly obedient. Before I was obedient, but there were a some things here and there that I could have fixed up. Not that it was anything terrible, just some small things. For example I wrote in my journal everyday for the past 2 weeks. Sometimes when I get busy or tired, I forget, but this week, I strived for that goal and completed it. 

It all started Monday. After the zone activity, we went to go play wally with some investigators to gain their trust even more. Then we taught them at their house. They were all brothers or cousins that live in the same house and are already married with small children. It went really well and it was like teaching 4 families in one! Great night!

Wednesday was the day that I decided to put the 100% obedience in action. Wow, that day was one of the best I`ve had in my mission. We taught 8 full lessons (45min).  We found many new people. For example, we went to an appointment in the morning, but they weren`t home. A 20 year old answered the door and said, ``They`re not home, but I`d like to talk to you guys, Come on in!´´ That almost never happens. We invited him to be baptized and put baptismal date on him as well as 3 other people that day. Then, remember Manuel Santa Cruz? We finished reading the Doctrine and Covenants to him. It was his birthday that day. He got to talking about how he wished he could see again and asked me if I could give him a Priesthood blessing. The spirit was so strong there. I know he`ll see again because of his great faith in Jesus Christ. (The next day, he wanted to walk and talk with us. He said that he could see a bit more and said that he liked my smile. We had to leave him to go to an appointment, and I`m guessing he made it home safely without a cane or anyone.) To finish the day off, I got a call from the missionaries in Bella Vista. I was in that area about a year ago. They said that one of the people that I taught there would get baptized and would like if I baptized him!

His name is Santos Mamani. He was one of the first investigators that I taught there. He was supposed to get baptized with me last year; however, he had a girlfriend (and you know how dangerous girlfriends can be) that went to a different church and persuaded him not to get baptized but to go to that church. So we had to drop him and I know that the Elders after me didn`t visit him either. At the baptism he told me that about 2 weeks ago, we was really confused (and didn`t have his girlfriend anymore). He really wanted to know which church was true. He told me that he remembered my words to him. At this moment I was thinking, what could I have possibly said to him. Must have been something deep or profound. But it was something simple and the basics that we teach. He remembered me saying that to know the truth he needed to get on his knees and prayed. So that`s what he did. With all sincerity of heart, he humbled himself before God and asked him. He got his answer. The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints is the only true church over the face of the earth. Then to the water. It was very beautiful that day and got to see alot of familiar faces! I`m happy.

-Elder Walker