Buenas Tardes mi Querida Familia,
This is going to be a shorter letter because all the internets are closed and we finally found a really sketch internet cafe in the middle of nowhere. The computers here are filled with viruses, and ironically don´t let us enter into the church webpage. But anyways! I´m so grateful for mothers day. It was great. I love my family. Powley Power. Even though the electricity went off mid-call we were able to find a patch of wifi in the street with our ward mission leader. Solid.
The best part of this week was by far Saturday. David was baptized! The baptismal service was so smooth and just marvelous. We tried boiling water to heat up the baptismal font but it was still freezing cold. Luckily David is a tough kid. A strong spirit could be felt when our ward mission leader baptized David. As he raised his had and declared to have the authority of Jesus Christ to baptize, I truly felt a buzz in the air, that we truly have the authority of the priesthood here in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I feel so grateful to know that the Lord has placed us on the earth with this knowledge and great privilege to declare to the world that the power of God has been restored. And we can make covenants such as baptism that count here on earth just as much as in heaven. As the bishop spoke after Davíd´s baptism, he mentioned that David was one of those valiant spirits. I can feel it too. David is a solid descendant from the Lamanites like many people here. And he has a huge heart. He will do many great things in the kingdom. I feel blessed to be an instrument in the hands of God in helping David reach this eternal course.
We also were able to visit with Lucia Delacruz. She is the mother of the Delacruz Family that I have mentioned before. We heard some really sad news before visiting her. Something about her husband getting really mad and hurting her. I couldn´t sleep the whole night thinking about them. When we visited Lucia and her daughters the next day, she told us that she was going to separate from her husband. We were teaching her husband too, so it hurts to think that he hasn´t been applying the teachings we have been giving. But there is always hope! Lucia and her oldest daughter, Cathy have strong desires to be baptized. They all came to church yesterday and it was a miracle! Nothings stopping Lucia from keeping her trust in our Savior. We know that everything is going to work out.
This week we had Mission Counsel, which is when all the zone leaders and Hermana leaders go to Quito and we meet with President Richardson for a day, talking about how we can solve problems in the mission and improve as individuals. It was awesome. I really like something that President shared with us. Sometimes as missionaries we get carried away by everything we have to focus on, Finding, Teaching, Baptizing, Rescuing, Retaining. And sometimes all some missionaries do is rescue, rescue rescue, or find, find, find, and they don't have a good balance. I guess we can relate this to real non-missionary life too. Sometimes we just get caught up and stressed out, trying to do everything at once.
President used a hands-on example. He asked if there was anyone who knew how to juggle. A couple elders raised their hands. When we watched a couple of the Elders juggle it was interesting to see, how a juggler seems to find the perfect balance as each ball seems to find its was back into the jugglers hand. Do you want to know the million dollar secret? How do they do it? They keep their eyes focused on one single spot in the air; their eyes do not wander and watch each ball as it falls and rises. How do we relate this to balancing our work efforts? We must focus on one specific thing: President told us that we must focus on finding. If we focus on finding, we will be able to teach less actives with their friends, help recent converts bring their family members to the waters of baptism, and never lose the balance. Ask references always. I also like to relate the one single balancing point with the Savior. If we feel like our lives our off-balance, if we feel like we are being pulled in every direction imaginable, we just have to keep our balance through focusing on our Redeemer.
Remember that it is through the rock of our redeemer that we are saved. I know that this is true. I know that if we always stay focused on him, everything falls into place. Jesus was always sharing, serving, and loving, inevitably finding more people to teach in every situation. We must be like him. I have been searching for service opportunities each day. Little things, but I feel a great difference inside. I feel much more filled with Christ like love. Here is my invitation, that each one of you look for a small selfless service each day and as you do this, you will see how through faith and action we keep our lives balanced!
Con Amor
Hermana Powley
