Soy un hijo de Dios

I can't even start on the miracles that we see every day...when I start thinking about them, even more come! I'll tell a simple one today...on Sunday, we were out with a member and our appointments fell through. We asked her if they were any inactive members that lived close that we could go visit with her and she brought us up a long alley way to a a huge tin door. An old woman answered it and she had a son behind her doing some kind of yard work. When we asked to share a message with them, they weren't really receptive...at all. And when we asked the son if he was a member, he denied it and said he didn't know anything about the church. We felt and knew that he knew exactly who we are but he didn't really want to listen to us...and we asked if we could just sing a song with them before we left. We turned to page 196, "Soy un hijo de dios" and sang it for them. After we sang, he was just crossing his arms and scratching his head a little bit. After a long pause, he just looked at us and started walking back and forth scratching his head and questioning us all about the need for a restoration and another prophet and apostles. It was amazing to see how this song reminded him and softened him enough to listen. Every time he asked us a question, he just looked at us and smiled with his two or three teeth and then started walking again asking questions. It was so amazing to be able to teach him again about the Restoration and they should be coming to General Conference this weekend. I strongly believe that reminding somebody of the truth is just as important as bringing somebody to it.

This Sunday was a pretty rough one because we only had 1 investigator in church...and a couple weeks ago we had 8. But surprisingly, it didn't take us down too much. I know that the trials always come before the blessings...and I know that faith, patience, and diligence will get us though all.

We gave another talk in Sacrament Meeting (missionaries seem to have the privilege to give many talks ha) but this time I was supposed to talk for 10 minutes about the obra misional! I decided to take a different outlook on it and categorized the missionary work into three different parts. First, to listen. Second, to recieve a testimony. Third, to share it. I used the example of the wise men in Lucas...how they first saw the angel...and then they ran to go see the new baby...and then they shared it with everyone that they could. I related it to Alma the younger of how his dad had taught him and with his dad's words echoing in the back of his mind, he was able to finally repent later on and recieve his own testimony of Christ...and then he spent all his days sharing it. And then I finished with the Joseph Smith story. It really stuck me when I realized how if we never share our testimony, we never give others the opportunity to hear it. Sometimes, we get a little down when we can't see immediate results of our missionary efforts. But by planting the seed, it will be able to grow in the right timing. Alma the younger didn't believe his father right away, but he was able to remember his words in the necessary timing (Alma 36:17). When we share our message, we help people on their first step.

And I'll just end by repeating the words of our bishop real quick..."When you watch conference, there are a lot of men over the age of 80. And none of them fall asleep during the sessions...so you guys can't either." Hahaha. I'm happy I'm a missionary and I'm happy I'm a Hansen and I'm happy that I feel part Guatemalan...these people are special here. They have taught me who I want to work towards becoming in my life. I'll see you guys next week