What would you say to somebody being born into a moment like this?
Distrito de AlmadaThanks for all the updates. Every week it's like switching on the news and catching a glimpse of what's going on over there on that side of the world (but way better – the news totally isn't worth watching, especially here).
So, I come into this email with some news. I don't even know whether to call it good or bad. But I'll explain that later.
Several cool things happened this week. Oh my goodness. Elder Corbett and I were walking around Cacilhas at night talking to people, and we got to a point where nobody was near us, so we started having a conversation about our effect as missionaries. For example, are we just supposed to be in the right place at the right time and hope that all the “seeds” we plant will someday accomplish something? For example, with all the investigators who never really realize the desire to progress and follow through with their commitments, will they someday realize what they were doing? Maybe the garbage man will see the passalong card that guy behind us blatantly threw away and want a copy of the Book of Mormon or something. Basically, we weren't sure how exactly we were going to accomplish our purpose of helping people come unto Christ. We were talking about how maybe the only real guaranteed success is our own growth that will come from dedicated service. But we came to the conclusion that we're not here to just put our time in and then check out. We're here because we CAN make a difference. We have in the past made a difference in the lives of certain people, we are right now making a difference in the lives of a few people, and we will continue to find people who we can help. 30 seconds after those words came out of our mouths, a kid at the metro station (metro is the nickname for the light rail system in Almada, even though technically “metro” is the name of the subway in Lisbon) called for us and we started talking to him. He was 8 years old, named Júnior, and according to him, he will be the best soccer player in the world. So, we got his autograph, just in case. He started telling us about when the elders came to his house two years ago. We started talking about the Plan of Salvation and Jesus Christ, and he really listened and consequently understood. We talked about the story of the Book of Mormon, and when we showed him the picture of Christ visiting the people in the Americas, he said, “if I were that kid in the back I would run up and give Jesus a big hug.” His mother, Linda, was cleaning the metro at the time (the actual train) at the station, and when she finished up she came over to talk to us. I felt a really special interest from her, and I think something from what Júnior was saying (like begging to come to church with us) might have really touched her heart (I hate using that expression, but really, it got right to her core). We taught her on Sunday with Leonardo, then we read 1 Nephi 1 with her on Monday, then we ran into her in the street yesterday and she said she had continued reading with Júnior like we had invited her to do. We have run into her twice in the street in the last three days. This seems to happen a lot with our investigators (Silva, Hudson, and now Linda), and I am reluctant to admit it, but I don't think that's a coincidence.
So we were teaching Silva yesterday about the Gospel, reading 2 Nephi 9 with him, and afterwards he made us lunch, and while we were making lunch, the phone rang, and it was President.
I'M GOING TO BE TRAINING A GREENIE.
I can't say I didn't see this as a possibility, but oh my goodness! I can't train a greenie! I'm the one that needs to get trained!
There have been a lot of things going through my mind, and as I've been getting more and more nervous, it seems to be helping less and less. All I have to do is just not let anything get in the way and not settle for doing any bad habits I have (no matter what you all may think, I'm not a missionary machine). I don't have anything to compare it to... I trained a new intern at StowAway2, I trained Elder Barrett as a Financial Secretary, but I've never had anything like this.
The terminology in the mission says that your first area is where you were “born”, and I'm attaching a picture of an advertisement that just appeared today. It says, “What would you tell somebody about to be born into a moment like this?” That's the million-dollar question for me right now, I guess.
My goodness. We're reorganizing the house like crazy, cleaning, planning his first P-Day, planning his first lesson (it's likely going to be lunch with the Saturninos, this classically old Portuguese couple in the ward). I remember my first P-Day like it was yesterday. We walked around Lisbon – it was so cool to run into other people from the MTC, meet Elder Barrett, etc. I'm going to have to decide where we're going to do compras probably. Heck, I'm probably going to have to teach him how to make rice. RICE!!!! Feijoada. Etc. Oh my goodness. I have no idea what it's like to have a child, but I imagine this is a tiny, tiny glimpse into what it's like. He's going to copy the way I speak! He's going to copy the way I do contacts! He's going to copy the number of times I knock on a door! I can't handle this kind of responsibility! Hahaha. The principle will always remain, however, of the need to have the freedom to act and not be acted upon. I appreciate very much all the room to act that I was given as a child, and though sometimes I wish I could have been pushed to do this or that, I had to learn for myself. Especially on the mission, I clearly see the need for independence of testimony.
Like Elder Bednar said to us, and I'm paraphrasing, “You have to help your investigators, kids, and everybody else be spiritually independent of you.” We have to preserve and cultivate the right to act and not be acted upon. We have to have the opportunity to knowingly choose our consequences. We have to be independent enough to use our resources to find the answers we're looking for.
Anyway, tomorrow is the big day. He's going to remember it forever.
Amor para todos,
Elder Lobo
0 comments:
Post a Comment