A Little Discouraged

Things are going well, but they aren`t very easy. They just changed our Sacrament Meeting from 12 to 10 at the beginning of the meeting and it will be extremely hard to have people come when we can`t get them to come at 12.... It is really cold.... and it rained yesterday and we got soaked which made it even colder today.... A little frustrating but my only goal right now is to find someone ready to be baptized this month that will pay the price necessary to have the remission of their sins.... It is frustrating, but things are that way lately. We haven`t had investigators that attend that are in position to be baptized right now. Things really aren`t progressing and it is really frustrating the amount of work that we do without results. I`m just waiting for things to improve and trying to use all of my time efficiently but the results are slow.

Sorry it is so cold. Are you feeling any better or is the cold still hanging on?  

Unfortunately, part of your mission is to give people a chance to accept or reject the truth. I know it must be terribly frustrating to work so hard and see so little success, but you are doing your best and should be happy with that.  Don't beat yourself up when the numbers aren't there.  People still have their agency and only those willing to pay the price will see the rewards. 

I am writing right now and was looking to send pictures and realized that I don`t have a single cable or connector to send pictures so honestly I don`t know if I could have sent pictures or not and my companion forgot as well. I took everything electronic out of my bag yesterday, because it poured and I didn`t manage to get them back in today. Sorry. Things are all against me sending pictures. I am getting frustrated with things, but it was nice to play soccer today. I had a great time and scored several goals today and had many assists. It was a nice morning and now that it has started raining things are going to get more difficult and colder for us.

The mission keeps adding new rules that make it harder to be successful at least for me. Now all of our visits with less active members don`t count toward lessons. They only count if there is an investigator in the home and in the lesson. It makes it hard to use the rescue, because we don`t really know if the people that we find will have investigators in the home or if we will be wasting time. I am going to have my lunch for 1 year next week on Tuesday the 14th with Elder Harrah, because he didn`t have changes and is in this sector for 5 changes. We have been fighting against the investigators to have them read and pray.... Something so simple that if they do it and are persistent they will have their answer and they will do all the necessary steps toward baptism.... So simple, but so frustrating right now.

I am happy you got to play soccer. I know it is something that brings you joy. Congratulations on the goals and assists.

It is like in the story of Moses with the serpents.  All the people had to do to be healed was to look at the snake on the pole, but because of pride they refused to look.  It is so easy to be lazy in our day where there are so many distractions.  

Ask Hermana Barreiros to take photos at your dinner and post them on Facebook. At least I will get to see your pretty face that way. Does your umbrella work?  Probably not too useful on the bike. 

Exactly, using an umbrella with a bike doesn`t work. We have taught that to investigators and they don`t apply it to themselves and we have tried giving palos.... (It means hard, sharp or cutting scriptures toward the people to open their eyes), but they don`t learn and don`t apply. Really they don`t progress in their lives and in the end if you aren`t progressing you are dying..... 

The problem right now is that nobody is willing to pay the price and my leaders judge our success by the numbers, because they don`t always believe that we are doing everything. Even more so since my companion is in his last change. They start to believe that missionaries get lazy and stop working, but we are doing so much and hardly having success this week. We only had 15 lessons and 4 new investigators. It is frustrating, because it is so gigantic and the members don`t do anything to help. Last month there were around 4 visits by home teachers and it looks like they were done by only the Branch President and a couple others.... Every missionary that passes for this sector comes to know it as the purifying fire, because if you don`t become much better from it, you either go home or you aren`t obedient and don`t work.... I am working more than I have in my mission up until now, with less success and it is driving me crazy..... Sorry about the ranting, but even among the members there is so much personal apostasy and they mainly are only Mormons on Sunday here.....

I believe your leaders are probably aware of the area and its lack of success.  I am sure there is a long history of low numbers there.  Be completely obedient and continue to work hard. Pray for the Lord's help and guidance.  He will bless you. Maybe this area is as much to test your faith as it is to test the members.  Remember to speak kindly about your leaders. They are guided by inspiration to lead you. Be humble and teachable and let the spirit work through you.  

I appreciate my leaders, but when you feel like they judge you more than trust in you, it becomes harder for everything. I do what they ask and I worked hard, but when the results don`t come, it becomes frustrating. I know that it is a hard area and I am doing my best. It just becomes hard when the closest people that we have live 3 kilometers from the church. I am out of time. Thanks for everything.

Maybe your purpose here is to warn them. Just make sure you remain humble and do not become haughty. They will not listen if they perceive that you are judging them to be less than yourself.  It is a fine line to teach them without offending them. It sounds like the branch is struggling and needs help becoming organized.  

The problem is that there aren`t sufficient people to be organized to cause a dent in anything that there is to do here. The people also don`t have the means to do more or the desire to do anything hard for them. Many it is a miracle when they manage to show up at church. Thanks. Talk to you next week.

Try not to be discouraged.  How is your cold?

Hanging around, but I am doing well. Things should improve.