I’m currently in a van, on my way back to Tartagal after a Christmas party with a third of my mission. We got picked up at 5 this morning, listened to President Janzen talk about Christmas for a bit, ate lunch, had a gift exchange, and left. It was fun to get to chat with other missionaries who used to work nearby.
We went to Salvador Massa again this week. Elder Adaos and I were visiting one of their friends who is deciding if she wants to be baptized or not. We spent 45 minutes doing our best to put out the fires of her doubts. We’d reached a critical point when a guy walked up and introduced himself as a member of the church from Yacuíba, the Bolivian side of the town. He bore a powerful testimony of how baptism changed his life and that of his family. After that, he just disappeared. It was certainly divine intervention because the road we were on was a total back alley, covered in a couple inches of mud and open sewage that no one would choose to go down unless they were being directed by the hand of the Lord.
The Lord performs miracles, but he also requires effort. Christ didn’t calm the storm until the apostles had struggled for the first 3 watches. Likewise, it wasn’t until Elder Adaos and I had talked for the better part of an hour before the member from Bolivia walked around the corner to share his experience. The Lord will let us try and struggle and make mistakes to learn and grow. Then he makes up the difference for what we can’t do ourselves.
Jesus Christ loves you and will give you all of the help he can when you turn towards him.
Have a great week!
Elder Hansen
My phone hasn’t seen wifi outside of a hotspot for a couple of weeks, so I haven’t had a chance to download pictures yet. So here’s a picture of the mountains I took on our drive this morning.
