La carga‏

Hola!

Not sure why the e-mail didn`t go through last week. I can`t find it in my e-mail either. But oh well.

This week was hard cause we are starting to hear about a lot of problems that have happened and are happening in this ward. It is discouraging to hear this stuff cause it makes me feel like all of my work is in vane when it will be destroyed by problems that always happen. But this is kind of just the way that it has to be. The wheat and the tares have to grow together. But when we heard of all the problems I just felt a huge weight. I felt sympathy for Bishops cause I am certain that that weight is constant and difficult to manage. I didn`t expect it to affect me so much, but it was very hard to hear some of those things and feel mostly helpless to do anything about it. But I prayed a lot and studied the scriptures and I am learning how to manage the load and give it to the Lord, which is something important to learn. There are always problems, but this is the Lord`s church and He is in charge. If we work worthily He will make sure that it turns out like he wants. The church in Joseph Smith`s times had lots of problems and apostates, but from that a worldwide church sprung forth. The same will happen here, but it takes time. I can`t expect to see it in my 2 years here.

But despite all that we were able to find some prepared people. One family was contacted by Elder Cancino like a month ago but we hadn`t gone back but we ended up being close to the house with nothing to do and he said we should try it out. This time the daughter was there and she was way interested. She said that it called her attention way more than her own religion and that she really wanted to learn more. The others aren`t super interested yet, but the good thing is that there is an awesome young single adults group here that is going to be able to help her progress. The Lord puts people in our path who the ward is ready to receive.

I also recognized a lot of progress in my companion. He has become a missionary and continues with his desire to learn. At the beginning of the change, and as I thought about it, I decided to teach him the gospel more than to just teach him how to be a missionary and it has been awesome. I realized that that is really more important. Yes, I will teach him how to clap a house or teach, but I am trying to focus on helping him to live the gospel and gain a love for the scriptures and learn to follow the spirit and it is working. After talking to a family we were worried about how to fix the situation that is happening and he said that he wasn`t sure what to do but that he didn`t feel the spirit in the conversation we had so he knows that there is something wrong there. I had felt the same, but didn`t really put it into practice like he did. He is becoming a great missionary and it is very rewarding to see those changes. I have had to learn a lot more patience, especially trying to teach him English, haha but I am learning a lot more how to be patient.

I love this work. I love living the gospel. There is nothing better.

Con amor, Elder Hawk