Dear All,
Here I am again. That number gets lower and lower, and it seems like the time is passing quicker and quicker. I must take advantage of these last four weeks.
All is well here. We're progressing here in Los Vilos. We had a great week. We taught a lot of people, and we continue to do our part to fortify and strengthen the members and the converts here. We are still on a hunt for God's elect, though. We have a good pool of investigators, but a lot of them have to take care of a few things before they can be baptized. We have lost contact with other investigators, and like I said last week...That makes me a little sad. But I know we just have to keep working hard, and we just have to seek the Lord's help. And we have to accept His will. So we'll continue to do our part here, and I am confident that it'll all work out.
Like I said a few months ago: Los Vilos has been my toughest challenge yet. It continues to be so. But this week my testimony of the power of prayer was strengthened. With all the trials and difficulties that we face here in this area, I was about to "explode"--for lack of a better term--last week. But I found great comfort through my prayers to my Heavenly Father. And the tough times have become bearable! And at church yesterday, I pondered about that. I asked myself--like Enos of the Book of Mormon--"How is it done?" The answer is found in Enos and many other parts of the scriptures. But I found a scripture in James that I really liked. In James 5:15-16, we are taught:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent eprayer of a righteous man availeth much.
I am a witness that these verses teach us the truth. We CAN be healed through our prayers of faith. Each and every one of us has dificulties and problems in this life, but God loves us, and He desires to hear us. So it's obvious that if we talk to Him through prayer, He will heal and comfort us.
Yesterday I was also taught again the importance and the sacredness of the Sacrament. I blessed the Sacrament with our ex-branch president, and when he was blessing the water, he said the prayer with so much reverence and humility that the Spirit hit me harder than it ever has before during that Sacred Ordinance. It made me want to be even better, and I remembered the words of Christ to the Nephites when he introduced the sacrament to them in 3 Nephi 18:10-11:
10 And when the disciples had [partaken of the sacrament], Jesus said unto them: Blessed are ye for this thing which ye have done, for this is fulfilling my commandments, and this doth witness unto the Father that ye are willing to do that which I have commanded you.
11 And this shall ye always do to those who repent and are baptized in my name; and ye shall do it in remembrance of my blood, which I have shed for you, that ye may witness unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you.
I felt that my imperfections and my mistakes that were weighing heavily on my mind during the week were washed away. How grateful we are to have the authority to administer the Sacrament! It is the only way that we can renew our covenants with God and to maintain the Spirit completely in our lives.
I love you all. Enjoy the pictures. You can also visit the following link to see pictures that were taken at last week's celebration. :)
Until next week!
Con Amor,
Elder Nelson IV
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