My Dear Family,
What a great week it has been. We, again, received a million miracles and learned so much. President came to our zone to interview all the missionaries and I had an amazing interview with him. He asked me to tell him what I learned from the Family Charmin and it made me cry. I told him that I learned that the Lord is preparing so many people for us and that all we have to do is search for them. He told me that I will be a leader soon and that I will receive more missionaries to train. This past week I have felt like I might get changed. It is hard to think that I will have to leave this sacred ground. I learned how to be a missionary here in Catemaco. I learned what a REAL desire to do the Lords work is. Here I learned what sacrifice and priesthood really mean. Elder Harmon has become my best friend. Hannah, you have my permission to date him. :) He and I have grown so much. At the start of this change, President told both of us that we would grow a lot in these short 6 weeks. Like I have said, I feel like I am progressing at the speed of light. There is still a chance that I won´t get changed, but if I do, I know it will be because the Lord needs me in other areas. I will always remember Catemaco and want to bring the family here after the mission.
This week was so hard. For some reason, the weather has gotten so hot. They are saying that this year will be one of the hottest. Supposedly they are still in "winter" here and right now it’s at LEAST 100* outside, so I can´t even imagine summer... It is so so so so hot. I sweat and sweat and sweat! It feels so good in the morning to take an ice cold shower. Apart from the intense heat, Satan has been working hard. We lost a few investigators who have decided they didn´t want to keep learning and investigating and that is always hard. We worked super hard this week, with the goal in mind, of being able to say, at the end of the week, that we did EVERYTHING we could to deserve the Lords rich blessings. Sunday we received 6 miracles in church. The biggest problem or challenge here is church attendance and it has always been hard. This Sunday we decided to fast and the Lord heard our prayers. We went to their houses in the morning to pick up all our investigators and bring them to church but not one answered. We thought we had failed again. Sadly we walked back to the church because it was about to start. When we arrived our investigators were there. I almost cried. The Lord knows us perfectly and tests us to the limit and then, right before we break, he returns to rescue us. The other blessing we received this week was a baptism we had on Saturday for a teenager named Mario. He is best friends with the two sons of the Family Charmin that we baptized. His parents will also be baptized right after they get married in a few weeks. Elder Harmon and I have seen so many times, the hand of the Lord. I feel so blessed to be a missionary. I get home at night exhausted, dripping in sweat, and emotionally drained and then Elder Harmon and I get down on our knees and we pray and I feel so good. I have told Elder Harmon that I feel like Aaron and Ammon, companions from the Book of Mormon. (Alma 21)
This week I heard a story that I wanted to share with you. It is about setting goals and achieving our dreams. I have thought about Hannah and how right now she is doing just that....
In ancient Greece, a popular sport was spear throwing. The best and biggest athletes set goals for distance while they practiced throwing their javelins. They would place a large object, usually a wooden stump in the field at the distance that they wanted to achieve. When they hit or met their target, the stump was lengthened and the distance increased. Among all the athletes, there was one who had goals that were a little different. One day the other spear throwers saw this athlete throwing his spear without a target, just about the time as the sun was setting. They asked him, "Where is your target? Don´t you want to achieve anything?" He replied telling them that he had his target. Confused, they asked him, "What is your target then?" The athlete replied telling them that his target was the rapidly setting sun. They all laughed at him and said he´d never reach his target and that he was wasting his time. But he kept practicing. The athlete never reached the sun, his goal, no matter how hard he tried. But one thing can be said about that athlete and that is that his javelin always flew the farthest and reached the greatest distance.
Goals help us to achieve what we want to become. They are to help us obtain more and reach higher heights. The gospel is like this. We have goals set for us. Priesthood, baptism, marriage, sealing, etc. When we put our greatest goal as the "sun" or celestial kingdom, we will do everything we can to reach to bar. But, because we are humans, just like the athlete, we will fall short. That is when the Mercy of our Loving Savior Jesus Christ will come to complete what we can´t make up. I love being his representative. I am so thankful for my parents who have taught me how to set goals and achieve my dreams. Hannah, you are living your dreams! What a special time! I am always so happy to see how amazing the family is back at home! It motivates me to work hard and keep baptizing! Elder H and I were joking that we are going to have to baptize more because it is so hot and it is another excuse to get in cold water! We are so blessed as a family and I know it is because we are members of the only true church on the Earth. Thank you for all your support and love and prayers! Until next week!
Elder James Ricks
P.S: Still haven’t received the package but it is because we haven’t seen our leaders. I think tomorrow we should get it.
P.S.S: We found out today, who the new mission President will be and his wife! They are Pdte. and Hna Tenorio and they are from Monterrey, Mexico! I haven´t heard much about him but I am excited to meet him!
P.S.S.S:It is SOOOOOO hot here! Mom... you would love it! I am getting way tan and WAY skinny! :)
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