Hello to all!
I had an excellent week. First and foremost, I wanted to give a public "thank you" to the best mother in the entire world (yes I'm talking to you mom), and to all the other mothers out there. I know its not an easy task, but I am so thankful for my mother, grandmothers, and all the mothers that have helped me become who I am today. Give yourself a high-five from me.
Before our district meeting in Luque on Tuesday, my comp had to print off this sheet for the zone. When he was walking out of the cyber, this wild pack of dogs were coincidentally passing by and out of nowhere nailed him and made him fall over in the middle of the city. All the dogs surrounded him and were barking, and it was one of the most chaotic 5 seconds of my whole life. Everything worked out fine, but it was really funny and he is doing great now.
We had zone conferences this week, and so we went in to Asunción to the office for the meetings. To start it off, we watched a talk from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland from the MTC this last January. It was the second time for me seeing it, but it made an even bigger impact on me now that before. He talked about the importance of Preach My Gospel, and how great it is to be a missionary in this era of missionary work. He also talked a lot about staying active after the mission, and always being His representatives. He ended it sharing the story in John 21, where Christ asks Peter 3 times "Do you love me?", and after Peter responds yes, Christ says "then feed my sheep." Elder Holland applied that to us, and that the way we can show our love and gratitude for Him is by feeding His sheep, forever, not just during the mission. Then President Madariaga shared his testimony and talked about his love for us and this sacred work. For the first time since I have known him, he was brought to tears and expressed his deep gratitude for each of us. It was an incredible spiritual booster that all of us needed, and I was very touched by the Spirit.
We are working with a family right now, named Cristian and Nelida. Their parents are endowed and sealed in the temple, and all of the kids are members...except them. They recently moved here and have been going to church. We visited them and they accepted a baptismal/marriage date for the 24th of May. They have a great spirit about them, and have real desires to change and enjoy the blessings of the gospel. I know that there will be many ups and downs, but I really feel like they have great potential, and I hope that they can prepare themselves well for that day, so I can be lucky enough to be apart of it.
Also, we have our golden investigator Christan. He reads and prays everyday, and already has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. The only thing keeping him back from getting baptized is going to church. He has real desires to go, but the last few weeks have been crazy for him, with travel, work, and his grandma getting really sick saturday night/sunday morning. He is an incredible guy, and its been awesome getting to know him and helping him on this spiritual journey.
Last night was a special night...I got to "skype" the family for Mothers Day. What a blessing modern technology is, and that even though we are really really far away from each other, we got to talk face to face and share many experiences about the family. I want them to know that I love them sooo much, more than I can explain. I have been blessed with the best family in the world. And because of that, I am here in Paraguay, doing my best to help other families feel the love that I feel from my family every day. I dont know what I did to get so lucky/blessed to be apart of the family I have, but I am eternally thankful for them and their love, kindness, and support. I love the mission, its been the best 5 (almost 6) months of my young life. I have learned more than I could have dreamed. Please pray for me and the people here, that they will accept this true message and allow God to bless them and their families, eternally.
Until next week!
-Elder Babcock
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