We had a great wedding this last Saturday. It was a smooth wedding, thank goodness! Many members of the branch attended, along with a few friends and investigators. They had an 11 kilo cake, fancy decorations, chicken and rice dinner, and even a little party afterwards. I lent him my black suit, along with a white shirt, sweet tie, belt and shoes. He looked great. Even though they were stressed beforehand, they were so happy during and afterwards. He is great friends with all the branch, especially the Branch President, so he baptized him. It was a very special Sunday.
Today we had our big Zone Training meeting here in Santaní, all the elders came and we talked a lot about our attitude as missionaries. We had assigned them to read two of my personal favorite talks before coming, which were "The Tongue of Angels" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland as well as "Lift Where You Stand" by President Dieder F. Uchtdorf, and to come prepared to discuss what they had learned and what they could apply. The meeting was guided by the Holy Ghost, and we were all edified. Some of the highlights were that the Gospel is optimistic, it uplifts and inspires, never weighs us down, has negative feelings, etc. It is to be talked of with a smile! Also, that it does not matter what calling, assignment, responsibility, duty that the Lord calls us to do, all we are asked to do is to do our part as best as we can, and the work of the Lord will go forth powerfully. I encourage all of you to read those to talks, meditating what you have learned, how they can apply to your lives, and what you will change. I was able to set some great goals today on things to improve on in my last week here officially in the field, and what I can take with me into the post mission life.
I wanted to end today with a story of a great experience we had today. Even though it is P-day, we had some appointments of people to teach, and we went to teach one of our investigators who has attended church these last two weeks. She is progressing towards baptism and is loving the message. We got there, and she said that she wanted us to teach her 20 year old daughter, who showed very little interest before. So we got to know her, and she shared a little bit about how she feels really angry, depressed, sad, lonely, and that she has no purpose in her life. She said that she always fights with her mom, does not get along with anyone, and wonders if there is any hope for her future. She even expressed that she has a problem with cursing, yelling, and using fowl, harmful, hurtful language. I felt so happy to know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is exactly what would solve all her problems, resolve any conflicts, heal any wounds from the past, and would provide for her the "Tongue of Angles" of which Elder Holland had taught. We were able to build her trust and confidence, feel inspired to read in Mosiah 27 about Alma the Younger, and apply coincidentally what we had learned that morning in our conference, which is found in 2 Nephi 31:13, where as we are baptized and confirmed upon us the Gift of the Holy Ghost, the Lord blesses us with a new tongue, even the tongue of angels. We felt inspired to promise her that if she would learn more of the Savior, read and pray about our message, and prepare to be baptized, that in this whole process she would be blessed to overcome the obstacle of harmful language, as well as forgiveness of past sins and a renewed outlook on her wonderful future ahead of her. I felt so happy to be a missionary, and for the opportunity I had in that moment to see the Spirit working in her and in us, and seeing the change in her from the beginning of the visit to the end.
Well, this will be my last week as a missionary, and I plan on giving it all I have, working even harder and harder, and finding more investigators, so that it can continue like it is right now...exploding! I want you all to know how much this mission continues to mean to me. Pray for me and for the people here.
Love you all! Until next week,
Elder Babcock
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