Hola todos!!
We had zone conference this morning
in Campeche so we had to wake up at 4 to get there on time. Ask me if I'm tired... Nah, better yet don't
worry about asking. I am. But it's all good, it was great to see
everyone.
Last night we put a baptismal date with the daughter of one
of our investigators, Lidia (she is the one that has been inviting friends to
church) and the date was... when I'll be home. With 5 times in church as the
requirement for baptism, we're already putting baptismal dates for the last Saturday
in June. Ouch.
[In the zone conference] Elder De Hoyos talked about a lot of
cool things but mostly focused on the importance of using the Book of Mormon in
all that we do. He told of a village in
Chiapas, Mexico that speaks a dialect, similar to Mayan, where he went and
visited. He said that when
the people there heard what the book talked about, they grabbed it and hugged
it close to them, even though they didn't read a word of Spanish. They
felt the power in the book. President
Garcia always talks about how he feels like the people here are extremely
spiritually sensitive and we have to take advantage of that.
During the break I worked up the
courage to go and ask Elder De Hoyos how we could help the people understand
the importance of the Book of Mormon. I explained that because most of the
people have Spanish as a second language, it seemed to me that they changed personalities
when they talked in Spanish. He told me that I should take a member that knows
Mayan to translate for us and when I told him that we only have one family that
is member and they don't speak Mayan he thought for a second and said,
"Just find a friend there who speaks Mayan! He can translate and then learn at the same
time as well." We've found our
translator for now but now we have to see who we can try to teach first.
This last week we went crazy with
the Book of Mormon and I told everyone that there is a book that
contains the communication of God with their ancestors and we have that book,
Jesus visited their grandparents a little over 2000 years ago, etc. to
try and get things moving here. So far
we haven't seen any difference at all but after only a few days that is to be
expected. We're going to keep on keeping
on with the great book. My testimony of
it sure has grown over these last two years and I could honestly defend my life
with it. We had a few [women of another faith] come to our door on Saturday
(you should have seen their faces when they saw us come out of the house) and one
of the ladies tried "planching" me about the Book of Mormon, saying
that she used to be member but came to find out about the "lie that is the
Book of Mormon." I tried to be
sweet and loving but I gave it to her and bore my testimony to
her. I asked them a question and they stayed silent with nothing to say. We thanked them for
the visit but told them that we would always be there to give them a message of
the true restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
I'm not sure what more do tell you, but this much I
can say: This church is true. God
blesses me so much and I am very aware that He loves me personally. I
know that Christ lives and that because of Him, we will too! The Book of Mormon testifies of all that. Keep on keepin’ on my friends. Todo lo puedo
en Cristo, que me fortalece. (“I can
do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.”)
Con amor,
Elder Taylor Christian Jaussi
A beautiful morning today in Campeche
We had the meeting with Elder De Hoyos and I got to see Elders R. and H. again from the best district ever in good ol' Escarcega.
This package that was sent for Valentine's Day in January finally arrived in May.
