Week 46

Rainbow over Retiro

Hey guys! It is a pleasure to be greeting you again. It’s another start of the week and I’m ready to go give it another shot here in Retiro. We are nearing the end of the transfer here. We only have till the 26th of August. That means two more weeks. I am pretty sure that I will be leaving Retiro by then. I’ve nearly been here for 6 months. Most people just start to try and apologize when they hear that I’ve been here that long.

This week was better. A lot of good happened. I had some good experiences and I really feel like we can continue on here. We are going to have our branch conference this next Sunday. All of the presidency of the mission will be in our conference and we have big goals. There is a lot of pressure to do a lot of good things and we are excited to see what happens with all the activities that we have planned. As for the activities to celebrate the week of our conference, we will have one every single day. It will be some good fun, so be expecting some pictures next week.

The Highlights.

This week we had a mini cambio on Tuesday. I went to Parral to be with Elder Kemner, and Elder Jackson went to spend the day in Retiro with Elder Martinez. Elder Kemner and I had an awesome day. The only downside is that I didn’t bring my rain gear or my boots. It was a downpour all day long. I had to borrow some old rain gear that I found in their house and used that for the day. It was COLD and WET. Despite that, it was great getting to meet the people of Parral. They have great investigators. I like Parral a lot, because they don’t make fun of you every time you try and speak Spanish. They are a lot more loving. The day ended fast and we changed back into companionships. During the mini-cambio, Elder Jackson and Martinez had a good day by teaching members and finding new investigators.

This Thursday we had our zone conference. It was great hearing great messages from our mission president, and the assistants. They were really inspiring. Elder Martinez and I felt much more committed to the work in Retiro. We enjoyed the workshops and even had an activity of scripture story charades. (That stuff gets intense with missionaries). After all that we had a good lunch of Sloppy Joe's. Oh how I miss good food like that.

The whole week we focused on the members. We focused on the regular people and boosted their spirits. Really the focus of the work for us is to help people have a basic understanding of the gospel. Seems simple and obvious, but we have a huge need for that here in Retiro.

I got a call from President Uribe Saturday night that I needed to give a talk in church. We finished our citas real quick and I got to work. I would like to share some insights that I found.

In Alma 58 we find a great story. This is the first part of the chapter.

 1 And behold, now it came to pass that our next object was to obtain the city of Manti; but behold, there was no way that we could lead them out of the city by our small bands. For behold, they remembered that which we had hitherto done; therefore we could not decoy them away from their strongholds.

 2 And they were so much more numerous than was our army that we durst not go forth and attack them in their strongholds.

4 And it came to pass that I thus did send an embassy to the governor of our land, to acquaint him concerning the affairs of our people. And it came to pass that we did wait to receive provisions and strength from the land of Zarahemla.

 8 But it came to pass that we did receive food, which was guarded to us by an army of two thousand men to our assistance; and this is all the assistance which we did receive, to defend ourselves and our country from falling into the hands of our enemies, yea, to contend with an enemy which was innumerable.

 9 And now the cause of these our embarrassments, or the cause why they did not send more strength unto us, we knew not; therefore we were grieved and also filled with fear, lest by any means the judgments of God should come upon our land, to our overthrow and utter destruction.

 10 Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people.

11 Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.

 12 And we did take courage with our small force which we had received, and were fixed with a determination to conquer our enemies, and to maintain our lands, and our possessions, and our wives, and our children, and the cause of our liberty.

 13 And thus we did go forth with all our might against the Lamanites, who were in the city of Manti; and we did pitch our tents by the wilderness side, which was near to the city.

I love the power of prayer. It strengthens me and is the source of energy for me in my life. I love the examples that the scriptures give us. I know that by heartfelt and meaningful prayers, miracles are possible. I like how it say that they poured out their souls to God. I know that if we do the same, we can have similar experiences. I know that if we treat our conversations with our Heavenly Father as something more than a chore, He will listen and he will bless! It is my testimony that these things are true.

It’s a short letter, but this week was filled with the basics. Thanks for all you guys do. I love you so much. It is so great to hear that you had a great week. I wish I could be with you to see and be a part of these experiences! I love you all and miss you all so much. I hope that this week is even better. Until the next!

Elder Ethan Haws

Zone activity at the beach

Zone activity at the beach

Elders Haws and Martinez