Elder Jakob Lutze: Semana 97 (Mining for Gold! And Baptisms...)

Buenas!!

This week went by super quick! Last week of the transfer...kinda crazy.

It started off with a super fun service project! We went up to Cerro Azul to do a bunch of manual labor. I had a big ol' pick and was going at it against the dirt. One would have thought I was mining for gold by the amount of rocks I hit/took out. It was a lot of hard work, but super fun!

We had a big miracle happen this week! We went to visit our recent convert Deogracia, and her uncle came up to us and said, pointing to two girls, "Those are my granddaughters, they aren't members. I want you to baptize them."

So we started teaching them, and they all came to church! God always provides!

We had an activity on Saturday that was pretty fun! We played sports and board games. Some members brought some cool friends too!!

We helped teach mission prep which was really fun! We are trying to help a lot of members here go on missions. And lots of them are getting really excited! It's awesome!!

Transfers have arrived! Time is going by too quickly. But I'm staying in Las Mañanitas! Elder Smith and Elder Arias are coming here. We will be a trio for a few weeks until Elder Arias leaves for Brazil. I'm excited! It should be a good time!

I had an... interesting experience this week. I woke up on Thursday extremely sick. Just all the bad things. I felt horrible. The only problem was that we had to be at district council and then do a baptismal interview. I decided that if God needed us to be there, He would give me the strength to go. So I prayed. Got a blessing. Didn't feel better. But hey, why not give a good effort right? So, I slowly got ready for the day, and we left.

Well, God definitely gave me the strength I needed! We had a good district council, encouraged the zone a bunch, and then did the baptismal interview! We got home around 3, and I just passed out on my bed. But, it was a good feeling knowing we did the Lord's errand!

The next day I felt super weak. I wasn't super nauseous anymore tho! That was a big win. I may not have felt 100%, but we had people to teach, so we left. And we saw lots of miracles!

Anyways, I learned 2 things from this experience. Probably more.

1) Faith truly requires action. I knew God wanted/needed us to go to the council. I knew God could give me strength. But I didn't receive strength until I acted. Until I actually started putting forth effort. Prayers are really important and essential. But if we just sit there and expect God to do everything, it ain't gonna happen!

2) 1 Nephi 3:7. "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

If God wants something done, He will provide a way for it to get done. But only if we have faith :)

Anyways. Long tangent, sorry. Love y'all lots!! Keep praying for my zone and my people! Until Next Week!!

- E. Lutze