Dear family and friends,
This week was utterly fantastic! We got to do a "choque de fuerzas" two times as a district, which was super fun. It´s when all the missionaries of our district go to one area to work together for two hours, contacting and searching for new investigators. The spirit of unity and teamwork by doing so is delightful, and it´s always a pleasure to see and work with the amazing missionaries of my zone. We also do it as a very brief exchange. The first time, I got to work with zone leader extraordinaire Elder Saavedra of Peru, and the second time with district leader extraordinaire Elder Huaira, also of Peru. The first one was in our own area!
I feel like my companion and I are getting along a lot better -- I am able to be patient with him and accept his criticisms however they are delivered. We are working hard together, which is my favorite part! We definitely teach well together, and pretty much always have. That´s the most important part, I guess! We´re continually improving.
On Friday, we got to do divisions with two young men members! I went with Bryan, 17, of another branch. We just did a bunch of contacts together, and it was a delight. I felt fairly confident leading the way without my trainer, and felt really good about the work we did. Unfortunately we didn´t find anyone who is truly ready to progress, but we did all we could.
Saturday we spent most of the day in La Cruz. It went really well. We taught some really good lessons and found some promising new people, but none of them came to church and a couple have already generally fallen through. Oh well, we did our part and worked really hard! We´ve been doing all we can these last several weeks to find new investigators, but no one is working out. However, I don´t feel disappointed in myself, because I am doing everything I can. It does make me a bit sad to see people fail to accept the blessings of the gospel, but not too sad -- how can I be sad when I am preaching the gospel of Christ to the people? :) I absolutely love testifying of Christ and bringing peace, hope, and joy into the lives of those who have little. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that through Him we can improve in this life and leave behind our sins. I know that His Atonement is enough for us.
I have been learning so much more about the continuous power and grace of the Atonement! Even so, I am finding that I still struggle at times. I make lots of mistakes, it is true! And my companion lets me know, which can be hard at times -- he gets frustrated when I don´t progress quickly enough, and of course so do I. But I am being patient with myself (and with him), and I am improving every day. I find it difficult to be kind to myself, especially when I make mistakes, but I lean on Heavenly Father through constant prayer, and my spirits are high. I just need to learn even more how to love me . . . . But I´m getting there!
We had a powerful discussion with Paula on Saturday night! She was our only hope for someone who would actually come to church, and therefore be able to be baptized by the end of this month. The Spirit was strong -- she has truly progressed. Her boyfriend left her house this week, which is very good, because they were not getting along, not keeping the commandments, . . . . . . . it was just a generally bad situation, but now she is really progressing spiritually!!!! And she came to church on Sunday with her 3 sons! YAAAAAYYYYYYY it was so happy. She is planning to be baptized on the 27th! We have another lesson with her on Wednesday night, and our fantastic RS Pres., Hna. Luengo, will accompany us.
Paula was the miracle of this week. Pray for her! I look forward to working hard this week. I love you all so much. Shout out to Mom for her amazing package, and to Jessie who RAN A MARATHON and COMPLETED IT!!!!!! OH my gosh that´s awesome.
Love!
--Elder Max Olivier
