There is so much to talk about, so I'll skip the funny business this week.
This
past Wednesday, I went on splits with the elder from La Favorita, Elder
Soto (one of the elders with whom I arrived in the mission, actually;
un Brasileno), and it is a really rough area and also my birthday, so we
didn't do anything that day; it was like a second P-day. I'm completely
kidding, and I'm obviously still full of jokes, so I apologize for the
lie at the beginning. But here we go, for reals.
We
were working, walking a lot as usual, and I ended up leaving a lot of
my stuff in the house of a member to pick up later so I wouldn't have to
carry it around. Despite the seriously ghetto nature of the area (which
is not, in fact, my favorita, despite its name), I carried my camera
for a reason I didn't understand. That seems inconsequential to any kind
of story, but "the Lord works in mysterious ways, His wonders to
perform". Later, we ended up near Cerro de la Gloria, which I visited on
my first day in Mendoza, and I wanted to take a picture of it from a
distance because I happened to have my camera with me. Elder Soto heard
my desire, and began leading me to a spot just outside the barrio where
the vista is "de veinte". As we walked, I thought, "why am I doing this?
I'm wasting the Lord's time just for a photo." But I strangely felt a
calming of that fear, so I just continued on, still a bit unsure. Then,
as we walked down a dirt road outside the barrio, surrounded by
featureless earth except for one solitary house, there was a girl about
my age seated on the curb at an intersection. We paid her no heed,
already walking on the opposite side from her, but as we passed her she
called to us, saying she had a question. We crossed to her, and she
asked directly how she can overcome her addiction to smoking marijuana.
That was unexpected, but we gave her a pamphlet of the word of wisdom
and began discussing the infinite power of Jesus Christ to help her in
her suffering and depression. I cited scriptures like Alma 7:11-12 and
DyC 122, and the Spirit was present in Its glory. Then I felt the
prompting to give her a Book of Mormon, so I removed one from my bag and
then said something I had never said before: "You are suffering this
because you do not know where to find the help you need, right? [She
agreed.] I tell you now that this is the truth that you are missing, the
Book of Mormon." I felt in that moment so strongly that it was the
truth, and that through the restored Gospel that we were sharing she
could be free, and by no other means. I even went on to explain to her
how we were led to her in that moment in that place, and she broke out
from her solemn face into a huge, legitimate smile. She then explained
her side, that she had stopped smoking multiple times before, but had
relapsed each time because other people offered her more. That day, she
had one more cigarette, and she came to that forsaken corner of nowhere
to smoke it. She felt horrible afterwards, as usual, and was sulking for
a while. And then she looked up and saw us walking down that empty
road, and she knew she had to call to us. And there we were, both groups
of us having been led together by careful Orchestration, in a manner
more clear than I have ever seen before. We ended with a prayer of
thanks, and she picked up the cigarette she had extinguished, showed it
to us, then tore it to pieces, and she left with a smile on her face.
Then as I turned to leave, I saw Cerro de la Gloria, and the view was
beautiful. I took a picture.
Sadly, I have very little time right now, so I will end there, with more to come next week.
All I can say more is that I know that God is beside me.
Love,
Elder Hill
Fotos:
1052: Birthday revelry, because
1047: More revelry
999: Trabajando en la lluvia por la primera vez
1007: Elder Soto, de ISIS
1017: Elder Soto
1035: Cerro de la Gloria
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