Well Hello! Anyway, this will be a bit shorter cause we had an awesome day of helping the Sister Missionaries and the Zone Leaders move houses. We did it with 4 elders... I will never again move a fridge 6 floors OR have an old man tell me how to use a screw driver (it was a eatherman anyway...) haha. So today is a little rushed.
Here's my week...
There is no better work than being a missionary. Sorry, something else came to mind, haha, there is a little boy that always steals our name tags and I couldn't help but laugh when I used Dad's famous quote to action... 'my arms will always be longer than your brain.' The little boy ran away frustrated after my hand on his forehead kept him from my name tag.
Ecuador is the BEST! The other day I fulfilled a goal of mine that should never be accomplished again. I had rice for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner! My exercises in the morning now simply consist of abs abs abs and jump rope, haha.
There is such truth to the phrase 'The field is white, already to harvest.' está YA para la siega! It is so true; this week as a Zone of 18 missionaries we had 90 people with baptismal dates. The next two weeks, if all goes well, we should have 7 baptisms here in our ward Eloy Alfaro. What a joy this work of a missionary is. It's two years, why not work? Why not enjoy it? Why not live it to the max?
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is seen in families. A baptism for this weekend is a mother named Amarilis. Why is she getting married to be baptized? She saw the example and light in her two children. The next weekend is a family of 3 who are following the example of their Grandma; an elderly couple who have been married for years and simply want the truth; and a girl who has always gone to church with her grandparents. You know what a mother told me this week? She told me she LOVES what the Gospel has done in her life and wants baptism, Why? She has seen love grow between her kids, patience flourish in times of trial, and comfort along the way. Apply that to our lives! Let us live the Gospel, it truly changes lives. And how? By simple, cherished virtues often overlooked such as patience, hope, love.
I told you two weeks agoish that an elder man told us 'I don't care if my wife doesn't follow me, I'm going to be baptized!' Well we accepted that and Elder Barcia and I went to visit them the other day. The wife cut us off as we were talking about the function of the Holy Ghost. She told us, 'you know... I like this. I'm going to follow my husband.' I just about cried! I literally told her with the biggest, sincerest smile, 'How do you feel right now? Cause I sure feel awesome!' The Gospel of Jesus Christ, when lived, is Happy and Eternal Families. Families that read together, pray together, family home evening together... but not simply that. Families that have fun together, families that talk, families that share. As a missionary you can really tell the homes where the Spirit resides and where it doesn't.
I am SO happy out here in the field, am so happy with my companion. We passed for an embarrassing moment the other day (and in saying we I mean ME... we're just always together haha). A dog gave me the stink eye and the gnarly teeth look. You all know how fond I am of big, angry dogs. It came like mad and AFTER the fact my companion said 'you know… I was waiting to see how you'd react. You were closer anyway.' Haha thanks companion. But in a moment of true danger my true instincts kicked in, my tree cat instincts! I kicked, jumped, did a 180 and dodged that mutt as it ran for cover! How embarrassing haha, that was the pits. But together we turned a moment like that into a joke. Humility reigned over pride, a pebble of pride was instead a rock of redemption and becoming more who my parents are, more who my Savior is.
I love the mission. Your attitude is your altitude, your optimism is your outcome. A few happy families, a kid who will think twice before snagging my name tag, and a rotten dog make up my week! No hay ninguna obra tan hermosa que la obra misional. Las personas se acercan al Salvador y realmente disfrutan de las bendiciones que se logran al sacrificar. Las bendiciones que se disfrutan mas que todo son los que vienen por sacrificio. Las familias pueden y DEBEN ser eternas, los perros DEBEN quedar en la sombra sin enojarse conmigo o yo voy a saltar y dar la vuelta de nuevo! La Iglesia de Jesucristo se restauró y sigue hoy como la Roca de nuestra salvación, felicidad, paz y progreso. Apégense al Salvador y Sus enseñanzas. Busquen las bendiciones como familia y las verán sin duda! Les amo mucho. I LOVE THE WORK!
Elder Griffin McGinn
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