Why can He not instruct me how to build a ship?

Buenas Dias!

Good news folks, I have officially finished my parasite medication.  This means that I am now officially living the mission rules: No pets.

The funny thing about having a parasite in a third world country is how normal it is to everyone that you have it.  You can literally buy parasite medication on every street corner here in P_______.  You take it for 5 days and hope for the best.  But, another exciting mission adventure to add to my list.

We have seen a lot of miracles here in P_______ this week.  It just goes to show that The Lord really does fulfill his promise in Eter 12... We only receive a witness after the trail of our faith.  This change has been hard for me.  But definitely so very worth it.  We are really starting to see the fruits of our labors here in P______.

Let’s start with the biggest miracle of them all:

C_______ and her daughters accepted their baptismal fechas.  They are getting baptized this Sunday.

I cannot even begin to explain what a miracle this is.  Things were looking rough with them, to the point that Hermana B_______ and I were talking about leaving them. C_______, although she had received a very direct answer that she should be baptized, just wasn’t willing to take this step for fear of upsetting her very Catholic family.

We finally committed her to talk to her dad about it.  We were praying like crazy this wouldn’t crush her desires to be baptized.  To make things worse, the Evangélico missionaries from her old church stopped by to drop off some anti-Mormon literature and try to convince her that by getting baptized she would go directly to hell.

Thanks homies, that was helpful.

But, C________ talked to her dad and he told her: "I will support you in any decision you make.  Always have, always will."

WHAT A MIRACLE!!!

She accepted her fecha that same night.

This week while reading my scriptures, I was reading in 1 Nefi  where Nefi has just been commanded to build a ship.  Poor guy.  Clearly he has received no training in how to build a ship.  The lives of his family literally depend on this.  The Lord asks him to drop everything and build a giant boat secure enough to carry his beloved family to the Promised Land.  I imagine that this was terrifying for him.  To make things worse, his punk brothers are mocking him and telling him it’s impossible.

A lot of times this is what it feels like to be a missionary.  Mission life is hard and rarely predictable.  Six weeks of training in the CCM isn’t sufficient to teach you how to deal with all the crazy things that may come your way.  It really is like we have been instructed to build a boat. 

But I love the response of Nefi, he explains all the miracles that he has seen and read in the scriptures and then states

"If the Lord has worked these many mighty miracles, how is it that He cannot instruct me to build a ship?"

This totally applies to missionary work.  I think of all the amazing miracles we have seen here in P_____, like the baptisms of M______ and F________.  Clearly if The Lord has power to work all these mighty miracles, how is it that he cannot show us more?

Well we are seeing the miracles.  So many miracles.  I am so blessed to be here as a sister missionary serving in Guatemala. 

Rain, shine, parasites, stray dogs, cockroaches,Evangélico missionaries, Testigos de Jehova, I love it all.

I love these people. 

I love this work.

I love the Gospel.

I love the Lamanites.  

I love The Lord, and I know that He loves us too.

Keep making good choices my friends. I will see you all before you know it.

Con amor!

Hna Wise

Trying new fruits!