Ups and Downs (June 19, 2023)

What's up everybody?? First of all happy Father's day to all the dads out there and especially to all those who have had a huge impact on my life! Dads are the best! I hope you all had a great week back at home! As for me and my week.... well at least I survived and it ended haha. I'll try and explain.

So to start the week on Tuesday we went and ate at Ines's house and she had us buy some pork to cook up and eat, I made a bad choice and bought the cheap sketchy kind we've never bought but I wanted to save me some pesos ya know, so anyways we eat lunch and don't think much of it and head out to work. Elder Messier and I are then out knocking doors and contacting in the afternoon and our stomachs both just out of nowhere got wrecked and we had to hustle home. We thought we could just take some medicine and stuff and be back out, but we both ended up curled up in our beds for the rest of the day. We were very very sick. The next couple days we worked but felt miserable and we informed the mission medical people about what was going on and they were all pretty sure we had parasites. So we got us some fancy worm killing medicine and hopefully we'll survive this one. We've pretty much been sick all week but the last couple days have been a little better. So if you can do anything to help me out in Chile, pray that I don't get tapeworm or anything nasty like that. Anyways that's it for nasty stuff.

This week of teaching was like the most awesome and most disappointing week ever! We were able to find a ton of new people! One being a family of 9 Venezuelans that are all super interested in listening! It was great! We were able to get 2 friends on date Saturday, one for next week if she could come to church the next day. Saturday night things were looking really good for us, we had a lot of people committed to come to church and a baptism ready to be planned. Everything was so good until Sunday morning, miraculously not a single person could come, it was devastating. Us and Ines were all Chepica had to show for, I've never felt so depressed in a Sacrament meeting before. When people don't come to church I usually can find things I could've don't better to get them to church, but this week we were in their hones Saturday night and in contact until Sunday morning and it didn't happen, I just couldn't believe it. Although it's hard, I know that this is important. 

"And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been stoned, and taken and bound with strong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again. 30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some." (Alma 26:29-30). In the hardest moments of my mission I have read Alma 26. It is always a reminder to "bear with patience thine afflictions" (v. 27). I love the examples in the Boom of Mormon of missionary work, it has never been easy, and helping people come to conversión has always taken time. I have a testimony that it is supposed to be this way, "ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6). Go knows who he wants us to be, and he will give us every opportunity necessary in order to grow into who he wants us to be, but we can only do that through "the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God." (Helaman 5:12). He is with us in every moment, good or bad, and we can find him as we apply his teaching, "ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (3 Nephi 27:29).

I'm sorry I know that was a lot of scriptures, but I can testify that it is through the words of Christ that I can keep going daily, and that the words of Christ are our "daily bread" to keep us alive spirirtually. I love the scriptures, I love this gospel, I love being a missionary, and I love Jesus Christ. This is his church, I know it's true!

Elder Micheli