Contacts

Dear people,
    The mission changed a lot for me this week. I changed my attitude. Instead of just trying to show people how irrational their thinking is, I don´t try. People can only understand what they want to understand. Anyways, I really am trying to love the people. I´m taking interest in what they believe, what their interests are, what is important to them, etc. I have had a lot of good conversations with people and am learning from them. Everyone has something they can teach you. I am trying to avoid contention as much as I reasonably can. I entered more houses. When I talk, I´m serious and sincere about what I have to share. I share with the people how these things have made me a happy and free person, and I mean what I say. I always leave a lesson feeling really good when we and the other people have sincerely tried to understand one another. Although Argentina and Argentines have not changed, my time here has. I enjoyed my time here this week then in weeks previous.
    He beat the record. He has completed confounded us. Carlos, the investigator who called the church and having deeply studied and pondered the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ from his personal study of it, continues to learn at a ridiculous pace. He read The Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and the Doctrine and Covenants in less then three weeks, and Understood what he read. Wow. He is now doing the same thing over again but is attempting to try to learn and understand a lot more than he did before at a slower pace. In church the things he say amaze me. He is very friendly with the ward members. He and Liliana are more consistent in their attendance at church than most of the members and are on time (no one is on time). Yesterday in Priesthood it was just the teacher, us, Carlos, and one other member in Priesthood.
    Liliana as well continues to learn and understand the gospel very well. She and Carlos are planning to get married (once the judges get off their month of vacation). It´s out of this world having investigators like these.
    Pablo from Colombia astounds me as well. He learns extremely fast and well. With him we have to overcome a thing or two, but is progressing well. He and the others mentioned above have told us what we are sharing is important to them and therefore take it seriously. They believe in God and make time for him in their lives. They say they have felt and seen that it is true. Pablo says the families of some of the members he knows (the ones who live the gospel that is), have a peace he has not seen elsewhere.
    Janeth does not understand as well but Pablo helps her learn. She understand little by little and is progressing well. She definitely felt it. She and Pablo want to get married. It may be difficult though, they being from another country along with a few details I will not mention here.
    Other than the same old investigators we are finding, teaching, inviting to keep commitments, and then usually having to drop people when they do not comply with such. I taught a very nice lesson last night right before we were going to go back to the apartment. A guy said he needed to take a shower and was consequently busy. I bore my testimony that our message is of extreme importance, that it has made me happy, and that I know it can do the same for him. He felt it, and let us in. He a week ago juntadoed with his girlfriend and just moved into their new house. They sincerely wanted to know and understand what we had to share. Were very open minded about the whole thing. They listened and tried to clarify what we had said to make sure they understood. I was on splits with a missionary I had never been with before, but still the lesson went very fluid. I felt the spirit and we shared our testimonies often. They understood very clearly that they could ask God and receive an answer from him if what we shared is true. I left the lesson a better person.
      I met another man who had talked with missionaries before and bore testimony of the answer he received concerning what we share is true when he asked God. The problem, which I am finding to be all too common, is that he and many other people have not acted on those answers. We need to live lives of action. If we do not we will not progress and will not be able to be happy.
  Elder Shawn Reed