Dear all, It sure has been a week. A week I would like to forget, but know that I will always remember. Walking the streets in the burning sun. Huddling under umbrellas only to end up drenched in the pouring rain. Worn out shoe. And worn out hearts, tired of rejection. Door after door. Day after day. Facing discrimination. Facing enemies. Giving it our all. Getting yelled at in return. But they don't understand what we do. And they need what we have. So we keep pressing on. Elder Hollland put so perfectly, "You may wonder if it is worth it to take a courageous moral stand in high school or to go on a mission only to have your most cherished beliefs reviled or to strive against much in society that sometimes ridicules a life of religious devotion". Yes, it is worth it!" I will never give up hope. And I will never stop. Because it IS worth it. I know it's worth it. I know our message is true. And I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know I represent Him. Just as I know that I will one day see these people again at the judgement bar. Face to face. One day every person that has rejected Christ will know that I was His representative. And that I had the fulness of truth. Andrea... She has been hiding from us. I call her everyday and bear my testimony on her answering machine. She never answers. I knew something was wrong. We stopped by her house and were greeted with church material thrown in our face. Every pamphlet we had ever given her and the book of mormon. All seen as trash in her eyes. I asked her if we could talk. I wanted an explanation. We deserved an explanation! Seeing that I was not going to leave without one, she ran out of her house hoping to get away from us. We had to run to keep up with her, and the last thing she wanted to do was hear sincere and strong testimonies of the restoration of the true gospel on the earth. We promised her consequences for recieving an answer and completely rejecting it. We tried, and ran, and testified, and defended our faith. But she wouldn't hear any of it. She wouldn't even look us in the face. In the end we went our sperate ways, and as she walked away we promised her one day she would see us again. My companion and I just stood there in silence. In the dark. Not knowing whether to break down and cry or to keep chasing her. So we decieded to find someone who wanted to hear us. But most of Belen has already seen Hermana Starke and knows that she talks to every person that she sees and invites them to come unto Christ. And when we come their way, they cross the street, walk faster, or ignore us. But guess what. We keep inviting. Maria... told me that her Pastor recieved the authority on the day of pentecost. I kindly invited her to read the book of Acts and she would learn that they were only given the gift of the Holy Ghost. She then started to tell me that she has read the bible a lot more times then I have and that she is in the true church. So how does she know? Because she has the gift of tongues. She speaks hebrews and can understand and interpret other languanges. Funny how she didn't even know how to say hola in hebrew when I asked her. Maylene... when I asked her if we could share our message with her she responded ever so harshly, saying NO! I am very busy working for my own church. Ohh... and what do you do for your church? Are you a teacher...leader...missionary? She got real close up in my face, and said NO, I AM A PROPHET. Bible verses and testimonies got no where with this lady and she walked away telling us where we would be going after this life. And it wasn't pretty. But the words of Elder Holland, a true and living prophet, called by God couldn't be more comforting and more direct, "Be strong. Live the gospel faithfully even if others around you don’t live it at all. Defend your beliefs with courtesy and with compassion, but defend them" Emilio, a recent convert has stopped coming to church because he is bored. And says he can find better things to do with his Sunday. Then there's the common taxi driver that tells us he goes to the "third door to heaven church" and likes it because he doesn't have to do anything but show up, sit down, and enjoy. He has Jesus Christ in his heart and that's all that matters. Because according to Esmeralda, God loves her and Jesus has aready paid for her sins. So why should she have to do anything? She's heard all the lessons, believes that it's all true. But doesn't feel like living the commandments. And has decided that she's not going to. Again, Elder Holland says so clearly, "Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds. Talk about man creating God in his own image!"
I do not share these stories to hate on others. I do not mean to critizice or disrespect. But I want everyone to know that like Elder Holland has invited us to do, I am here in Costa Rica defending my faith. I will never stop defending it. Everyone in Belen asks us why we have an angel with a trumpet on the top of our temple and I proudly tell them all that the gospel must be proclamied so that every ear will hear and have the opportunity to accept the truth. Sadly, that promise does not mention that everyone will "accept" it. But I know that Jesus Christ lives, he himself was rejected. Indeed, of Jesus Himself, Jacob’s brother Nephi wrote: “And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.” We must endure hardships, rejection, and hate to truly represent him. I love Him. And He gives me the strenth I need to go on. I know that He will come again. He IS coming again. The day is drawing nearer and nearer. I can feel it. President Wilkinson taught in our leadership meeting this week that challenges give us opportunities. Welcome every burden with a hug! And I know that to be true. So I say bring it on! Because I love these experiences, they strengthen my testimony and deepen my love for the Savior. Every baptism, every convert, every miracle, every spiritual experience requires effort, work and patience. So we work and sweat and walk and study so that others can choose to accept or reject this great message. I know that this work cannot be stopped. President has plans to open 4 new stakes in Costa Rica and another mission in the next year. Through faith, all things are possible. More sisters are being sent out than ever, our mission will have almost 100 in this next change. Being a missionary is brutal, but it is also beautiful and I wouldnt trade it for anything. The church is true. Of that I testify. I love this gospel. I love you all, Hermana Starke
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