Blessings of the Gospel

Wow! This is week 12 of my 104 weeks as a missionary. That's crazy! The time really just flies. There's so much that happens every day and yet so little to explain! Every day is the same but presents itself so differently. When we baptize people, we tell them that it's the beginning, not the end, of their life of righteousness, but I never really understood how much of a beginning it really was.

Diego (age 13) was always serious and fairly doubtful. He wanted to act, but was not anxious. He wanted to change, but had concerns with his mom, who is not a member. We baptized him about two weeks ago, and the changes have been exciting. He's more confident. He told us he's felt more happy since his baptism. OH!!! It's just so fun to see!!

Elder Brown, Carlos (age 16), Elder Ruiz

Carlos (16) is serious too. However his seriousness is a bit less timid and a bit more dominitave, which is relatively hilarious, as he doesn't measure more than 4 feet 2 inches, and although his build fits his frame, in no means does his width or strength make up for his lack of height. He wears a size 16 shirt, if that helps you understand his stature. Anyway, he had problems with anger, and since his baptism, his anger has dissipated. What more, he had a girlfriend. This girlfriend wanted the commitment of a married couple, without the papers or the age. After his baptism, he had the courage to give a definitive no, AND to end the relationship. He's obviously heartbroken, but baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost has helped him a lot.

The family of Karla is still investigating the church. She is still waiting, albeit a little impatiently, for her family to join her. However, the temple has worked wonders in their lives. The Mom, when I arrived, was passively against the church. Today she gave us a reference and Scarfs. Her children initially were hesitant. Now they all want to be baptized. The husband, well, yeah. He wouldn't go to the temple. The temple, even before it is dedicated, has the power to soften hearts. If we attend the temple when it is dedicated, it has the power to work wonders.

Elder Brown and Elder Ruiz at Tijuana Temple

I had the special privilege of attending a tour of the temple led by President Garcia. He is something else. The temple is something else. We stopped in every room and tried to soak up the Spirit there. He taught us things in each of the rooms. His very voice feels like a hug. He is very concerned for our welfare and our success, possibly more so than you. ;)

Speaking of which, President Garcia gave me a blessing for problems I had been having with my fee last week. He blessed me that they'd be fine and that my Spanish would be adequate. There were other things but my memory proves I'm very human. You asked me about my impressions of president Garcia, and now I have enough experience with him to describe him and my experiences with him a little (I'll try to summarize it under a different article).

One time we (my companion and I) got involved in a bible bash with someone who didn't know the Bible. It's kind of hard to do, but somehow we managed it. Nobody knows the Bible here. Hardly anyone knows much of religion, and the people who know something think they know it all and are not willing to learn. It's like 2 Nephi 9:28. The smartest people often utterly fall short of wisdom. How many times have we done that? How many times have I? Anyway, It occurred to me that every other church is founded on the Bible. We are the foundation of the Bible. Every other church finds its power in the Bible. We acknowledge that the Bible has the power of God, but the prophets of our church give it that. Yes, the scriptures in the Bible allude to our teachings, and our teachings do find reference therein, but because we have a prophet today, the source of the Bible anciently, we give credibility to the Bible, instead of the other way around.

How Beautiful upon the Mountains
Mosiah 14 reads

 14 And these are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!
15 And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet!
16 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!  17 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever! (Mosiah 15:14-17)

Elder Brown's Shoes
Week 3--Hope They Last 2 years

I was stuck in the house one day this week when I read the last verse of Mosiah 27. I remembered all the other times in Mosiah that the theme had been repeated. Once in Mosiah 18, once in 12, before I believe, and chapter 15 as well. There are probably more as well. The humor is that I was stuck in the house due to my feet, which weren't exactly looking pretty. :) I got to thinking though, about how much a privilege it is to be here. To try to teach as I know Christ would have me. To try to teach as I know Christ would. To try to walk as he did. These verses fill me with a deep enthusiasm to work and to walk in this great eternal cause.

PRESIDENTE GARCIA

I remember the first day I met him. We all unboarded the plane with a Mexican travel leader. We were all very lost and confused. The American missionaries all talked about looking our best for the mission president, about impressing him. I don't know what the Mexican missionaries talked about. As the American missionaries continued talking about impressing the mission president, I realized nothing of the sort had even occurred to me. I was just moving on. Then we met the mission president and the APs (assistant to the president). One AP was really tall and had scarily prominent cheekbones, and the other wasn't. We got in our cars and nervously bounced our way to somewhere else to eat, and boy was I hungry. President Garcia talked with us in Spanish, mostly promising us that in three months, we'd be fluent if we talked in only Spanish. The rest I don't remember. I was more interested in filling the black hole of my stomach.

Elder Brown with President and Sister Garcia
October 26, 2015

Then we went to our next appointment. All the new elders sat in the front and nervously awaited their assignments. I said something that was not funny to about ten of the Mexicans, and they thought it was. Normally I say something that is funny and people think it isn’t. Presidente Garcia said a bunch of things that weren't funny to me, but were to the experienced missionaries.

The next time President Gartcia and I talked, I needed to verify in the bathroom mirror that I still had my eyebrows. He scolded us and told us off for all our imperfections. Then did it again. this was the zone conference.

The next time he talked to us I checked again. I can assure you I still have my eyebrows, but it was a close call. He is intense. This was the training control meeting. I learned afterwards that he is concerned that the baptisms are dropping. He worries that too many trainers are lazy.

Then I got to know him personally. He is sooo warm! He is sooo concerned for us. Yes he is intense. I knew it was because he loves us. but I couldn't comprehend how very much. and how very deeply.