The Power of a Testimony

The entire Costa Rica San Jose East Mission at the dual mission conference

Finally met Elder Stott also from a suburb of Portland Oregon! He was assigned to the West Mission.

Missionaries waiting for the meeting to begin

Paso Ancho Ward "alumni" with Bishop!

I met my "grandson!" Elder Guirola's training him. He's from Washington too!

Gettin ready for the buseta trip back to Zona Sur!

Shiblon with his blanket bed haha

Our investigator had his pig and cow give birth on Sunday! I touched the baby calf :)

Elder Acuña and Giles!

This week was a good week. Nothing too exciting in the work happened, until we got to Friday.

Friday morning we were on a bus headed up to San Jose because Saturday, we had a double-mission wide conference with Elder Cook! So we all got to shake his hand and then he spoke for about an hour, and after that some other General Authorities spoke as well.

It was such a special experience to really be in the same room as an Apostle of God. As I saw him, it was clear that he's a normal person! I mean, he's incredibly converted to the Lord, and has a grand calling, but he's a person! And he was so loving, and so humble. I could just feel God's love radiating through him and his wife.

He shared some really great things that I really loved, but what impacted me most was the testimony he shared. As he testified as an Apostle, as a special witness of the Son of God, I could feel the Spirit bearing witness to my soul. and now that's engraved in me!

After that, President Christensen explained something which I felt so true. He had once heard on his mission that the mission is like a 'mini life'.

When you start the mission, you don't know anything but accept that you don't know anything and learn a lot.

Then, you get to your adolescence, where you hardly know anything but believe that you know everything. 

And then there's that spiritual adulthood, where you know a little bit of something, but recognize that you don't know much, and rely on the spirit to guide you again.

What impacted me most from Elder Cook was his testimony. It was more important than any knowledge or any principle that he could teach me. This is the Lord's work, and he sends his Spirit to soften the hearts of the people! We as missionaries should be vessels of that Spirit so that they can have that life changing opportunity. So that made me reflect alot on how I viewed missionary work, and accept that I need to really try and be a better vessel of the Spirit.

Then, yesterday, we got to see this applied! We had this wonderful lesson with a man, Juan, and his wife. We had taught Juan a few times, and he was looking like he might progress, but this time he told us that his wife didn't really want to go to a different church, etc. So we invited ourselves in to teach her, too! haha.

There was nothing special about what we said. It was a good old, normal, standard lesson about the Restoration. But when we shared the First Vision, I could feel the Spirit so strongly. And so we testified! And helped them recognize that feeling as well.

I learned a big lesson from Elder Cook. A real, sincere testimony invites the Spirit and is so important.

So that's what I (re)learned this week. Our zone met its goal! Sometimes it seems to me like so few baptisms, but then I remember that there's 20 converts in Neily last year and only 1 is really well active, and I know that there were several really good converts this month. So I'm pretty happy with the zone's work   :) Yeah I saw Elder Tullis. I love the guy so much. That's so sick we're going to be roommates!

Have a great week, everyone! Rely on the Spirit and be a pure vessel of Him.

-Elder Henry