Busy and Overwhelming week deserves a much needed P-Day!
Luke called early this morning so he even caught Gavin and the girls before Seminary and school! That was a nice treat. I'm just going to have to get up early on Mondays and get every moving so we aren't rushing around as we talk to him. It was fun to have our morning family prayer together with him. After Eva finished he said "Wow, it's so weird to hear a prayer in English! That hasn't happened for a while!"
Luke had a busy week and has found that by Sundays he is pretty burned out. I told him I remember those days of crazy Sundays and it makes you look forward to going home and being able to sit and enjoy church for yourself and feed your Spirit instead of worrying and fretting about all your investigators, etc. I'm so glad he has P-day today because yesterday he got to the point of not being able to even function. It was a mix of fasting, walking everywhere, stress of being a Zone Leader and all the responsibilities of numbers, trainings, etc. I'm so grateful he realizes when he is to a breaking point and he stops to pray and he is even going to start meeting with a counselor again.
Today when we talked to him he was already feeling better and was looking forward to chillin and sitting down to play the piano. Isn't that funny that after begging me to quit piano and not playing for so long, now he is back to playing. One of the reasons is that there is no piano player to accompany them in the ward he is in and he said they are terrible singers! :) ha ha ha. So his goal is to master a couple of the hymns so he can play for them at church. :) Love it. I hate that he is struggling, but he said something so profound...he said that getting to the point of not being able to function and do the simplest things like planning/praying/studying, is giving him a better understanding of when people struggle with the same thing. I thought that was so true! Sometimes we can't understand what people are going through, but if you have had these same struggles then you can have so much more empathy for a person. That is why it is so amazing that Christ came down and struggled here on Earth, he can truly succor us when we have pain and trials!
Luke had MLC this week (Mission Leadership Conference). He said during the training his Mission President started asking questions and then they would discuss them and look in the handbook for different things. One of the questions was "Can a transgender person get baptized?" Luke leaned over to his companion and said "We'll never have to worry about that one." But then the next day after he came back to his area some of the Elders in his zone called and asked that exact question about one of their investigators! Luke was awe struck! Wow, talk about an inspired Mission President! He learned that a transgender can get baptized if they haven't had surgery to make changes. You learn something new everyday, and you never know when you're going to need it :)
Missions are a rollercoaster. One minute you have someone learning and progressing and the next minute they don't want to learn anymore. Luke has felt that recently in two occasions. The first is with Inez and Adolfo. They have been progressing and having great lessons. But recently they were talking to them about the changes that would have to happen when they get baptized. Inez has a little shrine to the Virgin Mary and worships it. They explained that as much as we honor and adore the Virgin Mary, we don't worship her but just our Heavenly Father. They talked about how they would need to take down the shrine. (Luke said they talked about this in a very sensitive way because this is their culture) Inez and Adolfo are older and very set in their ways and change is hard for them.
Another stumbling block is that Inez is VERY afraid of water. She has a heart condition and is afraid it would worsen being immersed. In fact it is such a huge stumbling block that the elders were looking into getting permission to have the baptismal ordinance done by proxy for the living! Something I have NEVER heard of! I guess it has been done but you need permission from the First Presidency!!!! And then their last lesson didn't go very well. So Luke and his companion, Elder Reyes, were to the point that they were going to tell them that they weren't going to continue the discussions at their next meeting. Well they go into their next lesson and Inez announces "I'm getting baptized at the end of the month! And I'm going to get in the water, I'll do it for God!" WHAT!!!!???? Luke was so excited!!!! And Adolfo is going to pray about it! So they might both be getting baptized!
Oh AND....their daughter, who they thought was a member, she was baptized when she was 8 many many years ago, they can't find her membership records. She might have to get baptized again! Again I've never heard of something like this, but with missions you are constantly being face with new situations! :) Luke said this is the first time he will baptize a member :) ha ha ha. So they might have 3 people getting baptized on Nov. 25th!!! Inez's sister Ramona is also taking the lessons and is close to baptism but I guess they don't get along and Inez said she is going to have to pick a different day to get baptized because she's not getting baptized with her :) Hmmmm, maybe both of them getting baptized will help mend family relationships. :)
The second "rollercoaster" friend that they are meeting with is Oscar. Oscar is the brother of Lucia, who just got baptized. They were rushed on time and tried to squeeze in a discussion with Oscar. Luke said instead of doing what the Lord wanted by taking the time to have the Spirit there, they were trying to just get it done. The discussion was on the Restoration. He had questions and they were rushing and really the Spirit wasn't there and they didn't give well thought out answers, or answer him at all really. He was confused by the discussion and later texted them saying they were false prophets, etc. UGH! They were also meeting with his mom and she was showing potential, but then Juan's car broke down and they had to cancel a meeting with her last minute. That didn't go over well and she texted them angry and said they "lied" saying they were coming and then not showing up. It was a mess. But then a miracle happened!!!! Juan, their Ward Mission Leader, got a text from Oscar telling him he regretted saying the things he said, he was just going through some hard things. He did want to continue with the lessons and even wants to get baptized! And then his mom even called later and apologized! Oh what ups and downs with mission life!!!
Luke got an updated Ward List and found there was a part member family that they decided to go visit. It is the Family Jara. They went on Sunday to visit them and as they pulled up the dad was sitting there drinking beer. They set up an appointment to go back to visit. When they came back the family was all set and ready for the lesson. They had a great lesson that they started out by singing hymns together. The family remembered some of the hymns and were excited to hear them again. They sang some of their favorites that they remembered. Then they went on to teach them about the Restoration and show them a video. The dad was excited and shared the things he remembered about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. They were very excited but they didn't come to church Sunday, it's a little embarrassing to come back after so many years. So Luke and Elder Reyes are going to visit them this week with some members to help them feel more comfortable and they have a goal of getting them to attend next Sunday.
And then they met with another family this week. They were a referral from a member and their names are Marcus and Sixta. It is so great that he is working with families, that's what it's all about!!!
So there you go, missions are rewarding, fufilling, spiritual, but exhausting! I'm so grateful for Luke and all the amazing lessons that he is learning that will stick with him his whole life! God is Good!!!
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