No letter from Elder Vomocil today.
A note saying he got the sweaters I sent him, that was all.
Editor
Monday, August 9, 2010
July 12
Hello there. It feels like it has been so long since the last time I was able to write you. This week we had Zone Leader council which is always a fun time. The biggest news from the council is we can now play soccer as a mission. World Cup was pretty crazy down here but I can´t even imagine someone like Spencer who is in Spain.
We just got back from an amazing activity with Elder Zundel and a couple other missionaries. We went up to a sunken volcano and a lake. I will try and send pictures. It is really hard in Otavalo the computers here aren't the best.
This week we didn´t have that much time to work but we tried to put everything we had into the work with the time we had. I got to go on divisions with Elder Zundel and it was amazing talking with him and catching up on all the things that have happened in our lives since we moved away and how amazing it is that we are in the same mission.
I just wanted to tell you about the wonderful experiences that I had this week with prayer. I was reading my Patriarchal Blessing and noticed some phrases that had never really caught my attention before and helped me remember how amazing it is to be able to communicate with my Heavenly Father. I remember in the MTC when my favorite part of everyday was the five minutes right before I went to sleep when everything was quiet and I had time to express my concerns and the desires of my heart to Heavenly Father. It is such a refreshing experience to be able to have that excitement back again. This Sunday while getting to know a little village on the outskirts of our sector, I got to meet one of my favorite contacts of my mission. Luis was out working in his garden with his wife and two kids so we went up to them and asked if we could help (I wasn´t sure what to do if he said yes. I wasn´t sure if gardening is breaking the Sabbath day) He said he had things under control but wanted to hear what we had to say just because we offered to help. We found out that his job is a beekeeper and he decided to do that when he and his cousin decided they were hungry and grabbed a beehive off the tree and got stung 50 times. He then thought, wouldn´t this be the coolest job?
We got to teach his family and it is an experience without comparsion to see the light in someone´s face when they find the truth after looking for so long. After his lesson we were walking back towards town when there was another family out playing together. We were about to walk by but I felt we should say something to them. They invited us into the house and the parents with the 4 kids sat there as we explained the Restoration. It struck me powerfully in that moment that the gospel is so universal that whatever the problem, wherever the country, the gospel and the Atonement of Christ heal all wounds.
I love you all.
Thanks for the updates this week. I am working hard and hope that the Lord will continue to bless you.
I love you all.
Élder Vomocil
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
END OF JULY
Thank you first off for staying up so late to write me.
This week has been one full of learning. The Church came out with new lessons that we, as leaders, are supposed to teach to other missionaries and we were in Quito almost all week learning them ourselves and practicing.
Yup, there is no problem about using my iTouch, I have almost forgotten about technology. Here I am grateful if people have toilets. I will worry about all that when the time comes.
I am glad that Brooke was able to write me and decide her major.
I had a couple friends in the acting major at BYU and it is a competitive program but if you go all out I know you can do it Quintin.
We were able to have a family home evening with an active family to present an investigator to them. Something that one of their sons talked about really impacted me. He taught that we have to live in such a way that when we need blessings we get them immediately. Not because God has to show us mercy, but because we are worthy and have completed with what we need to do to receive them. Many times as a missionary it is hard to recognize all the blessings we receive with our mind always focused on other people, but it is in those critical moments that the Lord blesses me with what I need because I am doing what He wants, in the way He has commanded. Our responsibility is to teach people so that they have the clear option of accepting the gospel and they know fully what they are rejecting or accepting. I have never felt so much joy or sadness for the people I teach-- to know what I have-- they need-- and that they will be effected eternally for my work. I feel like Nephi in 2 Nephi 33:15, what I do in the world will be remembered at the last day and I must obey. I have changed. Little by little I have recognized just how far I have come and how much more I have to go. I am a happier person. I know what the Lord wants and my joy comes from knowing I have pleased Him.
More than anyone I want Quintin to know how important this has been for me. You need to serve a mission. The Lord has great plans for you and you will know what they are when you serve him with all you have. You will have a great time at BYU and use the time to help your testimony to be able to come. I love you so much. Have a spiritual experience this week that helps you remember what the Lord can do for you.
. Élder Vomocil
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