good glasses

Dear Family,

Last night, my companion and I participated in a fireside for parents and seminary-aged youth. I was invited by the Stake YM President (Hermano Caipo - I love him) to accompany the hymns and play a special musical number. I chose the "Love at Home" arrangement by Sally DeFord. My number came after the first speaker, who was Peter Santiago Trujillano, the Church Educational System Coordinator for Trujillo. If you can switch Kronk's voice into Spanish, that's kind of how his voice sounded like. That or a pro wrestler. And he's a big, tall man. His manner of speech and his size "caught the attention and arrested it" (as Burtie Wooster might say). He talked for an hour. From the start he got everyone's attention and proceeded to teach us all. For 45 minutes he didn't even mention anything about Seminary, but by the time he was done, I was willing to go back to Seminary all over again. Everyone was edified, and you could feel it. He talked about getting rid of false traditions (like in Peru, the tradition of not reading books, or traditions of not going to seminary, etc.) and starting up Gospel traditions. The week ended on an inspiring note.

This week was a roller coaster ride. Norma had accepted a baptismal date for Saturday, and we were waiting for her to confirm her parents' consent. Between Thursday and Friday, something happened (I'm rather unaware). Perhaps her parents refused to give her permission, but then she started hiding from us. It's one of those things that make you want to chuckle and cry at the same time. You see them down at the end of the street, and as you get closer, they spot you and run like mad into their house and shut the door. And if you ask the neighbors, one will say that they left and haven't come back since the morning, and another will say they just left not 10 minutes ago. Honestly, it made my heart ache. Perhaps I'm not a big fan of confrontation, either; but I am a big fan of sincerity. I was unhappy all Friday afternoon. I suppose I took the decision to be unhappy. But I didn't want to mope. I was anxious to get back to the room and find faith and courage where they ought to be found: on my knees. I sought for inspiration. What could I do? The Lord answered my prayer and comforted my soul. Things will work out.

Sunday, I had another slight disappointment. Myriads had committed to come to Sacrament Meeting. Four people came. Sometimes I wish there were more private places available during the day to have personal prayers in moments of need. But I kept a prayer in my heart and decided that I wouldn't be discouraged. After our meetings ended, an 8-year-old was baptized; almost the whole ward was in attendance. I was called on to give a spur-of-the-moment talk on faith and repentance. It's not the first time. But I prefer public speaking when I've practiced and studied for my audience.

Sometimes we get to be marriage counselors (usually we counsel people who are living together to GET married, because keeping the commandments brings happiness). Joan (that's "joe-AHN") is a mototaxi driver who told us to come visit him, that his wife (er.. you know) is a member and so are her parents. It took us three tries to find Joan at home. On Saturday we found him. He was dirty and smelled bad (he came home from work and just fell asleep), and apparently he had just woken up from a nap. He had a wreck 5 years back that, if I understood the conversation correctly, caused some damage to the speaking part of his brain and prevents him from speaking clearly. But I understood most of what he said. We invited Magaly, his wife, to join the conversation. They wouldn't really look at each other. I wondered if it was just because we were there or if this happened often. I showed my family picture, and Magaly explained that not everybody can have a perfect family like me. I wanted to refer her to the parable of the homemade shirt by Elder Holland, but I didn't have it at hand. Joan said she was "terca" - something like "stubborn". She grumbled something about "Oh, I'M stubborn?". I used an example to help them work things out. Imagine you have two pairs of glasses. One allows to you to see everything good around you, blocking out the bad. The other pair allows you to see everything bad around you, blocking the good. Which pair would you choose every morning? She chose the good pair. So let's start looking for the good traits, rather than criticizing. Life should be happy with the good glasses on. I was suprised that she didn't say her husband might disappear (I suppose that was just a funny thought that crossed my mind). But either way, they got the point and committed to come to church. Magaly came with their 3-year-old, but Joan didn't show up. We'll see him on Tuesday.

Well, I suppose I might need some of my own medicine. I'm going to try out those "good glasses" and see how the world changes. This week was rough, but I've found that I can be uplifted by prayer and that I can lean on the Lord's power. I find joy in the friendships, companionships, leadership, and other working relationships forged in my mission. I rejoice in the love of the members and others who support me. It was like Christmas this morning when I opened a long-awaited letter from a close friend (I did wait since Tuesday with it sitting on my desk). I'm grateful for your prayers, letters, e-mails and thoughts, and for those of you who pop in to read these letters to keep up, whether or not you write.

Well, I've finished my time here. There's a time to use internet, and a time to not use internet.. (vanity of vanities? something along those lines.. haha).

Love,
Elder Withers