Well, this week was another work week for Elder Davis and I. We had another great lesson last night with that couple from last week (Elizabeth and Yamil). It is awesome how The Spirit really does enlighten the mind and enlarges our capacity to understand as we draw closer to and follow The Light of Christ. Elizabeth and Yamil have been sponges as we have taught The Restoration and The Plan of Salvation, they accept what we teach as soon as they hear it, they understand its significance in their own lives, and they remember it when we come back and ask them about it. Their desire to learn also keeps increasing, Elizabeth just wants to learn all the commandments to be able to keep them and receive the blessings that she feels she needs at this time in her life. Their 2 kids, Benjamin (4) and Florencia (3), also are pretty fun and cute kids. They are still pretty mind blown that I pulled a pass along card out of thin air for both of them to keep. In my head, I can see my own fascination as Papa Magic did the same for us when we were little kids.
Herode, a recent Hatian convert, also is doing really well. He has a pretty funny way of praying, kind of epic. "Our Heavenly Father, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob...and God of Joseph Smith, I thank Thee for...." This guy is awesome. Pray for the health of his family, The PearSainnt family! The climate change from Haiti to Chile has affected their health. Hatians are pretty amazing people. They get ripped off by the majority of the Chilenos here, being underpaid, oversold, and poorly treated. But tell you what, you will never get a door slammed by a Hatian. Yes, they do work like 60 hours a week, but they still have time to listen to the pleasing word of God. They are always smiling, and they are always respectful to everyone...even those who are anything but respectful to them. Hatians are great.
A quick, kind of dumb thing that happened yesterday, but something that I was able to learn from:
As Elder Davis and I were walking to do some contacts, we walked by an Almacen (little mini market) with one of those big Coke trucks outside of it. The truck driver got my attention, and pointed to a wad of newspaper covered in tape, telling me to try to make a goal. He had two little crates on the ground, forming a mini goal, and was going crazy telling me to try and get a goal on him. Sweet! I took a few steps back, and went for the Golazo. I kicked that thing with all my heart.
Ball didn't budge. Full of cement, or rocks, or some kind of extremely heavy solid that made me feel like I just kicked a light post as hard as I could. The driver ran inside the truck and locked the doors. I gave 2 pass along cards to the store owner, and told him to give one to the guy whenever he got out of truck. It wasn´t a pure act; I really just wanted the guy to feel bad for maybe breaking my foot. I limped around for the rest of the day, pretty big pain in my right foot, and then at night iced it and said a prayer, asking The Lord to heal my foot if it was His will. I woke up this morning, a little pain, but a million times better than yesterday. 2 quick lessons I learned from that experience:
1) While I was nervous that maybe I had totally wrecked my foot and maybe even ruined the little time I have left as a full time missionary, I was able to feel confident in The Lord that His will would be done. While I am far from perfect here as a missionary, I can say with confidence that I am trying my best to be right with The Lord and I don´t feel like there are any major things that would impede The Lord from blessing me and leading me to wherever He wants me to be. That "personal cleanliness" allowed The Spirit to fill my heart with peace and allowed me to trust in The Lord and His plan, in spite of the unfavorable circumstance that I was in. If there was anything in my life that hadn´t been cleared with The Lord, I think that I would have been less "at ease" in the moment and would have wondered if the circumstance was a result of personal sin or transgression. I know that there is a real peace and confidence that comes from righteous living. It was The Prophet Joseph who said “We believe that we have a right to revelations, visions, and dreams from God, our heavenly Father; and light and intelligence, through the gift of the Holy Ghost, in the name of Jesus Christ, on all subjects pertaining to our spiritual welfare; if it so be that we keep his commandments, so as to render ourselves worthy in his sight.”
2) The Lord answers prayers! Joseph Smith ALSO said: "Be plain and simple and ask for what you want, just like you would go to a neighbor and say, I want to borrow your horse to go to the mill." I just wanted to serve The Lord, to do the MOST I could with the little time given to me. Ibn my case, He simply heard my prayer, I´m sure He saw my heart, and then gave me that which I desired. I know that The Lord will always grant us that which we ask, according to our desires. It was my desire to serve and help as many as I could, and in my case, The Lord confirmed to me that I will be able to help more people with 2 good feet than with 1 good foot. If there were more people to helped with 1 good foot, The Lord would not have healed me, in order to grant my desire to help the most people that I can here in Chile.
All is well! I love you!
-Elder Hixon
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