Celestial Effort

I realize that the picture I painted of Buenos Aires in my previous email was fairly grim. I would like to assert here that I love the mission. I love where I´m at right now in the offices. I love Adrogué, my area. And I love the Argentine people. I love being a missionary, and bringing this message of happiness to those in need. This world, spiritually speaking, can be a dark and terrible place. But my testimony of this message and the light it brings into the lives of others is stronger now than it has ever been before. That is the message of missionary work, and the gospel as a whole. That even though we live in a fallen state, because of what Christ did for us through the atonement, we can all be reconciled to our Heavenly Father once more. We never have to live in darkness.

Anyways...

This week I have been impressed in my study of the Book of Mormon, of the importance of diligence. I have noticed that it is almost always used in conjunction with a phrase like "laboring with diligence." Elder Gibbs and I have been on an emotional rollercoaster so to speak with our investigators. Many have hit brick walls and are looking for the strength to progress. We´ve decided to start doing more to raise the bar on our current work. Trying to put forth a celestial effort to help them progress.

Celestial effort was a phrase that came to my mind when I was reading about Mormon, and King Benjamin. People who labored with diligence even to the exhausting of their own strength. Labored without ceasing even when the situation seemed hopeless, and even when the task was difficult. These men of God endured regardless of the situation. Celestial effort describes the efforts of the old pioneers, struggling to pull handcarts across snow filled plains. It describes the efforts of missionaries ancient and modern to bring sheep back to the fold of God. It describes the efforts of the Savior Himself, who bore the burdens of us all in Gethsemane.

I´ve been pondering the phrase a lot lately, especially during proselyting hours. At the end of the day Elder Gibbs and I will ask ourselves "Did we put forth a celestial effort today?" There´s always room for improvement. But I´ve discovered in the mission that the secret to diligence isn´t often how good we are at doing things, but that we simply do them.

For example

The past Saturday and Sunday, usually the best proselyting days, proved incredibly difficult for Elder Gibbs and me. As we worked in the street, making contacts and trying to get to our investigators, it seemed like we were met with rejection at every turn. At times, we felt like we were walking through sand, as if every step we took was labored. It´s easy to get discouraged in the mission at times like these, which aren´t incredibly uncommon. At the end of the day, we asked ourselves what went wrong. Of course there was room for improvement on our part, but at the same time, the most important thing was that we were trying. We left the door in the morning on time. We were out in the street as required doing the contacts, trying our best to get a hold of the people. Perhaps the chips didn´t fall our way that day, but at the very least when it was all said and done, we knew that we didn´t go home early, and we had done our best to do Lord´s will. We set goals to improve the following week and moved on with the work. The most important part of diligence is not the numbers, it´s the consistency.

Diligence is obedience over time. It is the final principle of the gospel, inseparable with enduring to the end.

Even though the weekend was slow, we were still able to find many investigators the previous week. Some of which are now progressing wonderfully. Victor, who we had a baptismal date with, is now looking for work, and still finds it hard to read and pray. He is looking for the strength to change, but is still caught up with the faults of his former life, and he doesn´t believe that he can repent. We´re working on setting another date for his baptism.

Other investigators include Jimena Alegre. Her mom and dad were baptized by the assistants last transfer. She is convinced that she has to read and understand the entire Book of Mormon before she can get baptized. We invited her to fast last Sunday and read the talk "knowing that you know" by Elder Callister. She has progressed a lot and is going to get baptized in the near future, even though she still won´t concede a day.

Well I would love to inform you on others, but I´m running short on time right now. I hope that you are all well in your daily endeavors. I´m grateful for your support and prayers on my behalf, and I want you all to know that you’re never too far from my prayers as well. I know this is the Lord´s church, that He is the one directing it today. If we put forth a celestial effort in the small aspects of our daily life I know that we will see our surroundings slowly turn celestial as well. That´s my invitation to you today.