Time in Guayaquil 
I SPOTTED YOU SISTER WALKER!! You KNOW I was playing the game even from thousands of miles away!
This past week was a great one and Conference Weekend was legendary! I think it gets better and better every 6 months. There is no doubt that these men and women are called of God. There is no doubt that these new members of the Twelve have been chosen by God to further His work and glory. How blessed I feel to have had the chance to be counseled by Elder Scott, Elder Packer, and Elder Perry...and how blessed we are for the organization of the church and God´s restored power on Earth to have Elder Rasband, Elder Stevenson, and Elder Renlund in the Quorum of the Twelve.
Maybe we will start with the beginning of the week!
Once
a week we have ward visits and we split of with the other Brothers in
the ward to visit more members. I headed off with a Hermano and we visited
various families in the ward that are having difficulties with whatever
it may be...with one brother I felt so inspired to share a verse in 3
Nephi but I refrained. What the verse says had nothing to do with his
difficulty or needs. So I continued to deny this prompting. Finally I
gave in...´´Hermano! I have to share a scripture!´´ So I shared with him
3 Nephi 17:7- ´´Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither.
Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or
that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any
manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion
upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.´´
He was very
emotional for quite some time. Then when he was able to talk he told us
that that was the very scripture that helped him in his choice to be
baptized and that he needed the reminder of why he was baptized and the
covenants and promises that he has made. It is truly incredible how the
spirit works through us. LISTEN. ACT. And don´t wait like I did! The
Lord needs you to listen...NOW!
On Thursday we had quite the
morning! We were up and out the door at 4:30ish to make our way to
Guayaquil for a Temple session and Multi-Zone Conference with President
Riggins. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! The temple was obviously unreal. I received a
plethora of answers to questions that I had been pondering and
meditating on for quite some time!
The Conference was great as
well...President is such an inspired man of God. It is very clear that
he is called of God.
We did have a tough day this week...well
a tough morning. We were contacting and contacting and getting denied
and rejected. Time after time after time. Each time a door was shut on
my nose I got a little bit more discouraged. A little more saddened. A
little closer to giving up. We passed 2 women in the street without
saying anything...I did not want to get denied and made fun of
again...but as we passed I could not deny, yet again, the strong
impression to go back. This time I gave in to the first prompting! We
did not even manage to open our mouth when one of the women said, ´´Just
so you know...I am Catholic.´´ Man...that was pretty straight up. Haha!
But for some reason I did not lose hope. The other women said, ´´You
know what? I was baptized years ago in the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints. I have not been in a very long time and have felt the
absence of something in my life. Do you think you could visit me
sometime next week?´´ WOW. I was in awe. How blessed we are to be led by
the spirit and to be guided to our Heavenly Fathers lost sheep. I have
faith that this women will return to the church. I have faith that we
were guided to her for a reason...a sacred reason. We will see how the
appointment goes later on this week! :)
There is one man who
we have run into quite a bit. Each time he sees us he tries to contend,
ridicule, and fight. It is even hard to get a testimony out. When we saw
him watering his bushes, I said a small prayer in my heart, we headed
in his direction. And as usual...came the contention, ridiculing, and
fighting. After enough spit had been splattered on my face and after
enough damage to my heart had been done...we simply
asked...´´Brother...if you were to come to know that what we teach is
true would you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by
someone holding the Priesthood power and authority of God?´´ His
response was unexpected...´´COME IN TO MY HOUSE!´´ We taught this man of
the Restoration of the Church through the Prophet Joseph Smith and how
incredible it was to see his faith grow and see him believe every word
that was spoken through the Holy Spirit that was touching his heart and
testifying of every spoken word! We finished the lesson and he said, ´´I
HAVE TO SHARE THIS WITH MY FAMILY!´´ Haha! What an incredible man he
is. It was a marvelous experience to talk to him and see him as he
changed.
CONFERENCE WEEKEND! I finally got to listen to they
who I have been testifying of for so long! The messages were so
powerful! We watched the Saturday morning session in the Stake Center
and the afternoon session with the Family Jaramillo! I think it would be
better for me to NOT write what I have learned or else we would be here
for quite sometime. The Priesthood session was just as great! We
finished off with the two Sunday sessions in the Stake Center as well.
That was a summary of this week!
We
have changes on Wednesday...mixed emotions! I have really grown close
to the members in this ward and the people who I have been blessed to
serve. But I know that I will be sent to where the Lord would have be
go! I am excited to flip the page and start a new chapter of my mission!
The
greatest, most miraculous, and courageous even in all of history took
place in a garden when the Savior withdrew Himself a stonescast. In the
22nd chapter and 41st verse in Luke, the Savior kneels...and He prays.
What occurs in the Savior´s prayer amazes me more and more day by day.
´´He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses´´, He sweat
´´great drops of blood´´, ´´suffered for us´´, and ´´layed upon Himself
the iniquity of us all´´. For a moment in time...He represented you. He
lived your life and stained Gethsemane with His blood for the sins that
you have committed, are committing now, and will commit in the future. He
felt your every pain, experienced your every trial, was diagnosed with
your every sickness, feared your every fear, doubted your every doubt,
and lost what you have lost. Your Savior was YOU...I believe that is one
of the reasons that He asked the Father ´´if thou be willing, remove
this cup from me´´. Not because of fear. Not because of weakness or lack
of endurance...the Savior was and is perfect and endured
perfectly...but because He was representing you and felt what you would
feel and experienced what you would experience he wanted ´´this cup´´
removed from you. He was begging for you. Then came the most heroic,
submissive, and humble act that the world has ever known; ´´nevertheless
not my will but thine be done´´.
Never mind my exhaustion...I will keep on.
Never mind the sins that have caused me to sweat blood...I will bleed on.
Never mind the agony, grief, and struggle I have felt...I will struggle on.
Never mind the beating I shall take here shortly...I will go to it.
Never mind the cross that I will soon be nailed to...for I will carry it.
What
bravery in a time of such darkness and hopelessness. What love. What
understanding our Savior has for all of us thanks to his willingness to
submit to the Father´s will.
I testify in the name of Him who
kept on, bled on, struggled on, went to it, and carried it, that you
have someone who KNOWS you. Your older brother KNOWS you. I find it so
amazing how ´´this is life eternal, that you might know Him the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, who He hast sent´´. As Christ came to know
you that day in the garden...you must too come to know Him. You must
come to know Him as He came to know you. IT WILL NOT BE EASY! You are
going to have to keep on, struggle on, bleed on, go to it, and carry it
but the miracle of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is that He already
represented us and struggled through it, kept it, bled it, went to it,
and carried it. That means WHATEVER you are going through...whatever you
feel...whatever storm has come...whatever pain is in your heart or
overtaking your body...you too can keep it, struggle it, bleed it, go to
it, carry it, and through the everlasting power and redemption of Him
who was lifted upon the cross and arose the third day...you can overcome
it. You can be crowned with glory even as He was. Brothers and Sisters
you can live through. You can endure. You were foreordained to endure. I
send my most loving and meaningful prayers to all who are suffering in
their garden that you can all come to know Jesus Christ through enduring
what He has already endured. That you can submit yourselves to God´s
will and be exalted through the depths of your humility in times when
giving up seems like the only answer.
He lives. That I know. I
am coming to know Him more and more each and every day. He has freed me
from all...His blood washes my soul each time I repent and submit to
the Father´s will. I know He played my part, read my lines, and lived my
life in that garden...´´Oh it is wonderful that He should care for me
enough to die for me. Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me.´´
In
the name of the Only Begotten, living, breathing, Savior of this world
and many others, Jesus Christ the Redeemer of us all. Amen.
Elder Noll
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