Hermana Beutler in Ecuador: Week Twenty-one: Every day is different . . .

Hola mi familia!

Every day is different here in Ecuador. One day it is blazing hot, the next you come home drenched from the rain. One day you have ten progressing investigators, the next you have none. But the great thing about the mission is that you´re doing the work of the Lord. So you always know that there´s sunshine or new people to teach just around the corner.

This week definitely had it´s ups and downs, but I learned this week that the only thing we have control over constantly is our attitude about the situation. This week wasn´t easy. I found myself really questioning why we weren´t able to see the fruits of our labor. No one was progressing and our less actives weren´t showing any desires to come to church. I was getting pretty down about it. Then we had a family home evening in our ward to welcome back a missionary who just got home and our stake president said something that really helped me this week. He said ¨As a missionary you experience a lot. You experience rejection, disappointment, and sadness for the people. More often than not, there are more sad experiences than good. However, you could experience rejection every day of your mission and have one spiritual experience where you know you are making a difference as a missionary and it would make it all worth it.¨ It is so very true. The work isn´t easy. And more often than not we experience rejection and disappointment. However, the moments that make it all worth it are there too. It´s like running. While you´re running you might feel like you want to slow down or give up, but the second after you finish a great run you feel like a million bucks! And that same feeling is what pushes you on your next run. It´s the same on the mission, it´s tough, but it is oh so worth it. I love being a missionary!

We were very blessed to have a world wide conference this week for all missionaries! It was like general conference but everything was about missionary work! It was the best!!! I learned SO much and was so reenergized to go back and work! I am so grateful to be serving in a time when we have the technology to have such a special event like that. Oh I wanted to tell you all about a really cool experience that I had this week with one of our investigators. So Ines is an older lady with eight kids who lives alone because her husband works in a different city and only visits once a month. She wanted to get baptized last transfer but she wasn´t willing to tell her husband about her baptism. The missionaries had to drop her. She called us last week and my companion told her that we would set up an appointment when she would come to church. But before Sunday came one of the members told us that she had talked to her husband. So we stopped by and had a lesson with her. It was one of the hardest lessons I´ve ever been in! She talked a ton and repeated everything she said even when we were talking about something completely different. She kept saying that she had so much knowledge of God and the scriptures like she was trying to prove it to us. It was really hard for me to teach in that situation, and since my companion had already grown to love her with time I knew I needed to find a way to do the same. We didn´t feel like she was being very honest with us about her reading assignments of the Book of Mormon, and so I told my companion that we needed to be really direct with her. As we started the lesson we talked about the importance of being honest and our calling as representatives of Jesus Christ. We went over the Book of Mormon and asked her some general questions about what it´s about and where does it take place and she couldn´t tell us. She then had a question about the Godhead and so we pulled out the Articles of Faith to go over the first four with her and she was so shocked. She didn´t understand why noone had shown them to her before. She could actually understand and grasp the concepts of the Articles of Faith. Long story a little bit shorter it turns out she was reading the Book of Mormon. She almost read it all, but she didn´t understand any of it. She broke down crying to us and told us that she hadn´t received any form of formal education before. To read something and understand it for her is very difficult. It was such a huge change from the Ines we met with before. She just wanted someone to accept her, and so she tried convincing everyone that she knew everything about the Bible and the Book of Mormon. We explained to her that Heavenly Father doesn´t need her to prove to others her testimony or have a perfect knowledge of these things. He just needs her to have faith and try little by little to learn. She has never been taught how to listen and learn before. It was such a humbling experience for me. The love that I felt for her in that lesson was tremendous. It´s going to be difficult for her, but little by little, article of faith per article of faith, we´re going to help her to not only learn about the gospel but also learn how to listen to others and learn.

I feel so fortunate to be a part of this work. There is nothing like it in the world. The blessings and miracles I have seen in my life and in the lives of others has taught me so much about the love our Heavenly Father has for us. It is such a privilege to have the scriptures in our lives to read and ponder. They are awesome! They can be our best friends when we´re experiencing tough times. Don´t forget to read this week! I know it will make a big difference in your life as it has mine. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know it with all of my heart! I love you all!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana B