Wow! This week was great. We had a lesson with M-- and her family. They are the people whom we have baptism dates with. This lesson was key as she was going to talk to her husband, who is in the United States, to ask him what he thinks about her getting baptized and if she has permission. We prayed hard all week for her husband. So after chopping wood in he morning for 5 hours, we scheduled an appointment to return in the afternoon. We returned and brought up the question and she said that she talked with her husband and he says she should do it. My heart filled with gratitude because 9 times out of 10 people don't get baptized because of their spouse. She said to us, "Yes I am going to be baptized"... and her daughter A-- as well. Her other daughter M-- and her son are still in the process of talking with her husband but she, as well, wants to be baptized this day. We also again had 7 people attend church with us. Everything is going great her in Chiquilaja. They will be baptized on Friday the 16th. I am so thankful for the blessing we have seen in these past weeks. M-- really is a great person who has had a really hard life. I am so happy that she will have the opportunity to have the gospel in her life. This week in church she was chewing out all of her neighbors for never sharing the gospel with her. She really is a prepared daughter of our Heavenly Father.
Last night, I am not going to lie, I ate the weirdest thing I have had in the mission so far. There is something here that is really popular. It is called ceviche. Basically it is pico de gallo with fish, but the crowning characteristic of ceviche is that everything is raw including the fish. It is a really dangerous food to eat here, so normally we don't eat it but last night we arrived for our regular dinner with the O-- family. They served us mashed potatoes with a mound of ceviche made with shrimp and the other ceviche was yes, bull testicles. And remember that the crowning characteristic is that it is raw. It was really chewy, but to my luck, the lemon and the onion overpowered the flavor of the meat. Yes, I finished it all and had a second helping. Great story for the kids when I get older.
Well, here is the quote for this week. I don't really have a lot of commentary for this quote but it caught my eye as I was reading in True to the Faith. "Gambling is motivated by a desire to get something for nothing; this desire is spiritually destructive." True to the Faith 72. This is very interesting. You can connect this to the world and the socialist governments and how people want this from the government and want that the government pays for everything and then wonder why the world as a whole is very morally and spiritually damaged. I pray that we will all learn how to be self-sufficient and learn to have a good work ethic and take pride in supporting ourselves.
I want to testify to you guys that I know that our loving Heavenly Father, because of the love He has for us, has in our dispensation restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that we may return to live with Him someday. I know that the Book of Mormon is a book written for us by the inhabitants of the Americas. Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know he was because of the fruits of his labor. If you don't believe it or your testimony is struggling, kneel down. Your Heavenly Father is waiting. Ask him if these things are true. I testify that we, as children of our Heavenly Father, will receive an answer. It is a promise that we have. I know that God and His Son live and that we will one day meet Him and see the marks in His hands and feet and we will have a perfect knowledge of His love for us. And if we do all we can here in this life, we will be exalted with the words, "Well done my good and faithful servant." I hope that we all may grow closer to our Heavenly Father through obedience and diligent study of the scriptures. This is my humble prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Elder Reinhold
The quote for the week is honestly one of my favorites that I have found in the mission. "The future of this world has long been declared. The final outcome between good and evil is already known. There is absolutely no question as to who wins because the victory has already been posted on the scoreboard. The only really strange thing in all of this is that we are still down here on the field trying to decide which team's jersey we want to wear." - Jeffrey R. Holland.
