Humility and Work

This week I have rededicated myself to a new level of missionary work. I am trying to be more humble. It started with simply telling God in my prayers that in everything that we have accomplished the glory was His. We started having more success. We had a record high 50 lessons and we are now leading the mission for lessons taught in a week, lessons taught with a member, investigators attending church, and Less Actives attending church also. God did it all, we just walked and opened the door for the spirit to enter into these peoples homes.This week was better. My companion and I are realizing our weaknesses and growing a lot as a team in Christ. "We have worked many mighty miracles in this land for which we will praise HIS name forever" -Alma 26:12. The mission scripture of Elder Manwaring. First experience of this week, we met up with a family of investigators that recently lost their job and their Daughter got sick with Dengue Fever. It got very serious to the point where she was shaking in the hammock in their living room and screaming in pain. The family did not have enough money to buy food, let alone the required medicine for her fever. I remembered a scripture, when Peter and the other Apostles entered the temple where a man was begging for money. Peter said that he didn't have money, but what he DID have, he would give. He gave him a Priesthood Blessing, and the stricken man "leaped" from where he was seated. The Lord did the same in that small concrete living room for that little girl. We gave her a blessing, and she fell asleep after having been awake for more than a day straight in pain. We gave the lesson, and when we left she had no evidence of any type of sickness, and hasn't had symptoms afterwards. Christ lives, and He works miracles. I am happy to say that I am a witness to both. Later in the week, we met up with an investigator named Erlinda. We asked her if she had read the chapter in the Book of Mormon that we had left her. She had read all of the assignments that we had left previously, and so it wasn't a surprise when she said that she did, just a little. Well, she did read. We left Alma 39. She read 38-42, and marked up all the pages! She explained that she just couldn't get herself to stop! She explained that recently she had lost a friend, and had a couple of questions for God. She read Alma 40 by accident, but knew that it wasn't "by accident". She said that God was answering her questions. She had her third church attendance this Sunday, and will be baptized this Saturday.Pray for her! She is awesome! :D This week I had an intercambio (exchange) with a newbie Elder and I had the feeling to skip a planned lesson and visit a straw hut as we passed by it. We entered into the backyard of a house to get to the hut, and we talked with the family there. One of the girls is deaf. The Mom almost got baptized 2 years ago, and the Dad is inactive. I felt as though the spirit led me to the house. I had never seen it before, but I walked straight to it as though I were not in charge of my own body. It was a cool experience. I'm glad that the pizza was awesome! I miss real pizza. The pizza here is crap. But at least we have salchipapas (the reason I am now fat :) have lost my six-pack, gained about 20-25 pounds, I am 2 inches taller than the last time you guys saw me, and so yeah. I have never enjoyed working so hard, and the time is flying by! I hope that work is going well for you guys and you are reading scriptures together. You guys should make it really fun, make the verses come alive, and it will become a part of their lives. I wish I had developed my testimony of the Book of Mormon better before my mission. Now I know it like the back of my hand! Tell me if Lauren decides to go on a mission. If she does tell her to study Chapter 10 of Preach my Gospel. And daily scripture study. And tell me where the guys in the ward are going on their missions. Lauren and Nick are making gigantic leaps in their lives, and I am proud of them. Hope all is well in Zion. We are building it here in Arjona. I love you all more than any language can express.