Sunday, July 19, 2015

JUST KEEP CALM AND DO the divisions

Dear Family, 

So it sounds like you guys are going to be busy these couple of weeks.  Send me pictures ha-ha.
Sorry it took me so long to write we have been doing a lot of division and we haven’t had the chance to be able to write we are just traveling everywhere lately but it’s been good.  
There’s nothing better than being busy you feel more accomplished.  Well with the elder that I talked to he has changed dramatically and the district they are in is just setting the tone for everybody else. He ended up telling me thank you and that he had been waiting for something like that to happen and for someone to tell him what he needed. 

This week has been great for us we have been just finding people left and right we found a man named George who is from Belize.  Belize it’s above Guatemala but there they are all decedents from Africa and they speak English. Well George had been going to church for a long time but never got baptized because he wasn’t married to his wife and they couldn’t do it because she was married to another but  apparently the other guy died so they can now get married and baptized so we are working with them now. 
We also are teaching a family that are deaf so I’m learning sign language right now ha-ha. It’s been really interesting teaching them for their disability but it has reminded me and taught me that it’s not the words that make people believe it’s the spirt testifying through us that it is true we just simply have said that we love them and god loves them and that were here to teach truths and for them to receive the confirmation that these truths are from god. I have been learning that we are here really just to remind people of the truths they have already learned. Because we learned about the gospel of Jesus Christ and of the plan of salvation before we even came here it’s for that reason that when people hear the gospel for the first time it sounds familiar to them. 
We also went to the temple this week probably the last time I will go but it was really good I learned a lot a lot a lot something we have to always remind ourselves is that God’s language is by symbols that’s how he reveals and how he hides things and you just learn all over the place when you look and try and receive its great. 

To answer dad on the questions about assignments... something all say and others I won’t till I get back but if I learned one thing in my mission is who I am serving I love the poem by Meade McGuire master where shall I go today? My love flowed warm and free. He pointed out a tiny spot and said ¨Tend that for me'. I answered quickly oh no, not there not anyone could see no matter how well my work was done; Not that little spot for me. When he spake he was not stern but answered me tenderly ' Little one, search that heart of thine; are you working for them or for me? Nazareth was a little place and so was Galilee.  
At some point in the day you have to ask yourself that penetrating question.  Am I working for him or for them? Who am I working for? At first I did feel bad because I knew  more than once what was going to happen  and every time it changed for some little thing and I felt that I’ve done everything I could have done that I should have done that I possibly could have done  why can’t I do this? I felt that if I wouldn’t get to that spot I wouldn’t amount to anything. But I have learned that he is the gardener here and he will get me to where he wants me to go I’ve been studying my blessing and it talks a lot about just submitting myself ALOT. But through that I become even more. and it has been a great experience that I have had here in el frutal I’ve learned a lot here in my time and there really is nothing better than have one on one experiences  helping missionaries and embalmers and people. But next week will be changes so we will see if I will be finishing here or maybe have one more surprise. 
But I love you all 
Elder Toma 
Guatemala Ciudad Central Mission 

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Another day, another adventure

Dear Family, 

How are you all it sounds like you all had a fun time in DC I can barely remember Dc now ha-ha I cant even imagine how big it is and I  remember it’s not the biggest city in the world but a lot bigger than any city here ha-ha. 

This week has been great we have been finding a lot of people that are ready and willing I get amazed every day in the people that God just puts in your path and they have just been waiting for you just to talk to them. I have always pondered on the reasons I am with the companion that I have or why  am I in this area why certain things didn’t happen like they were planned why is it that I have to go through this at this moment even if I was doing what I was supposed lots of things (someday I’ll tell you all of them) But I have never doubted where I have gone or where I have been has been a mistake I know I am where I am supposed to be even if it isn’t what I was hoping for or what others told me was going to happen. I’ve helped a lot of people and sometimes it has been for my companion but recently it has been for the missionaries that I am watching out for. 

Today I had an experience with an elder in my zone we had our zone training today and we talked about how to teach by the spirt how to work by him what we need to do to be worthy to feel it and be guided by him and everything to do with that. 

Well it turned out to be very powerful and everyone felt and learned a lot. Except for this one elder...he asked to talk with me and I talked to him and  with my companion  and his and he just started to go off not in a yelling very rude manner but he started to try to blame you can say us because he claimed that he didn’t feel the spirit at all especially when I was talking and he wanted that I asked him for forgiveness for not feeling the spirt (because he claimed that is humility) I looked at him not mad but incredibly sad I could understand more how Jesus felt even when he taught people accused him to be of the devil and that they felt nothing...I looked at him and simply said Elder I’m sorry that you lost this great chance to learn but you need to understand something it isn’t my fault that you didn’t feel the spirt it’s your own there is nothing I can do to make you feel the spirt I can invite him to take part in the lesson but for you to feel him you got to let him in. Well he didn’t like that and he began saying I wanted to learn I wanted to feel the spirit but I didn’t. It came to the point I began to see his problem he believed that through words and from who it comes from it can make them feel the spirt and that the person can transmit the spirt to them just by that and it’s for that reason he thought it was my fault that he didn’t feel the spirt because he felt that it was my responsivity to transfer the spirt to him...I have always felt that it really doesn’t matter what you say especially if its pure knowledge but that you say it with enough humility even if it’s just simple words like I know this is true and with feelings and  love that the spirit magnifies it and just puts it in the heart of the person and if they accept it the accept it and know it is true but if they reject it they do it by their own will. I’ll have to finish the story the next week because I don’t have time but I love you all 

Elder Toma 

Guatemala Ciudad Central Mission 

Sunday, July 5, 2015

La Gira with Elder Alonso

Dear Family,

Well this week has been great it’s starting to pick up with rain again so it’s been a lot of days of just walking around wet head to toe ha-ha.
But we have also seen a lot of miracles and the truth is God just does everything he really doesn’t need us but he permits that we can work for him for our own benefit and the benefit of others. 
We have had some miracles lately of just people randomly showing up at church from members or friends and them just being ready to accept the gospel and a lot have just recently began assisting and its interesting how these people just began assigning or investigating why not a month ago? Or a week ago? Or a year ago? Why now? and I have realized that it’s on gods time and not our own and he also knows the type of person they might need to help them or it could be promise that were made long long ago and they are finally being competed.
All I have come to realize is this God knows who he wants in his church and there is nothing that we can do to stop that he will just guide them there with or without us. The only thing that we will lose is the opportunity to progress through helping others do it.
I also got the chance to do a presentation in front of 3 zones and my mission president and also  a general authority ha-ha  and it went well he actually ended up quoting a lot of things that I had said his wife as well  so that was really net. He also gave us a lot of correction and it became a powerful reunion and there will probably be a lot of things we will be changing in the mission one thing he was talking about is that we baptize here a lot but he told us that once a week is not enough we need to baptize EVERYDAY!! So we will see how we baptize everyday now ha-ha it will be interesting we have the meeting with all of the leaders this Thursday so I’m sure we will be talking about it. But we will also be writing next week on Monday not Tuesdays because we will be doing something else that day just to let you know. But I love you all see you later

Elder Toma 

Guatemala Ciudad Central Mission