March 16, 2015

Since sending Tate his digital recorder, he has been using that more than email. We have loved hearing his voice. The following is some of the things that he said on his recording today. 

FROM TATE’S RECORDING TODAY: 

First of all, Happy Birthday to my favorite sister with the name Rachel! 

The main event of the week was that we had a baptismal service. It was Awesome! We baptized Sister Cecelia. Her son baptized her, which was pretty cool. It went really smoothly. We felt the spirit really strongly. She invited some of her friends that aren’t members and her husband and kids that aren’t members. After the baptismal services, we had a welcome from the Relief Society and the Bishopric. After that, we have the new member who was baptized share their feelings about the baptism. It was pretty neat. She stood up and said that she knows she is doing the right thing to take this step to follow Christ. She thanked her family for being there and thanked her son for bringing her into the gospel. She said that she knew that the rest of her family would follow her example. After the baptismal service we all ate cake and drank Inca Cola. It was great!

We have a goal to try to visit a reference every day if possible. We went to a family that we had been given as a reference. The mother was there with their daughter. The mother is Mariella and the father is Luis and their daughter is Nicole. We shared a quick thought with her about the restoration and talked with her. She said she wanted to know more and that they were looking for more spirituality in their life. It looks like they are going to progress a lot. 

We also stopped and visited with a less-active member, Vanesa, and encouraged her to go to church. I have a cool story about Vanessa that I don’t think I told you about before. When we first found her, we talked with her a little bit. She said she didn’t know what happened because she quit going to church didn’t feel the spirit anymore, but she said that she wanted it back again. We did some service for her and helped her out. We visited her a lot. One day we were teaching her a really great lesson. At the end of the lesson she thanked us for coming and visiting her and she told us that she was moving, but that she said she wanted to keep going to church. She is still doing great and she thanked us that we kept going back to see her. She said that we are the best missionaries she had ever had because we didn’t give up on her. 

We stopped by another reference at a shop where she worked. She was there with her boss and we ended up talking with her boss who was really fun to talk to. We visited with her for about an hour and she said that she was looking for some spirituality in her life, too. She came to church along with her husband, and one of her kids yesterday. We asked her how she like it and she said that she really liked it, so we are going to keep working with her. 

I've seen so many miracles on my mission. I will never be able to express how grateful I am. Even though sometimes it's hard. The good times by far outweigh the bad, to the point where they almost never happened. I must have done something really good before this life because I've never done anything to deserve all of the blessings that God continually showers upon me.

 

Love you all and hope everything is going well with all of you back in the Northern Hemisphere.

Have a good week! 

Love,  

Tate

This is a little email that he sent as well. 

My companion decided not to talk to me for two straight days, and there was lots of drama with that.

I've been thinking a lot this week about what dad used to always tell me when I was growing up. When he was in high school he worked for temple square doing grounds work, Christmas lights, etc. He always used to tell me that he always would ask his boss for the worst, dirtiest jobs that no one else wanted to do, and because he always did his boss loved him for it (and the other workers were pleased with him as well because they didn't have to do the hard stuff). I've been thinking a lot about that these past weeks as I've faced difficulties and heard my companion say he wants to leave. It reminded me that I told God the same thing my dad told his boss. I told God that if Alborada/Juliaca is the place that no one else wants to be, then I will do it. Because if I don't then who will? Jesus Christ did not come to Earth to do His own will. He did the dirty job that no one else could do. I am His representative, so I will do the will of the Father by being here.

So that's what's been going on this week. Good week but pretty hard as well. Things can only go up from here.

Love,

Elder Tate