This week for the first half we decided that we weren´t doing enough, and so we put some really good goals and started working a lot harder. We felt a lot better when we decided to live up to a fuller potential, because life isn´t meant to relax, although sometimes we get casual with the important things. We feel like we´re going to find a lot of awesome miracles in the next little while, and it´s really exciting.
Yesterday we saw the coolest thing ever. One of the twelve apostles of God came to Guatemala to talk to us! His name is David A. Bednar, and he is one of only twelve people in the entire world that Jesus called to serve us. A lot of people don´t know that God is still the same as He was a long time ago, and that there is still a prophet and 12 apostles. It´s fun to share that with people. Elder Bednar taught us some AMAZING things. I felt like he really knew what we needed as missionaries, because a lot of the things he said applied directly to me. He had a translator, and so I got to hear everything he said twice! He taught us about how if we have faith, we´re going to go and do everything we know how to do to make God´s work move along. We don´t ask God to do our job for us, but we ask Him to help us to do our part the best we can. He´s not gonna tell us what to do if we just sit there and wait, but if we go to serve, He will tell us the course He needs us to take. Elder Bednar also talked about how we need to learn from the spirit more than from the words that the speaker says. He told us to stop writing down everything he said, but instead to write down only what the Spirit says to us, which is really important because it applies directly to us. It was cool because he didn´t have a prepared talk. Instead, he asked us questions about what we have learned, and let us ask him questions about things that he has learned, and through that process we all learned together. He was also there with the entire area presidency of Central America (three members of the quorum of the seventy), and all of their wives. Elder Bednar´s wife is so humble that what she says really gets straight to your heart. I want to be like that too someday.
The hermanas in Palin 3 are helping a couple that just joined the church. They just got married after living together for years, and they´re struggling a little bit with their relationship. We decided to pull a "parent trap" and sneakily help them out a little bit. The four of us got them together and taught them a really direct, spiritual lesson about the importance of marriage and the family. Then, we opened a curtain and revealed a table, chairs, and dinner that we had bought for them. We took away their phones, and left them alone for about an hour to eat together and just talk together. When they finished, something was different. I´m not sure what they talked about, but they were REALLY happy afterwards. They were holding hands as they left the building, and it made me think about how when the goal is to live together for eternity, both sides are going to do their part to make it happy and joyful. When the goal is just to be happy in the moment, it doesn´t last very long. That´s why God is eternal, and the world isn´t. Everything that He offers is something that lasts forever. Pretty crazy to think about...
That´s about all. We´re learning everyday, and the time is going by super fast. I love being a missionary :).
Love you guys!
-Elder Cloward
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| My son Elder Torres! He had to go home because he got sick. I didn´t think I´d ever get to see him again either, but he´s back in the mission now! I was his first companion ever, and I got to talk to him again at the conference also. |
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| Some really tasty food at a pisto restaurant called Rosy in our area, and the cherry-stem-knot I tied in my mouth. I´ve been trying to do that for weeks! |
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My friend Elder Alexander! We were in the MTC together a year ago, but we went to different missions. He was my best friend over there, but I didn´t think I´d ever get to see him again. When Elder Bednar came, the East Mission came too and I go to talk to him again! So great.
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