Hello my beloved friends and family!
Words cannot describe the joy it is to be a full-time servant of the Lord, nor can they do justice to the importance of the work of gathering Israel. What a blessing it is to be able to put our shoulder to the wheel, each in his or her own way, as we work to help people to come unto Christ.
A couple recent miracles! We made a new friend this week, Ling, whose aunt is a member of the Church. She came out of the blue with a message that her aunt wanted to return to activity in the Church and that she wanted to be baptized. It's such a joy to work with people that are just prepared to receive truth. We can also use prayers for Moisés, who needs some help to soften his heart and accept that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers and everything that each of you is doing to help people come to Him :)
I'M GOING TO GET TO DO PROXY WORK IN THE TEMPLE!!! In a couple weeks, it will be my first time in the temple since February of last year. I'm deeply excited.
A gospel insight from this week. The last part of the Restoration will be the Second Coming. I hadn't thought of those two as being the same thing, but they really are. The Restoration will be complete when and only when Jesus Christ's literal presence is restored to the Earth, along with the restoration of the complete organization of the Zion society that we will be, restoring a level of universal righteous living not seen since perhaps the post-ministry Nephites or the City of Enoch.
I've also learned a lot in the last month about repentance. God is far more patient with us than we could ever be with ourselves, and He desires nothing for us besides our happiness and progression. He wants us to become like Him, and to do so, we need to avoid wallowing in our imperfections and instead intentionally and constantly improve. Satan would have us stop progressing because of our weaknesses; God wants us to use our weaknesses to become humble and Christ-like and to constantly improve. How blessed we are!
A huge story this past month has been the transition between presidents. President and Sister Richey have served faithfully and wonderfully in Lima South for the last three years. I've learned so much from them and am so grateful for their decision to leave their country, their language, and their family for a time in order to minister to and bless the lives of a lot of people in Peru. I'll be forever grateful for what I've learned from them. We've now been a couple weeks with President and Sister Holt. Being in the office (and them being vaccinated), I've been able to spend quite a bit of time with them, and I am super excited for what they're going to do for the Peru Lima South Mission. I am inspired by their willingness to serve and their love for the Lord. A moment I will never forget was on the Zoom call when President was being introduced to the mission. Talking about his feelings of insufficiency, he was emotional to the point of not being able to get words out. He recovered to get out "pero tengo fe y sé cómo trabajar", "but I have faith and I know how to work," followed by, "and that's all the Lord needs." Another big emotional point was him relating, in front of his wife (but she doesn't speak Spanish yet), that he would have gotten nowhere in life without her. It was powerful and inspiring. I'm definitely learning from him things I'm going to need to honor my future wife.
One friend we had absolutely broke down crying on a phone call when we told her that her son, who had recently passed away due to COVID and had not been the biggest believer in God, was being taught by missionaries on the other side of the veil. Restored truths can absolutely change lives. It was abundantly clear to me that the words chosen by the missionary who shared that truth were inspired by the Spirit.
I love my life! This work is true. It is more than evident that angels, both seen and unseen, are working with us and bearing us up as we go about inviting people to let God prevail in their lives. I love all of you, thank you for everything you're doing. Please continue to bless the lives of those around you.
Grateful,
Elder Child
