Monday, March 23, 2015

The Lord Magnifies Us



What an amazing week I´ve had. I feel like every week here on the mission gets better than the last. The Lord´s work here in Pontevedra is progressing. It is truly amazing as we put forth our best efforts, as small as they are, the Lord will magnify them and we can see the great effects that happen, but not because of our efforts but because the Lord is able to magnify our efforts.

On Sunday I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting. I shared my thoughts about the importance of building Zion. As missionaries it is really easy to see the difference between the times when we are out contacting in the streets and when we are gathered with the members of the rama. I love to feel the Spirit that the members have here. I don´t think I have ever looked forward to going to church or any other church activity as I do now. The Spirit is so wonderful after talking in the streets to go into a lesson with a member present or into the house of a member for a meal or to go to the church for FHE. There is great power when Saints gather together in worthy and righteous causes. When we strengthen Zion we do so by starting with ourselves, we make sure that we are daily having meaningful scripture study and prayer, and weekly we are going to church to renew worthily our baptismal covenants.

 I am grateful for the opportunity that I have been given to serve the Lord for two years. I can´t believe that two months are already gone. This week Richard came to church! It was really great to have him there. He is so excited to come to our FHE and English class. I am so grateful that the Lord led Richard to us. He is amazing and is trying so hard to do what is right. Speaking of English class, it is really doing well! When we are out contacting in the streets it is a powerful tool to help people become interested in what we have to say. We met a very happy lady named Ana on the streets the other night and she was so excited that she could come to practice English with us. The Lord puts those people in our paths who are prepared in specific ways to become acquainted with His Gospel.

Los Stefan, our Romanian family, are doing alright. We shared Elder Bednar´s conference talk in Romanian with them this week. The Spirit was there as we tried to communicate our feelings about the importance of church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the only reason that they keep inviting us back. We can´t speak Romainian and they don´t understand much Spanish but everyone can understand the language of the Spirit if they are listening correctly. I know that that is the key. It is not my words or the words of my companion that matter, what matters is that the Spirit is there to speak through feelings and hearts. I know this to be true and I keep learning this same lesson over and over as I try to understand and speak this language. Again the Lord through His Spirit can magnify our efforts into powerful things.

I love you all!
Elder Gustafson

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