Monday, July 10, 2017

Monday, July 10, 2017

This week was pretty fun!! 

We had our interviews with the President this week which is always super fun! You can tell that there is a strong presence of the Spirit in the room where we do it in. It just radiates down the hallway. We had a very good talk, and mostly talked about how faith and hope are very similar. We talked about this because I had found out just how similar they are. If you look at the definition of faith in the Book of Mormon (Alma 32:21) and the definition of hope in the Bible (Romans 8:24-25) they are very close to the same thing. So it was a very good little discussion. 

We met a really interesting man while tracting this week too. He told us that he likes talking and discussing with missionaries, though he doesn't want to be baptized. His beliefs were...a little confusing to us. He believes in a higher being but he doesn't believe that baptism is the way that we show our faith to Him. So it was kinda weird, but he was nice, and he gave us some water bottles at the end too. 

This Saturday there was a birthday party for a person in the ward that turned 10. Her mom invited us to come, and the food was amazing!! It was this really good and kinda spicy shredded beef with vegetables mixed in with rice, and served with papa a la guacaina (Peruvian made potatoes that are amazing!!). It was really good. 

Other than that it was a pretty alright week! Although I locked the keys in the trunk of the car...on the 4th of July...so that was fun!! We almost had to spend the night in our chapel!! Haha but someone from the mission office was able to bring a spare for us. I now have our keys hooked on to my belt loop so I don't do that again lol. 

One thing I learned this week during my personal study is that God doesn't always answer our prayers they way we want them to be answered. I saw this while I was reading in 1 Nephi chapter 7. For those who don't know what is happening in this chapter, Lehi (the first prophet of the Book of Mormon) sent his sons (Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi) back to Jerusalem to invite another family (Ishmael and his family) to join them in the desert. While on the way back Nephi's 2 oldest brothers (Laman and Lemuel) tied Nephi up and were going to leave him to die. The two versus I am going to focus on are verses 17 and 18. In verse 17 Nephi prays and asks God for the rope that was used to tie him up to be "burst" from his wrists. He wanted them to break and fly off. But what was his answer? "...the bands were loosed..." Heavenly Father answered his prayer, but not in the way Nephi wanted. He gave Nephi enough room so that he could get free. That is how I learned that God doesn't answer our prayers the way that we want them to be answered. 

1 Nephi 7:17-18 - But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound. And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again.

-Élder Wilkes

Mom edit: I received a very nice Facebook message from the sister Elder Wilkes spent dinner with on the 4th of July. She sent me the video below. We have since become friends and she will text me every now and then about Elder Wilkes.

Elder Wilkes singing the national anthem after dinner on July 4th. He says he was very full.