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| My Apartment |
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| View from my apartment |
Dear Family and friends,
One thing that I have definitely learned on mission is to how to overcome disappointments and hardships and to always rely on the Savior Jesus Christ and he will always be able to help you through anything. There will be dark times but the sun will shine again, it always shines.
This knowledge really helped me this week when disappointments and discouragements came to my companion and me.
At the beginning of last week, we were planning for 11 baptisms on the 8th of December. We have really been receiving a lot of powerful people to teach that are really interested in the message from our own efforts along with referrals from members. We were confident that things were going to work out and the 8th was going to be an amazing day. The week was full of really spiritual lessons with all of the people that we were preparing and all of them were progressing very well and coming to church, reading the Book of Mormon, and praying. They were all very well spiritually and physically and expressed their excitement about their baptism.
The week was full of some great lessons and meeting with a lot of new people but it also ended with a lot of disappointments. Along the way, things have really changed and opposition has come. One of them told us she traveled, four were seriously sick and then the saddest of them all two told us that they never want to come back to church again or even meet with us. One of them was a man named Mishak. We were really trying to help him overcome a drinking problem and doing all that we could to strengthen him. He was doing so well for a couple of weeks but then he stopped coming to church and started to dodge us. The second was named Sister Blessing. She is from Libya and was a Muslim before she began coming to church and hearing from us. She was coming to church for a while and loving everything about it. But, then out of nowhere last night, I received a call from her telling us to never come back and it is better for her to just stay at home. Afterwards, I was in shock and so surprised at what she was telling me. They were loving everything about the Church, especially about the message but then all of a sudden things like this came up.
Despite these oppositions, I know nothing can stop this divine work. I know that God and Jesus Christ are there and my whole mission I have relied heavily on this knowledge. I know that everything will work out. On the bright side, we are still planning to baptize three powerful people this weekend. It will be a great and wonderful day. All three are really looking forward to it. We will continue to help and prepare our other investigators for the coming weeks.
Sunday was another amazing miracle at sacrament. We found many new people that are ready to receive us and even people came up to us and said that they want to be baptized. One is a four-person family. I was so happy. I have been learning this principle my whole mission, especially my whole life, but it was really magnified this week: Gloomy and Cloudy days come in our lives but the sun will always shine. No matter what, it will always shine. That knowledge has been keeping me going through this discouraging week but I love this gospel and the Savior Jesus Christ so much.
As Christmas is coming up and it is the beginning of December I have really been trying to get into the spirit of the season. Being my last Christmas in Ghana I have really tried to devote this month to Jesus Christ. To do all that I can to invite as many people as I can unto Him and even to hand out many Books of Mormon. I have also been doing all that I can to learn more about Him especially in Jesus the Christ and The Book of Mormon. Plus trying to become more like him and do the things that He would do. I have already seen wonderful blessings come into my life and I encourage everyone to do the same. Jesus Christ is the reason for the season and everything that we have in this life.
Love,
Elder Ordyna
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