La Linea

This past week has been quite the crazy week for weather in La Línea. At the beginning of the week, it was sunny, bright, and we all had this crazy notion that we were going to start having really, really nice weather. Our mistake. Wednesday the rains started, and a pair of just really unprepared missionaries had the misfortune of being caught in the far part of La Línea without umbrellas. We were soaked. The weather´s had it´s ups and downs. And so has the work this week.

Pepe. I love this guy. He is just fantastic. He´s travelled the world, and has a lot of stories. He loves to talk. LOVES to talk. If we can get a message in under 45 minutes, we consider it a miracle. We had set his baptism to be this coming Saturday. We had gotten permission and everything and it seemed like everything was going to go perfectly. We had even planned which beach we were going to do the baptism on  (there´s no fount here in La Línea). But our last lesson that we had with him, he told us that he did not want to get baptized. We talked with him about it, and asked him if he´d prayed and made sure that he knew the church was true. He told us that he had, but that he did not want to get baptized. It is hard. It´s very hard to have developed that love for someone, and then having it go away in just a few moments. You never can tell how much you love someone until they make the wrong choice. We left that lesson a little down, but as we were walking I had a thought that everything was going to be okay, and above all else, not to give up on Pepe. We won´t. Even if I have to toss him into the ocean myself, we won´t give up on him.

Reme. Is living evidence that the Lord has prepared people to receive his Gospel. At our last lesson with her, we explained the plan of salvation. When we finished she sat there and said, ´Wow. that makes sense. There isn´t just a heaven and hell, but three different places. Three different kingdoms.´ Then she looked at me and said ´But there´s another place isn´t there? A place outside of the three kingdoms?´ Well, she is inspired. Normally we don´t get into the doctrine of outer darkness with investigators, but we must respond to the needs of our investigators. Anyway, she loved the plan, and accepted it completely. We´re very excited for her. She found general conference on line on her own, and has been watching it. Such a miracle. Really, It is a pleasure to be able to teach her.

The last miracle that I will share is a man named Antonio. We contacted him on the street, and set up an appointment with him to go and teach a message about Christ. He accepted and we were in his home the next Saturday. During the lesson, the spirit got incredibly strong. Very strong, and we challenged him to be baptized. He accepted, and told us that he was willing to do whatever he needed to to be able to join our church. We are praying for him. Keep him in your prayers, he´s got a lot of faith, and has had a really hard time in life. The gospel is going to help him so much, and I know that we are going to be seeing miracles this coming week. 

I love you all so much. I love being a missionary. More than anything. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I am so grateful for it. It´s amazing. I love, love, love being a missionary.

It´s a great day to be a missionary!

Elder Weenig