The past week has seen several falls, yet several rises in the work as well. Just normal mission ups and downs right?
First of all, the birthday bashin` was great last Tuesday. My stomach wanted to explode by the end of the day. For lunch, Hermana Cabrera invited us some delicious pasta, with stake and a famous peruvian side dish called "Papa a la Huancaina". She also surprised my with a beautiful birthday cake. Fue lo maximo! Later that evening we supposedly had a meeting in the chapel, but the mision leader surprised me with a little party where all the previous converts were present, including the Urbina and Miranda families. They all expressed a few words and in the end I got a face planted in a cake which read "Feliz Dia Elder Lamber". Elder Lamber???!!! Well, now you know how they pronounce my name down here. Lamber is a word which also means "to lick". Looks like I fulfilled prophecy as I licked icing off my face. haha.
Elder Borda and I were feeling pretty great with ourselves last week as well. On Saturday night we were happy to report six investigators with baptismal dates! And Sonia got baptized as well! However, despite arranging plans for everybody to come to church, Gladis, Karla, Roxana, and Ana Maria didn`t end up in sacrament meeting for several reasons.
I was feeling terrible in sacrament meeting. I felt so frustrated and inside my head I had lost patience. While playing the piano during the first hymn, I was biffing all the notes and the whole room was singing slower than I was playing. As I sat down with a red face full of embarrasment, I just lowered my head for a while and suddenly the sacrament bread was in front of me. That`s when I realized how slow I had been in my faith. I thought of the Savior, and of all the time I had seen those videos where the apostles sleep as he bleeds from every pore, or when the rooster crows as Peter denies his greatest friend, and when the Roman soldiers spit in his face with grit between their teeth. It was one of those Atonement moments that helped me climb out of a spiritual funk. I opened my Spanish scriptures to Moroni 9:6 which reads,
"And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor adiligently; for if we should cease to blabor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God."
That scripture basically made me cry in the middle of sacrament meeting. Although nobody saw me or felt what I felt, I could feel God talking to me personally in a moment of weak faith. Needless to say, I`m grateful for such moments that let me know the reality of such ups and downs in the mission. As we represent Jesus Christ on our white shirts, we`re going to feel at times a part of what he went through. In some small way, we have to pay a small token to someone who gave up all at such a great price.
Anyway, on Saturday night, my district leader let me know that I`m here to stay at least another tranfer in Floresta. I can hardly beleive I`ve already been here for almost six months, and by the end of this tranfer I`ll have seven! I was also informed that I will now be a district leader as well! That`s when the harsh reality came to me that I`m no longer a newbie......I`m about to complete a year in September. Color me blown away people! Elder Borda left to his mission in Bolivia, his visa came, and his temporary moment in Peru Lima Sur has finished. My new companion is Elder Cano from Callao, which is a northern part of Lima. We`re basically like two hours away from his house. Yet this is his mission! He`s a super great missionary with about six months of experience. We`ve really been getting along well and have made instant friends! He has three brothers and a sister who live and work in Utah with their families. He told me that Sandy was one of the cities where his brother lives. Anyway, I`m excited to work with my new companion!
Wellp, my times up. I wish you all another fantastic week. Love you so much!
Que Dios les bendiga en todos sus caminos!
Elder Lundberg
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