Maybe I'm Just Planting Seeds for the Future

09/08/2014

Hello, you lovely people!  I hope you all had a great week.  I had a pretty good week.  Sadly, my comp, Elder Trejo, had to change.  Which was a bummer because he’s been my favorite comp so far.  And now I have a new comp named Elder Colindres from El Salvador.  Things are going alright with the changes, just getting accustomed to each other’s teaching styles, and if you are in the mission you know what I mean. 

So this week was a little rough, because for the third week in a row no one [meaning, no investigators] came to church.  I was a little disappointed on Sunday.  But I felt the spirit in the testimony meeting and I felt better after, and I was able to just keep working and feel alright.  I think the Lord is really trying to teach me something here in this area.  We had some success here, and I really have bettered myself as a missionary in many ways, and now the success has stopped basically. 

Now, I’ve shared many times, experiences that have helped me to learn that this is the Lord’s work, and I know it is.  I know He is preparing people. However, I think He is teaching me something a little different.  I know this is His work, and I know I just have to keep working hard, having faith, being obedient, seeking His will, and doing my best.  And that’s all I can do.  And if that means that there aren’t baptisms, even though I’m doing all that, it doesn’t mean I’m failing.   Something my sister said to me today, which is really true and is something that I’m learning and having to trust, is that many people take a lot of time to accept the gospel and that maybe I’m just planting seeds for the future. And maybe that’s all the Lord wants me to do right now. I might not even see the harvest.  I think that the Lord is teaching me that I have to keep going forward and doing what’s right, even though there are problems and there’s not the success that I want. That I have to keep doing what He requires, even though what I want isn’t happening. So, like I said, I’d like to see some baptisms, and if it doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world. I know I just need to keep doing what the Lord requires, which is to give my best.  So that’s the plan!

I know that as I work my hardest, keep improving my obedience, keep growing my faith, and keep seeking the will of the Lord and following it, I will have true success, because I will be trying to do what the Lord wants me to do. I know that as I’m learning this, it will benefit me for more than just my mission.  I love this work, and I know this is the true gospel that changes people’s lives. I’m so thankful for the opportunidad I have to share it with others, and to be a representative of Jesus Christ.  So with that I’ll just keep trucking along and getting it done!

Love you all and keep pressing forward, doing what’s right, and keeping the commandments, because that’s what blesses us.

Elder Ollis

P.S. I realized I typed a word in Spanish without thinking, ha ha, if you find it you win!

**In a letter to his dad, Elder Ollis wrote:  "We went to Pulhapanzak with the district today.  It's a waterfall and one of the "wonders" of Honduras.  It's pretty cool, but I can't send photos yet, I have to buy a card reader.  Remember, I only have access to old, antique computers."

So this is what we found online:  "Visit Pulhapanzak Falls near Lake Yojoa in the province of Cortes and see Honduras' largest waterfall.  Measuring nearly 140 feet, it appears to come out of nowhere, emerging from the tropical forests on the periphery with a raging torrent....When traveling through Honduras this is one sight you will not want to miss."

- See more at: http://www.honduras.com/visit-pulhapanzak-waterfall