"It is always so important to find what will make the investigator want to believe in our message."

August 2013 Mission Leadership Council

Que hubo familia como va todo?

Well this is gonna be pretty short because we have new missionaries coming in in about an hour but I'll hit you guys up with the highlights of the week!

Well we are now really hitting our stride in our area because we have about 5 investigators progressing now. We decided to hit up the good ole area book to find some old investigators from a while ago. With the spirit of prayer we were able to pick out a few names that looked like they had progressed but for some reason or other fell away. 

One of those is named Gladys, we went there on Wednesday hoping to find her and when she opened the door she looked stunned and said, "They're back!" haha it was cool to receive a good reaction after knocking the door. We were able to find out that she had moved to another part of the city really far and then lost contact with the missionaries, then moved back to the same house she lived in! It was a pretty cool story. We retaught the Restoration and like we always do in this mission, invited her to be baptized. She accepted and is preparing to get baptized at the end of the month. What a powerful tool the area book is when it is used right!

Another person we are preparing for baptism is named Diana Rosero. She is the daughter of a recent convert and is just golden. We were able to establish trust right away asking the right questions and using the How to Begin Teaching section in Chapter 10 of Preach My Gospel. It is always so important to find what will make the investigator want to believe in our message. Everyone of them is different and needs something else from the last person. 

It's like when you go to the physical therapist, he diagnoses what you need for a specific rehabilitation, makes up a game plan, helps them understand how he can help them, and gives a commitment to help them recover on their own. Imagine if the doctor gave the same treatment to every patient. It would sound pretty but wouldn't help them at all. That's how we try to help the investigators, making our message apply to their specific needs. And it was a great lesson with Diana, she understood perfectly how the restoration can help her in her life, it was also great to have the recent convert, Milena there to help with her testimony. She also will be preparing for the end of the month. 

We are also looking to prepare 2 more for either this month or the next. It has been so different in this area than in all of the other areas I have been in. The missionaries have been in Ipiales for more than 30 years, so everyone pretty much knows who we are. The opposite was in Buenaventura where no one knew who we were. There was a lot of challenges with the branch back there and here it is well established for Colombia. 

I have been running into a lot of people lately who wonder why it is necessary to belong to a church, and why not all paths lead to Eternal Life. Well I studied it out and came up with the following....

-Jesus said "follow thou me" and "be ye therefore perfect" (Matt 4:19, Matt 5:48) 
- There must be a clear cut way to accomplish or become what He wants us to be, for these things are very difficult with the natural man alive in every one of us.
-Through the prophets, He has revealed principles and ordinances to keep us in the path and constantly improving and changing.. (Faith, Rep., Bap...etc.) This is His Plan to help us become like Him, or perfect.
-Confusion, or many paths, would frustrate this plan, because we could not have faith in an unchangeable God who has one concrete way to get back to Him.
-Contention is not of God, and the many different doctrines in the world create contention between everyone.
-Jesus Christ established a church "for the perfecting of the saints..." so "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men.." ( Eph 4:12,14)-We can know His doctrine if we "ask, seek and knock" (Matt 7:7-11) and it will be revealed unto us by the Holy Ghost who "shall teach us all things.." (John 14:26) and that is the only way we can understand the things of God.-Many doctrines are not of God, but of men. Revelation is the only way God´s church can be run and established. 

I am grateful for the Priesthood and the Gospel because they give me an assurance that I am leading people into the only path that leads to Eternal Life. It has been a great week of study!

It will be super sad saying bye to Elder Rivadeneira tomorrow, he got transferred. The good thing is he is going to replace Elder Inga in Buenaventura! So I get to send a whole bunch of letters to my great converts and members who I love so much. And it is counsel time so that means a crazy long trip up to Cali this week. Wish me luck!

Que estén muy bien, hasta la proxima!

Elder Eliason

I will buy the new camara this week, so stay tuned for pictures! Seriously I am really sorry there hasn't been time for shopping!