ELDER JEFF DESPAIN

ELDER JEFF DESPAIN

Monday, March 14, 2011

Families to Teach! Yeah!

Hello!

Ya, Elder Clase is sweet! He only has one transfer left after this one before he goes home, so we're working together to keep our hope level up to do the work of the Lord and be a part of miracles!

Enrique is doing good, he's progressing, the thing still is his drinking and smoking. We have to get that taken care of, and it might take time, but we know that Jesus Christ can help him do it!

Wow, Kenya and Juana and their husbands are progressing amazingly! They've received answers to their prayers and are progressing so well! The only thing now is for them to get the money to get married. We put a goal with each of them for the end of April to get the money. It would be amazing if it didn't take that long to get the money, but we know that everything is in The Lord's Plan, so whatever happens is whatever should happen. What a privilege it is to work with some progressing families!

(We asked if Kenya and Juana were the two ladies who had been trying to visit the church for a while but never happened to walk by when it was open until a couple of Sundays ago.) The two ladies that walked into church a couple of weeks ago are actually some completely different people! We are being blessed with so many people to teach! They are named Fina and Maria. Maria went to church yesterday and has a baptismal date for the 26th, but Fina didn't, and her baptismal date is for this Saturday, so we went by there yesterday afternoon, and then she told us that she didn't want to get baptized anymore, and that she wasn't going to follow through with her plans. We asked her what was wrong, and then eventually one of her daughters told us that people had been telling them things about the Church. She talked to us about them, and they all weren't true! We asked her if she was going to get baptized a couple of times, but she still said no. We kept telling her about the truth and that these things weren't true, and then I had a great privilege. I got to testify to her that doubt doesn't come from Heavenly Father. To most people this probably isn't anything special or out of the ordinary, but for me, it was something very special, because I recognized that The Lord had been preparing me for this woman. I had struggled with the very thing that she was struggling with, and I had learned the lesson from the Gospel in my own life that I was now able to testify of to this lady. It really may not have been anything too big, but to me it is amazing as I look back to see how the Lord has prepared me to teach these people. How, many times without recognizing it, The Lord had taught me a lesson in my life, and it had prepared me to help one of His children who struggles with the same thing. So, I testified to her that these doubts weren't from Heavenly Father and that when she prays and feels good, to follow that feeling and don't give place to the doubts, and then, finally, at the end, I asked her another time if she would get baptized this Saturday, and she said yes! When President Salmon (our stake president) set me apart, he said that there would be days in my mission where I would look back and realize that what me and my companion did that day was superhuman or completely beyond our own abilities, and for the first time, I recognized a little superhuman miracle that I had been a part of in my mission. I know I can't really do anything, but it is neat to be a part of Heavenly Father doing His Work.

Wow, congratulations Kevin and Harmony! That is so awesome! And thanks for always setting such a good example for me!

Hey, how are my teams doing? How did ASU basketball do? And how do the D'Backs look this year? Aren't they playing in a new spring training stadium?

Thank you so much to all of you for all that you do for me and the example that you set for me. Through my study this week, I learned something. I learned that The blessings of the Lord will come, we just have to be persistent and patient. Sometimes it just feels like the blessings aren't coming, and we don't know why. It seems like we're doing everything like we are supposed to. The test is in the patience. If we wait, the blessings of peace, happiness and lasting joy will come, we just have to have faith, and keep walking! The Lord will always keep His promises to us, but in His own time. He knows what we need and what we need to learn, and I know that He will bless us if we keep going. He won't give us a trial too big!

I love you all so much!

Elder DeSpain

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