I Gave You All

You know, I think that this was one of the absolute hardest weeks that I have passed through in my mission. I thought of the Mumford and Sons song because I really felt that I've been giving this area all that I've got, and I haven't really seen any results, in terms of key indicators, anyways.

This last week, and as I mentioned last week, we had Zone Conference. One of the focuses was what they called "3 Strikes and You're Out." One of the main problems that missionaries here face is the fact that you can have a large amount of investigators, but very few of them have what it takes to progress. This new system just helped us to know a little better when it's time to let go of a non-progressing investigator. Basically if we can't find them or they don't go to church for more than a few weeks, it's time to look for new people. Well, we took a look at our investigators, and almost all of them met those standards to let them go. So we put a big focus on not passing by people that won't progress and finding new people. It was tough! We got 9 lessons, the worst I've ever had on the mission. We just couldn't find the new people that we were looking for. I don't think I've ever met so many people that refused to hear us as I did this week. It gave me a lot more respect for missions that are more like that.

Well, as we were at home yesterday feeling sorry for ourselves, I called Elder Farnsworth our Zone Leader to do a nightly follow-up. He straight up congratulated me for my work! When I asked why, he said that it's easy to have a week full of lessons, but it takes a real missionary to look more for those that are actually prepared by the hand of the Lord. That made me feel a lot better. It's not easy, but I know that what we are doing is right, so what else matters?

Anyways, that's all I have time for today. My brother's going to Spain on his mission! So cool! We had a powerful message about marriage with Nelito and his mulher Ju the other day, which was cool as well! I'm happy to work! Now I just gotta figure out how to get rid of this blistering heat, haha.

Well, hope you all are well! Have a good one!

Abraço,

Elder Penner