October 21, 2009

Dear Family,

This week has been great and I am learning more and more every day, how to be a better missionary. I apologize again for my short letter last week and I hope to ¨fill your cup¨ this week.
We are receiving tons of blessings! Our area is on fire and I feel bad sometimes because I don´t think we deserve them. We are not being ¨obedient with exactness¨ as the Sons of Helaman were, and yet we are receiving countless blessings. I think that these blessing are evidence of the love of God for these people in this area. I know that I can´t be perfect, but I do think that there is always more I can give. These blessings make me think of the covenants that we make at baptism and in the temple. All the Lord asks is that we do all that we can to obey and live like Him and He will bless us. Always!!! I think the Lord is blessing us so much because He loves the people here and is merciful. He is not going to punish the people for us not being exactly obedient but He will still bless us as we strive for that goal. The more we give the more we will be blessed. I would think that sometimes these blessings are not really visible, but are more spiritual blessings. I feel that we are being blessed both temporally and spiritually and I hope to give all that I can to be obedient, so that I might bind the Lord and require His blessings. I love living, and knowing that we are entirely dependent on the Lord. It is much more obvious in missionary work because if we don´t have the Spirit in our contacts, lessons, and lives, nothing will happen. This work really is His, and if we all that we can to do it His way, by keeping His commandments, and loving Him as we serve His children we will receive His Holy Spirit and be blessed. Life, sometimes, seems much simpler in the mission, because we have only very few things to focus on. And that´s it!!!

This idea makes much more sense in my head and it´s hard to express these feelings, so sorry to bore you.

We have 7 baptismal dates and 2 really close ones and 2 others that are right behind them. It is so fun having a schedule every day planned out, and having so many people that you are helping prepare for this great ordinance, that you just get excited to go out and meet with them. I am in love with lots of our investigators. Not really, but more spiritually, haha, don’t worry. What I mean to say is that I get so excited to go and teach our progressing investigators a new principle or a new lesson or a new commandment, because I know the way it is going to help their lives. My companion gave a parallel to teaching people the commandments. He compared the commandments to a menu at McDonald´s. He said that you can go in, look at the menu, and see all of the possible blessings that you can receive from obeying these laws. It really is as simple as picking a commandment, obeying it, and receiving the blessing attached. As we teach people more commandments and invite them to keep them, they have the opportunity to broaden their spectrum and add more light and love and power to their lives. I love the connection between obedience and power. Obedience really is power, and as you keep even the simplest of commandments like reading the scriptures every day, you gain actual power, that helps you combat Satan, but also gives you power to obey another commandment, like praying frequently. By obeying these two you know have enough power to go to church, and then keep the word of wisdom, and then the law of chastity, tithing, fast offerings, etc. The Lord really does know that way to get us back to Him, and that way is through daily obedience, in the little things. As we do this, and as our investigators do this, they change. They get more light in their countenances, they are more happy, they love deeper, their relationships are stronger, and they gain the power and the faith to wield the sword of righteousness against the wiles of the devil. Obedience is the first law of everything and is the only way that we can lay claim to the healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As we take our first step in acting and becoming like Him, He automatically blesses us. He blesses us even when we are imperfect, because He loves us and He loves those that we can serve. I love teaching people the importance of obedience and the commandments, and especially following up and seeing how excited they are to tell us that they read and kept their commitment to follow the Savior. It truly is a blessing to see the changes of life, firsthand.

Elder Carr and I had a very special experience this week as we visited one of our progressing investigators Christian and Nina. We only had the chance to teach him as his girlfriend was with their baby. Things in Spain are really strange with these kinds of relationships. We like teaching him because he keeps his commitments. We had taught him maybe three times before and every time he did not really open his heart to the Book of Mormon. He always read but always said that it was the same as the Bible or confusing to understand. We decided to read a little bit of his reading assignment, chapter 9 of 2 Nephi, when Elder Carr had the stroke of inspiration to instead read a little bit from 2 Nephi chapter 4. We told him that we would start reading in the middle and go to the end rotating every three. As he began reading in his Romanian copy of the Book of Mormon, we began to fumble along, trying to stay with him, knowing where to come in. As he kept going we realized that he had passed his 3 and kept going. He read for about 10 verses, paused, reread a verse, and then kept going until the end of the chapter. After he was done he put the Book down and kind of muttered a ¨whoa.¨ Elder Carr commented that these were the desires of a humble prophet, a humble servant of the Lord that desperately wanted to do all he could to do the will of the Father. Christian said that the words he read were his same desires. After he said this he cut off and went quiet. We waited knowing that listening is always better than talking, because it allows the Spirit to teach, testify, and confirm. We probably waited for about 5 minutes during which, he began to cry and sob. He tried to speak a couple of times but couldn´t. He apologized after this and we asked him to express his feelings and he said that he was speechless, that he felt something in his chest, and that he couldn´t express it. Obviously when he said that he felt something in his chest we knew what it was and were so excited, knowing that he knew that the Book of Mormon was true. He wife got some tissues for him and we began to talk to him about what he was feeling. We told him that this feeling was a witness of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true, and that he needs to get baptized. He, still being speechless, tearfully nodded as we said these words, and then asked if we could have him say the closing prayer, as we were now out passed curfew, not knowing that the lesson would go over like this. He said that he was speechless and couldn´t do it. We pushed him, knowing that he needed to say the prayer to confirm the feelings he was having, so we encouraged him again. He agreed and said a short prayer. We were glad that he did this and he said that he would talk to his wife about getting married, as that is an obvious requirement for baptism. As he regained his breath, after this literal breath taking experience, he walked us to the door and thanked us. I truly feel it a privilege and a tender mercy of the Lord to have been present during this incredibly spiritual experience. He felt the Spirit and the Spirit bore witness to me of the true, life changing power of the Book of Mormon. This book is evidence of everything in our church, and once one has a testimony of it, they know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that this is the only church on the earth that has the power and authority of God, to not only perform the saving ordinances but to lead Heavenly Father´s children back to His loving arms.
I love this work and find it easy to see the Lord´s powerful hand in His work and in my life. I do see that as I lose myself in this work, that I become the servant that Heavenly Father prepared me, and sent me, to be. His love is evident in all things. I love the song, I feel my Savior´s love in all the world around me.

I love you all and pray for you a lot. Have the best week ever!!!

Love,

Rob

Elder Driggs