JULY 23, 2018

This week was pretty packed. I picked up my new companion, he had a crazy trip. We then had to pick up the other new guys, they got here on Thursday at like 8 am.   We had the first District Meeting, and Colombian Independance Day! I also did an interchange with Elder McFadden.

So to begin, my companion is a member of the church since he was a kid. He's from Lima Perú.  He has about a year and 4 months in serving as a missionary. He's pretty cool. Looks somewhat Asian and he's a nerd. 

The District is also good here. One of my few goals, but it's big, is that we never have a zero! (never a week where there isn't a baptism, attendance, new investigators)  I'm also coming in with a strong hand from right off the bat so that everybody obeys! Have been some problems in the past here, but I'm going to change that.

An experience I had, that I really did not expect, was we went to visit one of our investigators that hasn't been progressing very much, Sandra. She always comes to church, has introduced us to friends, but needs to get married!  So we went, and set a baptismal date with her daughter, for the 4th of August.  She accepted, and I called the father, who lives on a little farm two hours away in car, two hours away on horse, and told him about it. He said that would be excellent, and the idea was that it would animate them also for baptism. 

Well, we came to church, they were there. And after church ended, Sandra pulled me aside, and told me that her significant other asked her hand in marriage, for the 2nd of August, so that they could all three get baptized on the 4th of August. They also offered to give us lunch this Friday.

We have one baptism planned for this Sunday. Francisco Paradas. He is a youth from Venezuala who came about a month ago with a family of members of the church. He has been reading and praying, and for his own self he wants to get baptized. He is 16, and I'll send pictures on Sunday!

I love being a missionary. Here in Yopal, Colombia,  there is a lot of people waiting for the gospel, and I think about something my oldest brother told me right before I came out on the mission.  He said that the time that we go is the time the Lord needs us, and explained that a lot of the best relationships he developed in the mission were right at the beginning, and also at the end. I can also testify that my time has been perfect. I was called when I needed to be, and I'll finish meeting a lot of great people. 

I know that the Lord directs all of his children. There is not a single person on this earth who will never receive a prompting of the Holy Ghost in their life that they won't be able to recognize.  But the problem is recognizing it.  The Book of Mormon teaches us how to do this. 

2nd Nephi 32 says:

3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

4 Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.

5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.

The words of Christ, the scriptures, tell us what to do. Then, the spirit, will show us!  The Bible and the Book of Mormon combined doesn't include my name once. But the Holy Ghost knows how to speak directly to Connor Ross Tracy.  I know that God guides us. If we choose to follow him, and be baptized, we receive the promise of the constant companionship of his Holy Ghost. 

Elder Tracy