Week 42 - Thy Will be done!

This week was a good one! I am getting transferred on Wednesday, so by then I'll have to be getting used to a new home, branch, companion, and area. I'm not really looking forward to it. I love this area and this branch and I'm really gonna miss all the members here. To me, that's one of the hardest things about being a missionary. You make so many friends and become so close with people and then you have to leave them again, and again, and again. But I guess we have to follow the Lord's will even when we don't want to. 

That's actually what I spoke on in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. I spoke about conforming our will to God's and having a "thy will be done" attitude. It went pretty well. As I prepared the talk, I was reading the talk "Swallowed up by the will of the Father" by Neal A. Maxwell. He speaks about consecration and sacrificing our will for the Lord. He speaks about the less obvious sins of omission that we fall to on a daily basis and how we can do better as members. I really love this scripture in the bible that shows Christ's example:

 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Just like Him, we didn't come down from heaven to do our own will, "but the will of him that sent [us]." I also love the story of Nephi and his example in Helaman:

 5 And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.

Nephi had reached this point where his will was the same as the Lord's to the point where anything he asked would be done unto him. I hope we can all strive for this level of conversion. 

[I was alerted by Brother Alarcon that Elder Thayne was planning on playing a musical number in Sacrament Meeting.  He played a beautiful arrangement of "I know that My Redeemer Lives".]  I was pleasantly surprised that the song went really well. Considering it was the first time I'd played piano in front of anyone since I was like 16, I was really nervous, but it turned out okay.  

We haven't met with M. and M.  for quite some time. Either they truly never have time or are never home, or they're just avoiding us. I hope they can make it to church more in the future and feel the Spirit there.  

We had a baptism in the branch on Friday for someone the Goshen Elders have been teaching. Her name is A. She has been investigating the church for about 5 months and she has wanted to get baptized for a long time, but her husband didn't want her to, and we aren't supposed to baptize anyone without their spouses permission. Before her husband gave her permission, we were doing the baptismal interview. Our Zone Leader, Elder Conradt, was conducting the interview, but he doesn't speak any Spanish so he asked me to translate for him. Still unsure about whether or not her husband would give her permission, she expressed her frustration and told me she didn't understand why the missionaries were having her read the Book of Mormon and pray and come to church if her husband was never going to let her get baptized. She felt that it was all a waste and that it wasn't doing her any good. After I translated to Elder Conradt, his response was profound and something I hadn't really thought about. He said that it didn't really matter if her husband gave her permission tomorrow, in a month, or in a year, but the Lord would not withhold any blessings from her for the decision of her husband. After she understood this, she regained hope, and about a week later, her husband gave her permission. 

Her husband is very hard-hearted and doesn't want anything to do with the church. Surprisingly, he came to the baptism, but left as soon as she got baptized and sat in the car for the rest of the service. We're praying that he sees the blessings of the gospel and softens his heart.

Other than that nothing much happened this week. President told me it's a possibility that I'll be training after this next transfer so that's a little nerve racking. But I'm looking forward to meeting new people and doing new things even though I don't wanna leave this area.

I love you! I hope you have a good week! I'll talk to you next week

Love,

Elder Thayne

With Elder Cruz, my companion.  My piano teacher back home (Lori Lee) sent me these Seanstrong  bracelets in honor of her son Sean who is fighting cancer.  He just got back form his mission to New York earlier this year and they found a large tumor in his abdomen.  He is in treatment right now and we are showing we can be "Seanstrong" here in Indiana!

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Juan and me with a bottle of Coke that says Joshua!

At Maria's high school graduation (Juan's sister).
 I like how Elder Thayne is photobombing this great family selfie!