Hi!
Elder Valenzuela left on Monday and I spent the majority of Tuesday with an Elder Jimenez from Chile until the evening of Tuesday when Elder Maynes arrived. Elder Maynes is from Idaho Falls, and he is very tall. We had a good week introducing him to a lot of the members as well as our investigators here in Oviedo. We walked a ton this week, it was kind of insane, but it was well worth it and we found lots of people who are interested in the gospel. The Elders that whitewashed the other area however had a very…. interesting week. They went and visited a lot of members that Elder Taylor and Elder Gonzalez beforehand had stopped visiting. A lot of these members are inactive and essentially apostate, so they had lots of stories of these inactive members refuting the Book of Mormon and President Nelson and stuff like that. Makes me grateful for the branch I am in where we have lots of support from the members and leadership.
I’ve been reading in the Old Testament for a while now, and I’m currently reading in Isaiah where he speaks of the gathering of Israel and our current day situation. Even though it is difficult to understand, I gain a lot from reading it. In chapter 5, verses 26-28 say,
26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:
27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:
I read this to mean that our people need to be active and invested in the cause to gather Israel. We need to “come with speed swiftly”, not stumbling, slumbering, or sleeping for the work of the Lord never stops. I hope you can all find ways to be more active in the gathering of Israel, so that you may be like the people that this scripture describes.
That’s it from me, until next week!
Elder Watson
