Howdy!
We had a very fun and quick week. We did divisions with our Zone Leaders on Wednesday, and I went to their area with Elder Madsen, who actually came to Paraguay with me and will also leave Paraguay with me. We were able to teach a lot of their investigators and even a few who had a baptismal date. It was interesting because they have lots of stuff to do before getting baptized like get married, and it made me grateful that the people Elder Orr and I are teaching don’t have problems like that.
On Friday we took a bus up to Asunción to have yet another multi-zone conference. This time it was because Elder Costa from the area presidency was coming to reorganize a stake in Paraguay. I was able to catch up with a lot of Elders that I hadn’t seen in a while and it was a lot of fun. Towards the end of the conference he and his wife held a little Q&A and I decided to ask something that I always wondered about. I said that as missionaries, we teach people who often had been baptized before, and in the teaching process it will get to the point where they ask if their paet baptism was valid or not. I then asked Elder Costa in what manner do we respectfully tell them that… well… their baptism wasn’t done correctly. He said that a way that you can help them understand baptism and authority is by giving your testimony of the restoration of the priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry. I never thought about it that way, that instead of just sort of dodging trying trying hurt someone’s feelings, you simply bear testimony of the principle that you are teaching. I am excited to apply that principle not only to baptism and authority but to many of the concerns that come up as we teach lessons.
I learned a pretty important principle from that experience. I always had that question but had never asked out of… essentially laziness. But when I did ask I received an answer. I probably would have received an answer if I had just asked the Lord before. And thus I want to invite you all to ask the Lord first, and he can give you an answer through the Holy Spirit. As is said in Moroni 10:5
“Y por el Espíritu Santo podreis conocer la verdad de todas las cosas.”
That’s it from me! I hope you all have a good week!
Elder Watson
