The Adults’ Table
Hey friends! Don't worry, I didn't forget about you this week. We have Zone P-day this week so we traded our P-day to be able to participate and were out working on Saturday. This week was good, I'd say it was crazy again but crazy is the new normal so it wasn't very different. Audit, temple, late night problems, miracles, sidequests, Sunday, and now we are here.
The Audit
On Monday and Tuesday we had our audit that y'all have heard about for three weeks. Gonna be so for real it was so much more chill than we thought it was going to be. They came in, took some papers, and just worked in the other room while we did our everyday tasks. They high-key did more on the housing side of things than the money side. That was until our meeting with President, the auditors, and the secretaries. In President's office there is his desk and then in the middle of the room there is a table and chairs with couches against the walls. The auditors and President sat at the table and, as is custom, the secretaries sat on the couches. We sat down to start and President said “Urbano sit here.” And just like that I was called up to the adults table. The meeting ended up pretty chill as well. They just reviewed their report, answered some questions that we had, gave us a few tips and tricks and that was that.
All that said, someway, somehow, things got more hectic after the audit. We had so much to get done, things from the past that we went to review for our own records, two more 50 page expense reports. It was wild. We stayed in the office until almost 7 o'clock every night this week resolving things. But hey, I am still a member, I didn't get reprimanded, President and I live to see another audit.
The Work Outside of Work
As late as we stayed in the office we did get out to work a bit this week. That little that we worked we got to see the Lord magnifying our efforts. Last Sunday we got to visit the mom of a member that only spoke Spanish. I am going to so for real I did not understand or hear a single word she said. However, we went back on Saturday night to talk with her and I understood every word she said and she understood every word I said, that is the gift of tongues and the power of God. I am extremely grateful for that experience I had. He truly works with and for us.
Another miracle this week was when we contacted a referral and he accepted everything we said. The even larger part of the miracle is when he came to Church. He told us he would come to Church… 20 minutes passed and we had no sign of him, our calls weren't going through, our messages weren't sending. An hour passed and we just assumed he wasn't coming. With 15 minutes left of Sunday school he walked in the door. We talked to him after and he got lost and forgot his phone but he preserved for 2 hours to come to Church. That was the miracle and the great faith this man has.
The Temple
After our audit I got to go to the temple and holy cow. That was such a needed moment of peace. I love the temple. It always brings me joy, peace, comfort, answers, every single time I go. What was super interesting is the session we did was in Spanish and I was able to understand almost all of it. That's the power of God and the Gift of tongues. After our session I got time to ponder, pray, and meditate. I always feel so close to God when I am there. I can hear his voice when I am there. Not only do I hear it but he talks to me, personally. There's nothing comparable.
In the temple I also noticed a painting I hadn't noticed before. It's a painting of Christ holding a sheep. However he wasn't holding the sheep while standing with the flock, he was up on a mountain with this sheep while the flock was in the valley. It showed that no matter how far off the path we are he still loves us. He will come find us. He cares about the one more than we will ever know.
What's Next?
Well boy oh boy. Let me tell you. Both in the short run and the long run.
This week is going to be hectic and I will be more exhausted than ever. This week we have a mission tour and the President of the Church for the Brazil Area is coming. Not something that happens every day. So what does my schedule look like? Today is P-Day obviously so that's already one day down. Tomorrow morning we have to get some financial stuff in order and in the afternoon we have to go set up for the mission tour. Day 2 down. On Wednesday is the mission leadership meeting with the Area President and we have to go assist as well as work first responder (we basically call people for 6 hours straight). You thought we were done there? After the meeting we have to set up for day 2 of the mission tour. That takes us to the end of day 3. Day 4, mission tour, conference number one. My comp and I will go help out with some set-up, material distribution, clean-up, and the other random problems that are bound to come up. After all that we set back up for day 5. Mission tour, conference two. This one is our conference and I hope to participate but we also have to handle the same things we did the day before again. That is all followed by take down and we make it to Saturday, a well earned P-day. That is this week's plans in a nutshell.
Now… what's next in terms of my secretary duties? After the audit I had a mini interview with… *forgot to keep writing*
Random
Walked on a commercial set for the World Cup on our way to lunch
Took a sidequest to buy medicine
I walked 1.5 hours to a baptism in our ZLs area and 1.5 hours back.
I just bought 13 more ties.
Had Churrasco with my zone of 24 people (I love this zone)
Got a shipment of 2880 Books of Mormon
Watched 3 baptisms
God's Hand
The gift of tongues doing the endowment in Spanish
The gift of tongues speaking an only spanish speaker.
Miracles in the little work
Sneak peak of the special musical number by the sisters in our zone
Multiplied efforts
Emails from y'all!
Spiritual Thoughts
Okay brief spiritual thought on top of the rest of them: LOVE. Love is the most powerful thing on this Earth. Anything can be done with love. It is the most powerful conversion power and saving power. It is through love that we are saved. It is through love that relationships are saved. It is through love that we grow as people. As we love others with the pure love of Christ he will lighten our lives. It is through love that we access his power.
And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.
You survived this newspaper of a weekly email. I hope you enjoyed. Please pray for me this week. It is going to be wild. I love you all. Please email me too. I love hearing your updates (even if it takes me 5 weeks to respond). Okay have a great week.
Tchau tach,
Elder Urbano
