This week started off great! By the time Wednesday ended, we had 20 lessons! I was on such a high, I felt confident, and everything was going great, then my companion got sick and we stayed in the house for three and a half days. Last night was the only proselyting time we got since. I could see such growth in myself from those days before, and things were perfect, I led the area with the zone leaders and had heaps of success for two days straight, but then we switched back companions and dealt with this test. It really put a damper on things! I was craving so bad to go out and teach people, but he could hardly move. I cleaned the house, I washed and organized the dishes, I read 50 pages in the book of mormon, but it just couldn't satisfy the craving I had to go out and work! We gave him a blessing and some medicine, but it still took time.
The whole time I was confined to my companion's bedside, I was eager to leave. I realized it was going to test me to see if I could handle some trials and not lose determination. It may have been a bigger test for Elder Witt, but I also had a curveball thrown at me too! We played twenty questions, shot darts out of $3 dart guns, slept a ton, and had a great time! By the time we were able to go out and do some work, it had been over 80 hours since we had walked off of the property, and since he had walked further than the bed to the bathroom, but we taught 8 lessons in 2 hours, and had 5 potential investigators.
We realized that this was an inconvenience and it would test us, but we didn't care. We had a desire to work, and we just waited until we could. That night was incredibly successful and was more productive than the last three days were, and I noticed how much my desire to work has grown since I arrived. 9 hours a day is hard! Working in an environment where the community generally doesn't accept you with people who would rather be anywhere else than with a missionary isn't the most pleasant experience at times. But that doesn't really matter if I want to work. That desire was the answer to many prayers, and I didn't recognize the answer until 3 months of praying when I was given a test.
Praying is something that I've recently gained a testimony of. In James 5:16 it tells us that the "effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much". Sometimes I used to think that having a prayer in my heard and faith was enough, but the actual act of getting on your knees brings some extra power into it. Prayers aren't always answered instantly, and with asking to help someone in a quality or virtue like I tried here can't be answered instantly. Just like our Savior, we have to grow grace by grace, which we can only do if the grace of God is upon us, like it was for Him.
I love this work, and I can't believe it's already been 4 months! I still feel brand new! Where has the time gone?! I love you all and thank you for everything!
-Elder Lukens
We made a blanket fort
