We are still on Guam!!! We have been on Guam since the 2nd (I took a 3 ½ hour flight from my island Pohnpei to Guam for training and to pick up my new companion, this is the second time that I have flown to Guam for training and to pick up a new companion) and we won't be leaving till the 19th which is Friday here (return flights were all booked up). It's crazy how fast time has flown by and it's because we have been working hard. This week we left the Talefofo area and are now with Elder Terri and Elder Jensen in Senajana. Working on Guam has actually been really good. We are just walking and knocking on doors (there aren’t many doors in Pohnpei) and talking to people and asking for referrals, we have had around 35 lessons, put 7 people on baptismal date and have met so many cool people. I have really seen our work here paying off. Usually when people come to Guam they think of it as a bad island for missionary work because some people are rude but it's exactly the opposite. Yes there are rude people here but there are so many nice and prepared people. I think the biggest thing that has helped me while here is my perspective on things. I told myself that because I was going to be staying on Guam for a longer time than usual I would work as hard as I can and help these Elders out as much as I can. I learned a lot here and that's why I titled this email "Zions Camp". Though I probably won't see any of these people actually enter the waters of baptism I wouldn't trade the weeks I've been here for anything. I have learned alot and I've changed my view on missionary work a lot.
Far too often we think that because missionary work is the work of God that we will just have it easy, that all we have to do is just knock on a house and three weeks later they get baptized. I feel like we miss the fact that because baptism is such a great blessing and such an amazing experience that we must also struggle, work, and stumble along the way. Just as the Savior suffered so immensely for us so is the glory so immense. The bigger the trial the greater the victory. I more fully realize that missionary work IS work. For the first little while I kind of expected to just have success but not really wanting to put my heart and soul into it. Now I feel like all the pieces are together and it's showing in the work we've been doing here. Because I am a missionary I feel it would be inappropriate to tell of Jesus Christ without bearing my testimony of Him. I know that He is our Brother. That He suffered ALL for ALL of us. He submitted Himself to the Plan and He was the ONLY One able to do it. I never really understood how powerful the Atonement is until I had to use it. I will not avoid the fact that I am not perfect, I am a prideful person, forgetful, and not the sharpest tool in the shed. However, I know that I am His. That God created me not to be perfect but to learn and to become perfect. We all have a long way before that day but that's the great thing about it, that that day will come. Little by little we become better. When we admit our faults and work on them that's when they become our strengths. I want you all to know that God is mindful of us. He knows you and He knows how you will learn the fastest and more effectively. One quote that has been a comfort to me is "Today I will obey, Tomorrow I will Understand" I cannot stress how true this is. I promise you all that as we trust in God, He will help us learn, He will mold us to who we are supposed to be. Who He wants us to be. I love you all and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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