Uyuni...

This is like the weirdest place on earth. There are so many people from so many countries, and everything is written in like 4 languages so everyone can understand. I have an investigator who is a pizza maker who also "speaks English". As you move further to the limits of the city the whole environment changes. When I am on the outside of the city I feel like I'm walking down a Bolivian style "Bananza" episode. Its really weird. My companion and I are the only missionaries in the area. If we want to talk to other missionaries, we have to take a 6 hour bus ride. For those of you who don't know, Uyuni is home of the biggest salt flats in the world. It is so big, you can see it from space, and it has the nickname of the planet mirror. When it rains, it turns into a giant mirror. You should look up pictures. Uyuni is a small branch of 30 people who attend church in a tiny house, with the name of the church painted on the side. The baptismal font is a little water tank that they also use to run water through the building. Its great!! I have had to proselyte with sunglasses because of the salt. The streets seem to shine brighter than the sun. If I don't use the glasses, I will go blind. Today we went out to the salt flats with some young men preparing to leave on the mission, and then ate pizza. Yeah now the spiritual. I have been pondering in Psalm 23 a lot this week. 1. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. The purpose of a shepherd is to protect and guide his sheep with love and charity. The sheep, when their shepherd enters into their field, run to the shepherd. Even hearing is voice, or seeing him in the distance they want to be by his side, because the shepherd cares for his sheep and the sheep love their shepherd, but shepherds are not the only ones working with the sheep. I love what it says in "Jesus the Christ" about this. There are two types of sheep carers. You have the shepherds and the sheep herders. Sheep are attracted to their shepherd and always follow him, while with the sheep herders, the sheep only want to keep their distance. A sheep herder, through fear, keeps his sheep united. The shepherd, through love. Also the sheep herder's work is a lot harder, and it tires him. The sheep herder probably doesn't like his job, but does it for the money. The shepherd loves being with his sheep and simply needs to be in their presence to guide them. Being a missionary, this really hit home with me, we are servants of Christ moving his work forward, and the only way we can have success is through charity, loving those you teach. Some missionaries are here because they love the Lord and others, while others are here only to check a thing off their to-do list, and to then receive their reward. We should be like the shepherd, and do what is right not because we have to, but because we want to. We should want to obey the commandments, not because if not we don't have blessings, but because we love the Lord. If everyone, not important what we have done, goes to heaven, how many of us would keep obeying? This is really a question of our conversion. Do we obey in fear of punishment or do we obey because we love the Lord. As I am hitting the middle of my mission I have been doing a lot of reflection on this principle. I pray every day, that my love for those I serve keeps growing and I can feel what Christ feels for me, through my love for the people I serve. Christ suffered for our sins, not because he had to, but because he wanted to. Les quiero mucho, y muchos de uds. me han impactado en muchos aspectos de mi vida. Se que la vida as difícil, pero con amor, todo lo que esta difícil vale la pena. Hacemos los cosas difíciles por amor de las personas en nuestro rededor.

(I love you all very much, and many of you have impacted me in many aspects of my life. I know that life is difficult, but with love, all that is difficult is worth it. We do difficult things because of love for the people around us.) Se Cuidan Atte: Elder Heaps