Drenched - In All Its Forms

Hey fam!! I love to hear about all of the things going on in your lives!! Super cool!! This week I have tried to communicate more with my comp and ask questions and just talk with him. As a person he is great. Very cool. Super quiet. Weird laugh. Used to be catholic and a convert of 4 years. 25 years old. Wants to be a dj. Likes to beat box.and doesn’t like lasagna. Likes to run. Likes music and used to love coffee. He is the only member in his fam and the last of 4 kids. As I have tried to open up to him he has started to open up to me, but only a little. I can see my efforts paying off a little so that is good.

The thing is though that he will still walk way fast and in front of me. He has asked me exactly one time if I am okay this whole time. It is just whom he is. His communication is gone but I have been able to adapt. Way hard still when he doesn't tell me to bring a change of clothes when we go to the stake center because we are going to offer service so that was great borrowing huge pants and a shirt form the zls house! hahah.

River-like Streets

Going into conference I wanted to know the effective WAY to teach. In my patriarchal blessing regarding my mission it uses the phrase, the way to proselyte and preach, so I wanted to discover that way. The way to teach the gospel. During conference I received an answer as to how I can better receive answers to my questions.

During the Saturday morning sesh Neill F Marriots talk and Larry R Lawrence it was revealed to me with potent spiritual power to my heart soul and mind that right now it is Gods will for me to be here with this companion. It is not my will but Gods will that I am here. I need to break my heart and give it to God so it can be healed. And then FOLLOW THE SPIRIT. The witness of the spirit was so strong. The way to receive answers to my questions is through the spirit. I learned that the way to teach is through the spirit. The people I teach will first feel the spirit touch their hearts. Then they will have a desire to learn and a desire to feel more of the spirit. Then they will show faith and act to repentance if they so choose, but all of the following steps is based on how you teach, if you teach in a climate where the spirit of conversion, truth, power and testimony can testify to the people and the missionaries that this is the gospel that has been restored again with Jesus Christ at the helm of the old ship zion as Elder Ballard said. I love him.

So I received my answer with clarity and power this week regarding how to effectively teach the gospel. How to be a successful missionary. I had this question all week and through preach my gospel the scriptures and conference, I found my answer as it was borne to me in power by the spirit. Now I want you to know that this is not currently how my comp teaches. He tries to convince and persuade. The gospel is just information that the people need to learn. I am not put to the task of helping him see that but he doesn't like to listen to my advice so I have to approach it in a way that will work. So every lesson and contact we have goes like that. But I am not put to the task to fix it, because now I know. Cool beans.

Now I will tell all you some fun stories and what I did this week!!!! Monday I studied patience in the afternoon and learned that it is more than just waiting. It is trusting on the will of the Lord and his timing and doing all you can in our current situation. Humility is key and submitting your will to the Fathers.

Tuesday it rained a ton! And was a regular day with contacts and lessons like I have just told you about. Wednesday was cool. We were just finishing a contact on the street that lasted a whole hour with this man and we were walking to another lesson and this man holding his baby walking with his wife who is holding another baby stops us and says, Elders, my kids are sick, can you give them a blessing? We continued to his house and gave this humble father who is a member but can’t go to church because of work but he reads and prays every day. We gave the two baby girls blessings. It was my second blessing in Spanish. Super cool and I didn’t mess up really. My Spanish is getting more smooth it is cool! I love it. El Salvadoran Spanish is way different!

Thursday I had interchanges with Elder Andrade in the other area. It was cool and I actually ate at a members house that night!!!!!!! It was awesome. We had rice beans, eggs and rolls and juice and fried platanos de gloria. That is fried plantanes with carmel and sugar. Oh so heavenly! During a lesson with Elder Andrade I actually got to teach and speak my heart!!!! I am trying to do that more with my comp. But we taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a recent convert and an investigator. It was awesome!!!!! The spirit was soooo strong!

I got contacted while on intercambios by the JWs!! Good reading

Friday was normal just working hard and sweating! Saturday was some serious rain. Rain like you have never seen. Thunder that literally rattles the tin roofs. I was soaked. We got back from the estaca where we watched the session of incredible conference that expanded my mind and we were going home and the rain was awesome. I will send some pics! We went home and I changed my soaked shoes and socks and we set out for the ward building for the priesthood session. I got there and my shoes were soaked after we walked on the river like streets to pic up investigators and remind them of the conference tomorrow and none of them came. Sad.

But I was in the office with Elder Hallman and watched the conference in English but the conference was pausing a lot so I missed the President Monsons talk completely and the Sunday afternoon session of the conference and we had to watch the Sunday afternoon session in Spanish cuz English was soo slow!

But I wanted brownies and we don’t have an oven because the electricity is so expensive. I made them like pancakes and bought frosting last pday and boy was it a treaty!!!! SOO awesome!!! I wrang my socks out of water into the garbage can. Drenched because of the rain.

Me ringing out my socks because of the rain.

We are in the office at the church watching priesthood session.

Here are some more stories from Sunday night. Last night we were at a members house and eating some sweet chicken lasagna that was soooo incredible. It was like 8:30 and we were wrapping up the meal. This family is a young one with three kids. The youngest kid is like 3 years old and was crazy hyped. We suddenly hear the daughter scream and laugh as she stands next to her brother who just laid a nice turd on the ground. He totally pooped his pants!! jajajaj super funny! And the other night there was a guy with a hardcore lisp speaking super fast El Salvadoraneo espanol. I was so surprised I could understand him. He told me that all the Americans up in the states were super smart. He was funny.  It is going well and I am learning soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much. I love it but it is hard. 
Love you all!

Elder Ostler