I´m glad to hear that my ugly sweater is still doing work. Sounds like it was a week of preparations for Christmas! Josh sent me an email a few weeks back when he and Jess first got engaged. I´m really excited for him. Be sure to send him my love!
The first week here in Santos Lugares was very interesting. We have a lot of work to do, but I think we´re going to see some beautiful things happen! This past Tuesday I met Elder Hinostroza in the mission offices before we headed out to the area. He is from Peru, and is 23-years old. He was baptized when he was 11-years old and went inactive after. With 21 years of age, he felt that he needed to return to activity in the church and serve a mission to provide a better future for his family. He is a really good kid, and his training was the same elder that finished my training- Elder Benitez from Paraguay.
The area is very much the city. We live in an apartment with two other Elders- Elder Townsend from Oregon, and Elder Soberanas from Australia. The apartment is in the area of the other Elders and we have to travel by train to get to our part of the area. We have a strong ward with members who were raised in the church, and several others that are converts more recently.
Elder Hinostroza and I worked hard this past week to get things going here in Santos Lugares B. The majority of the members in the ward live in the area of the other Elders- which means that we need to baptize a ton so that this part of the area can be strengthened! I know that the people in this area need the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that they are people ready to receive the gospel and be baptized.
As we went about working this week, we passed by a family that was seated on the ground outside of a business. We greeted them as we walked by, and I felt strongly that we should return to talk with them. We turned around and asked if there was something that we could do to help them. They said yes, and told us that they were in the area because their son had recently been accused of sexual assault, and was being held by the court. When I heard this it hit me like a ton of bricks and I immediately knew that we were there to offer them the gospel during an extremely difficult time in their lives. They live really far away from our area, but we offered them some words of encouragement and left them with a prayer.
Even though I will probably never see those people again I know that they are children of God, and that they were in our path for a reason. I know that God´s hand is present in our lives and that we can receive his blessings more and more as we keep his commandments. I hope that this couple can receive the comfort of their loving father in heaven and experience the lasting joy of the gospel. We may not always understand why we should do something that the Spirit directs but I know that God knows. I hope everyone can listen to and follow the Spirit this December as you strive to light the world with the love of Jesus Christ.
Much love,
Elder Lambert
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