Learning Opportunities

¡Hola familia!

I have some sad news: Yibran wasn´t confirmed yesterday.

It was pretty stressful. Yibran had been telling us that he wasn´t sure if he´d be able to go to church yesterday due to a carne asada (barbecue) his dad was going to have for the Mexico World Cup Game. We explained to him the importance of his confirmation all week long and even called him at 10 yesterday to make sure he was going to go. He told us to pass by, and we did, but his grandma told us he had left with his dad, and she didn´t know where he had gone or when he would come back. His dad doesn´t really support him (or even live with him) and didn´t want to see Yibran´s baptism or confirmation. He needs a lot of prayers.

Also, we found out that Yibran hasn´t gone to school in a month. Apparently he was being bullied for being fat and listening to us. His classmates told him that we were teaching him lies and that he shouldn´t have anything to do with us. They also mentioned that he shouldn´t listen to Chilangos (people from Mexico City aka Elder Rivera) or Larrys (Americans aka Me) because we only lie and take advantage of people. From what we heard from Yibran, they also call him and us some sort of terrible swear word that sounds like Mormon. So due to that and his chubbiness, he stopped going to school. We´ve already told the Ward Mission Leader who talked with the Bishop who should talk to the school about this issue. Yibran is a really smart kid and we don´t want him to lose a year of school just for some idiot kids.

Yibran´s struggles brought to mind the words of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount and to the Nephites in 3 Nephi 12:

 10 And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name's sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 11 And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake;

 12 For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.

Anyways, ya´ll can see that it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride this week. We felt good at the end because we can say that we did all we could to follow the counsel of our leaders and be as diligent as possible, but it´s still tough.

The world (and far too often those in the Church) tend to measure success using numbers and statistics. I´ve come into contact with many members of the Church who feel the need to talk about how many people they baptized on their mission, what positions of leadership they had, and how much influence they had over other people. I can´t stand to hear that. It makes me cringe every time a missionary brags about their baptisms or mentions that a certain companionship is ¨successful¨ just for baptizing a bunch of people.

The Lord measures success by conversion: by personal effort on behalf of his servants to bring about his work. As Howard W Hunter said in True Greatness (read the whole talk, it´s great): https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1982/04/true-greatness?lang=eng&query=success

As we evaluate our lives, it is important that we look, not only at our accomplishments, but also at the conditions under which we have labored. We are all different and unique individuals; we have each had different starting points in the race of life; we each have a unique mixture of talents and skills; we each have our own set of challenges and constraints to contend with. Therefore, our judgment of ourselves and our achievements should not merely include the size or magnitude and number of our accomplishments; it should also include the conditions that have existed and the effect that our efforts have had on others.

Well those are my two cents for the week. I know it may not have been the most positive email you´ve gotten from me, but just know that I´m happy. I´m praying for you guys. I love all of you and wish you the best. Be good and find true success in the little things. D&C 64:33

Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

Love, Elder Brayden Doyle Decker