Armageddon

It’s been an interesting week all in all. 

It all started on Monday when 7 missionaries and myself were in a Family Home Evening. It was like 8 at night and while we were singing a hymn everything went pitch black. That’s when the week got fun, hahahaha.

We had no idea for how long we would be without energy however everyone was saying it would be down for 8 days... awesome.

Immediately my companion and I changed the schedule for all the missionaries for safety. They would need to be in their houses at 6:30 everyday. The mission president called us and said that we could no longer eat with the members because of the problem for them of storing food for the next 8 days. It was getting kind of epic. We also had no water in the houses cause there was no electricity to send up the water to our 3rd story apartment, so all the missionaries are growing beards, ha-ha.

So we told the whole zone to meet us in the grocery store. It’s called the 14; it’s where they have canned food and frozen food and a generator so that everyone could buy their own un-perishable foods to live off of. Everyone went in and got their groceries and we met up again. I did a quick sweep to see what they had all bought, hahaha dry cereal and canned beans were the most popular items I noticed they had.

With the awful heat of Buenaventura, no water in the city because electricity was going to be out for 8 days we were thinking that the missionaries were going to be seriously lacking in energy with a diet of canned beans and dry cereal everyday. I told them they would need to cook something else and I only got back blank stares from every single one of them. Those stares in that moment told me that they would burn everything down if they had to cook the pasta I had bought. So, I realized I was sent here for a reason during this time, I told my entire zone that I would now be in charge of all the lunches for the zone while the power outage lasted. May I just say I surprise myself. I was in charge of giving the only meal of the day to 8, 20-year-old young adults that walk all day; do you know the amount of food we eat as missionaries? Hahaha

So this week I made Chinese fried rice with orange BBQ chicken, Mac n Cheese, chicken nuggets, and one day I even made mango chicken and coconut rice. My cooking skills are improving.

I just want you all to appreciate that I made all that food without any power, all I had was a portable gas stove we have. Yeah, you want to take this kid with you if are going camping. The day I made orange BBQ chicken, maybe you might be saying BBQ? How in the world did he do BBQ? Easy, I put a bunch of charcoal in a cooking pot set the thing on the balcony and lit that sucker up, boom do-it-yourself BBQ. Hahaha

Although we were working only 4 hours every day the truth is, these were hard days. Every 4 hours of the day that we had was exactly when the tropical storms coming off the coast dump gallons upon gallons of water on the port city of Buenaventura. So we were practically sprinting from appointment to appointment so wet that I had bubbles coming out of my shoes and there is rust on all the staples in my missionary manual.

We know that the message we share everyday has incredible importance to all who listen to it, and nothing can stop us as we hasten the work here in Buenaventura.

That brings me to my lesson this week:

It’s the 5th step in the 5 steps of the Gospel of Jesus Christ… Endure to the End. 

Let’s see what we can find in Doctrine and Covenants about the topic. 

D&C 122:4-9

5. If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;

6. If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee…

9. Therefore, hold on they way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass… therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.

When we see a mountain in front of us let us remember we are children of our divine Father so run at the mountain and conquer it. 

We can do hard things, we were born to show that we can do these things; we are children of the great and only God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob. 

The God who parted The Great Red Sea. 

He who created everything you see, He who sent his only begotten here to drink the bitter cup, our great and Eternal Father, show that you are a child of God… 

Endure, you can do hard things. 

We may have children or we may not, we may be fathers, aunts, and uncles, but we must always remember that we are children of God. 

Carry that title with pride and dignity.

I challenge you all to share this knowledge this week. 

Tell someone that they are a child of God, and that God loves them and He will never abandon them and that He will always love them. 

In the name of Jesus Christ

Amen 

Everyone watch my favorite video on the subject and possibly my favorite video of all time.

This is my all time goal in life. 

Love you all

Elder Lyle