Argentina Jack: Week 38 Daughters of God

This one goes out to the ladies (it´s not what you think),

This Sunday, I was given a very interesting opportunity to teach a class to our ´´Elder´s Quorum.´´ Basically, I get to teach all the men ages 18 and up in the church who don´t have other important things to do. I was given the assignment by the leader of this group on Friday when we ate lunch with him and his family. I readily accepted and prepared a good lesson. The topic: Daughters of God. That´s right. The class that I would teach to a whole bunch of men was on women. It. Was. Awesome.

Allow me to preface my remarks with this statement: I love my family. The class that I gave basically revolved around that idea. We talked about families, Relief Society, divine potential of God´s children, marriage, and why girls are just the best. We read from The Family: A Proclamation to the World. I love that document. I would call it one of the most straightforward, concise declarations of how the family should be organized and why it should be organized in such a way. I would like to share 2 experiences that caught my attention during this class.

The first comes from our friend Elder Scalia. He hails from the great land of Argentina (he´s serving about 4-5 hours away from his house haha). He´ll be going home this transfer and gave us some insights on the role that his mother played on getting him to serve a mission. He told us that he hadn´t planned on serving as a missionary, but his mother did. She had been praying and fasting for him since before he was able to leave. Her prays and fasting eventually made the difference and Elder Scalia decided to dedicate himself to this great work. He told us that he will forever be grateful for a mother who cared enough for him to do what she did. This story reminds me of something that I read in the Bible Dictionary on Prayer. It states ´´Prayer is a form of work.´´ When we want a blessing from God, we pray for it. The harder we pray, the more time we give to it, the more effort we give to it, the more respect that we give to that time we spend with our Heavenly Father--all show that we are willing to put in the work to get the blessings we want. God respects that effort.

The second comes from the father of a young couple in the ward. He and his wife constantly tried to do Family Home Evenings with their little 2-year-old child. Things never went according to plan. Their boy was very rambunctious. Wouldn´t sit still. Wouldn´t listen. And this brother thought that his efforts were lost; nonetheless, they kept the tradition going. He then told us, with tears in his eyes, of one night where they finished their FHE activities. This night, their son stopped them and said ´´Wait dad, we didn´t say the prayer yet.´´ His father knelt down and his son said ´´Can I say the prayer Dad?´´ His answer, of course, was yes. No effort that parents make to raise their children in righteousness and love is ever lost. I testified of the power of the family. I talked about the sacred responsibility that the women of this church have to raise children together with their husbands. I really enjoyed myself. I also laughed a good bit on the inside: 19 years old, unmarried, speaking a different language, and lecturing grown men on how they should treat their wives with respect and support and uplift them. The mission certainly does help bring out the best in us. Haha

On a more comical note, my companion and I had a moment on Tuesday that made me almost burst out laughing as we started talking to a stranger. Earlier that morning, we talked with a lady and asked her for directions. From the start, she seemed very wary of us and when we asked her what her name was, she quickly replied ´´No. No. No no no. I´m sorry I just don´t believe in Will Smith!´´ to which my companion replied ´´Well that´s great. Neither do we.´´ That was funny enough, but later in the day, we approached a man who yelled at us ´´MY NAME IS SMITH!´´ to which my companion replied ´´Will Smith or José Smith?´´ I thought it was hilarious.

I had a great week. I hope that all of you did as well. I´m doing just fine out here. I love all of you and hope that you all are finding things that make you happy in life. I know that real happiness always comes as we seek after that which is truly right and good. Respect those around you. Respect yourself. Until next week,

-Elder Sultan