Elder Wolferts in Cavite: O Wretched Man That I Am!

September 16, 2019

Didn't write an email last week. Sorry!! These last 2 weeks have flown by and I've decided to start things off on a funny note;

So we're currently teaching these two part-member brothers that are 11 and 12. We were confused as to why they aren't baptized, but after teaching them, we think we know why... Their attention span is almost nonexistent. They ask the most random questions. Like we were teaching them about The Book of Mormon (if you haven't heard of it, it's a great book) and I was explaining to them the story of Lehi and his family's journey to the promised land in old America... And while I'm showing them the pictures of the boat, one of them asks, "Is old America on a different planet? Did they take a space ship?!" We went on to explain prophets, and my companions asked them, "What did Moses get from the mountain? 10..." which one of them replies without hesitation, "GOATS". We were dying throughout the whole lesson. And then to top things off the closing prayer went something like this, "Heavenly Father, I'm thankful for... uh... uh... potatoes... uh... in the name of Jesus Christ Amen." hahah... Teaching them is going to put our missionary experience to the test, but I love them both!

Now to explain the title. I was reading in 2 Nephi 4, the other day, and impressions seemed to flow as I read it! It took me a whole hour to read one chapter haha! I read as Nephi exclaimed, with all his energy, "O wretched man that I am!" and pondered that for awhile, thinking of how someone like Nephi--undoubtedly one of the most righteous people on the entire planet at the time--could describe himself in such a way. As I pondered this I realized that the more righteous we become, the more dependent we are on Jesus Christ and His Atonement and we begin to understand a little bit more, the cost of which he suffered, and that he personally died for all of us. As we start to grasp this perfect love he has for each of us, we realize how helpless and how carnal we are without His Atonement, and we can contemplate the immense gap between where we are now and our divine potential. Even the little temptations and shortcomings make us frustrated that we fall so short of our perfect Father and our perfect Brother and Savior. I know for me, on my mission, I get frustrated with things that I never even thought were a sin before my mission, because of the subtlety of these shortcomings. I've realized that the things that aren't in alignment with the Father's will are things that we need to repent for. I have been striving to follow Nephi's example in my personal prayers this past week, when he pleads in verse 31;"Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?" What a great thing to pray for!!

We also were blessed with 3 baptisms this week, and to make it so this email isn't too long, I'll go straight to the point and say, it was a wonderful experience! We had three investigators attend as well, and one of them told us that she got goosebumps and felt something amazing. We started it off with an opening Christmas hymn!! So awesome! And then while we were changing back into our clothes, those that attended sang Christmas hymns while they waited for us. I heard Silent Night and the spirit was so strong, and I just thought to myself, "This is why they call it the best two years."

-Elder Wolferts <3

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