This past week in Sija has been a little wierd. Some lady from out of town came to Sija and in the middle of the city put on like this big presentation. She was out there yelling at the top of her lungs “preaching” (shouting) all sorts of garbage and pretty much the whole city came to watch her. She claimed that she had the power to heal people and do all sorts of miracles so… naturally the people came. Thats how the people are here in Guatemala, really humble and basically they will believe almost anything.
To be honest, to me it was really sad to watch this display of people shouting in the streets their “prayers” and “praises” to God. Since this town is so small, we of course are going to gather where there are people… so we went and we too started teaching people amidst all the chaos. A lot of people came to us inquiring knowledge… asking us things like… Isnt it true that this isnt the way things should be done? So we said, of course not. People began to gather around us and we explained to them that the Church of Christ has an order and what is being done right now is flat out making fun of the order Christ has left. In spanish, es totalmente una burla ante Dios.
Some agreed but wanted to know how is it possible that this lady could be performing “miracles”. Well, an honest question deserves an honest answer. Just then a scripture came to my mind… Matthew 7:21-23… the scripture basically says that lots of people will cry out unto the Lord explaining that they even did miracles IN HIS NAME…. but in that day he will unfortunetly say to them, depart from me, because I never knew you. Why? Because they didnt have the authority to do those things and werent a part of His Church. The Book of Mormon backs this up as well. In 3 Nephi 27 verses 10-11, it explains that other churchs that are not edified in the gospel or in other words dont have the fullness of it… will in fact experience joy for a moment, they will even be able to do miracles… but in the last day the Lord will have to cast them out. However, the joy that comes by living and being a part of the true Church of Christ can and WILL last for all eternity.
Many people understood, and lots of them wanted to learn more. Through this experience we were able to take down several references to later follow up with them. All in all it was a very interesting and wonderful experience that I will not forget. I love you guys, the Church is true!
Lastly, heres a couple new photos, http://shoxty.com/ftp/files/index.php?type=display&dir=2006-06%20-%20Sija
Original comments:
Ambria says:
I have the most random question in the world… Is that Otto Zelaya from MV? Is he your comp or does he just look a lot like Otto? I haven’t had a chance to read all your blogs…. How’s the mish going anyway? I hear from Brandon and Leif pretty consistently. They’re both doing great. Although, Brandon wants Florida to go under during this next hurricane season. His dream would be to chill with Evan Astle in South Carolinda on his mish. Brandon’s a random boy! Keep working hard buddy!Love ya lots-AmbriaPS- Jayli wants to know where you’re serving ’cause she’s from there and apparently her nephew is serving in Guatemala also. What a small world we live in!
Elder Forbs says:
Man, I wish Swiss people cared about… anything like that. Maybe we can have a member pose as a predicatadora lady and make a scene…
Missionary Mom says:
Hahahaha…John!! Do that. I would really like to have a picture of that scene :O)
Elder Taylor says:
Hey buddy…man, it´s been awhile since I´ve made a comment on here. It sounds like things are going really well for you and that you are doing well out there in Guatemala. I wish we could have anybody who actually even tried to believe in God, Christ and the Holy Ghost here…haha. I like John´s idea of having a designated “Predicadora” lady, but I don´t think anybody would stop and listen…we´ll see, eh?
Elder Taylor says:
Oh yeah, and mucho loves from España
Will says:
Ambria, yep Im comps with Otto Freaking Zelaya from MV, hes way tight. Also tell Jayli I am serving in a little city called San Carlos Sija which is in the mountains right above Quetzaltenango AKA Xela.Forb and Dust, dudes our problem here is EVERYONE believes in God and Christ so much that they all think they are right and dont want to listen to us haha. Oh well.
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