"The Powers of the Opposition"

         Another week down and out here in Nahuizalco! My companion and I had some great lessons this week and have been able to focus a lot on bearing strong, direct testimonies to the people so the people can feel that desire to change and become better people. Overall I’m really starting to get back into a rhythm of things and it’s helped me relax and just be a missionary.

   So this week it really hit me the power of the opposition that our investigators face when they start to have a desire to follow Christ in their life and make the changes they need to return and live with our Heavenly Father. We have been teaching the 99 year old that we found last week, and things went down hill really fast. We talked to him and he was totally for being baptized the 15th of this month and we were super stoked and stuff but then this Sunday, on the way to church, he ran into the pastor of his old church with his son that lives in Sonsonate. It ended up being terrible for him. The pastor just destroyed all of his confidence and lied up a storm with him. Our investigator has tons of problems with his knees because he is so old and of course this week when he started to go to church with us his knee went from bad to worse. So the pastor comes and just starts telling him God is punishing him for going to the Mormon Church with a bad knee and a whole bunch of crap. Then on top of all that his family told him they wouldn’t come to visit him if he joined the church. Needless to say the plans to be baptized have been put to a dead halt and for now he isn’t progressing at all. It was just super hard for me to see because it was like he was so close to getting salvation and then the world just pulls him right back down. We are going to do everything we can to help him but we will see what happens!

   This week I was reading in a sweet book that Mom sent me with missionary quotes and I read about a scripture in 1 Corinthians 1:27 that says the foolish things will confound the wise and the weak things will confound the mighty and I just couldn’t help but smile because I literally always feel so ¨Foolish¨ when I”m trying to express myself in Spanish and can’t do it but in the end, I’ll be able to ¨confound the wise¨ because I have the spirit with me! It’s awesome.

   Friday I had to go to San Salvador to get my comp’s residency and it was nuts because they literally just said, ‘Hey go to San Salvador tomorrow, jump on the bus to Sonsonate and from their go to San Salvador.  There you’ll meet a guy named Mario and he will take care of you...’ like what? Needless to say it was quite the adventure and to top it off, I got my first pay per use bathroom experience- when you get to pay for each square of toilet paper you use. Love it!

   That’s all I have time for this week but I love you all so, so much and am always praying for you. Keep praying for Grandpa Crump and I know everything will end up just fine. Keep reading the BofM because it’s literally the best book in the entire world! Love you guys!

Elder Crump

The view Matthew has walking home from Pushtan.
He walks home by flashlight.