Letter From Rhys - Week # 44 – Timing Couldn’t Be More perfect!

Feliz lunes from the tropical land of the Republica Dominicana!

This week was a ride and full of hard work and much more opposition.  We were supposed to have two baptisms this past weekend!  Their names were Emely, one 10 and the other 19.  These two young ladies are amazing people and love the message of the gospel.  Each one, however, had their own difficulties.

This past weekend we tried super hard to get the permission from the younger Emely's parents so we could baptize her.  We got super close!!!!  So close I wish we were doing government work! Or lobbing hand-grenades. Or playing horseshoes.  At the end of it all, the mother refused to give the permission claiming that we were obligating her to sign the form.  She denied her daughter the opportunity to not only be baptized but to have any connection with the Church. This was not somewhere we wanted to go.

My parents have taught me that the Lord’s hand is in everything we do and in every part of the work. Though this girl was super ready to be baptized and that’s the only thing she really wanted to do, she was not to be baptized when we had planned... Sadly this is the case in many situations, but we know that the Lord is with us.  At the moment, we are in the process of reconciliation with the mother and apologizing for the misunderstanding.  We hope that we can at least have her get the permission once again to attend the Church and to share the gospel with her friends and us.

The Other Emely was also super prepared and ready for her baptism.  However, she had a fear of getting baptized so fast though we had been teaching her for 6 weeks at least.  We had scheduled the baptism and when it came around, she was nowhere to be found!  She had gone to another area to spend time with a friend; if this was led by her fear we know not but we were able to talk with her again and see what she wanted to do.  She flew out to New York this morning and is going to send us the address of her aunt who she'll be staying with until September and we will send the missionaries over her way to help her continue to prepare for the day of her baptism.

Though we did not get to baptize someone this weekend, we still rejoiced in the fact that my companion’s mom got Baptized and we were blessed with the ability to see the service via Facetime. One thing that I have learned from this experience this week is that the opposition in this world is always equal or greater than what we expect when we are doing good. There is always someone to take a good thing and take it in a bad way, or to think that something can never be done because its "logically impossible".

Nevertheless, if we trust in the Lord in all our doings, consult him in every action, every idea, every choice, he will guide us to make the right choice or to fortify us to make it through in one piece. I know that the Lord has a plan for each one of us and is always engaged in making our lives better through the conquering of opposition and blessing us through our obedience to his commandments. The timing for everything couldn’t be more perfect than the Lord’s time.  Though we may not have it now, the blessings come and the promise is fulfilled!

Until next time my friends! Have a great week and trust in the Lord in all things! He's there for all those who humble themselves before him and will give them refuge and strength! 

Going forth with the Vision of Christ and an eye of Faith,

Elder Rhys Wheeler

P.S. Mom, there’s no better blessing than the typos being fixed, so keep it going! Thanks!