SJ Week 17 – Ugly Dog – Elder Tate Cannon

I love San José so much haha, so many funny, crazy, awesome people that I’ve come to love so much. It’s been another awesome week, with tons of service and lots of good stories. I love it here and it’s crazy how fast time is going by. But, I’m taking advantage of every second I’ve got!

We had some awesome miracles this week. First, Jessica, our Facebook miracle from Colombia, continues being a miracle. This week, we invited her to be baptized, along with the Elders where she’s from, on October 10th, and she responded saying “obviouslyyyyy” hahaha it was so funny and the best answer to a baptismal invitation I’d had yet. She’s awesome, and her family is as well. She’s seriously getting ready to serve a mission and she’s been in contact with missionaries for like two weeks haha. It’s insane.

During one of our many service projects this week, we were helping this old lady move and she had this dog that she’d told us was 15. We were looking around the house trying to find it and I saw the scariest looking dog that I’d ever seen haha. Even after all the terrifying dogs I saw in Argentina, that one was sooo scary. Just like one white eye, the patchiest fur and the scariest looking skin, it was a sight to see.

We’ve had some great progress with people here. The Cruz family, who we’ve been working with for the last few months, had a huge breakthrough over this last week. They all came to the church building to watch our ward zoom call, they came to an outdoor movie activity, and we began teaching the dad and one of the daughters who used to never join our lessons. We also went over and made pupusas with them, this stuffed tortilla thing from El Salvador, which was super fun. They’re doing great and progressing well towards their baptismal date in a few weeks, so we are super excited for them.

I finished reading Saints: Volume I this week and it was awesome. It has helped me understand so much better all of the sacrifices that early saints and pioneers had to go through in order to bless our lives. I think about them and their experiences, and so many of them were willing to sacrifice everything (property, time, work, energy, even life). I think about today and the things that we are willing to sacrifice.

Are we willing to sacrifice a bit of our time to read the scriptures every day?
Are we willing to sacrifice the worldly things that aren’t helping us progress spiritually?
Are we willing to sacrifice our fears and share the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ with those we love?
Are we willing to sacrifice our sins and confess them to Heavenly Father in order to repent and be forgiven?

We can all sacrifice more than we currently are. Take a step back and look at what things you can give up because you love the Lord. I promise you’ll see a difference. I love you all. Thanks for all you do, and for your prayers. I’ll see you all soon! We are working hard and Elders Andersen and Valencia still have no idea I’m going home soon haha. This week should be the big reveal. I love you guys! Thanks for everything.