President Cantu: Guide to the Elect 10-22-12

Elder Baltich is "studying" diligence

Photo 2: That's Nayarit over there! Not my mission

We started implementing what we refer to as the "Pres. Cantú Guide to the Elect" with great results this week. President Cantú wrote me last week and told me to ask our investigators, "If the Savior walked into your home

right now, what would you ask him?" If they ask "Which is the true church?" they're elect. If they ask "What do You want me to do?" they have desire to act and will progress. If they answer that they wouldn't ask anything, they
will not progress, and we should probably just leave. We had a lesson with a man named José Guadalupe. As we were getting to know him and beginning the lesson, my companion put the "Cantú Guide" in practice for the trial
run. Guadalupe answered, "Well, I would ask him to guide me, tell me which church is true and tell me what He wants me to do." Glory be! That's exactly what we were waiting for! We were able to teach a very powerful
lesson about the restoration of the Gospel. He was very interested in the organization of Christ's church and said that he was "intrigued" by what we had explained about Christ's visit to the American continent after his death and resurrection. He's continued to progress well in our other visits during the week.

 I experienced the adventure of getting to know the *other *limit of the mission, Teacapan. (The other limits are Comondú, where I went last month, and Choix, which I will likely never see). Teacapan is a little paradisiacal pueblo on the very edge of Sinaloa. I took the cliché picture next to the ocean inlet that separates Sinaloa from Nayarit. I worked for the day with Elder Gomez from the Distrito Federal, and we were able to have some really cool experiences. The branch of Teacapan is small, but the members are strong and well-organized, and it was great to work with some of them. The first night, we visited a less active member. He's been out of the church for a good fifteen years, and his kids aren't members. We had a spiritual lesson with him, and he accepted to formally receive the missionary lessons along with his kids and any other family members that accept.

Sometimes I am surprised at how the Lord guides missionary work. The following morning, we went to our first plan, which fell through. I felt impressed to contact a woman who was cleaning in her front yard across the street. She was a Catholic missionary, and fully disinterested in our message. So, I thought: why did I recieve that impression? I  turned around and a young woman was coming down the street carrying her baby and with her toddler following behind. Street contacted! The young woman, Margarita, was decidedly interested in the Gospel. I guess I was held up for a moment with the missionary lady so that I wouldn't miss Margarita. I know that we are instruments in the Lord's hands when we are properly prepared and willing to follow His guidance. We contacted Mario, a friend of a recent convert, while he was at his job in the "Ley" (It's like Mexican Smith's). When we went by his house in the
morning on Sunday, he was already getting ready to go to church. He and Julio - a coworker and another friend of ours - both came to church and stayed for the three hours. Woohoo! We had a cool discussion in the Gospel
Principles class which was about temple work. I'm still stressed about this Day of the Dead activity we've got coming up. Things are going well. The Gospel is true! Bye!