For the Lord thy God is with thee: Week 67- Let the scriptures speak... for they are God's voice

Going into the valley... Urubamba

Getting off of the bus... I was excited to not
be in a bus even though it was drizzling

Dear Friends and Family,

So this week was quite interesting. We had a training meeting ALL day Tuesday with Pres. Harbertson which was really nice. I also had the chance to have an interview with him afterwards and it was really nice to be assured that I was in the right place here in Cusco. Then Wednesday, we traveled to Urubamba and then on Thursday to Ollantaytambo... Just a few things about them. Ollantaytambo is 40 minutes away from Urubamba and there is no church building there, they have to travel every Sunday to Urubamba. They're both SUPER small, cute little towns. It was interesting working there and very different from any other area which I have been in, but it was definitely a joy to see that there really are wonderful people in ALL parts of the world. Friday we were back in Cusco.

There is running water ALL throughout
Ollantaytambo like this...
but I wouldn't drink the water.

Ollantaytambo

Hna Olivares and I

So we were trying to visit all of the people that we needed to most, so we stopped by the Aguilar Family. They had promised last week that this week they were going to come to church. When we stopped by, they had another excuse as to why they couldn't come. We talked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy and the husband said he didn't think he was going to come. We shared some powerful scriptures and still... nothing. So then we were talking to the mom about some of her concerns and in the middle of it, the dad says, ''we will be there Sunday.'' Everyone was kind of taken aback. We looked over at him and he was sitting there with my scriptures still open. I had kind of noted that he was flipping through the pages, but I have a lot of notes and pictures stuck in there that usually lots of people get distracted by my scriptures. Well distracted wasn't the case this time. He looked up very seriously and said right now I was praying in my head that God would talk to me through His scriptures and then he began to read from the page... ''Behold, and hearken, O ye elders of my church, saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, your advocate, who knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted.'' My companion and I just sat there in silence for a while. It was super powerful that it was better just let the silence, or better said, the spirit speak. The mom then ended the silence by saying we'll be there Sunday and you know what! She came yesterday! Her face lit up when she saw us and said ''I FINALLY made it to church after so long and I am glad I made it.'' It was a little miracle of the week that I will never forget.

Ollantaytambo

A sketchy bridge that we crossed
that sways in the wind....

I've always heard that when you want to talk to God, pray but when you want to hear God's voice, read His scriptures. This past Friday will be a day that I won't forget, when that really was the case. God was there talking straight to one of His children and it was an answer to a simple humble prayer. I just hope that I never forget this counsel in my own life.