"In the end, an instrument that's not in the hands of a master is no good"

Dear family,

This week was a good one. I probably say that every week, but it´s true.

Questions/answers: Am I taking malaria medicine? - No. I'm pretty sure that's not a problem here. Do I sleep on a hammock or bed? - Bed. We do see lots of hammocks here though, especially in the poorer areas. Is it rain season? - Technically yes, but it hasn't rained much. Do I miss piano? - No, not too much. There's not really time to think about that.

Well, this week we really learned the importance of prayer. We've been working so hard, but haven't had much to show for it lately. But we could feel the confirmation of the spririt, and we knew that our efforts were acceptable to the Lord. When ever we leave a lesson, we always ask, what went well and what didn't go well. We study and practice and strive to improve things that we identify as ineffective. We've gotten so, so much better but still didn't have anything to show for it. But this week, we realized something. Our prayers have not been that meaningful. They've been fairly repetitious and we've haven't been asking for specific blessings. So then we thought, "Maybe we just need to ask." So that's what we've been doing. I studied what Preach My Gospel saws in chapter 4 about praying in faith and what a missionary's prayer should be like. I also studied the Book of Mormon and saw how missionaries like Alma prayed. So we've been really striving to make our prayers more meaningful, faithful, and personal. And we've really seen a difference. We found more new investigators this week than we have found the entire time I've been here. The Lord truly showered blessings upon us this week.

I really can tell now who is really doing this work. Any success we have, the Lord gives us. That being said, we still need to be doing the other things, like studying, improving our teaching skills, and working as hard as we can, but we need to remember that this is the Lord's work, and that he is the one that performs that work. I think of how the sons of Mosiah say that they had been made instruments in the hands of God. I really like to think about it that way. I need to strive to be the very best instrument I can by, but in the end, an instrument that's not in the hands of a master is no good.

I love you guys!

Elder HIlton