Tears of Joy
Rejection. Here in downtown Asunción we get a lot of different kinds of rejection. Fancy, rich person rejection; opened and then slammed door rejection; through the speaker looking into the lens of a camera rejection; and just normal, Paraguayan, “another day” rejection. This week I experienced my first English rejection. We decided to contact the American family that lives in our area. We went to their house and I spoke through their speaker to a little American girl, a lot like my nieces back home. She called the Paraguayan maid and they told me the father wasn’t home. Several minutes later he pulled up, and we spoke through the window of his Landrover.
I explained to him our message and why I left my family to be here so far away. As I testified of the powerful affect of our message, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time. I was almost brought to tears and I realized that those scripts I memorized so long ago in the MTC to learn Spanish, are actually EXACTLY how I really feel. Somehow things just hit me on a deeper level in my own language. Truth be told, after feeling those truths so deeply, the cold rejection hit me on a deeper level than it ever had before as well. But since that moment, I have testified more powerfully and recognized once again, in a cycle of ever-deepening sincerity, that I KNOW what I know, and I want everyone else to know and be blessed by that knowledge.
Last Thursday we heard a knock here at the office door at 10 in the morning. We welcomed Cristian and his Brazilian girlfriend, Lisa, into the waiting room and sat them down on the couch. It was the day of the interview. Most baptismal candidates don’t come to you, but the mall in which Cristian is opening his restaurant is situated about 4 blocks from our office. Elder Vail, who speaks Spanish excellenty, but with a heavy American accent that makes him seem even MORE authoritative to the Paraguayans, greeted him and invited him up to President’s office to do the interview.
They were up there for a while, almost an hour, and I honestly started to get worried, even though we had taught and retaught and verified and re-verified all of the baptismal questions. When they came down, Cristian’s eyes were puffy from weeping. He went straight to Lisa who stood up with a somewhat worried look on her face and stretched his arms around her. They stood there in a tight embrace for several minutes, both of them crying. Elder Vail and I stood by, feeling the importance of the situation and the spirit touched our hearts: this man is converted.
This morning was his baptism. After the service and the talks, he himself stood to bear solemn testimony that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. Even more unexpectedly, his father who we had never before met stood to bear testimony, even though, in his own words, he is “not a member—At least not yet.” I felt the spirit deeply as I saw all of the moistened cheeks in the room, and testified of the deep spiritual importance and undeniable truth of what we were doing there. We wept together, and then laughed together as we ate the brownies that I attempted to prepare at 6 am this morning and the juice we had bought last night.
It was a great experience. I hope you SEARCH for moments like those in your own life. I love you with all my heart!
Elder McCarty
Rejection. Here in downtown Asunción we get a lot of different kinds of rejection. Fancy, rich person rejection; opened and then slammed door rejection; through the speaker looking into the lens of a camera rejection; and just normal, Paraguayan, “another day” rejection. This week I experienced my first English rejection. We decided to contact the American family that lives in our area. We went to their house and I spoke through their speaker to a little American girl, a lot like my nieces back home. She called the Paraguayan maid and they told me the father wasn’t home. Several minutes later he pulled up, and we spoke through the window of his Landrover.
I explained to him our message and why I left my family to be here so far away. As I testified of the powerful affect of our message, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time. I was almost brought to tears and I realized that those scripts I memorized so long ago in the MTC to learn Spanish, are actually EXACTLY how I really feel. Somehow things just hit me on a deeper level in my own language. Truth be told, after feeling those truths so deeply, the cold rejection hit me on a deeper level than it ever had before as well. But since that moment, I have testified more powerfully and recognized once again, in a cycle of ever-deepening sincerity, that I KNOW what I know, and I want everyone else to know and be blessed by that knowledge.
Last Thursday we heard a knock here at the office door at 10 in the morning. We welcomed Cristian and his Brazilian girlfriend, Lisa, into the waiting room and sat them down on the couch. It was the day of the interview. Most baptismal candidates don’t come to you, but the mall in which Cristian is opening his restaurant is situated about 4 blocks from our office. Elder Vail, who speaks Spanish excellenty, but with a heavy American accent that makes him seem even MORE authoritative to the Paraguayans, greeted him and invited him up to President’s office to do the interview.
They were up there for a while, almost an hour, and I honestly started to get worried, even though we had taught and retaught and verified and re-verified all of the baptismal questions. When they came down, Cristian’s eyes were puffy from weeping. He went straight to Lisa who stood up with a somewhat worried look on her face and stretched his arms around her. They stood there in a tight embrace for several minutes, both of them crying. Elder Vail and I stood by, feeling the importance of the situation and the spirit touched our hearts: this man is converted.
This morning was his baptism. After the service and the talks, he himself stood to bear solemn testimony that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. Even more unexpectedly, his father who we had never before met stood to bear testimony, even though, in his own words, he is “not a member—At least not yet.” I felt the spirit deeply as I saw all of the moistened cheeks in the room, and testified of the deep spiritual importance and undeniable truth of what we were doing there. We wept together, and then laughed together as we ate the brownies that I attempted to prepare at 6 am this morning and the juice we had bought last night.
It was a great experience. I hope you SEARCH for moments like those in your own life. I love you with all my heart!
Elder McCarty
Pics
005: Elder Rodriguez and Cristian and I. The son was shining brightly in our eyes. A beautiful morning for a baptism, as one Hermana from our ward said in her testimony.
005: Elder Rodriguez and Cristian and I. The son was shining brightly in our eyes. A beautiful morning for a baptism, as one Hermana from our ward said in her testimony.
003: Here’s Elder Vail, our District Leader, the financiero, but more than anything, a great friend.
002: We had a huge ward activity and played soccer and ate Sausages (Chorizo). It was delicious. 2 investigators came and we even managed to have a spiritual experience as well!
001: We got to go to the temple 2 weeks ago. Here I am with Elder Vail and the old Financiero, also a great friend, Elder Guest. 
004: Here is Cristian with Lisa, his girlfriend, far left, and both of their families. The man in the blue is Cristian’s dad who bore his testimony.
004: Here is Cristian with Lisa, his girlfriend, far left, and both of their families. The man in the blue is Cristian’s dad who bore his testimony.
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