Thanksgiving was a 100% normal day here, I forgot that it was Thanksgiving. Anyway, things for us are going well. My companion has been a little sick but we got a lot done this week, even more than last week.
However our investigators keep falling out on us. No one comes to Church. But we have had success with a less active youth, Fabian. Fabian came to Church and found his testimony and everything. He is a great kid, but has had a hard life. We have had some great spiritual experiences with him.
The one investigator that came up to us wanting to get baptised accidently overdosed on sleeping pills and is still in the hospital. I´m not sure what is going to happen now but we feel that the only reason he didn´t die is so that he can get baptised. He took 19 pills when he only needed to take 1. He should have gone into cardiac arrest but didn´t. It was a little scary to be honest. We went to the appointment we had with him and he was laying on the floor rather unresponsive. We picked him up, gave him a blessing and helped his parents clean him and stuff. They then sent him to the hospital to take care of him. I hope he is alright and that everything goes well.
Also during one of my studies this last week I felt a huge urgency to help the people here. It hit me hard how little any of us understand that Christ is coming, at the doorstep. If we aren´t ready, we won't abide His presence and will be cast out. We have got to prepare ourselves now. I know and feel it in my very bones that He is coming quickly, how soon we know not. So I just felt a great anxiety for these people feeling and knowing they aren´t ready for His coming. I hope and pray they get ready soon.
Anyway, I love you all and hope that you keep having fun and enjoy this month that is to come, everything is going to change again after this.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
eMail of November 23, 2009
I´m glad to hear that everyone had fun and enjoyed the plays. As for my week it went very well. We had lots of success this last week. My companion is Elder Nieves. He is from Salt Lake but his dad is from Panama and his mom from Cardston, Alberta. He is a great Elder and has no fear. He doesn´t understand Spanish at all though. He can speak well but he has trouble understanding. But he knows how to work and works very well. He played lacrosse before the mission and was good at it. The plane landed two hours late though on Tuesday and so we didn´t get to do anything. However the rest of the days we got a lot done.
I am so grateful though for the chance to be with him and train again. There is a fire that someone just out of the MTC brings. For example this last week we decided we would pray that someone would come to us to get baptised, and yesterday none of our investigators came to Church, but just as we prayed a man came to Church wanting to get baptised. He said he wants to go to Church at least two more times before he gets baptised, which is the standard, three weeks. It is really amazing what you can do with faith.
Well, I am glad for everything you all have done for me. By the way, my companion says that I have a rather thick Canadian accent. I think its because I have been speaking in Spanish and trying to pronounce the vowels right. The vowels in Spanish are similar to the Canadian accent. Anyway, I am happy to be here and hope that we continue to do well. Thank you for everything and I pray that everyone continues enjoying themselves and growing in the gospel.
I am so grateful though for the chance to be with him and train again. There is a fire that someone just out of the MTC brings. For example this last week we decided we would pray that someone would come to us to get baptised, and yesterday none of our investigators came to Church, but just as we prayed a man came to Church wanting to get baptised. He said he wants to go to Church at least two more times before he gets baptised, which is the standard, three weeks. It is really amazing what you can do with faith.
Well, I am glad for everything you all have done for me. By the way, my companion says that I have a rather thick Canadian accent. I think its because I have been speaking in Spanish and trying to pronounce the vowels right. The vowels in Spanish are similar to the Canadian accent. Anyway, I am happy to be here and hope that we continue to do well. Thank you for everything and I pray that everyone continues enjoying themselves and growing in the gospel.
Monday, November 16, 2009
eMail of November 16, 2009
I´m glad to hear that everything is going so well. I am grateful for your prayers and support. I´m pretty sure Marc can get in to BYU, he just needs to keep his grades up for this semester.
As for my side of the story, not much happened this last week. I was sick for a couple days but I´m okay now. We have been doing our best though. Today we had changes and I´m training again. It´s going to be fun I´m sure. I think it is very probable that I´m going to be in this sector for a long time. I´m looking forward to seeing how much we are going to be able to get done. I am so grateful to be here and for the experiences I have had. I have learned a lot already. And I have a lot more to learn.
Yesterday I did have a good experience though. I got to go and talk about preparing for a mission in the youth Sunday School class. I talked about my experience when I received a strong spiritual assurance of the truths of the gospel. The summer before I went to BYU I decided I really wanted to know whether all these things were true or not. The week before I left if I remember right I got to give a talk in sacrament meeting. To end I got to bear my testimony and in that moment I felt the Spirit come and cause my heart to burn. As I shared that experience again the Spirit came and testified to me and I actually got quite emotional. I am grateful for the testimony I have and know it will take me through many things.
I am grateful to be here and know I will greatly appreciate this opportunity for many years to come. I love you all and pray that everyone keeps doing well.
As for my side of the story, not much happened this last week. I was sick for a couple days but I´m okay now. We have been doing our best though. Today we had changes and I´m training again. It´s going to be fun I´m sure. I think it is very probable that I´m going to be in this sector for a long time. I´m looking forward to seeing how much we are going to be able to get done. I am so grateful to be here and for the experiences I have had. I have learned a lot already. And I have a lot more to learn.
Yesterday I did have a good experience though. I got to go and talk about preparing for a mission in the youth Sunday School class. I talked about my experience when I received a strong spiritual assurance of the truths of the gospel. The summer before I went to BYU I decided I really wanted to know whether all these things were true or not. The week before I left if I remember right I got to give a talk in sacrament meeting. To end I got to bear my testimony and in that moment I felt the Spirit come and cause my heart to burn. As I shared that experience again the Spirit came and testified to me and I actually got quite emotional. I am grateful for the testimony I have and know it will take me through many things.
I am grateful to be here and know I will greatly appreciate this opportunity for many years to come. I love you all and pray that everyone keeps doing well.
Monday, November 9, 2009
eMail of November 9, 2009
It has been a good week, for me at least. There wasn´t all the progress that I would have liked, but we're moving along. One investigator we met the week before started out saying that she didn´t want anything to do with us. She already had her faith and didn´t need to listen. But we just talked and helped her feel comfortable. She began talking to us about the gospel on her own and listened. The next time we went by she was all excited and wanted to learn more. She has decided to go to Church on her own. She couldn´t yesterday but she wants to next week.
Sometimes the least likely is the best investigator you can get. You just have to follow the Spirit. Yesterday I had prayed that we would find the person that was prepared to hear us. I felt very strongly while planning that we should go to a certain place. We went there and found one lady that let us in and is very interested. She listened and wants to keep listening. The power of prayer is real, but it has to be done with the right motive. The only motive that is right before the Lord is love. Of all things that is what I´m learning right now. Faith, hope and charity with an eye single to the glory of God. And that comes through the prayer of faith along with all other things.
Everything about the gospel seems to be clicking now as well. I read the scriptures and I can feel it, see how everything works. I connect the scriptures automatically in my mind and the principles. It seems that I am more able now to explain those principles and help others not just to understand them, but live them. And that because I am learning to live them.
I could say that I had a testimony before the mission, but that testimony is nothing like what I feel now. My testimony has grown an hundred fold at least. Time and time again I see the power of the gospel help others change and become better. I also found a great scripture that I really like. 1 Timothy 1:5; Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. The end of everything is that we have love and faith. I love you all and am grateful for your prayers and support.
Sometimes the least likely is the best investigator you can get. You just have to follow the Spirit. Yesterday I had prayed that we would find the person that was prepared to hear us. I felt very strongly while planning that we should go to a certain place. We went there and found one lady that let us in and is very interested. She listened and wants to keep listening. The power of prayer is real, but it has to be done with the right motive. The only motive that is right before the Lord is love. Of all things that is what I´m learning right now. Faith, hope and charity with an eye single to the glory of God. And that comes through the prayer of faith along with all other things.
Everything about the gospel seems to be clicking now as well. I read the scriptures and I can feel it, see how everything works. I connect the scriptures automatically in my mind and the principles. It seems that I am more able now to explain those principles and help others not just to understand them, but live them. And that because I am learning to live them.
I could say that I had a testimony before the mission, but that testimony is nothing like what I feel now. My testimony has grown an hundred fold at least. Time and time again I see the power of the gospel help others change and become better. I also found a great scripture that I really like. 1 Timothy 1:5; Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. The end of everything is that we have love and faith. I love you all and am grateful for your prayers and support.
Monday, November 2, 2009
eMail of November 2, 2009
I´m not sure I really remember who he is, Ed. I´m glad he came to Church though. I will see what I can write this coming week. I´m glad to hear that things are going so well in the ward. As for the Christmas package, I really don´t feel like I need anything. Everything is going well. Candy and snacks are just about the only thing else. I don´t have batteries though, AA at least. I have a ton of AAA but I need AA. I messed up I guess and brought two things of AAA instead of a thing of AA. It would be cheaper to send me them as well. It´s like $2.50 for two AA batteries here at least, and the most you can buy is four. But nothing else.
As for what happened this week there are a few things. We met a bunch of new investigators. We have a few that nearly got baptised a year ago and seem like they are going to progress right now. During the week we helped a less active family move from their house. I had fun. I couldn´t take any pictures though because my camera doesn´t have batteries. I need to fix that. Anyway, It wasn´t the easiest week in the world but we had success.
Yesterday though, during the last hour of Church a mother with her young daughter walked in and said that she wanted to get baptised. She had heard a friend talking about the Church, he´s a return missionary, and she just felt a strong desire to join. So she walked in and asked us what she needed to do to be baptised. The bad part is that she lives just outside our sector. But she is set and getting baptised and I´m sure she will. In the end I am glad to have been of help to someone else.
I am grateful to be here truly. I have also been learning a lot about relationships. We are teaching a family that has been nearly torn apart. They went into a viscous cycle of blaming one another and not changing. We are trying to help them get profesional help. From the outside perspective you can see how relationships go bad when one accuses the other always and never accepts their own faults. It is better to be kind, than right. Marraige is too great and sacred a thing to put away because you can´t just swallow your pride. That same problem
keeps many people from joining the Church and accepting the Book of Mormon and prophets.
We have had many people straight up reject us. Some have lied, others are just rude. But at the same time many do accept us and listen. There are many people who just simply don´t know and don´t realize what we have even when we tell it to them. We just hope that they will accept when they realize the importance of these things. In the end, you just learn that everyone is a son or daughter of God and you just need to love them and show them respect. God is no respector of persons, and neither should we be.
Well, I love all of you and am grateful for your prayers and support. I hope that everything continues to go well. Have fun, be happy, and know that we are all children of a loving Father.
[email to Dad] To be honest I feel like I haven´t kept up on my journal as I should.
I am relearning lessons right now that I remember to have taught to other people before, and learned before. I need to just write more of the experiences I have and what I learn from them. Not just how I feel. I just felt before like I didn´t need to make anyone worry about me. Nor do I want to fall into pride. But I am beginning to understand those things better, though staying away from pride is impossible in the state we are in. If we could, it wouldn´t be so much of a trial this life. Sometimes our greatest trials are with ourselves, not others. I will share more of those experiences with you. I will also try and keep the right balance between what I should and shouldn´t say.
As for losing a companion prematurely, there were a lot of learning experiences there. His actual leaving wasn´t the trial though. It would have been the same to me if he was there or not. In fact I would have liked to keep going with him. It was most difficult not to have a true companion in the sector. I learned why you need a companion. To be honest, I am still learning from the experience. In truth, the trial is still going. My current companion really isn´t that different and is having some similar difficulties.
I am learning more than anything right now how to develop good relationships of trust even when it is difficult to do so, with those that trust very little anyone else. However, despite all that the sector is improving, and so am I in my work. This is perhaps one of the most fruitful times of my labor, even though there haven´t been any baptisms. We have a good set of more solid investigators that I have felt and am sure will be baptised some day. We are just trying to work on getting them to progress now.
I have some more experiences to share but I will share those with everyone. Well, thank you for your prayers and support. I love you and hope you know how grateful I am for the example you have been to me in my life.
As for what happened this week there are a few things. We met a bunch of new investigators. We have a few that nearly got baptised a year ago and seem like they are going to progress right now. During the week we helped a less active family move from their house. I had fun. I couldn´t take any pictures though because my camera doesn´t have batteries. I need to fix that. Anyway, It wasn´t the easiest week in the world but we had success.
Yesterday though, during the last hour of Church a mother with her young daughter walked in and said that she wanted to get baptised. She had heard a friend talking about the Church, he´s a return missionary, and she just felt a strong desire to join. So she walked in and asked us what she needed to do to be baptised. The bad part is that she lives just outside our sector. But she is set and getting baptised and I´m sure she will. In the end I am glad to have been of help to someone else.
I am grateful to be here truly. I have also been learning a lot about relationships. We are teaching a family that has been nearly torn apart. They went into a viscous cycle of blaming one another and not changing. We are trying to help them get profesional help. From the outside perspective you can see how relationships go bad when one accuses the other always and never accepts their own faults. It is better to be kind, than right. Marraige is too great and sacred a thing to put away because you can´t just swallow your pride. That same problem
keeps many people from joining the Church and accepting the Book of Mormon and prophets.
We have had many people straight up reject us. Some have lied, others are just rude. But at the same time many do accept us and listen. There are many people who just simply don´t know and don´t realize what we have even when we tell it to them. We just hope that they will accept when they realize the importance of these things. In the end, you just learn that everyone is a son or daughter of God and you just need to love them and show them respect. God is no respector of persons, and neither should we be.
Well, I love all of you and am grateful for your prayers and support. I hope that everything continues to go well. Have fun, be happy, and know that we are all children of a loving Father.
[email to Dad] To be honest I feel like I haven´t kept up on my journal as I should.
I am relearning lessons right now that I remember to have taught to other people before, and learned before. I need to just write more of the experiences I have and what I learn from them. Not just how I feel. I just felt before like I didn´t need to make anyone worry about me. Nor do I want to fall into pride. But I am beginning to understand those things better, though staying away from pride is impossible in the state we are in. If we could, it wouldn´t be so much of a trial this life. Sometimes our greatest trials are with ourselves, not others. I will share more of those experiences with you. I will also try and keep the right balance between what I should and shouldn´t say.
As for losing a companion prematurely, there were a lot of learning experiences there. His actual leaving wasn´t the trial though. It would have been the same to me if he was there or not. In fact I would have liked to keep going with him. It was most difficult not to have a true companion in the sector. I learned why you need a companion. To be honest, I am still learning from the experience. In truth, the trial is still going. My current companion really isn´t that different and is having some similar difficulties.
I am learning more than anything right now how to develop good relationships of trust even when it is difficult to do so, with those that trust very little anyone else. However, despite all that the sector is improving, and so am I in my work. This is perhaps one of the most fruitful times of my labor, even though there haven´t been any baptisms. We have a good set of more solid investigators that I have felt and am sure will be baptised some day. We are just trying to work on getting them to progress now.
I have some more experiences to share but I will share those with everyone. Well, thank you for your prayers and support. I love you and hope you know how grateful I am for the example you have been to me in my life.
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