October 20, 2010
Good Morning Family and Friends!
Thank you so much for your emails and your letters this week. We walked home one night this past week and we opened up the mailbox - and the letters just started flowing out! It was so full! (hahah) Thank you so much for all of your love and support. You have no idea how much that means to me!
I forgot something in my email last week, and I feel ashamed to have to say it, but mom HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!
I love you so much mom. And I am so thankful for all that you do! I am sorry that it's a week late but I know that you will forgive me :) I hope that you had an incredible birthday and that everything is going well! I love you mom!
In my email last week I mentioned that we were anticipating the baptism of a good sister and her family on last Saturday. We went over on Wednesday night to put the final touches on the baptismal plans with the family. While we were there, she described an unfortunate and rather large mess that has been going on in their lives. She has a son the age of 7 and he has been having problems with one of the teachers at his school. She has been basically been abusing the poor kid and treating him very roughly. Anyways, she went to visit her and this teacher had already been found guilty of child abuse. But she was still working in the school! Anyways, she had to take the case to the police and eventually to the courts in order to be able to do anything because no one else was helping her. She was so tied up with all of that going on her life, and having to run around and get of the psychology and lawyer stuff done, we moved the baptism to this weekend. So . . . in other words, the baptism did not happen last week, but it is going to happen this week.
It was a rough night for her as she explained all of it to us, But throughout the whole experience she kept saying "God is good. He hasn't left me behind. God is Good." She talked about how God had been blessing her every step of the way by putting people in her path that could help her. We were able to have the member who was with us give her a priesthood blessing. The spirit of peace in the room and in the faces of both her and her son was incredible. It was such an amazing experience to be able to see her recognize the hand of the Lord in all that is going on. She knew that even though she was going through a very rough experience with all of this, that God would take care of her. She is so faithful and so ready for baptism. We are so excited for her to finally be able to take this next step in her life and get moving on to the temple.
Last night we visited her with some of her member friends. She was able to just vent to them about all that was going on and it was so neat to be able to see that brotherhood and friendship that she has already created with the members. We asked her how she was feeling about baptism and she told us, "I cannot wait another week. I need that extra help in my life right now. I will not wait another week. It has to be this Saturday. This is what I need." The kids had the same feeling and so on this Saturday they are all going to be entering the waters of baptism together and we are so excited for what is about to take place.
On Sunday night we went back to teach the new family we found last week. They don't live in Ponce but told us that they are here every weekend. It turns out that they weren't here every weekend. We were a little discouraged because we were so looking forward to being able to talk with them. As we turned around and started making our way back, Elder Turner and I had the feeling that we needed to yell out at one of the houses. We yelled out and the thickest Puerto Rican left tackle that I have ever seen walked out and started talking to us. He has a family of four. And this gentle giant changed our lives.
We talked to him for a little bit about bikes and as we sat down to start the lesson, Elder Turner and I had a plan of what we were going to teach. But as we ended the opening prayer, I had an overwhelming feeling come over me that we needed to share something else. We started talking about the keys to the priesthood and the sealing power. This led perfectly into the restoration. He was loving every minute of it. He told us that he was studying to become a catholic priest. He was almost done but he said he got fed up with all of the false traditions that he found within the church. He told us a story about an elephant and he told us this is how he saw the churches in our day.
A good showman once took an elephant to an island full of blind people. When they landed on the island everyone on the island came to feel the elephant. They all had a great time feeling the giant creature and eventually the showman had to leave, along with his elephant. After he left the island the residents began to talk about what they had just experienced. They tried to describe and explain the creature that they had just touched, but everyone had a different opinion about what the elephant was. An elephant is a big long skinny thing that moves. No, an elephant is a big scaly trunk-type thing. No, an elephant is a smooth rock. Nobody could agree on what the elephant was because they all felt different parts of the elephant.
We were both shocked about the story because it connected exactly to the apostasy and the restoration of the gospel. We talked to him about how that happened and how God had called a prophet to restore the whole elephant back on the earth. He was so amazed and excited he kept asking us how he could know that it was true. We told him about the Book of Mormon and he said that he was so excited to know if this is what he had been waiting for his entire life. "I am going to read it tonight." he said. "I want to know if this is finally the whole truth, and not just the thing closest to the truth."
The spirit in the cita was absolutely incredible. We were all being lifted up together. I felt such a closeness to him. I knew that what we were teaching him is what we had promised to teach him in the pre-existence. And to think that we almost didn't teach it. After the lesson I told Elder Turner about what I felt after the prayer and he said that he had felt the exact same thing.
I know that God knows us. I know that he wants the best for every one of His children. He reaches out to us just as he did to this man and all we have to do is grab hold and follow His lead.
I know that this is His true church that it was restored through a true prophet. Joseph smith was one to whom the whole elephant was revealed (the complete gospel of Jesus Christ) and I am so thankful for that. We are so blessed to have all of the knowledge that we have and not just bits and pieces. Christ is our Savior! This is God's plan and families can truly be together forever. This man began to taste of that miracle this past Sunday and soon he is going to be able to participate and taste of the entire thing! What a blessing it is to be a part of this great work!
I love you all so much and I hope you know how much I appreciate your love and your support and your prayers.
WE ARE doing a great and important work, and I am loving every minute of it! I hope that you are too!
I wish you the best in your week ahead! Remember to read and pray! :)
All of the Love that I can Give
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Una familia Dios Me dio, La Amo de Verdad.
October 13, 2010
Dearest Family and Friends!
I hope that you all had a fantastic fall week and I hope that everything is going well for you so far this week! Thanks for the emails that you sent! It was so great to hear from you mom and dad and grandma and grandpa! I am glad that everything is going well back home and that you are all doing great! I hope you all know that I love you and I am praying for you. I hope that all is going well! Oh and PS Happy October 12th :) I hope you had a good one! Love you!
Annette is scheduled for baptism this Saturday. We are so excited that we will finally be able to watch her make that commitment to the Lord. She has been changing every day since the day I first met her, always trying to become better. And I am so excited that we will be able to see her make that covenant with God and Our Savior and promise them to make that a permanent change. Her life has changed so much for the better in just these few months that the missionaries have been working with her. She is experiencing the atonement in her life. She has had a mighty change of heart and that mighty change of heart is touching and changing the hearts of everyone around her. That includes Elder Turner and I. We love her so much and too see the desire that she has to make this covenant with God is one of the happiest feelings that anyone can feel. Saturday is going to be a great day!
We have been really worried about her two children. She has four kids. One is like 22 and is being taught by the missionaries on the other side of Ponce. Annette has three other children still at home. There is a 17 year-old young man, a 13 year-old young woman, and a 7 year-old boy. We have been a little worried about the 17 year-old this past couple of weeks. Both his mother and his sister have dived right into the church and have had the baptismal date as their goal since day one. We passed by on Sunday night and sat down with the two older kids. We asked them how they were feeling about baptism. We talked about how it was their day and their decision, that nobody was there to push them. Anyways, we asked them how they felt and he got really quiet. He looked at us and said, "I am ready. I want to get baptized. I got my answer and I know its true."
They had to pry us off of the wall because Elder and Turner and I were absolutely blown away. We have been working with these two kids for so long and we had just not been able to figure him out. We had been praying for him all week that somehow his heart would be touched. And low and behold that is exactly what happened. It was such a sweet experience for us. Truly we had been part of a miracle. This young man, who we both love with all of our hearts, needs this gospel in his life so much. And we have been doing everything that we could to get him excited about what we were telling him. In the end, we didn't have to do anything. It was the Lord who did the work and it was the Lord who did the heart changing. I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who loves each and every one of His children. It was so neat to see the way that the Lord worked in him to help him feel that desire to follow his Savior and be baptized. But not just that, to have the desire to change his life for the better and leave behind the worldly things that aren't going to take him anywhere. The baptism is going to be on Saturday. It has been a while since I have had the opportunity to participate in a baptism and to be able to feel that excitement in the air when you know that something so sacred and special is about to occur. It is a feeling that I have been missing and I am so excited to be able to see that again. And to see this family move one step closer to becoming an eternal family.
On Sunday Elder Turner and I were out contacting some references that we had received from Salt Lake. We arrived at one home and we were shocked at how much the house just screamed "family" to us. We walked in and we both knew 100% that the Lord had sent us to that house to bring a very special message to that family. The family that we taught is a great family. The mom is a sister of the wife of our presidents brother. To make a long story short, she went to a baptism of our Mission President's niece and was so shocked by the spirit and the peace that she felt. Elder Turner and I were both aware that God had just handed us a golden opportunity and we were both really nervous that we would screw it up. As we sat down and began the lesson things just felt natural. It was such a special feeling to be able to testify about the family. I don't know if I have ever told you guys this but i always have my family, including Grandma and Grandpa with me when I teach, The Puerto Ricans love you guys - especially Mckays hair!
They were so impressed by the fact that our families could be together forever. We read with them in 2 Nephi chapter 31 and we invited them to be baptized. They said that they weren't sure about that commitment and we invited the father to kneel down and pray with us. The dad said such a sweet and humble prayer. The spirit touched each and every one of us. As he ended we asked what he felt and he said, "I know that this is what my family needs. We are going to do it. We will get baptized." Each member of the family prayed and each one had the same experience. The family felt the Lord touch their hearts Sunday night. With the spirit there they could not deny what they needed to do. They accepted a baptismal date for the 13th of November and we have begun preparations for their baptism. Families are the central part of God's plan for us and it was a very sweet and surreal experience for us to be able to see the spirit start to work within this family. We have been searching, praying, fasting, studying, eating, sleeping and breathing families for weeks now. And the Lord blessed us with one of the most incredible experiences in my mission. This family decided together that they were going to follow Christ. They decided together that they are going to do all they can to become an eternal family. It was incredible.
Last night Elder Turner and I were on a way to one of our appointments and we talked to a very nice young man. We talked to him a little bit and asked him if we could come back after our cita. He agreed right away and we were both really excited and eager to get back there because we knew that something amazing was going to happen. His name is Joseph and while we were teaching him, we both looked at this 22 year-old young man and we could see him with the name tag and a tie. We knew that he was going to be a future missionary and that something special was going to happen in the lesson with him. We talked for a while about all of the confusion in the world and then simply taught about what Christ desires of us and what He has in store for us. We invited him to be baptized and I wish I could have taken a picture of the huge grin that was on his face. He could not stop smiling nor keep from saying wow. He was finally able to get out the words, "of course, of course I will be baptized." We gave him the Book of Mormon and told him that it was the key for him to know if what we were telling him was true. We are on our way back towards the end of the week and we are really excited to get this kid on the way to the temple and out into the mission field.
It has been an incredible week for us. Elder turner and I are both humbled as we look at all of the blessings and miracles that we have received. God has truly been blessing his two worn-out missionaries in Ponce. There is no way that we could be doing these things ourselves. I know that God lives! I know that He loves me for I am His son. I have felt the Savior carrying me these last few weeks and I have felt His love and seen His every day miracles day after day. We don't deserve the blessings that we have been given nor the blessings that we are receiving but I know that we are getting them because God loves His children. When we put forth our best effort, even though it is so short of what is needed, He makes up the difference and miracles occur. I love each and every one of you and I am praying for you constantly.
Know that I love you. Even if you don't get letters from me or even if you don't hear from me or I from you, know that I love you guys and that you are constantly in my prayers.
This is the Work of our Lord and Savior and there is no where else that I would rather be at this time.
May He be with you till we meet again
Dearest Family and Friends!
I hope that you all had a fantastic fall week and I hope that everything is going well for you so far this week! Thanks for the emails that you sent! It was so great to hear from you mom and dad and grandma and grandpa! I am glad that everything is going well back home and that you are all doing great! I hope you all know that I love you and I am praying for you. I hope that all is going well! Oh and PS Happy October 12th :) I hope you had a good one! Love you!
Annette is scheduled for baptism this Saturday. We are so excited that we will finally be able to watch her make that commitment to the Lord. She has been changing every day since the day I first met her, always trying to become better. And I am so excited that we will be able to see her make that covenant with God and Our Savior and promise them to make that a permanent change. Her life has changed so much for the better in just these few months that the missionaries have been working with her. She is experiencing the atonement in her life. She has had a mighty change of heart and that mighty change of heart is touching and changing the hearts of everyone around her. That includes Elder Turner and I. We love her so much and too see the desire that she has to make this covenant with God is one of the happiest feelings that anyone can feel. Saturday is going to be a great day!
We have been really worried about her two children. She has four kids. One is like 22 and is being taught by the missionaries on the other side of Ponce. Annette has three other children still at home. There is a 17 year-old young man, a 13 year-old young woman, and a 7 year-old boy. We have been a little worried about the 17 year-old this past couple of weeks. Both his mother and his sister have dived right into the church and have had the baptismal date as their goal since day one. We passed by on Sunday night and sat down with the two older kids. We asked them how they were feeling about baptism. We talked about how it was their day and their decision, that nobody was there to push them. Anyways, we asked them how they felt and he got really quiet. He looked at us and said, "I am ready. I want to get baptized. I got my answer and I know its true."
They had to pry us off of the wall because Elder and Turner and I were absolutely blown away. We have been working with these two kids for so long and we had just not been able to figure him out. We had been praying for him all week that somehow his heart would be touched. And low and behold that is exactly what happened. It was such a sweet experience for us. Truly we had been part of a miracle. This young man, who we both love with all of our hearts, needs this gospel in his life so much. And we have been doing everything that we could to get him excited about what we were telling him. In the end, we didn't have to do anything. It was the Lord who did the work and it was the Lord who did the heart changing. I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who loves each and every one of His children. It was so neat to see the way that the Lord worked in him to help him feel that desire to follow his Savior and be baptized. But not just that, to have the desire to change his life for the better and leave behind the worldly things that aren't going to take him anywhere. The baptism is going to be on Saturday. It has been a while since I have had the opportunity to participate in a baptism and to be able to feel that excitement in the air when you know that something so sacred and special is about to occur. It is a feeling that I have been missing and I am so excited to be able to see that again. And to see this family move one step closer to becoming an eternal family.
On Sunday Elder Turner and I were out contacting some references that we had received from Salt Lake. We arrived at one home and we were shocked at how much the house just screamed "family" to us. We walked in and we both knew 100% that the Lord had sent us to that house to bring a very special message to that family. The family that we taught is a great family. The mom is a sister of the wife of our presidents brother. To make a long story short, she went to a baptism of our Mission President's niece and was so shocked by the spirit and the peace that she felt. Elder Turner and I were both aware that God had just handed us a golden opportunity and we were both really nervous that we would screw it up. As we sat down and began the lesson things just felt natural. It was such a special feeling to be able to testify about the family. I don't know if I have ever told you guys this but i always have my family, including Grandma and Grandpa with me when I teach, The Puerto Ricans love you guys - especially Mckays hair!
They were so impressed by the fact that our families could be together forever. We read with them in 2 Nephi chapter 31 and we invited them to be baptized. They said that they weren't sure about that commitment and we invited the father to kneel down and pray with us. The dad said such a sweet and humble prayer. The spirit touched each and every one of us. As he ended we asked what he felt and he said, "I know that this is what my family needs. We are going to do it. We will get baptized." Each member of the family prayed and each one had the same experience. The family felt the Lord touch their hearts Sunday night. With the spirit there they could not deny what they needed to do. They accepted a baptismal date for the 13th of November and we have begun preparations for their baptism. Families are the central part of God's plan for us and it was a very sweet and surreal experience for us to be able to see the spirit start to work within this family. We have been searching, praying, fasting, studying, eating, sleeping and breathing families for weeks now. And the Lord blessed us with one of the most incredible experiences in my mission. This family decided together that they were going to follow Christ. They decided together that they are going to do all they can to become an eternal family. It was incredible.
Last night Elder Turner and I were on a way to one of our appointments and we talked to a very nice young man. We talked to him a little bit and asked him if we could come back after our cita. He agreed right away and we were both really excited and eager to get back there because we knew that something amazing was going to happen. His name is Joseph and while we were teaching him, we both looked at this 22 year-old young man and we could see him with the name tag and a tie. We knew that he was going to be a future missionary and that something special was going to happen in the lesson with him. We talked for a while about all of the confusion in the world and then simply taught about what Christ desires of us and what He has in store for us. We invited him to be baptized and I wish I could have taken a picture of the huge grin that was on his face. He could not stop smiling nor keep from saying wow. He was finally able to get out the words, "of course, of course I will be baptized." We gave him the Book of Mormon and told him that it was the key for him to know if what we were telling him was true. We are on our way back towards the end of the week and we are really excited to get this kid on the way to the temple and out into the mission field.
It has been an incredible week for us. Elder turner and I are both humbled as we look at all of the blessings and miracles that we have received. God has truly been blessing his two worn-out missionaries in Ponce. There is no way that we could be doing these things ourselves. I know that God lives! I know that He loves me for I am His son. I have felt the Savior carrying me these last few weeks and I have felt His love and seen His every day miracles day after day. We don't deserve the blessings that we have been given nor the blessings that we are receiving but I know that we are getting them because God loves His children. When we put forth our best effort, even though it is so short of what is needed, He makes up the difference and miracles occur. I love each and every one of you and I am praying for you constantly.
Know that I love you. Even if you don't get letters from me or even if you don't hear from me or I from you, know that I love you guys and that you are constantly in my prayers.
This is the Work of our Lord and Savior and there is no where else that I would rather be at this time.
May He be with you till we meet again
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
What a Great Conference!
October 6, 2010
Querido family and Friends
I hope that all of you are doing well. Thank you so much friends for your support. I got some letters this week and some packages too, These were complete surprises to me and I love it! Thank you so much for all of your love and support. You have no idea how much that means to me.
Our day has been crazy today. I was hoping to get around to writing you back and thanking you guys but I am not sure that I will get to it for each of you individually. I apologize. But I know that you all understand. Thank you for your patience and your love though! I wish that I could show my thanks with some action but, until I get some time, I hope a cyber "thank you" is going to have to work. So thank you, truly truly thank you!
I was doing some visits yesterday with President Alvarado and he made a cool observation about conference. He said that in the five sessions of conference that we had the opportunity to see, the scripture found in Amos 3:7 was used 11 times. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing save He revealeth His secret unto His servants los profetas." How blessed we were this past weekend to be able to listen to God's voice as we stood at the feet of His chosen servants. There was such a neat spirit present in each and every session of conference. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who loves us and who has called a living prophet in our days along with 12 apostles and other men and women to lead us and guide us. Conference was incredible and the things that were shared were so valuable and precious. I hope that you all had as much fun as I did watching conference. What a blessing it was! I loved it!
In the Saturday afternoon session we had a really neat experience with our investigator Annette. Annette was able to attend almost all of the sessions of conference. We went over Friday night after the zone council that we had in Bayamon. We wanted to check up on her and make sure that she was still planning to come. She told us that "of course she was planning to come." She told us that she had been praying all week that God will help her to know if this was the true church. From the very first song and introduction on Saturday we could just feel the spirit so strong with her. She was crying all day and, after Elder Anderson's talk on Saturday, she turned to us and said "I am so happy you guys. I have my answer. This is it! This is it!" It was so special to be able to witness a conversion occur right in front of our eyes. The spirit was working in Annette so powerfully this weekend and she left with a new testimony of the truth of this gospel. She knows as well as I do that we have prophets and apostles in our days who truly receive revelation from God. It was such a blessing to see the joy come to her life as she listened to the council of these servants of God for the first time in her life. I cant explain to you the joy that I felt but it was big! And it was real! I love conference. It is truly the most wonderful time of the year. Annette loved it too. Her and her 2 teenage children. One of her children is 17 and we are going to get him on a mission. They are all set for baptism on the 16th. I am so happy for them and there is nothing more that I could want for them! Well there is one thing . . . a temple visit in a year ;)
This great experience all started on Wednesday night. We had set up a great cita in a familiy's home this week with Annette. The family has been attending a different ward in our stake because our ward doesn't have a lot of primary kids. We have been working with them to get them back to our ward because we need these kingdom builders in our ward and we knew that if we could get them involved with Annette, miracles would happen. We took them over on Wednesday and the spirit in the home was so incredible. We don't get the chance to teach investigators in member's homes very often and the spirit that we felt in that lesson was so incredible. We were able to set up before hand. We asked the member family to look up a favorite talk from President Monson. The dad showed it on something called an i-pad and it got both Annette and her family so excited for conference. It was an incredible cita! The spirit that we felt in that home felt just like a Utah home. I was amazed at the difference in the lesson within the walls of a member's home. We are so blessed to have this gospel in our lives we are so blessed to have the blessings of this gospel all around us and in our homes!
We had six days of meetings this week so if it seems like I am drinking from a dry well that is why. Nonetheless, the week was full of great experiences and I learned a ton. Just most of it probably doesn't really interest you guys at home. Yesterday we had a long day starting way early with President Alvarado. At night I had the opportunity to go out to Yauco and do a visit with President Alvarado. I was so excited because President Alvarado is a master teacher and I knew that I was going to learn something incredible. Yauco is a different area in Ponce and the missionaries there are working with an incredible family. During the lesson we talked about all of the things that they had learned during conference and they said that one of their favorite talks was President Packer's talk. (Imagine that :) ) Anyways, we just started talking with the family. We talked about so many things. We began talking about their lives President Alvarado asked about their marriage. Out of nowhere they told of how they had been divorced but because of the economy had come back together. It was so incredible to be able to testify about the family and the importance of marriage after we had just heard it from the mouth of one of the Lord's apostles. This couple could feel the fire that was burning in our hearts and they could feel the need to get back together and get baptized. We invited them to get baptized and they said they knew that they needed to get married first. It was really cool because President Alvarado invited them to get married and he said that he would be pleased to do it. He also invited them out on a double date this weekend with him and his wife. Just one of the blessings that you get when you have a young mission president. The family needs the gospel so much in their lives. They are so strong and so loving. The gospel is also changing their lives and I could see last night that they were feeling the truth of our message! They are set to get baptized on the 30th of this month and I am so excited to see the change that has come in their lives.
I love this plan that God has for our families. I know that we are here in these days for a reason. As we learned in conference, there is so much going on in the world, so much junk and so many distractions, we also noticed that almost every speaker talked about the war in heaven. We are blessed to have this gospel in our lives. The war still continues and each day I am so blessed to be a soldier fighting for God's Army. I love this work and I love you guys. Thank you for all you do!
I am sorry for the email that was all over the place. But it has been hard to focus. Right in front of my face there is a large Puerto Rican man teaching an email class to about 40 other Puerto Ricans. They are talking about scam emails, and it's quite a hoot for them. It makes it a little difficult to write a solid email. I love you though. Just forgive me and know that I will repent and be more focused next week!
Love you all!
Thanks once again for all you do. I'm not sure how I will do it, but one day I will find a way to return your love!
Querido family and Friends
I hope that all of you are doing well. Thank you so much friends for your support. I got some letters this week and some packages too, These were complete surprises to me and I love it! Thank you so much for all of your love and support. You have no idea how much that means to me.
Our day has been crazy today. I was hoping to get around to writing you back and thanking you guys but I am not sure that I will get to it for each of you individually. I apologize. But I know that you all understand. Thank you for your patience and your love though! I wish that I could show my thanks with some action but, until I get some time, I hope a cyber "thank you" is going to have to work. So thank you, truly truly thank you!
I was doing some visits yesterday with President Alvarado and he made a cool observation about conference. He said that in the five sessions of conference that we had the opportunity to see, the scripture found in Amos 3:7 was used 11 times. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing save He revealeth His secret unto His servants los profetas." How blessed we were this past weekend to be able to listen to God's voice as we stood at the feet of His chosen servants. There was such a neat spirit present in each and every session of conference. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who loves us and who has called a living prophet in our days along with 12 apostles and other men and women to lead us and guide us. Conference was incredible and the things that were shared were so valuable and precious. I hope that you all had as much fun as I did watching conference. What a blessing it was! I loved it!
In the Saturday afternoon session we had a really neat experience with our investigator Annette. Annette was able to attend almost all of the sessions of conference. We went over Friday night after the zone council that we had in Bayamon. We wanted to check up on her and make sure that she was still planning to come. She told us that "of course she was planning to come." She told us that she had been praying all week that God will help her to know if this was the true church. From the very first song and introduction on Saturday we could just feel the spirit so strong with her. She was crying all day and, after Elder Anderson's talk on Saturday, she turned to us and said "I am so happy you guys. I have my answer. This is it! This is it!" It was so special to be able to witness a conversion occur right in front of our eyes. The spirit was working in Annette so powerfully this weekend and she left with a new testimony of the truth of this gospel. She knows as well as I do that we have prophets and apostles in our days who truly receive revelation from God. It was such a blessing to see the joy come to her life as she listened to the council of these servants of God for the first time in her life. I cant explain to you the joy that I felt but it was big! And it was real! I love conference. It is truly the most wonderful time of the year. Annette loved it too. Her and her 2 teenage children. One of her children is 17 and we are going to get him on a mission. They are all set for baptism on the 16th. I am so happy for them and there is nothing more that I could want for them! Well there is one thing . . . a temple visit in a year ;)
This great experience all started on Wednesday night. We had set up a great cita in a familiy's home this week with Annette. The family has been attending a different ward in our stake because our ward doesn't have a lot of primary kids. We have been working with them to get them back to our ward because we need these kingdom builders in our ward and we knew that if we could get them involved with Annette, miracles would happen. We took them over on Wednesday and the spirit in the home was so incredible. We don't get the chance to teach investigators in member's homes very often and the spirit that we felt in that lesson was so incredible. We were able to set up before hand. We asked the member family to look up a favorite talk from President Monson. The dad showed it on something called an i-pad and it got both Annette and her family so excited for conference. It was an incredible cita! The spirit that we felt in that home felt just like a Utah home. I was amazed at the difference in the lesson within the walls of a member's home. We are so blessed to have this gospel in our lives we are so blessed to have the blessings of this gospel all around us and in our homes!
We had six days of meetings this week so if it seems like I am drinking from a dry well that is why. Nonetheless, the week was full of great experiences and I learned a ton. Just most of it probably doesn't really interest you guys at home. Yesterday we had a long day starting way early with President Alvarado. At night I had the opportunity to go out to Yauco and do a visit with President Alvarado. I was so excited because President Alvarado is a master teacher and I knew that I was going to learn something incredible. Yauco is a different area in Ponce and the missionaries there are working with an incredible family. During the lesson we talked about all of the things that they had learned during conference and they said that one of their favorite talks was President Packer's talk. (Imagine that :) ) Anyways, we just started talking with the family. We talked about so many things. We began talking about their lives President Alvarado asked about their marriage. Out of nowhere they told of how they had been divorced but because of the economy had come back together. It was so incredible to be able to testify about the family and the importance of marriage after we had just heard it from the mouth of one of the Lord's apostles. This couple could feel the fire that was burning in our hearts and they could feel the need to get back together and get baptized. We invited them to get baptized and they said they knew that they needed to get married first. It was really cool because President Alvarado invited them to get married and he said that he would be pleased to do it. He also invited them out on a double date this weekend with him and his wife. Just one of the blessings that you get when you have a young mission president. The family needs the gospel so much in their lives. They are so strong and so loving. The gospel is also changing their lives and I could see last night that they were feeling the truth of our message! They are set to get baptized on the 30th of this month and I am so excited to see the change that has come in their lives.
I love this plan that God has for our families. I know that we are here in these days for a reason. As we learned in conference, there is so much going on in the world, so much junk and so many distractions, we also noticed that almost every speaker talked about the war in heaven. We are blessed to have this gospel in our lives. The war still continues and each day I am so blessed to be a soldier fighting for God's Army. I love this work and I love you guys. Thank you for all you do!
I am sorry for the email that was all over the place. But it has been hard to focus. Right in front of my face there is a large Puerto Rican man teaching an email class to about 40 other Puerto Ricans. They are talking about scam emails, and it's quite a hoot for them. It makes it a little difficult to write a solid email. I love you though. Just forgive me and know that I will repent and be more focused next week!
Love you all!
Thanks once again for all you do. I'm not sure how I will do it, but one day I will find a way to return your love!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Its the most wonderful time of the year
September 29, 2010
Buenos Dias a Todos!
I hope that everyone had a great week this past week. Elder Turner and I had a busy week that just flew by. But we had a really neat week full of a lot of amazing experiences. I want to start by letting you know that I love all of you and I am thankful for each and every one of you. I know that your prayers for us were answered this week and I want to thank you for those prayers! I love you all and I hope that things are working out just the way that you want them to.
For the past three days we have been up in the northern part of the Island in Bayamon for another "boot camp." Just like the leadership training that we hand in July with our new mission president and all of the leaders. This was another one but this time we were only there for two days, But just like last time the spirit there was so incredible. I told you before that the last time we met our mission was implementing a new system that they call the fundamental principles of Preach My Gospel. the focus was the eight principles that the Brethren have selected that the missionaries all over the world could improve. We were blessed once again to be able to come together and discuss some of these principles that we first learned as a focus a few weeks ago, We are doing better but there are still some principles that we aren't implementing as well as we should. The spirit in the meeting was so incredible. And together we learned so much. As President Alvarado stood up the end of the first night, he challenged us to get out and find those families that were searching for us. He challenged us not to go back that night until we had taught two lessons to two different families.
We were able to get out and search for people to teach at about 7:00 that night. Elder Turner, Elder Zenger and I went to work. We were all amazed at how the Lord put prepared people in our path. We ended up finding three people willing to let us share our message. In one family the father was going into knee surgery the next day. We were able to share a message about the power of the priesthood and how it has been restored in our day. We told them that Heavenly Father gave men that power and it could be used to bless his life as well as the lives of his family members. We were able to give him a priesthood blessing and the spirit in the room was so incredible. The spirit was testifying to each and every one of us that what we had just done was correct and the will of Heavenly Father. I know that the priesthood power we have is real. I know that it is through that power that miracles are wrought, It is through that same power that our families can be sealed for all time and for all eternity. You have no idea what a blessing it is to be able to look a Puertoriqueno in the eyes and tell them that their wives and their children will be sealed together forever as they follow the example of Jesus Christ. There is no other church on earth that can offer that blessing because there is no other church on earth that is led and directed by our Lord and Savior Himself.
We were on a trade-off this week with one of my favorite Elders, Elder Bowcutt. I'm not sure if I told you this story last week but I will tell you again because we have already seen the fruits of what happened during this trade-off. Elder Turner and I have set some goals for our zone about what we would like to do each day so that we can achieve what the Lord has asked us to do. Every morning before we go out to work we read 1 Nephi 3:15 and then we are out the door. Tuesday night it was late and we were very tired and worn out. We had been running all over the zone all day and a lot of things had fallen through. In order to achieve our goal that we we had set we still needed three more contacts. We left the church after the meeting at around 9:00 to find those contacts. We knew that God was going to help us achieve the goal that we had set. The third man that we talked to that night is named Georgey o Jorge. He's a native Puerto Rican, or a Puerto Rican Indian. He is the first native Peurto Rican that I have met on my mission. We talked to him about the Book of Mormon and about God's love for all men. He told us that this is what he wanted in his life. We invited him to come to church with us that Sunday. We told him we would pass by at 8:30 to walk with him to church. Elder turner and I had some crazy things to get done Sunday morning before church and we got to church a little late (8:40). Thoughts of Georgy kept running through my head. There was a chance that we would be late to church if we went to get Georgy but something kept telling me that we could not let him down. We thought that there was probably no way that he would come, but that feeling, and the image of his face kept running through my me. So we ran to his house, and when we got there, he came out all dressed up and ready to go. We took him to church and he loved it. He told us that he was going to be coming to church every Sunday from now on. He doesn't live in our area but he now has a baptismal date for the end of October. Georgy was led to us and I know it is because we were doing what God has asked us to do. I know that when we keep the commandments of God and when we lose ourselves in His service, and humble ourselves before Him, and give up those natural desires, we are blessed with miracles. This is what happened to us and Georgy.
I hope you all know how much I really love all of you. i hope you also know how much I love this work that I am doing. I know I am not perfect. In fact, I haven't written to many of you in some time. There are also a lot things I would like to have given you that I have not yet done. But I am thankful for you and for your patience with me in spite of all of that. I know that you have testimonies of just how important this work is and for those of you who have been there since the start, I thank you for your support. I love you and appreciate all of your prayers and faith.
I wish you the best this conference weekend. How blessed we are to be able to be guided by living prophets and apostles. They speak the words of God. They speak the truth. I know that as we listen this weekend with ears that hear and hearts that feel, the truth will touch our hearts. I know (and I have seen) the truth of the gospel will set us free from those things that are holding us back! I love this work! I know that it comes from God! Conference is my favorite and I hope you all enjoy it! Save some conference goodies for me. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
Have a fantastic week
Buenos Dias a Todos!
I hope that everyone had a great week this past week. Elder Turner and I had a busy week that just flew by. But we had a really neat week full of a lot of amazing experiences. I want to start by letting you know that I love all of you and I am thankful for each and every one of you. I know that your prayers for us were answered this week and I want to thank you for those prayers! I love you all and I hope that things are working out just the way that you want them to.
For the past three days we have been up in the northern part of the Island in Bayamon for another "boot camp." Just like the leadership training that we hand in July with our new mission president and all of the leaders. This was another one but this time we were only there for two days, But just like last time the spirit there was so incredible. I told you before that the last time we met our mission was implementing a new system that they call the fundamental principles of Preach My Gospel. the focus was the eight principles that the Brethren have selected that the missionaries all over the world could improve. We were blessed once again to be able to come together and discuss some of these principles that we first learned as a focus a few weeks ago, We are doing better but there are still some principles that we aren't implementing as well as we should. The spirit in the meeting was so incredible. And together we learned so much. As President Alvarado stood up the end of the first night, he challenged us to get out and find those families that were searching for us. He challenged us not to go back that night until we had taught two lessons to two different families.
We were able to get out and search for people to teach at about 7:00 that night. Elder Turner, Elder Zenger and I went to work. We were all amazed at how the Lord put prepared people in our path. We ended up finding three people willing to let us share our message. In one family the father was going into knee surgery the next day. We were able to share a message about the power of the priesthood and how it has been restored in our day. We told them that Heavenly Father gave men that power and it could be used to bless his life as well as the lives of his family members. We were able to give him a priesthood blessing and the spirit in the room was so incredible. The spirit was testifying to each and every one of us that what we had just done was correct and the will of Heavenly Father. I know that the priesthood power we have is real. I know that it is through that power that miracles are wrought, It is through that same power that our families can be sealed for all time and for all eternity. You have no idea what a blessing it is to be able to look a Puertoriqueno in the eyes and tell them that their wives and their children will be sealed together forever as they follow the example of Jesus Christ. There is no other church on earth that can offer that blessing because there is no other church on earth that is led and directed by our Lord and Savior Himself.
We were on a trade-off this week with one of my favorite Elders, Elder Bowcutt. I'm not sure if I told you this story last week but I will tell you again because we have already seen the fruits of what happened during this trade-off. Elder Turner and I have set some goals for our zone about what we would like to do each day so that we can achieve what the Lord has asked us to do. Every morning before we go out to work we read 1 Nephi 3:15 and then we are out the door. Tuesday night it was late and we were very tired and worn out. We had been running all over the zone all day and a lot of things had fallen through. In order to achieve our goal that we we had set we still needed three more contacts. We left the church after the meeting at around 9:00 to find those contacts. We knew that God was going to help us achieve the goal that we had set. The third man that we talked to that night is named Georgey o Jorge. He's a native Puerto Rican, or a Puerto Rican Indian. He is the first native Peurto Rican that I have met on my mission. We talked to him about the Book of Mormon and about God's love for all men. He told us that this is what he wanted in his life. We invited him to come to church with us that Sunday. We told him we would pass by at 8:30 to walk with him to church. Elder turner and I had some crazy things to get done Sunday morning before church and we got to church a little late (8:40). Thoughts of Georgy kept running through my head. There was a chance that we would be late to church if we went to get Georgy but something kept telling me that we could not let him down. We thought that there was probably no way that he would come, but that feeling, and the image of his face kept running through my me. So we ran to his house, and when we got there, he came out all dressed up and ready to go. We took him to church and he loved it. He told us that he was going to be coming to church every Sunday from now on. He doesn't live in our area but he now has a baptismal date for the end of October. Georgy was led to us and I know it is because we were doing what God has asked us to do. I know that when we keep the commandments of God and when we lose ourselves in His service, and humble ourselves before Him, and give up those natural desires, we are blessed with miracles. This is what happened to us and Georgy.
I hope you all know how much I really love all of you. i hope you also know how much I love this work that I am doing. I know I am not perfect. In fact, I haven't written to many of you in some time. There are also a lot things I would like to have given you that I have not yet done. But I am thankful for you and for your patience with me in spite of all of that. I know that you have testimonies of just how important this work is and for those of you who have been there since the start, I thank you for your support. I love you and appreciate all of your prayers and faith.
I wish you the best this conference weekend. How blessed we are to be able to be guided by living prophets and apostles. They speak the words of God. They speak the truth. I know that as we listen this weekend with ears that hear and hearts that feel, the truth will touch our hearts. I know (and I have seen) the truth of the gospel will set us free from those things that are holding us back! I love this work! I know that it comes from God! Conference is my favorite and I hope you all enjoy it! Save some conference goodies for me. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
Have a fantastic week
Life is Crazy, Not even time to think.
September 22, 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
I love you! I hope that this week has gone well for you all and I hope that you are having a good day today. We are doing great here in Ponce. Thank you Mom and Dad for the letters and the package that you sent. It was so great to hear from you guys and the elders in our apartment are all loving the chocolate that you sent. We are loving it so much that Elder Turner and I have decided to start running at 5:30 every morning to make sure that we don't get fat!
This past week has been just incredible for me. I have absolutely grown to love my new area and the new assignment that I have been given. It is so fun to be able to work with all of these awesome missionaries and to learn from them. I have loved opening up our new area here in the city of Ponce! Elder Turner and I have started to work in an area of Ponce that usually doesn't get "worked" by the missionaries. They sent two more elders down here this transfer so Elder Turner's former companion took over all of the investigators that they had been working with in their old area and we have now gone to work to find some new ones in our new area! We had some great miracles this week in being led to some really prepared people.
One of the most amazing things that happened to us this week happened to us on Saturday. We were out trying to find a reference that we had been given and we ended up having to go way up into the mountains to find the person. We finally got to the house and it turns out that they weren't there. As we were searching for the house we were looking for we passed a house and Elder Turner and I both felt that we needed to talk to the people in that house,. We decided that we would stop and hit it on the way back from the referral. We stopped on the way back and started talking to the people that were living there. A man named Luis came out and started talking to us. After talking to him for a while we came to find that he lives in what we call our "hot pocket." Its the urbanization that we have picked out to work and work and work and work. It was an absolute miracle that we were led to him all the way up there. At the time we were about 30 miles from the urbanization. After talking to him for awhile we came to find that he has a family and that he has been feeling a little down lately. He said that he wants God back in his life and all he wants is his family to be happy. We sat down and shared a message with him about eternal families and the restoration of God's sealing power to the earth. He was so happy and so interested about the Book of Mormon. He told us that he would read it by the time we came back on Wednesday night, not just the assigned chapter that we had given him, but the entire Book of Mormon!
We had been praying for God to lead us to people He has chosen for us to teach since we do not have that many investigators right now. We had no idea that we would find anyone up there in the mountains. But I know that God knew that Luis would be there and that's why we were led to him. We have a cita tonight with him and his family and we are really excited to see how things turn out. Families are our focus and we are so pumped to have this family to work with!
We were out looking for a less active family this week. We had turned down the wrong street in our search. As we were talking to those we met on the street I felt that I needed to go and talk to this man who was sitting at the end of the street. After talking to him for a little bit, he told me that he was a member of the church! Elder Turner came and, after talking to him for a little while longer, we came to find that it was the exact man that we had been looking for. He told us to come back the next day. He said that he had been going through a difficult time and said "all I want is peace in my life again. All I want is to know that God loves me and cares about me."
We went back the next day and shared with him about the Book of Mormon and about how people in the Book of Mormon felt the love of God in their lives again after reading the scriptures and praying. We committed him to do so. We went back yesterday and he said "Elders, I am not going to lie. I haven't read the book. But I have been praying every day and I am starting to feel great." He volunteered to give the opening prayer and he gave one of the sweetest heartfelt prayers that I have ever heard in my life. It has been incredible to see the way that one week full of prayers has changed the life of our new friend Raymond. He is so much happier now and I know that it is because God is back in his life and he feels that he is doing what his Father in Heaven wants him to be doing! It is so amazing to see that change in people when they take those first few steps to start again doing the things that God always asks us to do.
We are working with another investigating family. The mom is Annette and she has two teenage children. Annette is quitting smoking so that she can get baptized once and for all. She has had 1 cigarette in the past 10 days and said that she has found her strength to quit through prayer, scripture study, and the love of her family. We have been passing by pretty often to help her to prepare for baptism and every time I am just amazed at the faith that she is showing. She is going through some pretty wicked nicotine withdrawals but she knows that this is exactly what God has asked her to do and she is so willing to do it. Her baptism is set for the middle of October and she is planning to walk into those waters with the two children that live with her, and her oldest daughter who is also listening to the missionaries in the other part of ponce. These people are changing their lives to follow their Savior. Every day my love for the Savior grows more and more as I see the atonement work in the lives of my brothers and sisters, and as I also see it work in my own life. I love Him and I know He loves me. I am so grateful that I can be here giving all that I have to him.
I hope that you all have a great week! You are in my prayers. Even those who think I have forgotten about you. Don't worry, I haven't :)
Dear Family and Friends,
I love you! I hope that this week has gone well for you all and I hope that you are having a good day today. We are doing great here in Ponce. Thank you Mom and Dad for the letters and the package that you sent. It was so great to hear from you guys and the elders in our apartment are all loving the chocolate that you sent. We are loving it so much that Elder Turner and I have decided to start running at 5:30 every morning to make sure that we don't get fat!
This past week has been just incredible for me. I have absolutely grown to love my new area and the new assignment that I have been given. It is so fun to be able to work with all of these awesome missionaries and to learn from them. I have loved opening up our new area here in the city of Ponce! Elder Turner and I have started to work in an area of Ponce that usually doesn't get "worked" by the missionaries. They sent two more elders down here this transfer so Elder Turner's former companion took over all of the investigators that they had been working with in their old area and we have now gone to work to find some new ones in our new area! We had some great miracles this week in being led to some really prepared people.
One of the most amazing things that happened to us this week happened to us on Saturday. We were out trying to find a reference that we had been given and we ended up having to go way up into the mountains to find the person. We finally got to the house and it turns out that they weren't there. As we were searching for the house we were looking for we passed a house and Elder Turner and I both felt that we needed to talk to the people in that house,. We decided that we would stop and hit it on the way back from the referral. We stopped on the way back and started talking to the people that were living there. A man named Luis came out and started talking to us. After talking to him for a while we came to find that he lives in what we call our "hot pocket." Its the urbanization that we have picked out to work and work and work and work. It was an absolute miracle that we were led to him all the way up there. At the time we were about 30 miles from the urbanization. After talking to him for awhile we came to find that he has a family and that he has been feeling a little down lately. He said that he wants God back in his life and all he wants is his family to be happy. We sat down and shared a message with him about eternal families and the restoration of God's sealing power to the earth. He was so happy and so interested about the Book of Mormon. He told us that he would read it by the time we came back on Wednesday night, not just the assigned chapter that we had given him, but the entire Book of Mormon!
We had been praying for God to lead us to people He has chosen for us to teach since we do not have that many investigators right now. We had no idea that we would find anyone up there in the mountains. But I know that God knew that Luis would be there and that's why we were led to him. We have a cita tonight with him and his family and we are really excited to see how things turn out. Families are our focus and we are so pumped to have this family to work with!
We were out looking for a less active family this week. We had turned down the wrong street in our search. As we were talking to those we met on the street I felt that I needed to go and talk to this man who was sitting at the end of the street. After talking to him for a little bit, he told me that he was a member of the church! Elder Turner came and, after talking to him for a little while longer, we came to find that it was the exact man that we had been looking for. He told us to come back the next day. He said that he had been going through a difficult time and said "all I want is peace in my life again. All I want is to know that God loves me and cares about me."
We went back the next day and shared with him about the Book of Mormon and about how people in the Book of Mormon felt the love of God in their lives again after reading the scriptures and praying. We committed him to do so. We went back yesterday and he said "Elders, I am not going to lie. I haven't read the book. But I have been praying every day and I am starting to feel great." He volunteered to give the opening prayer and he gave one of the sweetest heartfelt prayers that I have ever heard in my life. It has been incredible to see the way that one week full of prayers has changed the life of our new friend Raymond. He is so much happier now and I know that it is because God is back in his life and he feels that he is doing what his Father in Heaven wants him to be doing! It is so amazing to see that change in people when they take those first few steps to start again doing the things that God always asks us to do.
We are working with another investigating family. The mom is Annette and she has two teenage children. Annette is quitting smoking so that she can get baptized once and for all. She has had 1 cigarette in the past 10 days and said that she has found her strength to quit through prayer, scripture study, and the love of her family. We have been passing by pretty often to help her to prepare for baptism and every time I am just amazed at the faith that she is showing. She is going through some pretty wicked nicotine withdrawals but she knows that this is exactly what God has asked her to do and she is so willing to do it. Her baptism is set for the middle of October and she is planning to walk into those waters with the two children that live with her, and her oldest daughter who is also listening to the missionaries in the other part of ponce. These people are changing their lives to follow their Savior. Every day my love for the Savior grows more and more as I see the atonement work in the lives of my brothers and sisters, and as I also see it work in my own life. I love Him and I know He loves me. I am so grateful that I can be here giving all that I have to him.
I hope that you all have a great week! You are in my prayers. Even those who think I have forgotten about you. Don't worry, I haven't :)
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