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!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
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 :)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Ponce es Ponce, y los demas es parking
Buenas tardes,
Ponce is Ponce, and the rest is parking baby!
Hey family and friends! Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and your prayers this week. I know that your support was there behind me and I could feel every single one of those prayers. I love you all so much! I want you to know how much that support and love means to me. You are the fuel to my fire. Thanks for all you do! I love you all so much! Keep the prayers coming because they are going to be needed.
Like I said in the subject line of this email, right now I am no longer in Vega Baja Ahorrra. I am currently serving in the old capital of Puerto Rico, the city of Ponce. Yesterday I got transferred and the Lord sent me down to the south of the island to be with Elder Turner. He also gave me a new assignment to be a zone leader. As such the day has been a little hectic. We have been trying to coordinate the transfers and finish closing some apartments in the zone and also opening some new ones. But like I said, that love and support that you all have been giving me has really been helping me so keep it up.
I know that I am writing my email late and I am sorry about that. But we have honestly been running non-stop since about 11:00 am yesterday. And I have to admit that I stink and I haven't showered in two days (we got stuck in Bayamon last night . . . long story, but a good one). I am loving every second of it and to be honest, I am as happy as I was a few weeks ago! I am loving it!
Elder Turner is a great Elder and we are going to be able to get a lot of great work done here in Ponce! We are really excited to get going to work tonight. But I am sure you are all dying to know a little bit more about him. He's about as tall as I am, if not a little more. He reminds me almost exactly of Austin! (That stud - hay cuzz). Anyways, he played football for Weber State before his mission. So yeah, I think we are going to get along just fine :)
He was in the islands when I was serving down there so I have worked with him a little before. He is also from Utah and from what he has been telling me, he sounds like he has a great family too. Like I said, we are both pumped about the work and the assignments that we have been given. He is going to help me learn the ropes of this new assignment and I couldn't have asked for a better Elder to help me!
Oh yeah . . . the best part! Elder Blandon was supposed to go home today but he extended and is now serving here with us! It is great to be with him again. (hahah its crazy how the mission changes, but yet stays the same! I love it!)
Perhaps the greatest thing that I have learned these past few days is that the Lord loves us so much and he knows exactly what we need. My experiences in training Elder Martinez helped me to grow so much closer to the Lord and to learn how to rely so much more upon Him. I was so thankful for the blessing that he was in my life and for the things that I was able to learn. Now I'm moving on to learn some new lessons and to get completely lost in the work. This call could not have come at a better time and I am so excited for the challenges that lie ahead of us.
I know our Father lives and I know that He is just that -- our Father in Heaven. He is our perfect Father who loves and cares for each and every one of us with a love that is perfect and eternal. How grateful I am to be in His service and to be able to serve Him with all that I have.
I love you guys and I hope you have a great week. I will write more next week. Time is short and we need to get out to work!
Thanks for all you do.
Oh . . . this is my new address by the way! Ponce is a long ways from the mission office (about 2 1/2 hours) so its going to be a lot easier to send all the letters straight to my new apartment. It looks like we are going to be here for a while so memorize it!
Elder Oviatt
Urb. Villa Grillasca
Calle Modesto Rivera
Apt # 1751
Ponce, PR 00717
As always, if you don't want to send stuff here, you can send it to the mission office. We have meetings up there almost two times each month so I will still be able to get stuff there frequently!
Anywho,
Good luck with everything. I love you guys!
Your favorite Elder,
Elder Oviatt
Ponce is Ponce, and the rest is parking baby!
Hey family and friends! Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and your prayers this week. I know that your support was there behind me and I could feel every single one of those prayers. I love you all so much! I want you to know how much that support and love means to me. You are the fuel to my fire. Thanks for all you do! I love you all so much! Keep the prayers coming because they are going to be needed.
Like I said in the subject line of this email, right now I am no longer in Vega Baja Ahorrra. I am currently serving in the old capital of Puerto Rico, the city of Ponce. Yesterday I got transferred and the Lord sent me down to the south of the island to be with Elder Turner. He also gave me a new assignment to be a zone leader. As such the day has been a little hectic. We have been trying to coordinate the transfers and finish closing some apartments in the zone and also opening some new ones. But like I said, that love and support that you all have been giving me has really been helping me so keep it up.
I know that I am writing my email late and I am sorry about that. But we have honestly been running non-stop since about 11:00 am yesterday. And I have to admit that I stink and I haven't showered in two days (we got stuck in Bayamon last night . . . long story, but a good one). I am loving every second of it and to be honest, I am as happy as I was a few weeks ago! I am loving it!
Elder Turner is a great Elder and we are going to be able to get a lot of great work done here in Ponce! We are really excited to get going to work tonight. But I am sure you are all dying to know a little bit more about him. He's about as tall as I am, if not a little more. He reminds me almost exactly of Austin! (That stud - hay cuzz). Anyways, he played football for Weber State before his mission. So yeah, I think we are going to get along just fine :)
He was in the islands when I was serving down there so I have worked with him a little before. He is also from Utah and from what he has been telling me, he sounds like he has a great family too. Like I said, we are both pumped about the work and the assignments that we have been given. He is going to help me learn the ropes of this new assignment and I couldn't have asked for a better Elder to help me!
Oh yeah . . . the best part! Elder Blandon was supposed to go home today but he extended and is now serving here with us! It is great to be with him again. (hahah its crazy how the mission changes, but yet stays the same! I love it!)
Perhaps the greatest thing that I have learned these past few days is that the Lord loves us so much and he knows exactly what we need. My experiences in training Elder Martinez helped me to grow so much closer to the Lord and to learn how to rely so much more upon Him. I was so thankful for the blessing that he was in my life and for the things that I was able to learn. Now I'm moving on to learn some new lessons and to get completely lost in the work. This call could not have come at a better time and I am so excited for the challenges that lie ahead of us.
I know our Father lives and I know that He is just that -- our Father in Heaven. He is our perfect Father who loves and cares for each and every one of us with a love that is perfect and eternal. How grateful I am to be in His service and to be able to serve Him with all that I have.
I love you guys and I hope you have a great week. I will write more next week. Time is short and we need to get out to work!
Thanks for all you do.
Oh . . . this is my new address by the way! Ponce is a long ways from the mission office (about 2 1/2 hours) so its going to be a lot easier to send all the letters straight to my new apartment. It looks like we are going to be here for a while so memorize it!
Elder Oviatt
Urb. Villa Grillasca
Calle Modesto Rivera
Apt # 1751
Ponce, PR 00717
As always, if you don't want to send stuff here, you can send it to the mission office. We have meetings up there almost two times each month so I will still be able to get stuff there frequently!
Anywho,
Good luck with everything. I love you guys!
Your favorite Elder,
Elder Oviatt
Sweet and Sour
September 8, 2010
Good morning Family and Friends,
We just got done with tropical storm Gustav. It sounds like there are 3 or 4 more storms heading our way. One developed in the Gulf of Mexico and moving backwards? Elder Baines said that somebody told them about that storm yesterday and we are a little baffled by it. Anywho, thanks for all the prayers. I know that we will continue to be protected no matter what! So thank you for that.
Thanks, tambien, to those of you who wrote me this week. Your letters were peace to my soul. I hope you know how much your support means to me. No matter what happens, especially between us as family and friends, I will always be grateful for the support and will love you all forever . . . no matter what. You can count on that. Hope everything is going well for you guys! You are all in my prayers!
Anyways, this past week was been just an awesome week. Elder Martinez and I are on fire and we are working as hard as we can to bring about a great work her in Vega Baja. We have received some great blessings this week and had some great experiences. It was just an awesome week.
We had a really neat experience with one of our new investigators, Nelson. Nelson was a referral from the ward that is adjacent to the western boundary of our area. He lives in a city really close to that ward building, but his home is within our boundaries. Anyways, he lives in Florida which is about 45 minutes away from the chapel here in Vega Baja. We only had a phone number to contact him. We tried calling him a few times but the nice man on the other end started to get a little annoyed telling us that we had the wrong number! Anyways, luckily, Elder Bailey had been the one to give us the referral and he accidentally called him. Nelson said that he had been waiting to hear from the missionaries and he was so excited to finally be talking to them again. Elder Bailey set up a cita with him for Friday at his work in Vega Baja, and so on Friday we went.
When we talked to him we found out that he had lived in another city in our area where a pair of missionaries had been assigned a few years ago. He lived just a few houses down from the missionaries and had talked to them a lot. He was never able to progress towards baptism because he was studying and working two jobs at the time. He just never got around to doing those things that he needed to do to progress. He called the Arecibo ward asking them how he could get in contact with the missionaries again. We went on Friday and it turns out that his favorite topic is the Joseph Smith story and the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We had a great lesson with him talking about a loving Heavenly Father who has once again revealed the truth in our days. We discussed the doctrine of Christ and invited him to be baptized on the 9th of October. He told us that he knew that he wouldn't be there on the 9th. He said "I'm not going to be here on that day, is it alright if we do it on the 15th?"
Elder Martinez and I were just so pumped about having this blessing that all we could do was nod our heads and try to keep our grins from looking too goofy. We were so happy! We have had a great transfer together and we have learned so many lessons together. This was a blessing in answer to our prayers. It truly was something that we both needed and we believe Nelson was sent to us by our loving Heavenly Father. There is still so much work that has to be done with Nelson, but he told us that he had heard about the Joseph Smith story and had seen the video of the restoration. He knows it is true and he said that he is willing to do whatever he needs to do to follow Christ. he wants to feel that peace that comes when we know that we have followed the path that He showed for us. We have a cita with him tonight and we are both really excited to finally get back to teaching him. It has been a week and this time we are going to go search for his house in the mountains. Pray for us. We are going to need all the help that we can get.
We continue to work with some great families in our ward who have gone a little astray. We had the great opportunity to be able to teach the entire Torres family this week and it was just another great lesson. We taught about the restoration of the gospel and they absolutely loved it. Their grandchildren were there and some of them are not members. It was such a sweet blessing to be able to see these two less active grandparents explain the Book of Mormon to their grandchildren and doing a fantastic job. Their testimonies are just so strong. I'm not sure why they stopped coming to church. But they have the goal to get back and they have started to do those little things again that are going to help them get back to where they were. It's just sad to think of all that they have lost in just these few years of being inactive. All the lessons in church. All of the conferences. Everything has been missing from their lives. That is two years of spiritual growth that they will never get back. But the beauty of it is that God still loves them and wants them to be an eternal family. As they are willing to change and humble themselves, He is willing to forgive them and bless them with that incredible blessing of being sealed as an eternal family.
We also had a great experience with another family with whom we are working. Last week Elder Martinez and I were looking over the ward list and we noticed a family that lives in the area where we have recently moved. As soon as we read their names we both felt so strongly that we needed to go see them. We stopped by that afternoon and the mom answered the door! She was so thrilled to see us! "Elders! Wow! It has been so long! How are you?" We were both a little shocked by her reaction but we were both very happy to receive it. It turns out that the missionaries used to live in this family's house in an apartment in the back. When the missionaries moved they kind of lost all contact with the Church and stopped following the Lord as they had been taught. Apparently they have been inactive for a while. Anyways, the mom was more than willing to have us come back and share a message with them. We went by Monday night. As we sat around the table I felt that same kind of spirit that I felt when we were in the home of the Torres family. It was so incredible. We sat around the table and each had a copy of the Proclamation to the World. We read it and talked about God's plan for the families and how our families can be together. We discussed temples and it was such a sweet experience to be able to testify to them about eternal families and the joy and peace that comes to our families when we share that knowledge together. They had signs up all over their house. The signs were to help them keep peace in their home. They are looking for peace and it was so special to be able to think that the only thing that was truly going to bring peace to their lives and to their homes was for them to get back on the path that Christ has prepared for each of us and our families. They need to return to that path and qualify to make the covenants for their family to be sealed for time and all eternity. I love this work! I especially love this part of God's plan for us. Families are forever! It is as simple as that! That is what God wants for us. I am eternally grateful that I have been able to have that knowledge my entire life. What a sweet and precious blessing it is to know that no matter what happens, if we are faithful, we will ALWAYS be together.
I want to close by sharing my testimony. This week has been full of up and downs for me, I have had some of the best, sweetest experiences of my mission this week. I have also had some that made me suffer in shock and unbelief. But through it all, there has been something constant there, something that has been there my entire mission. The love of my Savior and the comfort of His spirit. Jesus Christ is my Savior. I love him with everything that I have to give. There is nothing else that I would rather be doing at this moment than to be in His service. He has been there for me every step of the way, even when I thought that no one else was there. He was! And he loves me, and every one of us, with a love that we cannot comprehend. I know He lives! I know that through Him, we can all be forgiven, for whatever we have done in this life. Through our Savior, we can find that strength, that peace, la plentitud de gozo, that each and every one of us searches for dia tras did. He lives and loves us. And this is His work. How blessed we are to all be a part of it.
I hope that you all have a fantastic week. Please know that you are in my prayers always and that I will love you no matter what happens between us.
Your eternal friend,
Elder Oviatt
Good morning Family and Friends,
We just got done with tropical storm Gustav. It sounds like there are 3 or 4 more storms heading our way. One developed in the Gulf of Mexico and moving backwards? Elder Baines said that somebody told them about that storm yesterday and we are a little baffled by it. Anywho, thanks for all the prayers. I know that we will continue to be protected no matter what! So thank you for that.
Thanks, tambien, to those of you who wrote me this week. Your letters were peace to my soul. I hope you know how much your support means to me. No matter what happens, especially between us as family and friends, I will always be grateful for the support and will love you all forever . . . no matter what. You can count on that. Hope everything is going well for you guys! You are all in my prayers!
Anyways, this past week was been just an awesome week. Elder Martinez and I are on fire and we are working as hard as we can to bring about a great work her in Vega Baja. We have received some great blessings this week and had some great experiences. It was just an awesome week.
We had a really neat experience with one of our new investigators, Nelson. Nelson was a referral from the ward that is adjacent to the western boundary of our area. He lives in a city really close to that ward building, but his home is within our boundaries. Anyways, he lives in Florida which is about 45 minutes away from the chapel here in Vega Baja. We only had a phone number to contact him. We tried calling him a few times but the nice man on the other end started to get a little annoyed telling us that we had the wrong number! Anyways, luckily, Elder Bailey had been the one to give us the referral and he accidentally called him. Nelson said that he had been waiting to hear from the missionaries and he was so excited to finally be talking to them again. Elder Bailey set up a cita with him for Friday at his work in Vega Baja, and so on Friday we went.
When we talked to him we found out that he had lived in another city in our area where a pair of missionaries had been assigned a few years ago. He lived just a few houses down from the missionaries and had talked to them a lot. He was never able to progress towards baptism because he was studying and working two jobs at the time. He just never got around to doing those things that he needed to do to progress. He called the Arecibo ward asking them how he could get in contact with the missionaries again. We went on Friday and it turns out that his favorite topic is the Joseph Smith story and the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We had a great lesson with him talking about a loving Heavenly Father who has once again revealed the truth in our days. We discussed the doctrine of Christ and invited him to be baptized on the 9th of October. He told us that he knew that he wouldn't be there on the 9th. He said "I'm not going to be here on that day, is it alright if we do it on the 15th?"
Elder Martinez and I were just so pumped about having this blessing that all we could do was nod our heads and try to keep our grins from looking too goofy. We were so happy! We have had a great transfer together and we have learned so many lessons together. This was a blessing in answer to our prayers. It truly was something that we both needed and we believe Nelson was sent to us by our loving Heavenly Father. There is still so much work that has to be done with Nelson, but he told us that he had heard about the Joseph Smith story and had seen the video of the restoration. He knows it is true and he said that he is willing to do whatever he needs to do to follow Christ. he wants to feel that peace that comes when we know that we have followed the path that He showed for us. We have a cita with him tonight and we are both really excited to finally get back to teaching him. It has been a week and this time we are going to go search for his house in the mountains. Pray for us. We are going to need all the help that we can get.
We continue to work with some great families in our ward who have gone a little astray. We had the great opportunity to be able to teach the entire Torres family this week and it was just another great lesson. We taught about the restoration of the gospel and they absolutely loved it. Their grandchildren were there and some of them are not members. It was such a sweet blessing to be able to see these two less active grandparents explain the Book of Mormon to their grandchildren and doing a fantastic job. Their testimonies are just so strong. I'm not sure why they stopped coming to church. But they have the goal to get back and they have started to do those little things again that are going to help them get back to where they were. It's just sad to think of all that they have lost in just these few years of being inactive. All the lessons in church. All of the conferences. Everything has been missing from their lives. That is two years of spiritual growth that they will never get back. But the beauty of it is that God still loves them and wants them to be an eternal family. As they are willing to change and humble themselves, He is willing to forgive them and bless them with that incredible blessing of being sealed as an eternal family.
We also had a great experience with another family with whom we are working. Last week Elder Martinez and I were looking over the ward list and we noticed a family that lives in the area where we have recently moved. As soon as we read their names we both felt so strongly that we needed to go see them. We stopped by that afternoon and the mom answered the door! She was so thrilled to see us! "Elders! Wow! It has been so long! How are you?" We were both a little shocked by her reaction but we were both very happy to receive it. It turns out that the missionaries used to live in this family's house in an apartment in the back. When the missionaries moved they kind of lost all contact with the Church and stopped following the Lord as they had been taught. Apparently they have been inactive for a while. Anyways, the mom was more than willing to have us come back and share a message with them. We went by Monday night. As we sat around the table I felt that same kind of spirit that I felt when we were in the home of the Torres family. It was so incredible. We sat around the table and each had a copy of the Proclamation to the World. We read it and talked about God's plan for the families and how our families can be together. We discussed temples and it was such a sweet experience to be able to testify to them about eternal families and the joy and peace that comes to our families when we share that knowledge together. They had signs up all over their house. The signs were to help them keep peace in their home. They are looking for peace and it was so special to be able to think that the only thing that was truly going to bring peace to their lives and to their homes was for them to get back on the path that Christ has prepared for each of us and our families. They need to return to that path and qualify to make the covenants for their family to be sealed for time and all eternity. I love this work! I especially love this part of God's plan for us. Families are forever! It is as simple as that! That is what God wants for us. I am eternally grateful that I have been able to have that knowledge my entire life. What a sweet and precious blessing it is to know that no matter what happens, if we are faithful, we will ALWAYS be together.
I want to close by sharing my testimony. This week has been full of up and downs for me, I have had some of the best, sweetest experiences of my mission this week. I have also had some that made me suffer in shock and unbelief. But through it all, there has been something constant there, something that has been there my entire mission. The love of my Savior and the comfort of His spirit. Jesus Christ is my Savior. I love him with everything that I have to give. There is nothing else that I would rather be doing at this moment than to be in His service. He has been there for me every step of the way, even when I thought that no one else was there. He was! And he loves me, and every one of us, with a love that we cannot comprehend. I know He lives! I know that through Him, we can all be forgiven, for whatever we have done in this life. Through our Savior, we can find that strength, that peace, la plentitud de gozo, that each and every one of us searches for dia tras did. He lives and loves us. And this is His work. How blessed we are to all be a part of it.
I hope that you all have a fantastic week. Please know that you are in my prayers always and that I will love you no matter what happens between us.
Your eternal friend,
Elder Oviatt
Friday, September 3, 2010
" Hurricane" earl, Good Luck Mckay!
September 1, 2010
Good Morning all!
Today is September 1st. School started at BYU on Monday? I just cannot believe that it is already time for school and football again. I hope that this week has gone well for all of you! I hope the first few days have gone smoothly for those of you who have had school. Mckay, I hope that the move goes well and that you were able to make it safe and sound to your new home in California! Good luck man I hope everything goes well with the new job!
Oh and good luck to Jonny Harris! That is so cool that he is already off to the MTC, that is so cool. Where is he going? Wherever he is going I know he'll be great! Good luck elder!
Anyways, I am sure that you are all wanting to know what happened about the hurricane, so i will tell you! We woke up on Monday morning and ran to the store to get some last minute stuff like water and non-perishable food. We came back and during companionship study it got really dark and began to rain really hard and there was a lot of wind. It was on and off like that all day. We were out working and we actually had a lot of people to talk to. We also had a great way to start all of the conversations so it was sweet. Anyways, President Alvarado told us that we had to be back into the house by 6:30. The parts of the hurricane that were supposed to pass by us were supposed to come at about 8:00. Our power went out at about that time, but nothing more. I woke up once in the middle of the night and it was raining, but went back to bed without a problem. We woke up yesterday and things were back to normal. The sun was shining and nothing had really happened. So thanks to all of you for your prayers! We were sure blessed to not be hit big time by the hurricane. So thank you! I heard there is another storm coming so we'll see. I know that it is really scary to have a hurricane pass by, but the other Elders and I kind of want to see what its like. We also want to have a few days to just get out and serve. But I'm good with staying out of natural disasters for now. So no worries. All is good with Elder Oviatt. Paradise is still paradise.
As for the work that we did this past week things went really well. We received some great blessings and had some great experiences. I know it was because there were prayers going out for us so thank you so much for all that you guys do and for your love and support.
On Thursday Elder Martinez and I pulled over to talk to a pair of guys that we both felt we needed to talk to. One of the guys just started to rant and cry and talk about how he wasn't sure if he believed in God. He said he doubted because he couldn't see Him and he couldn't feel Him. He talked about all of the bad things that he was doing and how hard his life was. It was really sad to hear all of that and as he finished talking a question popped into my head. So I asked him, "what are you doing to look for God in your life?" He was silent and his friend just sat there looking off into space and said that is a really really good question. We had a great opportunity to be able to teach him a little from the Book of Mormon and King Lamoni's dad and how he had to give up all of his sins to know God. My companion just gave a solid testimony about some of the times that he had been blessed in his life. The spirit was so strong and the man knew that we were servants sent from God to help him find the path again. We asked him if he was ready to give up all of his sins to know God and with tears streaming down his face all he could do was nod. The spirit was touching this mans heart and he was teaching him something that we were not able to. It was such a neat experience to be part of. We were led to that man and then the spirit basically taught him through our efforts and helped our new friend William see what things he could be doing differently in his life so that he could feel more peace during these hard times.
Like I told you a couple of weeks ago, Elder Vinas came to Puerto Rico and we talked about how we can better build up the church here in the island. After that conference we went to our bishop and asked him what we could do to help in our ward. He gave us a list of names of some families to go visit who had gone inactive. On Sunday night we went and visited the Torres family. As we yelled his door, Brother Torres walked out and the first thing I noticed was the garment shirt that he was wearing. The first thought that ran through my mind was why in the world was this man not in church today? Why in the world have I not seen this brother in my time here in Vega Baja? After talking to him for a while we came to find out that he and his wife were both really strong leaders in the church but have gone inactive for some reason.
As we began the lesson I was just amazed at the love that I felt between all of us. The spirit that we felt in his room was just incredible. We talked about the sacrament and why we take the sacrament. We read in 3 Nephi and talked about how the promise that we receive in the sacrament helps us to become sanctified and clean with the help of the Holy Ghost. He kept saying over and over about how he was the one who needed help after all of these years of helping to rescue other members. It was now time for him to be rescued. In the short time that I have been in the mission, I have never felt more that I had been sent here to talk to this man. We strongly and powerfully told him of the need that he had to be in church and the need that the ward had for him to be in church. We invited him to come back and he said that he would do it when it was time. I looked at him straight in the eyes, and i said "Brother Torres, NOW IS THE TIME!" We sat there in silence for what felt like an eternity and he said, "OK, Hablare con mi esposa" (I'll talk to my wife).
I left that cita with a feeling that I had never felt before. I still get the chills every time that I think of the lesson that we had and the things that we talked about. I honestly feel that I knew him before and that I was sent here at this very time to find him and help him come back. It was an incredible experience and one that I will absolutely never forget. I know that God loves us no matter what we do, no matter how bad we screw up, no matter how prideful we are. I am amazed at how His hand of mercy is always extended to His children no matter what.
Last night we had another great opportunity to visit with Deborah, the recent convert who had moved away from our ward and been lost for a long time. I can't remember if I told you about her last week or not but we were miraculously led to her last week. We talked to her last night about coming back to church and helping her kids prepare for what is coming in the world. She said that there was no doubt that she would be in church on Sunday and that she knew that she needed to be doing this to help out her two sons. The member that was with us made a comment about how being this example to her sons is going to have an effect on her great grandchildren. My mind went to the pioneers and how the pioneers were like that. The first generation members, who did not understand 100 percent what they were doing, but they could feel that what they were doing was right. And they knew that what they had come to know to be true was something that was going to bless the members of their family for generations to come! It was a really cool experience.
Angel is coming along still. We are stuck at a wall with baptism but he told us yesterday that, without a doubt, he knows that this is the true church and that the Book of Mormon is true. He has been to church for about 10 weeks straight now but is just a little hung up about getting baptized. I love this man with all my heart and I would love more than anything to see him enter the waters of baptism. I'm not sure if I will "live" long enough to see that day but I know that he is going to be a leader in this ward in the future. I am so thankful that I have been able to know him.
We had a missionary sacrament meeting this Sunday. Three of the missionaries spoke in sacrament meeting and it was just awesome. Anyways, I had a way cool experience. We are currently working with a part-member family. The mom and the Grandma and the children are members but the dad is just a crazy guy. It is hard for him to give up the street life and the party life. Anyways, we have been teaching them for a few weeks and on Sunday we taught about the sabbath day. He told me that he wasn't sure if he could come to church because he was sealing his roof. And he couldn't leave the stuff in the rain so he really needed to get it done before it rained. I looked him in the eyes and I said "Waldemar, I can promise you that if you come to church tomorrow, it will not rain." Surprisingly, I was not nervous about what I had said. I had the firm faith that what I said was true. It wouldn't rain and I knew that if we needed a miracle would happen.
Sure enough, we woke up and it was a beautiful day. Church started and Waldemar wasn't there. I was a few minutes into my talk when Waldemar walked into the room holding the hand of his son. It was a great experience to see this great man entering the chapel with his family, leading his son by the hand. I felt right then and there that this family was going to be an eternal family. Someday it was going to happen and I was so thankful that I got to have that connection on Sunday.
I love you all so much. Thanks for your love and support. They say there are letters for me in the office so thank you for your letters and love from home!
I hope all of you are doing well with school and stuff now that school is back in full swing! You're all in my prayers, especially my friends starting school!
Good luck with everything. Lemme know that Mckay made it to California OK! I hope everything goes well for you buddy. Let me know how your first few weeks go! Good luck Brother! I love you!
I love you guys so much! Enjoy the fall! My favorite time of year!
Changing leaves in the mountains and hurricanes in paradise! Have fun!
Good Morning all!
Today is September 1st. School started at BYU on Monday? I just cannot believe that it is already time for school and football again. I hope that this week has gone well for all of you! I hope the first few days have gone smoothly for those of you who have had school. Mckay, I hope that the move goes well and that you were able to make it safe and sound to your new home in California! Good luck man I hope everything goes well with the new job!
Oh and good luck to Jonny Harris! That is so cool that he is already off to the MTC, that is so cool. Where is he going? Wherever he is going I know he'll be great! Good luck elder!
Anyways, I am sure that you are all wanting to know what happened about the hurricane, so i will tell you! We woke up on Monday morning and ran to the store to get some last minute stuff like water and non-perishable food. We came back and during companionship study it got really dark and began to rain really hard and there was a lot of wind. It was on and off like that all day. We were out working and we actually had a lot of people to talk to. We also had a great way to start all of the conversations so it was sweet. Anyways, President Alvarado told us that we had to be back into the house by 6:30. The parts of the hurricane that were supposed to pass by us were supposed to come at about 8:00. Our power went out at about that time, but nothing more. I woke up once in the middle of the night and it was raining, but went back to bed without a problem. We woke up yesterday and things were back to normal. The sun was shining and nothing had really happened. So thanks to all of you for your prayers! We were sure blessed to not be hit big time by the hurricane. So thank you! I heard there is another storm coming so we'll see. I know that it is really scary to have a hurricane pass by, but the other Elders and I kind of want to see what its like. We also want to have a few days to just get out and serve. But I'm good with staying out of natural disasters for now. So no worries. All is good with Elder Oviatt. Paradise is still paradise.
As for the work that we did this past week things went really well. We received some great blessings and had some great experiences. I know it was because there were prayers going out for us so thank you so much for all that you guys do and for your love and support.
On Thursday Elder Martinez and I pulled over to talk to a pair of guys that we both felt we needed to talk to. One of the guys just started to rant and cry and talk about how he wasn't sure if he believed in God. He said he doubted because he couldn't see Him and he couldn't feel Him. He talked about all of the bad things that he was doing and how hard his life was. It was really sad to hear all of that and as he finished talking a question popped into my head. So I asked him, "what are you doing to look for God in your life?" He was silent and his friend just sat there looking off into space and said that is a really really good question. We had a great opportunity to be able to teach him a little from the Book of Mormon and King Lamoni's dad and how he had to give up all of his sins to know God. My companion just gave a solid testimony about some of the times that he had been blessed in his life. The spirit was so strong and the man knew that we were servants sent from God to help him find the path again. We asked him if he was ready to give up all of his sins to know God and with tears streaming down his face all he could do was nod. The spirit was touching this mans heart and he was teaching him something that we were not able to. It was such a neat experience to be part of. We were led to that man and then the spirit basically taught him through our efforts and helped our new friend William see what things he could be doing differently in his life so that he could feel more peace during these hard times.
Like I told you a couple of weeks ago, Elder Vinas came to Puerto Rico and we talked about how we can better build up the church here in the island. After that conference we went to our bishop and asked him what we could do to help in our ward. He gave us a list of names of some families to go visit who had gone inactive. On Sunday night we went and visited the Torres family. As we yelled his door, Brother Torres walked out and the first thing I noticed was the garment shirt that he was wearing. The first thought that ran through my mind was why in the world was this man not in church today? Why in the world have I not seen this brother in my time here in Vega Baja? After talking to him for a while we came to find out that he and his wife were both really strong leaders in the church but have gone inactive for some reason.
As we began the lesson I was just amazed at the love that I felt between all of us. The spirit that we felt in his room was just incredible. We talked about the sacrament and why we take the sacrament. We read in 3 Nephi and talked about how the promise that we receive in the sacrament helps us to become sanctified and clean with the help of the Holy Ghost. He kept saying over and over about how he was the one who needed help after all of these years of helping to rescue other members. It was now time for him to be rescued. In the short time that I have been in the mission, I have never felt more that I had been sent here to talk to this man. We strongly and powerfully told him of the need that he had to be in church and the need that the ward had for him to be in church. We invited him to come back and he said that he would do it when it was time. I looked at him straight in the eyes, and i said "Brother Torres, NOW IS THE TIME!" We sat there in silence for what felt like an eternity and he said, "OK, Hablare con mi esposa" (I'll talk to my wife).
I left that cita with a feeling that I had never felt before. I still get the chills every time that I think of the lesson that we had and the things that we talked about. I honestly feel that I knew him before and that I was sent here at this very time to find him and help him come back. It was an incredible experience and one that I will absolutely never forget. I know that God loves us no matter what we do, no matter how bad we screw up, no matter how prideful we are. I am amazed at how His hand of mercy is always extended to His children no matter what.
Last night we had another great opportunity to visit with Deborah, the recent convert who had moved away from our ward and been lost for a long time. I can't remember if I told you about her last week or not but we were miraculously led to her last week. We talked to her last night about coming back to church and helping her kids prepare for what is coming in the world. She said that there was no doubt that she would be in church on Sunday and that she knew that she needed to be doing this to help out her two sons. The member that was with us made a comment about how being this example to her sons is going to have an effect on her great grandchildren. My mind went to the pioneers and how the pioneers were like that. The first generation members, who did not understand 100 percent what they were doing, but they could feel that what they were doing was right. And they knew that what they had come to know to be true was something that was going to bless the members of their family for generations to come! It was a really cool experience.
Angel is coming along still. We are stuck at a wall with baptism but he told us yesterday that, without a doubt, he knows that this is the true church and that the Book of Mormon is true. He has been to church for about 10 weeks straight now but is just a little hung up about getting baptized. I love this man with all my heart and I would love more than anything to see him enter the waters of baptism. I'm not sure if I will "live" long enough to see that day but I know that he is going to be a leader in this ward in the future. I am so thankful that I have been able to know him.
We had a missionary sacrament meeting this Sunday. Three of the missionaries spoke in sacrament meeting and it was just awesome. Anyways, I had a way cool experience. We are currently working with a part-member family. The mom and the Grandma and the children are members but the dad is just a crazy guy. It is hard for him to give up the street life and the party life. Anyways, we have been teaching them for a few weeks and on Sunday we taught about the sabbath day. He told me that he wasn't sure if he could come to church because he was sealing his roof. And he couldn't leave the stuff in the rain so he really needed to get it done before it rained. I looked him in the eyes and I said "Waldemar, I can promise you that if you come to church tomorrow, it will not rain." Surprisingly, I was not nervous about what I had said. I had the firm faith that what I said was true. It wouldn't rain and I knew that if we needed a miracle would happen.
Sure enough, we woke up and it was a beautiful day. Church started and Waldemar wasn't there. I was a few minutes into my talk when Waldemar walked into the room holding the hand of his son. It was a great experience to see this great man entering the chapel with his family, leading his son by the hand. I felt right then and there that this family was going to be an eternal family. Someday it was going to happen and I was so thankful that I got to have that connection on Sunday.
I love you all so much. Thanks for your love and support. They say there are letters for me in the office so thank you for your letters and love from home!
I hope all of you are doing well with school and stuff now that school is back in full swing! You're all in my prayers, especially my friends starting school!
Good luck with everything. Lemme know that Mckay made it to California OK! I hope everything goes well for you buddy. Let me know how your first few weeks go! Good luck Brother! I love you!
I love you guys so much! Enjoy the fall! My favorite time of year!
Changing leaves in the mountains and hurricanes in paradise! Have fun!
President Alvarado and I Traded suits! 3 piece baby!
August 25, 2010
Dear Family and Friends!
Wow! I can't believe that school has already started! I hope that all of you are doing well and that school is going well for those of you who are already in school! I can't believe Trent is in high school now. That is really weird. But way to go kid! Now you are a t-wolf baby!
I have heard that BYU starts up this next week and that has me even more baffled. It felt like it was just yesterday that BYU had ended the school year and here we are once again to start another semester! Good luck friends! I love you all and I hope you do well in all of your studies. Don't do too well or else they won't let me back in! Just teasing! I hope the first few weeks of school go well for everyone! As always you are all always in my prayers and I love you so much!
So we had a district meeting this week in the mission office with President Alvarado. It was a really great meeting we were able to talk more about what Elder Vinas had talked about last week during our Zone Conference. We made some great plans about how we were going to step it up and work even harder to bring about success in this beautiful island. Anyways, when we were at district meeting President Alvarado said, "Elder Oviatt, there is a suit in the storage room. Go try it on to see if it fits!" When we had the training meetings with all the leaders a couple of weeks ago we had talked about trading suits. I thought he was just kidding but apparently he was being serious. I went back and the suit fit perfectly! How cool is that! I got a new suit halfway through my mission. It turns out that it was made in Guatemala and belonged to a Seventy and it is now hanging up in my closet. Its just an example of what a great man President Alvarado is and how much he loves us. I'll take a picture so you can see. Or maybe ill just wait. I haven't decided. Anyways, but yeah, I thought that was a cool story that I thought I would start this email with. Most of you probably don't care but hey, you still love me right (at least I hope so).
This week was a pretty rough week for me. Things just weren't going the way that we had wanted them to. These weeks of training have really helped me to learn a lot, and have humbled me beyond all belief. I have grown so much closer to my Savior through the experiences these past few weeks, These trials have made me so thankful for those challenges that we have in our lives. I was struggling through some things this week but I received some great answers from the district meeting that we had. I know that Christ is our Savior, and if we want to have any success in this life it is on Him that we must rely. We can't rely on only ourselves and when we do we often fail. I got to learn that this past week. And while it was a rough learning experience, I am so thankful that we have hard times in our lives so that we can grow so much more. I love this work. Dad told me that it will be filled with all of the joys and sorrows known to man. And they come and go so quickly. How true that is. But through it all, the Savior has always been there for me. I know he lives and that he loves us.
We have had some really cool finding experiences this week. I think this past week our finding efforts ended up finding more less-active members then we we did new investigators. It was pretty cool because that was one of the things that Elder Vinas talked about -- strengthening the church. So we were really blessed to be able to find some great new people to start working with as we continued to search for families.
We found one member named Maria. She was baptized about 15 years ago and had come to church regularly for 2 or 3 years. She had read the Book of Mormon and from what I can see she was a really strong member. She just stopped doing the little things and eventually fell away. We taught her on Sunday and had an incredible lesson. When we talked to her in the street she told us that she had some questions and some doubts. When we went by on Sunday she told us her doubt but it just didn't seem like a doubt to me. The conversation eventually led to the Holy Ghost. She has been attending a Pentecostal church for the past few years. Out of nowhere we asked her to tell us about her baptism into our church and specifically about her confirmation. As we continued to talk about that experience and talk about the doctrine of the Holy Ghost, the spirit flooded the room and we could all feel that peace and that warmth that he brings. I could see the spirit working in her heart and her mind. She knew that what we were telling her was true, not because we had scriptures to back it up, but because the spirit was with us and the spirit was teaching. We left her with a Book of Mormon and invited her to start reading it again. We passed by last night and it turns out that her sister lives next door. Her sister isn't a member, but the first thing that her sister asked was how can we know which church is true!? There are so many churches how can we know the truth? We had a great lesson once again talking about prayer and the spirit and her sister was really interested in what we had to say. But more importantly, once again the spirit was there and I know that Maria felt it. She has been gone for a long time. But those feelings that we cannot deny are starting to come back into her life and I can see the light starting to come back into her eyes. We have another appointment with her on Thursday and we are so excited to see where things go from here.
Yesterday we had some really neat experiences. We had felt that we needed to go work in a certain urbanization of houses. We started working there on Sunday and things have been going great. We had a bunch of appointments set up for yesterday evening and when the first one fell, we felt that we needed to go and talk to the next door neighbor. A mom opened the door and I could see little kids running around in the back. My first thought was that this is the family that we have been praying for. We talked to the mom about the proclamation to the world and she invited us right in. We told her we would stop by when her husband got home from work. Then as we went to our other appointments they all fell through too. By this time we started heading back to see if her husband was home. On the way there we felt to knock the door of the house. A young woman answered the door and came out and started talking to us. After a few minutes she says you know I was baptized in your church like a year ago! My jaw dropped. She was the recent convert that the entire ward had been searching for and we were led right to her door. She had been going through some crazy situations with her housing and stuff and has been all over the island. But she was now back in Vega Baja. We were able to talk to her for a bit and give her a Book of Mormon. We have an appointment to go back tonight and start teaching the lessons again. She was a complete answer to our prayers and, not only our prayers, but the prayers of the entire ward. We had lost one of our sheep but the Lord led her right back to us and we were so pumped to figure out who she was.
As we finished talking to her we returned to Josue and Maggy's house. By this time Josue had returned home from work. He was already getting ready to head out. He let us sit down for just a few minutes to explain while we were there. As we explained God's plan for families Josue liked what he was hearing, but I could tell his mind was elsewhere. As we finished, we both looked into his eyes. We just purely testified about families, and how, if we follow God and Christ, we will be eternally with them. His attitude completely change and I could see that something that touched his heart. It was a simple testimony offered by my companion and I but I know that the spirit was bearing witness to his soul that what we were telling them is true. They invited us to come back on Thursday and we can't wait to get back there and to get started on working with these miracles that God has blessed us with.
I love you all so much. I know that it is a busy time right now. So I am thankful for your prayers and your love. Believe me, your prayers are being heard. And this weak missionary in Puerto Rico is receiving the strength and support that he needs to keep going every single day. I love you guys and I love this work. I hope that you all have a great week and that everyone's school year gets off to a great start!
I love you all!
Good luck with school everyone! A++
Thanks for all you do,
Your favorite Elder,
Elder Oviatt
oh p.s. the pics are from Curacao, enjoy.
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