2015-04-20 Another Great Week.

Hey guys glad to hear that everything is going good on that side of the world.  Here, things are okay.  Just working like normal.

On Monday for P-day, we watched the movie “Meet the Mormons” in Spanish at the stake center.  And yes, I understood every thing in Spanish.  I guess my Spanish is coming along pretty good.  People usually say my companion is the gringo and not me.

Hmmm… I’m trying to think what else we did this week.  Sometimes I just forget about things we have done.  The weeks are just flying by.  I look back and just remember waking up and going to bed.  We had a good week otherwise and we have had some interesting lessons.

We were teaching this old guy that was a pastor in his day, and he came up with an interesting question "where in the bible does it talk about other worlds and planets that God created?" and he started going on about how he always questioned that and that he could never find the answer.  So I pulled out my triple and turned to Moses and explained things that talk about just that. 

Moses 1:3-4, 33-39

 3 And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless? 4 And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease.  . . . .  33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.  35 For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.  37 And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine.  38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.  39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

This man just sat there reading the passage over and over again.  Then he turned to us and asked "why is this not in the bible?" and so we explained to him how some things were taken out of the bible and these were revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith.  At the end of the lesson he turned to us and said "You have the truth!  You have the truth!" I was super happy and we are trying to get him to come to church and hopefully he will continue to learn more.

  

Hahaha funny lesson was when we were talking to a family and asked why they could not come to church, and the mom of the family starts going off about how they have to go to the hospital, then she started to go too deep and explained that her daughter has some personal medical problems so she has gained weight and her voice has changed, etc.  Haha too much information lady! The daughter was just sitting there mad and silent.

Another highlight of my week was teaching this part member family and the man that is not a member in the family after watching the restoration and reading the history of Joseph Smith, turned to us and said "you are the first set of elders in 10 years to actually spark my interest and get me thinking about really asking God if this is true. I don't know what it is but I want to know."  So that was good.

So overall we really had great lessons and great people to teach.  I love teaching the gospel!

Also, we found a fat cat, definitely a house cat that look like Jazz (grandma’s Hawaiian cat).  He was walking on the street alone, so I picked him up and took him to one of my favorite member family here in the ward, and now my cat has a home.  Their cat recently got run over by a car and now they have a replacement for their dead cat.  They were happy to get another one.

Well, have a good week and take care.  I love you guys!

2015-04-13 Recent Emails

04/13/15

 Hey guys!  Well glad to hear everything is going great there and that you are all having fun.  People are starting to tease me now that I have only a little time left.  Whenever a plane passes by my companion always points up and says, "hey comp, 4 months left!  Haha it kind of gets on my nerves.  But okay.

The week was great.  We are working hard and one of the highlights of my week was going on divisions with the ZLs.  I went with Elder H from North Carolina/Arizona, and it was great.  I guess this past change I have been worried about things so much, that I forgot what it felt like to work hard with a companion that really knows what he is doing and wants to work hard too.  The division was great and we got a lot done.  I learned a lot and the next day back, we put 4 baptismal dates with a family we are teaching.

 

Another crazy story I forgot to tell you about is that before the Saturday session of conference, in the morning we went hiking in this hill near our area, we took pictures and we decided to go down the hill a different way, so we started our descent and it is beautiful in the forest.  So we get near the bottom of the hill and come out to a clearing where there is a warehouse and a house fenced in by an electric fence.  Then 4 dogs came running out and start barking like crazy and want to rip us apart, but then we start circling the perimeter looking for a way out, and we see this armed guard with a shotgun come walking toward us, and as he is walking toward us he loads the shotgun and cocks it and yells "who are you!?" and we put our hands up and yell "we're missionaries!" and then he starts going off about why we are trespassing in a private property, and because of that he has the right to shoot us, etc.   And we are just yelling "we are looking for a way out!"  Haha it was scary and funny at the same time.  Then finally the man showed us the way out.   We hurried home, got ready, studied and then went to conference.  I will always remember that incident when I watch conference now...

Well hope all is well.  I love you all and have a great week!

04/06/15

Hey guys, well all good and marching along in this part of the vineyard.  I really enjoyed conference and a lot of the talks stuck out to me.  I really liked the last 2 talks of the Sunday morning session by Jeffery R. Holland and President Uchtdorf.  They really were powerful.

The work is progressing and little by little we are becoming better as missionaries and as a ward here.  Holy week was really slow though. Everyone went on vacations and did not want to do anything with the missionaries and church.  We ate a lot though, and took a lot of the pictures of the Catholic ceremonies and parades.  On Friday, everyone go out and watch the parades where the Catholics decorate the streets with colored sawdust almost like a carpet that goes down the whole street.  Then in the night people carry this huge thing with a wooden carved Jesus Christ in a glass box down the street on this carpet.  Supposedly they pay 100Q to carry the big thing to be able to be forgiven from their sins. 

Cool story, 3 weeks ago we fasted together.  My companion and I with an investigator named EG that has been smoking for 50+ years so that he would be able to stop smoking.  We fasted and for the last 3 weeks he has not touched a cigarette and feels sick when he has the desire to do it.  How cool is that.  I know that the Lord works daily miracles and that his hand is in all of our lives.

We brought a new family to the conference yesterday and they liked it, so we will see how that goes and if they progress.  Other than that this week was great.  I love what I do, and I know that we are here doing the Lord's work.

I love you guys, take care!

Area Left to Right:

 

 

3/23/15

Hey guys, another week here in the area, and it has been great! 

On Wednesday we had a meeting of three missions where we were able to hear from an apostle.  The missions East, Central, and South missions all met up and we hung out for a while waiting for the meeting to start.  Then at 2 in the afternoon Elder Anderson and Elder Maynes from the presidency of the seventy came.  We all got to pass and shake their hands, and it was a good spiritual experience.  We were fasting as a mission and a lot of questions were answered about the work and how we can be better.

Elder Maynes talked first and something he said that really stuck out to me is that we are all connected and that our decisions and actions affect others in a chain.  He told us that we should ask ourselves every day "If every missionary in the world were like me, would the work move faster and the world be a better place?" and that is true.  If we would all strive to be the best missionaries and the best people that we could be, the world could be a better place.  We can apply it to our normal lives.  If we were all working and being the best that we can be, the church and its members would be having a bigger positive impact in the world.

Elder Anderson talked about the Atonement and how it is so important to use it and understand it to be able to help our own lives and the lives of others.  He also talked about how every mission is different and the duties of missionaries and way of work is different, and how our job as missionaries in Central America is to help the people realize that they are a part of the house of Israel and that the Book of Mormon is THEIR book.  That the past really calls out to them.  

Other than that the week was kind of normal.  But the work is going great.  Changes are in 1 week.  But oh well, working hard, playing hard.  I love the work.  I love it all.  Enjoy time while we have it.  I love you guys, have a good week!