Mon 9/22/2014 9:32 AM

This past week has been a pretty wonderful week filled with a ton of great experiences!  Earlier this week Elder Silva and I headed up to Needham, Massachusetts for his knee surgery which went incredibly well.  We were in and out.... it seemed like.  While he was in surgery, I got to get a little bit of studies in with President Packard in the lobby which was great.  The only bad thing about the surgery was that I wasn't able to video Elder Silva right after he woke up and was a bit out of it, like he wanted me to.  After the surgery we got to spend the night in the mission home and most of the following day as well.  It sure was a different experience, but a great one nevertheless.  We got to see a video of one of the Packard's Family Home Evenings that they had previously when his brother came to visit.  We got to see President Packard rapping with his brother and son Michael.  He told us that back in the day his brother and one of his brother's friends use to rap all the time at school and their rap name was "Bread and Butter"... Haha.  I love that family so much.  It is amazing to see how talented they all are and how they support each other in everything that they do.  We got to witness Michale doing a head slide as well in the middle of the floor.  That was pretty sweet.  Since Elder Silva was walking around pretty good we ended up getting a ride home to our apartment and went to a dinner that night before heading home to take it easy.  The next few days we spent a good amount of time in the apartment until Silva was feeling we could go out again.  I am grateful for that time that we had to do that because I was able to get a lot of studying and pondering done as well as getting caught up in my journal.

 

We had two GREAT lessons with Jose Rosas this week as well as we finished the lessons with him and got the Branch Presidency to come out with us to the lessons!  Because they went so well, we feel that it really helped our leaders feel part of what we were doing.  We went over the Interview questions with him and he is all set other than finishing planning his baptism which we are doing with him this next week.  I am so excited for him. 

 

We picked up 3 people this past week that we're going to be teaching now.  Melvia y Isaac y la familia de ellos y, this lady named Caroline who is Pentecostal who is already going out on the streets sharing what she believes.  I hope everything goes well with her.  She is pretty cool and would be a great member.

 

This past week, Silva and I have been fed like crazy!   We also had a pizza show up at our apartment that his mom ordered over the phone for us.  Along with that, we have been having some pretty  random/funny experiences as well.  Ones that would take me forever to explain because they were just ones that you had to be there for.

 

We have a lot of great things coming up and a lot of Low-Lying Fruit (people who have already had some sort of contact with church before) that we are starting to collect finally and so a lot of potential.  This past week as we were with President Packard I had asked him how he does it.  For those of you who don't know much about him, he is over all the missionaries in the MBM mission, so over 200 missionaries.  He and his wife are pretty much like our parents away from home.  Elder Silva and I had asked him about how many hours of sleep he is able to get every night and he said about 5.  He receives revelation for the mission as a whole, including all the missionaries, and works very closely with ALL the Stake Presidents and leaders in the mission as well.  It really is remarkable when you think about it.  I know how exhausting and yet spiritually invigorating seeking revelation is and as well as giving blessings, but on a very small scale compared to his.  So, back to the question, "How do you do it President?" His answer was short, he said, "Love."  He then quoted Matt 16:25 "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."  As I have pondered this in my own life and the times where I am most happy, guided and seem to be able to accomplish a whole lot, it is because of this simple and yet profound truth.  I think it is interesting that as we look at the Life of our Savior, Jesus Christ, ALL that he did was to please the Father.  I know that as we but strive to do only those things that will please our Savior, Jesus Christ, and our Father in Heaven, we will better be able to come to realize who we truly are as sons and daughters of God.  It is my prayer that we all may look for ways to lose ourselves in the service of our fellow beings and come to realize that when we are in the service of others we are really only in the service of our God (Mosiah 2:17).  I know this will bring us more joy, happiness and blessings that we stand in need of in our life.  I say these things in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Mon 9/15/2014 10:09 AM

This past week has been a bit different but really good, nonetheless. Saturday, Elder Silva had members and non-members from his last area come down for his Birthday. We were taken out to eat lunch at a Colombian  Restaurant and then later that night German and Marisol (2 investigators) took us out to Ruth Chris..... Let's just say the steak and calamari was the best I have ever tasted in my entire life.  I love those two people so much.  They are a blast and some of the most giving, and loving people ever.  German has had a very interesting life and is one of the most knowledgeable person I have met, as well as one of the most loving.  Words cannot come close to describe them.  It was a blast!  

 

This last week we picked up 2 new investigators.  One of them was a really weird first visit though.  We had an appointment with Josseline who is an inactive member whose information we got from her brother who is also inactive.  We called her and set up an appointment.  We went to what we "thought" was her house, afterwards realizing we put in the address to a referral we got for a potential investigator.  We knocked the door and this lady yelled out from the 4th floor, "Who dare?!" we answered and she yelled back asking who we were looking for and so we said Josseline and she replied saying, " Oh, she be in da back of da house, fourf flah," so we went around and started walking up which seemed to be an endless flight of stairs.  It was really weird and I have never seen so many doors in a house in my entire life.  Anyway, we get to the door and knock; she opens it and told us to come in and how she has been waiting for us to come.  The part that threw Elder Silva and I off was that she was Dominican and looked nothing like her brother, so we sat inside and got to know her.  She had a Gospel Principles book she had marked like crazy and loved reading.  In the mean time, Silva and I are just stumped trying to put everything together not really sure who on earth this lady was.  It was one of the most awkward and hilarious times on my mission.  I was so confused.  Despite all this confusion it was still a great visit and now we have a return appointment with her this Thursday which should be fun.  She loves learning and seems to have been prepared to hear the gospel, so it will be fun working with her.

 

One of the other great experiences this last week was with Neftali who we haven't been able to meet with for a few weeks.  We went in thinking we were going to be teaching him the Restoration, but the Lord had something different in store for him.  The Spirit was so strong and what happened that night Elder Silva nor I cannot take credit for.  As we listened to the Spirit we stayed on the point of Gods love, asked him if he's ever felt it before.  He said yes, but it has been a long time.  The question then came, do you want to feel it again?  He said yes.  I dont know how to really explain everything that happened, but there was a lot of opposition.  It was all guided carefully by the Spirit.  We go to the point where we asked him to pray, so he can feel that love.  He said he didn't feel ready for it.  Then as we asked more questions (I have no clue what they were) the next thing I know we are just promising him so many things and testifying to him about his potential as a Son of God and many other things.  He said for some reason he felt angry, and all these other things, that night; not toward us, but just felt angry inside.  It was at this point he asked if we could just come back because of how bad he was feeling inside.  I wasn't going to give up on him and especially let him feel worse after meeting with us.  It was very clear that night that Satan and others where there bringing that opposition.  Through persistence, and being guiding by the Spirit, we were able to eventually give him a blessing.  I was able to be the one to be the instrument in the Lords hands and be the mouthpiece for the blessing.  The whole experience was one that I will not forget and one that I am grateful that I was able to experience.  Through persistence, love and the Spirit we were able to help him to feel peace and the Love that God has for him.  It was a remarkable experience and one I am not too sure I should explain more about.  I am so grateful for the Priesthood and that it has been restored on the earth for our use in blessing the lives of others. 

 

Our Gospel Principles class was jam packed yesterday!  We had 10 or 11 people in it!  Six of them were non-members!

 

On friday we had a wedding for Hna Estrada who is one of the most amazing members ever.  It was at the branch building and she made it a  missionary focused wedding which was pretty cool. There were about 26 or 27 non-members there.

 

This week has gone by so quick and was jammed with so many different things it is hard to express everything, so sorry if it is all over the place.  I am stoked because tomorrow I get to study with President Packard and sleep over at the Mission Home because my companion is having knee surgery.  It will be a cool experience.

 

This last week I finally feel that all that the Lord has been teaching me over the years is starting to sink in and make sense. It is interesting how it seems like it is at the end of the mission that EVERYTHING starts to make sense about how to do things.

 

I am so grateful for our loving Father in Heaven and his Son Jesus Christ.  I know that they are all merciful, loving and have special plans for each of us to accomplish in our lives. I know that through them ALL things are possible.  I am so grateful for what they have allowed me to learn and come to know.  I leave these things with you all in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Mon 9/8/2014 9:53 AM

This last week has been a pretty great week.  It has had its trials, but a week I am very grateful for nonetheless.  We unfortunately were not able to get a lot of work done in our area due to interviews, going to the Temple for an endowments session for a kid we worked with who is about ready to go on his mission, and then attending a baptism for somebody that Elder Silva worked with.  It has been a blast.  I was not able to have my interview with President Packard last Tuesday after emailing because he was running behind and had a HUGE meeting he needed to get to that night.  I will be going to the mission home in a week or two any way because Elder Silva will be getting a minor surgery on his knee and so Sister Packard wants us to stay the night up there afterwards since it will be in MA. I will get to have my interview then and pick our Mission President's brain a little bit ;).  I am looking forward to it.

This past week I have been overwhelmed with a sense of great gratitude for the greatness, love, mercy and wisdom of our Loving Father in Heaven, in His Son Jesus Christ and as well as the Holy Ghost.  I have found that I am starting to recognize things I had never before really taken notice of in my life.  Those small and simple things.  For example, on Sunday I was overwhelmed as the opening prayer was offered in Sacrament Meeting as I opened my eyes and looked out at all of the faithful Saints who were in attendance, all with their heads bowed down coming together to worship their Savior and learn more of him, united in their faith.  I have felt an overwhelming appreciation for trials that come into our lives, no matter what they may be, where our faith is tried.  I have been learning more and more of the importance of continued faithfulness to things the Lord has previously told us and as we do so the great peace that comes into our hearts as a result.

As time goes by on my mission I seem to be learning more and more of two things each and every day.  That is, the truth that Satan is real and that Jesus Christ is indeed the Savior and Redeemer of the World, who came to deliver us from bondage, whatever that bondage may be.  I am so very eternally grateful that amidst all of the trials that go on in our lives, we have a Comforter and Guide in all things.  I am so grateful for the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  That wonderful member of the Godhead to teach us and guide us in this life as we but rely on him.

The other day Elder Silva and I were talking to this girl Josselyn, who will be leaving on her mission this Tuesday for Salt Lake City.  As we were talking, this member from the English Ward came and started talking to her, giving her some tips and pointing some things out to her.  One of the things he said really stuck out to me and is VERY true and something that I think and feel I should bring up to all reading this.  He said the reason why new missionaries in the field are some of the most powerful in teaching, and just awesome missionaries, is because they really don't know anything and so need to RELY on the SPIRIT (Holy Ghost) more to help them.  Now this isn't just applicable to missionaries, but every single one of us.  I feel that if we all took time to slow down a little bit and really think about the things we have learned, the experiences we have had, and humbled ourselves in the depths of humility, acknowledging our nothingness before God and our great need for him (Mosiah 4:11), we would start to feel this sweet, guiding influence of the Spirit even more in our lives.  This wonderful companionship will be with us in ALL that we do as long as we live worthy of it.  If we truly want the best in our lives, for us and our families, we would be wise to live our lives in a way that we are ALWAYS susceptible to the divine guidance and heavenly influence of this member of the Godhead.  Can you imagine how much better our lives would be if we TRULY counseled with the Lord in all our doings?- Alma 37:37.  No matter what decision we are making in life, no matter what we want to learn, to do or become, we have a wonderful, loving, perfectly wise and all knowing Father in Heaven who is so EAGER to help us!

I love my mission so much and for the many things I have been blessed to learn from others here and that the Lord has taught me through the Power of the Holy Ghost.  I am not perfect and have a long way to go in order to keep progressing and becoming who the Lord would have me be, but I am so grateful that the Lord loves us enough to give us the Gift of the Holy Ghost, even that Member of the Godhead to lead us to ALL TRUTH.

It is my prayer that we all may seek to find ways to court the Spirit, to be humble enough and more receptive to its influence and make the necessary adjustments to do so.  I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's church restored on the earth once again.  That miracles have not cease.  That God still talks to his children in this day and age and that ALL can come to know all things through the Power of the Holy Ghost.  I am so grateful for the process the Lord allows us to go through in order to keep learning and progressing.  I leave these things with you and pray that you may be blessed with whatever guidance and things that you stand in need of in your lives, and do so in the sacred name, of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Tue 9/2/2014 9:49 AM

This past week has been amazing and filled with miracles left and right.  I am going to be short today because there are a lot of things going through my mind right now and a lot of feelings.  Plus we have interviews with our Mission President today.

 

This past week we have worked a lot with our members and finally were able to get one of them to set up an appointment with their friend who has come to church for 5 or 6 weeks straight now.  We had 2 lessons with him this past week.  We felt we needed to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to him as the first lesson and extend a baptismal date.  It was amazing!  As we started by helping him to know how he can recognize the Spirit; to know of the things we were saying are true, he asked us "what's next!"  He had already been feeling all these things and that was why he kept coming back to church!  We had to take a deep breath and tell him that we will address the "what next" later in the lesson.  In short, we got to baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost and after we helped him see the difference between the Power of the Holy Ghost and the Gift of the Holy Ghost it helped answer his question.  At the end we invited him to be baptized and he said YES!  So, as of now, he has a date for Sept. 28th.  We have a lot to teach him and it will be hard because it is very hard to meet with him with his work schedule and because he goes to meetings every other day with a support group he has been with for almost 20 years, but we feel that he can be ready by then, so please pray for him.

On Friday night we had exchanges with our Zone Leaders again (because we are troubled missionaries lol... jk) and I stayed in our area with Elder Perkins while Elder Silva went to situate with Elder Lefthand.  It was a blast!  In the morning we met with Ivan, who was a referral and taught him the Restoration and extended a date to him for October 12th and he accepted as well.  Then we took Chris out with us the rest of the day who is a less active kid we have been working with.  A great kid, but a little rough around the edges.  We had some great little moments with him.  One moment was after he helped teach English Class with us we were in the car and apparently one of the games missionaries play sometimes now is where they roll up all the windows and crank the heat full blast.... Well, I don't see what is too fun about it.  Anyway, we had a good little moment where we were able to talk for a little bit.  I am worried about him though because he moved yesterday to Hartford, CT.  It can be either a really good thing for him or a bad one depending on what he makes of it.

One of our most awesome members got her divorce papers in the mail that she has been waiting over a year for and so she can finally get married which will be this month on the 13th!  We are all stoked for that.

This last P-day we went to the church building in Situate for zone O-day.  It was a blast!  They had a fire pit and everything you could want.  We got permission to have a fire, smores, hot dogs and Elder Lefthand took his guitar, so we all had a good time singing along. We played ultimate Frisbee at the end and man it was a blast.

Yesterday we went up to the Temple in the morning because Elder Silva had someone he had taught that was doing baptisms for the dead for the first time.  It was also the mission Temple day and Recent Convert Baptism day where our mission presidency goes and give a little talk before the new converts go and do their baptisms.  It is suppose to be a very spiritual and uplifting experience for them.  I and a few others had the opportunity to give service in the Temple while that was going on, so we did laundry, which was a blast!  I love the Temple and the great peace that is there.  After that we went into Chelsea to pick up some things I had left and borrowed some street clothes since we forgot ours and were going to be with a big group of missionaries.  I was rocking in gym shorts, a short sleeve shirt, tall black socks and my church shoes all day, lol!  We went into Boston and met up with Jack for a little bit.  He got us food; we got to ride in the police car and just had a blast.  We walked over to Mike's Pastry's and ran into Sister Romans, her new companion, Elder Cathcart and Treseder.  We just roamed the streets of Boston with good friends and it was a good time.  We got lost for a little bit and had a guy yell at us that we needed to repent once he found out we were Mormon missionaries and told us we were a cult and everything.  It was a great P-Day.

As for me, I am doing great.  I couldn't ask for a better place to be than right here in Central Falls.  I love the people, the area and there is so much work to do.  I had a dream last night about going back to Bridgeport to die, who knows what will happen lol.

The other day, once again, here I was telling people I had 5 months left and then I was corrected that it is actually 4 1/2 months!  Time flies by way too fast!  Even though the Lord doesn't work by time, necessarily, I am very grateful that He, in our very inadequate way of thinking and trying to plan everything out in our lives, has granted us the great blessing of time in days, weeks, months and years; something this last week I grew to appreciate as I contemplated it all.  Interesting huh?

It seems to me as we look more and more into our daily lives for what we are grateful for and what He has done for us, we realize more and more that EVERYTHING is a gift from Him.  I am very grateful that we have a loving Father in Heaven who knows each and every one of us perfectly.  As time goes by, I realize more and more how, "nothing I am," or in other words, powerless without Him.  He gives me my very breath each and every day.  This morning as I contemplated and pled for His help to forget about my own feelings and thoughts, I came to realize even more about His grace, love and that, He works in ways that truly are higher than ours.  As I wrote a dear friend, a Mormon message came to mind titled Wrong Roads by Jeffery R. Holland.  Here is the link to that video
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2714780496001

As I thought of this video and everything that has transpired in my life, I am so grateful that the Lord is there guiding us.  Sometimes allowing us to go down a road that we feel he has told us to go down, only to find out that it is a dead end.  I love the example of His love behind the reason why he allows this to happen.  It is so that we can have an increased peace of mind and heart, experiencing a fullness of joy, because we then KNOW that our correction puts us on the right road leading us to where we want to go and where HE wants us to go.

There have been so many things that I have been learning lately, as I have been applying what I am learning, that I wish I had more time to share with all of you.  One of those things is about prayer. Maybe next week I will be able to write about it if I feel inspired that I should.

I want all of you to know, that are reading this, that I love you, and that I know that our Father in Heaven and his Son, Jesus Christ love you.  That as we start to put our faith in Him and remember the things that He has previously told and promised us, that ALL will be well, no matter the end result.

I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes people, for it has been changing me and I am so very grateful for that.  It has changed my very nature and hope that I continue allowing my Savior to do that.  I leave these things with you all in the blessed name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

P.S.   Smile!  Go out and find a way to help someone this week ;)

Mon 8/25/2014 9:00 AM

This past week my eyes were opened yet again to how fast time flies on by!  After telling various people I had 17 months in my mission after they asked the other day, I realized I have been out for 19 months!  It is so weird to think about.  It seems like all of my good friends in the mission are dying off now and so the last stretch might be a lonely one.... lol.

This past week has gone by incredibly fast and I forgot to bring my planner so I will do my best to recap some of the things that happened.

Yesterday we stopped by our investigator Walnels house because ever since he got his new job we haven't been able to meet with him.  It was nice to finally see him but he was going into work at 1:00, so couldn't come to church at 2:00.  We tried to get a hold of Marta and her family as well, but haven't had any luck. ,She didn't come to any of the English classes this last week, so we are a little bit worried about them.  We will continue to try our best to get in contact with them again. 

We had a member from Worcester come down and visit Elder Silva, so we ate dinner after church and then went out and met with some members.  One of them is struggling right now and is turning away from the church.  We have tried to meet with him alone before, but his wife is always there and since they always fight with each other we haven't had too much success until last night.  We were able to steal him away for a little bit in his garage to play some pool and get to know him which turned out to be great because we were able to share a message about prayer with him, which is something he really needed to hear.  The Spirit was there and now we are going to go back tonight to play a little more pool with him and share a message.  He is a great guy, but with everything going on in his life, he has been turning away from everything he knew before. 

On Saturday we were able to go to the Temple with our branch because three of our members were taking out their endowments, so it was a great blessing to go there and do a session with them.  I CANNOT wait till after the mission to be able to just sit in the Temple all day.  That is one of the biggest desires I have had since I first started.  It truly is the House of The Lord.

One of our members finally got her divorce papers from her husband in Guatemala, so that means she can finally get married to a recent convert and they can get sealed and everything!

There has been a lot of things that have happened giving us great cause to celebrate.  We are still in the process of finding new people to teach, and have been trying to follow up with some of the ones we have already contacted.

As for me, I have been doing pretty well.  I love this area and the people here and the fact that there is so much to do.

As time goes by and as I have more and more experiences I learn more about our Savior and his great and abundant love for us and come to the conclusion that I really do not know him as well as I would like.  I am so grateful for his perfect love, and overwhelming desire to shower us with the blessings from heaven, as we but ask him in faith, believing that we will receive them.  I think at times in life we become so complacent with everything that we forget exactly who it is that allows us to have EVERYTHING that we do have as blessings from them.  The Lord truly is the one that gives and takes away, all for a wise purpose in him for our benefit.

In "True to the Faith," under Gratitude, towards the end it says "Work at being grateful.  You will find that it yields wonderful results."  I can testify of that.  To me gratitude is one of the simplistic things and yet one of the most powerful things we can learn in this life, especially when we express our true gratitude to the Lord for all he has done for us.  It is what allows us to be filled with happiness and joy even when everything around us seems to be falling apart. 

This past week I have been striving to apply a principle from a book titled "Putting on the Armor of God"  (Yes, I have been given permission to read :-).  The principle I have been applying is "WHAT HOLDS MY ATTENTION HOLDS ME."  I wrote  it on a sticky note and have it in my planner so that when I open my planner throughout the day I take a little inventory of what I am thinking about during the day.  As I do so it helps me to focus on the things that really matter most like our Savior, what he did for us and the many blessings he has blessed me with and what he has in store for me.  As a result of this I have been re-awakened many times this past week of REMEMBERING the reason why I am here, who it is I am serving and the power behind the calling that I have been given to represent the Savior of, and Redeemer of the World, Even Jesus Christ.  As I remember that, I remember that not only as a missionary, but as a member of the church, I am to say, do, think, act and love as Christ himself would.  That is a huge task to try and accomplish, but I am so grateful for the great blessing of our Savior's grace, or in other words, enabling power to carry that out and do the best that we (he and I) can do together. 

For all of those reading this, who are members, I would ask you the same soul searching and thought provoking question that Alma asks in Alma 5:26, "And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?"  I feel that if we truly want to show our Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ that we love them, and that we are grateful for all that they have done for us and to continue to feel this song of redeeming love forever, that alma speaks of, we should strive to remember each and everyday who it is that gives us our daily breath and strive to live our lives in a way to keep our baptismal covenant to ALWAYS remember him.  I promise that as we do so we will find a greater peace come into our lives, a peace that can only come from the Prince of Peace.

I love my Savior, and all that he has done for me.  I am so grateful for Him bringing me to this knowledge time and time again that those drops of precious blood he spilt were for me and for all of you.  It is my prayer that we will strive to remember Him always and as we do so, be filled with his perfect love and share this wonderful message of love, hope and miracles with all those around us.  I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.