Mon 6/24/2013 12:53 PM

I'm glad to hear that girls camp went really well and you had a good time there.

 

Sounds like you had a really good time with Grandpa.  I miss them. I got a letter from Grandma about the card I sent her.  She is so loving, I miss her so much!

 

You will need to send me pics of the pics Uncle Paul and Aunt Janice took while on their trip to Italy.  I would love to see them.

 

Yeah, it is so cool about Alma and Milena getting baptised.  Plus, Milena's family is warming up to us which is good and will help open the door to getting their whole family into the church. Hopefully.

So, for as this last week......we were very busy!  A lot of things fell through, but there is always something to do.

 

We started teaching a 9 year old boy who wants to be baptized (we got permission from his mom).  His name is Bebo.  His grandparents are members so he comes to church with them sometimes.

 

We still have a lot of people we need to visit with from the lists we got from the branch, so we went ahead and started contacting them (or trying).  There was an inactive lady who lives right around the corner from us.  There was about 10 people out in front of her house hanging out on the stairs.  They said she lived there and that we had to yell to her to get a hold of her.  So we did, she replied, but didn't come down.  While we were there we started talking to the people outside her house and they were curious about who we were, so we told them.  I started talking to an old man who was in the Vietnam war and who believed in Jesus Christ, but man was his heart hardened, lol.  I thanked him for his service to our country and he started to give me the story of his family.  After talking to him we talked to a single mom with 2 kids and ended up giving her a pamphlet on the Plan of Salvation.  It was a good little discussion we had.

 

On the walk home we ran into two other people.  One guy drove by and pulled over asking us for the cards of Jesus and told us why he stopped us.  He was invited awhile ago to our church, but lost the address and so we gave it to him; got his number and will follow up with him.  It was pretty cool, and it just goes to show you that as long as you are doing your best and planning your days the best you can the Lord will put people in your path because he knows where you are going to be and when you will be there.

 

We then ended up talking to a homeless person who came up to us and started talking about things I wasn't even sure he knew he was talking about.  He didn't like the people who lived in Bridgeport, he made that very clear.

 

After this we ran into a bunch of people drinking and a lady called us over and wanted to get our number, a Book of Mormon and a card because she was curious about our church.  She also loved my name for some reason and the fact that she guessed it was Italian....

 

So, there have been a lot of pretty fun and awesome street contacting moments and even more yesterday of which I wish I had time to write about.  I love the people here so much and they all love us, they call us, "The Jesus People" lol.

On Sat. we had language training by Pres. Packard's cousin who serves as mission Pres. in Chile and it was mostly about how we can work with the culture.  We also learned a lot of really cool things that I am excited to apply when we meet with people.

 

Yesterday the Melendez family came to church and when I saw them there my heart filled with joy!  I love them and was so grateful to finally see them there.  After church there was a broadcast from the Marriot Center in Provo, UT about missionary work and it was awesome!  Oh, also on Sunday Elder Jones and I got to teach primary about baptism and repentance.  Oh how much I love those little kids.  They are so awesome!  There is truly nothing greater than to hear them answer, when asked why they want to be baptized, and hear them say, "because I want to follow Jesus..." oh what precious words. 

My heart is filled with such gratitude at this time for all that the Lord has done for me and is doing for me.  I can feel my heart expanding more and more each day and hopefully one day like Enoch, my heart will have expanded as wide as eternity!

 

To all of you reading this I would like to bear my testimony that I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and our Redeemer and that he loves us and has a plan for each and everyone of us and that He lives.  We can come to see a glimpse of that plan and of our true potential if we but turn to him and do as he would have us do.  I know that as we read the Book of Mormon and ponder the teachings in it and pray and ask God with all sincerity of heart if it is true, we will receive an answer that it is true.

 

I ask, can you receive any greater witness than from God?  When you come to know of the truthfulness of it would you then decide to follow God who is your Father in Heaven who created you and who is perfect, who knows all things, who has all power in both heaven and in earth and who loves us beyond our ability to fully comprehend, or would you decide to turn your back on him?

 

I testify and bare record that there is nothing else in the world or in this life that can even come close to knowing of the love that our Father in Heaven has for each of us.  By deciding to choose him and follow him we can receive everlasting life and spend time and all eternity with our families and those whom we love.  I testify that if we follow him by repenting of our sins, being baptized by someone who holds the Priesthood and has the Authority from God, by receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to then end, we will continually progress and become more and more like him.

 

I plead to all that are not members of the church to put these words to the test.  Come and partake of the joy, happiness, love and knowledge which I have come to know and cherish in my heart and soul.

 

For those of you who are members of the church I encourage you to do all you can to remember the covenants you made when you were baptized to show God you would follow him by joining his church; taking the name of Jesus Christ upon you; to... "bear one another's burdens, that they may be light, mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those in need of comfort," to "Stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things and in all places," and to serve God and to keep his commandments. 

Live worthily to have the Holy Ghost with you at all times and in all places for that is such a great blessing in our lives, for it is through the Holy Ghost we can come to know the things of God, those things he wants us to know, have the ability to help others and truly endure to the end.  Look for ways to have it more abundantly and I promise you by the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood which I hold and as a representative of Jesus Christ that this will be one of the greatest blessings in your life for you will come to know true peace, and joy.

 

"O that thou had'st hearkened to my commandments-then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea."

I leave these things with you in the sacred name, of Jesus Christ, amen.

Fri 6/21/2013 1:25 PM

I don't have too much time this week to write about how everything is going, but it is going really well!

We have two baptismal dates for Alma - 7/713 (the one who was investigating for 9 years!) and for Milena - 6/30/13 (the daughter of Mariah who was baptized 2 months ago.   There have been a lot of awesome experiences this past week, but I want to focus on one for sure and maybe two.

For those of you who do not know, as missionaries we have a day once a week where we plan for the up coming week.  It takes a lot of time and is very tiring, but very worth it!  There is a lot of discussing; praying and a wonderful revelatory process.  After much time we were able to receive guidance on what exactly we needed to share with Alma for our visit.  It was on Moses 7, the part where Enoch asks God why he weeps.  We felt we needed to link it to the love that she has for her family for her to try and comprehend, in the smallest degree, the love God has for her. 

When it came time to go and meet with her we arranged for a sister who will be leaving on her mission soon to meet us there and help us teach.  As we taught through the Spirit, doing the things that Heavenly Father inspired us to share and teach, the Spirit was very present and took over!  It was awesome!  Alma finally opened up to us and expressed her fears and concerns and we were then able to address those concerns and fears.

Next thing I know, the Spirit took over and with the Spirit speaking through me I stated, "Alma, we are representatives of Jesus Christ and holding his Holy Priesthood, the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, we promise you..." and then gave promises which I cannot remember.  Never at any time in a lesson or in my life did the Power of my calling hit home and the Power of the Priesthood hit home more than at this moment and especially after this visit.

After the promises that were stated, we then continued and invited her to pray right then, on her knees, with us to know if Heavenly Father wanted her to get baptized, and then promised her right then and there that if she would do it right then she would receive that answer.  She accepted and we got down on our knees and we explained to her that after the prayer we wanted her to take a few moments to ponder how she felt.  We prayed and remained kneeling waiting for that confirmation.  We then proceeded and asked her how she felt and she replied that she felt a great calm and peace.

The Spirit was so strong right then and my soul was filled with such joy I cannot come close to explain.  I then, with such a great love and eyes starting to tear up said, "Alma, that is the Holy Ghost confirming our words to you and answering your question."  We then extended a date and she accepted joyfully.  I cannot even come close to explain this experience or try to share the love and spirit that was in that room at that time.

I want you all to know that I know that Heavenly Father knows each and everyone of us perfectly and knows exactly what we need.  This experience is a witness of that, and after 9 years Alma finally has a date and an experience that she knows she can never forget.

I would like to bear my testimony that I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father and knows each and every one of us perfectly and knows exactly what we need.

 

I know that we ALL can come to know his great plan for us through striving to have his Holy Spirit with us at all times, in all places and doing our very best to always follow the promptings we receive from it.

 

Oh how great a cause we all have to rejoice, for He who overcame death even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has restored his Church fully on the earth which includes His Holy Priesthood!

 

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and that it is only through his Atonement we can overcome all things and once again return to live with our Heavenly Father.

 

Last of all, I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves each and everyone of us so much more than we can ever come close to comprehending.

 

I leave this testimony with you all in his sacred name, the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Mon 6/10/2013 10:02 AM

Elder Jones mi nuevo companero. El es awesombroso. He is awesome!  It is still weird having a new companion especially since Elder Hawks and I got really close, but I know the Lord put us both together for a reason and that reason, I don't know yet, but I will. He is really cool, but a bit different.

I have been working him to death!  We have so much stuff to do it is crazy.  The other day I listed everything out that we needed to do, it really hit me hard!   So much to get done!  I have been praying hard lately about it and the Lord has been helping me know what to do.  I love that I can always rely on Him for added strength to keep me going when I physically can't.  His grace truly is sufficient.  I am learning more and more what it means to lift with feeble knees.  I am so grateful for that though.  It takes me beyond what I think is physically possible and shows me even more the greatness of God and how we as humans can truly not even come close to comprehend all the things God does no matter how hard we try or how much we think we know.

This last week was pretty dang busy!  We had a lot of visits since Elder Hawks was going home and a lot of food we had to eat back to back.  Boston was amazing as well!  I loved it so much I could honestly see myself living there one day, maybe.  On friday it rained non stop all day and it was really coming down hard!  Luckily it was our planning day, so we got a lot done, but we kept having to take a lot of breaks because water was seeping up through the floor (we live on the bottom floor which is below ground level a little bit).  The carpet is still wet and it smells like wet dog even though we have been doing all we can to dry it up.

We had 102 people at sacrament on Sunday! The English ward only had 3 more members than us - it was cool! 

As for the awesome experiences this last week there are a lot, but really only one I wanna talk about, but I may share a few other encounters.

Sunday we left our branch after sacrament to go to the new English ward for Ana and Tyres confirmation (after a lot of prayer and counseling, it was found to be better for them to go to this ward).  It came time to get up and confirm them members and I found out up there that I was confirming Tyre because he wanted me to....I was like, "What?!"  I wish I had time to prepare before hand because I was so nervous.  Afterward the bishop commented on my facial expression when I found out I was doing it.  Anyway, I did it and it was beautiful and I am so very grateful for that opportunity.  I remember the Spirit that I felt when I said the words, "Tyre Barnette by the authority of the Melchezideck Priesthood which we hold we confirm you a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and say unto receive the Holy Ghost."  The feeling that was there was amazing!  To know that I hold the Holy Priesthood of God which is the authority, ability and power given to man to act in the name of God for the salvation of his children touches my heart in such a way I cannot ever come close to expressing my gratitude to the Lord.  To know that our Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only Church on the whole planet that holds this authority to perform baptisms, confirmations, heal the sick, give a blessing of comfort and peace, bless houses, etc. is just mind blowing and I am so grateful for that and to know how great of a blessing this is for myself, and also for my family now and down the road when I have a family of my own.  After this experience I remember sitting during sacrament and I looked over where Ana and Tyre were sitting and when I saw them partake of the sacrament my heart filled with such a love and joy I cannot express.  To know and see that they chose to follow our Savior Jesus Christ, to see them partake of this sacred ordinance to covenant to always remember him, to keep his commandments so that they can always have His spirit to be with them really hit home to me.  I remembered the first time I was able to partake of the sacrament and how much it means to me.  I love it so much and am so grateful for it in my life.

Another experience with the Priesthood ( I guess today that will be what I am focusing on :-D) - we now have two sisters in our area, the first 2 sisters in this area.  They have a new apartment and so we were asked to go and bless it.  We blessed the house that it would be a place of refuge, peace and a place where the Spirit can reside at all times.  The love, peace that filled that house afterward was so apparent.  To know we can make our homes places like this and a place where all can come in and feel that peace, that joy, is so amazing to me.

There were a lot of great run ins we had this past week, but I don't have time to write about them.  Just know I love all of you and I am aware there are those of you whom I don't even know but I love you anyway more than you can ever imagine.

I would like to bear my testimony.  I know that this Church is true and is the Church Jesus Christ established when he was on the earth.  I know that since it was removed from the earth, after all the 12 disciples were killed due to the wickedness of the world, that it was restored in its fulness in our days by a Prophet called of God who's name is Joseph Smith.  I know that the priesthood of God is once again on the earth today and that it truly is the means men are given to act in the name of God to bless his children.  I know that families can be together for all time and all eternity and through the power of the priesthood and how great a blessing this is.  I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and that he lives and truly how great that sentence is.  I say these things in his sacred name, even the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

For all of you who hold the Priesthood of God I invite you and urge you to strive to come to a new understanding of what exactly it is and how you can use it to bless other people's lives as Christ wants us to.  For the Priesthood is not for us but truly for blessing others and I know that as we use it worthily and with real intent and faithfully, miracles truly do and will happen.  It is my wish that we all will strive to be worthy of the Priesthood and to be able to use it the way God intends us to use it.

I hope that all the women who read this, regardless of age, will strive to have a worthy priesthood holder in their home because of the blessings that come because of it.  There is no greater blessing I know as being a son having a father who holds the priesthood and being able to use it worthily to help give me strength through blessings of comfort and peace, and to be able to do that for the whole family.  Do not settle for anything less!  There truly is much power and great blessings in store for those who have this great blessing.

I am aware that this may not be possible for some of you due to certain circumstances.  I want you to know you can still have this blessing through the members of the Church.  Call them when you need help, ask for blessings for your children and yourself.  I leave these things with all of you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Wed 6/5/2013 9:15 AM

I am glad to hear that Grandma's birthday went well.  Tell her I love her.  I didn't get a chance to send her out a letter though. We have been super busy and sleep deprived, but I will send out one today for sure.

 

Today I don't have much time either because my companion is going home on Friday since his mission is over.  We are going to Boston today since we got permission to before transfers.  My new companion's name is Elder Jones.  He's been out for a year. 

So about this last week......

We have been crazy busy!  We are sleep deprived, a little bit sick, but oh how I love it!

 

We had the most amazing baptisms on Sunday for Ana Acevedo and her grandson Tyre who is 11.  This experience opened my eyes even more on what exactly Zion is.  Since Ana speaks Spanish and Tyre speaks English, and can only understand a very little bit of Spanish, we had both at the same time with both the Spanish branch and English ward there.  It was in Spanish with an English interpreter.  We all sang in our native languages, bore testimonies in our native languages and worshipped and celebrated in our own native languages as one!  There was no better example of what being united in purpose or in other words "Zion" should be like. The love that was in that room was amazing and words cannot even come close to describe this experience.  It was truly remarkable. Everyone who attended was uplifted and edified.  It was truly an experience everyone that was there will never forget.  Afterwards we conversed with bishops about what would be best for this family since there is that language barrier.  After much guidance by the Spirit they both will attend the English ward because it is best for both and especially for Tyre.  Ana will have shadow name Sister Alan who will interpret and help her learn English since she needs to anyway.  This is her calling now in the ward.  The effort all of the members are giving, to help support and do all they can to help, is astonishing.  Because of all this, the Spanish branch and English wards are going to get together more often for picnics and activities!  This is a huge step!  I don't know if everyone sees the big picture, but this right here is building Zion!   Can you imagine if every time someone got baptized if all members of the church got together to support them whether they speak different languages or not.  I am sorry I don't have much time to go into detail today but I hope that what I am trying to portray is getting across.  This is HUGE!

 

Moving on.  For fast and testimony meeting we got a lot of people to attend since it was my companion's last Sunday.  Mariah Lopez (the lady we first baptized when I arrived) her husband and son came who aren't members and were in the beginning very distant. So this was a big deal because we have been trying to get them interested.  Elder Hawks and I bore our testimonies and the whole time before and after I was praying with everything that I had that they would feel the Spirit so strong that perhaps it would awaken a desire in their hearts.  The spirit was very strong in that room and afterwards they stayed for class, had a lot of good questions and then we met with them last night to answer more and taught the restoration.  They have warmed up to us so much they are just like our families now; great friends that respect what we are doing and want to hear more.  So we will see what goes on with that.

 

There is so much going on now and it seems that after all the hard work things are starting to speed up and blow up, which is good, but man oh man there is so much work we need to do!

 

Anyway, I wish I had more time to write about the awesome experiences this last week, but we have to get going. 

 

It is so weird that Elder Hawks is leaving.   I will miss him very much because we have become really close.  I will especially miss his musical fusion on the piano (he is the best pianist ever).

 

I would like to leave you all with my testimony.

Yo se que este Iglesia es la Iglesia de Jesucristo y fue restarado en la tierra hoy. Yo se que puedemos confiar en Jesucristo puedemos hacer todas las cosas por medio de Su Epxiacion y Su gracia. Yo se que este obra es la obra de Dios. Yo se que puedemos saber estas cosas cuando leemos El Libro de Mormon, pensar sobre las cosas y orar and pedir Dios si estas cosas son verdadero. Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador y redentor y El vive. 

For all of you reading this who are members, I beg of you to please look for opportunities to uplift another person.  Strive to strengthen your relationships with those in your ward and with all people.  All of us here on the earth are here for the same purpose and it is our sacred responsibility as members to share the gospel and help others come to know what we have come to know, so we can all  receive the joy, peace and happiness that is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the plan God made for us in order for us to know what we need to do in order to live with him again and become as He is. 

For those of you who are not members yet.  I urge you to put to test my words and the words of Prophets of God. That is simply to put to test the Book of Mormon by reading it, pondering the words in it and then asking God and finding out for yourself.  We can teach and testify all we want, but that doesn't matter because in the end you will only find out it is true after you have put it to the test.

How can you know how delicious something truly is if you never taste it-try it?

I leave these things with you in the sacred name of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ, amen.