Mon 3/3/2014 11:20 AM

I cannot believe that it is already March!  Where is all the time going?  It is going way to fast, that is for sure!

This past week has been amazing with a lot of great experiences. On Tuesday we went to meet with la familia Flores.  It is Rosario and her two children, Stephanie who is 12 and John who is 9.  We had our friend Alfredo come with us as well.  It was a bit of an interesting lesson because we ended up actually splitting them for the lesson.  Elder Wennar taught the kids while I taught Rosario. They have had all the lessons and are just an amazing family. She has been struggling with getting an answer whether or not this is what the Lord wants her to do, but she does believe the church is true.   We watched the "Patterns of Light" Mormon messages by David A. Bednar with them and I shared with her the story of Enos and expounded it to help her understand - what we need to do to get an answer, how we need to do it and how we can understand we are receiving the answer.  It was very spiritual and at the end we all knelt down together and we invited her to say a pray asking the Lord and then afterwards we knelt in silence to listen/feel the Spirit and what it was telling us.  Well it worked out a little different than we intended because she and her kids ended up just saying quiet personal prayers :-), but the result was the same.  The Spirit that entered the room during that time was immense.  I remember looking at her as she raised her head and she had tears rolling down here cheeks and to then be able to help her self discover what the Spirit felt like was a remarkable experience.  Elder Wennar and I testified boldy, lovingly and powerfully to them and helped her realize that she had gotten the answer to her prayers.  We then extended a baptismal date to her, but she didn't accept.  She expressed why to us and also that she wanted to pray about it some more.  To be honest, we were a little bit bummed, but they are a terrific family and I feel that everything will work out.  I am so excited for when it does! 

We had our Zone Conference this week as well.  It was pretty dang amazing!  In the beginning, President Packard went in depth about the King Benjamin Speech and how poetic it is.  It was very interesting and it is amazing how educated King Benjamin was, the symbolism in everything he said, how he said it.  I wish I could remember a lot of the words he used and what everything was called, but it was just remarkable to see and learn.  Even if Joseph Smith did make up the Book of Mormon (which he didn't) there is no way a uneducated man like himself could have used the ancient art of poetry that had been lost for so long.  It truly is remarkable! Then to hear President Hait speek at the end was amazing.  I don't even really remember what he said and wasn't able to take notes because I was being his scribe on the white board up front, but I just remember being overwhelmed by the Spirit as he spoke.  He is amazing.

We hung out with Jack this past week as well, gave him some service.  Then he took us out for yogurt and to the Police Station so we could write a letter to a 6 year old kid who has Leukemia right now.  That was a nice little experience, to try and give some comfort to him and his family.

We have also been working with a lot of the youth, trying to help them gain a desire to serve a mission and everything else. This last Fast Sunday one of them got up and bore his testimony how now he wants to go on one and then he pointed us out and thanked us.  It was a bit awkward to be acknowledged, but I am so happy that he wants to go on one now. 

It truly is amazing to see the Lord's hands in this work.  To feel him working through me as His representative.  Words cannot come close to express the joy and love I feel!  As I continue to strive to give the Lord my all, striving to help those around me come to Him, Jesus Christ, miracles happen.  It is amazing to me to see all of the opposition that seems to come, but oh how grateful I am for the grace of Jesus Christ, or in other words, that enabling power to do what I myself alone would not be able to do without Him.  He has been blessing the lives of those around me.

 

People say that the mission is a great opportunity to forget yourself and help those around you.  It seems no matter how much I try to forget myself and help others, it is me that is receiving so many blessings that there is no room to receive them.

 

I encourage all of you who are reading this to forget yourselves and look for someone you can help in whatever way it may be.  Serve them, help them, love them, or even just listen to them.  You will find that all the troubles in life will be calmed by these small and simple things.  When we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in service of our God!  How amazing is that?  It doesn't matter whatever it is that we struggle with.  Whether it be depression, loneliness, sadness, being stressed, overwhelmed, angry or whatever it is.  Service is such a great cure to many of the illnesses and things in the world that are bad.

 

I invite you to look for an opportunity to serve someone this week. Whoever, and whatever it may be that you do for them. I want you yo come to feel and know what I have been experiencing with all my heart. I know that this Church is truly the Church of Jesus Christ, that He loves each and everyone of us and that one of the greatest ways to truly turn a frown upside down is to forget yourself and help someone else who stands in need. I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.