Hey Everyone!

 

Well, I only have about 10 minutes to write this blog so I need to work really fast. I hope that you all had a great week and that things are going well for each and every one of you!

 

This week was filled with...well....AWESOME!! As I reported last Monday I am staying in Montana del Sur for another transfer but what I didn't mention was that I was called to TRAIN again! Not only that, I would be keeping Elder Giles as my companion and we would be working in a threesome! Talk about crazy but, man, it has been incredible so far.

 

Wednesday morning we went up to the transfer building for me to attend the New Leader meeting and also to attend the training meeting where I would recieve my new "hijo". Both meetings were incredible and I was super excited to recieve my new hijo. When the time came, I was called to train Elder Joshua Neubert from Raliegh, North Carolina. I need to be 100% honest, I feel as if I am training myself. I LOVE this Elder a ton! He is just full of fire and ready to go at a minutes notice. It's taking him a little bit to get adjusted to riding uphill on bike but, when he gets to be 4.5 months in an area he'll have rock hard legs like his "dad". No but in all seriousness, Heavenly Father blessed me with 2 incredible companions and I feel so grateful and humbled for this opportunity I have to work with both of them. I am excited for what the future will bring!

 

Work wise, we had a FANTASTIC week! It was probably the best one we've had in a while. On top of that, it was a transfer week making the blessings of success even more sweet. I look forward to this coming week and to the things that will be coming to pass in our area and in the zone.

 

On top of my training, President decieded to keep me as district leader down here in South Phoenix. I feel so incredibly blessed for this sacred responsablility and also claim that I have the best missionaries in the whole world! I am soo sad that Elder Parkin and Elder Holden left us this last week for I know that it would only make the work better. But, I KNOW that they are taking excellent experience and great ideas to their new areas and that because of that inovation the mission will gradually (if not rapidly) change to a whole new level of work.

 

Well, I apologize but that is all the time I have for this week. I hope that you all have a great week and I promise pictures next week. I love and miss each and every one of you and I look forward to hearing from each of you soon!!! iQue Dios Les Bendiga!

Well hello again!

Another week come and gone and another week of pretty cool stuff in the ol' APM. I actually didn't have any e-mails to respond to this week so I'm able to write a bit of a longer post (for the first time in a long time :))

This week was a pretty interesting week. I guess to start off with I did another baptismal interview for one of the English companionship's in the district. There were two of them (a father and a son) and both of which were ready for baptism. But, interesting enough, when I was talking the the dad before his interview I told him that I was from Missouri and he simply told me that he had only visited Missouri once in his life and he wasn't quite fond of the place. I simply laughed and asked what part he visited. He responded "Ah, it's not that big of a place, you've probably never heard of it before." (Mind you, I get that question a lot and about 90% of the time I know where they are talking about) so I simply told him "Give me a shot". He responded "Well, the place was called....STEELEVILLE!" I just simply laughed and told him I knew exactly where the place was and that, in fact, I had visited there quite a few times on school competitions and other church things. He. Was. Stunned. Apparently I was the first person ever since his visit that knew where Steeleville was. Simply said, Small World.

Area wise, things are going well. A little slower than we would like but constant. We had some pretty eye opening experiences: Some good and some not so good. On the plus side, we did re-set a baptismal date this week, found 3 new investigators, and had 5 member present lessons. On the not so good side, one of those 3 investigators decided it would be best to learn about the church on the internet and became very, VERY misinformed about the stuff we do. We had our first lesson with him on Thursday night and when we went back over on Saturday (I was doing a split so I wasn't AT the appointment) he kinda went all sorts of nuts and, long story short, would never believe anything that we would say. It was a pretty heart breaking experience for me because just 2 days earlier we had this fantastic lesson and he showed a TON of interest but, in the end, it just didn't turn out good. As a result, he had to drop him and moved his Teaching Record to the "Former Investigators" tab of the Area Book. One day, when he realizes that something is missing and he is humble enough to recognize it, he will accept the missionaries back into his home. Until then, we know that Heavenly Father will continue to prepare him for that day.

This past Thursday we were blessed with the opportunity to attend a Valley Wide Mission Tour with Elder Paul V. Johnson of the 2nd Quorum of the 70. Both President and Sister Beck spoke as did Elder Johnson and his wife. We were also able to do a bit of a Q&A Session. By the end of the conference, I was spiritually full and was ready to hit the streets and start knocking doors. It sure is a blessing to have such inspired leaders to guide us through these troubled times. Life sure would be different and a whole lot more scary with out them.

As for the rest of the week, it went as well as could be expected. The ward is starting to take off with missionary work and between the two companionship's in the ward we have lots of people ready for baptism. On the other side of things, Satan is not very pleased with our work. He is try SOOOO hard to discourage what we are doing. But, as we learn from the scriptures, truth and righteousness will always prevail. All we need to do is keep hope and faith and push forward through the tough times. I feel like things will begin to take off here pretty soon and am excited for the future.

Speaking of the future, we received transfer news last night. I..........................

will be staying in Montana del Sure for my 6th transfer! As well as staying with my comp Elder Giles. We are both pretty excited for the next transfer and are ready to tear it up again in South Phoenix. On a sadder note, two of our awesome missionaries, Elder Parkin and Elder Holden received the call to serve elsewhere in the APM Vineyard. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to work with them for as long as I did and I feel greatly indebted to them for all the things I learned from them. However, I know that President Beck is inspired and truly does place us in the areas Heavenly Father needs us to be. I know that the areas receiving Elders Parkin and Holden will be made stronger.

Well, I believe that is about all for this week. In closing I just want to share a quote I read the other day. I bought this inspirational calendar from the dollar store last P-day and in it are some pretty profound statements. In closing my post for the week I wanted to include a couple of them for you all to ponder this week:

"To be happy you must forget yourself."
                                    --Edward Bulwer-Lytton
"It is not enough to be busy...the question is: What are we busy about?"
                                    --Henry David Thoreau

Okay my friends, know that you all are loved, missed, and are in my prayers. I hope and pray that you all will have a safe week and receive Heavenly Fathers choicest blessings for you. Take care and, until next P-day, iHasta Luego! :D

HEY ALL!!

Well, another week come and gone and man was it BUSY! I don't have a lot of time to write this but I will do my best to write what I can!

So, we were blessed to have another baptism this past Saturday for ANOTHER abuelita named Esperanzy Young. This was an amazing baptism for many reasons. Here's the story:

So we went by on Monday to go teach her about the Plan of Salvation. She wasn't at her house so we called her to see what had happened. She told us that she was still taking care of her sick sister and, not only that, she was making plans to move back down to Mexico this week. She proceeded to tell us thank you for all the things we had done for her and that she will try and contact the church when she got back down. Well, WE proceeded to tell her that she still had a baptismal date for that Saturday (10.Abril.2010) and that we were still willing and would continue to teach her as if she was going to be baptized on that day. We asked if she was willing to go through with her commitment with Heavenly Father and she told us "Yes!" From that point on, things went crazy. The next day (Tuesday) we taught her both Lesson 2 and Lesson 3 in an hour visit (she had already had these lessons in the past so most of it was just a review). Wednesday we taught her ALL of Lesson 4 (The Commandments). Thursday she had her interview and passed. Friday we had our baptismal prep lesson and Saturday at 7:30 PM she entered the waters of baptism. The service was fantastic! We had a lot of support from the ward and we had our recent convert of 3 months, Hno. Carlos Islas (Remember him? :D) perform the ordinance. The spirit was incredibly strong and, between the 4 missionaries in our ward we had 7 Investigators and 4 Recent Converts in attendance. All in all, it was one of the best baptisms I have attended!

The rest of the week went really well. We had great support from the ward members and we were able to find a few more new investigators to teach. I feel like, recently, we have been walking in some pretty slow tar. Now however I feel like we are starting to reach the firmer ground. I am so very grateful for having a loving Heavenly Father that allows us to exercise our patience. Sometimes we aren't very good at it but if we endure our trials well we will always come out better than we went in.

We also had our interviews with President Beck this past Tuesday. The meeting went very well and I left feeling very spiritually fed (the best way to describe it, I felt like I had just come of a Spiritual, "Mexican" style meal).

This week marks the last full week of this transfer! Come next P-day I will be reporting the transfers that will happen come next week! But, before that, we will be having a Valley Wide Zone Conference on Thursday with Elder Paul V. Johnson of the 70. I am really looking forward to this and am excited for the knowledge that we will gain.

Well, like I said, I didn't have a lot of time to write and I need to close. I hope that you all had a great week last week and that the same great things will happen this week as well. Know that you all are in my thoughts and prayers and are loved. Enjoy the pictures and until next week iHasta Luego!

   

"To Fulfill All Righteousness": The baptism of Esperanza Castro Young. We had to fight to get this one to go through but, in the end, it became one of the most spiritual baptisms I have ever attended!

Hey All!

 

Alrighty now, I really don't have a lot of time to write this post so I figured I would do something a little different. In lew of General Conference this past weekend, I just wanted to highlight on a couple of things that really strengthened my testimony.

 

I want you all to know that I wouldn't be anywhere else in the world right now. This opportunity is such a blessing. I cannot describe just how much I appreciate this chance to serve our Heavenly Father. Words cannot express the power and blessings of this calling.

 

General Conference, once again, was amazing to me. This was my second Conference in the mission and I was giddy for the whole week for the opportunity to listen to our beloved prophet again. This Conference was filled with such spiritual power I couldn't absorb it all. I look forward to next month's Ensign so I can re-study the instruction I received.

 

I found it very interesting, but not the least surprising, to see such a huge emphasis on the family. I felt a little out of place, being a missionary, but then began to realize that I am closer to parenthood that I am childhood and the gap keeps getting smaller and smaller with every day. I want to bear witness that the family is ordained of God. It is the fundamental unit in the Plan of Salvation. This vital structure was set apart by our loving Heavenly Father himself for the blessing of all of his spirit children. I am so grateful for loving, sincere, patient, and understanding parents that allowed me the chance to experience pain, sorrow, frustration, sadness, and sometimes feelings of loneliness (I know I was never alone though :)) The lessons and habits they taught me as a child are some of the most treasured things I have in my life. The love of the scriptures, personal sacrifice, hard work, diligent family prayer, etc. All of these things have helped me become the person I am today: An ordained servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Referring back to last conference, I re-read Elder Holland's talk about the Book of Mormon. My dearest brothers and sisters, I know that this sacred book is true. I know that it came about how Joseph Smith said it did, for now man could have translated it unless he was inspired of God. I know that The Book of Mormon teaches true principles. It shows us the road for salvation. With it in hand, we will be able to know the path required for us to return to live in the presence of our loving Heavenly Father and the Savior, Jesus Christ, with our eternal families. I know this book speaks of a fallen people here in the America's. I know that the stories it contains are true. I know...I know the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind came to them after 3 days of darkness, despair, and sadness, as a resurrected being. I know he allowed them to come one by one to touch the nail prints in his hands and in his feet. I often think to myself what that must have been like: to see the Resurrected Savior of the world, look into his eyes and feel the powerful love he has for us, then bathing his feet with my tears of joy. I think of the quote President Uchtdorf gave Sunday morning "You are my hands". My dear friends who are not of my faith, I would encourage you to take a copy of this book into your own hands, study it, and pay attention to the feelings you have. YOU WILL COME TO KNOW that the message contained in this book is of God and that it WILL bless you in your lives.

 

I know we have a prophet on the earth today, Thomas S. Monson. He was been called by God to lead and guide us through this time of trial and uncertainty in the world. I know that if we follow by his precepts we will be able to overcome the temptations of Satan and find the happiness we long for.

 

Lastly, I know that the Savior Jesus Christ lives. I know he is the Son of God chosen before the foundations of this world to come down and atone for the sins of mankind. I know he healed the sick, comforted the weary, caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, and the dead to raise. I know that he made the perfect example for us to follow and that if we do all that we can to emulate his actions and love, we will be worthy of his love and mercy. I know that he suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane where he took upon himself all the sin, sadness, loneliness...to complete the Great and Eternal Plan of God. I know he was crucified on the cross on a hill called Calvary where he completed the Father's will, then rose from that sacred garden tomb on the third day thus overcoming death for all mankind. I know that he lives and loves each and every one of us and that his grace is for all those who will call upon his holy name, follow his example, and enter into the straight and narrow gate of baptism. He lives my friends, he lives.

 

Well, that about caps this small post. I hope that you are able to feel the spirit I felt while writing it. These things are just one of many aspects to my testimony of this great an powerful Gospel. This is the message I have been called to teach, to to live, and to proclaim to the world. How great is my calling!

 

I hope that you all have a fantastic week and that those friends of mine at BYU will have success on their finals coming up! I hope you know that you are in my prayers and are loved and missed. Take care, be safe and until next week iHASTA LUEGO! :D