Dear Family and Friends,
Holy cow it was such a fast week and it was just so much fun! I
really believe it was fun, because I had the opportunity to be super
busy with my companion all week and I truly am going to miss him,
because I am heading of to Denton this Wednesday!! I don't know what
the address of the apartment will be, but I will email that a little
later!
I really hope that the email I send you will read! Yes it is long, but
a lot of e things in it this week are things I learned from a member
of the quorum of the 70 named Elder Falabella. I know you will find
hints to help your life for the best!
Week November 16-22 2015
Monday:
Wow today was probably another one of my favorite Pdays that I have
had in Texas! We had the opportunity to email our families for quite
some time and then we went shopping with the English elders to a store
called Aldis! It was super cheap and nice to just get things out of
the road really fast so we could enjoy our day! So the English elders
surprised us and told us we were going to a recent converts house to
spend pday and we were not to excited. However it was so much fun! We
played games and just had a blast with this convert who loves his
missionaries to death!! His name is Steven and me and him got along
really well! He knows I will most likely be leaving and he wants me to
keep in touch so we exchanged emails and information!!
So also today we went to an appointment and taught the Family Favela!
I have never seen such curiosity in any investigators I have ever had.
They really want to know which church is true and are willing to read
and pray to know! I have no doubt if they really do what we invite
the, to do that the lord will give them their answer! After that we
had a surprise from a member from Dallas! He called us and asked if we
could go with him to the hospital to give a blessing! We of course
said yes and he drove all the way from Dallas to take us. He pulled up
in a fancy car and was dressed in a really fancy suit, and then there
is us who just got off our bikes half sweating and the other half
muddy rain water from the rain we are receiving! However, this guy was
amazing and spoke Spanish fluent even tho we gave the blessing in
English and everything! I was blessed to give the blessing to this
sister who is not a member named sister Castro. She is going in
tomorrow morning for brain surgery, because they found brain
hemorrhaging and it is getting worse. I could feel the spirit very
strong and glad i had the opportunity to give it! Then this man took
us out to dinner and we just visited and went home! It really was an
amazing day! And to end it all we just got a call from the English
elders and they thought they called one of their investigators, so we
played along and told them the only time we had fee was at 3 every
Monday. They didn't quite know what to say, and then realized they
called us and they were so upset and embarrassed! It really is a fun
time being a missionary. It is amazing how as you are seriously in the
work you can always have good clean fun!! It was an amazing day!
Tuesday:
Today was a very different but rewarding day!! I almost felt like we
lost a lot of time because we have to take buses and they always seem
to be off schedule. However, we were able to effect a lot of people's
lives through smile things today, and that is what I love about this
gospel, it is simple. So today we did our studies and then biked to
the hospital to check on Hno. Ashton. He seemed to be doing pretty
good, but he can't remember how he got hurt and his mind is slowing
down quite a bit. So we were in the room when a nurse came in and gave
him a speech and mind test, and I feel I did worse than he did and he
is the one who has the problems. I could not remember anything she
asked him to do. So his story is that he felt dizzy on Saturday
evening so he went in the kitchen to make food and he passed out and
hit his head on something! And apparently he woke up a few minutes
later covered in blood, but only enough to get up and get in his bed.
His wife came home and found the blood with bloody handprints
everywhere and her husband in the bed with a blood pool about him. She
called 911 and they took him to the hospital. It is quite the crazy
story and they think he might of had a seizure because of a blood clot
in his brain. So after we met with him we went to give service at the
food bank! Usually we go as a district, but everyone busy, other than
us, so we were able to make new friends! We met a lady who works for
her dad as a veteran rice and she was so sweet, and we also met this
guy named Danny Macnho who was a K9 Cop for 12 years and made some
mistakes and so he is giving service and lost his job, but he gave us
really good advice and he just fell really well with me! I hope I will
be able to visit with him again, he was really funny! So after service
we waited for 45 minutes for a bus to get us and then it took for
ever, because of traffic to get home! So we had time to go to one
lesson with Guadalupe and Juan! We ate dinner with them, and then had
a lesson planned, but Juan and Guadalupe just started to talk about
life and then they began to ask questions and tell about their
problems, so we taught accordingly! We had a great lesson on Faith,
Prayer, Reading and how that can help you deal with Stress! It was an
amazing lesson and I would say I have never felt closer to them until
now! It was an amazing day, and from my day I learned that sometimes
you have to let others talk and as they do you will know how you can
truly help them!
Also today the sisters came by to visit the Peñas, because their first
time in Fort Worth they lived in the house we live in now and we
always mess around back and forth telling them we are the Peñas
favorite and that we are better, but they got us back and left a
letter in our mailbox that says, "Sorry Elders, another day with no
mail, love the Hnas." It was really funny!
Wednesday:
It is crazy how even when you look at your schedule in the morning and
think it will take forever to get over it just rushes by. But today I
learned some crazy and amazing lessons I am glad I was able to learn!
So we started off the day and went to the church to practice the piano
for possibly my last week in the area. And I finally started to play
some Christmas songs and it made me get teary eyed thinking of my
childhood and how I am done with that. But it made me excited for
something knew! So today we went by the house of a recent contact
named Riquel and she was gone, but her husband was outside fixing his
porch and his little granddaughter was sitting on the porch with some
baby puppies, so while elder Lickiss tried to talk to an unwilling man
I sat and talked to this little girls who can't speak any English. We
talked about what she liked to do and everything, and it just made me
think of Liam!! She was really goofy! As she left she was waving shyly
and saying in Spanish to have a good day! We then went across town to
the house of Hna. Bayona to teach her. On our way across town we
missed our bus so we began biking and as I got onto one of the
overpasses I saw an amazing mural on the side of a building, so we
went and took some pictures! We finally got a bus and as we got on and
sat down a lady just started talking to us in Spanish asking us for
our number. Come to find out she went to our church in Mexico a lot
and when she moved she lost connection and wanted to come back! As we
got talking we told her we missed the bus before, and she said the
same thing happened to her. I know that God put her in our path today
for that reason. Best of all is she lives only 5 minutes from our
house! As we got to the house of Hna. Bayona we found out she wasn't
there and she forgot about our lesson and so she was gone. So we
decided we weren't just going to leave because she had a lot of Leaves
we could clean. Sadly, there was only a small broom and dustpan, but
that didn't stop us from cleaning her whole porch and then she pulled
up just so excited we were there and serving her! She helped us clean
for awhile and we had a great conversation until she had to go and get
ready for work. So we decided to go visit with the member who owns the
restaurant, that we at ever Saturday, in her house to see how she was
doing. Come to find out she is doing amazing as of reading and
praying, but her son, who is 14, really is struggling. He doesn't
believe in God and really had no desire to live. We talked with him
for quite a while, and it was just sad to see that he really didn't
feel like life was important. After our lesson with him we went to the
Family of Erica Leyva. We had an amazing lesson with her and her two
daughters about studying and she finally is starting to ask some
really good questions! One she asked was, why do we believe that the
fall of Adam and Eve was a good thing? I answered by saying, "As a
mother you always tell your kids when they are young to not touch the
stove right!? And what do they do? They touch it and ye get burned and
hurt, but as they grown and learn they learn how it can help them. I
would say that Heavenly Father knew that Adam and Eve were going to
partake of the fruit and he was just telling me to not touch the tree
like a parent does to protect his children from something that in a
way will harm them." She got all excited and she said, " and satan
this whole time thought he was so clever deceiving God and them, but
really God had it all planned out." It really made me see that she was
learning something new, and it wasn't the doctrine, but e way to study
things out in your mind! We had an amazing time with them and and hope
that they will read and understand more! For me I learned myself how
to study stuff out more and I learned that God will do things for a
reason, we just have to be willing to follow what he puts us through!
Thursday:
Today was a really good day! We had some really good things happen
today!! We were able to do some amazing planning today and I just have
come to love planning. I try to think about how I made it through life
before my mission, and then I realize that I used to plan a lot before
my mission as well! I don't know how I will live after my mission if I
don't plan weekly! So to end our planning today we had a really
amazing companionship inventory. I feel that this was my first real
companionship inventory today and it was really amazing. I finally was
able to see how important a good companionship inventory is and I
loved it! I want to keep it going for every companionship I get into!
We also had the opportunity to go and check on Hna. Fuentes who had
stomach surgery today and we showed up to check up on her in the
recovery room. She was doing pretty good, but was in a lot of pain. As
we were there I was talking to Erica Leyva and she thanked me for the
book I gave her to study her scriptures and she told me she has never
studied the scriptures like that before! She seemed very happy and was
so ready to study even more! So after our visit with sister Fuentes we
headed to the church and got picked up by Hno. Beltran who took us to
the house of Hna. Aviña. We had really good home made Casserole with
home made Pumpkin pie and it was so amazing! We had a beautiful lesson
with Hna. Aviña and I was even able to serve her by doing her dishes
for her! We really talked a lot about how hard it would have been for
God to let Jesus Christ come to the earth to suffer and die. And I
just kept thinking about my mom and dad letting me come on my mission,
never knowing what could happen to me and they can only talk to me
through email! It really helped me see how important I am to my
parents, but really the more important thing, how much they mean to
me! My parents will never know how much they mean to me in this life,
because there will never be enough time. I would do anything for them!
After our dinner we were headed to an appointment and they canceled on
us, so we went to the church and had a great opportunity to serve
again by putting up tables for our big dinner we will have tomorrow.
We had a quick visit with some members because we needed to tell a
member some news that we found out, but he never showed up, so we
headed home to plan instead. Really it was a fast day, but I learned
that in the slow times we can never give up. When you feel there is
now way out of situations you are in, always remember that Jesus
Christ understands you perfectly and will always be there for you!
Friday:
Holly Cow what a day! It was such an amazing day to be in the mission!
We had the amazing opportunity to learn at the feet of Elder
Falabella, who is in the first quorum of the 70's. He actually spoke
in the passed general conference! He taught us so much that I am
afraid if I put it on you will all be tired of reading, and just be
bored, because it really is things he said and revelation I received
to help me in my area, and to become a better missionary in every
aspect of the work! We had to leave at
7:30 to get to the stake center
on time and the meeting started at 9! It was one of the most amazing
meetings I have had to receive revelation to help me in my work!
November 20th 2015
Elder Falabella First Quorum of the Seventies
Personal Questions:
- How can I find ways to make the mission more enjoyable?
- How can I become a better missionary now so that I can be a better
brother, husband and father in the future?
- What ways does service change people?
To start off our meeting Elder Falabella wanted to shake all of our
hands and so we all got to go and visit with him and I got to talk
with him in Spanish.
Sister Ames:
Charity
- Let the Spirit Guide. And write your conversion story.
Love casteth out all fear. If men do not have charity they are nothing.
The Love that the Lord has for men and women is charity. How can
charity improve my mission?
- Charity is the greatest gift of all! And I feel as I have more
charity I will never fearful in the mission, I will not worry about
home, but I will focus on those here that need this gospel.
What do you think of when you hear love?
- Moroni 7: if you will pray with all the energy of your hearts, you
will receive this charity.
I need to pray more with the energy of my heart!
- Write a list of the qualities I want to have at the end of my
mission and what do I look for in my spouse. If you do not accomplish
them in this life you will together in the next life!
- Always remember your eternal perspective.
- Always keep my focus on the members and the investigators. Never
forget how a member can be changed.
- Don't be afraid to abort your lesson. Use the spirit before you use
your lesson plan.
- Always record the miracles you will have everyday! That is a true journal.
President Ames:
Why do we prepare to go to these meetings? Such as get haircuts.....
To show God a sign.
3 Nephi 20 keep an open heart and keep praying. Do not stop. Take a
few times pray for those around you specifically.
- never only stick with the scriptures you know. Go on and learn more!
2 Nephi 32 What do we have to do to be a true follower of Christ?
Think of two times in your life, one where you were happy and one
where you were upset and lost.
- When you were happy we know you were closer God, and when you were
upset and lost you were lost without Christ.
How can you always be happy even in trials?
Ether
12:27
- If men come into me then their weaknesses will become their strengths.
- But first we have to see our weaknesses so we can have faith in him.
- Sometimes we see goals and they are easier to focus on.
In the garden Adam and Eve were commanded to have Joy. And after they
partook of he fruit they were commanded the same thing.
- As a missionary if we don't do bad, what are we doing? We are not doing good.
As I am with people I can show them that I am there as I show love and testify.
Moroni 10:32-33 This is how missionaries can become better!
- There is always time to come unto Christ, and as we do it we invite others.
How can we invite others to come unto Christ if we haven't come unto
Christ ourselves.
- As you love God, you give your heart to him!
"I stand with Joseph Smith and all the prophets!"
Elder Falabella:
He joked with us for fasting today and then took out a cookie to eat
it! He is really funny with a Spanish accent!!
- "Satan is the master of complexity and the savior is the master of Simplicity"
-Elder Ballard-
Missionary Work is don't best with Simple things:
- Mark 16:15-16 The Great commission : the last words said by Jesus
Christ in this life.
- Without baptism we can not reach the full power of the Atonement.
- What we do is very crucial for all eternity. We are talking about
the welfare of others souls.
Can you explain the plan of Salvation in 40 seconds, because the
gospel is simple?
- We on in he worlds to be imperfect. Not to do wrong, but to try to do right.
Everything Started with Heavenly Father:
- Everything God does is because he truly loves us.
- As we talk about goals we know God has goals as well.
We have a gps in this mission!
G:oal: To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of all men.
Moses
1:39 (only 20 words) have simple goals that are powerful!
P:lan: Plan of Happiness.
S:elf commitment. Heavenly Father had Jesus Christ as a son and gave
him up for us, because he was committed to reach his goal! As we set
goals let us be committed to reach them!
With the Gps you can not get lost.
Planning: pay attention to the goals we give. How much sacrifice am I
willing to give to reach these goals? Am I committed to reach those
goals?
- The goals that we set are also of God.
- Goals help us overcome temptation.
- Every time you set a goal remember the people behind the numbers.
- Goals help us keep a check an balance in our will of the Lord.
- Goals help us complete our purpose as missionaries.
- Goals as vision are not two separate things, they are tied together.
- We should never stop setting goals in our life. Believe you can achieve goals.
- Heavenly Father is still working on his goals. He always is working on it!
Pre mortal life:
- Hebrew 12:9
- Abraham
3:22
- Jeremiah 1:5
- Job 38:4-7
Life on Earth:
- 2 Nephi
2:25
- Abraham 3:24-25
Spirit World:
- Alma 40:11
Degrees of Glory:
Celestial: D&C 76:51, 52, 70
Terrestrial: D&C 76:71, 77, 79
Telestial: D&C 76:81, 82
Salvation and Exaltation are not the same!
Never miss the sacrament in your life! Make the commitment now and it
will save your life forever.
Alma 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27.
- Mosiah 28:3 have true desire to do the work.
- Be the light and be positive in what we do.
- Fast and pray much and you will have knowledge.
- Ammon was willing to give his life to protect someone he loves.
- Always listen and you will know what needs to be said.
- Really love the people.
- Thousands were baptized and retained the same.
Advice:
Study the scriptures with 5 questions in hand.
How to be a better missionary:
- Ammon was focusing on one person in particular. He relieved he could
help a lot of people through this one person.
- 1. Father Lamoni. Start with a father!
- Lamoni received revelation and understood the importance of the Atonement.
- 2. Sister Lamoni was a mother and was the second convert.
- 3. Servants
- 4. Many!
How can I convert thousands?
- If we truly convert someone they will bring more unto Christ!
- Focus on the Father! Focus on one and teach him to open his mouth!!
- How many converts give you references? What am I going to do!?
- We can not do the work alone! So how can you teach it to others!?
- Involve the whole household!!!!
- It will be hard in the beginning, but by the end it will be easy!
- Focus on having families progressing! Stay with a family and replace
as they leave!
- As we work with families they support each other! PMG last paragraph
in "The Gospel Blesses Families."
- What do we do to help our families come to the gospel.
- Help them realize that we want baptism, but that we can be together
because of the Temple!
- What can we do to help Sister Fuentes with her husband!?
- Have a declaration! Invite people to come and see as a member!
- A missionary is always looking for opportunities!
Alma 36:24
Help the investigators and members understand the full blessings of
the atonement to get them excited!
How to find more friends to teach:
- Relatives
- Coworkers
- Friends
- Neighbors
Who else would you like to invite to the baptism?
Invite investigators and make the same list.
- Be more creative and think of how I can find more investigators!
- I commit to do it!
D&C 58:31, 32, 27, 28
- find a way to get new inspiration. Increase the results in what you
are doing now.
Be anxiously engaged in a good cause! If you are one, how do you
receive the others?
- Work with the Ward list of Part member families.
- Change things up and share a different message.
- Work on talking with more people as we go down the Road. Twetap.
(Talk with everyone that are prepared)
- If people are not receiving you, find another way to introduce
yourself! (Service, Members, tell them you are thirsty)
- I am thirsty: Matt
10:42
- Tours of the church on off days!
- Work with serving others!
- Sing them a hymn. (Families can be together forever.)
- Work better with the bishop? You get his heart, you get the
membership as well!
- If you get the hearts of the children you get the hearts of the parents.
- Find out what the bishops goals and visions are as a ward.
- Ask a priesthood blessing to help the heavens come down to help. He
would receive the love of him, because he would see that he is apart.
(Do it because you love the bishop and not just for him to help!)
- Have a simple meeting when you get into a new area!
- Work with the youth to find their friends!
- Members of the church really want to share the gospel, they are just afraid!
- A new scripture each day!
What is stopping us from doing the work, like these new ideas! They
are good ideas, but they are better when we do it!
- In district meetings give time to open up for the other missionaries
to tell ideas on how they had success through the week.
Pay tithing with Jhonny after teaching why we pay our tithing!
Because of the things I learned today I am going to:
Talk to the bishop and find his vision
Pray for charity
Tithing
Use the gospel GPS
We have ward missionaries and church service missionaries and full
time missionaries.
- When you open your eyes in the morning we think or missionary work.
What can I do to help others!!
- Talk to the first person you see outside!
- Don't be a part time missionaries.
- Dream about the work.
Commit yourself to be a full time missionary at least one day in your
missionary!
If you love it take another day! And email president Monday to know
what happened!
I learned so much and I just need to figure out where I will start to
improve, because I have a lot I want to change! So tonight we had the
opportunity to find people to contact, and we taught two quick door
lessons and got return appointments and hope we get back to them soon!
It is so nice to have the language down enough to be able to actually
contact a little without being scared out of my mind! Now I can carry
a somewhat good conversation and I love Spanish people and the
language so much! I hope I keep getting better and increase my love
for the people! So after our contacting we went to our ward
thanksgiving dinner at the church and had such a good time! A lot of
people showed up and I was able to just get to know so many people it
was nice! I am sad I will most likely be leaving this next week! Elder
Sinischacli I will most likely be going to Denton on bike! I am
excited however for more area and people! I hope I get to know people
fast and also get along with my new companion fast! Also one of my
biggest examples out here, Elder Sinischacli is leaving me to be a
Spanish Training Leader! His nickname is Papá and he calls me Hijo! I
hope one day we are companions!!! What an amazing day!
Saturday:
I am serious when I say everyday gets better in the field! I would
also just say that everyday is like a Sunday, so what is not to like!?
Wow so today we had the opportunity to go to our me,bets restaurant on
east side, but not alone! Brother and Sister Peña went with us, and
loved the food so much! We had a really good time visiting with them
and I am really going to miss them if I for sure leave! Something I
learned from my lunch experience is to love people more than money.
Today as we were getting ready to leave the member who owned the
restaurant wouldn't let Sister Peña pay for their meal. She said it
was the least she could do, and really the lady needed it to help her
business keep going! So sister Peña, being her sneaky self went acting
as if she was getting a toothpick and put 20 dollars in the tip jar to
pay for their meal. I love how really love is what matters! So we also
had the opportunity to get on our bikes and go across town to teach a
lesson, and let me tell you, I know now what all the missionaries have
meant when they have said, we gave everything for our investigators
and still would. The reason I say that is because I have never been so
frozen in my whole life, because of this wind and humidity mixture!
However, as I got to the house of an investigating family the pain
went away and I felt warm, because of the love I felt! And the most
amazing thing is I would do it again, and I will be doing it again,
because I love them! That really makes me think a lot, who do you
love? Do you truly go out of your way, maybe feeling some pain, to
help someone else!? So after our amazing lesson with the family Vidal
we went to a stake conference Saturday session that truly was amazing!
I am going to add the long notes that you can skip if you want, but I
promise if you read it and pray about it you will find something that
will help you in your life! I have never felt so much power in the
words said.
November Stake Conference:
Saturday:
This is an invitation: This is my beloved son hear him!
Sister Ames:
- As members of this church we should always be invited to strengthen
our testimonies in this gospel. As we do the gospel will heal your
families, and you relationships with friends.
- As we serve and labor, more happiness is to await you! Why do you
wait to be a missionaries?
- A true missionary doesn't need a tag!
Being a full time missionary is just a training of a member
missionary, a true missionary. If you need a tag to do the work you
truly don't understand Jesus Christ's life.
President Ames:
3 Nephi
11:14
Have a personal experience with God!
- Everyone is a child of God.
- He is my son too!
- Don't be afraid to stop, go back!
- How many do you pass by?
Open your mouth 3 times:
- act!
- We are all called to gather them in. Never for a second talk
yourself out of it!!!
Wife of the First Counselor of the Dallas Temple:
How grateful are we? Do we express ourselves enough!?
- Are we to proud to pray to the God that made us!?
First Counselor of the Dallas Temple:
- why do we have a prophet? I know he is there to receive revelation
for all man kind, but what does he do by receiving those revelations?
Moses
1:39 What is Gods Purpose, and what is our calling in His purpose?
- The temple is not there just to have sacred experiences there on our
own, it is there as a privilege and a blessing to make covenants for
us and for others to be together forever!!
- Our father in heaven doesn't expect us to be perfect to go to the
temple of the lord, but he expects you to be perfectly trying!
Elder Falabella:
- How blessed are you!?
- How can we truly show our gratitude to Heavenly Father? Missions,
callings, service.
- Retired : being tired twice.
John
5:17: there is no true retirement!
- As you serve the Lord he will bless you with more blessings than you
can imagine!
What can we do to show our gratitude for our Heavenly Father?
Why does the lord want us to keep the sabbath day holy?
- How can we help the members strengthen their faith in God and Jesus Christ?
- As we go to church we strengthen our faith in God!
How does the sabbath day strengthen us!?
- As we serve others it strengthens others.
- Put ourselves aside and be like Jesus Christ.
- It is a time to prime the spiritual pump.
What are you doing different now to keep the sabbath holy that you
didn't do before?
- Prepare yourself so you can concentrate on the sabbath.
- A day to set spiritual goals and pondering scripture!
- Family History on Sunday.
- Change activities through the week to have the correct mindset!
As we look at the 10 Commandments and we focus on the sabbath day we
see that there are a lot of verses on he sabbath. It means it is
important!
- as we don't keep the sabbath day holy, we stop the growth of the
church. Do you want to stop the work of the Lord?
- The seventh day is not our day, it is the Lords day! How can we
please the lord?
- Do we make phone calls for the people we love? It is not just the
obligation of the missionaries.
- Partaking of the sacrament is so important for us. In fact it is the
most important things to do. (Forgiven, clean, and change of Heart)
- We have a chance to remember the covenants we made! It is also a new
covenant in your life every week!! Think about that!
- Come early to church and listen to the prelude.
"I trust more a short pencil, than a large memory!"
- How do we be quiet before church begins!? Do we realize what happens
in the chapel!? We take the sacrament.
- We become one with the lord as we take the sacrament. As we take the
sacrament, it is the closest we will get to the lord outside the
temple!
Self Reliance: the ability, effort and commitment to provide for the
spiritual and temporal things of life, and then help others!
- Both Spiritual and Temporal Wellbeing.
- If you want to be self reliant as regards to the temple, work on
your own names.
- Every night at 6 pray to have mission experience.
Is the Lord Talking to us!?
Closing song: One by one, he heals the people. He blesses one by one.
One by one they doubt his teachings.
Gospel Library
Self reliance
My Foundations
Wow I know that was really long, but that came from servants of the
lord and has changed my outlook on a lot of things, and I know it can
help to change yours! Also the closing song I wrote out a few lyrics
to get the ,eating of the song, and I don't know if it is available to
find, but I invite all of you to try, because I was in tears listening
to the words and understanding the meaning behind it!
So at the end of the meeting we were heading out of the conference
when a member from our ward named Hno. Conde asked if we wanted to go
with him and his wife to their house for some cake really fast! So we
did and let me tell you, it was the best cake I have ever had! So Hno.
Conde is originally from Puerto Rico and his wife is from Utah and she
speaks no Spanish. So we found out that Hno. Conde is a professional
and makes cakes for a business and he only makes Puerto Rican cakes
that take around 3 hours to make! It was amazing and I love them so
much! Him and his wife are just so nice and I really want to go back
after the mission to check back up on them! My last thought is just a
review of the revelation I received in the conference. Being a full
time missionary with a tag is just showing the true missionaries in
training, because being a true missionary and representative shouldn't
truly need a tag to show you love God and his children. I invite you
all to think About this. When I come home I want to see a change in my
family, so I invite you all to do something so that as you see a
change in my attitude of the gospel I also see a change in you!
Sunday:
Wow today was an amazing day full of teachings from so many different
people in the conference that we had! So we started of the day with
the stake conference at the Altamesa building and I learned so much!
We got there a little late and had to sit in the back on the stage,
and we couldn't hear anything at all, so we went and got headsets and
listed to the conference in Spanish so we could hear what was
happening! We also were able to find better seats a little later on so
we could here what was Being said! I would say the one thing I learned
today that was similar to Yesterday is that we will never be perfect,
but we can be perfect at trying! Sometimes we don't realize we have
the gold in our hands and we can receive more as we do the work of the
lord by inviting others unto Christ!
Sunday Meeting:
President Rhodes:
Do you struggle with your testimony!?
How can we make it back to our Heavenly Father?
We learn in the Book of Mormon that King Lamoni became a strong man in
the gospel.
Alma 17-27
- Every Book of Mormon hero has a lot to testify of he gospel if we
truly look for their teachings.
- Even when Lamoni was killing people he still had the light of
Christ. When we get far from Christ we will always have a small part
burning.
- Anyone can change!
- Let us be patient with those that we love!
Jacob:
The importance of preparing for the temple.
How ca we be ready to go to the temple?
- Study the scriptures to see what you can change in your life.
- If you see gaps in your standards and the churches, fill them.
A young Sister:
The importance of the temple and the blessings we receive.
We receive so many blessing as we go to the temple. And we without our
dead can not be perfect.
- As we do family history work that is how we share our testimonies so
those in the spirit world waiting!
- The best way to get something done is to begin.
- Even the smallest amount of times working on family history make a
huge difference.
The Dallas Temple Presidents Wife:
How many worldly gifts are we give!?
"Touching" the temple is the best gift to give and receive!
What is it about the temple that touches our lives?
We have a member in the room that took her 11 hours to go to the
temple because of the disability she has. Do you think it touched her
life? Why else would we go!?
The Dallas Temple President:
Covenants are for our benefit. They are given to us as a way to
achieve the goals in our life's! We make these covenants in the
temple! And as we take the sacrament we renew those covenants as we
truly understand what they are. We can't know the covenants made
without going to the temple!
- until you have entered the house of the Lord and received all the
blessings and covenants, we have not received them all!
President Ames:
What is the importance of the sheep in our lives!?
- We know the lord cares about the number of his sheep.
- Remember that ye are worth more than many Sparrows.
As we feel we question the church what do we do?
- Study the scriptures finding a way to be closer to Christ.
- One by one we need a personal experience with them.
Salvation is a personal experience! 3 Nephi 11 (Hosana): Save Now!
As he heard that he gave them the authority to be baptized and taught
them how to pray. He then gave them the sacrament!
Elder Falabella:
He asked sister Yingling last second to sing Be still my Soul because
he loved her voice and it brought the spirit.
2 Nephi 28:21: If we stop progressing we only go backwards. There is
no middle ground. We need to keep learning or we will be caught in the
snares of the devil!
Does the lord have something to say to me!?
What is it he wants me to learn!?
- Everyone of us have something we can find to improve your life!
Visit with your family and figure out maybe what you can do to change
your life from what you have learned!
Moroni 10:31-32
It states in these verses to awake and open our eyes. What is the lord
telling us we are doing as members of his church!?
How can we wake up.
1 Nephi
14:12: We are a small church of God. But if we are armed with
great righteousness we can do better. We have potential. How do we do
the lords work now!?
Things we could try and do:
- God knows each of us by name. He called Joseph and Moses by name.
- Pray every night at
6 pm. Ask Heavenly Father for opportunities to
share e gospel with others!
- We have gold in our hands, and Heavenly Father will be more than
happy to give you more as you bring more to his fold!
The power of a smile is so much stronger than you will ever know!
- As we go to the temple go with true intent and questions ready to
receive answers!
"Blessings do not have feet, you do!"
If you really want the blessings God has for you, what steps can you take!?
Moroni saw our days, and he saw we were sleepy. Please awake and us
the power God gives you to make a difference in this life!!
I love the quote that says, "Blessings do not have feet, but you do!"
How often do we expect blessings to come when we aren't trying for
them!? Change life a little and go to them for once!
So we were invited by Hna. And Hno. Peña to have a last dinner with
them before I leave and she made some amazing ham, sweet potatoes and
desert for us and I was just a really good way to have them say thank
you to us! I love them so much and I am going to miss them! So we
ended our dinner with a testimony meeting and she bore hers in
English, she thanked us for changing her lives and she looked me in
the eyes and said, Elder Spendlove, you helped us so much that I will
never forget you!" It really hit me, I am making a difference in
people's lives, I am a missionary. However I do realize that we all
missionaries and we all can have this effect on people. All we have to
do is be a little bolder!!
I had the opportunity to teach Jhonny Garcia tonight and he really
taught us so many amazing things! He gave his testimony and I gave
mine and we took our good bye pictures! He is really struggling in
life and where he should go. He feels he does not like Texas and wants
to go somewhere that there are members of the church that will be his
friends. I told him the best place is Utah and that there is extra
bedrooms at my house! He said he would love to go just to visit for
now and one day find a job and stay! I am really going to miss being
with him and his good spirit! He is always an example for me and I
hope that I will be able to keep good contact with him for the next
two years and the rest of my life! What an amazing day! And I today
found a quote from my Brother Tyson Winder that he wrote to me and now
I feel it really has meaning! "It is only the view of where you sit
that makes you fear defeat. Life is full of many isles.... So why
don't you change your seat" -Paul H. Dunn. This quote I feel this week
has really been effective. At the beginning of my mission I feared
defeat so much. I was scared to talk to the people and scared they
would reject me! I still am to a point, but I realize that as I look
at these people as my brothers and sisters that my view has changed
and my seat is new. Do not be afraid of defeat!!!!
Thank you for the many prayers, and thoughts! I have felt them so much
this week and am so grateful that I can be out here! I hope that all
of you have the best thanksgiving ever and truly remember the reason
that we have it. GIVE THANKS!!!
Also I missed Brayden's birthday, so happy birthday buddy!! Thank you
for all your amazing drawings and the things you write! I love you so
much!
I love you all so much and pray for your success and safety always!
Have an amazing week and remember, Hurrah for Israel!
Do we love God? Because He loves us!
(1 John
4:19)
Con Amor,
Elder Spendlove
