Life is Precious! And God's Plan is Real!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a blessing and a time in my life to really grow! Yes it has been super hard, but I can not and will not let it get me down, because I know there is life after death. Our Savior Jesus Christ died on the cross and resurrected in 3 days not just to show he is powerful, but to show he is loving and will help us all resurrect one day! This gospel is real and he knows us individually! I will miss those big hugs from my Aunt Vera, but I know that she will be awaiting my return either way! If you don't believe these words believe in Christ! And I know you will find the comfort you need!

Week December 12th - 18th 2016

Monday: Jesus Taught others and so can you!

It is so crazy how Mondays come faster and get shorter! It seems like they are every day, and then when they are here they go by so fast that it doesn't even feel like enough time to really enjoy them! However, i feel that is best for the missionaries, because it keeps us busy and lets us stay focused on our purpose! So today was the last Pday of the transfer and it is crazy to think about all the missionaries going home on Wednesday! Even Hna. Odell that came out with me is going home on Wednesday and that means that I really don't have loads of time left! I need to make the best of every moment! So today we had two wonderful lessons with Erika and Ismael Dominguez, and the Nickel Family. And we were finally able to open Erika up a little bit and just visit and get to know her. We then talked about why baptism is necessary and why she should need to be baptized as a baby and she came out saying, "I know it is a tradition and I was baptized just because of my parents and that I need to be baptized correctly!" So the whole lesson was very focused on her!! Then as we finished there we went and had an awesome visit and lesson with Hno. and Hna. Nickel. They are the younger couple with a little baby girl. They are super funny and every time Hno. Nickel prays we seem to laugh! It was a great lesson on the need of patience and that the first steps are Faith and Hope! I really hope to always stay in touch with them! They are super amazing people! 

Tuesday: Jesus showed humility and so can you!

Today was a really cool day for us, because we had about 3 hours with not really solid plans, so we found some rakes and were able to go and find a less active members parents house, where he lives, and his parents are not members, neither do they really like us. So we decided to begin raking leaves. As we got going, the mom came out and was so surprised with what we were doing that she got us bags, water, and came out later with a Agua de Piña(pineapple water!). It was a wonderful service that got to her heart and as we were leaving she asked us what our plans were for Christmas and asked if we would like to pass by on the 24th to have some amazing food from Honduras. We were so surprised and answered with a very happy yes we would love to come by! She is the sweetest lady! As we finished there we decided that tomorrow we are going to do the same! Pretty much today was full of lessons but the two things that I enjoyed most from today was being able to go to Family home Evening and see so many of the members! It is one of my favorite things! And as I was there with them we were able to share the Christmas Video with a more recent convert and we were even able to set up a day to have a Home Evening with them for the Christmas Season! We are so excited to go back and visit Victor, Jackie and Chris! To end the night we were able to go by and have a wonderful lesson with Samira and AG! They seemed so happy, but man did Samira want that baby out of Her! She is so tired of body aches and a baby always kicking! It was super fun, however, I felt like our teaching was all over the place because they had so many questions to ask and we kind of had them guide us when we should have guided the lesson. All in all the day was amazing!

Wednesday: Jesus taught us to clothe the naked and so can you!

I feel horrible because today we didn't have a chance to go and give anyone clothes to accomplish our wonderful acts of service, but we were able to go out and serve! So before we went to serve we went by the church to grab a few things at transfers, and we were able to say goodbye to all those heading home! Except I didn't see Hna. Odell!  But it has been fun getting to know these missionaries but their life has to go on! So many of the spanish missionaries in this transfer got switched to English areas! And luckily I was one that got to stay in the only Spanish Zone Leader Area left! And best of all is that Elder Lakey is now my new District Leader in my Zone! We can be together again! So after that we went to return a rake to Hna. Soto's house, and we noticed that she had a lot of leaves and her husband, Pablo, who is our investigator, was at work and super stressed! So we decided to get them all raked up! As we were almost done the Hna. Caught us and got mad at us for serving her! So she came out and helped us finish!

I have learned In these past few days that service is the way to any hard heart or unopened mind. So today we had a few really good lessons to go to, but I think the lesson I enjoyed most was with Manuel and Tania Valdez! We went and taught about the Plan of Salvation, and I know he has been studying, because he taught us the whole thing in depth! I was so impressed and am so glad God let me be apart of his conversion into the Church! I sure love that family!

Thursday: Jesus Worshipped through song and so can you!

Every time Planning Thursday comes around I get so excited! That sounds crazy, but I am a super picky person when it comes to order! I have to have things planned out perfectly, because I know that if they are planned out perfectly we will have a lot of success! My poor companion probably is thinking I am crazy! Something I have realized is that this simple principle of planning is something I want to take with me after the mission! I want to sit down and try to plan out the major things for the following week and make sure I am prepared! I came to realize how great scouting was for me to learn the simplest things like Be Prepared! So today we had a wonderful and somewhat busy day where we went and saw Isaac Sanchez, who is still in bad pain from his back. However, he went to the doctor and is able to get more injections until they decided what to do! He is happy for that, because he has been on the hard ground just tossing and turning to get comfy for over 2 months straight! It was also a wonderful time being able to teach him, because he is getting better questions as he reads more in the Book of Mormon, and these questions really get me thinking to the point of extra studying! So as we finished there we went and had lessons with Mario Bencomo, who said the prayer again! And then to Zunigas house, members, where they made us dinner and the Hno. went and taught another lesson with us at the Gonzalez's house! The Gonzalez son, Miguel has not been baptized so we are working with them! All in all we have been very focused on part member families and today we had a load of success! I know I am spoiled when I can see the miracles God gives us everyday!

Friday: Jesus Showed compassion and so can you!

Today was so amazing being able to study and do some more planning, and to mix things up a little bit we got a call from the Assistants who had an assignment for us and needed us at the office immediately to help them fix the maps for Spanish, because everything is all mixed up. The Stakes and Salt Lake are not working well together and are to finding a solution on boundaries, so we had to arrange boundaries until we get things figured out fully! However, today was a blast, because as we finished there we only had finding families and as we searched for them we had 3 lessons that we just amazing lessons! The people we talked to were so sweet and excited for us to talk about Gods plan and they were pretty alright with us coming back to visit! One we went to was a lady and her husband who are very Christian based believers, but they were very open to us coming in for the fact they have a sister who is a member in Grand Prairie and has been working with them forever! They we very sweet and happy to see us and the husband was hard to break because of his military background but we did it! The rest of the evening we spent at the Christmas Party and it was such a blast being able to be somewhere I loved and just go around visiting with everyone and making hem laugh or smile! We were even able to sing a special number, and we had an investigator come with her member husband! They were super nervous, but made friends right away without any problem at all! We hope and pray that they have the happy and spiritual feeling that they will be alright here! It was a wonderful day!

Saturday: Jesus cared for his mother and so can you!

What happened to me was something I was not expecting at all. However, because of today my faith and testimony have already grown in Gods Plan of Happiness for his children and that we can see our loved ones who have passed on again! So today the weather went way south, however, that didn't stop us, and we were our teaching a few families and had just finished Dinner with the Benitez family and were walking outside when President Whitney called us and asked for an emergency meeting with him at the Stake Center. So we headed there immediately! We arrived and he took us in a room and sat us down and said, "Elders, I hate to be the bearer of bad news for anyone," and then he looked at me and said, "Elder Spendlove, your mom has called and informed us that an aunt of yours that lives just down the street from you that you were very close too has past away in her sleep and was found by her sister." I was so lost and shocked I didn't even know who he was talking about! I didn't know which aunt it was and I was trying to figure it out. So he left after giving me a big hug. We had to go to another appointment so I was driving thinking about an aunt of mine who had one son, wasn't married and lived with another aunt where I realized exactly who it was! My Aunt Vera! I began right then driving down the road to cry. I was so sad.... as we got to the house of the lesson and we parked outside I was calmed down, but felt the need to pray to my Heavenly Father for comfort. As I was praying I felt such a love of my Heavenly Father come over me, and I knew that my aunt was alright, yet I still couldn't hold from crying from the sadness it brought to me and to those in my family. I am going to miss her so much because she was always so happy and attentive of my needs and I felt like I was someone important in her life! She always called me Buddy and gave the best hugs! However, I can only imagine on my homecoming to my Heavenly Father my hug and welcoming will be even better! I know this church is true! I know she lives as real as I know that God lives and loves us. Just as real as the Bodies we have! And we can live with her and those others who have passed on as we also make correct decisions, have the faith necessary, repent of our sins and commit to following God by baptism, having the spirit and working our hardest at all times! God requires work, but the reward of living with our families forever is so worth it!

Sunday: Jesus honored the sabbath and so can you!

So today was a really special day for me! I was able to go and partake of the sacrament , and I think the part that made me feel so good was hearing all the amazing talks and lessons on Family History and the Creation. I not only learned a lot, but was consoled by the teachings after someone close to me passed away. I know and felt today that where she was at was a better place for her and that she is not far, but is working miracles from the other side of the veil! I am not perfect, however, I do believe that she, along with many other family members, are on the other side of the veil keeping me safe and trying to bless me with miracles! Today was a special day for me, because I watched Manuel Valdez pass the sacrament for the first time! He was super nervous but did a great job and now will not be afraid to help out on other occasions! We are working with getting Rey to pass the sacrament, but he has just been super busy in the past few weeks with work at this time of the year! As church got out we got informed and invited to go and do some visits with some Elders Quorum members to help them get 100% done with there visits for this month, and it was fun! We went and taught a really less active family and the dad was super doctrinally smart! The way we taught helped him see that he needed the gospel in his life and his family did too, and we believe with some more visits we will get him to come back to church little by little! To end the evening we went and had dinner with the Noyola Family. And we ate what is called Menudo, or in this case Pig guts. (Like the stomach of a pig) It was not very tasty to me, but more chewy, however, I lived and am grateful I now know that I do not like it at all! I would rather eat Cow tongue tacos! Today was a great day!

I love all of you so much and hope and pray that this Christmas Season will be a spiritual and lifting experience for you! And I also pray that through this week you will be able to find peace through the trials that may come and are in front of you!

Have a wonderful week! And the next email has pictures!

Con Amor,

Elder Kyson Spendlove

De la Misión de Texas Fort Worth

Crazy week!

Week December 5th - 11th 2016

Monday: Jesus healed the sick and so can you!

So today was a wonderful p-day. Sadly we didn't have any chances to find really sick people today to pray for, but as we were finishing our Pday a homeless man came to us asking for help. He was spiritually beat up and starving. We shared our food with him and told him after trying to call everyone we could that we had to go and he would have to look for more help. We helped in the ways we could and he was very grateful. His name was David and I am grateful that God put him in our path and that we were able to help him. As we left he church we headed and had a wonderful lesson with Pablo Martinez and his family about the Word of Wisdom using the idea behind 2 Kings 5 where the captain of Syria is healed from his sickness of being a leopard by bathing in the river of Jordan 7 times. He doubted the power of God, but his servant helped him and he was healed! Pablo loved it and understood that he still knows God wants him to do these things. And not to look for a great big sign. But that he should look for he small things! He says he feels the spirit in all our lessons and so we committed him that if he would quite his habits he would feel the spirit even stronger! 

Then we went by and had a wonderful lesson with AG Ybarra and his wife Samira. AG It the member and his wife Samira wasn't interested, but as we keep going by and reading parts of the Book of Mormon she keeps getting caught on stuff! We taught them about Samuel the Laminate and the prophesying of Christ. As we were talking I had a prompting to read the scripture 2 Nephi 33:10-11 where it says, "if you don't believe in these words (the Book of Mormon) believe in Christ. But if you believe in Christ, believe in these words because they are the words of Christ!" As it was read and we kept talking, she kept skimming over it and then I watched her fold the corner of that page down and close the book slowly and keep listening. I know that she is being converted a little every time we go and I hope and pray we will get to her heart and see her change as she decides to act! Today was such a blessing!

Tuesday: Jesus read the scriptures and so can you!

It is amazing to me how after the tenth exchange in this transfer I still am just in love with having exchanges to get to learn and grow outside of my comfort zone! So today I went on the last exchange with Elder Taylor before he goes home next week, and it was so amazing! I was able to start my mission with him, and now I am able to watch him go home! He is a super wonderful Zone Leader and has taught me a lot! So today we focused on the reading of the scriptures, and for me it isn't hard to do at all! Every chance I get I am trying to read the scriptures and it is amazing to me how much they help me every day! So today we had some lessons fall through, which is called a Exchange day, meaning that every time we have exchanges somehow our schedule either gets super packed and is amazing or we get left with nothing but finding! So today what I wanted to talk about was a service we went and did. We were able to pass by and visit Hna. Alvarado and her husband Hno. Lopez where we helped Hno. hang his lights on his house outside in the freezing cold, while the Hna.s were inside scaling a popcorn ceiling off the dealing of a room and decorating the house for Christmas. It was a wonderful feeling to see how we were able to help them and it made me so much more ready and in the mind set of the Christmas! As we were eating withnthem we had a wonderful lesson and Hna. Alvarado was able to tell us very spiritual stories about dreams she has had and how she met President Bensen in a dream and that is why she got baptized! She is a wonderful woman and her husband is so pacient with her and so sweet! So in the evening we were able to have a few lessons, but what I learned from Elder Taylor the most is the importance of praying sincerely and fervently for my companion and for those around me. He prays so powerfully!

Wednesday: Jesus fed the hungry and so can you!

Today was such an amazing da for me, being able to be apart of the Zone Council and give a training to the zone about a different topic, but the importance of not flirting. Many were kind of not sure on this topic, but I decided to just be bold with it! As I taught I decided not to focus on just don't flirt, but the Why behind it all. I talked about how we made Covenants in the temple and how when Jesus Christ came he gave us a higher law to follow. As I trained the insights I got were amazing! And the rest of the thoughts were amazing during the whole meeting. One of my favorite was a quote that says, "If your focus is on reaching goals then you will hit your goals, but if your focus is on your missionary purpose you will hit your goals focused on the people and not the number." It's something that to me is so important, and I loved it! So today we were able to get a hold of a few members who are less active, and even found a few houses where the members changed homes and so we taught a door lesson at a few homes! The feeling of contacting, or having the time to contact was amazing! However, the lesson that I loved most was with Erika Dominguez and her husband who is a member. We were planning on just reading 1 Nephi 1 but as we read she was very lost on prophets, so we were able to teach her focused on Prophets and teaching doctrine, ad she began to understand. At the end of the lesson we showed her a conference talk of Thomas S. Monson, and she loved it! They both said they would be to church this Week for sure! Today was a blessing!

Thursday: Jesus prayed for others and so can you!

Today I took it seriously like I do everyday and I focused on praying for others with them and when I was alone! However, something I realized is that I wasn't praying for my own companion like I should be, and now that is something that I will begin to do! So today we had the chance to do some really good weekly planning and it seemed to just fly by! It is crazy to me how just time never takes a halt. So today the weather just went way south! It was in the 35 degree mark and windy and just horrible, so I was glad we got to stay inside for a good portion of the day! So they are saying tomorrow will freeze and be in the 26 degree area! So today we were able to go and teach Ana Avalos, a new investigator and Friends of Magali Gonzalez of our ward, and she is doing amazing. Sadly it wasn't our best lessons and were kind of scatter brained, but she seemed to understand pretty well what we were teaching her and her understanding of what we taught before was amazing because she was reading the pamphlets! I pray she gets an answer! And to our happiness, Hno. Giles spent all night with us and we ended by going over to the home of Manuel Valdez and we were able to read through his letter from President Whitney that he writes to every convert as they get baptized. And then he puts with it a picture of the Dallas Temple that no one else has! It is amazing to me how it gets the converts excited for the experience of going to the temple! Today was a wonderful day!

Friday: Jesus visited the lonely and so ca you!

I would say today I was very pleased with the fact that we were able to serve and visit the lonely a lot, because we seem to do that about everyday as we go and find less actives to teach! So today the wife of Manuel Valdez made us dinner again for like the 20th time after the baptism of Manuel, and she was telling us that Manuel was bringing us more Chick-Fil-A cards with money so we always have dinner! She is so sweet and has kind of taken the mom role here in our ward! We were able to teach both of our closer to baptism 9 year olds today and both of them are doing great! Their parents still haven't discussed a date, so we will be sending reminder texts to them to get them on it and get a date for these young boys! We also had the amazing opportunities to go and teach The Nickel family, a young family I have talked about before, and we talked about forgiveness and how it is required that we forgive all men. I know that it was a wonderful topic for them, because of how it made them think! They tell us that we need to come back more often, because it helps them a lot in their marriage! To end the night, I was thinking about my simple yet powerful gifts I am receiving that I open after a tiring day, with wonderful ties and even stronger testimonies! That idea was inspired and lifts me up so much when I am struggling! I am so grateful for those who have given me a copy of their testimony, because I realize that I am never a lone in this gospel! Today was a wonderful day!

Saturday: Jesus helped people to walk and so can you!

¡¡18 Month Mark!!

Today was a turning point for me in a few things, and from today onward I have a desire to find every scripture possible to be able to share with someone to make them interested or know what I am sharing is the truth. So today as we finished with our correlation meeting with Mario Santiesteban, we went and had a good by lunch with Elder Williams at Olive Garden with a gift card we were given and then Elder Graham and I went to a set lesson we had with a lady and her husband that we had contacted te week before. As we knocked the lady opened and let us right in. It felt weird that they were letting us in so easily... as we sat down it got out of hand right at the beginning. They started questioning us and as we would teach something the would say, "I want to see that in the Bible, we don't believe in prophets or your Joseph Smith." It just turn into a bash and did no good for us, and I did not feel the spirit at all. As they said things to us we just stood up for our beliefs and testified and they tried to tell us our testimonies were false and that we needed to beware of another book and only read the Bible and pray and ask God forgiveness. What I learned from the whole experience is that it is easier to get up and leave and not say anything. I also learned that I am very much rusty on my bible scriptures that make me know that the restoration would be necessary. So I have set myself the goal of studying even more in the Bible and referencing over to the Book of Mormon! The rest of the day we struggled to get into people to teach, but we had a great rest of the day that included going to a baptism for the Hna.s in our ward! And Elder Graham was able to baptize the sweet lady who got baptized who had searched for our church for 16 years! Today was a great day!

Sunday: Jesus Ministered to the Children and so can you!

Today was such a spiritual Sunday for me! Also I would have to say a moment to humble myself... So today we had a missionary meeting with our bishop and he pulled us aside and talked to us about how important we were, but how we needed to have patience and enjoy our missions and let no one drag us down. He looked at me and said, "Elder Spendlove, you need to relax and not stress. You worry to much." It struck me that he would say something like that in front of everyone, but I decided to just take it and learn from it. I don't feel like I stress about members or very much, but that I worry about their well being and if someone says that they and their kids are freezing I think of my hélices and nephews freezing trying to get warm and I can't stop trying to find ways to help them. But I am working on patience and letting God be in charge more. So today was a wonderful Sacrament Meeting and we had Jose and Gabriela there for the first time that I have ever been here! It was so amazing! He thought he wanted to go home after the first hour until he enjoyed the first hour and the second hour. As Jose got into the 3rd hour I could tell he was in love with it! He was ready to get out of there, but he definitely felt love and he Spirit there! Also Mario Bencomo and his sister and mom decided that if his dad wasn't going to come, they were! They snuck in and I was so happy to see them! It was a great church meeting where we heard from the Stake Patriarch, Kelly Schofield, in Spanish! Because he served his mission 50 some odd years ago in Peru! To end the night we went to a performance called Sing Noel where we were able to listen to 3 different Stake perform in Choirs and orchestras! It was so amazing! I wish we did that in our Stake back home!

It was one of he most spiritual feelings outside of the temple to hear those kids sing and the wonderful angelic choirs!:) 

I love y'all so much!:):)

Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove

#IluminaElMundo. ¿Que Haría Jesus?

Dear Family and Friends,

 I am so very grateful for this time of year and especially for the start of such a wonderful Christmas season! I am really happy and joyful for the chance I have to share the new Christmas Video and try and light the world in my actions all through the month. What I am learning through this is that by serving I understand my savior more and I feel his love more too! So while I help others feel it, I feel it stronger in my life as well!

Well here is how my week went!

Week November 28th - December 4th 2016

Monday:

Today was such a fun Monday for the both of us! As we woke up this morning we went outside where we usually walk to our gym, and it was sprinkling and felt so nice outside! As we got to the gym it began to down pour like cats and dogs, and we couldn't get back to the apartment without getting really soaked, so we went and just ran through the pouring rain all the way back to the apartment and it was so much fun! When we got there we had to take our shoes, socks and jackets off and leave them at the front door because of how wet they were! But it made a great start for a wonderful day! So today we had the blessing of preparing a little bit, and we were able to do another deep cleaning of our apartment. I would say it is one of the cleanest apartments in the mission, because when we clean it then we are gone all day and don't have a chance to get it dirty! And we have one of the nicer apartments. So today after getting all prepared we got to go to the church and play some sports to get out some stress and energy and while there we also had the chance to go and write in a book that we are making into a Christmas gift for President and Sister Whitney. I was able to write my favorite experiences and testimony for them and I am excited for them to get it this year! So as we finished p-day we went straight to a dinner/ lesson with the Ramos Family. We had a great soup full of giant veggies. Like carrots, potatoes, celery, onions and much more plus a dices meat that made it delicious with a filling rice. As we finished eating we taught about the importance of Christmas with them and then the hermano just got on a tangent about helping us with an investigator that won't take a Baptismal date. So he taught us what he thought we should do and we are going to come over and teach him and practice with him to see if it will work. Then we went and had the chance to sit and visit with Samira and AG Ybarra. They are super funny and Samira is about to pop with number two any day. As we taught them about the refiners fire and about trials God gives us we invited them to not only pray but read on their own for strength, and AG was so surprised that he could read the scriptures to find ways to cut out anger. It was funny. However, a cool experience we had was this evening when we got home we had to finish our planning for Board day and so we decided to start with a prayer and as we did, we finished it in like 15 minutes! We were both in shock on how God helped us this time around! We were lost for a few days on it. Today was a wonderful day! 

Tuesday:

Oh how I am grateful for a Mission President who tries his hardest to not only follow the scriptures and manuals but who tries his hardest to follow the revelation he receives from God. Today he sat down with Elder Graham and I alone in a small meeting before Board Day and was able to let us know of some major changes coming to the mission. It will be a blessing and I am very excited for the upcoming transfer. He loves us as missionaries and is just looking for the best way to help us to grow in leadership and in spirituality. Something that I admire about him is his honesty and how he doesn't hesitate to correct or change things that are not working. So today was a fantastic day of teaching. I feel like every day that I go out and teach people my relationship doubles with them and my desire for them to keep commitments grows immensely. I hope that they feel the same when we come by their home. So today we were able to go by and visit with Rey Castillo, our Recent Convert, and he is just on fire. He is working hard and opening up like crazy! He used to be super shy, but now he is very welcoming and opens the door just very talkative! He is reading like crazy in the Book of Mormon and is always full of profound questions on many topics. He is also super excited for the temple and just being able to go to church every week. And the part I love most is when he, like all Hispanics, make us apart of the culture where you give them a hug heart to heart after the lesson! He is an awesome example of change and dedication and I know many blessings will come his way because instead of bothering members to go to the church he pays taxis because he says, "I can't miss this event!" We love him a lot! So also we were out contacting and met this sweet lady named Juana. As we taught her about the new Christmas Video she gained interest, and the part I loved most about our visit was being able to explain to her in a different way the Book of Mormon. I explained it as another sacred book like the Bible that talks about Jesus Christ and his teachings on every page. With that she was caught and interested in us returning! Then we had a wonderful time with the Pablo Martinez family. They are a fun family and I have seen a great change in them from the first time we began to really visit them heavily. They are finally close as a family and praying, and now we are just working on the husband to want to be baptized. The last thing was how much I love to be at a Family home evening at the church with our ward. They are so sweet and feed us so much, especially the wife of Manuel Valdez! I love this Ward!

Wednesday:

I love when I am able to just sit in a lesson and learn from a member that comes with us. Today we had a great day really full of studies and planning! Plus a wonderful district meeting, and last district meeting of the Transfer. It is so crazy to think that It is the last meeting of the Transfer, however, it is and we will just be flying on by to the next Transfer! So this evening we were able to have a really good lesson with the Barraza family, who are members, and as we left they thanked us so much for helping their who was struggling, come back to church! Micheal is a wonderful guy and easy to get a long with and we even set that we want to go back and paint with the Hermana Barraza who is super talented! We also helped her fix her tree as the star was falling off! Then we went and had a wonderful time contacting some different families in the southern part of our area and ended our night with Manuel and Tania Valdez. Hno. Giles was able to accompany us to the lesson and we taught the second half of he first lesson and it was super powerful! I think the part I am most grateful for is when Hno. Giles taught to his needs by asking him his conversion to the gospel and then tied the life of Joseph Smith into it perfectly. And as he did that I realized how easy it was going to be to teach the rest to his needs. Joseph just prepared himself in the gospel and went from baptism to Holy Ghost and then to the Priesthood when he then was able to translate the Book of Mormon with the Priesthood power! It was an eyeopener for me and I am so grateful that God put that lesson and exact setting into my life!

Thursday: World Wide Day of Service

I have had just the greatest day today! We had the chance to go to the Mission office today to work on new maps and areas that will be in affect the beginning of this next transfer because of the new Stake that was just created! And now for the rest of this transfer we will be under remodel of the areas! We also had the wonderful opportunity to go and give service at a local food pantry for our Worldwide da of service and it was super fun! We were able to help a lot of people and it was a great kick off with almost our whole district! So today I have two different wonderful stories to share. So today we had the chance to go by and teach Mario Bencomo, a 9 year old for like the 8th time. So we have been teaching him for about 4 weeks or so, however, every time we pass by we invite him to pray and he always says no because he is shy or embarrassed with us. We tried the first few times to just force him into it and he wouldn't. He kind of rather pushed himself further from us when we would do that. However, we decided it would be best to just have the patients and let him do it when he is ready. Well today as we passed by he didn't want to do the opening prayer, but as we finished our lesson on the first 2 steps of the plan of salvation and were wrapping the lesson up we just said, "well we better say a prayer to end." Right as we did that we just bowed our heads with hope that he would do it, and he did!! We said a wonderful prayer and we were so happy for him! We have seen wonderful progress in the whole family and we are working on a baptismal date for the 31st of this month and his mom said that would talk about the date as a family and see what they decide! It was such a great lesson! Then we had another lesson that was set with a new investigator, and the Noyola family came and the lad, Ana felt so very at home! She shared her sweet bread and milk and we taught her the very first part of the Restoration. I was so amazed at how well she understood the lesson. And when we started she was saying she was attending another Christian church until we began to teach her about the apostasy and she began to have really good questions like how a prophet is called. As that question came up she found the answer on her own with a scripture that came to mind, and all the sudden she was like, "well I am excited to see y'all Sunday to learn more!" She just understood and the Noyola family were a huge help with the lesson! Today we just saw miracle after miracle in the lessons we taught and the things we did!

Friday: Jesus Honored his parents and so can you!

Today I spent a little bit of time learning about my ancestors and putting some pictures up for my parents in Family Tree. And as I did all of that I had such feelings of love for them for the way they have been raising me by example and by letting me use my agency and choose for myself and to make decisions. I have realized just how lucky I am and I feel super blessed! I don't know what I did before this life to deserve them, or what I didn't do and so i am with them to keep me going in the straight and narrow, but I would be so far down the bad path without them! They are my heroes and have given me the strength to endure through the good and the bad! So today we had a wonderful chance to go and learn from our Leaders in MLC and I learn so many amazing things from the Assistants and President Whitney! I think the two biggest things that I learned were that the mission simulates the church structure completely. We need to do as he church would do. Meaning that a Stake president/Zone Leader doesn't go to every Ward Council, actually he rarely goes. So why do Zone Leaders go to district meetings? Then the other one I learned is that most missionaries that don't act on the mission or are struggling do it because the are hurt or wounded spiritually, not because they don't want to obey and so they act bad. I have learned just how to better help those with whom I serve. So today we had the blessing of going and teaching Pablo Martinez, whom we have taught for all of my transfers here and has been taught for close to 10 years. So tonight we figured out a few things. First off he knows that God wants him to be baptized, and secondly he has a few things to give up that he can't give up on his own. As we visited with him he finally agreed to talk with someone like our bishop for help! I am so grateful for him and for being open and letting the spirit touch his heart! It was a great day!

Saturday: Jesus helped others to see and so can you!

What is better or necessary to live with God again, fear or Love? Today was such a wonderful day where we were blessed immensely! So today we had the wonderful chance to go to the Mission Office and draw out new areas for some changes coming up this next transfer and it was a very long process. We had 3 zones that he to be messed with, and each zone took roughly one hour to accomplish. However, it was fun just us two in the office because the office staff was out for their P-Day! So today we had many set lessons and again many blessing happen where we were able to have miracle lessons occur. So we were able to have about two lessons when we got back into our warm truck and began to drive down the road in the crazy rain and mist storms we have had for awhile. We were were driving we passed the Fossil Ridge elders and slammed on our brakes to take them to their next lesson to get them out of the rain. They thanked us and we dropped them off and they were telling us hey didn't know how to repay us. All I know is they can't do even close to what God did to repay us this evening. God helped us get into 2 investigators with whom we had been struggling to see. We were blessed to be able to go and have a wonderful lesson with Miguel Gonzalez and his parents really want him baptized badly, so we will be going over 2 times a week. Then we called and surprise attacked Jose and Gabriela Valencia. As we went by and visited them Jose seemed very different. He was open, lots of questions and thinking a lot more than usual. Then he said, "I am really feeling like I need to try going to church... I always put it off, but I think I will go tomorrow." It filled my soul with so much Joy to see his change and I know God was blessing us for always looking for more opportunities to serve. God helped me to see today. He helped me see how many blessings he really gives up!

Sunday: Jesus Worshipped his father and so can you!

Today was such an amazing day for me! Many of Sunday's I am super talkative and this Sunday I was just quiet. Observing everyone and just so happy to know that even though I can not be with my actual family this Christmas, I have a ward family here who loves me and wants me to be happy and have a wonderful Christmas as well. We had an amazing testimony meeting today where I have never seen the building so packed. Our ward was struggling to find more seats to sit in in he chapel and we were about to open the curtains! It was a miracle and happy for us we had Miguel Gonzalez and his family at church along with Ana and Arturo Avalos and Pablo Martinez show up with his family. They were all so happy and It shocked me to see them all show up along with a less active man named Ulysses Ramos! I was the happiest missionary in the world, because all of them showed up. However, to add on top of all of that, Ray Castillo was able to come, and then Manuel Valdez just received the Aaronic Priesthood today as well, and I was so amazed at how happy he is! He even stood up after his ordination as a priest and said he wanted to bare his testimony and did so powerfully! I am grateful for change and how it can create a new creature out of all of us!  So for us we ended the night going on splits with Hno. Giles and Hno. Brown to help them with here visits, and it was so amazing to be able to just go and do some good old Home Teaching visits, however, I feel more prepared than when I went with my dad, because I know know how to leave invitations and actually teach the doctrine! As we finished our day, Elder Graham and I called in numbers and finished this week with 25 other lessons and had 5 amazing member present lessons with investigators! I am so grateful for my mission!

I know this Gospel is true and that it is the only way to a "Happily Ever After"!

And when I say that I mean with your family and God forever!

This is The Church of Jesus Christ, and I am proud to stand next to the Prophets as I say I know this church is the way.  I am one of his Representatives!

I love y'all so much and hope that this week is a week focused on the Savior!

Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove

De la Misión de Texas Fort Worth

Mortal Life is Fragile, So don't let it break!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week I have learned a few vital lessons. I have learned just how fragile a human life can be and how much we really depend on the Lord. I have also realized how much our Heavenly Father loves his Children. As I go around visiting and teaching those I love I just can't help be grateful for my mission and for my family who always has shown me how to truly love others! I love this Gospel so much!

I hope your week was well, and here is how my week went!

Week November 21st - 27th 2016

Monday:

I love so much having one partial day to prepare myself and my things for the rest of the week. I have come to recognize the need for rest and realize that God as he created the earth definitely did what was necessary giving us a day of rest from our main focuses and going to the house of the Lord! So today was super fun being able to go and get the necessary things taken care of by shopping and getting the truck washed, and then we were able to go and get emails taken care of. At around 3 we were able to go and play volleyball with 2 families in our ward, and it was super fun! It makes me miss the old times together as an Executive council or group of friends playing Volleyball at Addie Edwards house, however, I love making new friends and I wouldn't change it for anything! So this evening we had plans to go and visit Hna. Parrajon who is living with another family right now with her family because they got kicked out of their house, and as we showed up the wife of the other family was so upset and frustrated. She asked for help from Bishop, and the relief society, but they both turned them down. She talked to us and said, every time i get upset about someone with the church you all show up and calm me down. For me I don't understand why a ward won't support 2 families in need who can't support their kids right now. They barely have enough money to pay payments and keep food on the table. And they get more help from a catholic charity. So we shared that Jesus knows how she feels and that we will always be there as missionaries to help them in whatever way we can! She was relieved a little bit and we set time to go back tomorrow to see how we can serve them! Then in he NIGHT we went by and had a great lesson with Manuel, and his wife invited us over for our third dinner for that day! It is going to be amazing! I love that family!

Tuesday:

Every once in a while I look back at times in my mission and it is hard for me to believe that I am where I am at. It almost feels like a dream at times, because I have had many dreams of knocking doors and finding Gods children, however, when I have a day like I had today I realize that my dreams come true and that we as missionaries can have busy and eventful lives if we choose too! So today I had the wonderful blessing of going on an exchange in my area with Elder Turley. He is a new missionary who has been in Texas for about 4 weeks before his arrival from the Mexico MTC. He is from Wyoming/Utah and loves the outdoors so much. It has been a lot of fun to be able to get to know him, and for only 4 weeks in the mission I am super impressed with his desire to work and his Spanish understanding! So today we had so many blessings as we were able to get into double the houses we planned on getting into and were able to teach like crazy! When we got home I was amazed to know we had taught close to 6 lessons that were solid lessons and some solid commitments were left. I thank God all the time because he truly has made our area amazing and blesses us on our exchanges, because we always find people to teach and receive even more blessings as we keep exchanging! I was so grateful for this day so much!

Wednesday: 

Well today we were able to exchange back in time to go to the first part of our District meeting in the Hurst Stake Center, and then we had to dismiss ourselves and go and begin our exchange with Elder Reveli and Parkin in Fort Worth North. We arrived in the middle of the day and I am so grateful to a God for the blessing he gave me to be able to have the experience I am about to talk about! So as we, Elder Reveli and I got going, we went and were able to give a blessing to a lady in the hospital from Mexico. We got lost quite a few times there in the Harris Hospital, but it was a wonderful experience! As we found the family we were able to get to know the situation, and this poor lady had a stroke while visiting from Mexico, and she was only in her mid 30s. The Doctors had to relieve pressure off of her Brain, so they had to go and cut out her bone plate on her right side of her head, and she had staples in her scalp to keep the skin in place. And through it all the lady was in a coma. As we went to give her a blessing we had to explain to the nurse what we were going to do and she showed us where the bone was that we were aloud to touch as we gave her a blessing. I was the first to lay my hands on this precious ladies lifeless body who seemed to be alive because of the air machine. She helped me realize how life can be so fragile. As I began the anointing she began to move her feet around and to lift her hands a little. She was not awake, but knew, even whiteout being a member of the church, what we were doing and that it was the truth. Then Elder Reveli came in and we gave her the blessing and as we did so I felt the spirit so strongly! We could barley touch or put pressure on this lady, but I know that the Healing Power of God was felt this evening! As we stepped back after the blessing the sister went up and had to hold the Her sisters hand to be able to console her. All she wanted to do was shake our hands even being out of it. She was trying her hardest, and I just knew she felt Gods power and love and that he is helping her through this trial in her life. So the rest of the day we were able to do a bit of contacting, and I had served in this area just before my area in Hurst, and I was amazed by the amount of success that I saw today! We knocked on a few doors in a smaller street looking for a specific family, but instead of finding a specific family we found a specific street full of Hispanic people and out of the 3 we talked to, 2 wanted us to come back and 1 had an uncle who is a member of our church and she knows a lot! Today was just a blessing straight from God!

Thursday: ¡Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!

What an amazing day we were able to have today! So to start off the morning we finished an exchange in just enough time to be able to go home, take a quick halt and get over and pick up the bike Elders and go to our ThanksGiving Lunch. So we went and ate as a district at our Bishops house and as we were there he asked us what we were thankful other than the Gospel. As it came to my turn I said, "I am Grateful for my parents who taught me to work hard and to love the Lord, and because of them I am where I am today!" Everyone thought that was so amazing and then Obispo Olvera taught us a wonderful lesson. He said, "as you get home your life is going to be hard. Why? Because your sacred missionary mantle will be gone and you will be left to fight against Satan with only the testimony you gained and the spirit to help you. Rely on your family and stay strong for those you came to love. You will be a great leader and help if you do. Also use your talents!" The experience was priceless and yet it meant the world to me! So as we finished there we drove over and had a more Americanized thanksgiving with the Stafford family where all of Hno. Stafford's side of the family came, meaning the ones that only speak English, but it was so much fun to get to know his parents and brother and sister! We thought we would only have to eat one more time, but we got a call mid meal saying hat Maria and Johana wanted us to come over and eat some food, and so we went over and ate a little and just had a good visit with them and shared a small message about the importance of how we are in the Christmas Season! As we left there our last meal we were stuffed from the first meal still and so we were able to just visit with Manuel and his wife and family and then share a similar message about the reason for the season. Hna. Valdez was ready eyed the whole time thinking about past Christmases and she was so excited to be better!

Today we were over fed, both physically and Spiritually!

Friday:

Exchanges never get old, but they can be some of the most tiring things to do! So today we were able to start early this morning and drive to Denton for our last super important exchange before Board Day, and I was blessed to stay in my area and bring Elder Banks, a brand new missionary back with me. He is a shy guy and definitely a little different, but then I look at myself and I am just the same! He is a guy that gets a long with everyone, and our whole Day was just amazing! Elder Banks is from Idaho and his dad is an Institute director, so he is really doctrinally smart and I loved being able to discuss the gospel with him! So today we were able to teach a lot of good lessons and contact people, however, it seemed like no one wanted to hear a message about Jesus Christ. So instead, we went and visited a few members and less actives and were able to teach Alex Salazar, Hna. De la Cruz, la familia Márquez, Roger Saliezar and Mariela Contreras. As we taught all of these lessons our main focus was on a new video that just recently came out his morning called #LighttheWorld for Christmas time! It is a very spiritual and exciting video about how Jesus is the light and then how he tells us to be the light of the world. It was amazing to me how it touched so many of the people we taught and Elder Banks did a great job for only having 6 weeks in the mission field. He got very distracted easily, however he did a great job baring testimony even if he couldn't understand all that was being said. I think he other thing that I really enjoyed was being able to sit and enjoy a good visit with Hno. Roger. We talked about his home country, Honduras and what it was like, and I think the part I like most was the pictures he showed of the beautiful scenery and sites to see. Today was a wonderful day!

Saturday:

Everyday I hit a tired wall, and today like everyday I say, "wow, why am I always so tired?" Haha it's funny because my response still hasn't changed. It is because I am a missionary! Haha I have realized that since the day I because a missionary to now, I haven't had a day where when I get done I don't just pass out. For me it is a blessing and hard to because I sometimes am tired mid day. However, it has been nice to be able to come home and be ready to just pass out. So today we had a wonderful opportunity to teach Hector a little bit more on not just reading, but we received promptings to teach him how to read and write by memorizing scriptures and memorizing them by reading them and writing them down a lot of times. It sounds crazy, but as we have done it we have see some amazing success just in today! So as we were finishing up there we received a call from a less active member, Hno. Sanchez where we went and gave him a blessing of health, because he has been sick for so long and it was cool to have him search us our instead of us searching for him. We were also able to go and have a really spiritual experience with the Nickel family. I love them so much and am grateful to be able to know them. We taught them about the Atonement and the Enabling power and it was so amazing just to see as we talked with them how they opened up. They both have a specific person the feel they can't forgive, and as my companion Elder Graham testified I left them a commitment I wasn't ready for. God put the words right into my mouth. I was going to say pray for strength, but the words came out, pray for your enemies, and the were a little shocked but agreed to do it! I love God and is son Jesus Christ! They mean the world to me!

Sunday:

I think I have found a wonderful way to spend a Sunday!

So today as we went to church no one showed up, however, I feel like Sacrament, once it starts is my time, so I don't worry about those who showed up or not. And then as church is over, then we start to worry and focus on finding those that didn't show up. So today we were able to teach Gospel Principles, and to our surprise it was only us missionaries, so 8 missionaries and no investigators or anything. However, the lesson was super powerful on Our Eternal Family. As church got out we were able to get really busy and find a few people to teach. We went and found a friend of our member that had been coming, but her marriage isn't to great, so she was struggling, so we passed by and she was so very happy to see us! We didn't have a chance to teach Ana anything, but you could tell she was very happy and we set a return appointment! Then we went and we able to visit with Isaac Sanchez, and Juan Rudolf from Peru, and they were both wonderful visits! What I learned from today was just the importance of getting to know all the less active members and the importance of also just visiting those we couldn't get to in the week without setting up an appointment! It was a huge success! We spent the rest of the evening praying and planning for Board day coming up and where the missionaries should be placed for the new transfer. We planned and struggled for about an hour, and decided to just pray and leave it for the night. We will see how tomorrow goes!

I love all y'all so much and I hope and pray that you will keep being grateful and loving to all those you come in contact with! Have a great week!

Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove

De la Misión de Texas Fort Worth

Manuel got Baptized!! What a week!

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been so enjoyable for me, and it has also been one I am so grateful for! I hope and pray that this upcoming week of thanks and giving is one that brightens your life even more. Never forget about those who suffer on here days! Our purpose as members and as children of God is to help one another feel happy and loved!

Here is how my week went!

Week November 14th - 20th 2016

Monday:

"The purpose of the gospel is to transform common creatures into celestial citizens, and that requires change"

- Dallin H. Oaks

So today I found this wonderful quote and was able to share it in a group message to many members and Investigators, and I have just found it to be so true as I have served the Lord. With a new United States President chosen and working his way in I feel this quote it a perfect help. We will begin to see changes in laws and the way the country runs, however, as we have these changes and as we rely on e Gospel of Jesus Christ we can see and become those celestial citizens that our Father in Heaven wants us to be! So today was a wonderful P-Day different from others, because we didn't go and play games at the church but just had some Companionship time and it was a lot of fun. Just stayed home after shopping and stuff until a little later and then we went with Elder Flake and Elder Taylor to their house and played some card games! They are wonderful Zone Leaders to have!

So today I learned that my sweet great Aunt Shirley passed away and I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that she is not far, but she is finally able to be free from her earthy trials and oh so happy! I look at my Uncle Lane and just admire him for how he showed so much love and kindness for so many years without complaining. He is a wonderful example of Enduring Love! So today we had a wonderful lesson with the Ramos family where the husband is struggling coming back to church and he was a tough nut to crack and kind of fights trying to be the one that is right always. However my favorite lesson was with AG!

Tuesday:

Wow, today was such an amazing day and I was so inspired and uplifted! So today was our privilege to have Zone Conference with President and Sister Whitney, and it started at 10 am and we were able to listen and learn from him and the Zone Leaders until 4 Pm. There was so many inspired topics to talk about, however, the ones that caught my attention the most were these two. Personal Revelation Through Prayer with Investigators. And the other was Questions and Answers from President Whitney, and they covered a god amount of topics with that. Here are a few things I learned. Pray for Conversion:

Mosiah 5:2-7

Why is prayer so important?

Video on Prayer: District 2 Helping investigators pray.

• Be persistent    - Kneeling.   - Help them overcome Doubts
• Loving and Bold. - Teach clearly the Doctrine of Prayer. - Let the Spirit Guide
• we can't do it for you. You must do it for yourself.

Prayer:

• Moroni 7:48.  
• "Conversion starts with a Prayer!"

President Whitney:

How did the church all start?

• A question. As he read he found an answer. So he went and prayed. And that is how it happened.
• So our investigators also will have questions. So they must pray. And as they pray they will have a real answer!

# as we teach the first lesson set the expectation that they will pray before we leave.

We must talk about it upfront! How can they get an answer if they don't start?

• Don't be afraid of silence. What do you think is going on in the investigators or less active members head?
• If we start out with an expectation and just don't cave in in the end they will take us more seriously and we will have more success.

I am grateful for a living Prophet today who guides our church and very grateful for the local leaders like my mission president who help me understand an live the gospel even better!

Wednesday:

Wow, today was a very wonderful day where I was able to learn a whole lot! Today I was able to have Elder Dinis, or as he says it, (Jinis) come on exchange with me in my area, and Elder Graham stayed in Cleburne with Elder Lopez. It was an amazing day with Elder Dinis, because he is from Brasil and actually was only baptized 2 years ago. As we got to know each other he began explain Brasil and I found out he lived 30 minutes from the mission of my brother Skyler and only 5 minutes or so from the Temple. He was able to speak a lot of Spanish and pretty much understand most of what was said. However, his Portugués shows through his speaking in both Spanish and English and it makes me miss the simple accent Skyler had when he came home from his mission! So today we were able to teach Hector, Isaac Sanchez, Barraza and, Erica and Ismael, and it was just such an enjoyable da to be in their homes. They each bring me so much joy and love. And I loved being able to touch them or have the touch my life in a certain way. For me I think that is what I have learned the most is just how much someone can thought your life. The one experience I will share is while we were with the Barraza family. They taught us as if random people on the street and the hermano began to cry as he talked about the restoration and Joseph Smith and I felt so much power come and I just know and can see the work progressing as they do these things! Today was a day I loved so much! Also Elder Dinis was so awesome!!

Thursday:

The days go by so fast, however, I just love being able to go on exchanges to get to know the Spanish missionaries even more! So today we were able to exchange back, Elder Lopez and Dinis, and we drove to Arlington and began an exchange with Elders Wolfert and Hooper. It was fun for me to finally be able to stay in Arlington with Elder Hooper where we had an eventful day. We helped a less active member paint a room in her house, and then we had dinner with them. As we had dinner a member came by the house and was able to be our exchange. His name was Hno. Garcia and come to find out he has only been a member for 2 years and loves being with the missionaries, and more than anything he thanks the missionaries in every lesson for what they did in bringing the gospel into his life. Something I love about Elder Hooper is his love for the Atonement! As we taught the lesson he shared a wonderful video about burying your trash and leaving it. And there was a scripture that was read that I love so much!

Alma 7:13-14

 "13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

14 Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven;"

I know that whoever shall come to Christ and repent that he shall be forgiven. It doesn't matter where you might be in life, God can put you where you need to be!

It was such a wonderful exchange!

Friday:

The one thing I get so tired of hearing is, how long have you been out? Not that I don't want to answer, but I just get tired of thinking about time! So today we were able to go and have an exchange with Elder Langi and Elder Thompson in Lewisville, and to start off he Exchange we went and gave service in what is called CCA or Community Christian Action food pantry where we were able to give service mopping and just sorting things. As we got going we found out that more the workers speak Spanish, so that was fun! Also we were able to go by and do some finding, however, the weather went way south today and it got so cold! It was in the low 50s in the middle of the day and 40s at night! Also we were able to have a recent return missionary named Micheal come and do some visits with us and it was so great! He has been home for 2 months and just an amazing guy! I learned from my time with Micheal and Elder Thompson how much someone can change in their mission if they really focus and apply what the learn to the scriptures. It was such A wonderful day to be a missionary and learn on my exchange.

Saturday:

Wow, so today was another amazing day, but what made today great was being able to be apart and actually be the one to baptized Manuel Valdez! It was such a wonderful Baptismal Service, and it was so special to see his mom, who is not a member, come and support him and see her cry from joy! As I began to visit with her she said we could go over while teaching Manuel the lessons again and we could teach her the Restoration! Also she said she wanted to come and see what Church was like tomorrow as we confirmed Manuel, and I hope and pray she has a great experience. So the rest of the day we had an exchange with Elder Williams and Hanks in our District, and we went with them and gave service for Johanna and Maria by helping them move homes! It was a great service project and I am so happy for them to move into the area of the Hnas Eyestone and a Tibbets where they will be so much stronger and be able to be visited more regularly. As we finished there we were able to visit Roger Siliezar, a member we are working with, and then we were able to go and Read a mission Presidents letter with Rey Castillo for his baptism congrats. As we were their Rey began to ask us. How could I begin to talk to my friends about the Gospel? So we did role plays and just taught him according to his questions. I think the experience that I loved a lot this evening was having half an hour left before being home and finding someone in the area Book we decided we should contact. As we contacted this lady she was busy and it was late, so instead of bothering her I just did a 5 minute restoration lesson with the pamphlet, and she enjoyed it and said she would read! It made my day to see just a response from someone we just contacted! Today was a great day with Elder Williams who is about to go home at the end of this transfer!

Sunday:

Today was such a wonderful, but also tiring day! Both Elder Graham and I were able to be apart of the confirmation of Manuel Valdez, and I just loved being in church today and learning. Our sacrament meeting was focused on the Sacrament and how it is the most important ordinance to keep being apart of for ourselves ever week. As I listened and thought it became clear to me that my weeks are wonderful because I focus and learn at church after partaking of the sacrament. I never thought about the fact that every time I think of doing a wrong thing I think about how my process of repentance will be messed up and I won't be ready to partake of he sacrament and it helps me stay clean and safe from temptation! So after church we were able to go on double exchanges and visit families in the ward with the Elders Quorum, and it was such a blessing to visit 2 families and be with an elder from the ward who taught me a lot! He taught me to love the people even more and he taught me to share stories that are applicable to the people! I know it is long but I would like to share his story. "So one day a poor man walked up to a rich man and asked if he could borrow some money to get on his feet and that he would pay him back in 2 years. The rich man agreed and had the poor man sign a contact. As he had the money he began by buying a ranch and the necessary things to get the ranch running. As he worked and started to make money he decided that he didn't need to pay any money back yet and that he still had plenty of time. As he reach the 2 year mark he realized his time was up and the rich man found him. As the rich man asked for his money the poor man said, well I don't have it yet, can I pay you back in a few months? The rich man told him that he made a promise and it was necessary to pay consequences. So he took he poor man to court. As the judge realized the man was guilty the poor man pleaded, "I just need you to be merciful", and so the  judge agreed. Then the rich man said to the judge, "That isn't fair! You must be just as well." As the judge came to a rough conclusion a man came through the door in the back and said, "I will pay the debt of this man so he can be free from you, but he will then be in debt to me and pay me the due." At this point the Hno. I was with asked, in this moment if you were the poor man how would you have felt to have someone come and save the day in the exact moment of your sentencing? And so I ask you, how would you feel? Then he went on, "do you realize that the savior and redeemer of the world, Jesus Christ did this for each on of us!? He saves and saved us and all we are is in debt and always will be in debt to him! 

Today was a wonderful day to end my week on, or you could say, start my week on! 

I love you all so much and please know I pray for you! Have a wonderful ThanksGiving!

Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove

De la Misión de Texas Fort Worth