Dear Family and Friends,
This week has really been a good week. For me it was tough, but a good week to be able to learn from and make better! I had a lot of really amazing opportunities and I learned a whole lot! I hope that all of you have had a great week and that you are all staying warm in this weather the Lord is giving us!
Here is how my week went!
Week January 4-10 2016
Monday:
Wow today was a very fast day and always is, but it was such an amazing day as well!
So today we started off by cleaning our house, because we didn't know if one of us was going to leave until we got a call around 11. So we found out at we have the awesome chance to be together and improve ourselves and each other for 6 more weeks! Another thing we also got done today was a lot of emails, letters and I got my haircut right after we went shopping! It was so nice to get a haircut and feel like a new missionary all over again! Also as I sat down and the lady was talking to me I could hear a huge accent and I said, "mam, where are you from?" And she told me she was from Puerto Rico and had been here for ten years, and I could really tell her English was hard for her. As we were talking I just switched randomly into Spanish and kind of freaked her out a little, but after she figured out why I new Spanish she was so happy!! It was a really cool experience and from that point on it was all Spanish and I loved it! We got to go to the church and play lots of games like a game called scatter all where you are playing dodgeball but without teams pretty much! So at the end of our games my zone leader walked up and gave me his quad copter to see if I could fix it and I was so happy to try and fix it! Also he is letting me take it home to make sure I get it fixed right if you know what I mean!;)
So tonight we didn't have a dinner from the ward, so the elders were going to drop us off somewhere to eat while they went to their dinner appointment, but the sister insisted that she fed us as well, so we all ate together and had such a good chat!! The older lady I was talking to the whole time is from Chile Canción and is getting ready to go back! She made it sound so wonderful that one day I want to go back there as well! Today was a great day, and the best day to end it is by our great planning and winding down with the RC toy and my cello!
Tuesday:
Today started off a little slow, but it ended up being such an amazing day! So today we did our studies and then went over to Elder Saaga and Hoopers house to help them get ready for exchanges tomorrow. We cleaned the house good and then we went out to eat as a going away party for Elder Saaga. Also on our way back to our apartment we found this really funny painting on a building wall of the Virginia Maria that we decided we would take a picture with, because every Hispanic has had some type of experience with her!! As we got home we finished a little more studies and headed right to our dinner appointment with the Pumphreys, where they made Tongan style chicken and rice, and it was so good! After dinner Hno. Pumphrey went on exchange with us and we knocked a few doors before heading to the church where we got a brand new investigator to come for his first time to an addiction recovery program and tomorrow we will take him on a tour of the church! It made my whole day to see him walk not only into the church, but to see him sit through a full class and learn something and make friends! As we got home and began planning, Elder 'Otuafi and I finally were able to learn more on how to be closer. He told me about his life and said he wanted to be close with me as a companionship. We talked about how we could, and after our planning I taught him how to fly the quad copter, and now we might go buy some cheap ones to fly together as something that we both life to do. One thing we have found out is we like the opposites and act the opposites so sometimes connecting is very hard to do. However, I feel with the way we are thinking we can connect so much better! I love my companion and I love my mission!
Wednesday:
Wow today was quite the crazy day for us! However it is just the start of a crazy week! So today we had the chance to go over and sit with an English elder, Elder Coorington while his companion was getting transferred, and not only did we study, but he taught us how to sweet a house like a swat team and so we dressed up a bit and practiced! After his new companion arrived the took us home where we finished our studies and headed over to the Library so that we could plan for the week! We had a great planning and a great comp inventory and were able to set a lot of appointments! As we got home for dinner we made a quick dinner and started working on the puzzle Elder 'Otuafi got for Christmas for something more to do together, and we had a great time! After dinner we headed out to an apartment complex where we are having a lot of Success and on our way it started to just pour, and the whole time we were out it rained crazy hard! One of the first houses we got to an American older guy opened the door and told us to come in. As we entered the smell of smoke hit us harder than walking into a casino full of smile. This guy had been smoking so much his house was hazy! As we sat there we both felt like our eyes were burning and our lungs too. It was however a good experience to see how people live and to see this poor old guy lost in this addiction! He didn't want to learn much and didn't want us to leave him with anything, but as we got outside of his house we realize that he left us with so,etching, and that was the great smell of bad thick smoke! After a little more knocking and a lot of successful appointments set we started for home and when we got home we realized not only did we stink way bad of smoke, but now it was a wet stinky smoke smell!! Today was quite the adventure! Something I learned is that even the most lost people receive the simplest blessings from God, they just don't see them as blessings. Also I learned that it only takes one word,to change the life of someone!!
Thursday:
Today was such a crazy day!! So today we started off by doing some studies and then going straight to Zone Council where I gave a training on teaching in your Stewardship and how holding on to others investigators slows the progress of every missionary of the Lords team! It went really good, and from there we had the awesome opportunity to go to the Alliance Stake Center in Trophy Club about 45 minutes from Denton to have a song practice! We were lucky enough to have our Ward Mission Leader give us a ride and man I want to have a house and yard like him on day! He is retired and just hunts in his 50 acre back yard whenever he wants!! So after our beautiful Song Practice we had dinner with the Stasser Family! Their family is an english family but a mix of Spanish speaker, because the mom is a mix of a Hispanic. We had home made waffles and eggs with sausage! It really made me think of home and having breakfast for dinner all the time, and as we were talking come to find out they are my cousins!! They are related to me through my grandpa Dudley Leavitt! They go through his brother! So we started talking and come to find out the mom and dad hiked and spent lots of time in Zion National park and even got married in the St. George temple!! It was so fun to have someone know my home town!! After dinner we had the opportunity to go to an investigators Modesta's house to teach her and her husband Jose, who is an inactive member. As we taught them they had their friends over because of the kings festival day they had yesterday. The Kings festival day is based off of something, but and one was a Jehovahs Witness, and she wouldn't leave anything alone, however, I am glad that she was there to help me learn to use scriptures and most of all just to testify!! What an amazing day! I hope tomorrow we can have a small little break!!
Friday:
Today was a crazy fast day and was a very fun day as well!! So today we began to work out in a church Gym with two missionaries to pick us up and take us there and one of them is teaching me Jujitsu to protect myself, and it is pretty cool! Also after our studies we went to a service project were we served for about 3 hours cleaning a ladies yard and it was a huge transformation! We raked leaves, swept here sidewalks and porches and then we even planted a tree for her. After our fun service project we came home and finished a few more studies and realized that we left our phone inside of the elders car and that they were going to be gone all night until 9 so we had a rough time getting everything organized! However we kept our composure and everything worked out just fine. We had our exchange make it on time and then we went to teach an investigator, but he was still working, so we passed by Jesus Vera's house and began teaching him about the Word of Wisdom and how important it was, but all he could think about was that he was leaving the next day and he was very stressed, so we jumped the lesson and helped him pack and we gave him a few of our things he didn't have so he would be comfortable! I think at first I was a little frustrated, but after time I realized that I was learning something and that is to be a friend and help our investigators before we just try to teach them! If I learned anything I learned that I need to think of a better way to teach the word of wisdom and also to always focus on their needs first! Now I am practicing the cello so that I will be ready for the Fireside tomorrow! I am super excited and very nervous at the same time!! However, the lord will bless me!
Saturday:
So today was quite the exciting day for me! I would pretty much say it was the biggest dream come true! So today we left at 7 to travel to Trophy club with the couple missionaries, Elder Bond and Sister Bond. We got there a little early and I had a chance to practice the cello with everyone and then we had the amazing opportunity to have D. Todd Christofferson and his wife come to spend the morning with us! We took pictures with them and then we had the chance to shake their hands before a fireside!! As I shook the hand of Elder Christofferson I just felt so much love from him and I also felt just like he already knew me! He thanked me for my service and just smiled with his big smile, but his wife as I shook her hand the first thing she said was, "Elder Spendlove, did you eat breakfast?" I don't know if she was telling me I was just skinny or if she was just trying to start a good conversation!? So as the fireside started I got the amazing opportunity to play the cello with about 8 missionaries singing and a sister playing the piano. As I finished I could just feel so much warmth and happiness, and all I could think about was a scripture in Doctrine Covenants 25:12-13 that talks about a righteous song is a prayer unto the lord! I was praying as I shared my talent, but most of all I was testifying! Some things Elder Christofferson said that touched me were, "the Lord I believe is very frustrated with us, because he wants to give us more blessings, but we aren't preparing to receive them fast enough!" Also he said, "When we come on this mission we are in debt to the lord, but when we leave we leave even more in debt for the many miracles he gave us. Don't you ever think he owes you!" Also one sister missionary asked a very sacred question that she really shouldn't have asked which was, what does Jesus Christ Look like? And it kind of shocked him and his first words were very sacred. He said, "Not like the paintings...." And then he tried to focus more on the meaning of being an apostle And testifying of the name of Jesus Christ. After learning so much from Elder Christofferson I felt just so much energy to go and change the world, to just let the whole world know what they are missing! And also as I was leaving the meeting I had quite a few people stop me and tell me thank you. One sister that is in my district stopped me and said in Spanish, "thank you for playing that with your heart." And I said, "your welcome! I am glad I had the opportunity to do it!" And then she stopped me again as I was walking slowly away and said this time in English, "no elder Spendlove, for reals thank you so much." I don't know what she felt, but the spirit testified to her and she felt something that changed her, and I made me feel good to know that I was able to do that by having the courage share my talents! After our amazing morning we had the opportunity to go to Providence to help clean a members garage for a while. Sadly his wife is divorcing him and leaving him and his little son that is maybe 1. So as we finished the project he was driving us home and his son began to cry, so I began to talk to him and play with him and we became best friends! It made me really miss my nephews and nieces a lot, but it was a good refresher to know how much I love children! We also had the opportunity to get out and bike this evening in the 35 degree weather and it was just a little too cold so we went and planned at the church!! What an amazing day I will never forget!!
Sunday:
So today was a really good day being able to go to the church and have our meetings as missionaries in the morning with Ward Council right afterwards and then sacrament meeting! Today I really tried to think about the things the savior has done for me everyday, and as I was sitting there during sacrament, after a rough week of people canceling appointments on us, I began to pray. As I was praying I felt so much peace come over me and I had the story of Jesus being rejected and slapped and I knew that he had felt this pain, and even more and that he knew that what I was going through was hard! So I began to think, what am I doing to show that I can try harder to be the best missionary, and I found out I don't talk a lot to the members without them saying hi to me, so I began to talk with the members to really get to know them personally, and I made a lot of friends! So after church we were planning on taking an investigator to a fireside with a member, but he called us saying it wasn't going to work, so we got to change our plans really fast. So this evening was about 35 or so degrees and was very cold, but as I was biking I didn't feel way cold until I got in the house at the end of the night! So we went to the church for dinner and then began contacting some people close by the church and had a little bit of success. As we got going elder asked me if I had the house keys. I told him I didn't and then we thought maybe we left them at the church, so we,had to bike back to find out they weren't there! We found one person to teach named Sacramento Martinez and we taught him a quick lesson on his porch about Jesus Christ and his life and how the Book of Mormon can help us to have a better life. He took it well and we found out he works with one of our members! So we are going to call out members to have a better lesson with him! At the end of the day we went home and got our call in for the numbers, and as I look back at the week it was a very difficult week when I comes to finding people to teach, but I feel like it was a very successful week when it comes to my progress in the gospel!
Elder Christofferson said,
"the atonement of Christ doesn't just remove the spot, but the stain of the sin as well!"
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