What an amazing time of year it is! I am so excited for the Christmas
season and for the New Years! I just want to thank you for the many
emails, letters and packages I have received. Just the fact you think
about me is all that matters, but I think I would say I would be
happier to receive pictures from all of you with something you did
during the Christmas season to remember Christ more. Something we
always ask the people we talk to is, "what gift can you give to Christ
this Christmas?" And we have received many amazing answers, but what
will yours be!?
So this week has been a really good one, except for as I was typing we
received a text from one of our investigators who just got out of the
hospital telling us he will be on bed rest for 16 months...... So we
are trying to think of how we will get him baptized on the date
still... So we are praying that everything will all work out right
now!
So here was how my week went!
Week December 14-20 2015
Monday:
Every p-day is so fast for me and so crazy for me too, but today for
some reason was different! I finally had time to email all the people
that I needed to and also I had time to write letters to my family and
friends! So today we had a more boring day I guess you would say, but
we were able to play basketball and ultimate frisbee and it was a lot
of fun!! It felt so good to run around and exercise really hard. I
haven't exercised hard like that since soccer and I feel like an old
man trying to run for long periods of time! So after pday we had a
younger lady from the ward make us dinner and bring it to the church,
and may I say I was very impressed! She is the only member in her
family, but I have not tasted a full meal from a girl in her teens
that tasted that good or that was healthy! She was very nice and it
was a really fun dinner! After dinner we went to the house of Jesus,
but he wouldn't answers
Mother door and still isn't answering our phone calls or text
messages. We are so lost on why, so we just found some new apartments
to contact and found a sweet old English lady that wants us to come
back and help her with some heavy objects and also teach her a small
lesson, so we called the English sisters to come with us in the middle
of the week! That was kind of the day for us. As I look at it I have a
hard time seeing the success of no one answering the door, but then I
remember it was a miracle we got all our pday things taken care of in
time and it was a miracle to find an English lady for the sisters! It
doesn't matter who gets the lessons as long as the person is taught
and accepts the gospel!
So as we got home we got the mail and I found a letter from one of my
really good friends, practically family, Addie Edwards! It made me so
happy to see it, because I haven't gotten a hand written letter from
any of my exec family other than her in a while! I am so grateful for
the many people that support me and love me! If they only knew how
much I cared for them as well! One day I will do some sort of thing to
show my love for them! What a day of completed preparation!
Tuesday:
Wow today the True meaning of Christmas just hit me so hard!
So today we started off the day by going with the Bonds to a mission
Christmas Devotional in Trophy Club Texas, about 35 minutes from
Denton. We were there where President Ames and Sister Ames served us a
Christmas Lunch and then we watched the Scrooge! It had a lot of
resemblance of changing your life to do what is right and there was
some symbolism behind him waking up on his knees as if he had been
praying all night for forgiveness! It was awesome to be able to just
relax and visit! Also I saw my mission dad (Elder Schuhmacher) today!
It was such a great experience to see him and how he has already
changed so much! I love him a lot! Also after the movie we walked into
the chapel and had a small spiritual devotional on the meaning of
Christmas where the singing was so powerful and sweet and the messages
were simple and strong!! So President Ames share there scriptures to
us that I loved a lot!
1 Nephi 17:13
There is many land bountiful's in this life, but only one promise land.
John 1:4
Matthew 5:14
So we received a few things in this meeting and here are some things
that we got!!
1. A letter from the First Presidency, My Bishop, and my parents.
2. A metal plaque quoting President Ames
3. A Fort Worth Texas Mission personalized Temple Recommend holder.
And as he gave us our recommend holders president said,
"there is one requirement for you receiving this temple recommend
holder, I expect you to hold this up to e sky one day when I die with
sister Ames and say, "President, I am still worthy, and I will stay
worthy because of the things I have learned and know to be true!"" It
was an amazing time and the best part was giving President a hug and
having tell me Merry Christmas. I miss hugs from my family, and there
is no better hug than from President Ames who has been a hug father
figure to me out here!
Also as we got back to the rest of the evening we had an amazing
experience finding not only one Hispanic family, but a full complex of
Hispanics we have never contacted, and we already had a little success
by talking to some little girls who got their parents out and we
became really quick friends!! To end a successful day we also had
Jesus Call and just tell us he in in the hospital again!!!!!! It's not
a good thing, but at least he wants us to be there for him! Today was
an all around great day!!
Wednesday:
Today was a really tiring day for me! So to start off the day we went
over to the house of Hooper and Saaga, who lives with members and we
raked their leaves all morning! There was so many leaves and it really
made me feel at home just raking all morning! I didn't really stop at
all while the others were saying, "my arms hurt", I was still going
just laughing at them saying, "this is an everyday thing!"
It was a blast and afterwards the members took us out to eat at the
best burger joint in all of Denton called RG Burger. It had huge
burgers and unlimited fries and it was just so good! I am afraid of
eating a lot any more, because I don't want to be a fatty when I come
home, because I still have a goal of doing 5k's and triathlons!
So after lunch we went to contact a few people and then go to some
appointments. We had success finding people to teach, but our
appointments fell through, so we are going to pass by their houses
another day! However, we got 2 new referrals from members so we are
going to go contact them tomorrow! So at the end of the day today we
we walking to the bus stop from the church when a younger man pulled
up and asked us if we wanted a ride. We said sure and he pulled over.
As we were getting in he told us to be careful and as I looked down I
saw all these guns and gun cases sitting all over his car. At first we
were a little nervous, but then he said, "I know you are both scared,
but I work at a gun shop and I fix these guns. I have been a member
for 8 years and I just saw you two walking and I could not let you
freeze!" So we relaxed a little and got talking to find out he was in
the military for a few years and now is just living life trying to
keep out of debt and find a wife! It was a really cool experience to
have! God blesses us as missionaries in everyday, even if it is to
keep us warm for a few more minutes by talking with strangers and
hopefully changing their lives as well! One of the last miracles I had
today was getting home and finding a package by our door from my good
friend Addie Edwards! It was a huge surprise and she even decorated
the outside of it by painting it! What a blessing it is to have family
and friends like that in my life to support me and keep me going!
Every day I have seen miracles and I plan on writing about them more
each day!
Thursday:
Today for me was a long, tiring, and blessed day! It is amazing how
one day can be filled with a mixture of every emotion. So today we
started out the morning by going back over and this time raking the
back yard that was about the same size, and it was way fun. I was
having a good time until the elder began to just sit around and talk.
I am not saying that talking and having a good time on a mission is a
bad thing, but I have been taught that you have fun and talk as you
work, so you get the work done on time and still have time for other
things. So I kept working way hard and was hoping we could finish, but
we spent so much time we couldn't have weekly planning today and as
pushing it to tomorrow. I just wanted to drop my rake and sit down and
as they asked what I was doing I would say, " it is my turn to watch
you work like you did to me." I know that isn't right, so I didn't do
it, and I had to change my perspective and just think, "they weren't
raised the way I was and so they think differently." All in all it was
fun, but I have just been taught by my parents differently and done
differently when working on Exec and everything else in life. After
our service project we went to the church for a quick song practice
with sister Tryon. We are singing is Sunday in the Christmas program
and are singing Silent Night. I am very grateful for Sister Tryon and
her love and dedication to the gospel of Jesus Christ. She is
constantly doing for others and for the ward, and she doesn't even
speak Spanish. And to add to my love of that family, her husband went
with us on an exchange tonight and we went to visit and teach Jesus.
Jesus and Hno. Tryon connected well and we taught Jesus the plan of
salvation. Something that hit me really hard that was a blessing was
when I testified of my decision of being baptized and he looked at me
and said with all his heart, "I can not wait for that day, because I
know I need to do it, but most importantly, I want to be baptized!"
I instantly was so excited for him and just wanted to break out in
dance!! It make s me so happy to see him progress and now we need to
help him understand the importance of the Book of Mormon! I am so
grateful Hno. Tryon went with us and testified, because he is so
humble and full of love. He truly looks for the good in others and
most of all listens to them and finds out their needs. I look up to
him for that! So as I got home tonight I got the mail And received a
holiday family Christmas card and some money from a family who I feel
really close to and am so grateful for in my life. I don't know if
they will ever understand their role models that they have been for
me! I wish their was some way I could truly thank them! I also
received a package from my grandma Spendlove with wrapped gifts that I
am so excited for and also a package from my parents that had gifts to
both me and my companion! The thing I have been able to start and
realize is that the packages are great and I love the gifts I receive,
but the thing that makes me truly happy is that people are thinking
about me and the things I might need. Ya I got gifts, but the thought
is what truly counts most in my heart! What a great day!
Friday:
Today was a pretty good day! We were able to go to the Infinite
Capabilities School and be with the special needs people, and it was
so much fun! Every time I go I am lifted to a higher understanding on
the perfect of Gods children. There is a lady there that I visit with
that is the same age as my parents and she has Serval Palsy and every
time I visit with her she just makes me realize how blessed I am to be
able to walk, talk and do stuff on my own. Also she makes me think of
how different it would be to have a mom or dad like that who I would
take care of. It truly is a blessing to give service in that place! So
today they were watching a Santa movie and as the movie had ended and
the closing Christmas Jam was going there was a younger girl who just
started to dance and it was really cute to see an old lady get up to
dance with her and then see their teachers join in and just see
everyone acting normal around these people! It was quite a scene for
me!
So after that we went to a Sub shop in the square area that we wanted
to test out, because I have been working on saving money and have
saved up a lot! That is our new favorite thing to do is be the food
critiques in this old fashioned square! After our lunch we were able
to go to the city library and plan for the week and just figure out
how we can find more people to teach! It was a great time to plan and
we got a lot figured out! So we waited for a member to bring us dinner
tonight and as he came he got here an hour late and didn't even bring
us food, he brought us money after saying he was bringing food, so
then we had to spend even more precious finding time cooking and
eating! It was really frustrating as a missionary as the member
doesn't understand the thing that he had done. However we had a
referral sent to us as a family and we were able to contact them
tonight. They were not to interested in changing their religion, but
we taught them a quick porch lesson and I told the mom, "we come as
missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ, but we truly come as
children of God to help our brothers and sisters in any way! We hope
you call us if you have questions about this book or need any service
and we hope you have a great day!" It was a quick, but strong lesson
and then we had to go and catch a bus. As I walked away from that
house I was thinking, "did we waste a night coming here?" And then I
remembered that the girls told us she was excited to have something
new to read tonight. Even thought the mother was not way interested
the seed was planted! It was worth every second and step taken to
reach that house! Everyone is important to God!
Saturday:
So today was a pretty cool day! We had a little bit of a switch up
where we actually started our day with a giant eagle service project
at 7:30 in the morning and didn't have any coordination meeting until
around 12:00! So our bishops son was working on getting his eagle and
his service project was to make and clear a path in the Texas jungle
to connect some trails together! It took all morning and man was it
muddy! My shoes were destroyed by the mud, but I made it out alive and
will be fine! I had a lot of fun because there was so many people
there to work with! I have never seen so many people at an eagle
project! I would say there was about 40 or 50 people there to support
him! So after our service we went to the church and had our missionary
coordination meeting and received good advice for the week to come.
And what was surprising me was planning out what would happen during
Christmas! What how is Christmas already here!? After our meeting,
Hno. Arias took us to lunch at Cicis pizza and it was a lot of fun! He
is a really good guy! We were also sitting at dinner when Elder
'Otuafi discovered a hole in the butt of his pants, so he was all
"crying" that he would have to buy new pants and that they were his
favorite. I told him to take them off and give them to me and they
would be fixed in no time! So for our dinner I taught him how to fix
his pants and man was he thankful! We had a good time! So to end our
day we did some studies and then went and taught Jesus Vera! He was
doing really good and was very open to learning a lot! We taught him
the second half of the plan of salvation focused on the atonement and
also the kingdoms of glory, he loved it and asked good questions and I
feel like we really found out who he was tonight! It was a great
lesson and we were so glad we had the opportunity to share the night
with him! Yes times can be hard as a companionship, but the things I
learn from my companion can not be learned by being alone! He is a
great man and I have learned who I am through the trials we have had
together!
Sunday:
Today was such good, but long day for me! So last night as we were
falling asleep we got a call from our investigator. He said, " hey
brothers, I have some special pain mess coming at 12:30 in the morning
and I don't thing I will be awake. Do you think you could call me to
wake me up so I can make sure I have the opportunity to open the door
for the doctor?" All I could think was, "you have a smart phone, and
that has an alarm, but you probably can't use it, so ya we can." And
when I say we I mean me! Elder 'Otuafi sleeps like a log! He doesn't
wake up for anything and when his head hits the pillow he is out! So I
woke up with an alarm in the middle of the night to call our
investigator. And the rest of the night I just tossed and turned! So
today was a good day, but was very tiring! Church was wonderful,
because we had a really good Christmas Program. However, there is a
huge difference in the programs from a Spanish to English ward. In a
Spanish ward people can't sing to well, so the music is pretty but
usually out of tune! But today we as missionaries sang a version of
silent night that was way pretty and it was so much fun! And after
church today we had the opportunity to go and contact some people that
I have never seen before. We taught a man that seemed to be interested
that the missionaries have taught before. His mom was also interested,
basically hooked on the teachings of of our church. So we set a new
lesson appointment for this Wednesday and hope we can get them to
church as well. Sadly that was our only lesson, because we had to walk
and it was long distance walking to find an apartment with Hispanics!
As I was walking tonight I had one thought, "wow my legs are sore....
I can't imagine being a pioneer and walking far in the snow as well!"
I am so grateful for my heritage and for their sacrifice so that I
could be raised in the gospel! It was an amazing week for me!
To end I just want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! Please
remember the reason for the season and most of all that God loves you!
Have a great week with family and friends! And family, I can't wait
for Friday!!!!:)
I will leave with a scripture I found recently that I love!
Romans 8:31 "If God be for us, who can be against us?"
Con Amor,
Elder Spendlove
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