“True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior.”

Dear Family and Friends,
This week has been such a wonderful week! I hope that y'all had a good week as well!
Also how crazy that Jaden is leaving this week! Best of luck Jaden, or should I say Elder Stone! I am so excited for you!:)

Week August 15 - 21 2016
Monday:
 Wow today was a super fun day for us as missionaries! We were able to go and get the other elders, elder Williams and Wolfert on bikes, to take them shopping and then we just headed right over to the church to be able to do our emails and then everyone form the zone showed up to play sports with us! We had so much fun getting to know each other better! So something that I wanted to share was a scripture I read this morning in Alma 41. It talks about the importance of being active in he gospel even if you can't be active in the church. At least that is the way I looked at it! I hope that as you read this scripture you realize that no one can hold you back from worshipping God, because he always has a way! And he will free us from the bands bynwhich we are bound and lift our loads so they feel light, but it is a team effort! He comes in really as a back up to push you to the very end! So after P-Day we went to the house of Hna. Lugo, where we shared the talk Come and see by Elder Bednar, and it was super powerful to read and learn that we as missionaries are here to aide the members in the work of souls, now how can we get the members to understand this concept and to jump on it and get their friends interested as well so that we can teach Them?
As we finished the lesson Hna. Lugo asked us if we had visited her grandson that got baptized, because she has another that could be baptized as well, we just had to get him ready, so that is exactly what we want to do, so this evening we pasted by to get to know them, but sadly they were not home! However, today was a wonderful day!

Tuesday:
What an amazing day to really be able to be Edified as a Zone and fed by our Mission President and his Wife. Today I can say I feel has been the first day that I have taken good serious notes, and it has been so uplifting and helping for me in my position in which I am right now! First off I started with wonderful personal study where I learned really what the Gospel of Christ is, and I also learned that it is literally a commandment to be baptized. I felt the spirit so strong as I studied and it was,cool to see it carried over to our Zone Conference! So come to find out, it was the first Zone Conference the President and Sister Whitney have had, and it was so amazing! So I want to share one spiritual thing that happened to me in Zone Conference today. We were doing Role Plays, which are seriously my favorite, and I was the investigator Rey, that we are having troubles with. As Elder Lopez invited me to be baptized I said no, and that is when he shared a scripture that hit me so hard with the spirit that I began to cry. I know that doesn't show my manly side, but it was a beautiful blessing that God gave us to find that scripture, and from that we know God wants us to share that with him, and we can not wait to share that with him! I know that Role Plays are important for every member or missionary! So as we were finishing our conference, we had a leadership meeting for the wards, and it was wonderful to see how much power and love President has with the members. He gets emotional so easy, but to me it shows his love more than anything, and it makes me love him even more!
So this evening I have learned patience and how to control my attitude! We called AP Elder Bird to make sure our exchanges we good for tomorrow, because we were going to catch a ride with them because of our lack of miles, and the informed us that they had something come up,and they were not going to be able too. It got to me, because they didn't tell us until night and now we have to stay up to figure out how to fix it. However, Elder Lopez helped me understand that if we think negative then others will see us and we can't lead like that! He really helped me see I need to always have a positive attitude!

Wednesday:
Holy cow today was such a wonderful day! So today we were going to have an exchange, but we had to change it, because the APs had an emergency that they had to take care of, so it didn't work out. However, our day was still amazing and jam packed of lessons! So today we went out finding people to teach and really focusing on talking to everyone we saw, and as we passed by one Hispanic we asked if we could give her a card, we began to talk with her, and then she shared that she has talked with missionaries in Mexico before and loved their message, so we gave her a Book of Mormon and set a return appointment for next week, and we are super happy we decided to stop and talk with Everyone! Also today we had a wonderful and last lesson, or so we thought, with Isaac Sanchez, who has his baptism coming up on the 27th of this month. We were able to teach him the rest of the lessons and even talk about the Priesthood and what that means, and it was all new to him. Just the bible itself he doesn't know, because he has never read the whole thing. He only knows some of the stories from Jesus' life. So we are excited for him! Then after that lesson we headed over to dinner with the Carreon Family, where after the lesson they taught us the Plan of Salvation and we were the investigators! They did a really good job, and just need to work on asking questions instead of making it feel like a one way class!
After that we headed straight to Rey Castillo's house, where we actually had our lesson outside on a super nice patio where the weather was just perfect in between rain and we had a nice breeze. We got there and he asked us a few really good questions, and then we shared the importance of the Sabbath day even more, and right away he knew what we Meant and decided to work on getting the day off or pushed to the evening so he could be to church, and it was just a powerful lesson with lots of Testimony, and he took it super well! We are excited for him, because we set a goal of October 8th for baptism, and he is willing to change that on the time it takes to get Sunday's off and make it to church as well! We are so excited for him, and we finished the night off by meeting up with the Parrajons to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant, and then we headed home. I have to say that Hna. Parrajons is one hoot, who has a lot of attitude, but it is hilarious! So we got home to get some planning done for tomorrow, when we received a call from Isaac Sanchez, who had a question about Matthew 3 that he was reading, so we got on FaceTime and we read the chapter together and explained it verse by verse, and it was very successful! He understood it well, and it was just a wonderful lesson. As we got off the FaceTime it was 10:40 and we were rushing to get to bed, with no time to write in our journals or anything, but we both agree that it was the best way to end the night off, by helping him understand what God wants him to do!

Thursday:
They Sa that the busier you are the faster time goes, and I can testify of that! So today we had the opportunity for a Young Man named David Ayala to go on an exchange with us for the whole day and it was a huge success! We taught lessons and contacted people on the street, and it was so cool to see that he just receiving his mission call to Argentina is not scared of talking with anyone and that he just worked his hardest to share a simple card with everyone. For instance, we watched a guy walk by our truck, and we asked if he wanted to give him a card, and he said yes. So we asked if he wanted our help, and he said no and began to run after this guy! So with his help we had a few wonderful contacts that we are excited to go back and check on! Then today we were able to have a lesson with Jose Valencia's girlfriend, who should be wife, because they have been together for years and have a son! She is a member, and has been less active for years, but after our lesson focused on the Atonement and the importance of attending church she said I won't try to be there, but I will be there this Sunday! So we know that she felt the spirit and that she is going to try her hardest to be there! So a cool experience that we had was being invited to eat dinner at David's house with his family as an ex missionary came over to talk about his mission in Argentina. The accent that he had, and the amazing vocabulary that he had just got me excited to study the language even more, and I am so pumped to get better at my Spanish! So we had a wonderful time, and then ended the evening blessing the house of a newer family in the ward, the Parrajon family, who have 4 crazy kids and both have bipolar problems I think, because one second they are screaming and the next they are laughing!? But screaming of laughing we know that they are just having some fun with us! The blessing on the home was wonderful and it brought so much peace to the home that I didn't feel before. Things like these just give me a testimony of the small and simple things that are done through priesthood power, and I realized the importance of a supportive wife when holding the priesthood as I saw it in the husband and wife in their home!

Friday:
I have just loved the exchange I have been on today! So today can be explained by this scripture right here. 2 Corinthians 5:7 "I will walk by faith even when I can not see!"
So today was a great example of that! Today I had the chance to pick up Elder Thompson, a brand new Spanish missionary, from Lewisville, while Elder Lopez stayed there with Elder Reveli! And apparently I was his first exchange in Fort Worth, from what he was telling me! So last night I was a little nervous for today, because I have only been here for a week, and don't know anyone. However as we came back and got busy it was amazing how God literally helped us the whole day! We were able to enjoy a good amount of rain, meaning we got soaked a few times, but it was all worth it, because we had a lesson with the Maria and Nicolas Valdez, less actives, who have lost their testimony in the Book of Mormon, but that simple visit sparked their interest again, and we are hoping to help them be faithful again to being at church! Then as we left there running through the rain just laughing we drove and got ahold of a less active member named Hno. Bautista, and had a wonderful visit with him. He told us his life story and conversion story and then we shared 3 Nephi 13 with him more focused on the end part talking about where your treasure is there will be your heart also, and he loved it. He looked at us and said, I am going to talk with my wife and we are going to make another better commitment to God! So we feel like even though we didn't teach a lot that we helped them feel the invitation was from God and not just us! Elder Thompson taught me to look for new scriptures, and to not be scared to just speak what he knows! I am glad I got to know him, and he is definitely the richest missionary in the mission, because of his blood disorder, because it doesn't clot good, so he has this medicine that is super important and he is just an awesome Missionary that actually knows a lot for only a week! Today was definitely walked by faith with the people we found at the right time!

Saturday:
Today was such a wonderful day! I think the quote for today is Never Judge Yourself by looking at Others. I say this, because this past week I feel I have been judging myself when with my companion. And I feel that the whole reason is because he is a native and speaks fluently. To start the day off I went driving back with Elder Thompson back to Lewisville, and there was so much traffic and rain. On our way home we took a wrong turn and came up upon a Ticket Checkpoint for the airport, and we thought we were going to have to pay lots of money, and at the last sencond we found a way out, and it was a blessing from God! So today as we went and had one of our appointments with a recently moved in member, I realized that it was something I was doing, and that I needed to change! So Hno. Stafford is from Texas and went on a mission to Peru 6 years ago, and now is married to a Peru lady he met in his mission, and speaks Spanish to his kids and goes to a Spanish ward, and we just connected super well. It helped me realize that it doesn't matter how good you speak Spanish, but that you try! I think the other thing that effected me so much was our lesson this evening that we had with Rey Castillo. So he has decided that he wants to meet with us two times a week, and he is so amazing! As we get there he always gives us a hug and has questions for us, and we taught him the rest of lesson 4 and he only has parts of lesson 5 left, and he set his own baptismal date for October 15th, but we know that as he gets Sunday's off that he will be wanting to be baptized sooner! So before we left he bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith by talking about a scripture that he learned about in the Book of Mormon found in 2 Nephi 3. He testified that he knows the Book of Mormon is true because he was able to understand this so clearly, and then we were both in shock, because we try to teach people that scripture and they just are not ready to understand it. Also he has almost finished with 2 Nephi, and he is in love with the Book of Mormon. We had asked him if he had the chance to read today, and he got all sad and said no, because he had been cleaning his house since he got home from work, and then he said, I have been listening to it on the app while I clean though, but that isn't good enough! Haha it was a wonderful lesson, and it is so cool to see how ready he is!! We just had a wonderful day!

Sunday:
I can never say how much I love Sunday's! Today was such a wonderful day! We were able to go to church and have such a good time with all of the members, but I wanted to focus on something that happened later on in my day that really hit me today! So we were able to go to a fireside put on by our ward about Patriarchal Blessings, and it just hit me so hard! So the past few months I have really started to just have questions in my mind on who I am, my purpose in life and again if God knows me as well as I think he does, and today was another day of awakening for me. Today the patriarch for the stake came and spoke to us about the importance of getting and having patriarchal blessings, and it hit me, I haven't read mine in quite some time, and mine has the instructions for my mission and life, and I have done nothing to even study it! To all of you I invite, read your patriarchal blessings, and if you don't have one please do! The patriarch said, "to understand the importance of the patriarchal blessing I want you to think about the Premortal existence. Do you think God had a plan for you when you decided to follow him? This blessing is his plan for you if you stay faithful!" This evening I realized just how important the blessing was to me, but more I realized that God was answering my prayers and thoughts from a while back, and it made me think a lot, and I know that God loves me!

Thank you for all your love and support in this journey, and I pray every day for your safety and success as you work and share your love of the gospel with all those around you!

Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove

De la Misión de Texas Fort Worth

I think it worked?

Dear Family and friends! 

I tried to send this email out earlier, and I don't know if it worked! So here it is again!:)

Week August 8-14 2016

Monday:

Today was one of the fastest P-days ever! We had the chance to go and get all of our house clean and get our laundry done really early, and I got all done packing so quick that the whole day we were just able to enjoy a lot! So today we went and had a wonderful lunch with Hno. Picon who is a sweeter old guy in his late 60s or mid 70s and he feed us fish and talked to us for an hour and a half while we were trying to get out of his house to go to our pday as fast as we could. As we got out we went and had a blast at the stake center with all the Missionaries and were able to play lots of sports and just enjoy our time together. It was good relaxing time, and then I realized that we had to get out for our dinner! So we had dinner with Hna. Zuniga, a sister that has caught her whole life to be a good member, and she told us her conversion to the church, and it was super wonderful! So after dinner we met up with Elders Adams and Pearce, and had a lesson with their progressing investigator, and them right away went to their apartment to get picked up by the Sptls. And we just arrived at 10:15 to their apartment, where we are getting ready for bed to wake up tomorrow to give a training and just see how the new missionaries are! It is going to be a blast! However, as I left my apartment today my neighbor began to cry as he heard I was leaving, so I gave him a hug and he gave me his number, and I gave him my email, and I hope that we can stay in touch and keep his life a little bit better! It was a cool experience to know we became close friends to him! What a great day!

Tuesday! 

So today was a pretty nice day until around 8:00 pm when the real work began! 

So today we were able to get to the Grapevine chapel early to set up and to chapel sit while we waited for the new missionaries, and it was really quite a waste of our time, and I would like to talk to President and the APs to be able to help them understand that we need real responsibilities, because we are wasting the Lords time. But being able to meet he new missionaries and especially Elder Warby was wonderful! He was a little shocked, but I was in shock as well coming into it! I was super happy about the quality of the missionaries that came in, and I am so excited to see how well they do in their new areas. So today we gave a powerful training to the four Spanish missionaries that came in, and it was super wonderful. They seemed to be super excited and we loved talking about our missions! So once they headed out to the mission office we went and had dinner and headed to Jose's house where we taught a powerful lesson on fasting, and he was feeling the spirit so strongly. So we are going to fast with him tomorrow to help him know what he needs to do to find a new job! Then we went to the church to work on getting the missions transfer rides put together, and it is 10:30 and we are still working on the rides, because he zone leaders and just taking forever to get info in! So this evening the Office elders showed up, and we helped them get out a full trailer of bags and get them all organized, and then we also set up the gym with tables and chairs for the meetings tomorrow, and we will be there earlytomorrow to set up, so really we are busy right now with everything, and I am loving it! I don't know why, but when everything goes right and I am super busy, I am a happy missionary. For me the hardest times in my mission are when I have a hard time finding things to do that fulfill my purpose and keep me busy! Today has been wonderful, and I am excited for my new calling!!:)

Wednesday: Feliz Cumpleaños Padre! 53 años y todavia anda Fuerte!

What a crazy and tiring day I had today! I feel like I too just began my mission with how tired I am right now finishing up the day! So today we woke up at 6 to get in the shower and get headed to the Hurst Stake Center to set up for transfers! We were ready and going by 8, and we didn't get done until around 11. Also we were outside directing people and helping with people's stuff and in the sun for those 3 hours, and it is super tiring and rough. However, it is something I loved doing being able to see all the wonderful missionaries and being able to work with them to get to know them better! Also so as we were rounding up with transfers this morning I said good luck to elder Warby as he went out with his new Trainer for his area, and he seemed super excited!

Right when we thought we were done we realized we had to go inside and out the tables in a different order and clean up, which took sometime, and then drive to the mission office to take care of some business like dropping off Tiwi cards and iPads of Homeward bound missionaries. Then we had to redraw some Spanish Boundaries and make a new area in Hurst for some new whitewashing elders, who actually right now are bike elders and without and apartment. So on our way to pick them up for a meeting the sisters called and locked their keys in their car, so we grabbed a spare from the office, and then went straight to helping them and getting to the meeting for our district. It was wonderful, and then we had to get straight to lessons all evening. What I didn't realize is that I hadn't eaten all day, and it wasn't bothering me, and he other thing was I am walking into like 5 baptisms, so I feel blessed and that I need to make them the best converts that never even thing different about the gospel! So we got home after finally eating, just to begin a fast, I know I am crazy, but for an investigator who is looking for a job, and so it will be a good day tomorrow! What a wonderful day of Transfers, and elder Lopez is wonderful!

Wednesday:

Today was an awesome day where we had some very wonderful studies, and we were able to go and find some interested people! 

So today after our wonderful studies, we went to the Mission office to take care of some more Spanish map changes and then to sit with the APs and figure out some important information, and it was just wonderful to be apart of what is happening in the office. I don't know why, but ever since being on Exec, the hustle and bustle of being in the office and being so busy and having that kind of relationship with the office staff really makes me happy! So as we were heading out we were both able to read our responsibilities that we printed off, and talk about them. And the main one is exchanges. For instance, we as Sptls, will be going on roughly 2 to 3 exchanges per week. Sounds crazy, and your right, it is! That is a full week that we would be on exchanges, and not that we don't want to do that, but that is like packing and living away and constantly being on the road for 5 days in a row every week. So we were able to talk that over, and then we were able to to talk about how we don't feel like we are getting the responsibilities that we need, because we are wasting time being to the meetings of new missionaries or trainers. So we hope to be able to take more part after we have a meeting about these things with president Whitney on Saturday! 

So after leaving he office we get busy and actually found 2 people that are interested in a message, with the help of Elders Williams and Wolfert, because they are opening a new area with literally no information on members or investigators, so they spent the evening with us finding and teaching in our area, and it was super helpful for us to have their help! So we are so excited to keep working hard! So this evening we contacted a few more referrals with no answers of letting of teach tonight, but we were able to set return times to teach, so throughout the week we will be busy and be in these lessons we hope! Also tonight we had our investigator who has a baptismal date for the 27th of this month call us, and say that he had a question. He asked, "why would God command Nephi to kill Laban?" Now this question I want y'all to think about, what if your Friend asked you that? How would you handle it? 

It was wonderful to answer it for him and have him understand and eager to read more! We love our investigators and area so much!

Friday: Feliz Cumpleaños Madre! 52 Años!

What an amazing day it has been, even though the week has been crazy, today was a well needed day where I was strengthened by Zone Council. So pretty much everyone is new in the Zone, so it was so fun to just get to know each other and really have a good council. So there was something said there, that I can't let go and feel I need to work on and be better at, it is Talking to Everyone! So we were being trained on this, and Elder Barber, my Zone leader said, "I want you to imagine yourself in the spirit world just walking around. Now I want you to think about what kind of experiences you want to have while there. Would you want to have those you taught come up to y and give you a hug, crying and tell you thank you, or would you want them to come up to you sad and say, my life was horrible, because you, you saw me, but you never told me anything about the gospel." This hit me hard. I want God to be happy with me, I want to feel happy about what I did, and when I get ready to go home I want to be able to pray to God and cry, telling him I have done all I could. Now I must work on talking with everyone, and not being afraid of anything or anyone! I love the scripture found in Ezekiel 33:1-6 that talks about the sounding of a trumpet. If you see something coming and you sound it, those that don't listen have the guilt, but if you don't give it your all and you don't sound the trumpet, it is on your head. 

So after that we went out and got busy trying to teach people, but no one was able to listen today! So we went by and taught a few members, and had a wonderful time. As I am home now I think about how my day could have been better, and I am forgetting to pray before I leave my apartment, and that is something I want to better so that I really can show God I want to do what he wants done! Today was wonderful!

Saturday: 

Wow it scares me how bad time is flying by, because even tho we just started the transfer, I can already see that time is not on my side as I have been so busy! So today was a wonderful day for me to see how the mission really works and how we get the trainings we do to how we get to Exchanges with the Leaders, except for I am at the leader end where I still feel so young and that I should be watching others in my spot and just be learning at their feet, but I know that the Lord is helping me on my way!

So today we started off with a wonderful correlation meeting with Mario Santiesteban, who is our ward mission leader who served in Argentina! Then we went straight to the mission office for quite a few hours worth of meetings! I have to say that this time with the APs and President Whitney was some of my favorite time of the day! I loved just being able to feel of their love, and spirit as we talked about how the mission could improve, and what was necessary to teach in the up coming Zone Conferences! So after that meeting we talked briefly about our responsibilities as Sptls, and then we talked about our Exchanges that we will be doing as Sptls! It was wonderful to learn how all of this worked, and it really helped me see that the time in your mission goes by so fast! By the time we finished planning with having 3 exchanges every week for the rest of the transfer, we could see just how busy the time would be and how fast the time would go by! So we are super excited to get going and see just how fast it does go! I will put in a picture of how our month looks coming up. Also today we taught an investigator named Rey Castillo, and I learned an amazing thing. Having a smile on your face makes everyone else happy! Rey always has a smile on his face, and he is also so smart! He asked a question today that blew me away! He asked, "Why is it necessary to have opposition in all things?" Then as we were talking he pretty much answered it himself as he read a scripture that he found while personally studying! It was a powerful lesson and I personally will be praying for him to get a new job so he can be baptized! What a wonderful day!

Sunday:

Well today was a very crazy and wonderful day for me, where I was full of so many emotions! I was full of nervousness, excitement, happiness, and just love and it was wonderful! So today being a Sunday was of course a wonderful day, but to make it even better I was also in a new ward that was so wonderful to get to know! So we had the best ward council I have had in a long time,and then as we were sitting waiting for church to start Isaac came in with his wife and sat down. We don't even have to tell him, and he comes, because it is something he wants and he is going to be baptized and we are so excited for him! So also we found out that there isn't baptismal clothes that will fit him, so we we are looking to get some that will, and we are so excited! And if nothing fits him, we have a member who is willing to make him white temple pants! So today he even participated and said the closing prayer in Gospel Principles, and as he finished everyone was so awesome to go and thank him and keep him excited to keep pushing forward! I really loved getting to know the ward better, and have a fun lunch afterwards with them, where we had a small birthday party, but they actually make food for the missionaries after every Sunday, so that they know we get fed one good meal for the week, and when i say they feed us, they feed us until we are stuffed! So after church today we went home for me to do some Language study, and then went and had a good visit and lesson with an active member in the ward, and come to find out, she is a Spanish teacher, and the whole time I just had memories flood back to me from my days in spanish class with Coach C! So this evening started off a little nerve racking, because we had a presidents fireside, and being the Spanish Leaders in the mission, we were the ones who translated the whole meeting. And it was my fist time translating from English to Spanish! However, as I got going I realized that I just had to be patient and focus and that it wasn't to hard. I now actually really enjoy translating, and can not wait for me next opportunity I have to translate for something! Today was just wonderful and more a relaxing day for the first time in a while, and I am super excited for Pday tomorrow! What a fast week, and the weeks ahead will go even faster!

Address Change: 5201 Springlake Parkway #1205 Haltom City, Tx 76117

Dear Family and Friends,
I will be transferred this evening to Haltom City, or the Hurst 3rd ward on a new assignment from President Whitney. He has called me to be a Spanish Training Leader (SPTL) and to serve with Elder Lopez, my fist native, who is originally from Chuaua Mexico! I am so excited and will be leaving to my new are this evening to be able to be apart of the transfers and the new missionaries coming in. Really it means more work and service, and a little bit better relationship with President and Sister Whitney and the office staff, and I am so excited for that!!
Well I hope you like how my week went!
Week August 1-7 2016
Monday:
Well today was such a wonderful day and blessing for us, and now we are just really wanting to help others to keep appointments and commitments so that they can make convents with God! So today we had a wonderful morning where we prepared super well for the week, and then we decided to go bowling and only payed 10 dollars for 2 games and lunch, it was an awesome time just us 2 bonding! Then we decided to go to the church where we played Basketball for most of the rest of Pday, and next week we will have a big combine P-Day! So after P-Day we were able to go and visit a lady in our ward who is just here from Puebla Mexico for a short time, but her family she stays with are not all members, so we made a plan on how we are going to help them to start learning about God! And after that we went and found the Luis family outside. They are a family we ran into by referral, and we had not had the chance to go back by, so we saw them and they were excited to hear what we had and we taught them the whole restoration, and the 10 year old was asking if he could be baptized, so we know that these kids in the family want a church, and the mother was slowly learning for herself that these things are true! So by the time we got out of there it time to get home, and as we arrived home our neighbor is also a Hispanic and his name is Beto Loya and he is the sweetest man I have ever met. He is caring and needs the gospel, so we are not going to teach him, but just talk to him about it. He was a wonderful way to end the evening!


Tuesday:
Wow, today was an awesome day! I was able to go on exchange with Elder Kochan in Burleson and we have been able to connect so well here as we have spent the day together! We went straight to work and had a wonderful lesson with a lady named Amy, who is a less active member. As we entered in her house and got to know her we learned that her husband is a Catholic and kind of pushes parts of his religion on her and she has just kind of decided to make up her own beliefs that she is comfortable with. So I asked her if she believed in the Book of Mormon, to which she looked at me with fullness of heart and said yes. So we taught her what it means to truly believe in the Book of Mormon, and she understood well, so we invited to her read more, and take the time to come back to church and participate in the blessings there, and she said she would work on it! Then we went and we had a wonderful dinner lesson with the Wattleworth family, who have 5 kids and the oldest who is a boy is getting ready for his mission! We became great friends and I got to know a Sister Cindy Price from Spanish Fork, and we then taught a powerful lesson about member missionary work, and did a role play with the whole family. It was super fun and they also were able to see it is easy to talk about the gospel with their friends! We are so excited to see how they do! After dinner we went to their soon to be baptized investigators house for the baptismal interview, and the 10 year old Kameron Garcia was so smart and responded wonderfully to the things I asked her, and even bore a short testimony about how the Book of Mormon has helped her. So to end she said the prayer and it was super cute, because she was so nervous, so I helped her a little and she was grateful for that, so I invited her to practice praying in front of her mom so she gets better and it was a good experience. As we got done with the interview I went in and found Elder Kochan teaching e mom how the Book of Mormon can bless her life, and she was very overwhelmed by how much it already had, and we had a powerful lesson on how the Book of Mormon is what connects us to the gospel found in the Bible. It was super best to be apart of!
So while driving home this evening the craziest thing happened! President Whitney called us over speaker phone in the car and called Elder Kochan to be a trainer at only 3 months in the field, but to me I am so grateful he was called, because he is a solid missionary, and so very ready for this call. Then as he finished up to my surprise President asked, "Is Elder Spendlove there?!" I said hello and he said, "Elder Spendlove, I would like to call you as a Spanish Training Leader for the Mission. You would be serving with Elder Lopez in Hurst. Will you accept this call?" And even though my heart was racing and I was so nervous and unsure with my mind all over the place I accepted and he told me how grateful he was for us and how much of a difference we will make in the mission. So all evening that I all that I could thing about, and now I know one thing for sure, I am going to be praying non stop for God to give me the gift of tongues. And I am learning that he whom God calls he also Qualifies!

Wednesday:
"God does not begin by asking us our Ability, but only about our availability, and then if we prove our dependability, he will increase our capability!" Neal A. Maxwell
This is a favorite quote that hangs on my wall with so many more from a great friend, and this evening after a good day I just had a lot of thoughts on how true this quote really is! So today was a bit of a slower day, but we had a wonderful district meeting where we did a finally testimony meeting before everyone was getting all separated at the next weeks transfers, and it was a super powerful testimony meeting where I was so grateful to have those in my district that I do, who have made my mission so much better and really helped me to become who I am! After our district meeting we took some amazing pictures, and then we went and grabbed lunch and took it to the FW 3 elders house and had lunch, however, most of the time I was on the phone with the SPTLS trying to figure out when I was getting picked up and what was going on, so I a, going with them all day tomorrow andFriday, and then I will be picked up Monday night to start off with my new calling, and I am super nervous! So I am praying super extra for my area, the missionaries and my language, so that I can translate in meetings that we will have without much problem and so that I can keep improving. So the rest of the day we went and did service with Marvin Mendoza, a young man from our ward, and I found out this evening that it gave me Chiggers! And I am a little itchy! So after that we had dinner at Torchies with Victor Jarrimillo, a wonderful member, and  he was a lot of fun, just to crazy of a driver for me, so I got a tad sick! So this evening we received word that we have two more dates for October and we are above all our goals on Projected baptisms, so we have high hopes for our zone, and I am a little sad to leave at such a wonderful time! I love so much my zone and everything hey have taught me!



Thursday:
What a crazy day it has been. So I was picked up by the Spanish Training Leaders, Elder Parkin and Lopez at about 7:30 and then was taken to their area to start for the day where we started with a big New Leadership meeting, and it was super fun to be apart of. So to start off the day I left my iPad at my apartment, so I was out of an iPad all day, so I could take no notes or anything, and it was super crazy not having my iPad for note taking purposes! So we first helped to set up all the tables and chairs for the meeting, and then we went from there and gave a training for all those that would be training a new missionary, and really I thought it was wonderful being apart of the training process of these leaders so that they know how important they really are! I really am so nervous for this new position, because I don't feel ready or old enough, but after this wonderful time giving a training I felt a lot better about a lot of things! So after the training we went to the mission office for a few business items on what is called Transfer Doctrine where I was able to really see how the missionaries are put into their new areas through revelation and much prayer and thoughts! Also I was welcomed by Elder Bird, a good old friend from DENTON, and it was such a blessing, and still is that I can work with him! So after that we went out and had a wonderful dinner with a family, and hen headed back to the house for the night, and I just had such a blast with both Sptls all evening just laughing, and then I forgot to bring a small blanket on exchange, so I literally froze the whole night and didn't sleep well at all, so I just got up and walked around and would lay back down when it got better, but it was a rough night!

Friday:
Wow I completely forgot to write in my journal for this day, so you won't be able to really understand how my day was for me, other than I didn't sleep at all, because I was freezing all night, so I just walked around in the apartment to stay warm, waiting for them to wake up so we could go and play ultimate frisbee as a leadership at Trinity High school. So we had a blast play Frisbee and then went and set up for MLC and had a great MLC where I learned that president really understands his role, and what he wants for us is to just become simple in everything that we do! He knows we have so much knowledge, and now he just wants us to stop making things hard and complicated and just Simplify. Also he said something that really made me know that God loves me, he said, sometime we just need to get things taken care of so that we can be better followers of Christ. If you have an ingrown toenail, go and get it taken out! Out of all the things he said that, and I have been fighting just getting it taken care of, and that hit me, even just that simple and funny, that I needed to do it! So that is what we are going to do. So today after the wonderful meeting we as Sptls went to the office for a Transfer Review Meeting, and we stayed super busy for another hour just in his meeting getting ready for transfers and new missionaries and getting rid of old ones. So something I learned is that our mission is the only one in the world that has Spanish Training Leaders, because president Ames at the time had to ask for permission from the president of the 70s to be able to have a second set of so called Spanish APs, and it was a really cool meeting to be apart of! So the rest of the day we planned, taught and found people to teach and actually found a guy going through dialysis named Randy, and the part that amazed me was the fact that he was so opened and willing to learn more, and he thing he wanted to learn was about doing Family History more, and I was able to show him mine, and that was such a blessing that I knew how to! Today was such a tiring day, but also a blessing from God. May we never forget that God cares for each of us. Even if he tells us to repent by simple words said only by your mission president.

Saturday:
Wow, so today was a bit of a hectic day for us where we were very busy from studies to a dinner with Johnny, and really no set schedule. So today we went and had a wonderful lunch con Sunny Moreno, where we really enjoyed getting to know him even more, and even tho he is partially blind he is a great cook! So as we finished there we went to our Coordination meeting with the sister missionaries and Hno. Garcia, where we were able to to nail down a lot and testify of the need of a ward mission plan. It was a great meeting, and from that meeting our next day in ward council will be amazing as well. After this meeting we were able to mix of planning and reporting done, and it was just so hard trying to find he balance between administering and ministering, but we got a lot done. Then we went with Jhonny and had a wonderful dinner with him in a Chinese Buffet. Of course I was not able to eat a lot, but both Jhonny and my companion, Elder Langi, ate a lot, so they made up for my small stomach. So as we got done here, we realized we still had a report to get finished up and calls to make before the next day for our SMC meeting with President Rhodes in the stake, so we were driving and calling people and then fixing reports as we went to a family we felt we needed to feel. It was wonderful that they were home, and we had a wonderful time teaching the Luis family why we have a Book of Mormon, and we were there until around 930, so we had to rush home! It was a wonderful day, and really just flew by with how busy we were. What I learned that is that when you loose yourself in the work of the Lord, y begin to see things at his speed, and with his eyes and everything becomes so important and real!


Saturday:
What a crazy experience I am having. I almost feel that the reason I came back to Fort Worth was to strengthen the ward, and also to to strengthen my relationship with the people here, because I have had the hardest time saying my good byes today, and everyone has been getting teary eyed, even Hno. Carias, our first counselor to the Bishop, who is pretty wide built! So today at church we were able to have a wonderful ward council, where we were able to finally have a push for a ward mission plan, and as we testified about it, we got the support of the ward council, and the bishop more than anything, and it was just amazing to see how they were excited to use it! So we are expecting great things from the next few months that people spend here in Fort Worth! So today in church Hno. Garcia, our ward mission leader, gave a powerful testimony on Missionary work, and then began to cry as he expressed his love for us, and thanked each of us individually. I really don't like individual attention, because I am just serving God, but it made me so happy to see that our service really helped him understand how much we love him and the ward. I can testify that my companion and I, and The Hnas. Odell, Farnes, Tibbets and Whimple have put our whole hearts and souls into helping this ward grow and loving them, and it has been the most wonderful time that even I am struggling saying goodbye. So today after church we had a wonderful dinner with the Johnson family, and then went around and said good byes to the Vargas family, the Rivas family, the Trujillo family and the Martinez family. And something that made me so happy was that as we pasted by the Vargas house, Luis' sister was in town, and she is a Christian, so we talked about he Book of Mormon and invited her to read it, and she excepted it super well, and we are so happy and hopeful that she will read it and pray for the truth from God. And I think the thing that made me the most happy and sad was saying good bye to Jairo Rivas. He has been a huge example to me, and has really changed my mission! He always calls me Gringo, from a story he told on how every missionary in his hometown they called that relating them to the United States, and I would call him Casi Gringo, meaning almost white. Haha the last thing he said to me as I was walking out the door was, "Elder, you have no idea how you have changed this ward. Today I could feel the difference and how missionary focused our ward is, and I know that it was because of your love and desire to teach that our ward is where it is at, and the reason that my family is so happy and healthy, because you where here. Don't stop loving, and don't stop living what you know." I a, going to miss everyone, but I know that I have so much more to work on and many more people to meet! Now this evening all I am doing it packing my bags so I am ready for heading out tomorrow night!


I love all of you and pray for you daily, I hope you know that and really believe it!
Have a wonderful week, and know that I am doing great, and that my mission is just flying by!



1. Our pday bowling last week, and yes I won!;)
2. Our wonderful district
3. Okay we are a bit crazy!
4. Lunch with Sonny Moreno! Being blind he is still a great cook!
5. Macho Man Carias. One of my most looked up to members in Fort Worth, Hno. Carias. He always messed with me because I am small!
6. The Johnson family, they were the ones we always scared while doing our laundry every Monday!
7. The Vargas family. The two boys will be baptized on the 20th, and Elder Langi is baptizing both of them! I count them as mine!;)
8. The Trujillo family. The are so close to their sealing, and just pushing it back, because she is due with her baby next week, and just miserable! I love them so much!
9. The Rivas. They have by far been the best for me here in Ft Worth. He called me gringo and I called him Casi gringo, and we just were best of friends!
10. Moma Martinez and the fam! They are the funniest family in the world, and she has been my mom always from moms! But never a replacement!:)

Los Elderes de Fort Worth 7

- Elder Spendlove y Langi - 

         817-657-1603

  Texas Fort Worth Mission

The Greatest Leaders are the Best Followers!

Dear Family and Friends,
Today I am so grateful to be able to receive emails and be able to send emails to be able to share my experiences and what they really mean to me. For some reason I just get so excited to be able to share experiences that I am excited to one day be able to return and share everything in full about my mission, however, from now until then I hope for so many more experiences to happen so I have more teachings! 
This week was amazing and very hectic, but I think I say that in every email because I haven't had an easy week yet! I don't mean this to scare anyone from serving a mission, but to help them prepare! It is like my exec experience to the max, but there is no years end! Haha
Well I hope y'all like how my week went!

Week July 25-31 2016

Monday:

Well today was a crazy awesome day! And at the same time the most tiring day! So we were able to go and shop and get our clothes washed super fast so we could come back and email for an hour before we went to an awesome museum in a guys house on Houdini! So when we were washing clothes today we put a clown mask up to scare her, because last week we scared her as well, and it was just so funny! She came out screaming in Spanish trying to tell us we thing we are funny, but she is going to get us back! I love Hna. Johnson! So we met this guy from giving service in the Tarrant area food bank, and come to find out he actually goes and gives service because he gets stressed out by being a business owner and having so much to take care of, and today we could see that when he invited the whole zone over to have a tour of his house! Okay his house was also giant, and so pretty, and he tried to invite us to go swimming in his nice pool, but we had to tell him no. So he has been collecting Houdini things since 7th grade, and has 4 thousand artifacts between handcuffs to videos to books and pictures/posters, and some of the artifacts that he has cost more than a lot of things I have ever owned! More than my mission! And he just buys and sells stuff as his hobby! So I learned a lot about Houdini and learned a few of his secrets that were super cool! I, however would not want to do some of the things he did, because I can not hold my breath as long as he could and I just am not as smart with tricks as we was, but what a neat man to study about! So after Pday we were able to go to a few appointments and all of them canceled, but what a blessing God gave us! We found a few people and we were able to teach them and invite them to change, and then a cool experience was finding Jaime Alonzo again at his moms house and he shared a cool experience with us. He said, last week after our visit I went to the store to buy things and walked up to the fridge to grab my beer and I just didn't have the strength to open the door, and so I went home and cried as I told my girl friend and I just know that it was because of the lesson we had. And so we were able to help him know that a God wants him to be stronger than the temptations that Satan gives him and he will give him the strength if he will take the right steps! And tonight he promised to read the Book of Mormon every time he has a temptation to drink or smoke and he promised he would! I am so grateful for God and his true plan and that he does guide us as we strive to follow him! Missionaries bring others the hope they need, a raised vision of what they can be, and help them to accomplish those things! 

Tuesday:

What a wonderful day that I just had! Today I was able to go on exchange to Hurst in the area of the Spanish Training Leaders, and I am able to be with Elder Parkin! I never get tired of Elder Parkin, because he is so smart when it come to just everything, and I just love sitting and learning from him! So today I learned what they do as SPTLS and just how busy their life can be, and then I also learned in a great lesson that we had. We went and taught a man named Jose and his wife Gabriella with heir little boy who has a energy problem, meaning he was like bouncing off the walls and just laughing, and I learned how amazing mothers are, because she was so so patient with him!

So she is a member and he is an investigator, and it was the most simple lesson and the most powerful lesson I have been apart of in a long time! We taught them about the plan of salvation and when he heard the plan and that he could be eternal he began to smile and could not stop! He was so happy, and so we asked him why he was happy, and he said because he felt good about we were saying! We helped him recognize the Spirit and then he said, "I want to keep listening and learning before I think about baptism, but if I keep in this path I do want to be baptized!" So it as a great lesson and I know they will be great members! So after that we went to the church for family home evening, and as we went into the class, the bishop was teaching about funerals and how to dress these people who pass away and really just every detail about what is necessary, and it was the weirdest home evening I have ever been to, but something that prepared the members for when the time would come when they would have to work with these people! To be honest it kind of shocked me! For me I learned that life is precious and that people really do love you and want you to look your best as you pass to the other side. And even tho it made me a little scared, I learned that I have nothing to worry about, because my spirit is in the Spirit world! I am so glad God has such a plan that helps us to gain exaltation! 

I also learned a wonderful way of looking at the importance of the sacrament. You would teach by asking, What are some of the most important events that have happened in your life? (Weddings, birth, winning wars) And how do we celebrate these important events? (Anniversaries, birthdays and holidays) So what was the most important event in the history of the world? (The Atonement of Jesus Christ) So how do we celebrate that or remember that? (The sacrament every Sunday!) that for me opens my mind of the why of the Sacrament! I know that the sacrament is an important part of our every week!

Wednesday:

Today was such an amazing day! So today I was able to come home to my apartment and arrive to my companion and a young man in our ward, Jairo Tapia, who actually stayed with us all day today to see what it is like to serve a mission! Well sadly you can't see exactly what is is like in only one day, but you can get a simple, light idea!

So today we had a wonderful district meeting where I learned a lot of new things! One of the things that stuck with me is that God sometimes protects his children from hearing the gospel. Why would he do that you ask? Jacob 4:14 states, "14 But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble."

God knows that if these people are not ready and they get to the higher law and fall, their fall will be worse than if they would not have started. For me it helped me realize that God really is apart of his work. My thoughts always turn towards the picture of George Washington in the boat standing at the front directing his men. I do not say this to say George Washington was not great, but I say it because God is better. I imagine God or Jesus Christ in the picture, and I believe they would not be standing up guiding, but sitting next to the other men with an oar in their arm helping them as he guides. 

So after our meeting we went and had two great lessons. One with Daniel, the friend of Hno. Carias, and he was super excited to hear about our message and we really helped it make sense to him. Then we also had the awesome chance to just surprise Hna. Vanessa De La Cruz and knock on her door randomly, and she even let us come in! We taught her about he organization of the church and then we taught her about faith. She says she has very little, but I can see the faith she has because she willingly lets us in and loves the lessons we have, and tonight we just help her gain the Ganas (drive or will) to go! She committed to go, and we are going to hold her to it! Also just the whole day was so much fun with Jairo, and we had a few funny things that we would say that won't make sense to y'all, but I will still put them. Por supongo. And I see pedacitos! 

Also we were able to learn a cute little primary way to learn how to pray! "Mis manitas cruzaré, mi cabesita inclinaré, mis ojitos cerraré, mientras al padre oraré!"

(My little hands I will cross, my little head I will bow, my eyes I will close, while to the father I will pray) This is a phrase that the kids use to learn how to pray and I love it so much!:) Today was a wonderful day!  

Thursday:

Today was an awesome day where we were able to have a lot of success and God really blessed us! So today we were planning like all morning and it was very tiring and it made me very anxious to get out and get busy finding people to teach! However, the planning was necessary and always is to be able to have a successful week! So after we finished our planning that literally takes around 3 to 4 hours, we went and had a wonderful time eating dinner with the Viera Family. Well, we ate pizza, but the fact we were able to be in their presence was super wonderful! So afterwards we had plans of driving all the way back across our area to contact people, but felt we should stay close happy instead, so we went and contacted a few people, and as we drove up to a neighborhood I saw a photo English lady outside her house, and so without thought I grabbed an English Book of Mormon and we just went over to her and began to talk. She knew who we were and wanted to have a BoM again, because she had lost hers! Come to find out, years ago the missionaries contacted her and she loved what she was reading, but lost the book in a move! Then afterwards, we told her we were looking for Spanish speakers and she pointed out like 4 houses. And so we went to work and knocked those doors! We were able to teach a simple lesson at one door and we were walking back to the truck when I looked back at another house that I knew a Hispanic lived in, and we both felt we needed to go back, so we walked to the house, through the the chain link gate and fence and knocked the door. What happened next I have never seen or had happen before. A younger mother opened the door and had this glow about her. We introduced ourselves and she introduced herself as a devout Catholic and you could tell she went to church and loved God and was doing good things. So we talked to her about our message and she commented about our glowing radiance and then we invited to her learn more about the Book of Mormon. She agreed, and as We gave her the Book of Mormon she looked at it, brushed her and across it and hugged it in her arms as if it were the most precious thing to her. That shocked me and right then I thought to myself. I need that kind of love for the Book of Mormon, and I need to show it! She was a daughter of God ready to hear our message. She is one that God has prepared, and we now can be there to help her progress! God truly Cares and I will never be able to doubt that! 

Friday:

So today I am pretty sure I gained at least 30% Hispanic skin as we were outside all day. And to make that sun even better we had crazy amounts of humidity to the point that even sitting in the shade I was just sweating up a storm and couldn't see because of the sweat in my eyes. So today we started off the morning with perfect weather and we went and gave service at Hno. Carias' shop. He is a goof and is an amazing member and he is just one of my favorites, because of the jokes me makes! He always looks at my companion and says, "I was worried when Elder Lewis left, because I didn't know who was going to protect Elder Spendlove, but now I am not worried about him, keep eating more!" And then we will look at me and say, "you want more, or can you not handle it?" And I just glare at him! Then at the very end of our service and after we had eaten lunch he gave me the nicest compliment when he said, "Elder Spendlove, you may not be super muscly or have a big body, but I can really tell that your spirit is so big it can't fit inside of your body." He meant it with all his heart and it really helped me see that I am making a difference her where I am. Sometimes I get the feelings like I am not making a difference in people's lives, but moments like these help me raise my head up and help me see the bigger picture! So today after service and studies we went and began contacting people, because we are stuck in a finding rut, where no one wants to learn and everyone is dropping us but our 2 baptismal dates. So like I was saying, we went and contacted so many people and had good and bad results! So,e were rude, and some we as sweet as can be, and we had two amazing things happen this evening! The first, we met a man who asked me if I was white, and then asked how I knew Spanish, and it made me realize what a gift I have from God and that I am grateful that he has trusted me to help his children that Speak Spanish! So this same guy was drinking a beer, and told us that in Louisiana he used to be an alcoholic, but because of the BoM he only drinks a beer every once in a while. And so we promised him again that the Book could help him stop completely so we will be going back to meet him! Also we went and had dinner with the Vargas Family, where Apolonia, Hno. Vargas' wife, who is not a member, made us dinner and we were able to get to know a little bit better! So she is finally warming up to us, and we are hoping that next time she will be willing to sit in our lessons! God really blessed us today and I am so grateful for that! I will keep working hard to show him my thanks! 

Saturday:

Being a leader can be the most fun thing in the world where you learn so much, or it can be the most crazy thing in the world where you are super stressed and praying nonstop for help on situations going on and how to make sure that you handle problems as God wants them handled! So today we had a wonderful day where we planned on going to the temple, but there was not enough rides, so we are going to go another day in the upcoming week or so. It kind of threw me for a loop of emotions when they said they didn't have space for us, because I haven't been in so long, and I really made me so grateful for having a temple so close at home, and it makes me want to go there often to Show God how grateful I am to have one. So today we had a wonderful Missionary Coordination meeting after which we went and began teaching and finding people! We had a wonderful lesson with Sunny Moreno who told us his conversion to the church and how the first question he asked the missionaries was, " there is more than just the bible right?" And that is where he began. Then we went and had a wonderful dinner with the Martinez family where we taught about the temple and then invited the Hno. Work hard on getting his recommend to go to the temple, and he committed to it! So some of our lessons canceled this evening but we had success! One of he coolest hints happened to us this evening. We were walking by a house and saw a lady outside cooking on a grill, so as we walked up to talk to her she invited us in her house with her family for her sons birthday party and made us feel right at home. She made us so much food and now I feel so full I could fast for a few days! So we became good friends and they accepted a Book of Mormon easily and we are so excited to go back and visit with them again! God has been preparing them and even tho they are Catholics I believe that they will change and really be great members of the church as they follow Gods promptings and not mans! So this evening the hardest leadership thing popped up. We got a call from the Hnas in our ward that are serving in the south and they talked to us about a guy who is not married and struggling and as they began to talk they told us his side of a story and we are afraid we may have acted to quickly without knowing the full story and now we are affraid he will leave the church and become an enemy of it. We feel horrible and are praying constantly to know how to handle the situation and make it the best it can be. Sometimes leadership positions like I have I feel very inadequate to have, but I know that the lord will help us as he did all his past followers as we stay faithful!

Sunday:

It is just amazing to me how fast time can go! Especially this week being as busy as we have been! I feel like I have learned a huge lesson about being leader. The best leaders in the mission are the ones that are working their hardest on ministering to the missionaries and those in their areas, and spending less time administering. I feel like if you focus to much on the administering that isn't important that is when you start waiting time and also when you begin to focus on yourself and others! So today we had a wonderful sacrament meeting, sadly no one we had planning to come to church actually came, other than Sonny Moreno, who came with Hno. Ashton, whom I admire! So today we had a wonderful lesson on our 5th Sunday 3rd hour on missionary work and how important them members are, and the funny part was that one of the members was using me as he described the Alma and Amulek story, and he began to ask if I was from Texas and everyone said no and that I wasn't Hispanic either and it really helped everyone see a point! Also they gave me a chance to say how I felt and I was able to help the members understand that we as missionaries are not called to do all the work, but we are here to teach y'all how to do it and just back y'all up! And it was take on a lot better than I thought! So today all of our lessons dropped, so we went and contacted a referral out of our Zone, because we were the closest Spanish missionaries to them, so we drove clear to Weatherford to contact 2 families, but sadly no one was home, so we left cards and are hoping for some phone calls soon! So today was full of driving and lots of focus on the Administration side of things having to get numbers put in and also having to get our miles taken care of being the last day of the month! So we stayed super busy and I am just so ready for P-Day again! 

I have been asked a lot lately about one thing I would invite people to do to prepare for their missions, and I have an answer. Study the Bible and the Book of Mormon so you don't only know the stories, but the doctrine and why it is important, and know the different religions so that you can know the different ways to combats what things they may struggle to understand!

I love all of you and wish you the best of success in the week that comes! And always remember that Prayer really can Change the Night to Day! Can y imagine having that power? 

I love all of you!

Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove