"Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you."

Dear Family and Friends, 

Another amazing week has come and gone, and I am so grateful for it! To start off I want to thank all of you who got me gifts or wished me a happy birthday, it really meant a lot to me! And I am so grateful for all of you and the thoughts and prayers you send my way! 

This week I have had a whole lot on my mind, and all I can say is, God truly answers our prayers at the exact time we need them answered! And the Atonement was not meant for the perfect man, but for the sinner. I am so glad that I have that opportunity to use the Atonement in my life!! I can and will testify of this for as long as I live! 

Here is how my week went!!

Week September 12-18 2016

Monday:

This has had to have been one of the most fun P-Days I have had in my mission!! Why is that you might ask? Because of the wonderful things we were able to do today for our birthday week! So we got permission from President Whitney to leave our area to tour the Texas Rangers Baseball Stadium, and it was so cool! We went early in the morning and were getting ready to pay, but we didn't have the chance, so the lady just said, "well, just pay when you come out." So we went on the tour and when we came out she looked at us and said, "don't worry about it brothers. Please just pray for me and God bless you!" All together she let us off 75 dollars worth of a tour! There was five of us and at a 15 dollar fee, and she let us go for free! She didn't realize it, but she made our birthday even better being able to go for free!! So after our fun time we headed to the church and played sports and all, but I have to say my favorite part of the day today was still teaching and trying to help others solve their problems and find God again or for the first time! So this evening we taught a couple who are really struggling. Their parents both have health issues and are not expecting to make it, and they just feel they need a relationship with God, through the same religion! They asked a lot of good questions, but most of all, we shared our testimony that God loves us and there is a place for our families to be together forever! Testifying of that had them wanting to learn more and become closer! It was such a great way to end the night with AG and Samira!

Tuesday:

“The blessings of the temple are available to us all—young and old and everybody in between. It is in the temple that we remember who we really are and see with clarity who we really can become.”—Sister Jean A. Stevens

Today was such a special day for Elder Lopez and I!! We were blessed with the opportunity to go to the temple, however, on our travel there Elder Lopez realized that someone had taken his wallet the day before and that there was no way he was going to have his temple recommend available. So as the other 2 elders entered, Elder Lopez and I sat waiting outside just a little unhappy that we wouldn't be going in... As I sat there I said a small prayer that somehow the temple president could get ahold of President Whitney so that we could go in, and I was amazed that almost 5 minutes later the Temple President came out and said, "Your mission president called, and said I better let you go in the temple, he says you are worthy!" That moment we both filled with joy because he hadn't been in 19 months, and I had had this happen to me twice now where I was so close to enter, and then I couldn't enter! As we went through the session I was so cold and just shivering, however, I had a special experience as I was sitting reflecting in the Celestial Room. I was just sitting there with so many thoughts running through my head. And of course I was still shivering. However, as I bowed my head to pray and ask my father for instruction, help and just a spiritual witness that he was there, I was filled with such warmth that I had no need to rub my hands together nor shiver. I was at peace and calm as ever. I had never in my life had an experience like that in the temple with such a feeling of the Holy Ghost, and hope that I can have those feelings as I get better at studying and praying on a regular basis! So for the rest of the day we were blessed to go to dinner with a family that was super busy, so the wife came home and made us food fast and had to leave, and the husband was running all over the house re-wiring all the plugs! So we hurry quick and ate, and en decided they were super stressed out and so we hurried and did the dishes for them! It was a good experience! And then for the rest of the evening we literally were fighting to get all our lessons in yesterday and actually were not able too, but we taught Isaac Sanchez, Sergio Hernandez and had a family home evening with the Nickel family and Gabriela and her son and father! It was a very beautiful sight to see them connect so well and just laugh about good old times, but more than all I felt the spirit in every lesson. And Sergio's prayer touched my heart! I love my area and those I serve!

Wednesday:

I just love how even the longest days of finding end up being the best days of teaching! So today we had a lot of time just to go finding, and it was something we haven't done for quiet a while, and it was something that really helped me see the importance of talking to everyone. However, as we passed by an active members house to visit with her, we got some sad news about her daughter being confused with her gender. She was devastated and just felt hopeless. So we just passed by, shared a small video and testified that if she did the basics things would get better. The whole time I was sitting there my thoughts kept spinning around the temple, and I knew that if she went there, she would get the comfort she needed and would know what God wanted her to do to help her daughter. So during ye evening we taught a few other lessons, and I feel like the thing I learned the most from today was that everything depends on you. If you want to be active it is your choice, we as missionaries can not change that. If you want to be happy and treat your family right it is your choice. And if you want to live with God again it is your choice. As I testified of this to the Parrajon family I could see them begin to understand that no one will come and make them go, but they have to decided they will go! It is simple, just choose to go without fail, and you will never have the problem of not going! What a great day!

Thursday:

Today was a super fun day for us! To start off the day we were blessed to be able to have a great district meeting where we were ver focused on the importance of setting goals and then working to always achieve them! As we talked about goals, Sister Hall brought up that God has goals of eloping us return to him and it made me think about how in the Book of Mormon God really did give them goals and helped them to achieve them! That is why they had points of resting or a waiting period while building the boat. It was a command, but as they finished building the boat God helped them achieve that one, and start a new goal which would reach their vision of the promised land! As we finished there we had to go to the mission office and redraw a area, because it wasn't going to work for this next transfer! Then as we finished there we went home and did our partial planning! As we were there we went and checked the mail, and that is when we found like 7 packages in the mail for both of us for our birthdays, and it made me feel so good and made me so happy! This evening we were able to teach AG, the husband of Samira, and it was a great lesson where he told us that he was glad we passed by always, because we change their life right now and make them happy! Also we went over and gained a little more of a relationship with Pablo Martinez who is slowly working his way to the point of wanting to be baptized! He is super funny and really does love what we teach, but to many missionaries were forceful before we came in! To end the night we went to the church to finish setting up for both a ward Hispanos Unidos party and our mission leadership meeting that we have in the morning, and then headed home for the night!  

Friday:

¡Dia de la Hispanidad!

Or as the say it Hispanos Unidos!

Today has been such a fantastic day where we have just been so busy with many meetings, lessons and ended the night with a great Spanish Ward Party for the Hispanic Holiday! 

So this morning we were able to go to the Stake center and train the new trainers and leaders for their upcoming roles in the mission, and it was the biggest group in the mission that I have trained with roughly 40 missionaries! However, I was not nervous at all, I was actually kind of excited and it felt like I was home! As we trained I felt like I also gained a testimony even stronger in the simple manuals of the church and also in the importance of simple things like Correction. As I listed about stories from others I realized that I can be better! Then as we finished there we went straight to the mission office where we worked on the new areas for the Spanish elders as we waited for our Transfer review meeting. There I felt at home too, because all of the office staff just are so sweet and Sister Whitney and President Whitney are so loving and practically we are from the same place so we speak the same lingo! Things other don't understand when they speak I just laugh at realizing that we do speak a little different!

So we had a great transfer review meeting and are ready for the transfers coming up, and we also had a great lesson with Karla Hernandez and Rey Castillo who are both still good for their baptism dates and came to the ward party tonight! The ward party was a huge hit, and while there we found a member who's husband is ready to be baptized and then we also found a family who aren't members, but who are interested in us passing by!! So the party was a huge success! What a wonderful day!

Saturday:  

Today was such a wonderful day for me! I have to be completely honest, it does not feel like my birthday, because it really was just another day in the field, and I don't feel like I am any older, but a few of the things we did Helped me feel like it was my birthday! To start off the day we went to a missionary correlation meeting and they all sang to me, and we are my Birthday Cake cookies, and then Elder Lopez and I went straight to a lunch with a member! We had really good lasagna and they even told me that the were buying a cake for the ward meal tomorrow evening! The rest of the afternoon we went and visited with people, and we were able to help out with a recent convert, Victor Hernandez, and his wife get through some struggles, and I am just so glad I have this chance to actually serve them and know them. However, the best part of my birthday was being able to meet up with Isaac and Ana, our recent convert, and be able to be apart of his first experience at the temple doing confirmations! It was a blast and so very spiritual, because we were there the same time the young men and women were from our ward!! I would say it was the best way to spend my birthday by being in the temple! I thank everyone who wished me a happy birthday, because there were so many, and I also thank all those who got me gifts! I was more than spoiled this year!! I couldn't have asked for anything more special!

Sunday:

My thoughts today start on a a quote I wrote down the other night at our Religious Freedoms fireside with Elder Oaks. "We the people, this government depends on you and me." I love this quote, because of both its physical meaning and its spiritual meaning I guess I could say! Physically we the people must stand up for our rights and for what we believe if we want our government to continue in righteousness and we must also stand up for our religious spiritual rights as we are the people of God! Today I feel this applies very well with how my day went! To all who read this I say, Temptation hits everyone, even the most righteous of people, but what i have learned today is that Satan can only tempt us, we have the final say! Today after a wonderful day in church we had the chance to go and visit a few families, but I want to focus on a very sweet and uplifting spiritual experience I had while going to the hospital to give a blessing. We received a call from a member in our ward that asked us if we would go by the hospital to give a blessing to his friend, and we accepted happily. As we walked through the halls of the busy hospital we arrived to a door of a lady we had never met before, but somehow as we walked in we both were able to know her immediately as we visited with her. While we were getting to know her and her life she received a call from her friend (our member), and she had the phone on speaker. As he talked to her he said, "Tracy, those to men, at your bedside, they are two of Gods Angels sent to you and me at this time. I know that they can help you and i know that they know what God wants for you. I love you and hope that you will see and feel of their power as they bless you." In my mind i was thinking, what angels is he talking about, i am far from perfect and feel like my communication with God could be so much better, but i was just so grateful for the faith that he had. Wonderful Tracy was just in tears and looked at us like we were sent from God and loved our uplifting words for her. As we prepared to give her a blessing i learned one of the most special things from my companion. He said, "Tracy, what we are about to do is so sacred and pure," and then he asked, "Would it be okay if we washed our hands before we give you a blessing?" So we washed our hands and gave her a blessing. I was happy to be able to have given her the blessing and learned the most comforting thing of all for  any person. You are a child of God, and he loves you. And he will always welcome you back with open arms. As i left that hospital room, i walked to the truck with more determination of being a worthy vessel at all times, a testimony even stronger of Gods love, and confidence that she will be fine with Gods choices for her! 

I know that God lives, i know that we determine our destiny and that we are the People that can make a true difference in this world.

This week was just a wonderful week and thank you all for your love and support!! Have a great week and know that I love and care for each of you!

Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove

De la Misión de Texas Fort Worth