The Less Active Miracles

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been so full of miracles and fun events and from this week I truly know that God lives and loves all of us, whether we are always obedient of when there we struggle with sin and temptation. So for news we will be having a baptism this coming Saturday at 9:30 am with Manuel Valdez, and we are both so excited for it! He has been ready since the time we began to teach him!

I also just wanted to wish Brayden a Happy Birthday! Holy cow your getting big!

Week November 7th - 13th 2016

Monday:

Today was Avery different P-Day for us, and as long as I am in this Zone we will be doing things a little bit different on PDay and I am super excited for it and know it will make us better missionaries! So we have decided to get everything done at the apartment and try to email just a little bit less and try to just remember our call as missionaries even on P-Day! It is not a time to check out, but should be a finding time as well! So our activity today started with a song, prayer and spiritual thought and it was by far a lot better than we have had before. I also felt good about myself because I was thinking about talking to others! So this evening we had some time to go and try and find some people to teach and we were contacting some referrals when we found a guy outside that began to talk to us first. He listens to our message and we have a return appointment with him! His name is Jose! Then I had the prompting a few times after the Stake conference to not give up on Karla Hernandez, a recent progressing investigator that fell of the face of the earth. She would respond to our messages or calls nor did she answer her door at home or anything. It had been happening for around close to 2 months. So as we got into her apartment complex I saw a miracle in and of itself. We were looking for a parking spot for visitors so we wouldn't get towed, and we drove around for a good amount of time. We just decided to go and park in a random spot log enough to contact her and as we pulled in I caught a glimpse of her walking out to throw the trash away. I practically jumped out and started for her and we began to talk. If we wouldn't have kept driving around looking for a spot she might not have answered the door or come out to talk to much! So we visited for a while and come to find out her job got crazy and she had to get another and on top of that her phone broke and is just stressed. She is working on fixing her phone and has been reading and praying from the Book of Mormon and she is still wanting us to pass by more! I was on a cloud the rest of the night knowing she was okay and knowing she could still be baptized! So now we are helping her look for a new job! I can't wait to see her again! To end the night we had a wonderful lesson wit AG and we are grateful we can go and teach him and he is so open to learning! Both Elder Graham and I had a wonderful day!!

Tuesday:

What a wonderful day I was able to have as I went on an exchange with Elder Gibson in Fort Worth! We were able to first teach a really cool guy named Ismael, where we taught the Law of Chastity and really just got to know him well. It was wonderful to become his friend! As we left there it began to rain super hard and the rest of the day on bike it rained! It is a good thing I took my jacket, because it got cold as well that evening! So we had dinner with Hna. Garcia and her husband where we had some really good food called sopas! As we got done there we went and tried to bike to east side, but got lost and were biking forever, and were never able to go, because we had to come home before it got to late. Somas we got home we went down and visited with the Peñas and I just really feel at home with them! We had a good visit and that is just kind of how the day went for us! It was a blast being able to be in my first area again!

Wednesday:

Today was a little bit longer of a day for me, however, it was a day well worth it, because I was able to connect better with the Assistants and my companion as we drove from Hurst all the day to Killeen. Around a three hour car ride there, and then 3 hours back! I am glad that Elder Bird and Elder Baker are the Assistants! They have taught me a lot! So today we did another exchange with Elder Lakey and Holmstrom and I was able to come back to Haltom and Hurst with Elder Lakey, my MTC companion, and it is just so great! We were able to get a long amazingly and we were even able to have a wonderful time teaching both Alex Salazar, a recent convert that is 9 years old. And then we were able to go and teach a wonderful lesson to Manuel Valdez! He knows practically more that members usually do in depth of the lessons we teach and is willing with all his heart to do the things we say! We are so excited to keep working with him and get his baptism ready! So the things that I learned today from Elder Lakey is just how important Testifying is and how it can open a person up. I then also learned just how well I need to know my doctrine to teach more!

Thursday:

Well today was a bit of a struggle because of a full morning of driving, but it was also a wonderful day being able to be apart of the Waco Zone Council and drive with the Assistants Elder Bird and Baker the whole time. They are so powerful and also so funny that they make my abs hurt so badly. So today I was able to come back with a Elder Graham and man was I happy to see him and to be able to come home and spend one day with him! This evening we had a wonderful lesson with Rey Castillo where he said, "Hermanos, I know you both have some big rewards waiting for you in Heaven. Thank you so much for all that you do!" For both of us we didn't know how to respond to the thank you and it was awkward, but it was so nice of him to say! The last lesson for the night was with Hno. and Hna. Nickel. They are super sweet and love when we pass by. As we began to talk pretty much out of no where they started to tell us how rough the past week has been without us passing by. The miracle of today was that we always thought our Nightly texts didn't ever get read, but Hna. And Hno. both with tears in their eyes said, "Elders please never forget to send those messages. They keep us going when we get burdened down and please don't stop visiting us! It was a really sweet spirit in that lesson and I know that they are going through this opposition because God is at a stage of Growth with them! 

The leaves are finally changing a little!

Friday:

I have learned today the importance of taking good notes and re passing by them frequently. As we were able to go to zone council in our Hurst Zone we were again able to go through the notes from MLC and learn from our Zone Leaders and by the spirit, and it was just amazing to me how much more I learned and how much I wanted to express my feelings! I think the other thought I realized is that as soon as we look at commandments as restrictions we begin to build a mental box around us, but if we look at them as blessings and guidelines then we will stay outside of the box but inside of the circle of the Gospel. So today after our wonderful Zone Council we were able to get out and try to get some good lessons in, but 2 of our appointments canceled on us at the door, and we were not able to find anyone else that was interested in that moment. So we didn't give up, but to end the night we went and had a lesson with Gabriela Flores, who is a member, and her husband Jose, who we had worked with in the past. However, he went out of town for a few months, but is back and so much more open to learn and ask questions. He also has decided for himself that he must read in the Book of Mormon! It was a great lesson and I pray and hope that they will keep commitments and come to church!! They need this gospel!

Today was such a simple day but I learned that when people have time God works on them and when we come back they are even more open to our message! Never force the Lords work, it should come naturally.

Saturday:

Well today was very full of success and miracles! So to start off the morning I had a wonderful study on Personal Revelation. I learned that first we can receive revelation a lot better through your scripture study and then you receive even more revelation as you become even more dedicated and worthy! So today we had the fun time of going and having correlation with Mario and then we went and taught both Johana and Maria the plan of Salvation again and we also taught Hector a wonderful lesson but mostly read from the Book of Mormon. So in the evening we were going out to do some contacting, and while we were out and about we had an amazing miracle happen. We were going through our area book with some people that lived close by hoping to both reach our 20 lessons and find someone who wanted to listen to our message when we found a less active members house. We knocked and he let us in. He was very surprised and said that he thought that he lived in a closed area. As we taught him he had been less active for 1 year and was a seminary graduate and even took institute! He loved the Book of Mormon but just lost his way a little bit! So as we talked he explained he was from Honduras and how much he helped the missionary work their and the I almost cried as I told him how we loved him and how we needed him back to help us with the work! He seemed very happy to hear that and we are going to begin visiting Roger every single week! I love how the Lord blesses as we just never stop talking to people of trying!

Sunday:

I have learned a marvelous lesson in my mission, and it is something I repeat quite often in different ways, but I think I have found the best way to say it and it is with scripture I found while studying his morning and while in Priesthood today! It states, "Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ." (Alma 37:33)

What I love about this scripture is towards the end. What I love is that I have learned as you strive to work hard and have Faith in the Lord, it helps you resists the temptations of the devil. It is as you work hard in the Lord vineyard that you begin to realize your divine potential and who you once were and begin to leave behind the sins that once help you bound. That is something I know to be true. It will never be a finished process until we make it back with God, but it has been a process that I see daily in my life. So today we had the wonderful opportunity to work super hard and finish teaching Manuel Valdez his lessons for Baptism, and he will be baptized this Saturday coming up at 9:30 am! We can hardly wait! So we will be busy with that! Also we have been pushing to have 20 lessons a week with such a busy schedule, and It is super hard to accomplish at times, but as we put our minds to it this week we did accomplish what we thought at first would be impossible. So this evening we found some new investigators and then we also had the chance to get Jose Valencia, an investigator, and his wife Gabriela, a member, to the mission Presidents Fireside, and hey loved it, because we were the ones translating it all! I am so grateful for the gift of tongues and for the blessing of having President and Sister Whitney in my life! Today was a wonderful day!

I love all of you so much and I hope that you have a wonderful week! Time is flying by so fast and all I know is while I am making the best of it so should you! Know I pray for you all and I love you!

Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove

De la Misión de Texas Fort Worth