The True Light of Christmas!

Dear Family and Friends,

I love you all so much and was so happy to see y fam! Sorry it wouldn't send earlier! Have a great week!

Week December 19th - 25th 2016

Monday: Jesus calmed the storm and so can you!

So today was a unique Pday for the fact that from this Pday on we will no longer be able to go and be in the Stake Center because of another Zone meeting there and our zone would have to ask permission to leave the zone. So we are in the Building on North Beach Street that is a half gym, and we play sports and games there! It is so amazing to be a Zone Leader and get to know all of the missionaries in my zone! I feel like it is a huge privilege to be able to lead, and that sometimes I don't really know how to lead, so I just make people smile and try to lead by my actions and words. It seems to work and today we were able to have a wonderful dinner with Hna. Valdez where she also slipped 20 dollars in our pockets for more food later! She is to sweet and worried just like my mom about weather I eat good or not! So as we kept going we were able to go and contact people in the 30 degree weather and then we went and stopped by Jose and Gabriela's house where we had a wonderful visit and lesson with them. And as we taught I think we finally helped Jose feels the spirit and understand it. He said to us with an understanding smile on his face. "Every time I am at church or here I feel good and I guess that is the spirit telling me I am in the right place?" And we testified of it and then headed home for the night! It really was a special moment to see him finally understand!

Tuesday: Jesus saw potential in others and so can you!

Well today was such a wonderful day where we were able to go and have our Mission Christmas Devotional in the Bonds Ranch building because of a water leak in the Trophy Club building cause by the cold weather. So we were there gathered in the gym as about 4 Zones. We were able to watch a small video called "Christmas for a Dollar" and then had dinner and we had just finished another movie about a Shepard boy who was healed by the Savior when the fire alarms went off and we were all so confused! So we all got up and went outside trying to figure out what was going on, and here was water coming out of the light fixtures in the foyer on your way outside. Everyone was taking video as it flooded and we then watched as the whole ceiling came crashing in! There was about a foot of water that came flooding out and we had to move away not to get all wet! So the fire department had to come and turnoff the water and then the inspectors has to come find out what needed to happen before Christmas Day. During that whole process we were able to go back to the gym and just listen to the departing testimonies and then they gave us a packet with letters in it and it was amazing! So the meeting was cut short, but all in all I loved one quote said by a departing missionary named Hna. Brown. She said, "My mission has not changed me, but the Atonement has! My mission just opened my heart more for the love and power found therein!" For me that was powerful and something I didn't want to forget!

Wednesday: Jesus forgave others and so can you!

Today was a very powerful day where we I was able to go on exchange again with my MTC companion, Elder Lakey, who is now serving in the same ward as me! We were able to teach 7 lessons today and 2 of the lessons amazed me tremendously!  We were teaching Pablo Martinez tonight and we just talked openly with him about some problems he has and then we're able to talk to him more about baptism. We asked him about his thoughts on baptism and what he thought God wanted him to do and he said he knew God wanted him to be baptized. So we asked him what was holding him back and he has a few desires that he needs to get rid of! As we taught him and talked to him about the Holy Ghost and how he will receive an answer we saw him realize that he has felt the spirit before and that he really does need to act! So we invited him to pray and ask directly tonight and he agreed on it! We pray that he will! So the other lesson we were teaching Hno. Manuel Valdez, and as we went in and began to teach the Doctrine of Christ, he began to teach us and explain how the Sacrament cleans us again like the Baptism and we were amazed that he was learning so fast by doing 3 things. The basics! Read, Pray and Church Attendance! That family is the best and I told him I could leave in like 5 weeks and he almost started crying! And said he was going to talk to my mission president! It was a wonderful day full of hard work!

Thursday: Jesus showed Gratitude and so can you!

It is amazing how well a weekly planning can go and then how eventful the day can be once you are mentally exhausted from your extensive 3 hours of planning for every person you will visit! So today was one of those days where you are so tired and don't know how you are still running, and I felt it was definitely the help of my Savior and the Holy Ghost as I felt it! Today we were able to go by and get to know a member a little better named Hna. Cardenas, and then went to a lesson with Mario Bencomo. As we got to Marios house and taught him. By the way he is a nine year old, with a very short attention span, so we taught a lot by acting out as God and a Prophet and it worked really well! I just had to put my iPad in front of my face with a picture of Thomas S. Monson as I talked and it kept his attention. The part I loved was just how involved everyone was and that they were enjoying the time we were having together. As we finished the lesson the mom asked us, "so elders, you were saying we could baptize him on the 31st of this month correct?" And we were so surprised and said of course! So we will see him about 3 times before next Saturday for his Baptism! He is excited, even though he is a stubborn 9 year old, meaning he is one that takes forever to warm up too, and I can't wait for him to feel the goodness of the Gospel more in his life!

To finish the night off we had a wonderful dinner and lesson with the Alonzo family and then after our good lesson on Lighttheworld, they gave us Christmas gifts, so we had to take a picture with them! They are a really fun couple with their daughter Abby!

The last lesson was with Victor Hernandez and his wife and son, where we talked about Jesus' birth and how important it was, and it was a wonderful lesson. What I like about that family is just how happy they always are and I have seen the atonement work through that family fully! As we finished the lesson with Mario and sent out our baptismal date to the Zone we began to receive messages from that point on through the night, and we now as a Zone have 4 dates coming up, and we still haven't set a Zone Goal for January! We are so excited!

Friday: Jesus was a peacemaker and you can be one too!

To start off I have to recognize that today is the 211 year birthday of Joseph Smith! I never would have known that it it were not for learning more about him and his life along with what he has done to help this Church be reestablished on the Earth as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! It know this church is true because of the fruits of this man, The Book of Mormon. No one will ever take me away from that belief! So today we had the wonderful blessing of going and giving service in a Play shop called Artisan, where we worked back stage organizing clothes and props for the performances. There was a full room the size of a movie theater room full of clothes clear to the ceiling, and we were climbing ladders and everything hanging he clothes again to organize, and it was pretty fun! However, it was good to get out of there! So in my studies I found a scripture that I really found helpful or important for many people. It is found in 3 Nephi 6:18. It says, "Now they did not sin ignorantly, for they knew the will of God concerning them, for it had been taught unto them; therefore they did willfully rebel against God." Now that we have a knowledge we must press forward and not fall backwards! So today we had the chance to visit Mario again, and we only have about one full lesson about the Temple and the word of wisdom and we are ready for his interview! We are super excited for him and are hoping for the best as we go forward! He was able to pray today by himself with no help and not even a fight! It was amazing! Another blessing was the fact we were able to have a lesson with the Zuniga family and we were able to see the baby boy of AG, the husband/boyfriend of the lady whom we gave a blessing to as she prepared to go to give birth. He is a cute little boy named Josiah and is the same size as I was when I was born! Our lesson with them about Jesus Christ birth was also great! As we ended there, Hna. Zuniga brought out a present for each of us! She bought us small blankets to be able to use while we study! It was a happy moment for us! The last visit was a good one with Mariela Contreras and her family and we had a wonderful lesson about the Tree of Life! I love that story and how even the faithful can fall if they don't keep ahold of the Rod of Iron! May we keep ahold of the iron rod in every instant!

Saturday: Jesus cared for his loved ones and so can you!

¡La Noche Buena! (Christmas Eve)

It is so crazy how fast Christmas came this year! To me it is scary thinking that tomorrow I talk to my family and then next time I talk to my family in 5 months I will only have 3 weeks left in my mission! Time is not on my side anymore and I am just trying to live in the moment and have a wonderful rest of my mission blessing the lives of others! So today we didn't have a lot of success with teaching a lot of people but I can say that it was a blessing to be able to go to an old folks home and sing carols to them for awhile and I think my favorite part was being able to go and visit with them after. As we were visiting a sweet old lady came up to me and gave me a Christmas Card that was hand made and it was so sweet! Then we were able to go and have a dinner with some members and then as we finished there we went and played Secret Santa with the Missionaries in our Zone and it was super sweet! We knocked and ran at every apartment and no one knows it was us still! It was super fun and made me really feel like it was Christmas time! I love this time of year and wish it could stay all year round! What a great time!

Sunday: Jesus' disciples followed him and so can we!

Merry Christmas! ¡Feliz Navidad!

Holy smokes time has flown by! And today was such a wonderful Christmas Day at about 80 degrees! We were able to really enjoy our morning by making cinnamon rolls and opening a few really sweet presents from our families and it was so amazing! I think my favorite gift was definitely the Testimonies of just a few of my Heroes, however, I hope that I will be able to receive a testimony from many more of my heroes as well! We had amazing studies and then we were able to really think of Christ and his birth by going to Church! It was so wonderful! As church came to an end we went to the Santiesteban's house and had a wonderful Christmas dinner where we ate tamales and then we played some fun games as a small group of our ward! It was a blast! Then came the part of the day that really I had been waiting for. I called my family and was so happy to see all of them! They are the best thing that ever happened to me! I literally know exactly where I would be without them and that is why I thank my Heavenly Father for them every single day! I am so glad I was able to see my mom who keeps me going, my dad who pumps me up and helped me realize that working hard is what helps me, and the rest of my family to keep me smiling and talking to everyone! However, being able to see my grandparents was a true treat! I can't wait to see them again!:) So the rest of the day we had a wonderful time to get to know the Noyola family and then we had a wonderful lesson with the young couple, the Nickels! They are so sweet and they gave us a giant Hershey Kiss! And I just love being around them! I really have received the best gifts this year and this has been a Christmas I hope I will never forget!

Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove

De la Misión de Texas Fort Worth