"Why should I worry? Let Satan worry; he's gonna pay for it later on." - Paul Dunn

ear Family and Friends,

How crazy to think that another week has passed! Why does it seem to go so fast when I enjoy it!? I hope that you had an amazing week and that you enjoy the experiences I have had this week! I invite each of you to listen to or watch the General Conference talk by Paul H. Dunn in April of 1972 in the Priesthood Session. It is very powerful! 

Here is how my week went!

Week March 20th - 26th 2017

Monday:

Wow, this week has already been so busy that I am writing what happened today Wednesday night. So I will make it sound like I was doing all those things Monday in the present time. So today was a wonderful Pday. My thoughts recently have been on how I can help my Zone and stay focused as much as possible, and today was a wonderful day for that! After a good morning going to a doctors appointment for Elder Arndt, we went and played Kickball at a park near our home as a zone, and it was such a fun thing for us to connect and work together! There was of course a bit of smack talk, but all in all it went good! Also I surprised myself and kicked the ball so far it almost went into a road and by the time an elder ran and actually had the ball in his hands I was already on home plate! It was pretty great! Also today was probably one of the hottest days of the year so far! It was super amazing to be with the Zone and see their fun attitudes! So this evening we were going to have people show up to our family home evening and no one could, so we just went and had a few contacts and had a good time! I think the part I liked the most is that we are trying a new thing now where we start our exchanges at night around 9:30 and then go until the next night so we had a real full day. It worked really well and I was able to have a good visit with Elder Bolduc, a new missionary, as I served with him on the exchange!

Tuesday: 

Today was such a wonderful day! Today Elder Bolduc, a newer missionary, and I went out and biked around all day searching for people to teach and it was just wonderful! We had such a good time talking to everyone and I realized something. I am very awkward talking to people in English about the gospel, but you can't stop me in English. It is really sad, and pretty funny! I struggle handing out cards in English but talk with everyone I see in spanish. So today we had a lot of good contacts and biked roughly 20 miles as we traveled to different locations! Sadly no one was available to let's us truly teach them b we had wonderful door contacts and something that really stuck out to me was when we were biking home and we had been biking for about 30 minutes and the wind was against us, Elder Bolduc was a bit mad about it and just focused and I was just a smiling and cheering we were almost home and for some reason that touched him and made him get excited again! I love so much just being positive! So this evening we went out with Hno. Guzmán and taught a lady from Puerto Rico named Pilar. She pretty much knows the truth and is fighting it just a little bit. She has been going back to her old church and says she feels comfortable, but as we talked we found out she hadn't been reading and for us that was a huge sign she hadn't received an answer. So we were able to invite her again! It was super powerful! Hno. Guzmán was a huge help for her! I am grateful for Elder Bolduc for his example and fire for this great work of Salvation!

Wednesday:

I love the wonderful Zone Conferences that I have with President Whitney! He is such a humble and spiritual man. I realize that he isn't a great teacher, because that is not what he did a lot in his work, but what I do know is he knows how to learn to be one. He is getting so good and has really made me feel the spirit! We were able to give another training, this time on revelation through church attendance, and it see,ed to turn out alright. President said he learned from it, so it had to have been something different from the others he had heard. Today I realized something about my mission. Every time I feel I will get a break I realize that I won't, that the mission life, the people and the trainings I have to give keep coming. As I was struggling through my week and especially my day after having a good exchange I was so tired.... I thought I wouldn't make it through my day. But let me tell you something. I know that throughout my mission my energy and strength has not been my own, but God has given me all that I have needed as I have done what he wanted done. Today I finally realized that for myself, because i found that when it gets hardest, he, through his power made it possible. He paid the price of sin, pain, weakness and struggles to carry that heavy cross. He then left this world and did not stop, but kept teaching and opening the way for all of us to return. I know that because of that, he give us the means whereby we can achieve the hints of God. Today in the Zone Conference, I learned simple things. The Atonement is not a thing we use, but something that already happened with Christ. However, as we accept the atonement we truly accept Jesus Christ fully into our lives. It was a very powerful thought and I invite all of you to watch the face to face with Elder Holland and President Eyring. As we finished the day off we were able to go and visit a few different people with the Spiers family, a sweet couple who are very missionary minded and have been looking for people for us to teach. We went and visited a less active lady in the ward named Reba, and then after that sweet visit we went and contacted a less active family with the nonmember wife and the non members wife was so nice, however doesn't want anything to do with the church. It is kind of sad. All day i felt the need to change, to be better, and i am going to change daily until the day I die. "Every day is a day of Change."

Thursday: 

Thursday's for me can be some really stressful days. Not because they are jam packed with stuff, but because we sit for 4 extra hours than normal to plan specifically for each and every investigator and how we are going to teach them and get them to church. I love, however, the new way we plan. We have a Vision(Goal) for every person or thing we would like to do. Then we write down the necessary plans or steps to accomplish that (including members who will come to lessons). And then we end by scheduling it in and later in the day and week we set up the necessary lessons and visits! This way of planning truly has changed my Mission! So today was a wonderful day where Elder Hooper and I went on two different exchanges! I went with Brother Saxon and we visited Cindy Spahr and it was a powerful, and simple lesson! We had sister Greenwood go with us and invite her to the women's conference on Saturday and she was super excited for it! I love Sister Greenwood! She is a super great member to take on exchange for good lessons! As we finished up there we headed directly over to Veronica as Weylan's hotel room and at first Veronica was in bad pain and was screaming at us telling us to let her be. As we left I sent her a sweet text to tell her we passed by to check on her, and she responded, "I'm sorry, come back by." So we did, and we had a powerful lesson where she was super excited saying, "This has to be the correct church of Christ!" And you could see that because of their reading and praying together, they are becoming a happier couple. When before we started coming they had major issues and fought. I can see the change and it brings me great joy! To end the evening it was time for another Exchange with Elders Bibaeu and Andreasen, from the Arlington 5 Ward. It was super awesome to see them and switch this evening, and tomorrow I am so excited to work with Elder Andreasen!

Friday:

It was quite the day today. At 9 o'clock we were out biking to give a Bible to a man, and as we knocked the door he immediately let us in. He was from Nigeria and was super open. We talked about the Book of Mormon and he humbly asked, "May I have a copy of that Book?" We answered assuredly that of course he could! He was so excited! As we left that house we had a determination to make the rest of the day like that lesson. Simple and full of spiritual promptings. As we reached our bikes it began to rain and pour, and we just decided, we can either enjoy this, or we can pretend we are going to melt. As we enjoyed the weather, everyone gave us the weirdest looks and we just smiled knowing we were doing all we could! We found a few people and came back to the apartment for lunch and studies with our white shirts super spotted and black and yellow. So we decided to wash and dry them quickly to be ready for the rest of he evening. I was very impressed by Elder Andreasen's desire and interest as we studied together and I loved the things we talked about together. And our evening was super eventful and powerful as well. We had a great dinner with the Edwards family from Tremonton Utah and then had a wonderful member come with us to find a few part member families. As we went out and contacted a few different families I was blown away by the potencial they have in their area! They have roughly 4 spouses who are not members and who are super sweet and spoke with us. I fully believe that with a little work they will have success in helping these people come unto the Fold! It was a powerful day to he able to work with Elder Andreasen. 

Saturday:

Well today do I have a story to tell! This will be the first time in all of my mission that I can say I have played basketball with an investigator and young men to get him connected and excited for Church the next day. He was super pumped and excited! So today we had plenty of opportunities for service with less actives working on mowing, and funny story is that both Elder Hooper and I worked on the Yard Care before the missions and we knocked those out super fast! He was mowing one side while I mowed the other and then we both stoped when we found a giant Salamander! It was nasty! We also had a good time teaching Emily Walton, an investigator who is so close, just has to get over a few addictions. She still doesn't have the best desire, but doesn't miss a Sunday because she wants to be with her son. However, she gains more interest every lesson! So this evening all the young men met at the California Building and we got Ainye and two less actives in and we played Basketball with them and the best part was Ainye inviting the less actives to be to church and he isn't even a member! I hope and pray he comes tomorrow to see what we are about! To end e night we went and checked in on Veronica and Weylan, and it seems like every other day is like night and day with them. We just don't know what to do with them right now. I just wish they would decided to be serious or not. However, no complaints!

Sunday:

Oh did we have an amazing Sunday! Today I attended the Family ward in Forrest Hill and we had a miracle occur! We had both Cindy and Ainye come to church along with 2 others!! It was super amazing and they seemed to love it! Also Ainye has good friendships with the young men now and loves it! As church ended there Brother Saxon and I headed straight over to the institute building and dropped me off. It was amazing to hear that Jesus made it for his confirmation and Aaron Cole, our investigator whom we have only taught once, came to church for the 3rd time and we have only taught him once. He is so amazing! We tried setting a date and he said he wanted to pray about it! So we had a powerful lesson tonight with Victoria Bernard on the Holy Ghost and it was so cool to see her just start to understand, however, I learned that the questions I ask are very bad! I need to study more! I really loved teaching with Elder Hooper and Sister Matthews. We also went to have dinner with Brother and sister Butler, councilor and wife in the YSA bishopric. They are super sweet and smart in the gospel. He brought up the point of how do we give "All" our heart to God. He stated, "you can not until to hit some sort of wall where you realize you can not make it without Christ. At that point you begin giving that All."

To end the night we had a wonderful time in Mission Prep and I learned the need I have to Study Preach my Gospel more. And then we contacted into 2 drunk men in the dark! They are nice, until they figured out who we are. I was a little creeped out when I heard the one yell at us saying, "My money is my God. You can't tell me there is a God. I'm God!" That freaked me out and I wanted to yell, "Get thee Hence Satan", but instead we tried to connect with them and then we just left, because when people drink here they drink a lot..... Today was a very Spiritual day!

I love each of you so much and hope you have a wonderful week! Thanks for your love and support through prayers and letters! Know I love you!
Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove

De la Misión de Texas Fort Worth

A Baptism and In the Presence of Elder Rasband

Dear Family and Friends,

This week truly was a long one, but oh so worth it! I am so very grateful for the Love my Heavenly Father has for not just me, but every one of his children. He truly has shown his love to me this week and I have felt his love for others as I have served them! Also Happy Birthday to Grandma Great this week!:)

Here is how my week went!

Week March 13th - 19th 2017

Monday: 

I am a horrible brother! My sister Whitney had her Birthday yesterday, along with having her baby's, and I never even told her happy birthday or anything! I feel really bad! However, I know she understands I am super busy and my brain sometimes forgets things! So today being Pday we were able to get haircuts, well my companion did, and then we went had a good time with Elder Arendt and Elder Buldoc. They are in the Spanish Ward and are super awesome! We were able to go and play some basketball and get to know the Zone as we played at the California Building. We played for a bit and then Elder Hooper and I went and helped some members move and organ! It was super heavy, but we were glad we could help! As we got done we went to dinner with the Quien Family and Sister Quien is a healthy eater and made us Italian food and it was super good, and literally just veggies! We even used Italian dressings like oils and vinegars. It was actually really good! So we have been searching for an investigator in the YSA Ward who has a date for this Saturday, and so this evening we went by his house with no success, but we won't stop until we find him! We hope soon! We have the faith and works to keep his date and keep preparing for this Saturday!

Tuesday:

Well today was a true building of my faith and testimony! So today we had the chance to go by and have a contact and lesson with Deshawn, an awesome investigator who is reading and watching Doctrine and Covenants from the BYU channel, along with Devotionals. She is super in love and just struggles to get to church with 4 kids and having it hard to get them ready! She, however is planning on coming. So today we had the blessing of going out and trying to contact some of our YSA members and it wasn't a huge success because of the Spring Break and everyone not being in town, but we did find a few people which is good! And then for dinner tonight we were able to go and eat with the Bernard's. Victoria and Jared. We are teaching Victoria, the wife, and she loves what we teach and says it makes sense, but is hard with understanding how she feels with things. We taught Alma 36 and talked about the fact that God will forgive her and listen to her again and help her to feel his love and peace. She truly was thinking and Elder Hooper and I were able to teach with wonderful thought provoking questions that made her really think well. I struggle asking good questions, but know that many times if I just listen that God will give me what I need to say. As we finished up there I had the chance to go out on exchange with a member in our ward that is pretty less active. He is less active because he feels that the church is false and that God doesn't love him. He has been looking at anti Mormon literature, but comes out with us to help us drive around and can teach like we do and answer questions correctly, but he does it against his beliefs, because he doesn't believe in the things we do now. It was a crazy trying to just avoid a bash. All he wanted to do was debate and it was frustrating, because everything and all he wanted was a Sign. He wouldn't believe God loved him until God said it. We wouldn't believe that God created Eve out of Adams Rib, or that Jesus came to be because of the Spirit of the Lord in Mary without scientific evidence. I had a lot of things I could have said, but everything I did say he would twist on me. He was not rude in anyway, but what I learned is that Evidence is not everything. The Mysteries of God cannot be revealed to those not ready. He has questions because he doubts and wants a sign. He has no faith. I left that truck with determination to study harder to be able to defend myself and God. All in all it was a great night!

Wednesday:

I am so grateful for the way that setting goals has changed my mission! And also how much members have made my mission amazing! It amazes me how much members truly can be a huge part of the success we have as missionaries, and today I feel I learned a huge lesson on how to help them even more! To start off our wonderful day I was able to drive another elder in our zone to a doctors appointment in Carrollton, and it was super nice just getting to know and understand him better and am grateful for him! He has gone through a lot and always tries to be positive. We also had an experience I won't forget. Since last week we have been working and striving. Setting goals and working at them to find Jesus, our investigator who has a date for this weekend. He fell off the face of the earth and we had joy contact, until today. Randomly he text us and said hey. So we called so excited he responded and went over promptly to see him happy and still ready for baptism. He had been on a ROTC trip and had just returned and said that Satan had been working at him and he wanted us to pass by more often! It was awesome and he will have his baptism this weekend! The rest of the day was wonderful being able to eat with the Thorsen family, who have a giant home and are super sweet! As we talked we were able to set a goal for them to set a baptismal date and have a baptism when their son gets home in 6 months. So they are now looking for someone to work with! Then in general evening we contacted a family who is less active and really had a good lesson about coming back, but mostly showed we cared, and it really seemed to work amazingly well!

Thursday:

Today as a planning day has been so crazy! We thought we would only be planning for the week when we received a message from Jesus saying he wanted to have his baptism Friday instead of Saturday, so we had to stay in the house until around 4 with weekly planning and planning for the baptism and contacting everyone and making sure we have everything prepared, and when we had done all of that Jesus found it he had to work!! So we called him and got it figured out so we did put have to switch up our plans. All in all we had a wonderful day where we were able to have a wonderful dinner with the Peal couple in our ward. Sister Peal was the First person I saw as I entered the temple. She was at the time the wife of the temple president, Brother Peal. And she was so happy and sweet! So I told her that and she gave me a huge hug! Another thing we did with them was talk about setting a baptismal date for a goal of working with someone, and it was so amazing to see them excited. Sister Peal got up right then and went to visit with the lady in the restaurant who was helping us. She talked to her for 5 minutes and came back saying, "she has no church and is looking and we will be back here Saturday!" It really was powerful to see how the goal she set already helped her and pushed her to look for people to teach! It states in Preach My Gospel page 146 “I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.” (–Elder M. Russell Ballard) I have seen this a lot as a missionary where when I don't set a goal,for people to contact I never stretch and actually try to make any contacts or anything, but as I do try and set goals and reach them I see amazing results! This evening we had the opportunity to go out with Ethan Starkweather, a return missionary that served in Taiwan and got home a month ago. He is super spiritual and actually was baptized at 12! We were able to go by and have a wonderful lesson with Taresa, a lady I contacted into a week ago on an exchange, and she was wonderful! Not super understanding of what we teach, but does know the importance of God in her life! It was just a wonderful day and to end we had a FaceTime lesson with Taiwo and Juwon, twins that were baptized recently a few weeks ago! They are so awesome!

Friday: The Baptism Day of Jesus Rubio!

Today was such a wonderful day! These are the days I look forward to as a missionary. Watching these people to have come to love and search out to reach the point of knowing and acting for themselves! This morning we were able to give service and help a few members just to understand we are there to help them when needed. It was super wonderful and then to end the morning we went and had a language study with the Spanish district and a lesson with Jesus about minor details to be aware of. He was pumped and was on his way to get his hair cut. So we had a wonderful dinner with the Speirs family, a family where their special daughter, Hannah, is a super star on the Texas Ranger Team. She is famous for being a happy dancing usher at games and she has the calling of the ward hugger in our 6th Ward. She is very smart and loves to read her scriptures! It was wonderful being in their home and seeing hem understand they have a purpose in their lives and it is to share what they have, and they are actually excited to share it! So tonight the baptism started late, but we had 2 investigators show up and it was just so nice to get to know the YSA members better! One of them was a young man named Aaron who is super interested in our religion and we invited him to take the lessons and he agreed to it! Both Aaron and Jesus were very welcomed in the ward and it just made me feel good to know That! I love so much where I am serving! What a wonderful day! 

Saturday:

What a Spiritual and tiring day!! The reason I say this is because this morning we were able to sit at the feet of Elder Rasband, Elder Halstrom, Elder Willas and Presiding Bishop Cosse. It was so incredibly amazing and uplifting! For 2 and a half hour we say and learned the most inspiring words! Also to make things even more nerve racking, I sang in a quartet for this Mission Wide Meeting! We sang Come thou Fount arranged with the words of Joseph Smiths first Prayer. And the arrangement was done by Elder Broberg. It was super amazing, but to help you understand my nerves better, I was the soloist and my voice when we started at 7:30 am did not want to work at all! I tried and tried and nothing would work! as we prayed, Elder Broberg prayed that my voice would be clear and strong when we sang. As he said those words I trusted in God. I have never used that kind of Faith and as I did so I was amazed that literally right before the performance my voice was clear and our song without the piano was so pretty and Elder Rasband called us out after the song and had us raise our hands and as we did he looked us in the eyes and thanked us for bringing the spirit into the meeting. He is one of my new favorites. Also I have some amazing insight that Elder Rasband will be speaking in the Sunday Morning session and Presiding Bishop Cosse in the Priesthood session! Here are a few things that caught my attention! 

"Ever since the morning of the first vision the heavens are opened and god speaks to a prophet to guide us!" - Elder Willas 

"Jesus Christ should be the Center of your Mission!" - Bishop Cosse

"I hold the Salvation of Souls in my Hands." -Bishop Cosse

"We do these meetings because we expect that the Benefit is greater than the Cost!" - Elder Halstrom

"I want you to hear it from me. You are all here in Texas by Revelation from God!" - Rasband

"The Leaders of this church are no Strangers to the Voice of the Lord." - Rasband

And lastly,

"Focus Now 100% and he will bless you all,he days of your life." - Rasband

I know he was called of God and is a Prophet, Seer in these last days!

Sunday:

Oh how I love Sundays and also can't wait for them to be over! I guess it would me mixed feelings, because this morning we were awake at 5:15 am to be over at the other Spanish elders apartment so Elder Hooper could be with them while I got picked up by a member to go to one Ward and he went with them to the other for Ward Council. Then after sacrament meeting they came and switched me and I drove back with the Spanish Elder and Dropped him off at church and I got picked up by a YSA member and went and gave a talk in the YSA Ward. It was very focused on Member Missionary Work and I loved it so much! Also while there I realized that Aaron Cole, an investigator, was there and loved my message and even more important, he learned a huge amount about the fall of Adam and Eve and was very blown away! Then after church it was so fun to see him just decided he wanted to be apart and is going to play the piano in the YSA choir. And we finally set our first lesson with him and his good friend who is a member in our ward, Kevin Stanfill. As church was over we had a really good lesson with the Bernard Family where Victoria actually read 4 chapters and is reading nightly and reads in the Book of Mormon guide. It was so cool and now she just has to pray and feel. The problem is that she feels that she is bad with feelings and will get it wrong. I know she can feel it is she keeps trying. The last thing I learned tonight was to not be afraid to go to potential or past investigators, because we passed by a David Smith, and as we met him he said the missionaries just stopped passing by and he still has questions, and so now we set up another lesson and it was so great to see him happy again! What a week!

I love all of you so much and hope that you know I truly am grateful for all you have done for me! Have an outstanding week!

Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove

De la Misión de Texas Fort Worth

Another Transfer at an End!

Dear Family and Friends,

What an amazing week I have had and the change coming this Wednesday is what is going to help me grow the most! I am grateful for your love and support and hope you love how my week went!

Week February 27th - March 6th 2017

Monday: 

Today was such a wonderful day for us! I say that I love everyday, but what isn't to love when in the Lords service! He protects us, blesses us with health and strength and also with people to teach that are interested! All we have to do is "Act" instead of he acted upon! So today was such a cool experience! So recently I received a call from Elder Broberg, a wonderful friend who is the assistant of the mission and who is very talented, and he asked me if I would be willing to and work at being in a small quartet for a special mission gathering. I of course said yes and was amazed today by receiving the music to Joseph Smiths first Prayer but with the melody of Come thou Fount. We will be singing without Piano and the reason I didn't respond to many emails today is because we were practicing it for 2 hours today and the the next few Pdays until we perform in he middle of March! It is for sure someone Important, because we are practicing so much and we are having the whole mission be there. We tried to ask who, but Elder Broberg won't tell anyone! However, my Pday was amazing and in he evening it was an amazing experience to reach Rolando at home and find out he is still reading and praying, and also that he really wants to know the truth! We taught him a really good lesson and ever question he asked was answered just by reading more ahead! God blessed us to know what to say and where to look! Also it was super a,axing to go by and read the Book of Mormon with Pablo Martinez. I can still see small changes in him and it makes me happy to see, even if they are small! Faith requires much patience! I love so much the area I am in and never want to leave!

Tuesday: 

I love days full of service! To start off the day after a good time studying, we went for my first time in the mission to Cosco, where we helped a member buy a mattress and take it in our truck to his home. It was a simple thing, but meant the world to them! Also today we went and picked up Elder Lakey and Banks and went to the Food Pantry to give some service and had a good time mopping floors for 2 hours! But the great thing is that we are making friends with a lady there named Nora! She is an employee there, and is super nice and funny! So we are warming up to her! Also as we finished there we went home and changed quickly so we could go and teach Randall and his mom at the public library, after the which we went and had dinner and a lesson with Hector Payro Cazares. He is a wonderful member that is faithful, just has a lot to learn still to be ready to go to the temple, but wants to go so Bad! Then this evening a few people canceled on us, so we decided to go and have contact with Arturo and Dianna Ramón, and it was amazing to see that they were there and listened to a few things we taught. They have their own beliefs and were not afraid to say them, and so it is going to take a little bit of time to get everything explained to them as they feel the spirit! Also as we got home this evening we had a cool experience happen! 

Wednesday:

Interview with President Whitney + Amazing District Meeting!

 I am so very grateful for the day I have had and for Elder Lakey who prays and studies so diligent for me and for those in our district! I have learned a lot today for that meeting and from my interview with President Whitney. Here are just a few simple thoughts that I learned from District Meeting focused on The Role of he Holy Ghost in Conversion. 

• When we teach people we must not identify the spirit for them, but help them to identify for themselves using questions. If they can see on their own then the will learn more!
• What is Revelation? "Thoughts to the mind and feelings to the heart."
• We never could and never will be able to convince people of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but the Spirit can change anyone's heart if it touches them!

Those were a few thoughts and impressions! Then as we waited for interviews, President walked in while I was reading in Spanish and said, "well Elder Spendlove, I don't know whether you are praying or what you are doing, but all I can say is, No Comprendo. Haha!" It was the funniest thing ever, and my interview with him was really good! I was able to get a lot of good ideas and help on different things and then I was even able to have a blessing of guidance and comfort as I try my hardest to focus my heart, might, mind and Strength on my last 3 months in the mission! It was a huge help and I pray that I can just do what god wants done and feel the spirit guide me! I loved his blessing which was simple. One thing he stated that I loved was, "I bless you with the power and ability to work and teach those around you with the desire that you have." For me that was a simple eye opener, I can do anything with a desire! It is me that has to change, no one else! So that is a new goal! FOCUS!!!! Today we had a wonderful evening teaching AG and Samira, and then we were able to go and see Mabel Bencomo and her mom and Dianna says she does want to go to the temple with Mabel one day, so We taught them the importance of keeping commitments and being in church and it was a wonderful visit with them! I really love them!

Thursday:

What just happened..... 

Today was a super wonderful day for me until something happened this evening, and then nerves kicked in! So today was an amazing day where we were able to go and help the sisters of the Saginaw area to move into new apartments and that took all Morning! So we were not able to do our weekly planning today, but it was a great time with them and the Office Elders! So also we were able to go and have dinner with the Barraza family and then the cool part of the night was being able to go to the church with Micheal Barraza and Rey Castillo, where Hna. Carmen Garza, a recent convert who has been addicted to it came and helped Rey! It was super amazing and powerful to see his tree just start filling up! Also while I was there, Micheal Barraza got his started! Then I met an older brother who happened to know Sister Hinton from our ward back home who's wife was the sister of sister Hinton's husband! Confusing, but he knows all about Hurricane and it made me feel good! Then to end the night we were able to make it and teach Pablo Martinez with his family. He is progressing slowly and he is finally asking really serious questions and is wanting to read, just needs reminders! So we read 1 Nefi 5 with him tonight and he loved it! And Hno. Zuniga, a member, came and taught with us and his conversion story is helping Pablo a lot! So this evening while traveling back home, Elder Lakey sent me a message saying, "Don't check the mail, just don't!" And right with that I already knew what was in the mail..... what you would call a trunky packet! An envelope that has your flight itinerary and everything on it to prepare you for going home, and it was the weirdest feeling to read! I just wanted to run away from it! It is crazy to think I have it, and I am trying my hardest to just focus the best I can so I can keep being the best missionary I can be. Ya, so there are a few crazy feelings from me for today!

Friday:

I am so grateful for this amazing chance I had today to sit and learn at our Mission Leadership Council! It is crazy to me to think I could be attending the last one before I get transferred and I may not be a Zone Leader anymore, meaning that I would no longer attend the meeting and that would make me very sad! However, I know that God has a plan for me and that as I go strong that he will provide everything I need to succeed where I serve and to get along with my companion whoever he may be. So today in MLC there was a huge focus on Planning and how to better our planning and it was a huge help in getting a little bit more info to help us as we do plan! Also we were blessed with the opportunity to receive a new Standards of Excellence from President Whitney that is so simple and very achievable! The best part about it is he wants to raise the bar when we all achieve it! Also we returned and reported our goals and actuales and then focused on this months goals and projected dates, and our goal was 100, double what it normally is. And our projected was at 86 or so, almost double what we have! And the coolest part of it all, was that tomorrow 22 of those dates are going to be baptized! So within the first week of March we would have achieved our normal Months Baptisms! It is a huge improvement! So as we finished our amazing MLC we dropped off Elder Lakey, who is my replacement, and went and contacted Melissa Lugo, a member, who's soon to be husband is not, but wants to be baptized after taking the pathways program and taking Institute classes on his own! So we were able to set up an appointment with them tomorrow to come and watch a baptism and then to be able to teach him the first part of the lessons and refer him to the Elders of River Trails! We are super pumped for him! This evening we also had the chance to eat dinner and share a message with the Tirado family who made us whole fish with rice and beans! It was good, but definitely not my favorite plate! Then to end the night we had a wonderful visit and lesson with Victor and Jackie Hernandez! They are a month away from being able to be sealed and they are so excited! They have been working hard and studying harder to understand everything that they need to and this week they start their temple prep classes! They are such spiritual giants who have really changed their lives around! I am going to miss them!

Saturday:

I am so happy for how our day went today, even though one of our lessons got a little out of control! Today was a really amazing day where we were able to be at the baptism of Nico Rodriguez, a 10 year old boy that Hna. Farnes and Hall were working with! It was an amazing story on how this family was found and I would like to share it. So a few months ago Hna. Hall and Eyestone were out contacting different people and had literally contacted every person they had on their list in Saginaw. They didn't have much luck that day and decided to park on the church parking lot that they were next too and pray. As they prayed they asked God to put them where they needed to be and to place people in their path where they would be ready to learn and change. As they finished praying they opened their eyes and Hna. Hall say a sticky note crumpled at the bottom of their car of a referral they had received without any name, just an address. As she saw it she realized they needed to contact this referral. They did so and no one was home, so they went to the neighbor next door and talked for about 20 minutes. As they visited they watched the owners of he house, a small family, pull up and walk in the house. They thought, maybe we will come back another day, when the spirit told them to go and talk to them. They went and knocked on the door and when the door opened they heard 3 young voices say, the missionaries! Come to find out it was a part Member family that was super in need of the missionaries and the young son and father were not baptized members. And Nico, the one baptized today was the son! Also to make the baptism even better, the father was there and he gave the closing pray and really enjoys our church and the members! We hope and pray he decides to be baptized as well! So today for us we were able to contact around and find one guy that was some what interested in learning more, but he was a talker. It was super hard to share a message! And to end the night we had a partial lesson with Jose Valencia, an investigator, but the father in law, who is a less active member got upset because Jose asks a lot of questions. He tried to bare his testimony and it just turned into a fight of words. So we just sat there not sure what to do. However, by the time we were done he understood our lesson and his sister was able to understand what a Book of Mormon was and she had interest in reading it! We hope and pray she does! Then they fed us dinner which was a food called Pambasos. Which is like a long bread cut and fried along with potatoes and meat on the inside! A traditional sand which in Mexico! Then to top that all off we had Tres Leches Cake! Which is the most rich cake in the world! It was so good!

Sunday:

How sad to know that this was my last Sunday in the Hurst 3rd ward! All day I tried to avoid letting everyone know, because it is easier to leave without them knowing than to make a huge deal about it and have everyone asking the same questions of how long left and then me just being sad I have to leave! This Ward has been a very special ward for me where I was excepted so well! I have made so many friendships and learned so many valuable things here that I will never forget! I literally am grateful I can say I know every person in the ward! I am so excited for the new journey that lays ahead and saying good bye for a short time was super hard! So today was Fast and Testimony Meeting and we had 3 investigators come to church! We had Rolando Aragon, Pablo Martinez and then we even had Jose Valencia, with his wife Gabriela who is a less active member! I am so grateful they made it and pray they keep attending! So this evening we were able to go and have dinner with the Bonilla family. A family that hasn't been to church because everyone has some sort of long term sickness.... it was sad, but they are all so positive and know the church is true! Also, we were able to be apart of and help with our Stake Mission Prep class at the Brother Johnsons home! It was fun, because I found out that Sister Johnson is a Sullivan and that she grew up in St. George and loves it down there and knows the Spendloves! She said she thought she knew my dad! It was really cool! Also I received my new area and address and I am super nervous! I have been assigned to labor in the Arlington YSA Ward as a Zone Leader with Elder Hooper, a missionary I have known all my mission and it will be a blast! That means I will be an English missionary, but the good thing is that both Elder Hooper and I are Spanish missionaries, so I won't loose my Spanish!:) Here is my new address! 2515 Villa Brook Ln. #702 Arlington TX 76017.  What a crazy day!

Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove

De la Misión de Texas Fort Worth

No my way, but God's!

Dear Family and Friends,

What an amazing week and week of learning for me! I am so grateful for my mission experience that I have had! Also I hope my parents had a wonderful Anniversary!:) 

Here is how my week went!

Week February 20th - 26th 2017

Monday:

Most Pdays are not as enjoyable, but today really was! I wish we would have taken a picture, but sadly we didn't! However, we were able to go to a park right by our church and play soccer and ultimate frisbee as a Spanish District and as a English district of another Zone, because we live outside of our Zone! In total we had around 16 people there and it was a huge success! We were there most of the day after we went shopping and all and it was so much fun to just get some energy let out as well as just have a good laugh as different people just fell or slipped on the wet grass! I loved so much being able to just get to know Missionaries better! So as we finished there we were able to go by and contact Ana Avalos, a lady we were teaching awhile back that is going through a lot of family problems. As we went by, she was so happy to see us and we were even able to set up a time to go by and teach her! We were sad to hear she has to move out of her house, but glad, because she will still be close and in our area! So that was just an impression to go there and then after that we went to a member in our ward who is struggling with her son who is 16. He has been raised in the church his whole life and now wants nothing to do with it. She is taking it hard and blames herself. So we talked about Gods will and how sometimes it can be something that we want, but God is trying to help us grow and understand that we have trials to progress. It was super hard, but I was able to use my parents as examples of helping us as kids and teenagers. Our last lesson for the night was with AG and Samira, and we were able to,find out that they set a date for June 10th for their wedding, and we are excited for them, but sad it is still way out there! We, however, are also,working with hem on reading the Book of Mormon, and it is amazing to see them asking more questions and we are planning on just spreading more every time we go back by! I pray that Samira will read, because she will know it is true and it will help her through her trials with her mom! It was a great day!

Tuesday:

It amazes me daily how many people you can find that are members and how many know so much about you. So today we went and had a dentist appointment for Elder Graham who has had some sore teeth and gums recently. It was a great appointment and while there we found out a few things, first off many employees were members and both of the main dentists who owned the clinic were long time members of the church and had both served missions. The one who worked on Elder Graham was named Steven Robinson, originally from St. George Utah and who is related to like Elie Eves in Hurricane! It was super crazy to have him know people from where I am from and for just like how much his life has grown and changed from his short two years on his mission in Russia! He was an awesome guy and also was very kind to us. As we were sitting waiting we also met like 3 other members and it was super fun to talk with them! So today after a good time studying we were able to have a good lesson on Family History with Isaac and Anna Sanchez where we helped them with finding and becoming more interested in doing Family History! So something that really was great was being able to go in an exchange with a young 17 year old boy that was visiting from Peru. He is the brother of Hna. Stafford and will be going to BYU Idaho in 2 months! But his name is Sandro and we were able to visit 4 different houses with success with him! We had a good dinner with The Marquez, where we are trying to help their niece, Vanessa, to come back to church strong, and then we also we had a good lesson with a less active family who is working their way back as well! They have gone though a lot of trials the Catarino Family. Something that I enjoyed is just being able to speak all Spanish all day and then trying to really help Pablo to know he has to change. He hasn't acted much, but I know he knows he has to act. There will be no chance when the end comes. That scares even me and I am trying to do all that is right! I truly hope and pray he acts and I hope that Sandro had a good experience and that he wants to come out with us more!

Wednesday:

I love days where I can Lead and Follow! I am so grateful for the great opportunity I have been given to be a leader and a follower in my mission. Many people take leadership position as a way for publicity or personal gain, but for me it is just a chance to share what I was blessed to learn with all those that are around us in our zone. So today we had another Zone Council and in 2 weeks we will have another! This was a specially called one because of our wonderful training received by Brother Gonzalez and Brother Glazier. I am so grateful I get to be one who takes lead on trainings and Councils with Elder Graham, because I feel I benefit the most by having to study extra and try to make sure that those other missionaries understand me! Today we taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or the Doctrine of Christ taught in 2 Nephi 31 and also how to plan correctly! It was wonderful, and sadly everyone felt like it was like taking a firehouse to the face! And I agree, it was a lot of information to take in, but so spiritual! So after we finished it was my luck and privilege to go on exchange with Elder Banks in his area! He is a great missionary who has about 5 months in the mission and loves what he does! He struggles with how to get to certain places, so this evening we did a lot of finding ourselves, but were able to teach 2 lessons out of it! However, to start, we had a wonderful service with Hno. Brown by helping him clean his back yard and fix a few things at his house, and it was a good service, just not something super successful to find new people to teach! But sometimes we just need to serve! We had a wonderful dinner with the Barajas family, a family in the ward that is super fun and crazy, and we went and biked around to different appointments! One of my favorite things that happened this evening was our lesson with the Moncada Family! So they are a family investigating the church right now and they are so awesome! They love what they are being taught and want to keep every commitment! They are reading and praying and they feel it is true! All they have to do is act and come to church which they are also working at! It just amazes me how God has been giving them answers and all we have to do is help them understand them! So we taught them about Tithing and they accepted it well and then they asked me to open and close with a prayer which was a pleasure. The wife really liked my prayers. It was a great time with them!

Thursday:

I love days like today!

So today was some what of a fast day, but one that was very worth it! So we were able to end our exchange earlier because of a dentist appointment that Elder Graham had to fill some cavities, and it didn't take much time at all. As we finished there we got back and were able to start our weekly planning with a lot for the planning principles in mind that we learned. As we were trying to plan effectively we Counseled and somewhat argued for a few minutes on what it meant to set a goal as if we were still somewhat confused. By talking it through we figured it out! And I learned that I sometimes have the "my way or no way" attitude, when I just need to be open. Elder Graham has helped me see that a lot! So we came to conclusions and were able to get around half way done with planning before we went to a lesson. As we got there and began teaching a newer investigator, we realized that she had a lot of concerns and we frustrated. She decided to be open with us and she learned a lot we think. As we left she seemed excited to come to church and read the Book of Mormon and we already know who we want to fellowship her. So as we got done we went and had a wonderful service opportunity teaching Elendeivy and Randall and today we had confidence and brought up the gospel with her more and invited her to read the Book of Mormon in English and Spanish for a while, and she agreed to it without fail! She was super pumped and told us she planned on coming to church on Sunday as well! As we were leaving we hurried and drove through crazy traffic to dinner with a recent convert of the Hnas, and she is so solid and set on helping others feel how she does! She took 17 years to say she wanted to be baptized. It was a cool dinner! We hurried from that lesson to pick up a priest who taught Mario Bencomo and his mom and sister with us, and I had a great time with Mario. He had a fighting belt in the house, so I told him after the pray we were wrestling for the belt, and I won! So I had to suck in with all my strength to get it to stay around me and I started walking out and he got super mad! It makes me happy to realize that it is so much easier to enjoy life and the mission instead of dragging your feel through it! So to end the evening we tried by a few other people without major success, so we called it a night! It was wonderful! Also recently I have been having more dreams that I have had in the past, and it is funny because most of them are knocking doors or teaching, but more recently they have been dreams that are with my family! Some are super weird, but oh well!

Friday:

It amazes me how pretty much every lesson can cancel and we still find some way of teaching or finding people and God still seems to bless us more that we ever expected! So today we realized we had a lot of canceled lessons on us within an hour of our lesson, so we just set lots of people to go and contact, and we were able to find a good amount of people that were interested and we hope to be able to get back in with them. As we talked with them and shared messages we were very impressed as we found one guy named Virgilio. As we began talking to him he let us know that missionaries had taught him before and that he reads the Book of Mormon all the time and loves it. He keeps it in his truck and he was happy to see us. He works a lot and a lot of times is out of town, but he was more than open at letting us come back and coming to church to see what we do there! Also another cool lesson was going to Pablo's house where we expected him to be at work being 4 in he afternoon, and he was home! So we taught him and his family. We finally go out of him what is holding him back. He doesn't feel he can change and he doesn't feel like or see himself in a tie or white shirt. Also he doesn't see himself or want the weight of a calling. However, all of these things go away as you have a true testimony of the Gospel by study and prayer. Many don't want to be called to positions, but do it for love of God and wanting to help those around them! Sometimes it is hard, but that is part of growth! So the rest of our lessons canceled on us, so we had the thought to go by and share a message with an investigator named Arturo. He happened to not be there, but the wife was and we had a half and hour lesson with her. She is super nice and was open to learn. Just felt lost! So we explained to her more about our church and we showed her a video of how our services go and she was a lot more open to going saying she would like to come and go to our church instead of driving clear to Grapevine! She loved the visit and thanked us and we then got home where we had a wonderful visit with the STLs from Trophy Club! We have wonderful leaders in this mission!

Saturday:

Wow! Today was a great day! It was also one that made me super tired and ready for going to bed at like 9:30 instead of 10:30 pm! So the reason the day was so tiring was because we went and helped the Parajon family finish moving into their new apartment and Ward along with the elders in her new Ward and the Elders Quorum President! It was really good! It took us a few hours, but as we finished it was amazing to see that everyone was happy and glad to get them moved in! Also they took us to lunch afterwards and it was way good! However the rest of the evening was a really good evening! We were able to go by and visit with Mariela and her family ( members in he Ward, and Mariela always has questions) and then we had an awesome visit with and lesson with a returning family named the Tirado family and to end the evening we had a lesson and Dinner with an Investigator and his wife who is a member. Jose Valencia and Gabriela Flores. We taught them about going to church and that it is a commandment, and they seemed to understand it clearly, but we will see if they understand it on if they come or not to church tomorrow! We pray they do! They also fed us dinner. It was Pozole and it was so darn good! I had two bowls of it! They are a really fun family! What I learned today is that you never know what someone learns until you see them acting upon it! Learning is something you begin to act upon!

Sunday: 

What a wonderful day today was! I am so grateful for God giving us a day of Rest. It really isn't much of a day of rest, but for me it was amazing! I love so much being able to go to church and just being able to relax and reenergize for the week! So today we only had 2 people come to church. One was Pablo and one was a new investigator that came with his wife who is a member! It was good to have them, but everyone else that was going to come couldn't make it. However, today was a wonderful day because Rey Castillo came by surprise and also he got his recommend today! And we plan on going to the temple with him this week! Then as we went to Gospel Principles class I watched and participated in the first class ever taught by Manuel Valdez as a member! It was so cool! I love so much he joy that comes from seeing converts progress in the gospel! I love it so much! After church we were able to go and teach Mabel Bencomo for the first time after her baptism and she was just on fire with questions and answers! We taught the restoration to the whole family and then we asked her how her reading was going and she told us, "I have been listening to it as I play games on the computer, but I realized that didn't help me at all, so I decided to follow along and take notes to focus and I get a lot more out of what I read! And now I don't even like my video games." By the way, she is only 11 years old! I love it so much! What a wonderful week I had!

Hope y'all have a wonderful week and know I pray for you and love yall so much!
Con Amor,

Elder Spendlove

De la Misión de Texas Fort Worth