Elder Holland Came to the TMM!

So this week has been great but it's all dwarfed by the fact that Elder Holland came to the mission and spoke. I pray that maybe a sliver of what he has taught me might be able to be expressed over email in such a short span of time. 

As the meeting began we took a photo with the whole mission, Elder Holland, and Elder Robins of the presidency of the seventy. It was incredible! The very first thing he said to us was que pasa? Which means what’s up? That man has a sense of humor! All throughout he was cracking jokes, moving us to tears, and shaking our souls. He chose to just wear a mic and walk throughout us and talk rather than from the pulpit, it was powerful! 

Elder Holland talked about how he knows us to be a good mission, he said it’s because I interviewed you all. I don't really care where you’re from and I sure as won’t remember you names from when you shook my hand. I shook your hand so that I could look you in the eyes and interview you. Other than the little trails of life you are a good mission. He told us he wishes he could sit with us and help us with our family problems or companion problems or even those deep down battles and struggles we fight but that he couldn't because there is too much to do and too little time. He blessed us individually as if he were laying his hands upon our heads and gave us a very specific promise of healing. 

He went to 3 Nephi 17:5-10 we are all sick he expressed he promised us that Christ will not leave us until we are healed. He stayed for the Nephites. He will not leave us, he will dry every tear (trial) of every eye. We must go too, he expressed how he would fight his way to Christ because he too is afflicted, yes I don't have blindness I may not be as deaf as others but I want to be healed. I would run to him I would do all possible to get to him that he could heal me!  We are all afflicted! We must run to him, not leave until we are healed. Our mission will heal us. Don’t Miss this Opportunity. 

The healing isn't just limited to the mission. He said this is real life! This is as real as it gets! You don’t regress in the gospel of Jesus Christ. You don’t go from Celestial to Telestial you only go up.  And on or off the mission that is what God expects of us. He talked about how when the Nephite crowd had assembled together on the second day waiting for their Savior to appear again and teach them. He was not there and so they began to pray for the spirit (3 Nephi 19). If you cannot have the Savior in your regular everyday life then you have to have the second best thing. The Spirit! He said you can no go even a day without the companionship of the Spirit. He said he can’t live without it, nor Thomas S Monson and neither can we. We are telestial beings in a telestial world and we need that bit of divinity to get to God and we need it if we have any hopes of returning. 

He went super hard on saying this generation will change the world. A quote I found of him in my studies today.. "Something is going to be asked of this dispensation that’s never been asked." He said. Those of this dispensation must be ready to present the Church of the Lamb, to the Lamb, and when that happens, "we must be looking and acting like His church." He emphasized the need to "never even look like what we don’t believe." counseling that "one who see the truth must live bearing witness to it." He said that we can have anything, anything we want in this life! We can be anything but we have to do it God's way!  And our relationship with God comes through the Holy Spirit. 

He taught us we are God's investigators. So if we want our investigators (or children or friends or fellow missionaries or anyone)  to pray or read or keep a commitment; then God expects us to do the same. He expects us to pray a little harder. He wants us to wrestle in prayer like Enos. He wants us to search and dive and ponder in the scriptures! He wants us to break old habits and change and develop attributes of Christ. He wants us to struggle and become like Him in every sense of our beings. The mission and this life are not for us to teach others but to be taught. He wants these lessons deep in our bones. He wants them written in our soul. God wants us to change and to change the world but we have to have His Spirit. 

I testify that only in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can we be baptized by true and proper priesthood authority by immersion for the remission of sins and receive the divine gift of the Holy Ghost by laying on of hands. Christ promises us healing in all aspects of our lives if we come unto Him. And in the fallen world we are all a little sick in one way or another. God has provided the way home. So please make the decision now if you have the gift of the Holy Ghost to live having it with you every day, and if you don't please come and receive it for yourself! Start on the path upwards back to God. I hope you all have an amazing week. En el nombre de Jesuscristo, amen. 

Waters of Baptism

Fun facts this week: 

1. A brother in this ward, Brother Clayton, served in Roseburg on his mission for 4 months back in the 70'.s

2. We went from the furthest area and the largest in the mission to covering just Beeville and now the sisters cover our old area, but we lost our car, now it's just a bike area. And I'll be staying for six more weeks! 

3. We were biking out to this place called blueberry hill, kinda ghetto, and on the way out these crazy dogs tried to kill us while on our bikes! Well on the way back they tried to cross the road to terrorize us again when God stuck them dumb by hitting them with a car and chasing the others off. Legs flew off everywhere it was crazy!  

This week was crazy! I know Grace is a truly special daughter of God because Satan has been trying so hard this week to stop her from being baptized! Early in the week she had family and friends calling and texting saying different things along the lines of how they wouldn't be talking to her anymore if she was baptized by Mormons and different stuff like that. But Grace being a stud, she responded to them all just with love she didn't even tell people off. Then she fell and banged up her knee and she wasn't sure if she could do it this week because of the injury. We gave her a priesthood blessing and when the day for her to be baptized came around she was good to go. On our side we had problems with different member stuff saying it couldn't happen this week, but after a lot of discussion and teamwork we got that all figured out. Then we had other people we had been working with to get out of the drug life take diving leaps back in and tell us and "religion" off. Then we had everything from printers and copiers not working for the program, to the water not working to fill the font, to my bike tire literally blowing out all at once half an hour before the baptism. Anything and everything that could go wrong did. The hardest trial of all came when we had to tell Grace that she'd have to remove her piercings to be baptized and if she wanted to be able to go to the temple some day. For Grace she wasn't sure she could do it. She had given up so so much to prepare to be baptized and all so quickly she wasn't sure that she could give up those. To fill you in Grace does piercings for a living and loves them to death. So she told us it'd take time. Well three days before we came over one night and she asks us "see anything different?" She had taken them all out! 

Saturday Grace was baptized. Her husband Scott spoke at the baptism on the holy ghost and shared one of the most powerful testimonies I've ever heard. This entire family is changing so much and to see Scott go from not having been to church since he was 13 and his wife not being a member to them sharing this moment and preparing together to go to the temple has been the most special rewarding experience of my mission thus far. 

I love this family so much and I know that in one year they will be sealed together in the House of the Lord for time and all eternity! I love this church and this gospel. Our Father in Heaven really knows what's best for each of us and has provided a way for us to return to live with Him again! The church is true, the book is blue, and Grace is a Mormon! I love you all soo much!

Our peeps weren't home for their appointment, so we left them a message.

Great Week!

Fun stuff that happened this week: 

1. Had a Catholic guy call the cops on us and had two cars show up just to see it was the missionaries and say well this is awkward and leave haha!

2. On an exchange found someone who knows my family up in Alberta from when they served on the mission.

3. Scott has come back into activity in the church for good! He poured all is alcohol down the sink, got rid of the tobacco, bailed on the piercings and is paying tithing again! and his wife Grace is ready to be baptized this weekend! 

4. I received an impression this week we should go track a specific street that had previously been worked super hard and apparently no one wanted to hear from us. Well when we headed down it we met some haters but nothing huge. Well the very last house on the street was this guy outside drinking a beer. When we walked up we saw his daughter who turns out was a member who had been offended a little while back and had left the church from super star active member to wanted her records removed all together! Well we were able to talk to her soften the soars and she went from no missionaries ever allowed at her house again to talking to her husband about when we could come over!! 

5. We found 4 other less active member who are off the records just like her!

 

The moral of the week is that following the spirit is the best!! So please seek it and follow! I've seen so many blessings from following the Spirit! It is the absolute best!

Me, President, my comp

The Zone

I was working at a building that has a missionary serving with my sister in Mongolia!

Mis aprendizajes :)‏

Okie dokie, so this last week was a huge week of learning with meetings and General Conference and all that went down here and I realized I had passed up my quarter mark so I felt like writing about a bit of the learning from the mission but mostly this week:) 

1. When mom would always said as a kid "milk is not for drinking when you are thirsty, have a glass of water" She was right! that stuff is expensive and its like gold in our apartment. 

2. I used to hate studying. Now I love it!! The Lord loves those who will seek and find! and He loves those who will spend their time searching in "the best books". Mosiah 18:26 studying is important. 

3. I used to think if I had to wear pants everyday I would die! I'm doing just fine;) But I think robes would be better D&C 29:12

4. I used to hate using my bike and loved the car. Its the other way around now bike days are miracle days. Matt 21:5 

But those are all minor lessons in  comparison to a lesson learned this week from Scott and his family. This week Scott has entirely turned a 180. Earlier this week Scott finally opened up the Book of Mormon and has read the first several chapters for the first time again. On the one year anniversary of his mothers death this weekend he said it was going to be a sad day for him, but he decided "I figure my mom would be watching so I guess I will" and he spent six hours watching General Conference and the world report and then four hours the next day watching! In General Conference they talked about how God loves all of His children equal - that is a fact! When the scriptures talk about the 1 lost sheep from the 99 that is him. In the last week of the month when he had ran out of food almost completely, they fed us every night and sent us home with food for lunch! Scott said he liked a talk about family council from General Conference and that night he texted us saying that they would be reading and praying as a family. Something we've been trying to get them to do for a long time. He watched another with us about repentance and going to the temple and he said "I like that, I really want to go back" So he called his old bishop to check he still had the priesthood and then called the bishop in town to meet with him. Now he plans to baptize his wife and be sealed in the temple. The blessing of repentance are endless! I have never seen so many smiling faces in their home! Slowly but surely the rest of the family is coming along but for Scott it is as with Mosiah. "And Scott cried with a voice, saying: Yea, I believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto me; and also, I know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in me, or in my heart, that I have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." 

I know the power of the Book of Mormon does change lives. As Elder Riding and I have used it more and more to teach we've seen the change. You truly are filled with the Spirit when you read with intent from the Book of Mormon. Scott has been another living example of this to me! I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has Christ at the helm and is being lead by a true prophet today. Without a doubt the opportunity to repent continually is the greatest blessing;because Christ has paid the price in full, each child of our Father in Heaven can return home one day to be together, perfect, with Christ. It is my desire that everyone would just read with an open heart the Book of Mormon, and come to know for themselves the joy it brings to our lives. Search. Ponder. Pray. That easy. I love you all so much have a great week! 

The Gulf of Mexico!

A dog/lion?