5/31/17 If only every day could be like that day

fam,

We had a small miracle towards the end of our last P-day. We stopped by Erica and her family, the person who called us out of the blue. She has been kind of side stepping us and we've never been able to meet with the whole family because all her older sons work and her husband works like 12 hours a day. We parked outside and the husband Constantino was working on the car.

 We talked with him for a bit and we asked if we could have a few minutes to talk. We talked about what we do and shared the first discussion. The little girls that are crazy in the lessons all played outside and the door was closed. The house was quite and peaceful and the spirit was so strong. Constantino was clearly feeling the same. We had our first peaceful lesson and put them both on date. At the very end right after Constantino said the closing prayer, where he asked if our message was true, the little girls ran in screaming.  Miracle haha. Sadly we stopped by twice for two different lessons with them that we set up and they are always side stepping us and having to leave for "something."

Wednesday was like I wished everyday of missionary work was like. We started the day with a really good district meeting and district lunch at Costco. We then had 5 lessons in a row. It was so good. We started by stopping by this old lady that's in the ward who recently moved. We shared some scripture and we talked about preparing for the temple. She shared this one really long story without giving us gaps to say anything, but the spirit was there so I can't really complain. We then stopped by another investigator and talked about what we expect of her to do. It was an okay lesson, but the thing is she doesn't really think about what we say. Beyond being able to say was we said back to us, the message isn't really touching her. We then stopped by a lady who has been hiding from us for the last three weeks. We finally got in her door and had a good talk. After that lesson we had a lesson with the Aguilar family. We shared the videos "patterns of light" by Elder Bednar. 

Elder Bednar's talk

It's all about receiving personal revelation. After that we went to our last lesson of the day with someone who used to be a member and wants to come back and her husband wants to learn from us. Super awesome lesson and the lady had been away from the church for something like 30 years and has some really bleak health problems. She shared her testimony and told us that a few days ago her brother gave her a priesthood blessing and that she knew the church was true. There is so much more to this story, but it was such a nice moment. If only everyday would be like that day. 

Thursday we had one of my best lessons yet, at least spiritually. We took the bus and walked to German's place. Arrived exactly on time. We walked in and asked him the baptismal questions to very bluntly see where he was spiritually and to specifically outline what he needs to know before he makes this covenant. He was so spiritually edifying. It was so rewarding to see how far we've come together. Once we finished the questions we all knelt down and German in prayer asked for guidance in choosing a date. The spirit was so powerful in his quiet house. He pulled out his phone. Opened his calendar, paused and looked at us and said June 24. Elder Waters and I looked at each other and said "you are going to be baptized on that date." It was so insane. We literally fight so hard for our investigators. 

Yesterday we had a great lesson with the Aguilars. We went though the baptismal questions as well. They are totally ready. They are feeling the effects of leaving behind coffee, but have a good replacement. Hot coco. We also talked about repentance a little bit. One of the baptismal questions asks if they are willing to partake of the sacrament every week and give service to their fellow church members. 90% sure it was a joke, but he asked if they'd be "cast out" if they miss a day. I think he was also slightly sensitive to that topic because they were out of town for the weekend and missed church, but he also was likely jumping off the repentance stuff we were talking about just prior to that question. The principle is God wants us to go to church. Obviously sometimes we can't. Since we got the Aguilars to church they've come without the need of reminders every week, with the exception of one day they were sick and this weekend they were out of town. We knelt in prayer to ask for a date, not a goal but a date to be baptized. We looked at a calendar, and almost picked a date. Natividad almost picked June 24 but something is keeping him from committing. We just need to dig some more. They even said they know its true and they will get baptized. On top of that they said that they talked with their friends about their church over the weekend. They are already missionaries!  

This kind of thing unfolded over a few days, but one day we were knocking on a street that I felt guided to from our morning planning session. We met one guy and talked a bit and set up a lesson because he was going to work. We continued knocking the street because we had about an hour an a half before our first appointment. We got through nearly the whole street that day with no other success. I figured that was the guy we needed to talk to so I wasn't that annoyed. Our lesson came and he wasn't there after we confirmed so we kept knocking the street. We were on our third to last house and we turn the corner and there are 4 Hispanic guys drinking. As we walked up to them one said to another "you talk to them you're bilingual," jokes on him. We talked a little in English but no one even looked at us except the guy who spoke English. We dropped into Spanish and they all turned in their chairs and gave us attention. We asked if they had some time to listen to us and they all agreed. It was weird but we said an opening prayer and everything. We bore witness that we knew what we were teaching is true and that they could as well, as well as a big portion on Christ and repentance. It turned out that one guy had met with missionaries in Texas. We got everyone's contact info and a return appointment with all of them. It was a really interesting experience because normally it's super awkward walking up to a group of people but I was comfortable and we were able to invite the spirit to our lesson. At the end when getting one of the guy's contact info he apologized for drinking in front of us. I love it that the spirit can tell us what is right and what is wrong. There is a scripture in Mosiah 5 it says that "they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." That guy felt the spirit and knew that what he was doing was wrong without us saying anything. 

Repentance is real and powerful. 

If those guys are willing to actually meet with us on the times we set, I foresee a lot of success. The hardest thing is getting people to actually have the first lesson. We will meet people and they'll say all kinds of things but when it comes down to it most people flake. It's all about supporting the members to find those people who are prepared. 

The Lord is blessing our area like crazy. Alma 13:24

THE BOOK OF ALMA
THE SON OF ALMA

CHAPTER 13

  24 For behold, ^aangels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.

5/6/17

fam,

We had a few small miracles this week. Well any time someone invites us in on a door knock is a miracle and that happened a few times this week but we had some slightly larger ones. More on those later. 

Elder Guerrero is being transferred out. My training is near over. Our district is a little different. As time progresses, I'm realizing that more and more. We see our whole district almost every day, if not everyday. We had zone P-day Monday and everyone does stuff all together and our Spanish district kind self-segregates. I guess that's a symptom of a few things, part of that being we are the only Spanish elders in the state. Also everyone stays for about a year in this area, typically 5-8 months on each side of the highway, so we all really get to know each other.  

Wednesday was interesting. We kind of offended a ward member. We had just had district lunch after district meeting and we were all in a slight food coma after eating at this really good taco place and this lady calls us and says the food is getting cold and asked where we were. She didn't sign up on the food sheet so we had no idea what she was talking about. Sadly we went over and ate a little bit anyway. The problem was that we didn't eat a normal quantity because we were all already full. She said a few things. We shared a really nice spiritual message that turned into spiritually filled testimony meeting so we left on mostly good terms. People are just too sensitive sometimes.

Later that day I believe we had a lesson with German. During our last lesson with him he talked about giving up cigarettes and how he always feels guilty and down after he smokes them. We gave him a Priesthood blessing and he committed to not smoke again. Our next lesson with him he said he was walking to the store and was checking out and out of habit asked for a pack and an audible voice told him not to, he realized what he was doing and put them back. That was one of the miracles. German is awesome and fun to teach. His lessons really just show me the power of the scriptures. If would just all learn to "feast on the words of Christ" (2nephi 32:3)  we would learn and grow so much more and so much more easily.  

A few of the people we are working with are not doing as well as they used to be. One lady we teach really struggles to retain what we tell her. The weird thing is we will teach her, ask a lot of questions to see what she thinks and comprehends but the next visit it's like she doesn't remember. The Spanish barrier is real. We've been thinking pretty hard about what we can do to help her and praying but we haven't quite figured it out...yet. One of the problems is she has way too many distractions, kids won't sit still, people are always leaving, and she bought baby ducks that free range in her house....which is fun.

The Agelar family (Natividad's family) is doing well. We showed them the restoration video as part of our lesson and the Rosales family was with us. We just talked about the video and receiving answers to prayers and their doubts. It was a really good lesson and the Rosales's shared their testimonies. They want to get baptized, they are sincere, they love church, and the members love them, it's working out pretty well for them. In our lesson with them it came out that a member had invited them to dinner, one invited them to a baptism for one of the youth today, and another member invited them to family home evening. 

The last miracle happened yesterday, but started two days ago. We pass off a lot of referrals because we cover a lot larger area than the English elders, so we teach a lesson and pass them along to the elders that cover that area. Two nights ago we found someone and called the elders for that area and they gave us two referrals from their area that same night. In our morning planning session, we didn't plan on visiting them that day. There where a few reasons for this, the first being that one didn't have a name, second that both didn't have phone numbers, and lastly, referrals that we get from other elders are typically people who don't speak English but have positive reactions when they try to say Jesucristo. We felt like we could/should visit them. The alternative would have been knock high street. Well, turns out there was a shoot out/ murder on the corner of High and Granville at the time we would have been there. So that's fun. I knew our area was kind of rough, but I didn't think it was broad day light murder rough. Spanish people are far nicer than any other group of people though, so we will be fine.

3/13/17 Jails, dog walkers, polygamy, immigration and people getting ready for baptism

Family and friends,

Every week is better from the last. Every day we meet interesting people I don't think I would have ever talked to, and we've definitely had some small miracles this week.

Monday was fun. We knocked doors and met some interesting people. We normally struggle getting into people's home from the doorstep in order to teach a lesson, which is understandable, but we had an awesome experience with this mid 20's black guy. He was a little hard to understand, but Elder Guerrero and I talked to this guy for a few minutes. We taught him about repentance and that God can help him with the things he said he was struggling with. He seemed openly touched by what we were saying, and he talked about how he used to be in this gang and the life he had that was destroying him on the inside. He talked about the horrible things he did and how it changed him for the worse, and that after he got out of jail he has been working to put that behind and clean himself up for the daughter he had before he was incarcerated. 

The spirit was there and I'm certain he felt the power of what we were talking about. Elder Guerrero and I taught with more unity than ever and it was perfect. It was a little crazy. We both testified that through the atonement we can really come back from anything we have ever done, and become the people we want to be. It was a great moment, but at the same time once we left, we knew we had to pass him off to the English elders who cover the area we were knocking in. 

Tuesday we had a little miracle. We were getting ready to go knock doors and were sitting in the car. We said a prayer to find someone ready for our message as well as some other things. Literally the second we were stepping out of the car, someone pulled into the driveway of our first house. Elder Guerrero and I looked at each other, laughed a little and walked over to the lady. We talked with her and she talked about the miracles she has seen in her life, it was a pretty nice experience and she was really open to listening to more about what we had to say. 

Wednesday we had trade-offs again. I went with Elder Rencher. We did a fair amount of door knocking that day. We talked with this lady who was walking her dog for almost 10 minutes. It was a little funny, because she never stopped walking, but after a minute or so I realized she was in a hurry so we just walked with her. Really an awesome lady, we talked about how we are here to become more like our father in heaven and that that doesn't mean going to church on Sunday and then going crazy the rest of the week. We were able to pick her up as a potential. 

We knocked some more doors and found a lady who said she already read the Book of Mormon. That got me so excited, in my head I was thinking of all the crazy stories of people who randomly find the Book of Mormon, read it, pray about it, and find out on their own its truthfulness. I asked her what she thought about it, and she said it was alright, she just hated the part where it said that men had to have multiple wives. That was a little more than surprising because the Book of Mormon actually has a chapter that talks about the evils of polygamy when it isn't commanded of God (Jacob 2). If she didn't slam the door on our face before we could say anything of value it would have been awesome to actually talk more about it.

That same day we had a lesson with one of Rencher's and Water's investigators who has really been progressing. We just talked about baptism and its importance, showed one of the bible videos about Jesus' baptism, and walked her through the baptismal questions. 

Video depicting Jesus' baptism

Going through the questions was SO cool. She bore her testimony multiple times, and I was just sitting there loving every second. The Gospel has changed her life so much. She talked about how she has always had doubts about God and when the Elders found her, taught her, and invited her to both read the Book of Mormon and follow the promise/challenge found in Moroni 10:3-5 she found all the answers she was looking for. It was incredible to see that there are people out there ready to hear the word of God, and that truly their only barrier is that they don't know where to find it. 

Friday we stopped by a less active teen we have been working with. We didn't plan on teaching him anything but were just planning on seeing if there was a time we could come back and talk more. We walked in and he was happier than I've ever seen him. He has been to church the last three weeks and has started praying again. 

https://www.mormon.org/worship

(This link has very helpful FAQs about attending LDS church meetings and you can enter your zip code to find the closest meetinghouse.  Visitors are welcome!)

He talked about things he has been struggling with. As a missionary I've never felt more guided by the spirit. We were sitting with this kid, and all these ideas kept coming to me to tell him, and we had an powerful conversation about repentance with him. He said he really has felt a difference now that he is coming back to church. We read through Ether 12 which is pretty awesome. My favorite part is verse 27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." (italics added). It's super rewarding to watch people's testimonies grow and watch them feel the truth of what we talk about.

Chicago, IL LDS Temple

Saturday was by far the best day. We got permission to go to the Chicago temple with the branch. Our branch is pretty small, only around 60 people are there each Sunday. Saturday we had nearly 40 people go. It was such an awesome experience. We were planning on doing everything you can do in the temple, but everyone showed up late in the morning so we lost about an hour of temple time. We were able to do an endowment session and baptisms. We missed the start time of the Spanish session, but the temple president was able to switch some things around and created a new Spanish session just for us. The temple is such a powerful place. The spirit inside and around is like no other place I've ever been, it truly is the house of the lord. The nearest temple to our area is 3.5 hours away, and many of the branch members go once or even twice a month, which is at a considerable sacrifice to many based on the economic status of much of the branch. It really is inspiring. 

Sunday we learned some interesting things about the new executive orders and laws surrounding illegal immigration. Everyone is really nervous and just scared about getting deported. Turns out one of the Catholic churches in the area has been working with illegal immigrants to gain citizenship, which is great, but have told everyone who is illegal to not open their doors to anyone they don't know. That kind of explains a lot. When we knock areas with a lot of Hispanics, we never get a door open, and this has happened in the past two weeks or so. It's pretty sad. People are just scared.