Dia de Gracias

 Week of Thanksgiving was a blast as expected. I ate so much food I'm still full. I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was happy and exciting. We had a full week of work and a lit of progression has taken place by what I can see. Our friend Jose has been working towards his baptismal date and it has been a blast helping him. He is determined to follow God's commandments and he truly loves the Lord, inspiring to me. He attended church again yesterday as well and he loved it, especially meeting more and more members who are so vital in someone's conversion. Additionally, another friend Austin came to church but he doesn't speak Spanish so we went to the English session with him. My comp and I were asked to help bless the sacrament which I haven't had the opportunity to do in awhile so I was grateful for that. He really seemed to enjoy it but I was said when he invited us to then attend his church but we were busy with the Spanish session instead. 

We did lots of contacting this week and explored some cool areas. Thankfully we have a lot people who have been contacted in the past so we're able to go see them and reestablish communication. I am still amazed to see people's beliefs and standpoints as fair as religion goes. The gospel of Jesus Christ brings simplicity to my mind at least and that's what I'm trying to explain to those I come in contact with. 

The members have been great in lessons recently and very supportive in our efforts. Also providing food is always awesome and we definitely saw this this past holiday week.

Transfer information arrived as well and a lot of things are changing once again even though our mission president said people would be staying in areas for a while. I am staying down here in Georgia but also sad to see my comp go. Looking forward to what's ahead as always and praying to be guided by the Spirit. Never a dull moment out here and always pushing. Get out there this holiday season and serve people, you'll see miracles. 

Back pain and back to back

 Quick update down here in Georgia. I tweaked by back pretty bad and got some x-rays but things should be good, just never realized the importance of stretching until now. Other than being hunched over all day the lessons have been going well and we have someone on date for baptism. It has been difficult to reach this point with that many people we are teaching so we are excited and looking to follow through. Brother Cruz a member in the ward assisted us in a lesson and interestingly expressed how the unification of this church is a huge part of his testimony. 

This church is connected throughout the whole world. We are all on the same gospel idea for a week and can share ideas and we have a prophet who leads and guides us as one, that's amazing! We had a couple great devotionals over zoom one on stress management and the other on social media. And with the push from President Nelson on Facebook the work is really just evolving. 

One last lesson to highlight from the week would be with Austin. We originally met his girlfriend while out on the streets and she asked if we were giving out free books. Austin teaches parkour and my comp does that stuff so we went to meet him and build that foundation. We have gotten to know him some more and finally had a great sit down talk with him. We exchanged life stories and man he has had the story. He was intelligible and very respectful as he listened to us and asked meaningful questions. We were able to answer everything, explain concepts, and extend an invitation to church which he accepted. What I learned was the importance to share my story with sincerity. He told me that he admired that and that others would like to hear things like that from us missionaries. 

The gospel brings clarity into our minds and love into our hearts, that's what I focused on with him as it has been a circulating idea throughout this past week. I am grateful for it and am trying to give others the opportunity to accept it for themselves. Cuídense mucho mi gente, chao!

Amazing Week

 Amazing week here in Dalton with a new perspective on lessons. Our weekly devotional by Brother Donaldson taught us how to more clearly understand the intentions of the lessons we teach as well as focus on the importance of prayer. He went through a quick roleplay using questions pertaining to prayer and likening the scriptures in our lives. The first 8 chapters in the Book of Mormon apply to the reader today and they go as follows:

Chapter 1- You get a book, 2/3- learn how to use it and try, 4- do it God's way, 5- realize the worth, 6- council, 7- opposition from family, 8- how to follow God. Sorry if that was messy and sorry if it didn't make sense. I invite you to go study those chapters again and gain your own revelation because I know the Book of Mormon is the perfect book of conversion. God will answer your questions but He won't answer your doubts. 

Throughout the week we were able to apply this new approach to prayer with our investigators and it worked miracles. To highlight a couple experiences, with Gonzalo and Nelly we had a spiritual moment of silence after Gonzalo offered a specific prayer in the middle of the lesson. His answer was positive and he is on the covenant path acting with faith. Additionally we reestablished contact with a man named Jose who also felt the spirit strongly and loved his experience at the Church the following Sunday. Another lesson with a family of five went great as we were able to express our true desires to serve and the importance of the message to us. That is all we have to do as missionaries is care and show those you teach that you care. 

The rest of the week was filled with all sorts of activities including parkour, dogs covering us in poo, and almost running over a puppy. Every day is pretty exciting and I do my best to record it to remember later. Hope all is well for others and this coming week is full of excitement, up to you to make it that way.

Georgia Area

 

Not Enough Time

 A week full of work and time just flies by. Looking back on the week it feels as though those lessons were forever ago but somehow it's Monday. Teaching more and more these days and fulfilling the missionary purpose to the best of my ability. The variety of people I meet blow me away as we speak to Latinos in either Spanish or English, the classic southerner, or anything in-between. I've been focusing on things I can improve about myself and have found missionary work to be the best crafting table. 

Anyways, a few things that happened this week include Zone Conference where it was great to see old friends and discuss things of the spirit. I learned that if I have not been rebuked by the spirit lately than I need to change my prayers. When reproved by the spirit and when accepted, the doors can open to change and improvement. Don't take advantage of the spirit that you get to feel all day every day, and use it to help others receive their own blessings. 

In a few lessons this week we decided to review and share the "Ask of God" video which has to be one of my favorites, check it out. I have seen how just after gaining that better understanding of the first vision their testimonies in Joseph Smith sprout and now we just got to keep watering them. Commitments with those we teach have been difficult still and we're doing all we can, but salvation can't come too easily. We had the opportunity to attend a wedding of a member and someone we're teaching which was beautiful and a great time, the tres leches cake was pretty good too. One lesson yesterday that stands out was with Fabian and Wilberto along with Hermano Cruz helping us out. We discussed the Gospel of Jesus Christ and baptism taught in chapter 11 of 3 Nephi. Hermano Cruz was a tremendous help bearing his testimony and backing up missionary work as a whole. He's a convert himself and relates perfectly with the Latin community. All-in-all the spirit was strong and applied well into the hearts of those we taught. Something I learned from a talk by Hermano Sierra in church yesterday is that the gospel of Jesus Christ isn't in the technical things, it's in our everyday lives and it's meant for everyone. Fear and faith don't go together. We can choose our reactions to the consequences, have a celestial focus. Take those ideas however the spirit lets you, cuídense.

Questions of the Soul - All of Us

 Another eventful week in the field, I'll try my best to sum it up. We've been working hard with our investigators and leaving commitment after commitment and seen some success with it so far. One thing we starting focusing on this week was using the 'questions of the soul' section out of Preach My Gospel so that we could center our efforts on the Book of Mormon. Instead of simply asking people if they have any questions at the end of a lesson we give them the this list to choose from and leave them with that specific reading assignment to find their answer before we see them again. It has been amazing to see people come closer to this other testament of Jesus Christ and I recommend checking the questions out for yourself. 

To highlight a few lessons in particular, we taught a father and son about the Restoration and we could completely feel the warmth of the spirit wrapping around this small family and the desire this father had for his children to know of Christ. Another lesson with Nelly and Gonzalo went well and we were able to set a baptismal date for Gonzalo who has been reading and gaining his own testimony. As we spoke to them yesterday about church he expressed how he doesn't want this to separate him from his wife and children being the only one but we reinforced the idea that it would only strengthen them. The Torres family have been an amazing help and truly show the importance of member missionary work, go out with the missionaries! One lesson on Sunday went very well as we were able to speak with a guy who's been attending church for weeks with his girlfriend and we had no idea he wasn't a member. We were able to clear up some misconceptions and explain things to their 7 year old preparing for baptism too. They are planning to get married by the bishop on Saturday and we are excited to help. 

The work progresses and we keep on teaching down here in Georgia. These people are amazing and love Christ, just need to keep commitments sometimes but they love God so it's possible. As for my studies I have been going through Captain Moroni and his dealings with the people which is always inspiring. No better place to be than in the mission field right now, take care everyone!