Week 12

This week has been super awesome!

  Tuesday we didn't really know what to do, we kind of scheduled all our time killing activities to get stuff done so that we could think of things for other days, we went and did mormon.org, we visited a few poeple, and thats really it, nothing too exciting... until that evening when we taught a young man who we met at church, he is 16 years old and is super cool, we taught him the restoration and at the end he said he would get baptized on the 18 of April! That's super cool! We were really worried this week because after the baptism we had 2 people to teach and 1 we have trouble contacting, so that was a great miracle. Then we went with a member of our ward and taught another man. He is studying to become a preacher for another church but he has read the Book of Mormon, twice now which is really impressive haha, and he said, "I have been able to destroy all other religious texts with the Bible, but i struggle with this one more than any other book" So we talked about how we learn of gospel truths from God not from man and used the scripture in the Bible where Christ says Simon is blessed because the spirit revealed it to him, not man, then we referenced the scripture in Moroni 10:5 that teaches the correct way to receive the spiritual feeling of the truthfulness, because he likes to see physical evidence, so that's why we talked about that... and we set up another appointment with him for two days later. 

  Wednesday was my first day of splits! Elder Valdez went to Independence and another elder came up here, Elder Fastje, pronounced Faw-she. We went and talked to a part member family who is one of the guys we are working with, we gave him a Book of Mormon. Then we went to the our convert's where we helped with a service project, and had dinner. After Dinner we had a New Member lesson, the restoration, with their home teacher. If I have learned anything it is the fact that it is nearly impossible to read, hear or say the first vision without an overwhelming feeling of the spirit, that alone is a testimony enough that it truly DID in fact happen!

  Thursday we had our appointment with Mike. I was really scared going into it because I thought he was just going to try to bash with us, and I remember Dad saying that as soon as you start to bash you lose the spirit. But it went well, he asked us some questions, most of which we answered, but he said one, "How come nobody saw Joseph Smith get the records? and how do we know he didn't just write them himself" Good question, Elder Valdez talked about how Joseph Smith had an 8th grade education, making it nearly impossible for him to have written them himself. That was our answer. Later that week a member showed us something cool though... if you read the testimony of the three witnesses and eight witnesses, the three witnesses had it manifested to them by the "grace of God", a phrase they use many times in the text, that the works were from God himself, so there are testimonies proving that Joseph Smith didn't just write it himself, and the eight witnesses saw the physical plates and used words like "hefted" "saw" and things to describe a physical evidence so that's something pretty cool! Then later that day we went with another member, Brother Coleman, to visit the people he home teaches, he is super cool! we just talked about college basketball *cough* i mean the scriptures haha, he keeps me updated on the bracket haha. After that we had dinner and then correlation at the Jail.

  Friday we had district meeting about being diligent and focused on the work and never being satisfied on your mission with a certain number of baptisms, but always striving to be better and improve. Before district meeting we spent the first hour of the day trying to find a house that should have taken us 30 minutes to find, and we found out the guy wasn't even home lol... but something really cool came out of it, someone pulled up next to us, and we thought either it was a member offering a ride, which by the way is incredible for the missionaries so if you see them walking and you can give them a ride do it, or we thought we were gonna get cursed at lol, but a man rolled down his window and said he always appreciated the mormons and the things they did, and how our church produced the best quality of people and he just told us he appreciated the work we were doing, he was a baptist... which are the people that usually don't like us the most haha so that pretty much made my time on mission worth it! After district meeting we had dinner then we did weekly planning which took the rest of the night.

   Saturday we met a referral at the Jail, who is ready for baptism on the 25 of April! Then we visited a less active. Then we walked to the church where the Bishops daughter was baptized. and we went to dinner after that with a member who is a trucker and after dinner took us to his Semi, it was pretty sweet up there. 

   Sunday, was fast Sunday which is scary for missionaries because you never know if some crazy person is gonna get up and say some deep stuff that scares people away haha. but it went really well, and after church we had a break the fast with the ward, but the highlight of the day, was when i had the opportunity to give Shawn Propst the Aaronic Priesthood, which was super cool! I think that family is going to be strong in the church for a long time to come! Which is exactly what we do as missionaries, we give it all up so others can gain it all. They already plan on going to the temple on the April 11 to do Baptisms so we might go with them, seeing as my birthday is the day before so that would be the best present I could ask for. 

   Well this week has been really good. The tender mercies of the Lord have been upon us. After last Saturdays baptism we realized that we were gonna have nobody to teach and nobody who was near baptism... but the Lord stepped right in and gave us 3 new investigators two or which are ready for baptism this month! that will be 5 baptism in 2 months in this area, if i stay, transfers are this week, but Elder Valdez and I both feel that we are going to stay because of all the success we are having here, before Elder Valdez and I were together, this ward hadn't had a convert baptism since last May, almost a year, now we have had 3 already and probably 2 more this month!! The spirit is an incredible thing, able to get so much done through the weak and simple of the world haha. The coolest thing this week was Friday at dinner when a member said, after we had told her of all our recent success, she told us "We have been praying for missionaries like you for a long time" That was great. I have a strong testimony that there is no greater feeling than being the answer to somebody's prayers. 

   One thing I want everyone to do is watch the new video the church has put out for Easter called "Because He Lives" and share it on social media! Go to helives.mormon.org, the video is up and share it to all the people you have on your friend lists; then share your thoughts on why knowing that the Savior lives helps you in your live, and hash tag "#BecauseHeLives"!! I will finish with how that knowledge has helped me in my life... Without the knowledge of the resurrection, I wouldn't be on a mission, I wouldn't do anything I do. Everything I do in my life, and especially at this time, is because of the knowledge that the Savior lives, He truly does, I have yet to feel the impressions in His hands and feet, but I have felt His impression in my life so strongly that I cannot deny that He is there. He lives and as I once heard Elder Bednar say, "The tomb was empty"! He has restored His church in the latter days, He leads us all with a modern day prophet, Thomas S Monson; and He has given us the fullness of the Gospel once again on the earth, don't hesitate to share this glorious message with others, don't hesitate to bring others the joy and happiness you have experienced because of it, and if you fear being rejected and mocked, just know that the Savior knows the feeling. Have a great week! Enjoy conference and once again, invite someone to hear the Prophet of God and his Apostles on the earth today!

   With Love,