Week 48.... I'll go where you want me to go!!!

Baptism Day: Jessica and Camilla Andrade

 For those of you who have been reading my weekly letters, you will all know about the family that we have been preparing for baptism: Family Andrade. After much praying, fasting, and many miracles; we were able to baptize the Mom Jessica, and her daughter Camilla. With these baptisms it completed the family. I am so happy to have gotten to know this family. They are such incredible people.

I wish all of you could have seen the changes they have made. I was a very spiritual day and a very spiritual baptismal service. You could see the happiness this family now has, the smile that the husband gave me when he wife went under the water will be an image I will never forget. The husband has wanted his wife to be baptized since day one. And when she was going through a lot of trials and hard times, he was very sad and upset. But as she started to progress you could see his love for his wife grow, you could see how much he wanted this happiness for his wife and his daughter. I was lucky enough to have the privilege to baptize Jessica. When I was in the water with her, I looked up and saw the whole family right next to the glass, all of them grinning ear to ear. 

The spirit immediately filled my heart. Knowing that this family is going to be complete and now they can continue on and become an eternal family. It is amazing to see all the blessing a missionary receives in his time here in the mission. I have been so blessed as a missionary and a person.
It is so awesome bringing this message of happiness to the lives of these people and seeing them make dramatic changes. I don’t think I have ever been so happy in my life!

So this morning we got the news for transfers. I was totally expecting that my companion was going to leave and I would stay here in Mulchen and continue working here in this sector. But President Bluth called me and the Lord has a different calling for me. He asked me if I would go to another sector and be a Zone Leader. I was not expecting that at all. I was completely surprised by his call. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have been given. I know I have only been here 6 weeks in Mulchen, but I have met a lot of great people and it is going to be tough saying goodbye to so many great people.

I am so excited for the new assignment and all the new people I will get to know. I WILL GO WHERE YOU WANT ME TO GO DEAR LORD. 

This week for my spiritual thought I wanted to share a story with you that comes from the book of Mosiah. This is the story of Abinadi. Abinadi goes to King Noah and tells him of the wickedness, and unless him and his city repents God will visit them with His Wrath. As I was reading this story I put myself in his situation. I then read these 2 scriptures:

8For thou hast said that God himself should come down among the children of men; and now, for this cause thou shalt be put to death unless thou wilt recall all the words which thou hast spoken evil concerning me and my people. 

9 Now Abinadi said unto him: I say unto you, I will not recall the words which I have spoken unto you concerning this people, for they are true; and that ye may know of their surety I have suffered myself that I have fallen into your hands. 

King Noah tries to tempt Abinadi. He tells him is he will take back his words, if he will reject the words of God he will not be put to death. For many this is a very great option. To just say you know what King Noah I was kidding, I didn’t mean to say that and then continue on with your life. But that is not what Abinadi did. He stood face to face with the King and Said I WILL NOT TAKE BACK MY WORDS!!!!  I WILL NOT REJECT MY TESTIMONY… Not one of us will have to give our lives like Abinadi did, but we can still apply this into our lives. If Abinadi was willing to give up his life for his testimony, WE SHOULD BE WILLING TO STAND UP FOR OURS. There are many wicked things of this world and Satan is tempting us in every possible way. So stand up against Satan and say

I WILL NOT REJECT MY TESIMONY!! Show him that you are a child of God, and that you love our Savior. Many of have friends that may not be doing the right things. But we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ should be like Abinadi and Stand up for our beliefs, stand up for our testimony. 

I hope all of us can have the courage as Abinadi did and always stand up for our testimony and as we do, we will be blessed and God will show His love for us.

"These are my Baptism clothes..."

Chile Concepcion South Mission ....Mulchen Zone

Week 47... The Power of Prayer!!!

This was another week of miracles here in Mulchen. My comp. and I have really been so blessed to see these miracles. I will tell you a few of them. So this week we started off by fasting for all of our investigators. We have a ton, but none of them were really wanting to make the next step and be baptized. So we started off my fasting and making a goal to put 100 % trust in the Lord, to make it a priority to pray and look for new ways to teach. That is exactly what we did. It payed off!!! 

We have been battling with an investigator for 3 weeks now. She is the wife of the man and the 2 kids we just baptized. She was supposed to get baptized, and also her daughter, but at the last second they cancelled and said no. We were so confused why. We figured out that she was scared because when she was pregnant with her daughter something terrible went wrong. The baby was going to die, and most likely she would have died to. So she being Catholic, went to the Virgin Mary and did a contract. Long story short, she and her baby were saved. This happened about 10 years ago. So we asked her why she didn’t want to be baptized. She told us that she was scared that if her and her daughter get baptized, the contract will be reversed and that her and her daughter will die. She has been super scared. For three weeks she has ignored us, she didn’t want to talk to us. So when my comp and I started the fast, we prayed for the opportunity to talk to her again. Well that opportunity came on Tuesday. We went over there expecting to teach the family and the little girl like always, to have another excuse why we couldn’t talk to the mom. But when we got there, the mom Jessica was down stairs. We took that opportunity and began to ask her questions. We began to teach her about Faith in God, but there was something different. We could not feel the spirit in the house. I was so confused why. So I began to pray in my head and asked that we could know the reason. At that moment the family began to argue and fight. That father and the mother began to yell and the kids got into it too. The whole room was filled with contention; and as everyone knows contention is of the Devil. So at that moment we knew why the spirit wasn’t there. We helped resolve all the problems with the family. I asked if we could kneel down as a family and say a prayer to bring the spirit into the house. So that is what we did. During the prayer you could feel the spiritual shift. The family went from super angry and contentious to loving and accepting. After we got done praying, we continued on teaching about Faith. The mom then looked at us and asked us so many questions about baptism. We began to teach and answer all her questions. I have never seen someone change so fast. She was so ready for baptism, she just couldn’t have the spirit testify of these things, because there was too much contention. In that moment we invited her to be baptized on the 22nd and she accepted. She is now preparing and is super excited for this weekend. It was such a miracle for us. We will be baptizing her and her 10 year old daughter, Camila. I have the privilege of baptizing her because she is 8 months pregnant and there is no one that is big enough to baptize her, so I get the privilege to do so. I am super excited ;) ANOTHER WEEK OF MIRACLES!!

    

 
This week I hit ONE my year mark! I cannot believe that I have been out here that long. It has been such a great experience. I was able to burn a shirt and have a great time.

 

    












 I just wanted to share with all of you a little bit of what I learned this week. I was really studying hard this week and began to study a lot about prayer. I have been thinking a lot lately on what I can do to become closer to God, and be more receptive to the spirit. I started studying about prayer. I read talks and scriptures on the topic. So I just wanted to say a couple things that I learned and hopefully it can help some of you guys.

     First off, how many of us take time before a prayer and think about what we are going to say? How many of us as we are saying our nightly prayers find ourselves falling asleep? How many of us, say quick prayers right as we wake up or are going to bed? I will raise my hand and say I am guilty of all of them. But as we are praying we are showing God a sign of how much we love Him. Do you think we are showing love if we are falling asleep, repeating the same things in our prayers? Prayer should be a time of communication with your Father in Heaven. Prayer should be a time where you thank Him, make plans, and talk with your Father. Many of us take prayer for granted. Prayer is the most powerful gift we have. We literally have the Power to talk with God and receive answers from Him. I read a quote that says “Without prayer it is impossible to return to our Father in Heaven." I know that to be true, because as we pray we will be directed in the straight and narrow path, always choosing the right.

 I want to share 2 scriptures with all of you:

 3 Nephi 19: 9 "THEY PRAYED FOR THAT WHICH THEY MOST DESIRED." 

3 Nephi 18:20 "Whatever thing you asketh in the name of Christ if it be just, 

it shall be given unto you."

I want to bare my testimony that the power of prayer is real. Each one of us have the power to talk to God. The next time we pray we should think of the sign we are giving God, we should pray for the desires of our hearts. 

I promise as we better our prayers and take more time in prayer to God, we will find greater blessing and promises, from the one who created us. 

P-Day Fun!!

Week 46.... Guess what day it is? ...HUMP DAY!!!

WOW!!! I cannot believe that I hit my one year mark this week. On Thursday it will be the one year mark. It has not felt like I have been out that long.

 I started to think back to the things I have learned and I was amazed by the progress I have made as a person and as a missionary. The mission is by far the best decision I have ever made in my life. I am growing into the person that God wants me to become. I now realize that when I first got to the mission I was just one big punk. I only wanted to do what I wanted to do, and if anyone got in my way... oh boy, you best be watchin’ out.

My friends and I always had the joke that I had The Rage, or that I would get super angry all the time. And that was true. I want to take this short little time to apologize to everyone out there that had to experience my attitude. I now realize I had so many weaknesses and I was so far away from being Christ like. So sorry again. :D  

The mission really has changed me for the better. Each and every day is a new challenge, but every day is a new day to change, learn, and grow. I like to think of the change a little bit like working out. I know I have shared this before but I love it so much. It explains it perfectly. When we work out, it hurts! We are literally tearing down our muscles. When I first got to the mission it was exactly like this. I was a very weak person, I wasn’t very Christ like and I had a lot of pride. So from day one, Christ began to break me down. Just like when we are breaking down our muscles, it hurts. When we give more effort it hurts even more. As missionaries, we are required to give all our heart, might, mind, and strength. So when I began to do that, it began to hurt even more. Christ literally began to break down my weaknesses, my bad habits, my faults, and everything that was not in line with Him. There have been many days where I have been so beat down I just wanted to sit there and cry. Just like after a workout, there is nothing better than just sitting there and taking a break. But when the next day comes, and your muscles have healed, what do you do? You break them down again. This has happened so much in my mission. I rise up, or heal my spiritual muscles, and then Christ breaks me down again showing me that I need to humble myself and give everything to Him. But each and every time this happens…I get a little stronger. Each and every time we go to the gym…we get a little stronger. If we give it our all… we get a little stronger. Here in the mission it is the same; for the missionaries who give it their all they change. They become a little stronger. I have seen so many blessings that have come from Christ and His atonement. I have been built into the person God wants me to become. I have been giving it my all and God is literally reshaping me into a better person. I know I still have a long way to go, I am not done, and this process will not be finished in this life. But, I am becoming stronger in this Gospel each and every day. I am so grateful for my decision to give up the World, and serve Christ.

 This week I studied a lot about giving up the world and loving God. I started to read Scriptures like 2 Nephi 9:50:  

 Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ; and he that hath no money , come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted.

I began to read scriptures like this; where Christ is inviting all men, to come unto Him, to drink of His fountain, to be perfected in Him. To give up the things of the world, (The bad habits, the bad thoughts, Pride, bad friends, bad music, bad shows, anything you can think of, etc.) To not have your mind set on the things of the world. The things of the world do not satisfy us; they cause instant happiness that only last a minute. Christ has invited all of us: brothers sisters, whoever we may be, to come unto Him and give up the Things of the World, and BECOMETH A SAINT THROUGH THE ATONEMENT OF CHRIST: (Mosiah 3:19)

I want to challenge all of you to think of the worldly things that each one of us have, and make a list. Take this list of worldly things and do as the Anti Nephi Lehites did:

17And now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man’s blood, and they did bury them up deep in the earth. 

BURRY THEM DEEP IN THE EARTH!!!

Take these worldly things and get rid of them, burry them in the earth and never partake of them again. That is the biggest thing I think I have learned in the mission. Is to put 100% of my Trust in the Lord. To take the things of the world and burry them deep in the earth. I testify to all of you that Christ lives, and that He blesses each and every one of us. He has an active part in our changes. For those that think you cannot change, you can, YOU CAN DO IT!! I never thought I could, but I have have!!! DID IT HURT?? YES IT DID; but WAS IT WORTH IT??? BY FAR THE BEST DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!
 I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Week 45.... Another week of Miracles!!!

This week has been such a great week here in Mulchen. Literally we have been seeing so many miracles. I have never been so happy in my life. I have never seen the Lords hand so much in my entire life. I am so in love with the mission. It has been so awesome helping so many people come to understand about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the blessings they can receive when they begin to use it. 

This week was seriously full of miracles. We have been working super hard with the members here and been gaining their confidence. This week we received a ton of references of family members, friends, and neighbors. We began to visit these people with the members and all these people are so ready to enter into the door of baptism. 

I wanted to share one story with you guys, a complete miracle that happened this week. So on Monday last week, we went over to our ward mission leader’s house to have a meeting and talk about our investigators. When we got there to his house, there was this girl there that I had never met. I began to talk to her and ask her who she was. She began to explain to me that she is the girlfriend of our ward mission leader. I asked her if she has ever had talked to missionaries; she told me no. I asked her if she was attending or going to another church; she also said no. She went on to tell me that she hasn’t attended a church for more than 3 years. I really felt strong to ask her if we could visit with her one day. She said that we could. So I then went and talked with our ward mission leader, and we set up a family home evening for Saturday. So Saturday came around and we show up to this family home evening and the whole family is there. This family is so strong in the church. The mom is our mammacita and a counselor in the Relief Society, the daughter is the primary president, and the son is a returned missionary and ward missionary leader. We get there and we had a great family night. We had a lot of fun. We taught a little bit of the restoration of the church. At the end of the lesson my comp. bares his testimony and finishes the lesson. Usually after the lessons we just continue on. I felt inspired that I should ask the family to bare their testimonies about their conversions. So, we went around and each one of the family members and us missionaries bore our testimonies. I have never heard stronger testimonies of the church. The room instantly filled with the spirit. You could see on her face that she could feel it too. We ended with the testimony of her boyfriend. He finished his testimony with such power. This really touched her heart. She began to cry, she looked at me, and said Elder, I know these things are true. I feel so good right now. So in that instant I asked her to be baptized on the 22nd. And she said of course. It was such a miracle. I am so grateful that the spirit was able to testify of the truthfulness of these things. The next day she came to church and she loved it. She is so excited to continue on and experience the blessing and make the changes necessary for baptism. I am so excited for this week. We also have had many other miracles that have happened. And I am so excited. 

This week for my spiritual message I wanted to share with you guys this scripture:

                        D&C 112:22:   si se humillan delante de mí, permanecen en mi

                                                    palabra y dan oido a la voz de mi Espiritu.

 This scripture talks about that if we humble ourselves before God we will have His spirit to be with us.  I have seen so many blessing that have come by giving 100 percent of myself to the Lord; doing His will all of the time. We have to submit our will for His. If we do this we will have His sprit, and we will be blessed.