Hola Familia Y Amigos! We had an amazing zone conference this week, or I guess really it was amazing just because we got to watch the new Christmas initiative video Light the World (#LIGHTtheWORLD). It is so good!! The full video will be released on November 25, but there is a video out now that you need to watch! It is a teaser trailer for the full length and you should be able to find that on social media or mormon.org/christmas/light-the-world and search light the world. I will include a link to it if I can. Well Monday we picked TONS of Fuji apples and ended up filling the trunk of our Equinox, and after all the pressing and everything was done we ended up with about 20 gallons of pure liquid apple. SO GOOD. not bad for only 45 minutes of picking apples. I think I picked about 10 grocery bags full of apples, but anyway, a delicious p-day. After dinner we talked with Hermano Garcia. He seems really relieved now and a lot happier. It is really good for him because now that he doesnt have anything to do, he just alternates between watching tv, taking walks, and reading the Book of Mormon. So we read a chapter of the Book of Mormon with him. He is a good guy. Tuesday, we met up with the zone leaders in the middleton zone to plan out the trainings we were assigned for zone conference. It was an alright meeting, I think I was able to learn a lot from it, and I learned what makes a good meeting good. Its the Spirit, and the learning, not really the people or a particular subject matter. But after the meeting we went to visit Reina. She is not able to make it to church, for a few reasons, but sure loves having us over to read the scriptures with her. It is so sad to me, there are so many of the people that we teah that dont know how to read, or arent really literate even though they can recognize the letters. And its because they had to work since they were 8. Reina cant read. but she loves the scriptures. she cant read them to herself, but when we read them to her she says "oh I wish I could read, to just pick up a book and start learning. There is so much knowledge, and the scriptures are so beautiful." We told her that we could help her to learn to read when we visited her yesterday, but she feels spread pretty thin with having to care for her husband and all the grandkids. We will see if we can start helping her sometime soon. We had dinner with the De Jesus family. Hermano De Jesus' dad is in town, and he is a member but hadnt been to church in years, but hes been to church both weeks that he has been here. We shared a message about light, and the promise that the Savior gives us in John 8:12. Hermano De Jesus shared his testimony about that promise. That he has felt his light grow or fade depending on if he is doing what he needs to or not. It was a great visit that we had with them, and the food was delicious. :) Wednesday, we didnt find anyone at home. We mostly finished planning for zone conference, but no luck the rest of the day. Thursday, we finished our training and then taught Hermana Ochoa. I guess when I say taught I mean really we jsut listened to her stories. She is a good lady, and is preparin to go to the Temple and so we stop by to just stengthen her and help her to reach her goal. Friday, we had the zone conference. I was asked to conduct, but oh my goodness it is so nervewracking to conduct a meeting you know nothing about. There was a really general kindof ambiguous program, but I had no clue what was happening. Well I got through it alright anyway. We saw the initiative videos, ate lunch, got flu shots, gave our training, and then had a testimony meeting right at the end. It was a good day, and a good meeting. This Light the World video needs to be shared. if we can do a good enough job sharing this video, it can do some real good this Christmas season. Watch it and you will know what I am talking about. Then that evening we found Luz's son, Marcos, and taught him the restoration and invited him to read the Book of Mormon. He said he would try to be at church and bring his mom. Saturday, we had another correlation meeting with our bishop in the morning, and then one with our ward mission leader in the afternoon, with a service in between. We were helping to move a member's son who just got here from Kansas. He told us he has a lot of stuff that he doesnt need and that he had some jackets that we could have if we liked them. Well he started to pull jackets out and I figured there would be nothing in there my size (he is a shorter bigger guy), but we found some real surprises. Most of the jackets were leather with a few other jackets mixed in there, I also got some interesting compliments while trying on some of the jackets. haha Ill include a picture of the ones that I got. In the evening we found some new investigators. One is the son of an old investigator, he is agnostic but agreed to take the lessons. and the other is a family that was referred to us by an investigator. They are moving and we offered to help and they let us in! Well the truck didnt get there until too late, but we said we would help them the next day. So Sunday, we had church like normal, no investigators of ours came to church like normal, but we had a lot of less active members come. they are coming so much that it is hard to say they are "less active" anymore! We read a chapter from the Book of Mormon with Reina after church and then late in the evening we found the new family that was moving and helped them to unload the truck. they moved from one part of our area to another which is nice, and they say we have ben a pretty big blessing, so Im glad we were able to find them! They might do better in an English ward, but we will have to see. As a spiritual thought I want you to ponder on the real meaning of Christmas, and watch the video: https://www.mormon.org/christmas/light-the-world It is based off of our Prophet's conference talk from October 2015. Think about how you can get involved and make plans now! I love all of you and hope that you are well. Elder Whitaker
0 Comments
Hola Familia y Amigos!!
This week was a good week, we had a zone meeting to prepare for. Most of the week was revolving around the zone meeting. We were inside all evening on Monday, after the disappointing fishing trip, and then had MLC on Tuesday. MLC was really good, we had trainings on studying more effectively and follow up on the last trainings we had. It was a good meeting and helped me to understand better how to prepare for lessons. After MLC we were on the run giving blessings. Sister Garcia, the one with dimentia was in a lot of pain, and the hospice nurse told us that she was nearing the end of her life, and asked us to give a blessing of release to Hermana Garcia. We went by, and the hospice nurse was not lying, Hermana Garcia did not look good at all, so we gave her the blessing of release, and left to our dinner appointment. after dinner we went to give a blessing to some elders who were not feeling well. We also helped a potential investigator to take care of some leaves in her yard. On Wednesday we taught Aydee. It was a really good lesson. It was almost really upsetting because she had said at the beginning of the lesson that her dad had asked her why she met with us and, "dont you know they just want you to become a mormon?" and she told him that she would just tell us that she is not interested and that we shouldnt come by anymore. we she did basically tell us that, but 45 minutes of sitting in the cold doing our best to follow the Spirit, and several powerful witnesses from the Spirit later, she was convinced that she really didnt want us to leave and not come back. We interested her with the plan of salvation, and agreed to teach that the next time we came by. She is such a good person, and wants to do what is right, but Satan is working hard on her. I dont want to give up though. We also found out that Wednesdaymorning is when Hermana Garcia passed away. It is bittersweet. She is in a better state and Hermano Garcia is able to better take care of himself. Thursday we just prepared for zone meeting, and had a stake correlation meeting. We werent able to teach any lessons. Friday, we had zone meeting, which went pretty well. We then did our weekly planning for a little bit and left to visit some people. We were able to find the Gutierrez family at home, and had a great talk with them. We talked about foods that we like, and were able to teach a little about the importance of temples and how they are places where we can go to learn to become more like God. It was a good visit. They are really good people. We also taught Hermana Ochoa the Restoration. We tried to include her grandson, but unfortunately his parents werent great parents and didnt really teach the boy anything. he didnt have a lot of self-confidence even to be able to talk with us, so it wasnt a great lesson with him, but we were able to teach Hermana Ochoa. Saturday, we had the funeral service for Hermana Garcia, and had a good chance to talk with Bishop Thomas. We taught a new investigator, Angeles. She seemed conflicted on whether or not she wanted to be interested or not, but we will see where it goes... We also taught Martin again. We reviewed the importance of the Book of Mormon, and tried to apply specifically to him the blessings that it will bring. We will see if he is able to read from the Book of Mormon this week. Sunday we taught Rodrigo Garcia. He is the one with the carpet company. We read from the Book of Mormon and connected it to him. We explained that it would help him to be able to know better how to lead and protect his children in this crazy world. As a spiritual thought this week I would like to share another Old Testament treasure. It comes from the book of Ezekiel. Now I know you are all wondering what could possibly come out of Ezekiel besides craziness and fire. But honestly probably one of the best illustrations of the mercy of the Lord I found in my study of repentance in this, the unlikeliest of all places. Ezekiel 18:30-32 and Ezekiel 33:14-16 Ezekiel 18 30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 ¶Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and anew spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth,saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. Ezekiel 33 14 Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; 15 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live. Isn't it clear? The Lord God of Heaven and Earth loves you. He loves each of us. He doesnt care what you may have done, He just wants you to "turn from [your] sin, and do that which is lawful and right;" And if you dont think you have the strength within yourself to do that by yourself, that is why we have the atonement, and a church organization. We have people to help us, and a Savior to strengthen us. I have a testimony that this is true. I know that when we turn from our sinful ways and strive to do that which is lawful and right, the Lord will not mention it to us ever again. He doesnt have any pleasure whatsoever in the punishments and the pain that comes to the sinful (all of us, dont point fingers). He wants us to live. I want you to live. Everyone except for Satan and his followers wants you to live. Now you just have to pick a side. I love all of you and hope that you choose to live and turn from whatever might be holding you back, it doesnt have to be anything big or embarrassing. Just turn closer to the Savior. :) Elder Whitaker Hola Familia Y Amigos!!
What a great week! We had two exchanges this week, and taught some pretty good lessons. On Monday, we visited with Hermano Garcia. He is still going through a rough time with his wife being sick and all, but we were able to hear his testimony of how helpful it is to read the scriptures. It was such a sweet simple testimony, and good for us to hear that he is not giving up faith. Tuesday, we had district meeting and started our first exchange. I had Elder Collette with me, he is from California, and loves water sports. So we got along well. :) We talked with a lot of people, setting appointments and teaching where we could. Most people asked us to return at another time, but we were able to teach Pablo. He informed us that he would be on 2 years probation, so that will throw a wrench in his baptism for the present time, but thats okay. He can keep learning and applying. We taught him the first couple points of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: faith and repentance. I really hope it sets a good base for him of trying to be better every day. We were also able to talk with Junior Centeno again finally, and got the awesome news that now his wife has full custody of the kids so we can start teaching all of them together. Wednesday, we taught Hermana Ochoa. She is having some troubles with her car, among other things, and was feeling pretty weighed down. We expressed the love that God has for her, and talked about the progress she is making. She seemed a lot happier as we were leaving than when we first arrived. That evening we went to visit Aydee. We had a great discussion with her! We taught the Restoration, and she had a few questions. I love when people have questions!! It shows that they are interested, and it allows them to feel the Spirit better, because it helps us to teach to their needs better. It was just so exciting for me. We are looking forward to being able to talk with her more and answer more questions. Thursday, we weekly planned, which was fairly normal, and then headed into town to start teaching. Not many people were home and available, but later in the evening we found Luz Gomez home, and taught her the Restoration. It went well and she said that we would be at church with her oldest son. We then went over to Pablo's house, and were finally able to introduce him to the Young Single Adult Elders. It was a good talk that we had with him, and he said he would be at church as well! We really hope that he comes. Friday, I was on exchanges with Elder Bollinger in his area. He is from Kansas, and is a really great Elder. We had an amazing day! we taught 6 lessons, and were just busy busy busy. It is so nice to be busy, and to have people to go see. We started off the day reading the Book of Mormon with someone who hasnt been to church in a while. It was good. Then we went tracting a little bit, and were able to talk to some good people. No one was really too interested from that, but The next family we saw is a part member family, and their oldest son is not baptized but really wants to be! We taught him the first lesson and it was amazing. He is 10, and his younger sister, 8, both payed really good attention! I love teaching kids, they are so humble and open hearted. Some of them are really good at understanding the importance of the message. Its impressive! We then visited with a family whose two pets are wolves. like 100% wolf. They are basically differently colored german shepherds. haha I got to hear them sing to me! It was cool, and loud. The only problem was they shed hair EVERYWHERE. But the family agreed to meet with the bishop to plan how they could get to the temple to be sealed. We then visited with a new investigator that they have. He is super nice and really interested in learning. He really wants to change his life around and is doing a 180 to listen to the missionaries. He had little to know knowledge of really anything religious, so we taught him the Restoration, explaining that it starts with reading the scriptures and praying. The other two visits that we had, we read scriptures with some families that havent been to church in a while. We got to explain one of the Isaiah chapters to the first family, that was a challenge! Well I was just completely and utterly exhausted after this day, it was so good! Saturday, we taught Brandy in the morning. We read 2 Nephi 31 with him and then taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We did some service for Hermana Ochoa. She had a shed out back that all the boxes were just thrown into, so we took them all out and then organized them back in. It was a big help to her because now she can close and lock the shed. Before she was having a problem with her grandkids just going through all of her things looking for anything of value, and selling it. Its sad that her grandkids would do that to her. or anyone really. We had ward correlation that afternoon and had a really good talk with Hermano Marin. He is such a good guy. We were able to go with him and give a blessing to his niece. Sunday we visited with Donaldo Robledo. He is seventh day adventist and just wants to fight with us. It was kind of upsetting, but then we visited with Jesus Duran, and had a good talk with him and his family. They are so nice. Unfortunately no one came to church from our area, although some investigators from other areas did show up! And today, Monday, we went fishing. So I am beginning to realize how fortunate and blessed I was to have grown up fishing in Minnesota on Big Lake. The fishing around here (maybe it was just the time of year) was not good at all. i would have rather fished all day getting sun fish, but we couldnt even get those. haha it was an experience, one that I wont repeat. But anyway, that is why my email is late, and if there are a lot of mistakes, sorry! As a quick spiritual thought I would like to share a quote from President Monson: Most of you are familiar with Alice in Lewis Carroll’s classic novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. You will remember that she comes to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. As she contemplates which way to turn, she is confronted by the Cheshire Cat, of whom Alice asks,“Which path shall I follow?” The cat answers, “That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t matter which path you take.”1 Unlike Alice, we know where we want to go, and it does matter which way we go, for the path we follow in this life leads to our destination in the next life. May we choose to build up within ourselves a great and powerful faith which will be our most effective defense against the designs of the adversary—a real faith, the kind of faith which will sustain us and will bolster our desire to choose the right. Without such faith, we go nowhere. With it, we can accomplish our goals. I too know that it is so important the choices that we make, and the goals that we have. I know that President Monson is a prophet of God. Elder Whitaker Hola Familia y Amigos!!
Wow! Halloween is next week! Time seems to go faster and faster every time I write one of these emails. We had a good week, and were able to have district meetings this week. It seems like a while since the last time that we had district meetings. But anyway, Monday we had P-day like normal, and we werent able to contact anyone that night. Tuesday we had district meeting, and then we passed by a lot of people but not too many people answered the door. We were able to go by a house we had already contacted before, and talk to Rodrigo. We had met his wife before and had a good talk, but she had been avoiding us since. Well Rodrigo is a super nice guy, and when we taught him the restoration it seemed to make sense to him. He made some good comments and asked some good questions. Rodrigo is the one who owns a flooring company, I think I shared about them before. Well When we gave him the Book of Mormon, he said he would read it. "Not all at once because Im busy, but Ill start." We visited with him again yesterday, and he has been reading, not a whole lot, but he has been reading! We are excited to see how things go with him. Wednesday, we had our second district meeting. This district is the one we most worry about, there is a good district leader, but most of the district doesnt seem too excited. We spent all of the afternoon trying to find someone who was home, but couldnt find anyone. The afternoons this week have been rough. At dinner we got a referral to go see a less active member of the 6 ward. They said he had been baptized fairly recently but had stopped coming to church. Well that was helpful for us to have another name to be able to try by. In the evening we went to Farmway, and were able to contact a new investigator. She has been going through some rough times, and is willing to listen to our message. We just need to bring another guy because she is single. We left for Middleton after talking with her, and contacted a referral we had been given. It was kind of awkward for me, because I made it that way I guess, I am so used to people going, "i dont have time," and "were about to leave" and every other excuse that I have gotten into the habit of asking for a return appointment instead of teaching. Well she said my husband isnt here and I dont know when he will be back, and so I asked when would be a better time, and she said something, I dont remember what, and so I asked her name and was about to say goodbye, but she said "but you can read your message if you want". haha so then of course we didnt say no, but it was just kind of awkward. Well it went alright anyway and we will be going back to see if she read any of the Book of Mormon. Thursday, we had weekly planning which is always a blast. As much of a blast as sitting in one place for 2 hours can be I guess. haha well it was another rough afternoon, but we were able to contact Pablo that night! Which was really good. We were able to ask why he didnt make it to church, and read from the Book of Mormon. I love reading from the Book of Mormon with people. For one I know that they are reading it when I am doing it with them, and two I can see the effect it has on them. Pablo was telling us before that he doesnt like reading, but after reading the first chapter he told us how excited he was to keep reading. It is so neat to see that happen. :) We also read a chapter of the Book of Mormon with the Garcia family. They have a really sad situation, the wife is just deteriorating from the dementia or whatever she has, and cant hardly sit up straight, and her mind is mostly gone. Hermano Garcia is enduring, but he told us that he really appreciates the visits. I cant imagine how hard that would be, but I know that he can find peace and comfort in a habit of studying the scriptures daily and praying often. We are trying to get him started with that, and so we read 2 Nephi 4 with him, and it was just perfect for what he needed. Friday, we had to get up early to go to Nampa and pick up Elder Martinez. His companion was going to Utah to renew his license, so he was with us for half the day. It was good for Elder Martinez we think. We then had district meeting in Marsing, which is far away, and then had to drive back to Nampa to drop Elder Martinez off with his companion. All in all that day we drove 105 miles and taught 0 lessons. It was rough but thats what happens. We were supposed to have a lesson with Brandy on Tuesday, but he was getting home late from work, so he moved it to after his court hearing on Friday, and he would text us when we could come over, but we never head back from him. So we heard from the roommate that court went fine, they moved the date to later, and that he had gotten stuck at work. So we didnt have a single lesson with Brandy last week... it was a downer. I love teaching Brandy, he just really wants to learn. Saturday, we taught Hermana Ochoa. She is a member who is returning to activity in the church and is preparing to go to the temple, but anyway we talked about EVERYTHING. haha we talked about death and resurrection and cremation vs burial and the Jehovah's witness missionaries that passed by and tithing and the temple. It was an interesting discussion haha We also set an appointment to go and try to help someone learn how to read next week. I think we might look into teaching a reading class and an english class after that. It would help so much, so many of our people just dont know how to read or reading really doesnt help them to learn, because the miss half the words and forget what the first word was when they get to the third word. Its not really their fault, most of them never had more education that like 3rd or 4th grade. Anyway it will be interesting to see how it goes this week. Sunday we had a couple miracles. Brandy came to church!! it was so good to see him there, he came in late, but he was there. Elder Koch counted up and said there were also 16 less active members at sacrament meeting! It was a good day. :) Later in the evening we taught Jesus Duran. His wife and family are English speakers and go to the 4 ward, but he isnt a member and we are trying to help him to understand more of the Gospel. It doesnt seem like he has been asked too many questions that make him think about what he believes and why, and so we are trying to open his mind a little further to understand the importance of the Gospel. Well a couple other random stories from this week: Elder Koch and I have been running in the mornings, we just run out of Notus past some fields around the school and back home, its about 1.75 mile loop maybe and there are probably 3 street lights on the route in town. But at 6:45 in the morning its pitch black. well you know what else is black? Dogs. Dogs are black sometimes. You know what else wakes up early in the wee hours of the morning? Dogs. Thats right! dogs are usually up at that time too. and You know what dogs like to eat for breakfast when they are up and its dark outside? Missionaries!! thats right! haha well we have never had a problem with dogs before until someone forgot to lock up sparky. Well there we are minding our own business and then the thing doesnt even bark it just runs out at us, well thank goodness it was only a medium size dog that still has some sense of fear, I was able to scare it off of its charge, but Elder Koch and I had to choose a different route that day haha I havent been bit yet, and its not on my bucket list. Okay another running story, Well normally at 6:45 in the farm fields of Notus, there is NO ONE absolutely NO ONE else. maybe a car every 5 minutes. Well this morning there were like 7 cars that passed by us on our way back from the school. well its dark, and the road is narrow, and I dont want to die, so I get off the road when a car comes by. so there is a nice little sand/dirt shoulder on the road before you get into the field. its probably 8 feet wide in between the road and the field, plenty of room right? Well again its pitch black, and I can see the ground beneath my feet just fine when there arent headlights in my eyes, but theres like a 5 second window of near blindness when the car is passing. So again I ask, you know what is on the side of the road? a nice little gravel path. but you know what is sometimes on the side of a field next to the road? thats right! Irrigation ditches are sometimes on the side of the field next to the road. You know what I ate for breakfast this morning? dirt. I ate dirt for breakfast this morning, because in my 5 second window of blindness I almost made it across the ditch just by my natural stride. Almost. haha I just barely understepped the other side of the ditch and biffed it. Im fine haha it was just kinda funny. And Elder Koch made some smart-alec comment about "And thats why I dont like running on the side of the road". Punk. Different story. We were tracting near where some investigators live, the Diaz family, and Hermana Diaz was outside. so we stopped to talk with her. Well I knew that Hermana Diaz, just like lots of other people like to talk. so we didnt have anything to do for a while, and I figured we could maybe teach a lesson to Hermana Diaz. Well we ask how she is doing and all and then we ask if she was able to go to church last week. Simple question right? probably couldnt take more that 5 minutes to answer right? oh but she likes to talk, you say, so maybe it takes her 20 minutes to answer. guess again. Surely no more that 40 minutes, you respond. Oh but you doubt her abilities, guess again. Incredulously you gasp at the prospect that she took an hour to respond. Oh but your mind has failed to comprehend that she took an hour and a half to tell us the epic of why she was not able to come to church. haha Anyway that was pretty much our week haha As a spiritual thought this week I would like to share from my Book of Mormon reading. 2 Nephi 2:27-29 27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil;for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. 28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit; 29 And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom. If we think about life, there are a lot of choices to be made. Some are more impactful than others, but in some way or another most choices can be compared, if not on a scale of good and bad, then on a scale of better or worse. Each of those choices, if not weighted to the good or better side, will keep us from achieving our full potential. Our potential is to return to live with God in a state of never-ending happiness. to achieve less than our potential would mean to achieve a state of happiness that will come to an end. we will be stopped in our happiness, or as the word literally means, we will be damned. The Devil knows our potential and desires that we never reach that potential. He throws lots of things at us to try to get us off course, distractions, temptations, complacency, apathy, despair, the list goes on and on. I know that you can recognize some of these things in your life. But remember this great lesson: We are "free to choose liberty and eternal life...or to choose captivity and death". We will not always make the right choice. God knew this from the beginning, and so He sent His Son to make it possible for us to overcome our mistakes. Messing up isnt the end, giving up is the end. So dont give up. Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. I love all of you and hope you are well. Elder Whitaker Hola Familia Y Amigos!!
This week has been crazy! We were really busy with meetings, and preparations for meetings, and so we didnt have much time to teach. The time we did have to teach was super awesome though! So we taught Veronica on Monday. She is a young mom, and we have just talked with her at the doorstep a couple times. We invited her to start reading out of the Bible, and we could talk about it next time we come back. We arent super sure how interested she is in our message, but she needs to be interested in God at least. Tuesday we had Mission Leadership Council, and we received trainings about a few different things. We were taught a WAY more effective way to plan, and we were also trained on how to teach simply. At first I felt like the planning was going to be a huge burden on me, but now I can see how much of a help it really has been, and it feels easier to do. After MLC, we planned out some of zone meeting, and made our zone vision. That night in our nightly planning, we realized that we hadnt fully comprehended the training on how to plan, and I got frustrated and quit at about 10:15. haha I was tired and frustrated and I was just done, but miracles came anyway. Wednesday, we planned out most of the rest of Zone Meeting, and it was during our planning that our first miracle came. We got a text from some of the other Spanish Elders that a member had a friend he wanted us to go see. Well we called the member and he said he wanted to visit him today, and that we could do it from 5 on. We said we could go at six and that we could meet up at the stake center, and he agreed. Well we were pretty excited about this because one of the blessings we were promised by the assistants to the president was that the work in our area would "explode" if we would follow the planning guidelines. Well here was the first miracle which just turns into a lot of other miracles. So at 6 we met up with Hermano Garcia and he drove us over to his friends apartment (funny side note, we had just tracted all these apartments maybe a week earlier). Well we go in and meet Brandy; his life had been pretty crazy for the last week, and he was looking to change it around. We taught the Restoration pretty simply, and then had Hermano Garcia bear his testimony. It was powerful, and Brandy accepted a baptismal date for the 12 of November. He said he would start reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. We were super excited to keep teaching. So in accordance with the new planning style, which is identifying a goal for the person, identifying a commitment that would help them reach that goal, and planning what we can do tomorrow to accomplish it. Well we were talking about Brandy, and wanted him to feel the Spirit, and we thought watching a mormon message would be good, and that we could send him the link the next day. So, Thursday, we had our District Leader Council, and finalizing zone meeting plans. so about 4ish we sent Brandy the link to the mormon message "The Hope of God's Light". Well the video is about 7 and a half minutes long, and Id say 10 minutes after sending Brandy the link he said the video was perfect and meant a lot to him. It was so cool! Ive never really taught someone who is so committed! Well we werent really able to do much else the rest of the day, and we were able to attend a pretty cool meeting that evening. It was a meeting for all the stake presidents, high councilors over missionary work, bishoprics, ward mission leaders and zone leaders in the mission. It was a big meeting! Elder Ericson, our area seventy, was presiding at the meeting and gave most of the training. It was a meeting to help us see what the vision is for the Saints in Canada and the US. The vision is something like "Become, and help others to become, true followers of Jesus Christ, and enjoy the blessings of the temple". Well it was really good, because, as part of our recent Zone Conference with Elder Foster and MLC we talked about vision, and also aligning keys. Well President Sorensen holds keys over missionaries, and convert baptisms, while the stake presidents and bishops hold keys over missionary work. So, as missionaries, we need to stop trying to determine what we are going to do to hasten the work, and focus on what we are going to BE, to help hasten the work. For example as missionaries we determine that we need to teach more simply, or plan more effectively, while the bishops and stake presidents, holding the keys over missionary work, will help us to see their vision of what to DO for example (for us) get to know the English wards better, or visit active members more often. Anyway it helped Elder Koch and I with our plan for zone meeting. We had already planned what our vision was for the missionaries to be, and now we had what the stake presidents and bishops had been given on what to do to hasten the work. It was a good meeting. So Friday we had our zone meeting. We think it went pretty well. We shared our vision of what to be: Become obedient, diligent, and repentant servants in the Lord's vineyard. As part of our training, we talked about the necessity of change, and that oftentimes, it takes someone else pointing out what we need to change. So we opened it up to the entire zone to tell us what we could do to improve. We told them to bring it all out in the open, and we got some feedback which was really good. Fortunately/unfortunately they didnt have a whole lot to say, so I guess we were doing alright! haha but we did this to try to create an atmosphere of equality and humility. Because we then told them that part of our responsibilities as Zone Leaders was to correct things we saw that needed it. Historically the people who go around telling people what they need to do better were called prophets and they got stoned for it. Its really not too different in our day! haha But we informed them that we would be correcting when we found the need, and that we would appreciate their help to know how to correct them so that they dont get angry. I feel like it was really good, and now we just have to follow through with it. We also gave the trainings about planning and teaching simply and it went well we feel like. Some members of the zone have also seen the "explosive" results. Later that night, the miracles continued for us as we met with Brandy to teach him the Plan of Salvation, and we did a pretty good job of keeping it simple, we taught it in about 15 minutes which was pretty good. our aim for the lessons is about 10 minutes. But Brandy said the closing prayer and said he would come to church! After teaching Brandy we visited with Pablo, and retaught some of the Restoration to him. It made more sense this time, because when we asked him what he could do to know if it was true, he said, "I could come to your church". We also shared the importance of reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know if it is true, and set up an appointment to come by the next day to read it with him. So Saturday, we had a more or less normal day! We finished our weekly planning and then started to visit people. Well our appointment with Pablo fell through, but we saw him later that evening, and he apologized and asked if he could still come to church, so we told him no of course haha just kidding we assured him that he could come. We also had an appointment to do a church tour with Luz Gomez, but she got home late from work, and so she cancelled on us. We did some service with a guy just picking tomatillos. We saw him on our way to a potential investigator, and so we just stopped to help. He had talked with missionaries before, so we will see how it goes. Well we went to the potential investigator, and ummm well lets just say it wasnt a good time for him. haha he was on a trip and wouldnt be back for a while ;) Sunday, we were studying in the morning and we got a text from Brandy asking if we could come over before church, we said sure and asked why, well he told us that he wouldnt be able to come to church but that he would like for us to come over so we could talk and pray with him. We wet over and he wasnt going to come because he had his kids with him. Well we read from the Book of Mormon with him, and explained that it was kind of like Nephi's journal. Well he said that he felt really good reading, like it gave him hope. He said he thought it would be cool if he wrote all of his experiences down so that years from now if there was anyone else going through similar challenges they could read what he did. It was cool to see him have the missionary spirit! we asked if there was anyone he knew that could use our message right now, and he thought for a second and thought of a friend he had that wasnt making great decisions. Brandy said he would talk to his friend to see if he would be interested in meeting with us as well. It was so cool!! haha Brandy is awesome. Well it turns out that Pablo didnt come to church either. we texted him, went to his house and called him, but nothing...we will have to see what happened. Overall this week was really good. We didnt have a whole lot of time to teach, but when we did, it was really good. As a spiritual thought this week I would like to share a quote from this last general conference. Elder J Devn Cornish shared "Let me be direct and clear. The answers to the questions “Am I good enough?” and “Will I make it?” are “Yes! You are going to be good enough” and “Yes, you are going to make it as long as you keep repenting and do not rationalize or rebel.” The God of heaven is not a heartless referee looking for any excuse to throw us out of the game. He is our perfectly loving Father, who yearns more than anything else to have all of His children come back home and live with Him as families forever. He truly gave His Only Begotten Son that we might not perish but have everlasting life!1 Please believe,and please take hope and comfort from, this eternal truth. Our Heavenly Father intends for us to make it! That is His work and His glory. I love the way President Gordon B. Hinckley used to teach this principle. I heard him say on several occasions, “Brothers and sisters,all the Lord expects of us is to try, but you have to really try!”" I love this concept, that the "God of heaven is not a heartless referee". I kow that to be true. I know he is a loving Father to all of us. I know and have felt the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ, and I know it is powerful enough for your pains and temptations. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and know that the authority to teach and practice it was restored to Joseph Smith. I love all of you and hope that you have a great week :) Elder Whitaker Hola Familia Y Amigos!
What a week! We had a mini general conference with Elder Bradley D Foster of the Seventy! He came down for a mission tour, and so our half of the mission met with him on Friday. The meeting was from 9-1, then lunch, and a special leadership meeting from 2-3. There were a lot of really good things that Elder Foster taught us, and hopefully all the missionaries will apply what he said so as to help the mission improve. Some of my favoritethings that he talked about were: What if missions were for missionaries? and that the mission c ould be likened unto the Lord's graduate school. Elder Foster shared what President Monson says people have to know before they do anything. He said "There are two things people need to know before they act: 1) I can do this 2) If I put forth the energy, I and my family will be blessed." Elder Foster taught us about prayer as well, he said that prayer is an act of agency and it authorizes God to bless us. I really enjoyed everything that Elder Foster taught us, and I really hope that I can apply it and become the best missionary that I can. Monday, we had a pretty funny experience; we had received a bag of habanero peppers from a family on Sunday, and we brought it to P-day. Well we just kinda joked around about getting people to eat them, but apparently when you bring spicy things to where missionaries gather, the bag of spicy things must be eaten. haha Elder Koch and Elder Norrell ate one first, and they were dying, it was pretty funny, and then probably 10 other missionaries had to try the peppers. I did not try the peppers, I like to think I have a little better perspective on how to enjoy life than that. haha but I have videos of most everyone eating the peppers. But anyway, that was our Monday! Tuesday we had a pretty good day, we talked with a couple new people, which is always good. It is so important to always be on the lookout for new people to get to know. I never know who is going to need help, or who would be interested in learning more. One of the new people we found just really threw me off for a while, he was super friendly, and asked some interesting questions. I wasnt sure for a while if he just wanted to argue, or if he was actually wanting to know more. Elder Koch and I had an interesting experience later that evening where we kind of taught 2 lessons at the same time standing right next to each other. I was teaching a lady in spanish, and then this kid came up and started to talk with Elder Koch. We had a really similar experience on Friday evening as well while teaching Luz. I like being able to teach together better, but it was kind of cool to be able to teach that much! On Wednesday I was on exchanges with Elder Pettijohn in his area, which means I was on a bike! it was so good! I loved it, and we didnt even really have to bike that much. We biked probably 6-7 miles, but all that was just to get to his area. where they are currently living is a good bit outside of their area, and so we had to bike a ways just to get to the area. It was a pretty easy ride, everything is flat out here, we only had to bike up one little hill, it was probably like a 10 foot hill and it climbed over maybe 40-50 feet. so it was pretty short, and everything else was flat. We taught some good lessons and found a new investigator. I really enjoy exchanges where I feel like I am able to help the missionary in their area. On Thursday, we werent able to teach any lessons, but that night I conducted a baptismal interview with a man the sisters were teaching. It was not as good of an experience as I had had before in interviewing people for baptism. He wasnt really ready for the interview, and so it was really long as I tried to make it a spiritually edifying experience for him by not just saying well you dont believe that our message is true so you wont get baptized just yet, and thats as far as we will go. I tried to explain that the things, he didnt have a testimony of, he would be able to know as he keeps learning. And that is the good thing, he is willing to keep trying, and to keep learning. But I much prefer interviewing prepared candidates for baptism. Friday, we had the Mission Tour with Elder Foster, then in the night is when we had our double lesson with Luz and her son. I was teaching Luz in Spanish, and Elder Koch noticed that her son wasnt really paying too much attention, and so he started to talk with him in English, and he taught the whole first lesson! It was good of Elder Koch to be able to watch while I taught to be able to notice that one of the people there wasnt paying too much attention. It was good because both of them were spiritually edified. Saturday, we were BOOKED! we had studies, a meeting with the bishop, a lunch with Elder Koch's brother, weekly planning, a small window to teach lessons, dinner and then a ward activity. The good news is that the activity went well and we had a decent turn out, and that our meeting with the bishop was pretty productive. We asked Bishop Thomas what his vision for the ward was, and got a pretty good idea of how to carry that out. Sunday, we didnt have any investigators at church, but we did have quite a few of the member families from our area. We had really good lesson in all the classes and I really enjoyed one of the sacrament meeting talks. He shared what activities he had done in his family to bring them close together and close to the Lord. It was a good talk, and he shared probably 15 different ideas of things to do to stay strong. Later in the evening we were able to teach Hermana Ochoa, we are starting the lessons with her, and its so funny to try to teach. She loves talking, and has a lot of stories to tell, so we do a lot of listening. Its okay though, its probably what she needs. As a spiritual thought I would like to share from my reading in the Book of Mormon. I have been reading recently the counsels of a loving father to his three sons. The father is named Alma, and his sons are Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton. Helaman and Shiblon both made good choices, and were good examples to their brother, but Corianton did not make very good choices. Alma knew that Corianton just needed to understand the gospel better to be able to make good choices. Often we are the same way. We dont understand a part of the Gospel and so we dont live it, or we dont appreciate the blessings that come, or the risks we take by making certain choices. This was apparently one of Corianton's misunderstandings. Alma took the time to teach his son what happens to us and all people after they die. This is a long section, so I wont include everything, but I will try to include the highlights. Alma 40:9-14 Alma 41:10,13 Alma 42:27 In Alma 40 Alma shares that all men will rise from the dead in a resurrection, but he says there is a space of time between death and the resurrection. In verse 12 he shares 12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow. and then in 13-14 the state of the wicked is explained. 13 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil. 14 Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection. It is pretty clear to me which state I would like to be received into, and Alma further explains about this time. In Alma 41:10,13 Alma teaches about the meaning of the word restoration, I love verse 10. 10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness. and then I love one of the last things that Alma shares with Corianton, in Alma 42:27 he testifies to his son 27 Therefore, O my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds. I too would like to testify that whosever will come, may come and partake of the waters of life freely. Jesus Christ our Savior already payed the entry fee into that state of happiness and rest, and I know that through repentance we can become partakers of the heavenly gift of the atonement. No one is forced to be righteous, but why would we want to do evil, when the reward for evil is a terrible state of misery? It is hard to do good sometimes, but it will be worth the effort when we are accepted into a state of rest and peace. I know it, I feel it in my heart, and I know that wickedness never was happiness. I love all of you and hope that you are doing well, and making good choices. Elder Whitaker Hola Familia Y Amigos!!
I LOVE conference!! This weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to listen to the Lord's chosen Prophet and Apostles in what is called General Conference. It would be similar to Peter and Paul calling a meeting of all the saints in Jerusalem, and delivering discourses over the 2 day conference. It is so good, and the nearest description I could give to one who has not seen this conference would be to the experience of the saints recorded in Acts 2:1-3. But anyway, there is not much to report on this week. It has been pretty slow in terms of total lessons taught, but we have had some really good experiences with the lessons that we did teach. In particular was our lesson with Pablo. Pablo recently was let out of jail, and is looking to change his life around. We had a lesson with him on Friday night, and we taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a good lesson, he seemed to really understand what we were saying, and seemed to really feel the Spirit. We used the pen breaking apart to show the apostasy and it really made sense to him. We invited him to watch General Conference with us, but he was not able make it.... :( we will go back this week and try to see where the disconnect was. We are excited to help Pablo make the change that he desires. On Wednesday i was able to have a really neat experience with Elder Martinez on exchanges in his area teaching a younger guy who is just 100% ready for the Gospel. We had a really great lesson teaching the restoration, and were able to promise that his questions would be answered as he continues to meet with and learn from the missionaries. He has so many questions that will be answered by the things we teach as missionaries. And I love teaching the Gospel for that very reason. As a spiritual thought I would like to share a little bit of what I remember from the conference addresses based on my notes. In the Saturday morning session, Elder J Devn Cornish spoke and said a few things that I really enjoyed, he spoke about the question many of us have about feeling acceptable before God as "good and faithful servants". We often, as our own worst critics, place ourselves in a position of feeling inadequate, and unworthy. We are in fact not able to claim any merit worthy of salvation by ourselves. but as Elder Cornish taught, we are acceptable before God as long as we keep repenting, and stop rationalizing and rebelling. When we do repent we can receive the grace of God through the atonement of Christ which is mighty to save. When we rationalize and rebel, we distance ourselves from God, and willingly deny the grace we need to be saved. Elder Quentin L Cook spoke of stumbling blocks that would also deny us the gift of eternal life. The philosophies of men, refusing to see sin in its true light, and looking beyond the mark are all ways of rationalizing or rebelling against the simple truths taught by Christ. They complicate our life, and insulate us from being able to feel the full warmth of God's love. There were so many wonderful messages that were shared by the Lord's chosen servants, and I invite all of you who did not get the chance to see one or any of the speakers to listen. You can listen to these wonderful messages at https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng&_r=1 Elder Whitaker Hola Familia Y Amigos!!
Wow we have just had a week full of miracles and wonderful experiences! I absolutely love this area and I am SOO excited to keep seeing the progress. We had another busy week with all the district meetings, exchanges, and lots of running around. We kicked off the week at the mission office to pick up supplies, which we ended up taking like half of the mission office with us between all the supplies, and the packages that were for those in our zone. It was a lot. Part of us picking up the supplies included us accompanying one of the senior missionaries to K-mart to pick up some pans, and we used the mission credit card. That is a lot of power in a little card! haha after we had picked up all the supplies that we needed, Elder Koch somehow convinced me to go to Red Robins, because they have bottomless fries. Well I was pleasantly contented, but Elder Koch LOVES french fries, and ate probably 5 baskets of fries, plus his big burger. Well needless to say, it was a bit much for him and we played kickball anyway, so he wasnt feeling too well by the end of the day. haha it was pretty funny for me to watch it all from the beginning to the end. :) haha well we attempted to contact a referral, but she wasnt home. Tuesday, we had a super busy day, we ended up teaching 6 lessons. A couple of my favorite lessons from that day was first with Brenda Montelongo. We had stopped by to talk with the parents originally, and as we were knocking we saw Brenda coming home from school. She is a sophomore and we started to talk about her classes. She is super lucky because one of her classes is seminary, its not early morning! haha She told us a little about what she was learning, and we explained what a parable is to her. We modernized the parable of the good samaritan a little bit and it seemed to really click to her. We also helped her to read her assignment for the next day. Oh seminary, I wish I had gone more than 5 times! ;) haha We had another lesson that I enjoyed with someonee we hadnt met before, her name is Jessica. When we walked up on the porch we saw that there were big rolls of carpet stacked up and so we figured that they had a carpeting company. Turns out we were right, they do carpet and tile and linoleum and some others, so we had a good talk about that. We ended up talking about the family, and we shared that the family can be together forever. As we started to talk about the necessity of proper authority, the thought came into my head to share an example. I asked how she would feel if I got some carpet and started laying carpet in a house and said I was part of their company? she responded that she wouldnt feel comfortable with that, and even a little upset, especially if I did a bad job! haha well we shared that in a way God has His own little company, and in order to work for God, He has to hire you. Otherwise he would probably not feel comfortable, and maybe a little upset. We talked about prophets like Moses, who were the "employees" and who had authority. She really seemed to understand that point, so we connected the two topics and will hopefully be able to teach the restoration next time we visit with them. On Wednesday, we had exchanges with the assistants to the president, and I got to go with Elder Ah Sue. He used to be a spanish missionary, so he was actually able to help teach all day! which that usually never happens on exchanges. We had some interesting discussions with people and also were able to find some pretty good potential. I really dont understand some peoples thought process. We were talking with a nice lady, and we talked about family and so we shared that we can be an eternal family in heaven. But she objected to that belief, she said that she doesnt believe that she will go to ically saying that she doesnt read the Bible, that she doesnt agree with our views, but she also doesnt agree 100% with the views of the religion she most closely follows (she doesnt attend church, but used to, and her mom attends there). She lives with her mom, and used that as a reason why we were not welcome back, because if her mom knew that she meets with us then she wouldnt have a place to live. But she was sure that what we were sharing was not true, but doesnt study the Bible, and doesnt go to church. I am not trying to pick on her at all, there are SOOOOO many people just like that that we talk to, and I just dont get it. They think we are so evil with our belief that families can be together forever, or that God actually loves us as much as he loved the people in the Bible so he talks with us, or that authority is actually important when you are at least claiming to work for the most powerful being in the universe. The apathy of some people and their desire to remain in the dark sometimes just makes me so sad, and absolutely astounds me. Thursday we had our normal weekly planning session, dinner, and then an AMAZING lesson with Luz Gomez. We taught her about God being our loving Heavenly Father, about how much the Gospel can bless us, about prophets, and about Jesus Christ and what He did. That was probably one of my best lessons where we teach the people and not the just the lessons. Which as a result of that, at the very end Luz just told us how good she felt whenever we came over, and how much she liked our message, and that she knew some families in the ward, and then just finished by saying "I cant come to church this week, but I promise I will come the next week!" It was amazing! On Friday, we werent able to teach anyone... sad day. But we did have an awesome district meeting! Elder Norrell taught about our missionary purpose and about how that centers around the atonement of Jesus Christ. He asked acouple questions that were pretty thought provoking. He asked us to describe some of the vilest people we could think of, and then to describe the most Christlike person we could think of other than the Savior Himself. We listed characteristics of both and then Elder Norrell asked what would be the difference in between these two people if there wasnt an atonement? what would be the difference between any of us if there wasnt an atonement? there would be no difference, we would all just remain stuck at the position that Paul describes as "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God". We think that we are better or worse than some individuals, but God loves us all equally, and we all have the same mandate from Christ to "be ye therefore perfect". It really sunk in to me that we share something so so important, and must view eachother not as competition to see who will be less imperfect at the second coming, but a team effort to get as many people as possible to participate in the atonement of Christ. On Saturday, we had the opportunity to teach Junior Centeno, he is a young dad who would really like to teach his kids about God. Unfortunately some of the kids are his wife's from a previous marriage which means they need permission from the biological father before we can teach the whole family. So we are waiting to hear back about that. But we had a great talk about the purpose of religion, in that it is to teach us how to be, not just think. It must form us and shape us into something better. Sunday was a great day. We visited a couple families that just have some really hard situations right now. I just feel like I am learning to have compassion and charity because my heart honestly just goes out to these people. I wish that I could just stay with them and help them out in everything they do. But I think it is something that I will need to hold on to and when I return home start to apply. I think I honestly might have just caught a glimpse of what President Monson feels when he thinks of the widows and fatherless. and yet an even smaller glimpse of what God must feel for all of us. I just love being a missionary. As a spiritual thought this week I want to share a couple verses from Elder Norrell's training. He shared from the Book of Mormon: Alma 34:15-16 15 And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance. 16 And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption. I would just like to testify that this is true. Jesus Christ lives. He is our Savior: he will save us. I know that it is through faith and repentance that we access the atonement, and I know that Christ has already atoned for all of your sins, for all of my sins, and that we can experience the most exquisite joy if we allow Christ to heal us. We have to make the choice. We have to not only believe that He is the Son of God, but we also must believe what he taught as the Son of God; We must believe that he can save us. I know He can. I know He lives. And I know that He loves us. Elder Whitaker Hola Familia Y Amigos!!
Wow I have been exhausted this week!! Elder Koch and I have been getting along great, there is so much work to do, so much potential, so much support, and so many miracles!! So I have to apologize again for last week, I really just didnt feel like typing everything back out again, and it was a transfer p day, and so I was running around everywhere. But this week I have a lot to report on. We only had about 2 and a half days of total proselyting time due to the mission leadership council, zone meeting preparation, and zone meeting itself, but we were able to teach 12 lessons in those 2 and a half days! we recieved like a million referrals and found 6 new investigators. Everywhere I look there are spanish speaking families, and this area is just absolutely loaded with potential. It seems like the field is white already to harvest here in Caldwell. So I will go over the days that we were able to go out and teach lessons. On Tuesday, we went to contact a referral, and wound up talking to the referral's neighbor, her name is Dena. We talked for a while about the Book of Mormon, but really she is just kindof crazy haha but really nice. We talked with the Garcia family. That is a super sad situation, sister Garcia has dimentia, and her body has just been breaking down majorly. Her husband who left her a while ago has come back to take care of her, and while Sister Garcia cant walk, can barely move her mouth to talk, and just is barely able to move, she wants to go to church, and they came to church this Sunday. We taught them about the atonement, and how the Savior felt everything we go through. later in the evening we talked with Hermana Ochoa, and talked about coming to church and the spirit that we feel in the temple. On Friday after zone meeting, we went to a trailer park and just started walking around, and it seemed like everything we did was guided by the Spirit. We taught some kids on their front porch about what prophets do and who they are, and they got the concept pretty well! Then we knocked on a trailer and started talking with a lady in spanish, and after a while of talking with her in spanish she started speaking english to her kids behind the door, and we felt cheated!! haha so she speaks english as well, but she has really been going through a hard time recently, she feels overwhelmed with her kids and work, and her oldest son left home when she really needed him there, and she just broke down. It is so sad to see people that are just so distraught, but at the same time i know that that is when the Gospel can really take root in their hearts. We invited her to church with her kids and she said she would. We helped to pick up all the little bits of trash that were in her yard and then invited them to church, and the kids seemed pretty excited to come. They didnt make it, because she didnt think her kids had good enough clothes and her youngest one doesnt have shoes, so we will fix that this week and hopefully have her there at church with her family. Then as we were walking back to our car, there was a younger guy that basically asked us to come over and talk with him, and he really wants to learn more and progress. We talked with him for a good long while, and got his information to refer over to the elders that cover where he lives (he doesnt live in that trailer park where we found him). Saturday, we talked with the De Jesus family, and they are awesome!! Although they did make me dring a V8 juice drink... :P just think cold tomato soup haha it was super gross but i drank the whole can! and I think it helped me to gain their trust, so its all good! We taught Reyna Marin at the end of the night, and we taught her about the Spirit, and how the Spirit can teach us of what is true through the feelings we receive. On Sunday we had another miraculous tracting experience in a different trailer park, we were able to teach 3 solid lessons in 40 minutes, and then we visited with Hermana Ochoa again to finish the night. It has been an incredible week. Zone meeting focused on the topic of Stake and Ward leaders. we talked a lot about building trust with the wards, and what we can do as missionaries to increase the missionary mindedness of the members in our areas. I am so excited to work with this zone, because basically everyone wants to be obedient and work hard, and so we think there can be some really good miracles this transfer. As a spiritual thought I would like to share from my reading in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 15:7-10 7 ¶If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: 8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. 9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee,and it be sin unto thee. 10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works,and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. Just a little bit of background, every 7 years, as part of the Law of Moses, all the Hebrew people were to forgive all the debts held between Hebrews. They were to be completely forgotten. So the Lord expounds on our duty to care for the poor and the needy, and commands us to open our hand "wide unto him". It is an image for us to relate to giving plentifully and not hold onto what is placed in our hand. Think of grabbing a handfull of rice to pour into a bowl, if we dont open our hand, basically none of the rice will leave our hand. but if we open it wide everything that is in our hand will fall into the bowl. The Lord asks us to give in this manner to those that need. Well as I was reading I thought well a creditor would be able to demand returns on his charity until the seventh year when it would need to be frankly forgotten, and I thought I bet noone loans money in the sixth or seventh year! The Lord knows exactly the hearts of men (as in my own heart) and gave us verses 9 and 10! He tells us to beware of thoughts such as "If I give him money now, I will have no hope of ever getting it back" "Its the seventh year, I will just have to forgive the debt if I give him money, so I wont give any this year". The Lord commands us to open handedly share what we were given and He promises that He will "bless thee in all thy works,and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto." The Lord has power to multiply what we currently have by 100 if he so desires, and as we know "God loveth a cheerful giver". When we have charity we wont think of ourselves, and when we would get our money back, we think of the needs of others, and with empathy we care for the physical and spiritual needs of those around us. I love all of you and thank you for all of your generous love and support. You are examples to me. Elder Whitaker |
|