Guadalajara
FAM!!!!
Wow, so this week was way sweet. We had Elder Johnson of the 1st Quorum of the 70 come down and we had a couple of conferences with him. First the zone leaders had one with him that was amazing. First he started off with a spiritual thought that was about a half an hour! He talked about the difference between the group that got to the tree in Lehi's dream, and then fell away, and the other group that got there and stayed. He put the doubt into our minds and made us find out for ourselves. He said that there is a big difference between, “clung to“ and “held fast continually”. I was studying it the day after in personal study and then we studied it as companions too, and we came up with the answer. Actually I don’t know if it’s the right one but I think it could have a lot to do with it. I am going to leave that as homework to all of you. What is the difference between these 2 groups? In my opinion it had a lot to do with what happened as they got to the tree, one group fell to the ground, and the other didn’t. I want to hear your answers next week. Then we talked about the importance of our work. He first talked about finding the elect. We read D&C 29:7, it says that the elect will hear his voice and will not harden their hearts. Then we read D&C 68:4, that says when we talk by the spirit we are his voice. So he said that only as we talk by the spirit the elect can hear the voice of the Lord and therefore accept this message. He asked us a lot about obedience and what we do in the morning to prepare ourselves to work. Then he asked, how many “elects” have you talked with, that would have accepted the message if you would have been speaking with the voice of the Lord?? Then he started to say, those who don’t get up on time, don’t study with their comps, don’t do all of the little things can't speak with the Lord's voice. I am not saying that I was doing stuff bad but I think I wasn’t doing everything that I should have been. I felt so bad and I felt I was being reprended by the spirit, because that is one thing that it does. I wondered how many elects have gone by because I wasn’t speaking with the voice of the Lord. Then we read Alma 26:22. He said that is what every missionary needs to be successful. So I have applied that repentece in my life for not doing everything as I should have. I have been doing all that I can every morning to prepare myself for the day so that I cant speak with the voice of the Lord. Elder Holland says that the missionary makes or breaks his mission from 6:30 to 10:30am. It is so true. Elder Johnson also told us that there are too many elects in our area for us to teach. He said that we should be finding one elect every single day. That way, he said, we would be baptizing every week. So every morning I have to leave the house with that goal. I am going to find an elect today. This will be a great week!! I learned so much from him.
Well, that is crazy that we are going to know soon if it’s a boy or girl!! I can't wait to find out. Meg, you are going to be the best mom ever. I really don’t think it's that hard. I was thinking back right now about our childhood and how mom and dad raised us. I found the trick. I know why we all turned out so well. Because we always watched the movie Space Jam. It is the most inspiring movie ever. So just so you know, get that movie ready right when Panchito comes out of the womb and he will turn out great, “don’t bring me here anymore right“ ahaha Random . . .
Well I have learned a lot this week. Elder Johnson taught me to take my studies a lot slower and really analyze what it is saying. So I am loving that. Well the people who were going to be baptized but didn’t were going to have a date this week coming up but we had to drop them. The kids are way animated but the mom doesn’t want them to changed even though the mom knows too that the catholic church is wrong. She doesn’t want to betray her fam. We are going to have one more good talk with her and then I think that will be it. We found a less active and she got baptized when she was like 14 and she remembered nothing about the church. She has come with us twice to the church and has already gained a testimony. She had a dream and she now knows that this is true. Her daughter is not baptized and she is 12, so for the 12th she will be baptized. Also in that same house another mom named Cindy and her kid are loving the church too. The only problem is that she is not married, she is just hooked up. But she is actually waiting for a house that the government might give away to her. She said she wants to separate from him because he is crazy and drinks a bunch. He is actually a member but doesn’t want anything. So we are praying that in this coming week she gets the house, so she can separate and so that her and her daughter can get baptized as well on the 12th. Pray for them.
After the day of the conference with Elder Johnson, we left the house very pumped and looking for an elect for the day. My comp contacted a guy that was about ready to get on his bike and leave. I was not going to talk to him. We talked with him and we talked about baptism and he said that he would get baptized!!! He is an elect. But Sunday came around and he couldn’t go because he went with a friend and got a little “tipsy”, as 50 cent would say, so he didn’t answer the door early in the morning when we went to get him. So we will have to work with him on that but he is willing and ready to learn.
I have less than six months left, is that not weird!?! I was counting and figured that I only have 4 changes left after this one!!! That will go by so fast. But I still have so much work to do.
That family that wrote me a letter is a family from Vallarta. They aren’t converts but they are way sweet. They are the ones that called mom one time on the phone and the guy hardly spoke English. They are the ones that mom sent the package to.
Well I think at the end of these changes, my comp is leaving because this will be his last change as zone leader because for your last change they always move you down. So I will get a new comp.
I am loving the mish and I have learned so much. At times I picture myself getting home and being with all of you, but I have to shut those thoughts out sometimes, because I still have a long way to go!!!! But I have been thinking about that lately..haha
I love you all and thank you for your support, prayers and thoughts. I hope all of you have a great week and I hope that all can keep on building their testimonies in Christ. Speaking of Christ, my mission pres told me to read Jesus the Christ, because I haven’t read all of it, so I have started that too. I am loving it so far.
Elder Mckell still calls me sometimes to tell me how our converts our doing. Well they are not my converts but the Lord's. I miss that kid sometimes, we got along so well. Haha Another guy got baptized there too like 2 weeks after I left, he was a guy that I found with Elder Mckell, he spoke English and we actually taught a lesson in Spanglish. haha
Love you all . . . Elder Mahas
