Week 60 Life is Better With Orange Juice

Life is Better With Orange Juice

This might of been the fastest week of my mission. Last week of this change and I am really hoping we get some killer missionaries in the zone. Everyone is a little burnt out and we are trying to do some crazy stuff to wake them up.

Found out that the family we were going to baptize isn't married....ya dropped the bomb. We have asked soo many times if they got married and they are like sii si sisis. annnd then the other day when we went to teach them the word of wisdom with this other sister from the ward they just drop the bomb... ya we were married buutttt we got divorced. So ya that's the new news. And now we are helping them take out papers and what not.

Other guy we are teaching which is the probably the funniest investigator I have had in my whole mission. His name is Daniel and hahah the dude is into art and photos and just slays it with weird questions. But he started reading the Book of Mormon and invited his whole apartments to read about Nephi. 

TOOLIO, my boy, this random guy that came to church this last week and then we took is direction and whatnot. Turns out the missionaries were visiting him over 2 years ago but he was drinking and smoking a lot so they stopped teaching him. Well now we hasn't drank in 4 months or smoked. Also has been reading the Book of Mormon. We are going to baptize him on the 7th if all works out solid. 

SER OBEDIENTE POR FAVOR

If you are in the mission or not, just follow the rules, it's the only way to be happy. 

3 Nefi 11.14 is my scripture for the week.

  Levantaos y venid a mí, para que metáis vuestras manos en mi costado, y para que también palpéis las marcas de los clavos en mis manos y en mis pies, a fin de que sepáis que soy el Dios de Israel, y el Dios de toda latierra, y que he sido muerto por los pecados del mundo.

Week 59 Dona Chocha

Dona Chocha 

The mission is the best place on Earth. I have been studying the Atonement this week and I'm starting to understand how much my Savior really did for me. I have been reading Jesus the Christ these past few months and I won't even attempt to write about how much I have learned. The book is massive. But I would encourage you to read just the section that starts with the Santa Cena and go from there. 

This week we had a few things that were unexpected. The Husband of Ana Rosa (or what ever familia says Chocha) died this week. He worked with cars his whole life and developed a strange condition in his lungs. We were passing by Wednesday to visit Ana (never have had the chance to visit with the husband) and there were like 15 cars outside the house and allllll these people. First thing I thought "birthday party what up" and as we got a little closer I realized that everyone was in black and sobbing. We decided it would be best to just call the relief society and pass by a letter in the week. The son called me Friday (he is a member but hasn't been to church in 10 years or more) and asked if we would be willing to pass by Saturday and share a little message, I said of course and that was that. We planned a little lesson with Ana's grandson Cristian, who also baptized her, about the plan of salvation and showed up around 6:30. When we got to the house there were a soild 40 people. and within another 20 minutes another 20 or so. Elder Meads and I both looked at each other smiling as we began to realize what a special opportunity we had. We sat down with the whole family. Only about 5 being members and opened singing " Que firmes Sentimientos". (How firm a Foundation) 

The spirit filled the room and I felt so blessed to be there with my companion. I start off talking about how life started long before this life we can remember. That long before we are born we were with a our loving Heavenly Father in our spirit bodies. I continued with Adam and Even and the changes that came about with the fall. Everyones attention was on us as my companion testified out of the Book of Mormon about the atonement and the joy that comes from knowing that all live in Christ. That all the pain we feel, the sicknesses that we will pass through, Christ knows them all, and descended below it all. Cristian then finished with Christ lives. That he rose the third day and that because He lives we all too will live. It was an experience that I will never forget.

ELDER THORN

Elder Lopez came to visit me this week, for about 30 seconds, but it was great to see how much he has changed. Love the kid!

This is abuela Leyte that has a son who is the mission pres in Costa Rica. She loves us and horrible mexican music. 

  

Week 58 Your Girlfriend Loves My Car

Your Girlfriend Loves My Car

One of the better weeks in the mission this week. Elder Meads got a package with american candy.

We are working so hard here in Santa Fe and it just seemed all week that everything was falling through and no one was keeping their commitments. We are teaching a pretty wide variety of people. Old to young, single to a big family, Catholics to pot heads and everything in the mix. I feel so blessed to be a missionary in the time of "teach people not lessons". I honestly love planning wacky lessons to try and get the attention of the person we are teaching. Or how we can best adapt the Gospel to THEIR lives. That being said we really have be working like mad this week with helping people ENJOY reading the Book of Mormon. But Saturday in the afternoon we hit a wall. We had been teaching all week and still didn't have anyone committed to church. We said a prayer and told our Heavenly Father that we were ready to find the people that were going to go to church this Sunday. First we went to Efrian and Yohana, the couple that went to church two weeks ago. We showed up and they were super busy fixing these air compressors. We set down our bags and went to work. Finished teaching out of the Book of Mormon about the atonement of Jesus Christ and they committed to come to church. 

About two months ago I started making lil comments to this dude in our area that has this slammed teal colored Honda civic. We always would joke around but he never wanted to come to church or listen to us. We went to his house and they invited us in. For the time I can't explain everything, but he and his mom have gone through some really hard times. They committed to come to church and showed up in his slammed honda with a million stickers. The biggest of all "your girlfriend loves my car" on the front windshield. Needless to say when he pulled into the parking lot at stake conference the whole 1000 members couldn't stop staring at his car.

I really need to start writing better. Hate that I can't get everything across that happens in the week.

Had interchanges with Elder Corey this week. We started the mission together and it was sweet to see how much he has changed. 

ELDER THORN 

Elder Corey

Week 57 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, which is in heaven, is perfect.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, which is in heaven, is perfect.

Looks like I got the slowest computer again today... #badmissionhabits

To write a little bit of what my week was like, I filled 30 journal pages. And that is being modest. I really felt so close to my savior this week. I felt that he was guiding my studies and my words in lessons. I felt as I followed the spirit, he trusted me to and gave me even more impression (as was talked about in conference). I think that might be the most special thing that I have gained in the mission, to know when my Heavenly Father is talking to me and when He needs me to do something.

I wanted to write a little today about the first talk that was given at conference. Elder Uchtdorf explained that we shouldn’t complicate things. It was the first of many answers that I received this weekend. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so simple that even a child can understand it. Why make it any harder. Our Father in Heaven has had the same plan since the beginning. And it could be explained in just one phrase " if you love my keep my commandment " (lol I hope that’s what it is in English). If you love God, you believe in his words, you trust in his promises, you wouldn’t do anything that is contrary to what he has said. I invite you, member or non member of the church, to strive to TRUST in the promises God has made with the prophets of old and modern. That you TRUST fully that he will come though even in the darkest hour. God is an exalted man, "that is the great secret" - Joseph Smith. Is that not what Christ meant when we spoke the words in mat. 5:48. He loves us and has given us all we need to become like him, even His only begotten son Jesus Christ.

ELDER THORN