Hey! Love!

Hey! Love!  How are you? How has your May been?

Mine has been ok. This week has been abit challenging for me. On Friday we were at Correlation Meeting with out Ward Mission Leader and his wife. It was good but I was just not feeling good. I felt so weak and drained physically, Emotionally and Spiritually I just wanted to cry:( Sister Clement ( Our Ward Mission Leader's Wife) saw me and knew that something was wrong. Oh I wanted so badly to just confide in her but I knew that there was no way I could do that without My companion hearing me. So I just had to hold in. We finally got home and every part of my body ached and I just prayed and cried myself to sleep.

On to brighter news. We had 5 investigators that we were actually teaching at church yesterday!!! It was wonderful to see them all. It was a big blessing and a Miracle that they all came the Sunday we were giving talks:) After church we went to visit the daughter of one of our investigators her name is Aura she is 17 and we were able to get to know her more. She is just amazing, She has such great Faith in God. She shared experiences with us that's helped her to know that he's there and it's been so great to learn and grow with her. We asked her why she wanted to come closer to God and she said it was because it makes her happy. What a beautiful response! It's so true the Gospel makes us Happy! She loves reading and loves the smell of Books, We are currently teaching her Mom and Dad too they just need to get married first. So that was a big blessing for me this week- Meeting Aura.
The thing that went through my mind through out all of this was what Lesson is Heavenly Father trying to help me learn. I don't really know exactly what just yet but for now it is alot of patience. Also I was thinking about how when I get married will I have to deal with this too? Oh Man! I thought maybe Heavenly Father put us in a companionship 24/7 because it's good practice for Marriage so that we just have to suck it up! and move on.LOL:)

I Love you!!!

Nadi

Best Miracle in the Whole World

this week has been amazing we were granted permission from our mission President to go out of the boundaries of the mission and teach part member families that the Spanish branch still covered. The family Dominguez has been the new family we've been working with, they are newly weds and the wife is a returned missionary, who served two missions, and her husband is not a member. He has been coming to church consistently for about two months and has not been ready to accept the gospel until he had a dream about us teaching him, so I'm thinking that was a sign, he also  has been pondering a whole lot about how religion brings the family unit more happiness, love, unity and a good values to live by. Which he wants, and plus he has such a great wife that is always teaching the gospel and is so great and kind.  We went over on a Tuesday and we saw him, he immediately started to talk about all the things that he likes about the Church, how he feels a sense of tranquility and happiness when he goes (only for an hour, for he works as a mechanic.) he even committed himself to start keeping the Sabbath day holy and not work anymore on Sundays and just dedicate it to the most important things , which are his family and God. He recognizes the blessings he will receive from keeping certain commandments, even following a prophet.

 After we did " How to Begin Teaching" we got started with teaching him The Restoration. He made it easier for the spirit to dwell because we just felt so much as if he were a family member, because he had so many questions and agreed that man cannot comprehend all the things that God can, so he accepted that we need prophets(even  before we even taught him about prophets!) then scriptures just came pouring on us in order to explain why prophets are the means whereby God reveals truth to earth  that are pertaining to His kingdom and what we must do, feel and be in order to make it back with Him. he loves learning and  although he has never really read the bible or learned about religion, he is so interested. some things he cant wrap his head around, but that is where his faith is required , he will receive a witness after the trial of his faith. His wife didn't want to join is on the lesson because she said that she talks too much and that she wants him to do it for himself.

It has never been so easy on my mission to get people to read and keep their commitments so easily, he just does all his homework which is awesome! My excellent companion extended the baptismal invite, and he agreed, he will be preparing for the 7 of June.

President Sweeney granted us permission to teach via Skype and guess who we got to teach!!!??

My Mom :D it was by far on the top most spiritual lessons I've taught thus far on my mission.  my companion and I were super nervous at first as we prepared for the lesson, but when we went over to a members, Hermana Zazueta's house so she could join in on the lesson it was fine. We were calm. I was so excited and happy. WE started with a prayer and I thanked her for giving us some of her time. We used what we call the angel method of teaching, using pamphlets and having her tell us what she sees in the pictures. WE taught in so much unity and with so much power and LOVE that I felt the spirit so strong and I loved being able to share the part where gospel blesses families and how they can be eternal. WE talked on the importance of prophets and how they let us know God's will and my companion asked her if you had 7 children will you love them all the same or would you like the first more than the last? she said of coarse I will love them all the same.

exactamente that is how He Is and that's why God always calls prophets to guide us and protect us from harms that try to ruin our families in these days and helps us understand and apply t he scriptures, for they Teach what Our loving heavenly father wants us to know. She started to show understanding and realizing how truly important they are. From what she has expressed before, about joseph smith and how she doubts anyone can see God. After we shared his story I told her that this is something that we have to sincerely ask God about and put away our doubts and contradicting ideas and just ask with a sincere heart, to humble yourself before god(she asked me what the word humble meant earlier on in the lesson and I explained it to her as acknowledging that you cant do anything without gods help, he know more than we do and that thanks to him we have everything) so I told her  to humble herself before God and He will give an answer to your honest heart. The spirit of the Lord was tangible it filled that house with so much love, love and peace was very present in that room and her and I started crying, we had such a beautiful moment together, when all of a sudden all 6n elders knocked on the door to come in to join the service project we were going to help her with after the lesson, they walked in and started talking I tried to tell them to shush but it didn't really work, I was trying really hard to focus on what my mom started expressing to me. As she cried she was telling me how she needs to "humble herself before her maker and ask him if this is true. I don't know what I am feeling, I don't know if it is because I am so happy to see you and that you are my daughter and are teaching me this and it makes it more special. I couldn't understand the other sister missionaries but you and your companion know a lot and have done a really good job in motivating me and inspiring me to want to act on your message, no one has ever been able to, and how you said, I need sincerely ask God."

 You have no idea brothers and sisters the joy I felt when hearing my mom say this to us! It helped me rekindle the joy, dear appreciation and love I have for this knowledge that I hold and to testify as to how it blesses my life made me so much stronger.

(well I wish I can give yall more detail but that is all I have time for, love you)

Since Its Sunday: Great Advice

Its been a long while since I have blogged....but I'm starting up again.
Here is an excerpt from my most recent post!



A bit ago I was going through a particularly rough time (no way Stephanie isn't that all the time hahaha) and I was meeting with him regarding my church leadership assignment and he gave me some excellent advice.

For a time when he was a young married man he lived with his wife's grandfather.  This man's name was Gordon B Hinckley.  Those Mormons reading will know he was a Prophet and President of our world wide church.

One Saturday when working in the garden my BP noticed that President Hinckley looked very worn down and troubled.  After talking with him for a while about the things troubling him he said "Grandpa what do you do when things are hard and you are discouraged"

And do you know what his reply was????





Find out at 
sillyswilly.blogspot.com

Dear New BYUI Students: My Top 3 Tip for Academic Success

Dear New Students,

The following three paragraphes are my top 3 tips for academic success. The following topics are listed as the tips: study skills, spiritual prepareness, and being anxiously engaged in a good cause.

I recognize that each of you come with various skills and abilities and your first few semesters may be especially frightening. Study skills are my first recommendation to apply in your lifestyle here at school. They take priority over spiritual prepareness because BYUI specifies several habits that ensures success. A weblink to these skills is http://www.byui.edu/academic-support-centers/study-skills/study-tips. There is a more interactive website that I have seen, but I can’t find it at this time. The presentation of this link is not my preferred one, since it is a mainly bullet pointed list. I personally met with a study skill coach that taught them to me at the study skills center in the second floor of the library near the tutoring centers. There is a class that you can take, but I didn’t take it. A student just taught me them in several meetings in set well-organized lessons.

Faith in Jesus Christ is the foundation of life, and his atonement needs to be applied in life to be happy and successful. My bishop taught 5 principles, which he calls the “fab five,” that I would encourage you to continually ponder. The following principles are the “fab five:”

1.       Praying; morning and night - Talk to him about the affections of your heart

2.       Read the scriptures

3.       Attend the temple - make it your North star, your guiding light, seeking to fulfill all your covenants (at least twice a month)

4.       Attend all your meetings - your participation is not hypocritical, when you do.

5.       Pay a full tithing

God is the Father of your spirit, and he desires your success and happiness. He has expressed his love and counsel by the mouths of many prophets; ancient and modern. I exhort you to ponder their words, developing a deep faith in them through prayer; then, act upon in. There is a stability that will be enjoyed in obedience. Ponder what is success and happiness. What does God have prepared for me? The greatest gift of God is eternal life, and the gift of the Holy Ghost is the source of direction to come unto Christ.

The attribute of being anxiously engaged in a good cause will be a greatest asset. There are so many opportunities at Brigham Young University – Idaho. I recommend that you seize as many as you see good. Being anxiously engaged entails problem solving, promptly following the spirit, and creativity.

I hope that your efforts are fruitful here. Thank you for taking your time for considering my advice.

Sincerely,

Alex Hicken

In Awe of You

By Isidro Zapata

The very first time
I laid my eyes on you
In an instant I was so
Much in love with you I could never
Dream of anyone or anything ever hurting
You for my love for you is
Honest and pure without one
Shady spot in my heart for I am
Totally in awe of your beauty
And the love I have is just
Only for you as I held you and
Pulled you close I felt as though
I was in the presence of God because
Of all the love I feel coming from me
To you and you to me I just felt like
It was a, dream come true all the pure
Love I have for you. I watch you fall down
And it hurt me so deeply not too
Go and help you back up but
This is all an, part of what life is all about falling down
And being able to get back up I went and dusted you off
And hugged you and wiped your tears away
Then hold you as tight as I could then look into your eyes
It hurt me so much to see you in pain
So I tell you how much I love you and even
Though I did not pick you up just know that
I am never far away to wipe your tears away
Because I am still so madly in love with you
For in this life you are going to fall and get
A scrape here and there but I will always
Be in awe of you just like a repeat of when I first
Laid my eyes on you. For I am a that child
That fell and God watch me stand up
All by myself and I wonder where did you go
Then God showed up in a blink of an eye
To wipe all my tears away and he is still
In awe of me for his love will never fade away
Or be sway by the mistakes I make every day
For Jesus wiped all my sins
Away and just threw them away
For God is so in awe and his
Love will never go away
For God truly does
Love me for the price
That Jesus paid by the pain
He suffered and died for me
Even after all that I had done but
Gods love is all around and wants
To live in your heart so
Never forget God is never too far away
So repent and walk away from
What this wicked world is all about
So no need to ever worry for
God is in Awe
Of you and me because
Of his amazing love he
Has for you and me

Bula Vinaka Beautiful People!!!!

How are you?

This week has been kinda long and crazy busy. But it's been good. We were one day planning for a lesson with one of our investigators named Walfred. He has been meeting with Missionaries for over a year now. As we were planning to felt impressed to really just listen to him and all the concerns he has that's keeping him from progressing. We went into the lesson and did just that and it was so powerful to just listen to the spirit and really listen to his concerns. We learnt that besides coffee and peer pressure another thing that's been on his mind was that he was kinda worried about the Law of Chastity because he had just recently started talking to his Girl from high School again and he had been thinking about that alot. (Walfred is 44 and is a widower) We were so grateful that he was willing to tell us that and more important I was so grateful that we had listened to the spirit to just listen to him and his concerns. We read from the Book of Mormon with him that day from 1 Nephi 1 and it was so wonderful to feel the spirit present as we read and feel his Faith start to grow as he learnt how the Book of Mormon applies to him. After that lesson Walfred was so grateful that we came over and were able to help him with his concerns. I am so grateful for the Spirit in Planning and Teaching. Walfred shared how he definitely felt more at peace now. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon. I know that it was truly made as a tool to help Heavenly Father's children come closer to him and know the truthfulness of the Gospel. 
Lately we've been really trying and working so hard to have 20 meaningful conversations about the Gospel and it's been so great to see how Heavenly Father has helped us to reach  our goals and the miracles that are coming from it. We've been promised by our Leaders that as we reach this goal consistently for the next 2 weeks straight we will be teaching more and Baptizing more. What a great Promise! 

I love you heaps!

Nadi

May 18, 2014

    The first track meet of the spring 2014 was yesterday. It was fun to see everyone's initial races. A sprinter was trying to win the girl's mile, and she almost did. I was proud of the guy's mile because two runners already broke 5.
     I ran my first 5K on track yesterday. My time was disappointing. It was 18:02. 6 minute pace is not fast. I should be running this pace on my jogs; not my race pace. This race was my first 5K on track, so I am giving myself a little mercy because I am going to be able to mentally understand the race next time. I don't have any competition, so that is going to make my goals difficult. I am going to have to take control of my training because the universality of how my coach trains is making everyone to be milers. I have never really been a miler. I did well in my 5K strategy at first.
    Before the race heard that the 5K record at BYUI is 16:50, so I calculated that all that I have to run is 80 seconds per lap. I am happy that I was able to pace myself well for nearly two miles. When I finished the second mile, I heard that my split was 11:50, which meant that I had to run a five minute mile to finish, so I kind of gave up on the record for that race. I had lapped every competitor in my race, coming in first, but my goals is to break 16 in the 5K.

May 10, 2014

     The many parts to my life that I have been working on are the following: dating, socializing, track, ACMS, stake choir, class work, temple work, personal spiritual welfare, friendships, writer's support club, and more. These are the topics that I will be writing about.

     I have been dating around kind of; although, I have not officially had a date. I was talking to Jesse about this last night because I was hanging out with Naomi and her roommates last night. Girls are pretty outrageous, but they had apartment prayer. I have been in a funk somewhat the past few days because a combination of things. I missed scripture study, prayer, and going to the temple the past few days. Before they have the apartment prayer, the girls say a sweet and a sour of the day. I thought that they were just saying a bunch of random things that happened in their day. The sour that I said, which has to do with the topic of this paragraph, is that a girl that I have become good friends with said she has a boyfriend. I was hoping to date her, and the thing that confused me is why did she not tell me earlier because we have been hanging out a lot for about a week. It doesn't make sense to me. Girls usually say something about their boyfriends, if they have one. When I said that to the girls, they sympathized, and Naomi suggested that I date like ten girls at once because that is what she does. That put me for a loop. This loop did not come full circle until I spoke to Jesse. I realized that Naomi's advice was immature because it discredited my dating effort, assuming that I have not already been doing that. Jesse has said a few times that he has been impressed how I have been meeting many different girls. I meet a lot of people at the cafeteria, and enjoy lunch with them. The one thing that I have against Naomi's advice is; if you really like a girl and you only want to date her, why should I date 9 other girls? It would be disrespectful to the girl in my opinion. Some guys play with girls minds, dating so many different people. After telling my parents that I found a super cool girl that I am interested in, my father advised me to make a good friendship with her first. I recommend that guys make good personal friendships with all girls; then, they can choose who to date from every one of them because you have a personal friendship with them. Most girls would want it to start that way I would believe. Jesse explained that dating a bunch of girls is just for a few dates to see if you are really interested in them or something like that. I have been doing that.

     Another thing that put me in a funk is that I was organizing activities, but they were too spontaneous. I am going to stop my spontaneous activities because it only worked for the first week or so of school. For the past couple weeks, we have had activities planned, and the activities fall apart for odd reasons. That is what I originally said to Naomi, when she asked about my funk.

     Since I have been at Brigham Young University: Idaho, I joined the track team. I was disappointed to hear that we will not be racing the two mile. My goal has been to break ten in the 3200. I still have the 5K, so I plan to try to break 16 minutes in that event. The track team has somewhat discouraging too. The distance team is not very competitive. I am already hailed as the fastest runner, which is weird, because I am not very fast. One runner on the team broke ten for the two mile, but he is out of shape. There is another big guy somewhat on the team that can be competition. He looks like he goes to the gym too much, since his upper body is kind of stiff. He keeps his lanky arms loose though.  We have two coaches that I am kind of disappointed with too because one is way out of shape, and his input is very little. It is basically an encouraging word once in a while, which I get from teammates any ways. My second coach runs the whole thing, and his approach is so universally standard, where the season is going to have runners fall away because of injuries and whatnot just like most other seasons of track. The coach loves running half mile repeats and doing random ab exercises. I think that he really loves to have strong abs because he always wears tight shirts, and his abs are bulging in his shirt. He says after one week that we will increase the difficulty of the work outs, and I think that doesn't make any sense because the out of shape people can't get in shape in one week. They are going to get injured like me last season. We have a lot of inexperienced runners, whose interest we may have killed because it is not personal enough.

     The BYUI construction management program advocates ACMS a lot. I was very disappointed in the societies here on campus, when I first explored them during my first semester here. Many are ineffective, so we will see how the Architecture and Construction Management Society is. It has not been to effective. We were supposed to install a new roof on a house this weekend, but I didn't hear anything about it. We will see.

     Everything else is going well somewhat. I procrastinated my homework this weekend, so I am paying for it. My many friendships are going well. I feel like I need to continually make new ones because at least in dating you always need to meet new girls. I am feeling better now after my funky weekend spiritually.

     Wednesdays are very full at least last week and this week because I was invited to join the writer's support group and a stake choir, so I go to write my sci fi novel at 5, track at 6, and stake choir at 7.

     The writer's support group is chill. There were only four people. The people were somewhat shy. It was quiet and a not very tight environment. 6 long tables or so made a rectangle. We just privately worked on our personal projects. My goal is to write a  novel series for a idea and story summary that I wrote called DNA turn on. I am writing the first chapter now.

     Stake choir is hard because I was recruited to do tenor, and half of the song is really high. I can't keep up a good volume after so long. Sister Andrews is the chorister, and she is the greatest that I ever sang for. She teaches the principles of singing. The purpose thereof is to inspire people to come unto Christ. I wish that I could explain the principles that all who read this can sing unto inspiring people to repent. I believe that the first part of it is that there is something that blocks the vocal cords, which we have to move out of the way, but we can't do it directly. We can do it by making weird faces. She compares it to lifting a Halloween mask off your face. The face of you yawning will make you have a great voice. I am not qualified to explain it. She says that that your front skull resonates, giving a greater sound. Singing within your nasal cavity is good too.  A revelation that she received to help people keep their vocal cords relaxed is to fill your next with air, trying to make it big. We sang at stake conference last night the 17^thof November. We did very well, and I sang to the best of my abilities.

Candy Bar

By Isidro Zapata

I never knew how much that a
Simple bag of M & M’s would
Mean so much to me for
I knew how it would all work
After I heard the bell rang and
I run out as fast as my legs
Would go because
I knew you would be waiting
For me then. Every day after
School Mom U came to
to pick me up and I was so excited to show
You how well I did and show you the note
from my teacher telling you that
I was so far ahead of my
classmates in writing that
she expected to see me having my own book signing
my teacher was amazed in how good I could write
and was so proud of me but I really
just wanted U to be proud
I know I did all that hard work for U
Because I knew how happy U were
Every time I showed U my report card and notes
from my teachers in how I won another writing contest
I would jump into the car after school and then we would drive away
Just U and me to Allsups we would go and U give me some money to
buy a candy bar and sometimes a soda
but mostly just a candy bar and
I felt so close to u and I really felt
U loved me and started to forgive for all those
birthdays that came and went and we never ever
even had a party for me but for my brother and sister
it was always a huge event full of guest toys food and a
Giant birthday cake and what did I get but nothing
Later in a few short years I never knew how much
those trips to the store to would mean so me
Maybe I was foolish to think
it would always be that way U picking me up from school
like I was living some kind of T.V show because this
was real life not a fake T.V show then in a New York minute U
Stop showing up picking me up from school guess
my luck had run out and U no longer loved me because most of all Mom
I loved just spending time with U
Just U and me and our big heist regarding a
Candy bar. We grew further apart until that
night Pams sister and her husband took me home one night
but U had all moved away and left all I owned in the house
that I was unable to get into so all I had was the clothes
on my back and my shool books and I remember their silence
for they knew that I had been abandon by my own mom
I was in the dark and alone and
the woman on the corner started to yell
and call me names and trying to chase me
away telling me I better get going and be home before
the police take me away for breaking the law a minor out
at night in the middle of the streets past midnight
but I did not have a home was a homeless teen
they soon knew what was going on with me and had
my back and would look after me when my home
was just some brushes in front of the side wall of a hotel
off of Central and San Pedro when I feel asleep
but on the nights I could it sleep my mind would race
back to the times U simply bought me a candy bar
to show your love for me. I would wonder and
it brought tears to my eyes would I end up being a homeless man
for the rest of my life and die in the streets and holidays
were the worst I would never go to a shelter I
hope and even prayed that on a holiday U would some how
Show up and bring me back home but that
never happen. The streets became my home
with a small backpack and trash bag with a few clothes
I still went to school but was hard hiding my secert Mom
all I ever wanted was for U to be Proud of me Mom
and I promise U for me to be never
be like my dad and even until this very day I have
kept that promise but U broke
yours in being a Mom but I forgive U and i love U Mom
But as those nights came and went I had a dream of one day
having my own family and never treating them
like U and dad did to me not until years
later that I would see how much
a candy bar would mean so much to me
for it showed me that one time u loved and cared for me
I had no idea why U left me in the streets and for
seven years U never tried to contact me for I tried to
find U but was unable I thought about my 3 brothers
and my little sister and she expose U for what you told her
after all those years and it was a miracle how I ran into U three
Stepdad, U my mom and my little sister and those
screams and her crying still haunt me today for her
reaction was like nothing I had ever seen for she kept on
saying Mom told me U were DEAD and how tight she hold me
as tears after tears and her screams got louder and louder
How dare U tell her I was dead for those 7 years Mom I think
U might be sick but U are my Mom and I need to forgive
U and show U how much I love U even after all that time
U never went to see and try and find me to see if I was okay
it was like I was never born and it seemed like u were happy
that way but I want U to know MOM
I love U and it is hard to forgive U
but I love U and
will never forget the times
U BOUGHT ME THAT CANDY BAR

Baptisms of Two Wonderful People

these men were men i taught in my last area. One is named Roberto, he is 14 years old, but he is mature and is such a good kid, he actually helped fellowship an 14 year old investigator we were teaching, and he loved to serve and go to church, but he felt that he hasn't gotten an answer untill now. He went to a fireside with the new sister missionaries and he heard a choir of elders sing a song that touched his heart, he started balling and felt the spirit tell him that he needed to be beptized, so he did and his father baptized him. I know that the Lord can do miracles, even by small and simple means. He is going to be a great missionary.
 

The other brother is named Noel, we taught him twice and took him and his family to the Gilbert Temple Open house. He was so ready for the gospel as much as his family then, he even reminded his wife to pray with him everynight, but due to tons of work we never got to teach him consistantly. but we kept teaching his family and his wife Rossana and his daughters were baptized while we were there. This is the crazy part. Rossana prayed that her husband will be able to come to church with her, becaue she loved how the churhc was very family oriented and she wanted the love of her life to be by her side and to learn the gospel in Elders quorum and come together and go tosacrament meeting together, it was so sweet hearing her express her desires and she prayed so much so that that can happen, and he answered her prayer. He had somthing go wrong with his stomach, i cant really remember what is was, but he couldnt walk or eat  much and has to get surgery, therefore he couldnt go to work ans rossana was by his side f\during these times of affliction for him, it was sad for her to seehim suffer so much, but at the same time she was so greatful that he was now able to come to church. During her time of despair while she was at the hospital waiting, she decided to say a prayer, and this women has so much faith in her father in heaven,it is truly amazing. As she prayed, all of a sudden a peace came over her, she was able to feel tranquility and a hope that she knew everything was going to be ok, she was so greatful that her father in heaven gave her that peace she needed, after that she was normal again and was able to be at ease. I admire her faith I am glad Heavenly Father doesn't take away our problems, but gives us the strength and peace to overcome them. WE are so blessed to be able to call down the powers of heaven to help us during diffficult times. Now this family is almost complete now we are just waitng on Victor, the son to accept the gospel too. I am so excited to come back with one of my companions and to witness their Temple Sealing!!!!

 

me and my companion enjoying some treats from the "Elotero" or "Corn Man" it was yummy

So back to the updated with my area, i am staying in Paradise Valley and finishing up hermana Baros' training, she is so good, she came pretrained.  We have been working on more inpsired planning these past two weeks, we decided that we are going to serve and teach the members more, although they are active in church, sometimes we see that we need to strengthen them more in the gospel. We have been doing a lot more service for them and teaching them the basics, to rekindle the joy they felt at their conversion, so hopefully they have a desire to come out to teach lessons with us and also give us referrals to go teach their friends and family. It's fun being in a spanish branch! We have a lot more motivating of members that has to be done first before we can have a chance to have us help them with their missionary work.

this is erenesto & he is so much happier & also is
reactivated in hte churhc, he even bought churhc clothes!

 Well Ive never met so many nice people, and ive also never met so many freaks. Funny tti story, well that stands for Teach Testify Invite :) that is what we do when we talk to people on the streets. we met a man named MAteo and he was super f\drunk and he kept saying that he had god in his heart, and he was also pretending he was flying, it was wierd, then we met up with him when he was sober, we chased after him when we saw him walk by as we were talking to a lady who was waterinmg her plants. HOpe he wants to change his life around. WE have another investigator that we met at a trailor park, he is actually the coolest person ive meet on hte streets, he just asked us what we were up to  and we told him we were preaching the word of God and we started making conversation and said he will love to learn from us but first we need to establish trust between us, so he asked us get to know you questions, so i got to share my conversion story with him and how much the gospel has blessed my life, he is super friendly so we are super excited for him. Please pray that we will have consistant people, we meet many but some arent ready yet. WE know they are out here we just need to find them!!!! :D

here i am going to send some pictures weve been wanting to send a loomg time ago from the zoo, 5 de mayo, mothers day and so on.

love you all!

Mothers day 2014

                            Hey Everybody!!!  I hope everybody's family is safe and healthy. This week is going really well. We have the house were just waiting on the other people to move out. Now it's not so bittersweet. I know I can do missionary work in Monticello. They really need help. I am excited to see what this move brings. I will be transferring to the dollar general in Monticello. I've heard everybody is really nice and the store is really clean! I enjoyed my second mother's day. One, I didn't have to work haha but I did Saturday night and I can say we were busy and I'm scared to know what dollar general is like on Christmas eve. Sunday, I got to hangout here at home with the family and just relax. On Saturday night I had a sweet event happen... that makes you just happy as can be. There was this little boy maybe about eight that came to my register he had a mothers day card and was very excited and he was paying for it. I asked if he needed a bag he said " Yes, I need it to hide it from my mom..it's for her." I said " Ok, well you want to extra hide it by me double bagging it?" He shook his head and said "yes"!! He was so excited it was a sweet afternoon.        Then I got home to find out that Scarlett (with Uncle C.j. help) picked flowers for me. She was so excited to give them to me even though they were wilted by morning it was still the act of love that counted and she didn't notice. This week we are starting to pack and organize everything. This weekend we tackled the bathroom. We had so much stuff it was crazy for the amount of space haha! The next room we are tackling tomorrow is the laundry room. I'm getting boxes from dollar general tomorrow with the missionaries here. Please pray for our investigators as we are having a hard time right now finding them. Also, our previous investigator Courtney has not been back to church. She needs one more visit to be able to be baptized. The problem is .. she's just not there when we show up to give her a ride. I'm not sure what's going on with this one. I try not to let it bother me anymore though when it doesn't work out. I just say well if they don't want to learn the truth here they will later on. .. sooner or later though they will work there way back to heavenly father.  Well this is for now till next week!!!

                                                                  Mothers day 2014

A Critic of U.S. State of Business address 2014

The President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Thomas J. Donohue, sounds very optimistic as he touts in the final paragraph of his address in his State of American Business of 2014. His skill in leadership is either great or talk, for he spoke as if this is the year to turn the economy around. Thomas spoke about fixing many policies of the government as congress has been the least productive. Although his agenda is trying to fix many broken things, some of which I believe is out of his hands, his perspective is not radical. President Donohue spoke about changing many integral troubled parts of society that have take a tremendous amount of effort to change because the greatness of the government. These are the following institutions: entitlements, energy, education, immigration, infrastructure, government productivity, Tax Reform, and more. I believe that Thomas is speaking as if he is developing a unify movement of comprehensive reform to work with every man. Much of his speech is so vague that not the goals are unreachable and unrealistic. The few things that I saw that he can directly influence by lobbying and campaigning are Obamacare, since it is still young; curbing lawsuit abuse; and negotiate in trade deals. His optimism is good; however, his agenda is not specific enough. This is my critic to Thomas Donohue’s State of American Business address.

The statistics that President Donohue is facing are troubling despite his optimism. The following are some of the statistics: overall growth of 2013, which I assume is GDP, will be between 1.8% and 2%; Europe is our largest trade partner; “Middle class families have not seen decent increases in their real incomes for a long time;” regulatory overreaches limit businesses development; schools are still failing; “In ten years the total price tag for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will reach $3 trillion a year;” “The share of the budget to pay for these programs plus the interest on our debt will expand from 65% of the budget last year to 76% in 2023;” “Each and every day another 10,000 baby boomers retire—and that will add up to 77 million new retirees over the next 17 years;” “In just another month, Congress and the president will need to raise the debt ceiling yet again;” “It is beyond me how this nation can be so complacent while some 30% and more of our young people don’t even graduate from high school;” “the first time in history, we’re in a situation where America is taking from the young in order to support the old. We’re doing this by continuing to ignore the entitlement crisis, by piling up trillions of dollars in new debt, and by trapping so many of our young people in failing schools and denying them a fair shot at the American dream.” It is amazing that Thomas Donohue has hopes to address all of these facts within one year.

I figured that the President thereof would be more objective in his agenda.  He is claiming with great optimism. “I think you can tell I’m a pretty optimistic fellow.” He is attempting to approach years of unyielding policies and institutions, naming “comprehensive tax reform,” entitlements such as “Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,” infrastructure, opening up the “more recoverable conventional oil and gas off our shores than the proven oil reserves of Europe and Asia combined—yet 87% of it remains off limits. We have enough recoverable coal to power our economy for more than 200 years,” and more. “Now the pundits will tell you it’s going to be hard to accomplish much of anything in an election year. We hope to turn that assumption on its ear by turning the upcoming elections into a motivator for change.” “We'll push for government reform to modernize a regulatory process that hasn't been updated since Harry Truman was president.”

One may wonder the qualifications of myself to critic the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s president, but I have followed the developments in the world somewhat closely; now less than before. I have developed skills in listening to sort through the fluff of news, for that was the exact purpose of a blog of mine. President Thomas Donohue is addressing the world. The speech is great, keeping everyone on their toes, but his agenda is not objective enough to accomplish the hopes of the people.

April 27, 2014

     The first week of school for me was great; although, the double date did not work out. My first week of my construction management has introduced me to a new world. My patriarchal blessing says that I have an ability to absorb and retain knowledge easily, so it is not overwhelming. A class had some tests to show the faculty the knowledge that I started out with at the beginning of my study, and I have no clue what they were talking about on these tests. All I could use to get some answers right is logic and testing skills. I was informed yesterday to my surprise that Brigham Young University -  Idaho has the nation's second most effective construction management program. I feel so blessed to have been led to the opportunities here.

    

The first class that I had was an introductory course to Building Information Modeling. The teacher would throw out a lot of construction terms that I have never heard of, but the class is about teaching us how to use REVIT, a Building Information Modeling program, so I can keep up. One new friend is from my introduction to architecture class. He seems to be destined to be a great friend, since I sat next to him on the first day of another construction class that we have. I have a lot of the same classmates. In fact I have the exact same class schedule as one of my classmates, we have ARCH 100, ARCH 190, CONST 120, and B 101 together. I have special experiences that I have to write about one classmate. Before I start that paragraph, on Friday I felt pretty good because he said that he was adding the BIM class, and I was able to practice my teaching skills. The class had a lab, and I asked about a couple things that I missed during the class. After the teacher answered my question, my classmate came in the class to get caught up, since he joined the class late. His name is Patrick. The teacher doesn't really like saying things over and over, so he had me teach him. I enjoyed it, for teaching is one of my favorite activities. Teaching cements what you know firm in your knowledge.

     I first met the classmate in my ARCH 100 class, since we both habitually sit in the first row in the classroom. He was very personable, inviting me to sit next to him. One may say that he talks a lot, and I won't go too deep into it; however, he sounds like he has everything figured out. The things that he said that he was planning to do did not make sense according to my knowledge of how to school was run though. He was very open. When he found out that his academic hopes was not going to work out, I shared with him what I learn, since I basically did the same thing. He was originally thinking about getting an associate's degree in architecture technology and a Bachelor's degree in art. He wants to design and build sets for cinematic productions, but I knew that he has to get a master's degree. I just casually said that he can get a bachelor's degree in art and get a master's degree in architecture. My advice was taken sincerely, and it helped him. In our next ARCH 100 class during the time set apart for a spiritual thought, he spoke about the revelatory process, and he even mentioned me as having a important role in the process of his decision on his graduation plan. We are good friends. He is even in my semester long group.

April 6 & 13, 2014

This past week has been amazing. We just concluded general conference, and I will write about an impression therefrom.

My week began well. Since God wants a close relationship to me, I have been asking him to let me help him in his work. God's work is one of the most quoted scriptures in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is Moses 1:39. "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

On Monday, I was looking for opportunities to share the Gospel in a good way, and I found one. I was at work, and I was told to leave because they had no work for me. After breakfast, I went out to the car because I had to retrieve some things. Since Trevor still had work, I left the car for him, and I ran home. After retrieving those items, a co-worker, namely Sal, came out to talk, since he was asked to leave work for the day too. He was waiting for his father to come help him fix his car, so we had time to talk.

We spoke about what we have been up to. I never spoke to him before, so everything is new. I said that I plan to be an architect, and he said that he wants to be a professional tattooist. I didn't condemn him, expressing my opinion on tattoos. This has been his life ambition. Hearing his perspective was interesting. He said that lousy tattooists mess people up, but some of his friends wanted tattoos from him merely to support and remember him. It didn't matter what quality that it was. I said my life goal is to design temples for the church.

He asked about the church that I attend, and I said the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He spoke about how hard that it is too understand the scriptures, explaining that there is so many perspectives. He told the story of Abraham in a very odd way. Since he was interested, I invited him to Institute, a bible study class, and church; furthermore, I gave him a Book of Mormon, since we are studying it in Institute. I failed to follow up well. I was meaning to, but I was trying to do too many things at once on the most opportune moments to follow up.

On Monday at work he acted as though, he didn't recognize me; although, I spoke to him over the phone a couple times last week. There was a talk in General Conference about following up. I understood this principle greatly before the conference talk, but I gave into Satan's trick of distraction.

April 13, 2014

Life has been slowing down, since work has been like wise; plus, I have things to prepare for before I go back to school. I don't have much things to write about. I published a journal entry earlier this week; however, I took it off the blog because I wrote a section about art. I may need to rewrite it.

I wrote in a manner that is very confusing. It requires a lot of thought. Since people don't like reading complex articles, I refrained from publishing it to the wide audience. I published it again after editing it. Since the article covers deep ideas and it is written in a ponderous way, I will not share the link of the article other than here. http://mormonysa.blogspot.com/2014/05/april-19-2014_10.html

April 19, 2014

One night last week, I knew that I was going to not be able to sleep because I took a long nap late in the day. I was somewhat decided on watching the new Johnny Lingo movie, but last time I watched a movie on my own, I found my favorite movie; however, Johnny Lingo is up there as my favorite. I place it above the category of Disney. I already wrote that my favorite movie is "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," but the point at this moment is that it is a cartoon animation.

I was exploring animated films, risking my virtue, chastity, or purity, and I would like to admonish you to limit the risk of the purity of your mind to the minimum. I learned that if one is risking it's virtue, he has already compromised it. I watched a video, introducing me to the greatest animated films of all time in the opinion of the YouTuber. These films glorified in destroying the virtue of a soul, and I have written my pondering on this subject of art. I will start with discussing, the virtue, integrity. Escapism is next. My initial revelation follows. Exploring unnecessary things is addressed after that. I conclude returning to the subject of virtue and chastity. I had Jesse review this article, and he wanted me to add that all art is not like this.

 Why can art deny the morals of man, which I call integrity? Integrity to me is the honor of a man. If a man entered into a contract, integrity calls him to live up to everything within it. Integrity includes all the good principles of life; big to small, for it esteems the small to be great. Why do artists say that the rules are made to be broken? If you don't break them, you are limiting yourself.

It glorifies the people without integrity, showing that this is normal. It promotes immorality, saying that this is the norm; therefore, you can join it. When the opposite is assumed, the vast majority should have integrity, which we trust, but Satan wants to destroy all that humanity hopes for. We hope for integrity in humanity, but he says integrity is not needed to be heroic and virtuous. You don't need to be pure and clean to be a hero. There is no integrity and virtue in humanity. These people save and inspire the world. Heroes are carnal. Heroism is carnal. Is art attractive and carnal? Does art please the natural man? Can virtue come from filth? Can purity come without repentance? Here are some examples, where art has no integrity. I have seen that a boy offered up his virginity to be seen by 45 people for art; secondly, a pop artist had someone puke on her during a performance. Art is so disturbing now a days. Describing it is not simple. It seems that the more that it is in the world of Satan's disorder the more beautiful that it is. What is acted upon is not beautiful. When one gives up its agency to a being that wants to destroy the intelligence thereof, the individual is acted upon, usually meaning that we are following the temptations of Satan; however, this is oftentimes what art is. A fruit of the spirit of Holiness is temperance. Soap operas are another example of this too. I see that losing the grasp of yourself may be sought after when participating or viewing this art.

Escapism seems to be part of it. I feel it, saying "I hate my life. I don't want to deal with it anymore. Let me forsake my existence for a moment. Let me give my agency and virtue to another's mercy." This seems to be tempting because it is a tendency of the natural man. It gets more attractive the more that you do it, giving up your soul to art and getting lost in Satan's world. There is a shock value sought after. People want to feel everything, and people don't want to feel anything. People want to trust humanity is beautiful, but want to know how they should not trust humanity. Do artists need to deny themselves of virtue in order to make art? Is this beautiful?

Pondering why art seems to deny integrity, I see that it is Satan glorifying himself, blatantly showing himself to the world that denies his existence, saying this is reality; his reality. Satan does not exist to his world, but does he? Are the promptings of Satan beautiful?  Desires of Satan tells the world that it has no integrity, trying to help it recognize that there is no hope nor integrity and virtue. Why are the philosophies of man mingled with scripture and Satan's deception beautiful? Why is art carnal? Why is denying virtue, destroying it, and taking it away art? Why does it embrace sin? Is it for money? To be set a level above another, yet to be united in carnality? To be praised of the world or accepted? Is it to be heard, seen, expressed, recognized, and understood?

I am prompted to say something about art, teaching that which is not understandable and should not be understood. Is that which is not understandable attractive insomuch that we should participate in it again to try to understand it? Is one understandable? Is recognizing this art? That which is not understood thrown at an individual for him to seek to understand is how I understand is overbearance. If the depths of knowledge is revealed to that which has not the slightest clue about it, the individual may misunderstand it, and trust can be denied. Can this be beautiful and art? This seems to be a part of shock value. People want to understand that which is not understood; even though, it is destructive and chaotic. Satan wants us to be lost in the depths of that which cannot be understood and should not be understood. There is a lot of insanity; therefore, we should understand it. Is insanity the new norm? This is a way Satan wants to destroy trust in humanity to make us believe that we do not deserve agency and don't have agency. Let's be acted upon, for it is art. Is chaos and the destruction of life beautiful and art? This comes from not acting as true intelligence. True intelligence acts for itself? Does true intelligence do that which is not fruitful? Does true intelligence create that which does not uplift? Is it acted upon denying itself agency, integrity, and virtue? Does creating that which is not understandable come from true intelligence? I was talking to my brother about how there is a philosophy about how humans think like how computers operate, and I said that how can someone create that which it doesn't understand. Computers need to be designed to be understood to be usable. I believe that there can be foundations of technology that can be created that are not understood by man, but should we explore that which is not understandable? Should creating something that is fruitless be art? Should we participate in that which will not bring progression? What will happen to us, if we do? We will digress. Can writing a book and reading a book that doesn't make sense be fruitful? I feel that I can easily do that. Denying virtue and integrity is easy, but why is it esteemed art? What if I write something that doesn't make sense to the normal man, but it can make sense? Should it be understood? Would it be overbearing? Virtue, integrity, and purity is "that which was most dear and precious above all things, which is chastity and virtue" according to Mormon, the man that abridged the Book of Mormon.

The talk that impressed me the most in general conference was by Sister Reeves. She addressed her grandchildren and the world at large concerning this most dear and precious above all things. She addressed pornography, but chastity, understanding it, is what I want to write about. The chastity of man is a pure mind, which does not seeks sexual relationships, but it seeks eternal life. It requires temperance unto resisting and hating sin, hearkening to the great mind of God, which is the Holy Ghost continually. Chastity never seeks the temporary pleasures of the world, but always desires that which is true and faithful. Chastity has real intent unto these things. It cannot be obtained without the pure love of Christ of charity. Lusting is sin. Thou shalt not covet. Chastity is a most vital part of integrity. I truly do place chastity and virtue as the most dear and precious above all things. I pondered for hours yesterday about addressing a girl about this subject, warning her about a guy that wants to take away her chastity and virtue. I will ensure that my children understand this, counseling with them often to have the wisdom of the principles of integrity and chastity very early in their lives. These things are most cherished to me, and I trust my children that they can apply this wisdom well. Imagine if the two most chaste and virtuous people marry, having the greatest integrity. Would not this union and relationship be the most beautiful, happy, and fruitful?

My Little Christ Like Attributes P. 4 & 1/2 (Generosity)

"It's really a RARITY when I can think of a good quote to start these off!"
-Elder Coon

Well hey! Guess who it is? It's Elder Coon again! "You didn't let me answer either!!" Correct! And guess what I didn't do this time? Knock out Elder Lopez! "Yeah, I noticed. That's an improvement I suppose." Indeed. We have, in fact, worked out an agreement so that I can post a little more liberally and in exchange, he can stop getting a mysterious involuntary nap every week.

BUT, as was mentioned in the previous post, being coordinated is not one of our strong-sui

See? Ponies can be manly!

 ts, so we both accidentally wrote posts about Rarity. "You two must really like Rarity then!" That's the weird thing! We don't! Rarity is actually one of my least favorite ponies. She's just kind of...girly. "She's a PONY." Irrelevant! Just consider this a bonus post. Luckily, Charity is a big subject, so I'm going to focus on a different angle than Elder Lopez. On to the analogyzing!

So remember when I made that post about hope and there was that time all the ponies were in that scary forest? "Yeah, with those evil trees and that freaky manticore thing?" Yeah that time. Well there was another creature they had to contend with on that journey: a Sea Serpent. And he was MAD. Nightmare Moon, the despicable fiend, and done the unthinkable to this Sea Serpent. That dastardly, detestable, devilish sovereign of the night....messed with his facial hair.

"...What?" She tore his mustache off! You should know that a man's facial hair contains like, 80% of his pride. So if someone robs you of half your mustache, that's like 40% of you self confidence just gone! Imagine you had a beard you'd been working on growing for months, and one day you woke up and found someone shaved half of it off. Wouldn't you be a little upset? "No, I'd be MAD. You do NOT mess with a man's beard!" Exactly!

Be honest, you can't even tell!

So, the band of ponies come to a river and find this enraged Sea Serpent thrashing in the water. They eventually determine the source of the anger, the missing mustache half. Rarity, the girliest, frou-frouest, fashiony-est pony of them all, immediately grabs a sharp object and without a second thought, chops off her beautiful tail. "Well that's rather gruesome!" Okay, she chops off the hair of her tail. Now understand this. Rarity takes great care in her appearance. She really loves that tail. Yet she sacrifices it, gives it to this troubled Sea Serpent, and uses it to fix his mustache.

This is the meaning of Generosity! It is, in a word: sacrifice. It's giving up something you love to someone who needs it more. And in the end, you'll be rewarded for your sacrifice! "So in the end it'll all be balanced out?" Nope! That's the best part! Whatever you sacrifice here in this life, it is guaranteed that your reward in heaven will be greater. "So it's not really a sacrifice after all. It's more like an investment!"

Yes, but sometimes things God asks us to sacrifice are hard to give up. Sometimes he asks us to give up things we enjoy, for example: money, fame, a not-so-good TV show, etc. Sometimes he asks us to give up things we think we need, like a job, friends, or the internet. And sometimes he asks us to give up EVERYTHING. "No he doesn't!" He does! "Name one instance." Challenge accepted!

There once was a young man who was quite wealthy. He had heard of the Savior Jesus Christ, and sought him out to ask him what he needed to do to be saved. Jesus gave the typical answers: obey the commandments. The young man replied that he had kept the commandments from his youth. Then, in Mark 10:21, it says: 

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

"Man, that's rough!" Eeyup. And this young man just couldn't bring himself to do it. He thought that he needed what he had, or that he couldn't live without it. Luckily, God knows better than us. He never asks us to do something beyond our capabilities. And whatever he asks us to give up is actually weighing us down. Now that I think about it, Rarity can teach us another lesson about that. 

So usually Rarity represents the Element of Generosity, right? "Sure, whatever you say, cap'n..." I prefer the title 'Elder' or 'Commander', but anyways, there was this time where Rarity was BRAINWASHED by non other than the very incarnation of chaos, Discord! Discord went around twisting each of the elements into their opposites, so Rarity ended up being greedy instead of generous. Furthermore, Rarity was brainwashed into thinking that a huge boulder is a gigantic diamond, which she dubs Tom. "Tom?" Yeah, she wasn't in the finest mental state at the time.

What we see.

So Rarity INSISTS on dragging around this boulder, because she believes it to be priceless. Nopony can convince her to leave it behind, so she lugs around this huge weight on her shoulders for nearly 2 episodes. "You know an episode isn't a real measure of time, right?" FOR A LONG TIME. Geez.

The point is, it would've been much easier for Rarity if she had trusted when someone told her to let it go. "You better not start singing that song." Don't worry, there'll be none of that here. But when God tells you to give something up, just trust Him, and do it.

What Rarity sees.

Thus concludes my teachings on Generosity, which is a small part of Charity. We could pull several more posts out on the subject of Charity, and I'm sure we will in the future, but for now, this post is really long.     So we'll do that later! 

I'd like to thank you for reading two blogs about a pony you may not care for much. "Well, the other post wasn't really about Rarity. In fact, the only place he mentioned her name was in the opening quote. Which was still better than your quote." This is true on both accounts. But thanks anyways! Excelsior!

Hey Beautiful!

Hey love! 

This whole week has been a little crazy but at the same time Great and alot of unexpected things happened. First of all this past Tuesday was transfers and we (Sister Oakes and I) were told that we were both going to be staying. The next day we received another call saying Sister Oakes had to leave and another SIster was coming her name is Sister Green. I was so sad that whole night because I felt so inadequate and scared because I had not only been in Harbor 1st ward for 2 weeks. I was feeling so down because I've come to love Sister Oakes and I just felt like I was about to fall off the edge of a falling building. I prayed alot to feel the comfort and reassurance of the spirit. I prayed that I would willingly accept Heavenly Father's will in all of this. I knew that he knew what was best for me and that he would always provide for me. I reflected back on all the times I had felt and seen Heavenly Father provide for me. The next day I finally confided in Sister Oakes and told her all that I was feeling. She reminded me again of Heavenly Father's love and she helped me alot! That morning as I was praying I felt impressed to read Joshua 1:9 'I will not fail thee nor Forsake thee" and I felt so comforted knowing that Heavenly Father knew exactly what I was feeling and that he would always provide for me. We finally said our "see You Laters" and Sister Green became my companion on Thursday. That night after a long day. We came back home to our apartment to see that it had been broken into and the window was open and it's lock was broken. We were both so scared we called our Zone Leaders and they quickly came over. We went into the apartment and it looked like nothing had been taken. So to be safe that night we slept over at our Sister Trainer's apartment. The police finally came over to file a police report and this morning the Finger Print guy came over. So that's been my week. It's been pretty busy. On Friday Morning our Sister Trainers made breakfast for me!!! they are such great examples to me. 

Another Miracle that happened this week was that on Saturday we went over to visit our investigators; Rozana and Philip and as soon as we got to their door. Rozana came out crying she had been going through alot with her Family and felt like she couldn't turn to anyone. We listened to her as she just cried and she shared how she feels like Heavenly Father was the only she felt she could really turn to and she was so grateful that we came over that day. We shared with her a scripture in 3 Nephi 12: 3. " Yea blessed are the poor in Spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven"
( I was reading this scripture a couple of days prior and I was learning so much about what it means to be poor in Spirit; I came to learn that being poor in Spirit means recognizing how much we need God in our lives; recognizing how much we are truly dependant on him to be able to live and progress.Just like how a poor person needs help with material things in order to survive. I came to learn that part of being poor in Spirit means relying on God; and recognizing that we need him in order to progress) I was so grateful that I had learnt this lesson and as we shared with Rozana I loved how she was such a great example to me of someone who is poor in Spirit. She is such an Amazing Person and she's got such a big heart. We invited her and her brother Philip to church the next day. The next day came and we went over to Rozana's house to help her get ready. Her mom answered the door and right away said," Rozana the Mormons are here" hahaha that was funny!Philip couldn't come because he had slept in. We went to church with Rozana and it was such a great Experience for her. She loved it! it was perfect too because it was fast and testimony Sunday. She was so happy!!!! During Relief Society. Rozana (Ro) participated and asked questions and then at at the end when the Sisters were given time to shre their testimonies Ro looked at me and asked if anyone could go up. I said yeah would you like to go? she Was like Yes and she went right up and shared her testimony of Heavenly Father answering her prayers through us and helping her to know that he's there:) That was such an amazing Experience. I am really grateful for her and her amazing light and Faith in God. She's so excited to come again next Sunday!!!! Her brother Philip called us after church and apologised for sleeping in he sounded really sorry and really sincere, It's just been so amazing to see how these amazing people are growing and to be able to grow with them and feel so much love for them. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father loves each of us and sees the potential that each of his children have to one day become like him and be with him again. 

Another Amazing Experience this week was being able to meet with Thomas and Victoria. They are such great people. About a year ago Victoria saw an add on TV to get a Book of Mormon and so she called the number and then Missionaries showed up at her door:) They've been meeting with Missionaries and their only hold up right now is that they are not married yet. Victoria still needs to get divorced from her previous husband and it's all a long process I think. After a long time we finally got to meet with them both and at first Victoria had a lot of questions about there being only one true church. She was not really willing to accept that. It was a rough start because it got to the point where it started sounding like a debate. I didn't really feel comfortable with that because I know that that wasn't why we were there. My companion was talking alot! And that didn't really help. So I really prayed alot in my heart to know what to say and that Heavenly Father would help me to feel of his love for Victoria and Thomas and their family. I finally spoke up and expressed my testimony for the Gospel and Heavenly Father's love for Victoria and her family. I felt the tone in the room change and that gave our member who came with us her opportunity to share her conversion story. It was such a great lesson towards the end; because then Victoria seemed to calm down and realize that all we were asking her to do was to sincerely pray and find out for herself.That Sunday Thomas was able to come to church. Even though Victoria didn't come with him. He expressed that she really wanted to and will try again next time. I am grateful for their family. I am learning alot about love and how important it is to let that be my motive when we're teaching people and when we're interacting with people. I've come to learn that when we truly love people. They will feel that and they will be more willing to listen because they'll feel that we truly do care about them. I am grateful for the gift to be able to feel Heavenly Father's love for each of his children and to be able to share that with them. I know that he lives and I know that he will help me to help them. 

Have a Great Week!

I Love you Loads
Nadi

Success starts with the Companionship

Hola amigos!

I asked my companion during companion study a question. how do i know God loves me? do i always feel his love, therefore i have nothing else to compare it to? sometimes i just want a really hard trial so that i can rely on God more deeply and pray and trust him more fervently, so that when i teach and testify that GOd loves us and comforts us and answers our prayers, i can say it with more meaning and power, i want to be able to tell them they can get through it with His help, becaue i did or went through it most recently.  My companion feels the love of God more because she has made a complete 180 in her life and she can feel that difference, and i feel normal or averagely loved sometimes. I am happy don't get me wrong. i Guess heavenly father is is giving me a break, because i have gone through so much in my past already. And when i did have a tough life and found the gospel i felt more loved and more converted becaue i felt that great difference, that love and support from God. Then my lovely companion made me see something that i haven't rally thought of before. We remembered how we didn't super get along at first or just didnt understand or communicate as much, and  how much we tried looking for people to teach, but no one was progressing and we didn't feel like we werent gettting very far in the vineyard. Well as soon as we had companionship inventory and made up and decided to improve our companionship, the blessings started coming, becaue now heavenly father was able to trust us with his children. Success in every phase of missionary work starts with hte companionship. We have 4 new progressing investigators this week and have had many great lessons with them. 

the first Jorge: he is a man that we almost missed, but we felt that we hsould walk back and talk to him and shout "hola como esta!?" becaue he was up sitting on his balcony.he was really nice and he even came down and  we had a nice conversation with him and we told him that he was loved by his father in heaven and that he has  a plan for his happiness and  that our message can bring him more joy in his life. He agreed to have us teach him more. Later that week we had a lesson with him outside in sidewalk under the street light at like 8 at night. We taugh him the restoration, he had a real sincere desire to know and really htinkkng about everything we said, he agreed to pray about it and will be baptized when he knows it is true.

Pepe and his family: We had a lesson with them and they were a referral from members and they came to church becaue their friends invited them, after that we strated teaching them. We felt so special because the member set up  the lesson and invited her recent convert friend and the family was waitning for us, we all got there around the same minute and introduced ourselves to one another, Pepe came out and welcomed us in, the crazy part was how many people showed up, it was the sister who referred the family, her r.c friend and her husband and her daughter and her daughters friend, then us, so a total of 7 people went in there to deliver the goods and we were in  charge of teaching, they were in chrage of testifying and i felt sort of  a lot of pressure to be perfect , they mustv'e felt  some presssure to understand everything or to knot sound dumb by asking a question i don't know but it went well. The lord answred our prayers and calmed me down and gave me confidence. The during the part when we were going ot explain the first vision, my companion and i sang "Joseph Smiths First Prayer" it was glorious and we loved it. He is the type of man that overanalyses things, which is good, but he feels like he needs to have a perfect knowledge of things , our next visit will defenatly have to be about faith and how all we need ot do is have a willlingness ot serve the lord. They are so great and they came to church again.

Azucena: We met her through trackting, the old fashion way of finding. That is considered the hunting part of missionary work, it is slower and you only get one at a time, but it is so worth it, then fishing is working with the members because it is more effecient and fruitful. Being a hunter or a fisher are both very awesome ways to do missionary work.  We knowcked at her door and she is just a super sweet lady that is filled with faith and loves the scriptures and consideres them such a gift from a loving caring father in heavcenthat left her with instructions for  a successful life. We did how to begin teaching with her and introduced her to The Book of Mormon and was so excited to have it for free. We are so excited to teach her. We had a lot of people promise us that they will come to church this week 7 but only 1 came grrrrrr, people and their agency! i hate it.

well i love you all take good care, and Happy Mothers day, thank you all the ones who have been like  a mother to me in my life :) have fun.

happy is he who can discover the causes of things in old latin

Lesego Mholo and I had a profound conversation about the love of God in her service within the Young Women last Sunday. I simply wanted to publish her insights, but she is going to write an article about it. She has a great understanding about what true love is. Here is a hint of her wisdom.

me: Do you have a calling in the YW?

her: i never thought i cld love som1 more than i love myself bt i hv realized tht i love these girls wen they r sad m sad.

me: What does this love led you to do?

her: yah m a second counselor

me: i sacrifice every thing hv just to be wit them nd being a part of their lives nd making sure they hv a helping hand

This is the final article that we put together today.

We r connected in humanity by hardships nd thoughts, the air we breath the cosmos, the flesh nd spirit. things around us  complement human life , we myt be different bt we all cum from 1 God. The love we hv for our Heavenly Father shows clear desire to thrive in His presence once more; furthermore, the love we share shows the true desires of our hearts. the cronicles of life ties us together from the begining of life. we might sin differently  nd think we know better than the other person bt the organic compounds of our nature nd spirit connects us. we r drown closer to wats familier to the  patterns nd rules we create in life. we find comfort in wats familier to us nd the last part its in latin meaning (happy is he who can discover the causes of things) felix qui potuit rerum cognos cere causas.