HELLO!

well i have had a great week. I am really looking forward to the marriage of Roxana to her husband Noel, and the baptism of the whole family!! We had family scripture with them one night and i almost cried as i heard Asuncion pray about happiness in her home and to help them prepare for for their sealing in the temple. And another moment we shared with them was when we went over to re-commit her to follow the word of wisdom with exactness, for she had decaff coffee and green tea in her home, but her husband was the one drinking the coffee and she said that green tea isn't bad. Although, it was hard i knew it had to say that those things were not permitted to drink those  things, i asked do you think you can let go of these things when you get baptized?

she said "sister, Ive let worse things go, i am willing to give this up."then she talked about an experience when she was sharing the gospel with one of her friends and she had asked her why she had to wait a year to prepare to enter the temple and get married there. she told her that to get Married unto God and make promises that we are going to treasure one another and others we need to show our commitment and seriousness and to make sure that we are going to keep all of Christ's teachings in our lives, like  love, respect, communication, unity, hard work, repentance and do fun wholesome things as a family. Then are we prepared for such a sacred opportunity to become an eternal family. This is all her telling her friends this, from what she told me, from what i am telling you. Isn't she amazing?! She is also  having a hard time with her son right now, he is having suicidal thoughts and gets really aggressive. I was able to relate to him, when i put myself in my old shoes and how dark i felt before with no hope, but how that has helped me put my trust and God and come to know that he is all loving, is merciful, and can wipe away our tears, heal our broken hearts and fill us with hope and love. I shared the story of Alma's conversion (alma36) and how God was able to forgive these horrible sinners, for a wise purpose. Later they ended up becoming the most consecrated missionaries ever. In Alma 29:9 Alma says  I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do ^anot ^bglory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy. I Testified that tests and trials will arise, but this will be for his good and so he can experience the love of God more fullly in his life, and one day be an instrument in the hands of God to bring many to the knowledge of the truth. She said that she feels so much more comforted every time she reads the Book of Mormon. I was so greatful that the young men's president came over to have a chit chat with him. That's being Christlike and magnifying your calling, If it wasn't for the loving service and sacrifices of others we wouldn't thrive. They fill we with so much joy:)

We met a man from the Dominican republic, well actually three different ones, they all painted the inside of the Gilbert temple. Well other than that awkward moment of getting proposed to during a lesson, as i explained how the gospel blesses families. it went really well he said that he doesn't believe in coincidences and he believes we are sent from God to help him go in the right path. I loved watching him read the book of Mormon out loud, he really did try to understand what he was reading. 

i had my first leadership training it was fun. Well i  have to go but i will send pictures of the wedding next week, stay tuned.

The Blogger and the Ambulance P.1

"Now I lay here owing my life to a stranger and I realize that empty words are not enough."
-Thrice

Oh... my aching head... "Hey you're back!" Yea, I had to go to the doctors, I think I got jumped... "Yea, he just left, he was nice." You didn't think to stop him or maybe call the police? "Nah you were fine. Something tells me we haven't seen the last of him." Ugh... Whatever... Anyway, so a little more about me my dear reader, "You like to talk about yourself don't you?" More than you can imagine, but in my past 

To the right you'll see a hospital
(Not pictured) an Artist

lif- "Whoa whoa there bud, y'all believe in reincarnation? I don't think I can let that one fly!" Still didn't let me finish... I refer to my pre-mission life as my past life, if you want to know what happens after we kick the bucket, click here! But anyway, I used to listen to Rock/Alternative music, you just can't beat the sound of an Awesome! guitar solo and a rockin' drum solo."Oh yea, I can totally agree to that!" The lyrics above go to a song called 'Artist and the Ambulance' by a band called Thrice. It's an Awesome! song about a man who has a horrific car accident and after waking up and realizing he's alive, he realizes that he has been wasting his life and decides to do what is right.

So a while ago, I had to teach a class about Spiritual Gifts, and these gifts are blessings that the Lord gives us to bless and benefit others, it's a 'give what you have' sort of thing. We've been given much, so we too much give. "Quid pro quo?" Not very so. Now there's a ton of spiritual gifts which include The Gift of Wisdom, The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues and others. Now everyone is guaranteed to have one, but some may have more or different ones according to our desires as well as if we'll use it to help, but there is one I want to focus on and it is The Gift of Healing. "You mean like those preachers who bop someone on the head and they start dancing?" Well, not quite.

So what do doctors do? "Is that a serious question?" You're killing me smalls... Just answer it... "They doctor?" Exactly! When we get sick and chicken noodle soup just doesn't cut it, we go to the doctor and they give us gross tasting medicine to make us

No Babies were harmed in the
making of this post

better! In other words, they heal! Well, in the church, worthy men receive what's called the priesthood, which is the authority to act in God's name. Now one thing a man with the Priesthood can do is give a blessing of healing. So, they heal.

Now many think that the gift of healing is simply, touch someone and BAM! healed. But to me, I think it's not always that way. Here's an example, so back home, my stake president is a radiologist. "That's pretty sweet!" But that's not all! He is also a practicing surgeon. "Two for the price of one huh?" You know it. Now, if you've ever played Operation, you can probably testify it's not very easy huh? "I don't think it's the same thing..." EXACTLY! If you mess up, the person's nose doesn't glow red, nah, sometimes worse things happen... So it's not something ANYONE can do. It takes a steady hand, and one who knows what he's doing. "So where are you going with this?"

Well, what if I told you that maybe, just maybe, the Holy Ghost is guiding this surgeon's hand so he can do, well the things he do. "Things he do?" Just... So whenever I thought of someone who had the gift of healing, he's the one I thought of. Cause think about it, he HEALS people, and not just by like, giving two Tylenols and telling them to call him in the morning, no, this man sometimes takes out the sickness quite literally out of people, in operations that are for the most part, life threatening. But he does it, and he's a man of God and he uses the Priesthood, or the authority of God to not only give blessings of healing to the sick, but to also have his hand steady so he can save lives. Not like you know, I shoo'ed a lizard from the street so it wouldn't get squished, nah I mean, saved a human life. "You sure know how to talk up about someone." Ehh, it's gift. See? There's that word again. "What gift?" Yea. "So does that mean you're gonna do another who knows how many part series for spiritual gifts?" Nah cause there's a lot and I already have like two multiple part posts and I'll forget about the different parts. "Isn't that lazy?" I'm not sure... But I AM sure that our Heavenly Father loves us and gives us these talents or gifts, so we can help others. I read a quote that went something like this, "The meaning of life is to discover your special talent, the purpose of life is to give it away." Profound huh? "You're just something else." Yea, something Awesome!

So check back next time (It won't be next time...) for the stunning conclusion to The Blogger and the Ambulance! "Stunning?" Well, It'll be pretty cool, at least I think so.