Hello everybody!
Thank you for the letters and emails this week. I really appreciate being able to see how things are going on outside of the mission.
This week was kind of slow but we still worked hard. They are really suggesting that we work with members more to move the work forward faster. We kind of have a unique situation here since we only have 2 or 3 active spanish members and almost no leadership. We have talked with a few members (english and spanish) to see what we can do to help the group get reactivated and have a more concerted effort with the stake. Our group covers all of Hermiston and Umatilla so we need help from the other wards to find the hispanics in other parts of the city. We have a plan to get started and hopefully we will see some results as we put it into action.
Conference was amazing this weekend! We watched most of the sessions at the church but we did watch one at an investigators house. He said he felt like it answered some questions and that he needed to study the scriptures more (saturday afternoon session). I was impressed at how much they talked specifically about member missionary work. Right now I'm wishing I would have helped the missionaries out more at home because now I know what it feels like to be out here. The nature of missionary work is changing. The members have to get more involved and we have to help them get more involved. I also loved how they would take simple things like a couple of the 10 commandments and go deeper with it and apply it to the work. We are living in scary times but we have the hope of the gospel to lead and guide us.
The language is coming along still. It gets easier to learn, speak, listen and read every day. The gift of tongues is real. There is no way that I could have learned a new language this fast on my own. The Lord blesses his missionaries everyday.
I just want to say that I love being a missionary. It's true that there are hard times and people have their agency to accept or reject the message of the gospel but I still love them anyway. I have definitely learned that there are good things in everyone and the gospel can bring it out of them. I know that the people in the church are not perfect but that doesn't mean that the gospel isn't. We can't allow ourselves to choose to reject the Savior because of the silly mistakes of others. I have seen too many people throw away the blessings of regular church attendance because of an offense. I know this is the true church. God's kingdom is on the Earth again and we are a part of it. We (each one of us) should be on the front lines trying to build it up where we stand. Its like what Elder Uchtdorf has said "Lift where you stand."
I hope that you all have a great week and that you see the Lord's hand in your life.Thank you for the letters and emails this week. I really appreciate being able to see how things are going on outside of the mission.
This week was kind of slow but we still worked hard. They are really suggesting that we work with members more to move the work forward faster. We kind of have a unique situation here since we only have 2 or 3 active spanish members and almost no leadership. We have talked with a few members (english and spanish) to see what we can do to help the group get reactivated and have a more concerted effort with the stake. Our group covers all of Hermiston and Umatilla so we need help from the other wards to find the hispanics in other parts of the city. We have a plan to get started and hopefully we will see some results as we put it into action.
Conference was amazing this weekend! We watched most of the sessions at the church but we did watch one at an investigators house. He said he felt like it answered some questions and that he needed to study the scriptures more (saturday afternoon session). I was impressed at how much they talked specifically about member missionary work. Right now I'm wishing I would have helped the missionaries out more at home because now I know what it feels like to be out here. The nature of missionary work is changing. The members have to get more involved and we have to help them get more involved. I also loved how they would take simple things like a couple of the 10 commandments and go deeper with it and apply it to the work. We are living in scary times but we have the hope of the gospel to lead and guide us.
The language is coming along still. It gets easier to learn, speak, listen and read every day. The gift of tongues is real. There is no way that I could have learned a new language this fast on my own. The Lord blesses his missionaries everyday.
I just want to say that I love being a missionary. It's true that there are hard times and people have their agency to accept or reject the message of the gospel but I still love them anyway. I have definitely learned that there are good things in everyone and the gospel can bring it out of them. I know that the people in the church are not perfect but that doesn't mean that the gospel isn't. We can't allow ourselves to choose to reject the Savior because of the silly mistakes of others. I have seen too many people throw away the blessings of regular church attendance because of an offense. I know this is the true church. God's kingdom is on the Earth again and we are a part of it. We (each one of us) should be on the front lines trying to build it up where we stand. Its like what Elder Uchtdorf has said "Lift where you stand."
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