Dear Family,
A great week. First of all, we did another "lawn mowing" job with machetes and this time I didn’t chop my thumb off, so I feel like that went successfully.
The weather down here is pretty crazy. Right now it is the dead of summer, but apparently we’re going through the tropical storm "la niña," (For those of you that don’t habla español, "la niña" is Spanish for... "the niña". Laugh, those of you who got it. Google it, those of you who didn’t.) which translates to lots and lots of rain. When it rains, it *rains*. However, it’s summer, so it rains one day and then it’s super hot the next day, so it gets so humid that you can get about a gallon of water by wringing out your shirt. Anyway, on Thursday night, we were pretty worn out from having cut the grass for about 4 hours in the morning and it started to rain. Our schedule had opened up because some of our appointments were no-shows, and so we stood under an awning wondering what to do. We said a quick prayer and then started thinking of ideas. It would have been pretty tempting to do anything but go out there under the rain, but the words from President Eyring came to mind: "Trust in God, then go and do." We went out and checked again at the appointment that had fallen through on us and it turned out that the lady we had set the appointment with the night before (after knocking doors) was so excited to meet with us that she called her sister (who was home) to see if we had come yet, and if we had, to tell us that she was running a little late and still wanted to meet with us. Animated by the response that someone was actually expecting us and anxious to meet us (that almost never happens), we went off into the rain and knocked doors until she got home. As we were knocking doors, we met a man who had talked with missionaries years ago and was excited to see us and wanted us to return when his wife was home so we could talk all together. We went back to the first lady and had a wonderful appointment with her, her husband, and sister. That was probably one of the most successful days I’ve had here since I got here 2 months ago. Every single bit of success we get is a blessing from the Lord. It all comes as we trust in God, then go and do.
This week, trust in God, then go and do. Here’s a gem I read from Elder Scott this morning: "Material things do not of themselves produce happiness and satisfaction and the joy of attainment on earth. Nor do they lead us to exaltation. It is nobility of character, that fabric of inner strength and conviction woven from countless righteous decisions, that gives life its direction. A consistent, righteous life produces an inner power and strength that can be permanently resistant to the eroding influence of sin and transgression. Your faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to His commandments will strengthen your character. Your character is a measure of what you are becoming. It is the evidence of how well you are using your time on earth in this period of mortal probation."
I love you all so much. Have a wonderful week!
-Elder Spencer
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
February 21, 2011
Dear Family,
Well this was a pretty busy week. So, big news is that the Branch President here was released and they made my companion the new branch president. The last president had been so for the last 10 years and in the last 2 months that I’ve been here, he came to church 3 times. The branch here needs lots of work to get things up to date, so Elder Mayhoffer and I have been working like crazy trying to track down addresses of people that haven’t been to church in 15 years and have moved twice. The Mission President announced that he was coming down this weekend to do the audit of the branch, so we also spent lots of time organizing things and preparing for that. As it turns out, his counselor called him at the last minute telling him that he wouldn’t be able to, which was good for us, because now we have a few more weeks to get everything ready.
In the February Ensign, there is a big theme of seeking out the lost souls, so when we got that and read it, I felt like it was written just for us. I really like the story of the prodigal son because of the reaction of the father. The father gave his son whatever he wanted, even when he knew that it might not be for his good. He respected his agency, and watched sorrowfully as his son discovered for himself that wickedness never was happiness. When the son returned, the father seeing him afar off ran to meet him and shared a tearful embrace. That father was anxiously watching for any sign of his son’s return. Our Father in Heaven does the same. The worth of souls is so great to Him and he loves each of his children so much and anxiously waits his return. When we had first started this project of tracking down all the old members, I had a kinda bad attitude. I just saw each one as another name that had broken a covenant with the Lord to stay active in the church. Studying that story helped me see how much Heavenly Father cares about every one of his children and no matter how far they have strayed, he waits anxiously for their return. A beautiful hymn that I recently discovered for the first time describes that love he has and our duty to help love his lost sheep back. - "Dear to the heart of the shepherd".
Anyway, that’s about all the time. I love you all! Happy Valentines day! We made the traditional heart shaped pizza, but since we’re missionaries it got broken really quick. :)
-Elder Spencer
Well this was a pretty busy week. So, big news is that the Branch President here was released and they made my companion the new branch president. The last president had been so for the last 10 years and in the last 2 months that I’ve been here, he came to church 3 times. The branch here needs lots of work to get things up to date, so Elder Mayhoffer and I have been working like crazy trying to track down addresses of people that haven’t been to church in 15 years and have moved twice. The Mission President announced that he was coming down this weekend to do the audit of the branch, so we also spent lots of time organizing things and preparing for that. As it turns out, his counselor called him at the last minute telling him that he wouldn’t be able to, which was good for us, because now we have a few more weeks to get everything ready.
In the February Ensign, there is a big theme of seeking out the lost souls, so when we got that and read it, I felt like it was written just for us. I really like the story of the prodigal son because of the reaction of the father. The father gave his son whatever he wanted, even when he knew that it might not be for his good. He respected his agency, and watched sorrowfully as his son discovered for himself that wickedness never was happiness. When the son returned, the father seeing him afar off ran to meet him and shared a tearful embrace. That father was anxiously watching for any sign of his son’s return. Our Father in Heaven does the same. The worth of souls is so great to Him and he loves each of his children so much and anxiously waits his return. When we had first started this project of tracking down all the old members, I had a kinda bad attitude. I just saw each one as another name that had broken a covenant with the Lord to stay active in the church. Studying that story helped me see how much Heavenly Father cares about every one of his children and no matter how far they have strayed, he waits anxiously for their return. A beautiful hymn that I recently discovered for the first time describes that love he has and our duty to help love his lost sheep back. - "Dear to the heart of the shepherd".
Anyway, that’s about all the time. I love you all! Happy Valentines day! We made the traditional heart shaped pizza, but since we’re missionaries it got broken really quick. :)
-Elder Spencer
Monday, February 14, 2011
February 14, 2011
Dear Family,
What a great week! I got the "Family Yearbook" that Mom sent me and it was great! You all are so good lookin’!
So this week we’ve been working a ton on tracking down all the inactives and inviting them to hear the missionary lessons again. We’ve been praying a lot that the Lord can soften the hearts of the people we are looking for and we’ve seen lots of miracles. People who have been under the radar for more than 10 years we were able to find by lots of "coincidences" (I’ve come to learn that there’s no such thing as coincidences, only tender mercies of the Lord helping us out.)
Super short on time, but I hope you all have a great week. The Lord answers prayers. The church is true!
-Elder Spencer
What a great week! I got the "Family Yearbook" that Mom sent me and it was great! You all are so good lookin’!
So this week we’ve been working a ton on tracking down all the inactives and inviting them to hear the missionary lessons again. We’ve been praying a lot that the Lord can soften the hearts of the people we are looking for and we’ve seen lots of miracles. People who have been under the radar for more than 10 years we were able to find by lots of "coincidences" (I’ve come to learn that there’s no such thing as coincidences, only tender mercies of the Lord helping us out.)
Super short on time, but I hope you all have a great week. The Lord answers prayers. The church is true!
-Elder Spencer
Monday, February 7, 2011
February 7, 2011
Dear Family,
What an awesome week! This week we had a total attendance of 10 people for fast and testimony meeting, but it was probably one of the best ones I’ve ever attended. The church is still true, even in a little city in the middle of Argentina!
The big news for the week is that we found out the transfers and Elder Mayhoffer and I are staying together for another 6 weeks, which we are both very happy about because we get along great and are ready to go all Samuel Smith all over Frías for the next month and a half. We’ve been working a whole lot more effectively the last couple weeks since we’ve both learned the area really well and started building good connections with the members and we’re glad that we get to keep on working together to keep up the momentum we’ve been building and the projects we’ve been working on and I feel like this transfer we’re going to be able to help the branch grow and strengthen a lot.
So we’ve just been on a roll with the great Family Home Evenings. This week we did one where we talked about testimonies and how it is something that once we have one we need to keep up. To illustrate that principle we made a testimony using the words of Christ (Corn Starch) and the Spirit (Water), which when you mix it well turns into a really cool liquid that stays liquid, but upon impact turns into a solid. You can pick it up, but if you don’t constantly keep it moving and constantly work on forming it and keeping it solid it turns back into a liquid and melts through your fingers. Super fun activity! Moral of the story: Testimony - if you don’t consistently work on it (Prayer, Scripture study, Church...) you lose it.
Anyway, that’s all the time for now. Love you all tons!!!
-Elder Spencer
What an awesome week! This week we had a total attendance of 10 people for fast and testimony meeting, but it was probably one of the best ones I’ve ever attended. The church is still true, even in a little city in the middle of Argentina!
The big news for the week is that we found out the transfers and Elder Mayhoffer and I are staying together for another 6 weeks, which we are both very happy about because we get along great and are ready to go all Samuel Smith all over Frías for the next month and a half. We’ve been working a whole lot more effectively the last couple weeks since we’ve both learned the area really well and started building good connections with the members and we’re glad that we get to keep on working together to keep up the momentum we’ve been building and the projects we’ve been working on and I feel like this transfer we’re going to be able to help the branch grow and strengthen a lot.
So we’ve just been on a roll with the great Family Home Evenings. This week we did one where we talked about testimonies and how it is something that once we have one we need to keep up. To illustrate that principle we made a testimony using the words of Christ (Corn Starch) and the Spirit (Water), which when you mix it well turns into a really cool liquid that stays liquid, but upon impact turns into a solid. You can pick it up, but if you don’t constantly keep it moving and constantly work on forming it and keeping it solid it turns back into a liquid and melts through your fingers. Super fun activity! Moral of the story: Testimony - if you don’t consistently work on it (Prayer, Scripture study, Church...) you lose it.
Anyway, that’s all the time for now. Love you all tons!!!
-Elder Spencer
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
