Dear Family,
This week and last week we’ve been working a *ton.* The problem is that we baptized all the investigators we had, so we had to look and look and look for new investigators. It was tough, but we sure saw some miracles:
It’s always a big battle to get people to come to church. We invited all of our investigators, but at 11 still just one person had come. Then, out of the blue a guy shows up named Maxi. Maxi was an 18 year old that we had talked to in the park the night before on the way home. We always invite everyone to come to church, but we never actually thought that a street contact would come. He had a great time and this week we’re going to teach him. :)
The two Morales brothers that we baptized are such studs. We taught them about missionary work and they were all disappointed because they are 4-6 years away from being able to be missionaries. Then we explained to them that you don’t need to wear a nametag to be a missionary, and that they can just invite their friends to listen to the missionaries and come to church or activities and it’s basically the same thing. This week they gave us more references than I have ever received from a member. On Tuesday we went with Facundo to teach his best friend and his friend’s mom and it was an awesome lesson. Facundo gave a great testimony and his best friends mom gave the last prayer and finished up crying because of the beautiful spirit that was present. What an excellent example of inviting all to come unto Christ.
Work hard, keep up a great attitude, and keep focused, and the Lord will bless you with success in your callings. I love you all
-Elder Spencer
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
February 20, 2012
Dear Family,
Another miracle week! This week we baptized the really old mom of a recent convert. I don’t remember if I told you guys the story, but what happened was that when we were in a lesson with her daughter a month ago, the mom suddenly burst out, "I want to get baptized." We were all pretty unsure if she would be able to do it. First, she is in a wheelchair because half of her body is paralyzed and she’s 77. Second, she doesn’t remember almost anything, so we didn’t think she’d be accountable, or able to pass the baptismal interview. We always taught her with pictures to help her understand, but really, she didn’t capture much of what we tried teaching her. The day of the interview came and we explained everything to the missionary who would do the baptismal interview and he, upon doing the interview, would determine if she was apt to be baptized. He started the interview and she just was totally lost. She didn’t remember a thing we had taught. The missionary who was doing the interview in that moment said a silent prayer asking the Lord to show him if that woman needed to get baptized or not.
Immediately, a miracle occurred. He asked her what a prophet did and she responded that a prophet restores the truth. We had never even mentioned to her that word because we thought it might be too big for her to understand. Nonetheless, the Spirit spoke to her and taught her a very correct, concise definition of a prophet. The missionary showed her a picture of Joseph Smith and she told him "That’s Joseph Smith; he’s a prophet and he restored the truth." The rest of the interview went wonderfully and this Saturday she got baptized. It took two of us, me and her son-in-law, to be able to sustain her and baptize her. We tried putting a chair in the water, but that didn’t work. Then we just took it out and between the two of us we dunked her. It was a really special moment because I knew very clearly that it was the Lord’s will that this woman, despite her current condition, should be baptized.
The church is true! I love you!
-Elder Spencer
Another miracle week! This week we baptized the really old mom of a recent convert. I don’t remember if I told you guys the story, but what happened was that when we were in a lesson with her daughter a month ago, the mom suddenly burst out, "I want to get baptized." We were all pretty unsure if she would be able to do it. First, she is in a wheelchair because half of her body is paralyzed and she’s 77. Second, she doesn’t remember almost anything, so we didn’t think she’d be accountable, or able to pass the baptismal interview. We always taught her with pictures to help her understand, but really, she didn’t capture much of what we tried teaching her. The day of the interview came and we explained everything to the missionary who would do the baptismal interview and he, upon doing the interview, would determine if she was apt to be baptized. He started the interview and she just was totally lost. She didn’t remember a thing we had taught. The missionary who was doing the interview in that moment said a silent prayer asking the Lord to show him if that woman needed to get baptized or not.
Immediately, a miracle occurred. He asked her what a prophet did and she responded that a prophet restores the truth. We had never even mentioned to her that word because we thought it might be too big for her to understand. Nonetheless, the Spirit spoke to her and taught her a very correct, concise definition of a prophet. The missionary showed her a picture of Joseph Smith and she told him "That’s Joseph Smith; he’s a prophet and he restored the truth." The rest of the interview went wonderfully and this Saturday she got baptized. It took two of us, me and her son-in-law, to be able to sustain her and baptize her. We tried putting a chair in the water, but that didn’t work. Then we just took it out and between the two of us we dunked her. It was a really special moment because I knew very clearly that it was the Lord’s will that this woman, despite her current condition, should be baptized.
The church is true! I love you!
-Elder Spencer
Monday, February 13, 2012
February 13, 2012
Dear Family,
What a miraculous, marvelous week! We had four baptisms! Facundo and Mauricio Morales, Damean Lara, and Maxi Reyes
So Facundo and Mauricio were the only baptisms we originally had planned for this week, and it was also pretty miraculous that they got baptized. Last weekend they were fine and excited, and then suddenly both of them got pretty sick. We went over, taught them about priesthood blessings and they both requested them. We blessed them and the next day they were both completely better. They passed their baptismal interviews with flying colors and were super super excited for their baptisms. Their dad was a little opposed, saying that it was too soon, and they should have more time. We shared with him Acts 2:38-43 where it talks about how Peter baptized 3000 people the same day he taught them for the first time. He opened up, accepted, and went to the baptism and really liked it.
Maxi was also a big miracle. We hadn’t seen him for about a week and a half. He was supposed to get baptized about a month ago, but because of family complications he couldn’t. Then, we lost contact with him because he went to work in a town 3 hours north where there isn’t even cell signal. We thought we had lost him completely. Then, last Sunday while planning for Monday we decided we would try to pay him a visit. We called him, and miracle of miracles, he had returned. Monday afternoon we had a lesson with him and we asked him how he felt about everything we had taught him. He said, "Great! Can I still get baptized?" We said, "Sure, when do you want to do it?" He said: "This Saturday?" And so it was. :)
Damean was a huge miracle. So he’s a super cool guy. He’s 19. I think I wrote to you about him a couple of weeks ago. He’s really really solid, but several times we talked about baptism with him. He always refused saying he didn’t know why, or giving some dumb excuse. This was really weird because he’s prayed lots and read lots, even gone to institute, and has a solid testimony and has also mentioned several times that he wants to be a missionary. We concluded that he had some fear and prayed really hard for Heavenly Father to teach us what to do. We decided that we weren’t going to invite him to baptism again until he brought it up. Well, Monday night my companion called him to confirm an appointment, and on the side mentioned the baptism of Maxi, Facundo and Mauricio. Damean told him that he felt something really weird right then. My companion asked him what, and Damean replied that he felt a strong desire to get baptized. My companion asked him when. He replied, this Saturday! And so it was!
I know that God is a God of miracles. He really loves each and every one of his children. He desires their salvation. He knows that only in the pure restored gospel can they find happiness in this life and peace in the world to come. He weeps when one soul is lost. He rejoices when one soul is saved. As members of the only true and living church it is our solemn duty to bring the knowledge of the gospel to all men so that they might enjoy that happiness and peace. Be brave! Open your mouth! Share the gospel! Those people need it, they need you to share it with them!
I love you all!
-Elder Spencer
What a miraculous, marvelous week! We had four baptisms! Facundo and Mauricio Morales, Damean Lara, and Maxi Reyes
So Facundo and Mauricio were the only baptisms we originally had planned for this week, and it was also pretty miraculous that they got baptized. Last weekend they were fine and excited, and then suddenly both of them got pretty sick. We went over, taught them about priesthood blessings and they both requested them. We blessed them and the next day they were both completely better. They passed their baptismal interviews with flying colors and were super super excited for their baptisms. Their dad was a little opposed, saying that it was too soon, and they should have more time. We shared with him Acts 2:38-43 where it talks about how Peter baptized 3000 people the same day he taught them for the first time. He opened up, accepted, and went to the baptism and really liked it.
Maxi was also a big miracle. We hadn’t seen him for about a week and a half. He was supposed to get baptized about a month ago, but because of family complications he couldn’t. Then, we lost contact with him because he went to work in a town 3 hours north where there isn’t even cell signal. We thought we had lost him completely. Then, last Sunday while planning for Monday we decided we would try to pay him a visit. We called him, and miracle of miracles, he had returned. Monday afternoon we had a lesson with him and we asked him how he felt about everything we had taught him. He said, "Great! Can I still get baptized?" We said, "Sure, when do you want to do it?" He said: "This Saturday?" And so it was. :)
Damean was a huge miracle. So he’s a super cool guy. He’s 19. I think I wrote to you about him a couple of weeks ago. He’s really really solid, but several times we talked about baptism with him. He always refused saying he didn’t know why, or giving some dumb excuse. This was really weird because he’s prayed lots and read lots, even gone to institute, and has a solid testimony and has also mentioned several times that he wants to be a missionary. We concluded that he had some fear and prayed really hard for Heavenly Father to teach us what to do. We decided that we weren’t going to invite him to baptism again until he brought it up. Well, Monday night my companion called him to confirm an appointment, and on the side mentioned the baptism of Maxi, Facundo and Mauricio. Damean told him that he felt something really weird right then. My companion asked him what, and Damean replied that he felt a strong desire to get baptized. My companion asked him when. He replied, this Saturday! And so it was!
I know that God is a God of miracles. He really loves each and every one of his children. He desires their salvation. He knows that only in the pure restored gospel can they find happiness in this life and peace in the world to come. He weeps when one soul is lost. He rejoices when one soul is saved. As members of the only true and living church it is our solemn duty to bring the knowledge of the gospel to all men so that they might enjoy that happiness and peace. Be brave! Open your mouth! Share the gospel! Those people need it, they need you to share it with them!
I love you all!
-Elder Spencer
Thursday, February 9, 2012
February 6, 2012
Dear Family,
What a great week! So many miracles! This week we ended up giving six priesthood blessings because of listening to the spirit and showing up to the right place at the right time just when people needed us. I learned a lot about being guided by the spirit. Being a missionary has by far been where I've felt the spirit more powerfully and more frequently than any other time in my life. I think that's one of the great benefits of missionary service, is being able to testify to someone of the truth and feel the Spirit ratify that testimony. Nonetheless, I've learned that being guided by and following the guidance of the Spirit doesn't always mean I'm going to feel those powerful spiritual impressions in everything I do. This week I learned that many times the Spirit speaks in very very subtle urgings, and that if we live righteously we will always be guided in what we need to do.
For example: Two months ago my companion and I were walking down a street and we passed a young couple with a toddler. After walking past them a few yards I felt a little guilty for not talking to them since we are missionaries, and families are our focus, so I turned around and we went back and talked to them. We told them that we shared a message about how the families can be together, even after death and invited them to listen to our message. Although hesitant at first, they gave us their address.
What I didn't know then, but learned this week, is that the wife was very preoccupied at the time because of the death of her mother. She was ready to hear the gospel. This week two of her sons are getting baptized. (She can't yet because she isn't yet legally married to her husband.) I learned this because of another subtle impression to call her this week to confirm our appointment. I had no idea, but the day I called her was the day of the anniversary of the death of her mother and that phone call made all the difference in the world to her.
Neither of those impressions were powerful spiritual experiences like we sometimes have, but gentle urgings of my duty. If we live righteously we qualify for both types of guidance. I know the church is true and that Heavenly Father loves, remembers, and cares for each and every one of his children.
Love
-Elder Spencer
What a great week! So many miracles! This week we ended up giving six priesthood blessings because of listening to the spirit and showing up to the right place at the right time just when people needed us. I learned a lot about being guided by the spirit. Being a missionary has by far been where I've felt the spirit more powerfully and more frequently than any other time in my life. I think that's one of the great benefits of missionary service, is being able to testify to someone of the truth and feel the Spirit ratify that testimony. Nonetheless, I've learned that being guided by and following the guidance of the Spirit doesn't always mean I'm going to feel those powerful spiritual impressions in everything I do. This week I learned that many times the Spirit speaks in very very subtle urgings, and that if we live righteously we will always be guided in what we need to do.
For example: Two months ago my companion and I were walking down a street and we passed a young couple with a toddler. After walking past them a few yards I felt a little guilty for not talking to them since we are missionaries, and families are our focus, so I turned around and we went back and talked to them. We told them that we shared a message about how the families can be together, even after death and invited them to listen to our message. Although hesitant at first, they gave us their address.
What I didn't know then, but learned this week, is that the wife was very preoccupied at the time because of the death of her mother. She was ready to hear the gospel. This week two of her sons are getting baptized. (She can't yet because she isn't yet legally married to her husband.) I learned this because of another subtle impression to call her this week to confirm our appointment. I had no idea, but the day I called her was the day of the anniversary of the death of her mother and that phone call made all the difference in the world to her.
Neither of those impressions were powerful spiritual experiences like we sometimes have, but gentle urgings of my duty. If we live righteously we qualify for both types of guidance. I know the church is true and that Heavenly Father loves, remembers, and cares for each and every one of his children.
Love
-Elder Spencer
Monday, January 30, 2012
January 30, 2012
Dear Family,
We had a great week. We had lots and lots of investigators come to church on Sunday, and a ward family home evening Sunday night where lots came too. We're just working super hard.
We have these two awesome Young Men who are going to get baptized Feb 11th. They're brothers and they're just screaming through the Book of Mormon. Right now one's in Mosiah and the other finishing up 2 Nephi. They came this week for the first time to all 3 hours of church (before they had just gone to sacrament meeting) and loved it. The whole family come to the family home evening.
We also found this excellent family, the Obanda family. First we taught the mom and one of her daughters. The first visit when we invited them to pray about our message, they said, "I don't need to. From the moment you walked in, and even more so when you offered that prayer, we knew what you were teaching was true". Then the second visit it was the mom with a different daughter and the daughter's daughter. Again, a powerful spirit. At the end of the visit we asked them if there was anything we could do for them. Their petition: return. We were happy to oblige. At the third visit the daughter presented us to her husband and, miracle, they're already married! He was great and offered the last prayer even though it was the first time he prayed. When we came back the next time they had all prayed about our message and felt it was true. Because of work they couldn't come to church this week, but next week they will.
God is still a God of miracles! He's preparing people all around us to hear his message. We just need to be a little bold and open our mouths. I love you all! The church is true!!
-Elder Spencer
We had a great week. We had lots and lots of investigators come to church on Sunday, and a ward family home evening Sunday night where lots came too. We're just working super hard.
We have these two awesome Young Men who are going to get baptized Feb 11th. They're brothers and they're just screaming through the Book of Mormon. Right now one's in Mosiah and the other finishing up 2 Nephi. They came this week for the first time to all 3 hours of church (before they had just gone to sacrament meeting) and loved it. The whole family come to the family home evening.
We also found this excellent family, the Obanda family. First we taught the mom and one of her daughters. The first visit when we invited them to pray about our message, they said, "I don't need to. From the moment you walked in, and even more so when you offered that prayer, we knew what you were teaching was true". Then the second visit it was the mom with a different daughter and the daughter's daughter. Again, a powerful spirit. At the end of the visit we asked them if there was anything we could do for them. Their petition: return. We were happy to oblige. At the third visit the daughter presented us to her husband and, miracle, they're already married! He was great and offered the last prayer even though it was the first time he prayed. When we came back the next time they had all prayed about our message and felt it was true. Because of work they couldn't come to church this week, but next week they will.
God is still a God of miracles! He's preparing people all around us to hear his message. We just need to be a little bold and open our mouths. I love you all! The church is true!!
-Elder Spencer
Monday, January 23, 2012
January 23, 2012
Dear Family,
What a great week!
We had another zone conference. It was super good, super inspiring. It was just what the zone needed because lots of missionaries had gotten a little out of focus from Christmas, so this helped to get everyone back on track. They talked about vision and showed this really cool video about soap sculptors and how you can create anything, it just depends on what you see in the soap bar. Try and see if you can find it. The message was that in our lives and in the lives of our investigators, we can take any possible form we desire, we just need to have a vision of what we or they can become. Neat. So we have this really cool investigator named Damian. He’s 19 and his older sister is a convert from about 3 years ago. Anyway, we’ve been teaching him for about the last 3 or 4 weeks but we could not at all get him to commit to come to church. Some people will say yes, and not go, but Damian wouldn’t commit at all. We tried so much to find out what was holding him back and he told us he didn’t even know what was holding him back. So, we prayed really hard, and prepared a lesson about faith. We talked about how we use our faith to gain a testimony of the truth (Alma 32) and we talked about how we can also us faith to produce miracles in our lives, using the story of Naaman (2 Kings 5), and finished up talking about the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy. The spirit was really strong the whole lesson, and at the end my companion and I bore our testimonies, and then, without us even asking him he blurted out, "I’ll go to church this Sunday." Sunday rolled around. Sacrament meeting here is at the end. We waited outside church before Priesthood meeting started. Nobody. We went back and waited before Sunday school. Nobody. Finally before Sacrament meeting we waited until it started. Nobody. We walked in a little downcast, and then right as we were singing the opening hymn, in walks Damian with his sister. We were pretty happy. He really liked it, and this week we’re going to set a baptismal date with him. He’s going to institute with his sister, and just loving it too. The funny part is that he’s totally a punk rocker with long hair, bad habits, and again, one of the last people you would expect to get all excited about the gospel, but when the spirit works on somebody’s heart it changes. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Everybody needs the gospel. Everybody has some empty spot in their soul that is looking for the spirit to fill it. Parties, Music, Money, and things will not fill it. Only the restored gospel of Jesus Christ will fill it.
Well. This week we have lots of work cut out for us. I love you all, I thank you for your prayers and support. The church is true! He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
-Elder Spencer
What a great week!
We had another zone conference. It was super good, super inspiring. It was just what the zone needed because lots of missionaries had gotten a little out of focus from Christmas, so this helped to get everyone back on track. They talked about vision and showed this really cool video about soap sculptors and how you can create anything, it just depends on what you see in the soap bar. Try and see if you can find it. The message was that in our lives and in the lives of our investigators, we can take any possible form we desire, we just need to have a vision of what we or they can become. Neat. So we have this really cool investigator named Damian. He’s 19 and his older sister is a convert from about 3 years ago. Anyway, we’ve been teaching him for about the last 3 or 4 weeks but we could not at all get him to commit to come to church. Some people will say yes, and not go, but Damian wouldn’t commit at all. We tried so much to find out what was holding him back and he told us he didn’t even know what was holding him back. So, we prayed really hard, and prepared a lesson about faith. We talked about how we use our faith to gain a testimony of the truth (Alma 32) and we talked about how we can also us faith to produce miracles in our lives, using the story of Naaman (2 Kings 5), and finished up talking about the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy. The spirit was really strong the whole lesson, and at the end my companion and I bore our testimonies, and then, without us even asking him he blurted out, "I’ll go to church this Sunday." Sunday rolled around. Sacrament meeting here is at the end. We waited outside church before Priesthood meeting started. Nobody. We went back and waited before Sunday school. Nobody. Finally before Sacrament meeting we waited until it started. Nobody. We walked in a little downcast, and then right as we were singing the opening hymn, in walks Damian with his sister. We were pretty happy. He really liked it, and this week we’re going to set a baptismal date with him. He’s going to institute with his sister, and just loving it too. The funny part is that he’s totally a punk rocker with long hair, bad habits, and again, one of the last people you would expect to get all excited about the gospel, but when the spirit works on somebody’s heart it changes. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Everybody needs the gospel. Everybody has some empty spot in their soul that is looking for the spirit to fill it. Parties, Music, Money, and things will not fill it. Only the restored gospel of Jesus Christ will fill it.
Well. This week we have lots of work cut out for us. I love you all, I thank you for your prayers and support. The church is true! He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
-Elder Spencer
Monday, January 16, 2012
Dear Family,
This week was great! Dario got baptized! It was so awesome. He invited three of his friends to come see it, and the spirit was so neat in the baptism and now his friends are really interested. He told us that he just feels so great, so clean, so awesome now that he’s baptized. It has really been such a blessing to witness such a mighty change in heart.
So I pretty much love this ward. Because of how well the Christmas activity we did turned out, the new Elder’s Quorum President is really excited to do lots of activities and so now we’re shooting to do one every other week. This week we had another winner: A Karaoke Night. It was super great and lots of investigators showed up. The best part was this: We have this investigator that’s a 65 year old man and super cool. As it turns out, he’s a charro (the lead singer in a mariachi band) and he’s really good and has a band of 12 mariachis and they have CDs and such. Mariachi is purely Mexican, so here they are very uncommon. Well, when we told him about the Karaoke night he got really excited and told us he would come. And he showed up with his entire mariachi uniform and a mariachi guitarist to accompany him. It was really quite the treat.
We also had quite the miraculous experience last night. We were at the house of a recent convert, Monica. She’s not that strong in the church, and she isn’t able to attend that much because she usually ends up staying home taking care of her mom, who’s old and wheelchair-bound. Well we were going over the restoration again with Monica and her husband (a member for many years) and suddenly her mom says: "I want to get baptized!" My comp and I were kinda shocked because we didn’t even know she was paying attention, but we obliged her request, and set a date for early February. Although because of her age she didn’t understand much of what we were teaching, she had felt the spirit as we sang and prayed and taught, and knew that it was good. Moral of the story: when the Spirit reaches a heart, the heart changes.
I love you all! The church is true!
-Elder Spencer
This week was great! Dario got baptized! It was so awesome. He invited three of his friends to come see it, and the spirit was so neat in the baptism and now his friends are really interested. He told us that he just feels so great, so clean, so awesome now that he’s baptized. It has really been such a blessing to witness such a mighty change in heart.
So I pretty much love this ward. Because of how well the Christmas activity we did turned out, the new Elder’s Quorum President is really excited to do lots of activities and so now we’re shooting to do one every other week. This week we had another winner: A Karaoke Night. It was super great and lots of investigators showed up. The best part was this: We have this investigator that’s a 65 year old man and super cool. As it turns out, he’s a charro (the lead singer in a mariachi band) and he’s really good and has a band of 12 mariachis and they have CDs and such. Mariachi is purely Mexican, so here they are very uncommon. Well, when we told him about the Karaoke night he got really excited and told us he would come. And he showed up with his entire mariachi uniform and a mariachi guitarist to accompany him. It was really quite the treat.
We also had quite the miraculous experience last night. We were at the house of a recent convert, Monica. She’s not that strong in the church, and she isn’t able to attend that much because she usually ends up staying home taking care of her mom, who’s old and wheelchair-bound. Well we were going over the restoration again with Monica and her husband (a member for many years) and suddenly her mom says: "I want to get baptized!" My comp and I were kinda shocked because we didn’t even know she was paying attention, but we obliged her request, and set a date for early February. Although because of her age she didn’t understand much of what we were teaching, she had felt the spirit as we sang and prayed and taught, and knew that it was good. Moral of the story: when the Spirit reaches a heart, the heart changes.
I love you all! The church is true!
-Elder Spencer
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