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18 de Febrero, 2013

Hey everybody, you're all probably gonna be pretty surprised with this letter. It's not exactly a normal one. A few weeks ago, I realized that they were a few things that I still needed to clear up and fix before I headed out on the mission. Now that I fear God more than Men, I decided to finally get the courage the do it. The Mission President and my Stake President both wanted me to stay in the mission, but the mission department decided that I needed to take care of it at home. So I got back home last Thursday. I'm now at home in Utah.

I realize many of you may be disappointed by this news, but it was something I had to do. And yes, it's very hard and humiliating. But it's the right thing to do. I almost had a year out in the mission. I'm not sure if they will let me go back, and I'm not sure if I would go back if I could. I will be very prayerful about it and if God indicates that I need to return when the time comes, I will do it without hesitation. Nevertheless, I feel as though returning is not the path for me. It feels like God has a different path for me. But I guess we'll see when the time comes.

I am still active, and I am forever changed thanks to my mission experience. I have become a new man and will never turn my back on the truth. Just in case any are thinking that I'm gonna go inactive for this - because that would never happen.

It is better to end the mission early, live with shame and be spotless before God than to live a complete the full 2 years, be recognized for living a lie, and be held accountable for it in the end. The Church is True. Thanks.

True Conversion

11 de Febrero, 2013

This week has been pretty awesome with some of the investigators. 7 of them went to church on Sunday!

Mayra decided to quit her job because the hours conflicted with the church hours, and she wanted to be able to go every Sunday. Also, because she wanted to keep the Sabbath day.

The Torres Family all went except for one of the daughters. I think she was sick or something. They have been pretty hesitant with baptism and all that, and even though we haven't been talking much more about it, they think that everyone just keeps pressuring them into it. We've lately been trying to help them feel the spirit and learn how to recognize it when it testifies of truth.

Lucio is awesome as always. We're still waiting for his baptismal interview with Pres. Flores, but he has gone to church every Sunday.

We received a surprise reference on Sunday from a member, and he brought 2 of his friends to church, and they loved it. They're from Torreón, not Matamoros, so we can't teach them. But we're gonna pass the reference on.

Honestly, before the mission I never had a testimony. I never knew it any of this was true, and I was never truly converted. I had always been a rebel kid, even up until right before the mission. And all of that I deeply regret. But now I have found my purpose in life, and I will never be able to fight against God anymore. I now have my own testimony, and my own true conversion. I find that the more I teach and the more I help others to come unto Christ, I find myself closer to him. My conversion is the best thing I have gotten out of the mission, and I'm pretty sure that's one of the objectives of the mission. I'm sure that's the main reason for Pres. Hinckley saying that every young man of age needs to go.

Well I gotta go. Wish me luck! Keep praying for me and I'll do the best that I can here.

Workin Hard

4 de Febrero, 2013

Well, we have been working crazy hard here in Matamoros. We contact just about everybody we talk to, and many who we don't talk to. The members are starting to get a little more excited about missionary work and are starting to give us references. New investigators are coming out of the woodwork and we keep meeting all these inactive members that we never knew about. Last week, around Wednesday or Thursday, we filled up all of the remaining hours of the week with appointments. And this week, we are almost completely full until Thursday.

Mayra, a 15-year-old reference from a member, is very receptive. She accepts all that we teach her, asks us questions when she doesn't understand something, and always completes more that her commitments. She has already gone to church twice, and we set a baptismal date with her for the 16th of this month. She is very sensitive to the spirit, and has felt it many times in the lessons.

The rest of the investigators aren't progressing as well as we have been hoping. The Torres Family still has issues with baptism, and haven't gone to church in 2 weeks. We're not too sure what's going on with them. We're still trying to figure that out. We are going to visit them again this week and see what the deal is.

Lucio is also doing pretty good. He is practically a member by now. He just needs a special interview with Pres. Flores, but they still haven't told us when that will be. But after that, he's getting baptised.

We found out that the mission is going to double in size. We're gonna have like 350 missionaries here within the next few months, due to the age change announced in conference.

It's starting to get really hot here! I'm gonna have to find myself a new deodorant.

As far as stories for this week, I don't really have much. Other than a few days ago when some dude in the street randomly punched my companion in the face. He's still hurting haha.

I'm not sure if I already mentioned it or not, but the church here in Matamoros is getting remodeled because all of the members don't fit in it anymore. So meanwhile, every Sunday, we have 3 large, comfortable buses that take all of us to the nearest church in Torreón, an hour away. We have our 3 hour services there, then take the same buses back here. So it's kind of a time consuming deal here. But it gives us 2 hours to chillax on the bus ride.

Well, yet again, I gotta go. Thanks for all the support. I really need it.