Week #95- we just need to do our part and we will be okay!

This week was pretty good, and we were able to find a few really cool new investigators. We have been trying to look for new ways to find new investigators and this week we were able to receive a few references from the members, by asking them at church to bring us references. We are going to start asking them every week to bring more references and we know that we will be able to find great people to teach. We were able to do divisions twice this week and I learned a lot from it. I learned to just be friends with the people that we contact and I learned to teach better. I feel like we need to gain the confidence of the people that we teach and the people that we talk to, so that they can trust in us and so they can feel our love for them. I have learned to love these people so much and I want to help them. Another thing that I learned with my companion this week is that there are many people that are going down really bad paths. It took me more than 20 months to realize it and see it like I saw it this week. It impacted me and I really want to help these people. I know that I can’t help everyone and that not everyone wants our help, but we just need to do our part and we will be okay. I am excited for Christmas this year, because I can really see the difference and changes that I have made from last year. This week was a week of learning. I love it! Transfers are on the 29th! Yesterday we taught a family that is getting ready to get sealed and we taught them about families and how they can be forever. I love my family and I am so happy that I can be with you forever.
Love, Elder Monson

Week #94- We all are children of God!

This week was a good week, we were able to progress with many investigators and we feel like they have a lot of potential and that they will get baptized really soon. The members of this ward help a lot and make friends really fast with our investigators. We are getting ready for Christmas and using that as an excuse to talk to many people. I feel like people are going to be more accepting now that we are close to Christmas and people are thinking more about Christ. My companion and I have been teaching a lot about the plan of salvation and we have been talking about it and we have been able to realize how perfect Gods plan really is. It is amazing and we are so blessed to know this plan. We know the importance of our savior in this plan and we really want to help others come to know these things. We all are children of God and have the privilege to receive all of his blessings. Everything has happened and will happen according to Gods plan so we can trust in him and his plan and have the hope that everything will be okay if we do our part and do our best to be like Him. My companion is helping me a lot and I know that I needed to be with him this transfer and hopefully one more. I have started a new thing at night that I have to read at least one chapter of The Book of Mormon before going to bed. I want to gain the habit of reading the scriptures because I really want to and not just because we have one hour of personal study in the mornings. I love it and I am going to finish the Book of Mormon in Spanish before I go home.
Love, Elder Monson

Week #93- sent us to her house in the right moment!

This week was kind of hard, because many of our appointments fell through and we have been really busy with activities and service projects, and other stuff like that, but we were able to have a pretty good week. We were going to visit one of our investigators to teach him and finish the lessons that he needed to get baptized, but his dad told us that he couldn’t at that time because he was sleeping. So we left and we went to visit a contact that we had done that same day and she let us in her house. We started teaching her and she opened up to us and started telling us about the problems that she has been having. She told us that she had been praying for help and that she knows that God sent us to her house in the right moment. She accepted a baptismal date on the first visit and she is amazing. She is ready to accept this gospel and it is going to bless her a lot. We were also able to have a baptism this week. He is a young man that was involved with bad friends and went down a bad road that lead him to bad things. He really wants to change and he has, he is amazing and a true convert. He is ready to help his family live the gospel as well. His family is less active and he is going to set the example for his whole family. He was able to receive the priesthood yesterday. He wants to come with us to do visits and we are going to leave with him on Friday to do visits. This ward is great and really helps us in the Lords work.
Love, Elder Monson

Week #92- working hard to find new people to teach!

This week was good but hard. Almost all of our appointments fell through so we had to work really hard to find people in their houses to teach them. We have really good investigators and we are working hard to find new people to teach. We really progressed with one of our investigators this week as he really opened up to us. He told us about what his life style was in the past and that he really wants to change. He really surprised me because he is only 16. He really wants to do things right. He came to the church on his own, looking for help and he wants to get baptized. He has many friends in church and is going to be a great convert. His family is less active, and I know that he is going to help his family a lot. Today I was reading in The Book of Mormon about the King Lamoni. Today when I read it, I saw the real power of a recent convert. In this story it said that as King Lamoni shared his testimony with everyone that everyone in his house was converted. It was really cool to understand that after reading that story many times. Recent converts are a great help in missionary work, and I want to bring more recent converts with us to visit our investigators. They went through the same process so they understand how they feel and they know what they need. The Book of Mormon helps us in so many ways!
Love, Elder Monson

Week #91- new companion: Elder Murcia!

This week was great. My companion had transfers, so now I am with Elder Murcia. He has 13 months in the mission and he is the district leader now. He was born in Colombia, but lives in Portland, Oregon, so he knows Spanish and English. It’s really fun being able to talk in English all day. I feel really good guiding the area and I feel like we are having a lot of success. My new companion is really great. He helps me a lot and is just a really good missionary. He works really hard, and has shown me how to serve others. We were able to focus a lot more on the investigators this week and we have invited many of them to get baptized. We have a family of four that wants to do everything as a family. The dad wants more peace in his family and we taught him that is what the gospel will bring his family. He accepted a baptismal date for the 26th of December so we are really excited. He is really humble and ready to listen. We promised him many blessings as he listens to this message and applies it in his life. This area has a lot of potential. We have been trying to find new investigators, but it has been hard, the people here do not want to listen to our message and many reject us. This has been my hardest area for contacts. We will continue to work hard and find some way to get new investigators. We should be having a baptism pretty soon and we want to keep adding on to the investigators. This week has been awesome and I have learned so much from my companion. I want to finish my mission strong, and I am really glad that I am with him so that he can push me, when I am not pushing myself.
Love, Elder Monson

Week #90- God puts us in the path to help!

This week was good, we were able to progress pretty good with the investigators that we have. We should be having a baptism this week. The members are helping a lot with our investigators and they help them feel welcome in the church activities. We have a great ward mission leader who does his job well and really cares about the people that we are teaching. He does his best with the little time that he has. The Bishop helps a lot as well. The ward has 3 families that are going to get sealed this month and the bishop has played a large role in helping them. We have been doing many service projects lately and the members really trust in us to help them with everything. We were able to get to a members house right in time as she really needed help with her son who is pretty sick. We got there right in the hour of need. She called us angels, I know that God loves all of his children and will send others to help them. I love the documentary of Thomas S. Monson and that he is always ready to do errands for Heavenly Father. It makes me feel so good to help others, especially when God puts us in the path to help them.
Love, Elder Monson

Week #89- how big of a blessing the priesthood is!

This week was good, we were able to find a new family that is really awesome. We got to know them on Thursday and they came to church this week. It’s a family of 4 and they are all really awesome, and want to listen. We have been able to focus more on investigators this week so we have improved a lot in what we are doing in our area. Me and my companion have made some plans to be able to focus on finding new investigators, which means we will have to contact a lot more this week. We hope to finish the transfer strong with the best week that we have ever had. This week we have given many blessings, and it’s made me think of how big of a blessing the priesthood is in our lives and all of the miracles that it can bring in our lives. We gave blessings to a family whose little baby who was born a week ago had to have heart surgery. Everything turned out okay and the father wants to get baptized. His mom is a member and she invited us to help them. He lives in another area, but I know that the priesthood has blessed this family.
Love, Elder Monson