The Road Back to God

That is so awesome how the Lord can find little ways to bless our lives! I thank heavenly father each and every day for the opportunity to be here on a mission! it is so cool to hear about all the experiences you have! i am so excited about all the good things going on in the ward right now. i miss everyone back home! i want to especially thank the Hamiltons, Sister Batschi, and Sister Anderson for sending all the encouragement! it is so great to know that the people in our ward are thinking so much about me. This week has been so great! i am finally starting to understand what teaching is all about! i find that when i just focus on the person i am teaching and really try to know them, the spirit is so strong! i find that when i worry about the language or what questions to ask or what scriptures to use i miss what the investigator is telling me and I am not able to touch their hearts as easily. i have also learned to strategize in my lessons and not take all the time away from my companion. i learned that the hard way. one of my teachers taught us a cool analogy earlier this week. he said, as missionaries you carry a portable iron rod, and with that portable iron rod, we go out into the mists of darkness and find those that are wandering or who are on strange paths and bring them to the fruit of the Love of God. another cool thing he said is, imagine that the kingdom of God is a castle, and baptism is the gate to that castle. now, before Preach my gospel came out, they had memorized lessons and only one road toward the gate of baptism. with the memorized lessons it would just be like a big net they spread over that one road and hopefully they caught all the people on that one road. but with preach my gospel there are now a bajillion roads leading to the gate of baptism and through pmg we can go on those different roads that everybody walks and lead the people from all walks of life to the glory of God. food for thought. as i have been here i have realized my divine role as a missionary for God's Kingdom. that out of the numberless hosts of heaven i was chosen to come to this earth at this time. it gives me hope that i was a valiant spirit before this life. it is a special feeling to be here during Christmas time. The spirit is so strong here as we focus on the message of the birth of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. i have grown so close to Him these past few weeks and i can feel His love so strongly in my life. i just want to share the love i feel with everyone! yes my companion is going to nicaragua also. i love you!

@ the MTC

It is great to hear about Stephen! i wish him well! i got a dearelder from ed this week which was really cool. I'm going to write him back today. this week was filled with a lot of trial and frustration. my whole district was feeling pretty down earlier this week and it took a lot of help from our teachers to get us back on our feet and looking at things differently. we are doing better now and the language and the teaching is coming along slowly and really fast at the same time. our district is crazy! everybody loves my accents and impressions a lot. I got everybody's letters this week and it was really great! I hope as Christmas approaches you will be able to feel the saviors love more strongly this season. His power is so much more manifest in my life here on a mission and it is amazing to feel how much love he has for me. Me and Elder Thomas are like bros and we have a lot of fun with the other elders in our zone. we do everything together and its super fun to have so many friends and great people around me. The MTC gets better and better as the days go on! we do get fed WAAAY too much though, I've probably said that before, but its totally true! my teachers are amazing! one served in El Salvador and he is crazy spiritual! He reminds me a lot of Chris Brown and i just love him! he knows everything! He's the one that got our district to believe in ourselves.

Enter the MTC

     Elder Alejandro (AJ) Lim was picked up by former Elder AJ Maudsley when he arrived in SLC airport. Maudsley took Elder Lim at temple square then to Café Rio. Thirty minutes about Elder Lim got dropped off he was already in class listening to his MTC teacher who was speaking purely Spanish, he of course didn’t understand any words he said. In the beginning there were 3 Hermanas (2 going to Nicaragua, but 1 went home) and 3 Elders (Penalba – Virginia, Thomas – Nevada) in his district but 1 Hermana went home sick and Elder Penalba was moved to intermediate program because he already knew Spanish. There are 4 districts in his zone, and he is a District Leader. Here is what he said about MTC.
     Our zone is so great though! all the elders and Hermanas are so fun and supportive! I have a lot of love and respect for all of them. it is a crazy feeling here in the MTC. the spirit is so strong you could cut it with a butter knife. it is also very overwhelming the first few days and you feel very very small. I thought I wouldn't hardly learn any Spanish here before I came but seeing the missionaries who have only been here 5 weeks speak really good Spanish has helped reassure me a lot. me and elder Thomas are getting the schedule down pretty good here, we wake up on time and go to bed on time. we had our first lesson on Friday with an investigator and it was awful! we couldn't say anything! we didn't even know what to say to get in the door! but we learned from that experience and the lesson on Saturday was a lot better! Planning really is key to teaching! the lord can only give you as much as you put into it. anyway, the days are long here and it is super cold! i didn't bring a sweater so when I'm going to gym I have to run outside in just a t shirt and shorts! This Sunday was awesome even though i had like 5 meetings to go to. its great to go to sacrament with people my own age. my zone leaders are so awesome they are so fun and supportive
     The MTC is definitely not what i expected and i wish i took Spanish in high school but i am just so happy here! john- this place really does feel like the temple! anyway, that's all I've got for now! i love you all so much! please pray for me! "

My Time to Serve

     Every young man has a different way and different amounts of time for preparing to serve a full time mission. Some people grow up preparing for a mission ever since they were 8 years old. Some people are recent converts and only have a few months of membership before deciding to serve. Then there are those who didn't really think it was important until they turned 18. I was of the first category. Ever since I have been able to remember i have always wanted to serve a mission. I can never remember a time in my life when I wasn't thinking about leaving for 2 years to proselyte in a foreign land. As I grew older and matured Satan did almost everything in his power to keep me from my sacred duty. And after a while I found myself leaving the straight and narrow path and walking on paths that were dark and left me blinded to the spirit and the love of Christ. I will not speak more about this time of my life but suffice to say I was very lost and very confused. But one thing i learned that i could not comprehend for a long time was the love that Heavenly Father has for his children. I know for a fact that Heavenly Father loves me and that he has great plans for me, and i knew that he wanted me on his side. So through much repentance and prayer i found myself walking on the straight and narrow once again, basking in the warmth and joy that only the spirit can provide. But alas, Satan would not give in, and he endeavored to make my life miserable and keep me from going on the mission that i had been dreaming about since i was a small boy. many distractions and past wrongs came to haunt me and i became discouraged and far did I fall. I struggled for many months trying to find who i was again with much failure. But through the distraction and the turmoil i had forgotten the one thing that pulled me out the first time, the love of God.
    I was praying one night and a certain scripture came to me, John 3:16- "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should no perish, but have everlasting life." Christ was the difference between life and death for all the children of God. Christ endured much pain and trial and affliction for us, and Heavenly Father gave his only begotten for us. May we ever remember this sacrifice. With time and patience my spirit grew again and i received my mission call. 

     Everyone has trials in their lives but never lose faith and base your life on those great things that Heavenly Father has planned out for us because i promise you there is no greater reward than receiving those blessings.