Elder Christensen Mission Conference

       This week has been filled with much spiritual direction and counsel. I direct my thoughts to the mission conference we had this last Monday with Elder Craig C. Christensen of the Presidency of the Seventy. This great servant of God directed this devotional to the meaning and purpose of the worldwide missionary training broadcast that was held this last Wednesday. He expressed the divine importance of "Teaching Repentance and Baptizing Converts." As missionaries we are inclined to sometimes get caught up in the whims and woes that are the gospel doctrines and truths and forget the meaning of helping others turn to Christ in true repentance and conversion. We find that many of the people we teach and baptize soon fall away from the church and its teachings. Why is that? because we as servants of the Lord and instruments in His hands forget to teach the Key Doctrines of Faith and Repentance focusing only on that which is baptism and confirmation. although very necessary parts of the Plan of Salvation, if we do not teach our investigators to repent not only before baptism, but afterwards and for the rest of their lives, they cannot reach the plains of what is salvation and perfection through the Infinite Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that as I strive to keep my gospel covenants and strive to help others realize it as well, I will not only baptize more, but increase the quality of those that are baptized. I know that these are divine promises of the Lord given by His true servants.
     Other news, three of the investigators I was teaching in my old area got baptized this week! What a miracle! Their names are Cristian, Jennifer, and Lucia. All were references given to us by recent converts! Just goes to show that you never know who is ready to be baptized no matter how young they are! So all the youth out there who arent sure if they should introduce their friends to the missionaries, dont be afraid! The Lord works in miraculous ways!

New Beginnings

     This week has been a little interesting as we had transfers this Wednesday. I got a new companion and a new area, but I am still here in the office. With transfers and new beginnings, my heart is saddened at the thought of all the awesome investigators I'm leaving behind. I had many friends in that area, but I am also excited for the opportunity to start over and do things well. My companion was actually trained in this area and a year later he is back. so we have lots of motivation to "throw fire" as they would say.

San Juan del Sur, Welcome 2016!

        This last week has been as crazy as possible. With San Juan del Sur on Wednesday, things have been so crazy here in the office. We spent pretty much all of this week running around doing errands for the activity. The activity was a huge success and the whole mission had a wonderful time. I got the chance to flip hamburgers and set up all the games on the beach for the activity. it was really cool to be on the beach but also really weird because we couldn't dunk in the water and it was really hot! For those of you who don't know, at the beginning of the year President Russell put a baptismal goal for the mission at 2,060 baptisms. Many doubted and said it was madness. never ever has this mission baptized that many in one year. Well, the end of the year came and we ended up with 2,158 baptisms for 2015! what a miracle! all of our hard work paid off. So, as a reward President took the whole mission to San Juan del Sur, which is the place with the best beaches.

        He also announced the new goal for 2016. The new goal for the mission is 2600 baptisms! It sounds crazy but I know that if we have faith and trust in ourselves and our leaders that the Lord will bless us! There are so many people out there in Nicaragua who have been prepared by the Lords hand to receive the gospel at this time. I know the Lord is merciful and good. I know that the power of the holy priesthood is real and that we are directed and guided by Jesus Christ himself. 2015 may have not been the funnest year of my life, but I have grown and matured to greater lengths. The Lord has seen fit to challenge me, and I hope to be able to rise to them all and overcome. Thank you all for supporting me this last year. So bring it on 2016, im ready for you!

Elder Alejandro Lim

Hello Friends and Family!
This is John speaking. I've updated AJ's blog all the way up to this week as part of a project for one of my BYU classes. I also plan on making some kind of visual message (Picture or video) to go with his updates every week. The weeks that he doesn't send an email I will use a simple message from one of his previous messages. Thanks for loving my brother and I look forward to what he will teach us in the next year!

12th December 2015
I know things may seem hard right now but don't be sad! We have eternity! A lot of times I get caught up in the moment and don't think about the bigger picture. It's hard to have that vision, but I know if we have a vision we can get through anything. Just hold on to the joys and blessings of life!

The Lord Leads Us

     This week we had a cool little miracle. We were walking down a street one day at about late afternoon and this street we usually dont go down very often but that day we decided to take that route to another lesson. as we rounded the corner man came running out of one of the houses and called us over. we came over and he told us that he wanted to hear from us, that he had an uncle in the states who was a member and that he had told him to look for the mormon missionaries. so that night we talked with him and placed a baptismal date with him. that night we also met the rest of his family who were all interested and very open as well. a few days later we came back and taught the whole family this time and they all accepted baptismal date. there were about 5 of them. and there are some others who live there who we havent been able to talk to yet. but thats the miracle of the week!

The Manual of Our Lives

     I hope this week was a great week! I hope everyone looked for new ways to do some service! This week we had a baptism! Her name is Daisy, she is the girlfriend of another investigator we have and started to going to church with him. After the first time she liked it and wanted to get baptised as well so we set up a date and she went to church more and was baptised! she was actually supposed to get married as well but her boyfriend is battling with alcoholism and so he got drunk that day and she didnt want to get married. So we are still working with the boyfriend so that he can be baptised as well. Pictures will be sent shortly.
     This week i would like to touch a little on scripture study. Why is it important to study the scriptures? Gaining knowledge of the scriptures and the gospel is vital to our eternal progression. Life is like a school class. Our teacher is Jesus Christ, he shows us the correct way we can pass the class with a good grade and pass the final test. The scriptures are like the books and manuals that must be read in order to gain more knowledge and understanding concerning the doctrines of life. if we first, listen to the teacher and only listen, we may gain a broad understanding of the subject, and learn of what we generally need to learn to pass, we may do well on the final test, but we may have those moments when we just cant remember what the teacher had taught. When we read the manual as well as listen attentively to the teacher we gain a deeper understanding of what it means to learn the doctrine and how it is applied. we can see beyond just the teaching and see the exact why and how of the situation, we can see through the very eyes of our Grand Creator.
     As i study the scriptures i gain a greater understanding of the gospel principles. i also gain the knowledge i need to be able to better teach people the gospel and make them understand. My freinds, we have been so blessed to be in this day and age where so much of the Words of Life have been made available to us that we couldnt even know them all in this life time. imagine, less than 200 years ago all we had was one volume of sacred scripture. you could read that more than once in a lifetime. i hope you can appreciate the scriptures more and learn to make scripture study an essencial part of your life. i know it will bless you profoundly.

Changes - A New Way to Serve

     So things have changed a little bit these last few weeks. We had transfers and now i am serving in the mission office as a secretary in charge of the mission convert retention program. Along with my new calling and assignment i have a lot more opportunities to do service. Now much of my work isnt about serving my investigators alone but as well the missionaries here in this mission. I am now in an area called San Judas with Elder Weyand, who happens to be from Tri-Cities, WA. I also get to work closely with my old MTC companion, Elder Thomas, who as well is serving here in the mission offices.
     These last few weeks have seen many changes in schedule, proselyting, diet, and work. Its strange to be thinking about numbers and spreadsheets one minute and then getting into the gospel and teaching people the other. it definately has been a different experience but I feel this is where i need to be. As for my spiritual message, i would like to talk about service. I like to think that service and charity are tied together. As we act in favor of another person we bring not only goodness and blessings to others but to our ownselves.
     When i think of service i always look to the Savior as my example. even though he was greater than us all he still descended below us all to pay for our sins and mistakes. before his atonement and death he washed the feet of His Apostles and said that those of us who are greatest should be servants. As we search for opportunities to serve the pure love of Christ will descend upon you and you will become sons and daughters of God. (Moroni 7) I know that the blessings of service are real, and you can make a difference in someones life everyday if we act in humility and charity.

Multi-Mission Conference

     This week we had a multimission conference with Elder Steven E. Snow, Church Historian. He talked about how we should keep good records of our lives and what we do, because we never know how the spiritual experiences we have today will impact our lives in the future. Also, he talked about the life changing experience of being on a mission how, even though it can be hard and exhausting, we can find joy and life changing experiences them. This has definatly rang true in my own mission. it is definately not easy but it is definately worth the effort.
     Learning to love different people and doing hard things every day can be challenging. but i have seen in my own life that as i have given my heart and soul to the mission that the Lord blesses me with the success and miracles i need. I invite you to give your whole heart to the Lord. In this he will bless you with happiness and joy beyond compare. I pray for your success and happiness every day. that you always strive to do the will of the father and not your own. pray for ways to become more in tune with His will and set your heart to doing what the Lord has indicated must be done. As you pray in faith, you will find the Lords hand in all things, and you will know that He is God.
     I know that the Lord has given each and every one of us a unique and individual life. i know that we must trust in Him if we are to have success. I know that the Lords work is His work. I know that every one of us can be instruments in His hands to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.