Well, long and behold transfer day came along. Elder Butler is on his way to Arica. I will be staying in Iquique with my last companion Elder Levi.. He is from La Pampa, Argentina. It is a special assignment that I have been given from our mission president. When the assistants called me to advise me of my transfer they went into some detail about why I need to be his companion and some of the difficulties that he is having. I don't think I need to go into specifics but I know it will be a challenge. I don't know who he is but I am excited to be 100% obedient with him and become his new best friend. And I'm excited to have a Latin comp too.. its been practically 1 year since I've had a Latin comp. Maybe I will learn Spanish again! But, I will be missing my boy Elder Butler but he will be blessed with this new transfer. He is finally getting a Latin comp so he can get better at Spanish.. I didn't help him all that much with that one but now all is good there. He is also going as a co Sr. comp. kinda weird but good for him hehe. As far as the rest of the transfers in the mission.. all of my good mission buddies are happy throughout the mission.
I just got done reading Elder Walker Wards last email as he will be home this Wednesday.. he said that the last part is a hard mentally. I know Its going to be a good metal battle fighting through the last stretch of the mish. With this new assignment it will test me to the max but I am prepared and don't worry at all. I give a shout out to my boy walker, and I know that he was one of the best missionaries in the world.
This week was an awesome week to finish the transfer.
Sunday was such a great day. We had the baptism of Andres... We had been waiting along time for that baptism. It was partially sad because we were waiting for his older brother (Joshua) to baptize him, he just needed permission from the bishop to do it... but his girlfriend came into town from Bolivia and fell into temptation. And as a result, he wasn't able to baptize his brother. We are going to continue working with Joshua to help him stay strong in the church... It was sad to hear when he told us he wasn't going to be able to baptize his brother. And he felt even worse that day when he watched my companion baptize his brother for him. That's a lesson learned right there... ALWAYS be worthy and ready to use the priesthood.
Also, in Church Sunday we had received so many blessings! We had randomly show up one of our new investigators named Roxana, who is a single mom that wants to quit taking drugs. It was such a surprise that she really showed up after only teaching her once. Of course she showed up dressed like she just got back from the late night dance club... but that's fixing for later time. She is awesome, she stayed for the classes and participated a ton. She wanted to stand up in front of everyone and tell her experience about why she needs and wants to stop taking drugs and how she knows that this Church is the way to do it. She made tons of friends and loved the class.
Also, Gonzalo and Cindy(a really good couple that we found and are teaching) came and it was practically the same story as Roxana, they were both talking so much about how special the Church was and it was their 1st time being there. FINALLY we are finding some good investigators to be able to teach, take to church, and baptize. Things are going great..
We had a great lesson by Elder Rodriguez in the Gospel principles class. It was based on how to have a successful family. I challenge all to read the chapter that talks about the family in the Gospel principles manuel. This is the part that I want you to print and apply and always keep it in mind!
How to Have a Successful Family
President Harold B. Lee taught, “The most important of the Lord’s work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own homes” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee [2000], 134).
Satan knows how important families are to our Heavenly Father’s plan. He seeks to destroy them by keeping us from drawing near to the Lord. He will tempt us to do things that will draw our families apart.
The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles declared, “Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance,
forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities” (
Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102).
All of us want to have happy, successful families. The following things will help us achieve this:
- 1.
Have family prayer every night and morning (see
3 Nephi 18:21). Pray together as husband and wife.
- 2.
Teach children the gospel every week in family home evening.
- 3.
Study the scriptures regularly as a family.
- 4.
Do things together as a family, such as work projects, outings, and decision making.
- 5.
Learn to be kind, patient, long-suffering, and charitable (see
Moroni 7:45–48).
- 6.
- 7.
Follow the counsel of the Lord in
D&C 88:119: “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.”
- 8.
Keep a family history, perform temple work together, and receive the sealing ordinances of the temple.
The family is the most important unit in The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church exists to help families gain eternal blessings and exaltation. The organizations and programs within the Church are designed to strengthen us individually and help us live as families forever.
If we cant check yes on every single one of those 8 points... We know that we have something to work on!
