And he is home safe!!

Last Email from the mission

Moses 1:39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which,if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit."- CS Lewis

Last email in the mission, it crazy how fast it all goes. The mission really does come to an end with mixed emotions, at times i feel like it cant really have been two years and at others it feels like i have done this my whole life... But I can sincerly say I gave it my best and I wont be coming home sad. I feel satisfied with my offering, I gave it what was needed of me and in the process I matured alot. The mission is not the best two years of your life, its the best two years FOR your life. A missionary can see how God really does change, improve, mold, and carry His children to their destination - Exaltation. 

I have seen Gods hand in the lives of a lot of miserable people, me being one of them. I have seen the power of Jesus Christs atonement and I have felt Gods love for me and for others. 

Jesus Christ lives, my whole mission I have seen a lot of dead ceramic Jesus statues on the cross (the more horrific and mangled and bloody Christ looks the more people like to put it in their house, it's sad) and people wonder why they don't receive the blessings they need. Christ is not a morbid dead body that we should worship, if we focus so much on His moments of humiliation and death then we have missed the point. Obviously I'm not trying to disrespect the death of Christ in any way His death is essential to our eternal progress but it is the resurrection that is His victory and should be our focus. Christ lives, and loves us. He is an all powerful being that can save us if we will just humble ourselves  and shut up and do what He asks. I know He lives.

I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, I have read it in Spanish 6 or 7 times on my mission and every time I have found the power and the wisdom of God that can and has changed me. The purpose of it is to bring people to Christ, who in turn brings us to our Father, a Father that offers us eternal life, glory, progression, and happiness.

I know that the family can be eternal, that we are here to be a part of and form relationships and bonds that are meant to last forever, and will if we will obey God. I'm grateful for the family that God has given me and that we have the promise to be together forever. 

Don't think I'm sad or feel like I'm taking steps backward in coming home. I learned what was needed on my mission, and I am ready to keep taking steps forward in my life. 

Elder Roberts

Fruits of the Gospel

Lifes good. We're having success in the area, gonna baptize this week and the next one. I also got a letter from Fam. P. (in Tlahualilo) and they told me that a man we baptized there is the new branch president. That's pretty cool haha. To be honest nothing too special happened this week. I'm feeling good. Had a good birthday, the C. family got me a cake and whatnot. 

The Gospel really does change lives

It was a really good week. We were contacting this week and we knocked on the door and a lady peeked out her window and asked us what we were doing, we told her we were missionaries and she asked us to share a message with her, so we shared about the restoration and about the family, it was a really good lesson, but the best happened at the end. She said that she would say the closing prayer and as she said it she started to cry and thanked God for sending her two angels to teach her the truth. We were both a little stunned. We went back two days latter, she had read the pamphlet we had given her and her boyfriend (theyre in the process of getting married) was there as well. We asked her why she had said those words in her prayer and she started to tell us how she was born in a catholic family but never believed that it was true, then she had listened to the jehovahs witnesses for three years but afterward she felt like she was more confused than ever. She stopped looking for a while until she and her boyfriend started to feel the need to find God, so she told us she prayed to ask God to help her know what to do.....and we showed up a day later. This is not one of those lame missionary stories that we hear about all the time, this really did happen, it was amazing. Both of them are reading and praying and went to church. It never ceases to amaze me that God can take two 20 year old kids that are wandering around hoping to find somebody and can put them in the exact right place and the exact right time.

Another miracle, We have an investigator that has gone through hell. He is an ex alchoholic, he has no money, he has no education, he has nothing. When we found him he was completely lost and we honestly didnt think he was going to progress, he just seemed like the million other people that are in trouble and that tell us they need Gods help until they realize that it takes a little effort on their part so they stop listening to us. But he's not, he is completely different. He has gone to church for 4 months, he has cleaned his house, he stopped smoking, drinking, his "friends" make fun of him and tell him hes an idiot for listening to us but he just lets it go and walks away, he has bought new clothes so that he can go to church and got a job so he can progress in life. And yesterday he paid his tithing. 

In the mission we have the opportunity to see people that have lost themselves in the lies of the world. They have hit rock bottom, and that really feel like it can never be okay again. We find them, and we teach them, and if they will apply the gospel that we teach them (that Christ Himself taught) in their lives they really do change. They. Really. Do. Change. God gives us as missionaries the opportunity to see with out own eyes, His hand in the lives of His children as He lifts them up, dusts em off, and carries them to where He wants them to be. Christ carries each and every one of them, and us, out of hell. The gospel has to be true because nothing that I do or say can change and save people like I have seen this message change and save people over and over again. 

Elder Roberts

Family who was baptized a year ago was Sealed in the Temple this week

It was a good week. I'm studying a lot, a lot, to try and help me not "die" on the mission. Haha I'm not gonna lie with only six weeks left it is hard to keep me focused. 

I have been studying a lot about the church, about Jesus Christ, about the Book of Mormon, and about the prophets that God has ordained. 

Something I love and I would like to share about the mission is that the mission really does give us a new purpose, a new sense of who we are and what we are doing. As my time in the mission gets shorter every day I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to be here, not because it has been fun, haha because it hasn't, not because it has been easy, because it hasn't, but because it has helped me to mold me into who I want to be. 

I am grateful to my God for what He has given me, I am grateful that in His mercy He has carried me through some of the hardest trials of my life here in the mission, I am grateful that I have come to know Him as my Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I am grateful that I have gained a stronger testimony not only of them but of the divinity of the work of the Lord. I am grateful for families and for priesthood, and that God has made it possible to live forever as families. The Family C. got sealed on Saturday,  I don't have the pictures yet, but soon. 

I am grateful.

Elder Roberts

Pres Monson is a prophet of God

It was a good week we spent the whole week teach about and inviting people to come to conference. The fam. C. junior came and are progressing really well, so well in fact that after only a couple weeks of teaching them they are going to feed us this week, haha awe yeah.

Conference was really good. I think we were all a little moved to see how much our prophet really has given to the work of the Lord. As he bore his testimony and exhorted us to keep the commandments he looked very tired, but as I have thought about his testimony, really this is one of the greatest testimonies that there is from this prophet of God. He has given everything that he is to the Lord, his life, his will, his soul, to his God. I cant imagine how hard it really would be to be physically spent and have to speak and bear testimony in front of 15 million people throughout the world, but President Thomas Monson did not waver, although physically weakened his testimony, his message, and his example are stronger than they have ever been. As I saw him lean on the podium for support and testify of our Savior with a soft voice, it was not him but the Spirit that was speaking. I know he was a prophet of God if not for his teachings, if not for his example, than for his determination to testify of Christ and try to help the members of the church to become true Saints through Jesus Christ. 

Men are that they might have joy

good week good week. we actually found a young couple that are super ready to hear the gospel. In the first week they accepted baptismal date, they came to church, they got married a while ago, and we have lots of support from members so its looking like they will be baptized the last week of October. The crazy thing is that they have the same name as the first family I baptized here in Gomez. Haha I kid you not I baptized family C. the first time I was here and if it is possible i will do it again (no they are not related) Its really weird how things like this turn out.

Also we baptized K. this week. That all turned out well. 

We had a really good lesson with 2 teenagers named C. and A.. they are siblings, C. is a less active member, A. is investigator, their sister is currently serving a mission in Peru. We taught them about being happy and read 2 Nephi 2 with them. It was actually super powerful, as they read and began to understand the need to make the right decisions so that they can be happy. At the end C. said the prayer and was crying, the Spirit was super strong and they both committed to changing their lives and coming to church. Awe yeah.