God makes us strong

This week we killed it! We had tons of lessons, but better than that we had tons of POWERFUL lessons.

Here in Tlahualilo I have really gained a confidence in and an ability to teach by the Spirit that I lacked so much before, and it really does make all the diference. How is it that we can invite the Spirit into lessons as missionaries?

There is nothing I have found that brings the Spirit into the mission lessons like
1 The first vision 
2 The Book of Mormon
3 Testimony of Jesus Christ.

We had a lesson with G. and His wife (yes, they are actually married) who are a couple that ´believe' in God, but in a God that requires nothing and that should just bless them - A god that isn't a God.

When we first started teaching them his wife had all kinds of weird questions but little by little we helped them to understand that the more abstract things of the gospel can only be understood if we first understand basics. After we explained a little about what is a prophet and who they are as children of God they told us...´Ok but we will still never go to your church.´....okay I'm not here to try and drag you to church....oh wait....haha naw.  but they weren't accepting a whole lot of the message until we got around the Book of Mormon and especially the First Vision. The atmosphere really does change, I don't know how to explain it, you just feel good, you just don't have tension or stress you just tell the story and the Spirit comes in to help us out. By the end of that lesson they told us they would come to church.

The Book of Mormon as well is such a powerful tool God has given us. I love it and I love what it makes us into, we grow so much spiritually and intellectually when we read the book of Mormon. President Benson said that “… The Book of Mormon has not been, nor is it yet, the center of our personal study, family teaching, preaching, and missionary work. Of this we must repent.” I really havent used the Book of Mormon to its full potential here in the mission and I am now trying to repent and I have seen miracles because I am using it more. 

We also have had really good lessons with F., but his girlfriend is a very difficult person, she will not get married for free because it would require that the marriage be performed in public and she feels embarrassed by that, but she will not pay a dime (or peso) to be married because its ´the mans responsibility´.... Haha and we can't exactly say it would be better for them to split up after 25 years, 5 kids, and grandkids.

So we gotta try and help Fransisco find a way to get married in private for free. It'll take a miracle. Not only is he very converted to the message of the gospel but he is helping his children understand how the gospel can bless them too. He gave us the reference for his kid that lives here in Tlahualilo and we are now teaching them both and F. went by their house on Sunday and brought them to church. IT WAS AWESOME. All three of them stayed for the full 3 hours! more than the majority of the members here (and some of  the members of my family....haha).

Let's just say F.  really is a golden investigator we just gotta help his girlfriend. The weird thing is that when it comes down to it she is a really big support for F., she helps him read his Book of Mormon and gets mad when he doesn't read it, she cleans his clothes and helps him leave on time so he can get to church, she gets mad at him if some days he doesn't have time for us to visit him, she makes sure that nothing gets in the way of our visits if she can help it, so she gets that this message really is helping him and she wants to get married but just doesn't want to sacrifice her pride nor her dinero. I respect her and am grateful for the effort she does put in to help us though,

We had a bomb dropped on us yesterday though. President S. (The Branch President) moved back to his home in DF with his family and left the branch president less. So other church leaders came to Tlahualilo and evaluated the situation and the sad truth is there is not a replacement to be found in Tlahualilo...so who will be called as branch president....one of us...the missionaries. Yes. And what heppens next? President R. closed one of the areas in Tlahualilo so the other companionship that was here with us left this morning. So to sum up we now have all of Tlahualilo under our wing, and one of us - me or my companion - will be set apart next week as the branch president. Overnight my stress level went way up. God doesn't look for the strong but for the weak to make them strong.  

Humility and the Spirit is what changes and converts

F. is probably one of the most Christ like people I have ever met. He wants so much to come unto Christ and help his family to do it too. His girlfriend is a very shy, awkward lady that doesn't want to change nor talk with us nor come to church, and his children are alcoholics that have children with several different women, his dad listens to us but is a part of another church and after several lessons with him we had to drop him cause he doesn't want anything to do with us. In short he has NO support at home and he tells us that his 'friends' at his work always make fun of him cause he won't smoke or drink with them and that he is changing.

When we started teaching him he couldn't read 'hola' so he started reading and practices every night in the Book of Mormon and in a Himario that my comp gave him so he can participate more at church and so he can understand better the doctrine we are teaching him and at this point he can read whole verses by himself! He is so humble and prays and begs The Lord to help him as he tries to get better and tries to help his family improve as well. He will be getting married in about three weeks and baptized very soon afterwards. He shows up to church before the majority of the members and tells us that he feels the spirit in sacrament meeting. He gets a lot of help and support from Christ to help him keep moving forward and progressing, which is the only support that counts anyway.

Also I would like to share my new favorite chapter in the scriptures about missionary work.

1 Corinthians Chapter 2.

1.And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5. That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8. Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man,but the Spirit of God.
12. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,because they are spiritually discerned.

How true this chapter is. We all come on the mission in our weakness and fear and I can promise you that my lessons are anything but 'enticing words of mans wisdom' but that is the point. Joseph Smith wasn't called in spite of his weakness but because of it. I have been in countless lessons when we have tried to just teach appealing to peoples logic or to the doctrine alone and that goes NOWHERE. But when the Spirit comes in the room in even the most simple of lessons the lesson is made powerful and it changes people in a way that only the Spirit can. ONLY THE SPIRIT CAN.

To all that are going on a mission learn it way before you have a year in the mission - you don't change people - the Spirit does. If you want good lessons you don't do anything but let the Spirit talk through you. That's not to say don't study and work your butt off and do ALL you can, because that is exactly how you get the Spirit, but my point is do not rely on yourself alone, cause I promise you it will amount to nothing.

Just to finish up we had a cool experience with this. We started teaching a family the usual lesson of the restoration and they were bored out of their minds and making fun of each other and us and I'm sure were thinking "What is this crazy white kid talking about?"... So after about 5 minutes of us trying to help these people understand the restoration through pure doctrine, we changed up went straight to our testimonies of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon and the invitation to read and ask God yourselves. Everybody changed as the Spirit came in the room and the Spirit testified so that they could understand that they could ask God and receive an answer. And because of that, not because of our 'enticing words' but because of simple testimonies and the power of the Spirit they asked us to come back and accepted a Book of Mormon.

Support the priesthood to gain the blessings of the gospel

Well we kept the work level high this week and taught a lot of lessons again but we had a rude awakening. We have been trying to motivate the members to come to church and to get active again but some of them have been offended by the local branch President and this week we had several of the members say "Maybe it would be better if you stopped visiting us if your going to support the President." hahah Okay yeah, we were sent here to build up the church of God and because your all in the freaking apostasy we should all go after the local president and kick him out of the calling that the Lord has given him....nope. It's the thing I have seen in every single one of the areas on my mission and I'm sure is the greatest problem in the church, members that fight with members and disagreements in the church that cause people to fall away.

It's amazing how many of the less active members have a testimony in the church, have no major sins holding them back, and still deny themselves the blessings of the gospel because of some stupid comment. And the thing that really makes life hard is when they get angry at us for supporting things in the church that are done in the way THE LORD wants and not in the way they want. The local president actually works really hard with us, and although he has his faults to be honest he is working a lot harder than the rest of the members.

 3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth:and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixty fold, some thirty fold.

18 ¶Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

 19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

 20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

 22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

 23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit,and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

All we can do is our best. 

On the bright side Hmo F. is progressing really well. We had a very low attendance this week but he showed up before the majority of the members and is trying so hard to learn how to read so he can read the Book of Mormon and sing the hymns. IT'S AWESOME!!! Here in Mexico there is a day to get married for free (Valentines day) so he is going to get married to his girlfriend (of 25 years) next month! She also is listening to us more but still doesn't want to drop her catholic beliefs. 

We also had a conference with the area seventy Elder De Hoyos. He spent his whole time talking about the importance of missionaries and members working together to bring people to the gospel. 

It was a good week to be honest. Échele ganas.(Meaning: Give it your all)

Elder Roberts

Miracles in Tlahualilo

I don't know who it was, but thank you for all your prayers (we fasted as a family for Paul in his new area on Jan 3rd)  because this week we had nothing short of miracles... We had almost 40 lessons, the average is 15 to 20 here in Tlahualilo and almost every one of them was full of the Spirit. Things changed soooo much this week. We had people that as we knocked on their door started to tell us the same old stuff (I'm catholic, I'm busy, I'm sleeping, I'm on drugs, I'm showering, and the all time bestseller I DON'T CARE) but as we talked with them they invited us in, listened very attentively, and asked us to come back. It was amazing I'm not kidding, in my mission I have never gotten so many positive responses from people in one week. As well as that I have never felt so much of the gift of tongues as I did this week, I felt the Spirit so much in each lesson and in each lesson there wasn't a moment when I couldn't Speak Spanish. Whoever asked for the miracle this week THANK YOU and keep asking please.

Right now we are focusing on a guy named F., who is a super humble, good human being. He doesn't know how to read so we go by his house every night and read a little bit of the Book of Mormon with him. He stopped smoking completely last week and came to church and met with the Branch president to try and see how he can get help to get married to his girlfriend (of 25 years, they have kids and grand kids together). His girlfriend still doesn't sit down to listen to us in lessons but she is always near by and pretending to be doing things while the whole time listening to us and occasionally answering our questions before F. can. haha. She is super shy and humble as well so we gotta try and find her a friend to help her get comfortable with us and with the church. F. will be baptized in February and with a little faith his girlfriend will quickly follow. 

We are also working really hard with the less actives we have here in Tlahualilo and this Sunday 4 of them showed up, including C. and his daughter! It's so awesome to see less actives come to church after months or even years and little by little remember why they joined the church in the first place and what it means to be disciples of Christ again.

I know that this is the Lords work. I have seen nothing short of miracles this week. The Lord has reached out to us here in Tlahualilo and I know that without His help we can do nothing.

Simple solid testimony of the humble

Well we spent the majority of this week rubbing shoulders with the zone leaders and freezing  in their house, Mexico is very cold in the winter man! Haha but we actually had a really fun Christmas together. We bought a ton of food, A TON, like steak, and sausage, and pie and candy and ate til we got sick (second time in Mexico that that has happened, the other time was with the sister in Durango who gave us each a cake, yes I'm still talking about it and will until the day I die).

We also went to the mission house and had a dinner with president, had multi-zone activities, I SAW A SNOWMAN IN TORROEN!!! I don't know how, it's cold but there is no snow so who knows how it got there. But after like 4 days of Christmas festivities we had to return to our beloved Tlahualilo and work again.

When we got back we had a really cool experience with a less active here named C. He is a very poor, and uneducated man, but his biggest trial is that he has a lot of problems with his past, he is an ex missionary but made some bad choices and was eventually excommunicated. After 8 years he decided to repent and be baptized again. He was re-baptized about 3 years ago but to this day he can not and will not forgive himself. He lives with the idea that Christ's atonement is sufficient for everyone except him (I would actually say that is a very common lie of Satan, I hate that guy). So he went inactive after a while and when I got here he was pretty depressed.

Little by little we have helped him accept what the atonement and repentance means and this week he was completely different. He has gone with us for 3 to 4 hours every day to help us find people here in Tlahualilo. He has given us the names of several families and we are finding old investigators through him as well. Last night we had a lesson about the Book of Mormon with him present and I asked him to share his testimony of the Book of Mormon, and he did, and there was nothing flashy or special about his testimony but I felt the power of his testimony about the Book of Mormon. He really does know that it's true and as I looked at him bearing his testimony I felt the Holy Ghost carry his simple words to us and make them powerful. I felt Gods love for him, I can't really explain what it was, but as I looked at this guy who has been beat down by doubt, sin, and Satan for years I felt a small part of the love the Christ must have for him. His simple testimony was made powerful by the Holy Ghost.

One time Brigham Young talked about hearing the testimony of an uneducated man and how He (Brigham Young) received a witness of the Holy Ghost through the simple testimony of his friend. I too now have felt that and that truly it is not a knowledge of the gospel nor the doctrine that will give us success, nor is it speaking in perfect Spanish, nor the charisma or talent of the missionaries that will help people truly come unto Christ, but the simple solid testimony of the humble. I know that is true.

Testimony grows on a mission

I have very little time right now, we are getting ready to get on a bus and head off toward a bigger town to spend Christmas in our zone. 

 

I just want to share a quick thought about testimonies. I don't really know when it happened, I never had a moment exactly when The Lord told me but over the course of 11 months in Mexico and over a year now in the mission, I know that the Church really is true. I know that Joseph Smith really did see our Heavenly Father and that through him Jesus Christ restored His church. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. 

 

It's weird but I really am a million times stronger in my faith than I was when I left. It didn't come in a particular moment, I can't really think of a time when it hit me but as I teach lessons now I do feel it more and more every day that this really is the truth that Christ Himself came to proclaim. A testimony isn't gained until you gotta put it to the test, and that is what is done every day here in Mexico, and I am grateful for that. I love the mission in that you either have to grow in your faith or you gotta go home, haha there's no hanging out in the mission. 

Elder Roberts

Transfered to Tlauwalilo

Well I got transferred out of no where, because of Christmas the exchange week got changed, so I got transferred a week early, haha and so here I am in a little town called Tlauwalilo, its in Coahuila, so I left the nice, green state of Durango and once again am in the desert.

As far as this week I first want to share an experience we had with two separate lessons in the same day. First we go into a house and I don't know why but I started feeling really angry and nervous and I could not speak Spanish, it was so weird, it was like when I first started my mission. We kept struggling through the lesson and at the end the lady starts telling us about spirits and a demon that supposedly haunts her son, it was a really nasty feeling and I have heard other stories like this on the mission but this was the first one that felt real.  But right after that lesson we had one with E, his girlfriend, and O. and R. and the Spirit was really strong and I could speak and teach like it was no problem. So I just want to say it really is 100% the Spirit in the mission, when the Spirit isn't in the lesson things fall apart fast and when the investigators are doing weird things with bad spirits it goes bad even faster. It was actually a really cool experience to see such a dramatic difference between two lessons, one with and one without the Spirit of God. 

As far as O, R,  E, and his girlfriend  We had a lesson with them right before I left and they really have progressed so much. When we found E he was dead, he wasn't a fan of life, dead spiritually, he just kind of drifted, but after three weeks of coming to church and several months of listening to the message of the gospel it really is amazing to see how different he is. He is way happier, his relationship with his kids is way stronger and as he realizes that not only does God love him but that he has a responsibility to set the example for his kids and so to meet that demand he steps it up every week. O will be baptized in two weeks, R the week after, and E will be active again in the church in two weeks as well. 

My new companions name is Elder P, he is from Mexico City and seems to be a really funny cool guy. He only has 4 months in the mission but has been in this area since he started so he knows it well. He told me on one of the two - 3 hour bus rides we had to take to get here that we have exactly 5 investigators in the entire area, supposedly they dropped almost all their investigators last week because no one was progressing, welcome to the mission, haha naw but it just means we gotta contact a lot in the next couple weeks.