Oh wow, I hope that through this e-mail you will feel the spirit of missionary work. This week has been amazing! Lots of changes took place, we have had tons of opportunities to help others, and it has just been a BLAST!! Missionary work is... the BOMB!! haha yes! It is so sweet! And if you feel something from this, please share your testimony with others or find a way to continue in the Lord's work. We truly have been given so much and I have found that as I show my love for my Savior by serving others, they have the opportunity to feel God's love and I in return feel of His love in greater abundance. I think I personally have grown a lot this week in my testimony of my love for missionary work. I got a little discouraged my first transfer, but I have realized that through this work, if we know why we're here and make the most of it, we won't be discouraged. So, if there are any of you out there who may feel discouraged, keep pressing on. There is always that light at the end of the tunnel. Your Heavenly Father knows you personally and He loves you mucho. You won't feel that discouragement forever. What I have realized is that I was discouraged the first transfer because I was thinking of myself a lot and that I needed more faith. I realized my weaknesses, but through these, the Lord has made me strong! As I focus on the people here, and serving the Lord, I forget myself, and life is just GOLDEN!
First of all, this week, Elder Jones and I received a surprising phone call from President Kunz saying that we have a new companion. At first I was like...Nooooo! because Elder Jones and I were starting to get things under control and teach well together. Little did I know what a blessing this new Elder would be to us. His name is Elder Thayne (from Spanish Fork, UT). He served a year of his mission in Bolivia, but had to come back to the states because he got super sick out there. His Spanish is awesome, he is an amazing teacher, his desires to serve are great, and he is a Jazz fan!! haha yes!! I have learned so much and we have gotten really close over these past 2 days. Since he has been with us, we have found like 7 new investigators and taught like 5 lessons. (in 2 days--like 6 hours worth of time). He has made our companionship's weaknesses strong. We have found all the answers to our questions here. The 3 of us work really well together and it has just been a BLAST!!!
Just yesterday, we had many miracles happen. First of all, it was Stake Conference and it was SO powerful. President and Sister Kunz came and spoke, along with like 7 other speakers. I was surprised that they had so many speakers but it was amazing. And then after a powerful meeting about missionary work, charity, and choices, our Spanish branch sang the closing hymn "Yo Se Que Vive Mi Senor" (I know that my Redeemer lives). I felt the spirit SO strong. It was so cool as we walked up to the choir seats to go sing. I saw several of the other Spanish Elders in the stake also come up to sing with us. And man was it a powerful song. I felt as if I was in the midst of angels...maybe how it was when we were in Heaven before this life. And probably what it will be like when Christ comes again...singing songs to our Heavenly Father of praise and joy. I felt so happy. All the hispanic kids were even singing (which never happens), and during the last verse, there were random people out in the congregation who stood up and sang where they were standing. Just typing this letter and remembering my feelings is just priceless. Let me just testify that I know this is God's church. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. And the Savior is coming again. I know this church is true. And through our efforts to find this knowledge is how we can know for ourselves and be prepared for when Christ comes again. It is a daily effort and preparation. Through Sister Kunz, we learned how it's possible... 1) Sincerely spend time with you Heavenly Father daily... 2) Feast upon the scriptures Daily... 3) Teach your family the gospel truths and the importance of prayer and scripture study. None of us are perfect, myself included, and that's why we are here because Heavenly Father still has things in store for us to learn here on earth. But in Him, we must put our faith so that we may be strong.
After church, we taught 3 lessons out of the 4 houses that we knocked. The first guy...when he came out of his house, I had a strong impression of what to say and talk about soccer with him. I felt like I knew his needs. We taught him a 10-minute quick lesson about prayer. It was powerful and he scheduled an appointment with us again this week. Then, we saw a lady outside raking leaves and my companion had a strong impression to talk to her. We went over and it was like every word that came out of our mouths was perfect for what she needed. We got talking about families and she said of I have a son... and he pulled right up in his car right at that moment. We talked to him. Cool kid and he said he wanted to wait to shower because they wanted to hear our message! So cool. But something key...the son just got back from a soccer game...they wasted. haha ok. Then we knocked another house in a completely different area and the guy who answered the door referred us to his neighbor. We walked over there and a 16-year-old kid walked outside. We got talking with him, and come to find out, he is on the same soccer team as the kid we just talked to. It's little things like this where I have been able to see the Lord's hand in His work.
Elder Vawdrey
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