Joy in the Journey: Mission of Latter-day Saints

"Verily I say unto you all: Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations;" -D&C 115:5

**It is SO important to open your mouth about the gospel to everyone - regardless of the result!**

Well this week was great! We taught Yulene about the Book of Mormon with a member there and her husband was more receptive about it. Yulene was surprised that her husband was more willing to let her do it than she thought!

We taught Erika about Alma 24; she told us that she has never really read the whole Book of Mormon cover to cover. My companion and I bore strong testimony that she needs to in order to know everything and be able to gain a testimony of all of it.

My companion went to the foot doctor and to get some medicine and help, but while she was in the consultation, I was talking to a couple of elders from the Family History Mission and was getting an understanding for how their mission works – I noticed how much I love learning about new missions and hearing how the gospel gets spread in many different ways!

We taught our recent convert Ana about the restoration. We got to know her and her story a little better and understood her background where she was kicked out of the house at age 21 because she decided to be baptized. Her parents forgave her and let her back in to the house; they just want no one from the church in their home, so we teach her at the church (which is conveniently right next to her house) and we have lessons there. She is an amazing example!

We also taught the Ledesma family about the Restoration. They are also recent converts and are working towards getting sealed in the temple. He is an amazing example to me too, and is always striving to be better than the day before.

We taught Carolina with her husband and a 14 year old girl from our ward. She did great! She asked many great questions and all is great with them!

We taught Yulene the law of chastity and she said she wants to get married here in Utah and have a party with her family in Mexico, but her husband wants everyone to be there. So we are in the works of figuring out when and where they want to get married so Yulene and her husband can be baptized! I love teaching Yulene because every single time we teach her I ask understanding questions, and she responds with "Yes I believe it, it’s true!" She, like all of us know it’s true; it’s just when we came down to this earth it was hard for us to remember the truths we knew before. We as members and missionaries can help them remember these eternal truths.

We also found a potential investigator one night and we were with a member who is amazing. Her and her husband served in the same mission in Argentina (where he's from) and they got married quickly after and have a one year old boy. They are an amazing family because they always want to help us in missionary work and have been there and seen many of the same things we see, and can help us in different situations. The spirit was really strong and I loved her testimony.

Church was BOOMING! Miriam Organista, a 19 year old girl in the ward, got called to serve to the Ecuador Mission, and got her call on Christmas and was to report on March 4th. She received another letter and call asking her to leave this Wednesday. She had her farewell and everyone she knew came! It was a great sacrament meeting and reminded me of when I left and all those that came to support me! Thanks again to everyone; it really meant a lot!

We went to a Hispanic Devotional that Elder Don R. Clarke from the Seventy spoke. It was amazing and I got to see a lot of the missionaries I served with in Layton in the Spanish program, along with many of my old members from the Layton 3rd ward! He taught us a lot of great things including:

-Faith & Diligence are the most important attributes we should have.

-The home is the most sacred place; after the temple. WE SHOULD MAKE IT THAT WAY!

-Missionary work is the most important thing to do, not only do we do it here but in the life to come.

-Many other churches try to copy 2 things but cannot succeed. 1. Missionary Work & 2. Tithing

I love you all so much and can’t believe my last week in this transfer is already here! The time is going by so fast and I love every minute of being a missionary. I hope you all stay safe and sound and continue doing what God wants you to do!

Con Amor,