Saturday, December 27, 2014

December 22, 2014 Email "But Charity Is The Pure Love Of Christ"

Tortillas: 20
Steps: Sadly, the step counter broke this week... May it rest in peace

This week was basically missionary Christmas! We had two ward Christmas parties, and a multizone conference in Huehue. The first ward party was wednesday and was for the Children. All of the children received a present (A toy car for the boys and sand toys for the girls) and their was cake! I had the opportunity to be one of the Tres reyes magos (Three kings) and deliver the toys to the children. It was a great experience, and they were all so grateful for a small plastic toy. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Then, on friday we had our big branch christmas party. We ended up spending all day setting up, and it was one of the craziest days yet. 
 
 
The actual party was really busy because I was incharge of all of the technology and helping everyone feel welcome. On half of the people present were members, and only half of those were active. That is pretty normal for a party here if there is food. 
 




 
The work is going very well. The family of Agusto are all really interested in the church, and a family that lives with them even came to church this week! Agusto and his wife have not been able to come to church yet, but hopefully this week. That is the hardest part, getting people to chruch. Tino and his family could not come to church this week because they were out of town, but they promised to come this week. As for the other two families we are working with, it is a bumpy road but we are working. We were able to have a lesson with the Grandfather of Manuel this week, and hopefully little by little we will work into all of the family. Dennis, Manuel, Dennis´ brother, and one of their friends came to the Christmas party and invited us to do fireworks with them but we were too busy... I felt really bad. This week it is going to be hard to contact people because Christmas here includes a lot of party and alcohol, but hopefully  we can spend time with them and their families. 

Mejor Milagro:

This week we had the amazing opportunity to listen to a member of the quorum of the 70, Elder Duncan. He gave us specific instructions for our mission during the time that we were together, and his spirit was so strong I loved it. He talked a lot about goals, and how we needed to start setting goals for our areas if we want to succeed. He also talked about a study done by Harvard with their buisness school. Those who had ideas of goals made 2x as much money as those just working hard. Those who had those goals written down made 10X MORE than the original hard workers. This can be applied in our lives, as we look at where we want to be in the future. As we make goals that we have faith in and goals that make us stretch, we will be successful. And, as we add God into the equation nothing is impossible. This week we have the plan to make a detailed plan for our area, and I am going to make a detailed plan with goals for my mission. I would encourage you all to make goals, and most importantly write them down. With new year coming up, it is the perfect time to decide what you will change for 2015!

Testimony Time: 

The title of the email is from Moroni 7:47, and in this chapter Moroni talks about faith, hope, and Charity. With the Christmas season, I decided to spend the month studying the life of Christ and attributes of Christ. One that I specifically have been trying better myself in the aspect of Charity, and specifically love. Being in a new culture with many people that I cant understand it has been a hard process learning to love, but as I have prayed and fasted I have seen such a difference in how I look at others. It also helps that I can understand people better. My testimony of the power of prayer and the power of the atonement has grown so much. The atonement is not just for grave sins, it is through the atonement that we become like Christ, which is our ultimate goal. As we work and pray and study, I know that we will find a change and that we can change. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and that he set the perfect example for all of us. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve him and serve God, and I work everyday to be more effective. I am also so grateful for this Christmas season. Take it as an opportunity to demonstrate the pure love of Christ to others, and I promise that this will be on of the most meaningful Christmases ever. I am excited this week to serve more!

I love you all! 

Merry Christmas from two of three kings- Elder Richardson and Elder Castillo 

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