June 22, 2015 email "if a wolf enter his flock doth he not drive him out?"

 Tortillas: 25 (What up with that subiendo!)

This week we had a wonderful wedding and baptism! Never in my life have I ever had to plan a wedding, but I can just say that it is a lot of work! But, luckily with a lot of help from the ward it all worked out, and it was a very beautiful day! 

Also, it was fun to be able to be witness (Even signing the document), photographer, and planner! 

We had the wedding on Saturday at 3, then immediately after we had the baptism. In the ordinance of baptism we felt the spirit so strong and it manifested how ready Julio and Leslie were. We had a scare as I entered the water, Julio would not enter, saying he forgot something. We soon found out that he was worried about his underwear because he did not bring a change! Luckily, all turned out great! 

Also, this week we will be having changes. I am going to be staying and receiving a new companion. I am really excited because we have some amazing people learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Mejor Milagro:

I am grateful for how God chooses to put people that are prepared to hear the gospel in our path. This past week our district leader, Elder Hicken, came to do divisions. For the entire day, our appointments fell, and so we decided to contact. But, what we did was instead of contacting by knocking doors, we just talked to all of the people that the Lord decided to put in our path. We have done this before, and it is such a testimony that there are people on each side of us that are ready to hear the gospel, even though sometimes we cannot recognize them. The miracle was the every single person we talked to had interest in us coming to their house to share with them the gospel, every one. As we search for the chosen servants of the Lord, we will see his hand and the great miracles in our lives. I know that he wants us to find his children, and help them return safely home. 

Testimony time:

This week we had a difficult situation where Satan was working really hard with a member, even unto bring his spirit into their home through one of their family members. It was putting many pressures in their home, leading to some very hard desisions and choices to get rid of satans influence. As we worked to help this member, this scripture came with much help.

Alma 5:59

"For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves enter not and devour his flock? And behold, if a wolf enter his flock doth he not drive him out? Yea, and at the last, if he can, he will destroy him."

As we have the Lord as our shephard, we need not fear. He will protect us and keep us safe. This scripture helps me to remember the power of him I serve, and that I never have to have fear of whatever happens. I am one of his sheep, and I know that he watches over me. He watches over each one of us, as long as we continue to be his sheep. I am so grateful for that blessing and assurance. I know he lives, and loves each one of us. I am so grateful for that love. In his sacred name, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Also, HAPPY FATHERS DAY! I am so grateful for the many fathers in my life, especialy my heavenly Father, My grandfathers, Pops and Grandpa Joe, and of course the wonderful example that is my own papi. Each one is my hero and example of how to be a man like Jesus Christ. Love you so much!

Familia Lopez, what a wonderful family!

My awesome district!  

June 15, 2015 email "Looking forward to that day"

                                            Alejandro and Stephanny, I love them!  Wonderful friends!

Tortillas: 16

A wonderful week in Los Altos with a lot less rain! Because we had some normal weather we were able to have some fun experiences like constructing the house for Sacorine, the goat of a member. 

Also, I am grateful that on the days where almost all of our lessons fell and our time was spent in the street, God blessed us that we were dry! 

Mejor Milagro:

I had a moment of discouragment this week as our Plan A, B, C, and D fell, including that we were in an area where not many people wanted to talk about the gospel. In this moment, I decided to go to a secluded place, and standing I said a silent prayer, asking Heavenly Father to guide us to where his prepared children were. As I prayed, a specific place came to mind, so that is where we decided to go and begin contacting. As we knocked doors, the people we ran into either ingnored us or flat out told us that they did not want anything, but we kept pushing along. This continued for about a half an hour, but eventually we arrived at a house that we had contacted before, but they rejected us, but I decided to offer again. An old women answered the door and accepted to listen for a moment. As we entered and sat down, The house was interesting because it was one big house with many small rooms divided as house inside, because of the many families living there. We were chatting for a moment with the women when I noticed that people began to leave the rooms and were listening from far away. Before we started, I invited them to join us and listen, and our lesson then went from 1 grandmother to the grandmother, 2 mothers, and 2 daughters. We began to share with them the message of the restoration and the love of God, and the interest in their eyes was amazing. They all began to ask questions and had much interest in learning. It turns out that 4 families live here, and 3 of them are interested in learning more about the gospel, with the last one still having the need to be invited! I am so grateful that the spirit touched their hearts with the desire to listen, and that we were able to be guided to say what they needed. 

Testimony time:

As followers of Christ, our most important invitation is the invitation to endure to the end. In Alma 4 we read about the problems that the church was having at this time. Many people were falling into pride, leading to great iniquity and apostacy. It was a huge challenge for the faithful members and especially the leaders of the church at this time. But, I found and especially like the description of the members that kept on going:

13 Now this was a great cause for lamentations among the people, while others were abasing themselves, succoring those who stood in need of their succor, such as imparting their substance to the poor and the needy, feeding the hungry, and suffering all manner of afflictions, for Christ’ssake, who should come according to the spirit of prophecy;

 14 Looking forward to that day, thus retaining aremission of their sins; being filled with great joy because of the resurrection of the dead, according to the will and power and deliverance of Jesus Christ from the bands of death.

My favorite part is how it descibes that they were looking forward to the day that Christ would come, and because they joyfully looked forward and prepared they were worthy in every moment to be in his presence. They cared for those that needed, and because of that they received the blessings from the Lord of comfort and happiness. They were willing to suffer what ever was necessary for Christs sake. We live in trying times, but I know that as we follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, treasure his words in our minds each day, and turn to our Heavenly Father in prayer asking what we can do better, we will be prepared for the day that we stand before our Lord and Saviour and listen sweetly as he says 

"Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth" (Alma 5:16)

Oh how blessed will be that day, and I work every day to receive that blessing. I testify of these thing in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

                                                             It was so good to see Elder Maynes!

June 8, 2015 email "For charity never faileth."

Tortillas: 12


This week was very wet, and not many people were very willing to open the doors to us... But, we push along, offering the gospel to all that will accept! It was difficult because not a lot of people let us in, and a lot of appointments fell. Before, when an appointment fell we would immediatly start contacting, but we have found ourselves that we have contacted most of the houses. Because of the rain there were not a lot of people in the streets, so we found ourselves looking for people to visit when the appointments fell. Really, we were not working very smartly, and because of that we had a huge faulter of the number of lessons this week. Our plan to do better this week is to take more time than before to share small messages with familys and exhort them to work with us by offer us to teach their friends. Also, we realized that even though someone rejected us before, does not mean that they are not prepared now, so we are going to go back to a lot of the houses that we contacted before. Not just choosing randomly, but asking God in prayer where he wants us to go and find his children that he has prepared. Our investigators Julio and Leslie are progressing very well, and we are expecting a wedding and a baptism next week!


Mejor Milagro:


So, as mentioned before, we have been working a bit differently in the past. One day when an appointment fell, we decided to go and visit a member family. As we were walking to their house, we passed a house and I felt the distinct impression that we needed to contact them. So, I went and knocked the door. All of the doors here have a small window that the people can open and see who it is, and it is probably the most annoying thing trying to talk to people through these small windows! But, as usually, someone opens the little door and asks who we are. I am pretty used to it now, you could so I am "Pro" and I started a conversation with them. We usually gain a little bit of trust with the people by talking about their family and they do before we explain who we are. So, we talked for a minuete then explained that we were missionaries sent to bring a very important message, and if we could take a bit of their time to share something. The young man said yes, and invited us in and said he had only about 5 mins to listen. As we stood in the entry way, we gave a quick overview of the restoration. When we reached the point about a living prophet and the Book of Mormon, he suddenly became very interested. When we finished talking, he told us that as we started he had no interest, but when we mentioned about the restoration it completely sparked his interest. We began to ask us a ton of questions. Our 5 minuete conversation turned into 25 minuetes, with him explaining that he has friends that are members and because of their example of how they live he invited us in. He asked us to give him a copy of the Book of Mormon. Sadly, he is studying medicine in the university and does not have a lot of time, but we are keeping in contact to know when this week we will be able to explain in more depth the restoration. I am so greatful for the example of members that show who we are as desiples of Jesus Christ, and that the spirit leads us to Gods chosen children!


Testimony time:


One thing that I have gained the greatest testimony of in my time here has been the Christlike attribute of Charity. When I arrived, I found it very hard to love people that I could not understand at all. With this faulter of love, I also had a faulter of happiness. Through a chain of events, I came to realize that I desperatly needed to work on loving people, investigators, members and my companion a like, as Jesus Christ would. This scripture in Moroni 7 and some that come before and after have been a standard for me of how I can gain more Charity:

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity,ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleaveunto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things mustfail—



Of some of the most important lessons that I have learned are 1. As we show love and service to other people, we will feel the love of God and his spirit more strongly no matter what, and 2. No act of love EVER goes unwasted. Every day we have amazing opportunities to show love and charity to the people around us. Whether it is helping someone in the street or visiting the sick, every act of Charity brings us more in harmony with Gods will. I have been blessed with so many wonderful friends during my time down here that have shown me the love of the saviour, and often have lifted me in the hardest of times. Charity truly never faileth. I am still working on becomeing more charitably and loving, but as I have prayed and worked I have seen great changes in my life. I have seen great blessings, and I have seen great help from the Lord. I know that the love of our Saviour and our Heavenly Father is more than we can imagine, but as we work to become more like them and to share their love with all around us, we will one day become perfect as they are. It is a privelage for me to spread the love of Christ to everyone I meet, and I am so happy he has given me this opportunity to be his dedicate servent. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Wonderful experiences of Guatemala!  We have a lot of fun!

 Fun with the ward family

June 1, 2015 email "They are the heirs of the kingdom of God"

Tortillas: 20!!!!!


Today was a very special week, the baptism of Familia Lopez! 

It is always such a special experience to see anyone enter into the waters of baptism, and even more special when you get to baptise! Also, I had the first opportunity to give someone the gift of the holy ghost. It was a very special weekend and the spirit was strong all throughout. 

This week was also a really special week because many of our prayers were answered, and we had many investigators receive the answers to their prayers that the Book of Mormon is true! We are so blessed because right now we have the opportunity to teach many "Golden" investigators, that by the grace of God we have been blessed with! I know that as we endure, the blessings of God always come! Sometimes he waits to shower them down to test our faith, but if we continue along, they will always come. As we follow him, do what he asks, and change for him, he will change us. We must always remember the importance of setting goals, and we will see our progress grow and grow!


Mejor Milagro:


So, one night we had an appoinment fall, so we decided to start contacting. As we knocked the first door, they were not there, but there was a car behind us. At first we did not notice that there were people inside, but when I noticed I began to talk to them. We only had about 2 minuetes to talk because they had to leave, but we were able to get their names and where they so so lived. So, a couple of days later, we decided to contact and try and find them. As we were contacting, we met a very nice woman who invited us in and asked us to share with her, which is very rare here. She allowed us to share a small message with her and her daughter, but because her husband was not there we asked to come back and share this message very important for families. So, on Sunday we returned, and as we approached the door we noticed parked out front was the car that we had talked to earlier this week! We then began to put everything together, and realized that the man we had met was the husband of this woman! The invited us in, and we spent the first little bit getting to know them, and realized that they are the perfect situation for someone to learn more about the gospel, the are willing! It was one of the most wonderful lessons I have had, and I felt the guidance of the spirit so strong in teaching what was specifically necessary for them! I know that everyday God leads us to his chosen children, and we just need to work to recognize them!


Testimony time:


This week a learned more about something very important, our salvation. First, to share two scriptures that I found this week.



Mosiah 16:5

But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devilhath all power over him. Therefore he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God.

Mosiah 15:11

"Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord—I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God."




How blessed we are that God speaks in our days to guide us safely home! He has sent his holy prophets so that we can know exactly what is his plan, and what he wants for us. They are a voice of warning, telling us what we must do to gain eternal life and happiness. There are consequences for following and not following their eternal council. In the first scripture, we learn of the consequences that come from sin.


When we sin, we chose to follow Satan before following God. As we continue in this state of sin, we are no longer considered friends of God, rather become enemies to his work. What does God do to his enemies? He smites them with his rath of eternal hell fire and destructions, and allows them to suffer for what they have done. In many times of old he has chosen to smite his enemies off the face of this earth with his mighty power. Is this what we want? Eternal damnation? I appologize for the firmness, but it is important that each of us understand the consequences.


Now, in the second scripture we learn the blessings that come from being a friend of God. Each and every one of us has the opportunity to receive a remission of our sins. The opportunity to remove the weight that comes when we disobey the Lord, and oh how sweet it is. The prophets have declared that all who chose can partake of the eternal love of our saviour, Jesus Christ! We have the opportunity to return to Gods kingdom, and live eternally with him in more happiness than we can imagine! We have the great opportunity to help him bring more unto his fold, and receive the same happiness! Oh how sweet and wonderful it is!


I know without a doubt that God loves each and every one of us. We must always remember the eternal consequences of our actions, and allow God to bless us with the greatest eternal blessing, to know him and his son Jesus Christ. I love my Saviour so much. He is my light, my king, my example, and my friend. He wants us to come unto him, no matter how far we have strayed. As we come unto him, we can recieve forgiveness from anything, and sing the song of redeeming joy! These things I share in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Fun P-Day lunch!