The Search Within

This has been an interesting week. We have an investigator that lost her baby and was supposed to be baptized yesterday.  Instead, she will be baptized on Wednesday. She is a great example of faith and moving forward despite the trials that she is faced with.  She has the ability to be a great leader with that attitude. I´m looking forward to the day that she can be the Relief Society President.  

I learned a lot this week about repentance and faith in Christ. We have been teaching a family who´s mother is a member but her kids aren´t.  Their father isn´t with them but will allow them to be baptized.  They are fantastic and they just absorbed the lessons and ask in depth questions about scriptures and how the doctrine applies to their lives.  

I have had some questionable encounters with people wanting me to teach them or help them with their English.  I don´t mind doing it, but they want us to come by after hours to do it.  The wife is a return missionary but she justifies the late night visit with the fact that they live just down the street from us.  I am not quite so eager to go along with that justification.  Neither is my companion.  

I am really looking forward to these upcoming changes.  I can´t wait to know what the Lord has in store for me. I know that I will be receiving a new companion because Elder Sanchez is going home.  I wonder what he will be like.  I wonder what we will do for each other. Until then we will keeping working and I will try to keep Elder Sanchez focused.  It´s hard after 3 companions that have had plenty of time in their missions and have talked constantly about home and other non-gospel related things.

I´m not sure if you can tell just from reading it, but I was coming to a few conclusions while I was writing this.   If I can´t go home knowing that I did ALL that I could,  I won´t be able to look my parents in the eye because I know that they expect me to give my all.  I think my president also expects me to give my all, so I will.  That last day in his office, I want to say,  "President Reeves, I did my best. I don´t want to go home but it´s that time."  I can imagine my brothers having done the same thing with their Presidents. I have a lot of examples for me to go off.  I just need to act.  I know I can do it with the prayers of my family and with the Holy Ghost.  So I will.

I want to thank you all so much for your love and your support.  I love you and will keep you in my prayers!!

Elder Heath

MIND BOMB!!!

This is late because my knee was dislocated for 3 hours yesterday and I went to the hospital and didn´t have time to write.  I´m fine now and nothing is out of place nor permanent.  I just have to wear a knee brace for the rest of my mission but its thin and under my clothes and can´t see it for anything.  I actually never made it into the hospital cuz it reset itself right in front of the hospital.  Haha.  Fun times.

So we just got out of a lesson with a member that has a LOT of questions.  We covered a lot of material but something stuck with me that I said and didn’t know before.  There are 3 levels in the gospel.

1. Knowledge of the commandments of God.

2. Understanding the commandments and doctrine and knowing how to apply it to your life.

3. Living what you know and understand.

Sadly, some people have only the first.  Even more sad, is that some people only have the first two.  Number three is the goal for any true follower of Christ and they do all they can to get there.  First they read and pray. Then they attend church. Then they ask questions of leaders and teachers.  And then they mold their lives on ALL that they have gained in the course of their search.  

The third level is the hardest to get too and  I´m not even sure if it’s the last.  I´ll have to follow these steps to know.  I will be sure to keep my life on the third level until I know more so that I CAN know more.  There is a limit with the other two.  Wow...... I just realized..... I just explained the 3 degrees of glory...... I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!!!!! And now my head is buzzing with a ton of ideas that I couldn’t possibly put in this letter because of time constraint.  So I will leave you to ponder on the marvels that I have come across.

I love you all

Elder Heath

Speaking

This was a great week!!! We have 2 nuevos!!!  One is a reference and he is really great.  He is sick and viejito so we gave him a blessing.  He is retired and lives alone.  His name is Philipe. Our other nuevo is a 19 year old girl that is actually Israelitish.  That is not her origin but her religion.  Very interesting.  She is really smart and loves learning.  I am very excited about these two!!!

 

So here is a quick story I have to share with yall

 

I had a great experience on Sunday. I was asked to give a talk and the call came around 9:00 Saturday night. After praying and searching for what I should talk about, I came across the outline to a talk that I gave in the MTC. The talk was about the Gospel of Christ and the outline was really just a lot of scriptures in an order to use in the talk for each principle. I looked over it and thought about it Sunday morning and so when I was called to speak, I pulled out the outline and started speaking.

 

I used two scriptures in the first part and I just felt a little awkward about it.  The ward was falling asleep and I knew that something needed to change.  So, instead of just talking, I testified.  I felt the Spirit fill my mind and my heart and I didn´t stop talking.  I hardly looked down at my paper but to see the scriptures that I had written and their subjects but none made me feel confident to use at that time.  I saw the ward paying attention so I kept teaching and baring testimony as if I were teaching investigators.  I finished with my testimony in general about the Gospel of Christ and invited all to share those principles with their friends, family and parents every chance they get.  I walked down feeling very good and powerfull. 

 

After my talk followed the councelor. He began by telling the ward that I did not know the theme for the talks that day but that I taught according to what was needed.  He then emphasized on baptism and the blessings of that covenant.  I felt my purpose to speak.  I felt a little bad because I took some of his talk but he use those scriptures that I felt would not be right.  He went into more depth than I would have and I knew that the Spirit was there to guide us both.

 

I love this gospel! I love this life!  I want every to live this.  I know that it is not possible at this time, but the day will come. Christ will come.  How beautiful this life is.

 

Elder Heath

Learning

Honestly, not a whole lot happened this week that is report worthy.  We worked.  We got rejected.  People weren´t home.  Appointments fell through.  But it´s all good because we worked.   feel good about that.  I learned a lot.  I found life principles and mission principles in many things that happened that seem like nothing until you think about them.  Unfortunately,  I can´t write them all here right now.  Through the course of my mission, I will be sure to touch on them though.  For now,  I would like to share one of the things that I learned.

For our District Meeting on Wednesday,  Elder Sanchez asked me to talk a little bit about a profound subject. He would teach the lesson on "How to begin teaching" and would cover the first several points that are given in Preach My Gospel.  I would then teach the last point which covers very special parts of our message.

 #1. You will learn what are and how to make covenants with the Lord.  A covenant is a promise with the Lord.  He promises blessings and you promise to obey His commandments.  

 #2. You will learn how covenants bless your life with harmony.  Enos says in the first chapter that his soul had peace because of the covenant which was made between him and the Lord.  

 #3. You will have desires to enter into a covenant with the Lord, and follow the example of Christ and be baptized.  Baptism is a covenant in which you have to have the desire to make before the ordinance can be preformed.  

Now, together we find that since the Lord is always offering blessings in every one of His commandments, there is a covenant in every action of our lives and not only the eternal promises in baptism and in the Temple. Reading the scriptures is a  covenant.  Praying is a covenant.  Going to church is a covenant.  All of these things are promises that we make to receive blessings.  First, we must have the Desire.  We must have faith that we will receive if we do.  Christ did all things that we could follow His example and so He had covenants with Heavenly Father to do and receive.  How often are we open to enter into a covenant with Him that always promises and always desires to give - if we would only desire and do.

I hope we can all desire to do all that is required of us so that we can receive those blessings and ultimately, Eternal Life.

Elder Heath

There's Work to be Done!

Well the changes were today and guess what!!!  I´m still here.  I have apparently not been working hard enough or there is just more to do, so I am going to work extremely hard.  Then no one else can come in and have any work to do because I want them to say,  "Oh Elder Heath was here? Why am I here? He already did it all." Or something like that.....

So Saturday was a really good day!!  I baptized Suri!!  She is the daughter of someone that Elder Montero and I helped to return to the church.  She didn´t want her Grandpa to do it or her brother or any of her relatives but she wanted ME to do it.  That girl already had a place a little special in my heart but she just about took the rest of it when she told me she wanted me to baptize her.  Sorry I don´t have photos sent today but my companion is sick and we couldn´t walk far so this internet shop we are at doesn´t like my camera.  GRRR.  But it´s all good. I will send them and more next week.

Yesterday was really great too.  We waited for the numbers of our district and the news about the changes in the home of Hermano Braulio who is my first baptism in my mission.  He and his wife are pure joy and they will be entering the Temple Febuary 18, 2012.  The day after his 1 year mark as a member of La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los ultimos dias.  While we were there, I gave him a blessing to help him in his calling as Elders Quorum President.  He then gave the first blessing he has ever given to me to help me with my animo and my language.  We then blessed Elder Sanchez to get better.  It was awesome.  3 Blessings and a happily crying wife. I will definitely keep contact with them after my mission.

Elder Sanchez has officially unofficially given me the position as Senior Companion.  Why? Because I want to work and he is having troubles with his desires to work.  Here is a point of advice for everyone with a missionary serving.  When that missionary is about to finish thier mission,  DO NOT REMIND HIM EVERY WEEK IN YOUR LETTERS!!!  His family is making plans and telling him all the great things that will happen when he gets home.  I understand their excitement, but they aren´t really thinking about him and what he needs to be thinking about.  I won´t let him slack off this last change and he doesn´t want to either.  Of course I am not actually the senior and I won´t even call myself that except to tell you what all is happening.   

Please don´t forget my advice. Keep missionaries focused at the end of their missions so that they can return with all they gave and not slack off and return with regret.

I love you all!

Elder Heath