Week 89 – The Heat is Here

At Mileishka's baptism

May 30, 2016

Hey guys!

The heat is definitely here! This past week we got a little of everything...snow, rain, cold, wind, and yesterday it was hot and sunny. But I think that the heat is here to stay for a while now. It seems like I've been praying for the warm weather for months and now we are praying for the cooler weather to come back. 

Lake Tahoe

This week was a solid week. I say this every week, but Elder Torres has so much fire and energy it is awesome. He gets excited about lots of little miracles that I sometimes overlook and it is great. On Tuesday night we got to drive up to Lake Tahoe and do a baptismal interview, and it was so pretty! Lake Tahoe is really a beautiful place, with lots of boats everywhere that make it even more beautiful. I uploaded a few pictures of our adventure up there.

Exchanges with Elder Ash!!!

I got to spend a day with Elder Ash again on exchanges, and it was fun to reminisce on good times and be with him again. It is crazy to think that in 8 weeks he will be home! I can't believe that time is winding down. But that means it is time to sprint through the finish!

Definitely the highlight of the week was the baptism of the Luciano's daughter on Saturday evening. We've been planning her baptism for quite some time now, and it was great to see the plans finally happen. It was honestly a relief for me because we've been working so hard with that family, and things just kept coming up and getting in the way – and we kept having to push the baptism back. But the service itself was really powerful. We had the family come an hour early, and we gave them a church tour, because the mother has never even been in the church yet. It really set the tone for the service because the Spirit was there before the meeting started for the family.

Just before the baptism

I had the privilege and blessing to baptize Mileishka, and it only took me one try despite her being 3 inches taller than me – haha!  After the ordinance, she got up and shared her testimony of the church and although it wasn't very long, everyone knew that what she said she meant. She told us that she prayed for many days and plead with God to know if the church was true and if she was supposed to be baptized, and that God answered her prayer and she felt in her heart the Holy Ghost tell her that it was the right choice. It was awesome. 

Mileishka on her baptism day with her parents

Her father was very emotional throughout the whole thing, and afterwards her mom told us that she felt something pulling her into the font with her daughter when she saw her standing in the water. She told us that she also wants to be baptized, but in time. The counselor of the bishopric conducting the meeting gave the usual "welcome" to the branch, and in his short talk he mentioned that angels and those on the other side of the veil are rejoicing. When he said that it rang true to me. I know that people on the other side of the veil really were rejoicing, and because of that, the Spirit was so strong in the meeting. In a revelation about the priesthood in Doctrine and Covenants 84:20 we read, "In the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest." I know that this is true, and that is why the Spirit is always so strong at baptismal services.

The view on the other side of the mountain from Reno

Yesterday, the 6 of us missionaries in the branch kinda ran the show. Sister Daniels and I spoke in Sacrament meeting, Elder Torres and I taught the 2nd hour class, and then all 6 of us taught the 5th Sunday 3rd hour lesson about missionary work and how the members can help us. It was certainly a great opportunity for us to gain the trust of the branch. We have set a goal to have 20 lessons as a branch each week with a member present for the lesson, and we told the branch about this goal so that they can get on board. There has been a new push for member involvement across the North America Southwest area that we live in, and so we are doing our part to get the members involved as well. 

I have gained a testimony of prayer on my mission. I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. I know that we can get answers to our questions and that we can receive help when we are in times of need. We can pray about anything, no matter how big or small or stupid it might be. Heavenly Father loves us, and he has promised us that he will not leave us alone. This is why he commands us to pray and "counsel" with the Lord in ALL of our doings, not just occasionally or when we are really in serious need.  It is through prayer that we can truly develop a relationship with God, because prayer is the way that we can really communicate with the Lord. I am grateful for the blessing that prayer is in my life.

Alma 37:37…"Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."  (I remember this used to be one of the scriptures on the fridge back at home a LONG time ago)

The Church is true.

Love,

Elder Richmandawg

Look at all those boats!!

Week 88 – Weekly Update from Reno, NV

My Two Sons! (Two guys I've trained)
 Elder Short and Elder Torres

May 23, 2016

Hello everyone!!

Elder Torres and I have been having lots of fun here in downtown Reno.  This past week has been another beautiful week and we've been enjoying ourselves. We had a few big meetings this week including zone conference and zone training and those took up a lot of our time, but we were still able to teach some good lessons.

"Noche de Hogar" (Family Night) with the
Castiblanco and Luciano Families

Certainly the highlight of the week was yesterday when we had a "Noche de Hogar" with the Castiblanco Family and the Luciano family!! (Brother Castiblanco is the branch president.)  It was great!! The Luciano's said it was the first time that they had been invited to another family's home ever, and they felt really honored. It was a great experience for everyone to get to know each other, and the Luciano parents haven't really come to church yet, so we are hoping that now they know at least one family really well, so they will have less anxiety over coming. The Spirit was SUPER strong and I know that the Luciano family felt it. We learned that the parents aren't actually married yet, so of course before they get baptized, we gotta get them hitched...but lately we have been really focusing on how to help their family grow and be happier. Last night was a great chance for them to see another family who is happy and blessed because of the gospel. I think last night they saw what the Gospel REALLY has to offer...and that is a family who is happy and peaceful and blessed...and not to mention really fun! The 17-year old daughter is still on track to get baptized this Saturday, and it appears that nothing will stop her. She is pretty excited.

Francisco is doing well, we had a few more lessons with him this past week and he loves all of it. We watched the Joseph Smith Restoration movie with him, and afterwards he shared his testimony with us that he knows Joseph Smith was a prophet. Francisco is dead set on moving to Provo ASAP though, we told him (jokingly) that if he moved to Utah he could work somewhere that wasn't open on Sundays, and ever since then he has actually been serious about that. He got even more serious when Elder Han and I told him that we would be there for school. We've developed a good friendship with him.

Exchanges with Elder Naegle

We had Zone Conference this past week, and President Chesnut had one of his friends fly in who is like a Book of Mormon professor who works at the MTC now. He is SUPER passionate about the Book of Mormon and it was inspiring to listen to him and let him teach us. He told us that as part of their inheritance, each of his kids will get one of the copies of the Book of Mormon that he has studied. He really inspired me to learn more and dig deeper into the Book of Mormon. There is no doubt that I have developed a love for it here on the mission. I am studying in the end of Alma right now…in the war chapters with Moroni and Helaman, and it is fascinating for me to see the scriptures come to life and imagine being there with the stripling warriors fighting along side them. Moroni is such a brilliant war captain and a powerful leader. I would love to serve under his direction.

But anyways, Brother Dickerson (President's friend) showed us a few ways that we can teach people about the Book of Mormon, and how to teach about how important it is. He told us that too often missionaries are complacent when an investigator doesn't keep their commitment to read a chapter, but that we need to be bold and be devastated when they don't read. I certainly fell under that category and he really inspired me to be more passionate when I teach, and show more emotion.

With Elder Naegle

I have grown to love hearing the testimonies of other people and to be taught by people who are so knowledgeable. I love being around members of the church and hearing about their experiences and their testimonies. There is one member in our branch who didn't talk to her parents for 26 years after she was baptized because her Mother was a devout Mexican Catholic and was upset with her decision.  Two years ago, she spoke with her for the first time since her 20s when she joined the church. We had dinner with her and she was sharing her story and everything – and the Spirit was so strong as she shared her testimony with us.  She said that she would go back and do it again 100 times if she had to. It is a no-brainer why we have a testimony meeting each month...because truly we are all strengthened from hearing testimonies from each other.

The gospel blesses families. If I had to choose ONE thing that I've learned on my mission it would be that, that the gospel blesses families. This is because having the knowledge about The Plan of Salvation offers us a better perspective on life. I know that there is more to life than making money and working...we know that now is the time to prepare to meet God, and that all sorrows, trials, and unfair things that happen to us can be over come because of the Gospel. I am so grateful for modern day revelation through prophets that can teach us things such as the Word of Wisdom, the Law of Chastity, Family Home Evening, and many other things. These help us find true joy and happiness. President Packer said, "The end of all activity in the Church is to see that a man and a woman with their children are happy at home, sealed for eternity." I know that this is true. I know that there is no substitute for regular family prayer and scripture study, and I am SOOOOO grateful that my parents taught me that growing up. I love my family.

Have a great week everyone! I love you!

Elder Todd

Week 87 – Preachin’ in the Sun

May 16, 2016

Howdy!!

This past week was one of the sunniest weeks of my whole mission, it was 70 degrees and sunny the whole week, except for a little bit of rain last night. It was awesome! 70 degrees + sunny = perfect for missionary work. 

Elder Torres is a STUD. I love him a ton. We are doing awesome out here in Nevada, and his desire to be a great missionary is bigger than his smile!  He is willing to do whatever it takes to learn and grow and to have success. We've had a lot of fun together.

Sadly, the Luciano Girl was NOT baptized this past weekend because at the last minute they were evicted out of their apartment and were forced to find a new one and move everything in about 3 days...so needless to say the family was super stressed. We went over and helped move Saturday morning for a little bit and they were grateful for our help. A quick word of advice for anyone moving into an apartment: the first floor is the best; the third floor is not worth it just for the view...  We did, however, postpone the baptism for Saturday the 28th of May, so they are on board for that date now and hopefully they won't have any more difficulties between now and then.

Francisco is doing great. He made it to church yesterday without any car trouble or anything, and loved it like always. He is lots of fun to teach, because his desire to learn is HUGE, he just eats up whatever we spit at him. We could tell him that at church we worship pigs and listen to heavy metal songs and he would probably believe us. (Just kidding…because then the Spirit would be gone and then he wouldn't believe anything - haha!!)

We also have been teaching this new investigator named Rosy, who is SUPER solid. She is like in her 30’s and she has been gobbling up the gospel. She came to church for the first time yesterday and loved it, and wants to be baptized. The only problem...she is moving back to Mexico long term at the end of the month because her Visa here in the US expires. So we are hoping that she can find the missionaries down in Mexico and join the church down there.

We had a few hard days this week, with appointments falling through and people not keeping their commitments, but then yesterday we had a great day with three investigators at church and a whole family who hasn’t been coming in a while. We spent a few hours street contacting and found a handful of new potential investigators, and had some BOMB carne asada tacos for dinner, and then finished off the night with a way good fireside in Spanish. It’s funny how in the moment, the hard times seem REALLY tough, like they are never going to end. But then in hindsight, they were just a split second. The good ALWAYS outweighs the bad.

Last night was a special night for me at the fireside we attended. It was a fireside for all of the Spanish Branches in the area (there are three – our branch, Sparks, and Sun Valley). We were hoping to get a big turnout, but only about 50 people showed up. We had ALL of our original speakers cancel on us, but then Sunday morning we started scrambling around to find some speakers. One of the speakers that ended up speaking was Laura, from Sun Valley!!  She bore a powerful testimony about how she found out that the church was true. It was funny to hear her conversion from her side of the story, because the two of us sat in the same lessons and had the same experiences, but we both learned different lessons, and remembered different things. She did recall the scripture that we shared with her from Mosiah 18:10, and how that was the turning point from when she didn't want to be baptized, to when she did want to be baptized.  After the meeting Laura came up to me and said that her goal is go get to the temple before I go home. There is no doubt in my mind that the fireside last night was more for myself and for Laura than anyone. I hope and want more than ANYthing that they can get sealed in the temple. 

This past Friday was the monthly MLC meeting, and it was probably my last one because usually District Leaders aren't invited, but this past one they invited all of us DLs because the mission department came and spent three days in our mission, and they concluded their "observation" with an MLC meeting. They sent two representatives to come and observe some of the missionaries in the mission and they spent lots of time with President and Sister Chesnut. It was a great meeting. It was interesting, because their teaching was more on the logistical and practical side of missionary work, instead of the spiritual side of it. The guys who came hold other callings in the church, but it’s their actual job to teach us and train us – they work for the church and get paid for it.  When general authorities have come in the past it was the opposite, not as much practical application but more spiritual knowledge. So it is good to get some of both. They taught us a lot about planning and how important good, in-depth planning for our investigators is. Currently in our mission, we need to find on average 20 new investigators to have one baptism. They told us and promised us that if we had better, more effective planning, we can double our baptisms, and change that to 10 to 1 ratio. 

They also talked about how our main purpose is to help people get baptized. Too many missionaries waste their time teaching people who aren't progressing and who don't have real intent. To some it might seem like having lots of investigators is a good thing, but we have to make sure they are all truly interested. Satan wants to fill up our teaching pool with people who are not prepared so that we waste our time. The Lord teaches us MANY different times in the scriptures of the importance of baptism, in the Bible, in the Book of Mormon, and in the Doctrine and Covenants. Jesus Christ himself commissions us (as his full-time servants) in all three places basically the exact same thing:

"Go ye into all the world, and preach my gospel unto every creature who has not received it; And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not, and is not baptized, shall be damned."

Pretty straight forward…we are to help people get baptized, and if they don't want to, then that is their choice, and they are stopping their own spiritual progression. So basically they taught us that even if investigators like our visits, if they are not ready to be baptized, then we shouldn't be spending lots of time with them. It is the Lord's job to prepare people to be baptized, and it is our job to find and teach those who are ready. This principle makes so much sense to me, because too often I have tried to basically force people to accept the gospel, but that is not how it works at all. I will always remember one of Dad's letters to me, where he explained the same thing, and how Jesus Christ never forced anyone to follow him or to accept Him; He is just always standing there with open arms. He never tricked anyone to follow Him or made them feel guilty if they didn't want to follow him, he is always just standing and waiting, ready to receive us whenever we choose to follow him. "Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you." Alma 5:33 

I know that truly baptism is the gate and the door to our spiritual progression, and it is a very important step, but it is not the last, rather it is one of the very first steps. I also know that baptism by proper Priesthood authority is key.  Any other baptism does not unlock the door to the celestial kingdom. I know that Joseph Smith received that priesthood authority from John the Baptist as part of the Restoration of the Gospel, and I know that we have that authority still on the earth today. 

This Church is true, folks! I know it is.

Have a great week – I love you!

Elder Todd