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| Some of my zone |
So on Tuesday we gave a zone conference. I know i have said it so many times but I really do love giving zone conferences! We talked about the 5 things we need to know and do to be "Preach My Gospel" missionaries. For those of you who don't know, Preach My Gospel is the manual that we use as missionaries to help us know how to be a good missionary! The 5 points we really focused on with our zone were the following:
1. As missionaries we know that we represent Jesus Christ in everything we do, say or think. His desires must be our desires.
2. We must be worthy.
3. We treasure the scriptures with all our heart and study them daily.
4. We know that the Spirit is the real teacher.
5. We know that teaching is a lot more than just talking; it is listening.
It was really fun to teach this to the zone. I love the opportunity I have had since May to learn and grow as a zone leader.
So something I have seen in Mexico that makes me so sad is the situation of families here. You have no idea how many people I have met who are having problems with their husband and don't know what to do. The husbands here just go out drinking and leave their wife and kids without money and it is just such a sad situation. I am so grateful that I have a family that is based on the principles of the gospel. I know that success is more likely to be achieved when we base our life on the teachings of Jesus Christ. We have been working in the newest part of our area where Jesus Garcia lives because a lot of new people are arriving there and usually new people are more interested. We have found 3 new investigators this week with the same family problems and it just makes me so sad. Also, Pablo is super excited too! He went to church again with us this week and he loved it. He MIGHT be baptized this week. We know he is ready, he just needs to know it too :) He had a cool experience receiving an answer to a prayer in school, so we invited him to pray to know if everything is true. He believes it, but an investigator always needs an answer to a prayer before they are baptized, so they can really know :) Also Sunday morning we felt like we needed to go to the house of Cecilia, the investigator. They said they weren't going to be able to go to church but we helped them out and they went. It was super great :)
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| One of the guys that's had a bit too much coming by for a visit |
This week we had a 2 day training which was called 8 Principios, or 8 Principles. They are the 8 fundamental principles that we need to know and do as missionaries. It was a really cool 2 days. I love being with almost all the missionaries so much. We were 110 missionaries, the other 40 are in Campeche. But They gave me the opportunity to teach one of the principles to the mission and I loved it so much! I was a little nervous but knew that I prepared well and trusted that the spirit would guide me. I have learned that I am the type of guy that likes to move around and talk like in a yelling way and get all pumped up while talking in public instead of just standing there in the microphone haha. But I honestly love how much I have been able to practice public speaking here in the mission and the feeling of knowing that the Lord is working through me as an instrument in his hands makes me so happy. Also you guys remember Elder Smith and Elder Sheppert? They are 2 of my best friends. Anyways, we were doing like a mock lesson and in the middle of it they both pull out 2 habanero peppers and both ate a whole one. It was the funniest thing of my life i think. We ran out and they were literally crying so much and it was just nice to know that I am still smarter than them because I didn't eat it :) It was so funny hahahah
Okay so Donald Trump... you guys have no idea how many Mexicans have talked to me about him. Honestly i find it so funny to get them a little fired up about him. They hate him so bad and I just joke around with them about it haha. I think the funniest thing is telling them that Trump is better and that I am happy he won... they get so fired up :) But lets be honest the world is totally doomed anyways but the good news is if I stay faithful to the Lord it doesn't really affect my happiness!
So today is Monday right??? Our P-Day. Well something so sad happened. We heard that someone needed us and we showed up at the house today and the whole family was crying. This morning an 18 year old boy got ran over buy a car and it was their son/grandson/brother. It was the saddest situation ever :( We were so happy we went though because the family really needed us. Even though it was Monday and technically we could have made the excuse not to go till the night or something, it is always better to be a representative of Jesus Christ ALWAYS. But it was such a sad situation. Wow. I honestly cant relate to such a thing.
So I was listening to an Elder Holland talk yesterday and I heard this part that I really really liked:
"That happens in marriages, too, and in other relationships we have. I can’t tell you the number of couples I have counseled who, when they are deeply hurt or even just deeply stressed, reach farther and farther into the past to find yet a bigger brick to throw through the window “pain” of their marriage. When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is not right to go back and open up some ancient wound that the Son of God Himself died trying to heal.
Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change and improve. Is that faith? Yes! Is that hope? Yes! Is it charity? Yes! Above all, it is charity, the pure love of Christ. If something is buried in the past, leave it buried. Don’t keep going back with your little sand pail and beach shovel to dig it up, wave it around, and then throw it at someone, saying, “Hey! Do you remember this?” Splat! Well, guess what? That is probably going to result in some ugly morsel being dug up out of your landfill with the reply, “Yeah, I remember it. Do you remember this?” Splat.
And soon enough everyone comes out of that exchange dirty and muddy and unhappy and hurt, when what God, our Father in Heaven, pleads for is cleanliness and kindness and happiness and healing.
Such dwelling on past lives, including past mistakes, is just not right! It is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is worse than Miniver Cheevy, and in some ways worse than Lot’s wife, because at least there he and she were only destroying themselves. In these cases of marriage and family and wards and apartments and neighborhoods, we can end up destroying so many, many others."
I know that through the atonement of Jesus Christ EVERYONE can change. We must have faith that in the future things will be better. This is something I think that we can apply to our lives every single one of us... that if we give others the chance to change, we can truly change too. I love this work and honestly I have changed so much. I bet most of you wouldn't even recognize the person I have become.
Elder Plowman
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| Juice making at our Ward Mission leaders Juice store |
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