Hey everyone!
So transfers are this week and I am staying
in The Pioneer YSA Stake! I'm so happy to be staying because I know
there is a ton of work to do around here. I'm also staying with Elder
Gowdy which means he will be only my 2nd companion that I have stayed
with longer than one transfer, and the other one was Elder Strother in
Rose Park. We are excited to continue working together and to become
more consecrated missionaries. We have seen miracles so far in our
efforts, and I know the Lord will continue to reveal the elect unto us.
We
had a baptism on Saturday! Hudson got baptized! He's from Brazil and
understands Spanish because Portuguese and Spanish are very similar, so I
got to teach him in Spanish a little bit, that was awesome. We also
involved the Portuguese Elders from the Utah Salt Lake City West Mission
in our teaching. Our Bishop from the Cannon YSA Ward, Bishop Davis,
baptized Hudson. It was an amazing spiritual experience when we saw him
enter into the covenant of baptism. I love this area and I love this
work! I could stay out here FOREVER! Hahahaha
Bishop with Hudson
Us with Hudson
The mission is
doing very good right now. Everyone seems to be happy and starting to
get into the Christmas Spirit. I love this time of year, I'm so grateful
for God's greatest gift to us, his son Jesus Christ. The church is
coming out with another Christmas initiative, look for it in the
upcoming ensign! Make sure to take advantage of it! There is a new video
coming out called "A Savior is Born." It's going to be awesome, make
sure to help your local missionaries out with spreading this thing
across the globe!
I also had a wonderful week of studies. I
re-read Elder Christofferson's talk from conference, Why the Church. I
want to invite all of you to read this talk and ask God through prayer
if a church really is necessary. According to Elder Christofferson, it
is necessary for us to have a church. Since God is a God of love, he
wouldn't just leave us stranded and alone on this earth without tools to
learn more about him and his existence. We have many tools to get close
to Christ such as the scriptures, prayer, church attendance,
teachings from modern day prophets and apostles, etc.. If we did not
have a church, there would be no direct path back to God. We need an
organization of some sort so we can perform the ordinances of salvation
such as baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost. We also need a church so
we can be lead by Christ through his prophet. I know that Thomas S.
Monson is God's chosen prophet on the earth today. I know for a fact
that he leads and guides this church through divine inspiration from our
Savior Jesus Christ. I love this gospel, and I love this church, which
implies that I love my Lord Jesus Christ. Take a look at this talk and
focus on what you can do to help build up the kingdom of God on earth
this week. Who can you invite to attend church? Possibly a family home
evening activity? How about young mens and young womens? Maybe even
something very simple such as raking leaves for your neighbor. All of
these invitations or acts of service will help build the kingdom of God
on earth. Even if you are rejected or they don't accept your invitation,
I can promise you that your personal conversion will increase, and that
also helps build the kingdom of God, which is the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints.
I had a good week, but this
upcoming week will be better! I'm so excited to see what the Lord has in
store for us this week! I love all of you and take care! I hope you
will notice God's influence in your life this week, I know that I will!
Love,
Elder Strate
Oh ya, I got a random bloody nose driving this week.... LOL
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