Grateful

Hey everyone!
     This week was good! The area is slowly improving and we have been grateful for the results. Unfortunately, one of our investigators who is on date for baptism has moved to West Valley, so now the west mission gets a free baptism! Haha it's ok though, it doesn't matter where someone gets baptized or whose number it is, the important thing is the fact that he is going to be baptized soon. We are excited and happy for him! He will do great!      

      Our week was good! We had some solid recent converts and less active
members that we decided to finish teaching because they are super strong with their testimonies now. They all committed to find someone new for us to share this beautiful message with, so now we are hoping and praying that the Lord will show us fruits from our labors.
     We received some referrals this week, and guess what? Some of them are
Hispanic people that don't speak a lot of English, but they want to attend the YSA Ward! Hahaha I knew the Lord had a purpose for me specifically to be in this area. I'm grateful for the gift of tongues and how the Lord has blessed me with the ability to learn Spanish. My companion is trying to learn Spanish from me hahah, so we will see how that goes!
     I was reading the talk by Larry R. Lawrence from the Saturday Morning
session of conference. Now when I am praying instead of just giving an
accounting to the Lord like I have been doing, I have decided to ask him what I can improve on, what lack I yet? I have felt Gods presence influence me more in my decisions, and I feel like that is something I can improve on everyday. I'm sure this week will be full of miracles and blessings and I continue to try and align my will with the will of the Lord. I know we will be happy if we follow this gospel and choose to be obedient to Gods commandments. As we do so, we will feel Gods infinite love for us.
     Love,
                 Elder Strate

Happy Thanksgving

     Hey everyone!
      So first off Aiko got baptized! It was a great experience, she had so much member support and it was great to see her so happy afterwards. She was very prepared when we found her, and I know that the Lord is ALWAYS preparing the hearts of the children of men to be ready for the gospel. Alma 13:24 is a testimony to be that this is true, "For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory."

Elder Gowdy, Aiko, Elder Balledos, (baptized her, he was Elder Gowdy's companion last transfer) and myself.

   
     I love my new area, we have some wonderful people we are working with. We have a few other people on date for baptism and they are progressing nicely up to this point. Elder Gowdy and I are going to focus on finding a lot of new people to teach this transfer, because we are supposed to find when we teach and teach when we find.
     I'm so grateful for the calling the Lord has given me as a missionary. I'm so blessed by how much the Lord loves me and how often he allows me to be an instrument in his hands. I know that when we try to do the will of the father, then we will be maximizing our potential. God is perfect, we are not, that simple doctrine to me says that God will make us better than we can make ourselves, that's why we must submit our will to his. The primary song, "I'm trying to be like Jesus", testifies that this is true. When we submit ourselves to God we become like the Savior.
      Elder Gowdy is from Gerogia, he's about 6'4, I came out 1 transfer after him, he is pretty cool. We will probably be together for a while hahaha.
      Dad, President just asked about your health and I told him how you are doing, he said he had been praying for you and for our family and he is grateful for the miracle that has taken place, God is real.
      We have Zone Conferences this week and I'm very excited for that! I know that President Spendlove is called of God and that he has the priesthood keys for this mission. I'm grateful for him and Sister Spendlove, their family has sacrificed so much to be here for our benefit and to serve the Lord. They are great examples for all of us.
      I'm grateful for your prayers on behalf of all the missionaries, thank you so much for your support! I love God and I know this is his work, I know that when we are are diligent in this work and obedient to the Lord's commandments, we will see miracles in our lives.

      We do a lot of office work with the office staff, we help President and Sister Spendlove with pretty much everything. We help a ton with transfers, mission wide meetings, we attend area meetings with President. Lots of different stuff. 

      This description is from the mission President's handbook:

      Two elders  are  assigned to  serve  as assistants  to  the  mission president. They  should  be  sensitive  to  the Spirit,  humble, and  respected by  the  other  missionaries. They  should  have  outstanding  leadership  and proselyting  abilities.  They  may  or  may  not  finish  their  missions in  this assignment. They  help  the  mission president:

  •  Plan, prepare,  and  present  training  for  missionaries. 

  •  Train zone  leaders.  They  may  conduct  companion  exchanges  with zone  leaders  either  in  their  own proselyting  area  or  in the zone  leaders’ area. 

 • Conduct companion exchanges with other missionaries as directed by the mission president. 

      We are up till about midnight every night doing stuff in the office or helping President with the mission. Sometimes later haha. We still have a proselyting area and we work that area as much as possible. Our p day is still technically Monday but we don't go to p day activities simply because we are too busy with other things. I'm always busy and sometimes very tired due to our long, busy, and exhausting schedule but I love it. I love being busy and I love dedicating more time to the Lord.

      I love you all and have a great week!
      Love,
         Elder Strate

Conference was AWESOME

     Hey everyone!
      Conference WAS SO AWESOME!!! I was lucky enough to attend every session with my former companion Elder Martinez, it was a blast. We had some investigators and less active members attend with us too which was a really nice experience for them. I don't have a lot of time to write today because transfers are here but it was a wonderful weekend! I loved all of the talks, they were magnificent and I was really happy with the topics that were chosen by the Lord through his servants.  

     Elder Balledos and I were talking before conference and we both agreed that personal conversion and keeping the sabbath day holy would be common topics, and they were.

     My favorite talks were  by these beloved servants for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Saturday Morning: Elder Quinton L. Cook
Priesthood Session: President Thomas S. Monson
Sunday Morning: President Russell M. Nelson

      I know that Gods priesthood has been restored and that his servants, the prophets and apostles, are men called of God. We had the opportunity to sustain 3 new apostles, they all seem solid and I'm
grateful for their willingness to serve. I'm grateful for Gods influence in our everyday lives. The powerful testimonies we witnessed this weekend are a testimony for me that God loves us, and he truly does reveal his secrets to the prophets. I know that as we follow their teachings we will see blessings and miracles in our lives!
     I love my mission and I'm so honored to wear a name tag that says "Elder" on it. The only other people in the church that have the opportunity to be called Elder on an everyday basis are the general
authorities, so we are an extension of them throughout all the world as missionaries. How great is our calling!
      I love my new area, YSA is really fun! We have some great people we are working with and we are excited to watch God change them through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love this work because when I see other people act on faith through repentance and change their lives because it makes my testimony of the divine power of the Atonement through Christ's grace, much stronger. I love the Lord and I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to serve here in the "Great" Utah Salt Lake City Mission.
       I saw lots of familiar faces at conference this weekend, I don't remember everyone I saw but I'm sure my dad got lots of emails and text messages from family members and friends. I saw a bunch of old missionaries too, ones that I knew but have already finished their missions. It was really cool, I also some some members and recent converts that I knew from former areas!   

       I hope you all have an amazing week, take care and continue loving the Lord!
       Love,
       Elder Strate

Conference Center! We had pretty good seats for missionaries.

yeah I got pics with lots of people. I saw Brian and Cynthia Low with Karen and Dallin,

Dad's cousin Joe Cluff

I saw Elders Firpo, Strother, Osborne, and many other return missionaries that I knew.

I also saw Mitch Cook and his wife,

Uncle Tim & Aunt Carol and family

President McMahon and family, Devon Anderson and Johnny Cook, I know I saw more but I can't remember all of them lol.

The Seahawks should win tonight right? Jays and Cardinals are going to the
World Series! I've been waiting for this year for 19 years and both
teams are finally in a position to make it possible!

Transferred

     Hey everyone!
     This week was an interesting week! So we had some great lessons and found some great new investigators! Elder Martinez and I have been so blessed in this area, I'm so grateful for how much the Lord loves and blesses all of us. I feel like as a missionary I have discovered how powerful Christ is and I can see the Lord's influence in the work daily. I love this work!
      Angela got baptized! It was a fun baptism, she is the one with the black dress and white stripes in the middle of the picture.

     She was baptized by one of her friends Brandon so that was cool to see! We still have 2 other investigators on date right now for October 17th so we are helping them prepare!
     We had a really cool experience at church yesterday, so this lady showed up with her friend and asked us about being baptized because she loved her experience and church! We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to be baptized on October 24th and she said yes! It was an awesome experience and this is evidence to me that the Lord is always preparing people for us to teach!
      We also had a wonderful opportunity yesterday to hear Elder Whitney L. Clayton of the First Presidency of the 70.

      Him and his wife were speaking at a Spanish devotional yesterday and it went really well. He spoke about the principal foundations of our church, which all reflects back to the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. I know without a doubt that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and the Book of Mormon is true. I know everyone can know this by acting on their faith and doing what Moroni says in Moroni 10:3-5.

        I love this work and I love this area, but sadly my time in this area has come to a close. President Spendlove called me last night and said he needed to emergency transfer me. As of today I am now serving with Elders Balledos and Gowdy in a trio! We are serving in the Pioneer YSA stake which is basically YSA around Salt Lake City. The area I'm assigned too is also English so I will get to preach the gospel in my first language for a bit! The trio will only last for a week and then I will be with Elder Gowdy because transfers are next week and Elder Balledos will be put in a different area when next week comes.
       So far my mission has been crazy! I was in Canada, Calgary East Stake with Elders Smith and Cervantes for 1 transfer, then Bountiful for 3 with Elders Berrios, Firpo, and Osborne, then I was in the Pioneer Stake with Elder Barfuss for 1 transfer, then I was in Rose Park for 3 transfers with Elder Strother and Jimenez, then Cannon Stake with Elder Martinez for 1 transfer. Now I'm changing areas again, holy freak! This will be my 6th area and my 11th and 12th companions! It's been a crazy mission, but I love it!
         Love,
            Elder Strate

Comic con was here this last weekend and we saw this minion! Pretty legit!
Also ran into Osbourne!

Ward Picnic

     Hey Everyone!
      This week was good, we didn't have a lot of stuff happen but it was still good! We have Angela still on date for baptism this Saturday and she seems really solid so we will keep working with her to help her prepare! We had some awesome activities this week with the branch! We had a picnic on Saturday and one of my old companions, Elder Firpo, came over to say hi! He lives in Layton and is now going to school at LDS Business College. He really likes it and is having a blast! It was awesome to see him again! We have some great people we're working with and hopefully they will be on date for baptism by the end of this week!

      I had an interest thought come to me during personal study and learning at church yesterday more about pride. Pride is one of the worst things we can possibly have in this life, it makes us fall very
quickly. Lucifer in the pre mortal life fell because he had pride, he compared himself to God and thought he was better than him, and that's why he fell and became Satan. We must avoid pride, and the ultimate antidote for pride is humility. We can gain humility from what it says in Mosiah 3:19, pride is a desire of the natural man so if we can learn how to remove the natural man within us, we will become better disciples of Jesus Christ.
        I love my mission, it's the best!
          Love,
              Elder Strate

                                                      This picture makes no sense.

Wedding then baptism

     Hola

     Juan and Beatrice got baptized! It was an amazing experience, they are both very solid and I had the privilege of baptizing Juan while Elder Martinez baptized Beatriz. Lots of the members from the Branch were there and they all are awesome support for this new family. Juan also received the Aaronic Priesthood and Sunday after church so now our goal is to get him blessing the sacrament and into the temple doing baptisms! We are very excited to continue working with him, he also cut my hair this morning so he's going to try and start up his own business as a barber! We are going to get the word out, he is pretty good at cutting hair!

 

      On Saturday I was on splits with a member named Genaro Vazquez, he's our Ward Mission Leader and we went and visited some families and other people that we are working with. We put this guy named Jacinto on date for October 10th. It was a great experience, he is a newer investigator and he has a ton of potential! Sunday afternoon we also put a girl named Angela on date for September 26th, she's super ready to be baptized! 

      The Lord is blessing us so much in this area, I knew when I got here that this area was going to be the toughest area on my mission, it was a little bit dead when I got here but we have done a good job working with the members, staying obedient, and working diligently. In situations like this, that's all you can do, is stay faithful and keep working hard. I had been praying specifically for people and now we have helped those people and the Lord has revealed unto us more people to work with! I love this area, it's picking up really fast and we are always busy! I love it here!

      Seahawks lost... Dang it oh well, last year they started bad and made the Super Bowl so we will see what happens! They have a tough game next week, I personally think the Packers and Seahawks were the 2 best teams in the league last year and I'm expecting the same thing this year. We will see what happens, but it should be a good game!

     Thanks for all the letters and support! I know that God loves us and that if we show him our faith, he will give us miracles.

      Love,

      Elder Strate

Wedding Bells

     Hi everyone,

     We had a wedding this week! It was awesome, we have been working with the Martinez family and on Saturday they were married. They have 4 little kids and have been together for a few years, but we needed to help them get married before they can be baptized so we had a wedding with the ward on Saturday and it was great! Pictures bellow! I got to be a witness at the wedding too!

     This upcoming Saturday the parents, Juan and Beatrice, will be getting baptized! It's awesome! I think the curse in this area will finally be broke on Saturday, and we have been working with some other awesome families so we will see if we can get some other people on date for baptism!
      My new companion and I are getting along great! He's really cool and we work well together, it's been fun so far! This area is starting to grow and it's been such a huge blessing to watch the atmosphere in the Branch change, even in just the small time I've been here. We got a new Ward Mission Leader too and he's very focused to help us in every way possible, the Lord just continues to bless us!
      I love this work. I and I can't wait to see what this week holds, I know the Lord is always looking to provide us with miracles. I read Mormon 9 this morning and it was awesome! I have seen countless miracles on my mission and it's because God is a God of happiness and miracles. In Mormon Chapter 9, we are specifically promised miracles if we live the gospel and have undoubting faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know God lives and that he loves us. Christ is waiting
for everyone with open arms, we just need to bring ourselves closer to him through diligent prayer, scripture study, and church attendance.
      My companion and I got take up to a restaurant called The Roof by some members in our ward, this was our view of the Salt Lake Temple from this Restaurant! This is my companion,Elder Martinez!

   Have a great week, I know I had one and I can't wait to see what this week holds!
      Love,
         Elder Strate