I'm in the bright lime green shirt.
Monday, 11 July 2016
Headed to the U of U today
Hello!
Our week was amazing! We taught a bunch of lessons this week. They were good quality lessons, and we had some investigators at church yesterday too!
We have 2 investigators on date for July 30th at the moment. Their names are Anthony and Lluvia. They are progressing towards their baptismal date nicely and are amazing kids.
They are both 12 years old and are cousins. This week we are planning on taking the young mens' and young womens Presidents to our lessons so they can start to get more involved with youth activities in the branch. It should be a fantastic week!
We also have a lot more investigators! We are teach the Velasco family, the Iscarra family, and the Barrera family. We also have some other people. Overall, everyone is doing great!
The Velascos and Iscarras live in the same house. They are cousins so that's why they are staying together. It's interesting what happened with them, let me explain. When I got into the area the Velascos were the only ones living at that house. We were teaching them and they were nice and let us into their home, but they were not very receptive. They would argue with what we taught, they would just tell us that they were Catholic and stuff like that. Well, the Iscarra family moved in with the Velascos because they were going through some family issues in California. Once they got here, they were much more receptive to us. As a result, all of them are receptive at the moment.
We are going to teach them tonight and tomorrow morning we are going to watch, "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" at temple square. We strongly believe that after they watch this movie that they will be put on date for July 30th as well. Yesterday we were fasting for all of the people that we are teaching. That they might recognize answers to their prayers and be blessed with eyes to see and ears to hear. I remember when I was younger that I used to despise fasting. I always thought it was so annoying to miss meals because I love food! I'm a hungry Hank (that's a shoutout to you Grandpa Strate). But I have changed and I now enjoy my opportunities to fast. I find that I am more humble and receptive to the spirit when I am fasting and that blessing alone has been sufficient for me. We are going to try our best to bring as many souls back to church or into the church this week! The branch seems to be getting a little bigger every week. Yesterday we had a good number of investigators, less actives, and recent converts attend church. We hope that our efforts will continue to bring souls to Christ.
Read Alma 32!! It's such a good chapter. I read that chapter this morning and I love what Alma says in verse 6, "And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word."
Alma recognized that the people were ready to hear the word of God because they had been humbled by their circumstances. After he recognized this, he taught them a powerful lesson in faith and how we can grow our faith like a seed. It's so powerful, please read it with a humble heart and an open mind and ask yourself, "What can I do to increase my faith?" I promise you that the Lord will reveal something that you can do to increase your faith. Once He does, i invite you to change and try to become better at whatever the specific thing the He tells you.
I went for lunch on Thursday with the Linfords. Their son is serving in Magrath as a missionary right now and spends time with my family. We ate at a place called Cafe Trio, it was pretty good! It was like an Italian cuisine, it was delicious.
They are really good people. They live in Kaysville which is the north side of our mission. I know which area they live in, I've never served there before but I know where it is. They live in the smallest geographical stake in the world. The Kaysville Haight Creek Stake is tiny!! The missionaries up there that cover it and the Kaysville South Stake because they are both small in terms of land area.
Today for p-day we set up a thing with a student at the University of Utah. He is going to provide us with those big inflatable balls that you can go inside of and run into each other with. I will send pictures of that later today! It's going to be so cool!
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Strate
Our week was amazing! We taught a bunch of lessons this week. They were good quality lessons, and we had some investigators at church yesterday too!
We have 2 investigators on date for July 30th at the moment. Their names are Anthony and Lluvia. They are progressing towards their baptismal date nicely and are amazing kids.
They are both 12 years old and are cousins. This week we are planning on taking the young mens' and young womens Presidents to our lessons so they can start to get more involved with youth activities in the branch. It should be a fantastic week!
We also have a lot more investigators! We are teach the Velasco family, the Iscarra family, and the Barrera family. We also have some other people. Overall, everyone is doing great!
The Velascos and Iscarras live in the same house. They are cousins so that's why they are staying together. It's interesting what happened with them, let me explain. When I got into the area the Velascos were the only ones living at that house. We were teaching them and they were nice and let us into their home, but they were not very receptive. They would argue with what we taught, they would just tell us that they were Catholic and stuff like that. Well, the Iscarra family moved in with the Velascos because they were going through some family issues in California. Once they got here, they were much more receptive to us. As a result, all of them are receptive at the moment.
We are going to teach them tonight and tomorrow morning we are going to watch, "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" at temple square. We strongly believe that after they watch this movie that they will be put on date for July 30th as well. Yesterday we were fasting for all of the people that we are teaching. That they might recognize answers to their prayers and be blessed with eyes to see and ears to hear. I remember when I was younger that I used to despise fasting. I always thought it was so annoying to miss meals because I love food! I'm a hungry Hank (that's a shoutout to you Grandpa Strate). But I have changed and I now enjoy my opportunities to fast. I find that I am more humble and receptive to the spirit when I am fasting and that blessing alone has been sufficient for me. We are going to try our best to bring as many souls back to church or into the church this week! The branch seems to be getting a little bigger every week. Yesterday we had a good number of investigators, less actives, and recent converts attend church. We hope that our efforts will continue to bring souls to Christ.
Read Alma 32!! It's such a good chapter. I read that chapter this morning and I love what Alma says in verse 6, "And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word."
Alma recognized that the people were ready to hear the word of God because they had been humbled by their circumstances. After he recognized this, he taught them a powerful lesson in faith and how we can grow our faith like a seed. It's so powerful, please read it with a humble heart and an open mind and ask yourself, "What can I do to increase my faith?" I promise you that the Lord will reveal something that you can do to increase your faith. Once He does, i invite you to change and try to become better at whatever the specific thing the He tells you.
I went for lunch on Thursday with the Linfords. Their son is serving in Magrath as a missionary right now and spends time with my family. We ate at a place called Cafe Trio, it was pretty good! It was like an Italian cuisine, it was delicious.
They are really good people. They live in Kaysville which is the north side of our mission. I know which area they live in, I've never served there before but I know where it is. They live in the smallest geographical stake in the world. The Kaysville Haight Creek Stake is tiny!! The missionaries up there that cover it and the Kaysville South Stake because they are both small in terms of land area.
Today for p-day we set up a thing with a student at the University of Utah. He is going to provide us with those big inflatable balls that you can go inside of and run into each other with. I will send pictures of that later today! It's going to be so cool!
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Strate
Monday, 4 July 2016
Lots of teaching
Hello!
We had an amazing week! Honestly one of the best ones of my entire mission. We found some amazing new people to teach! We found a family from Colombia, the Barrera family, and they are super open to the gospel. I am so grateful to the Lord for helping us find the elect.
I'm also grateful to him for helping the members around us find the elect. We taught a lot of lessons this week! 35 and found 9 new investigators. We taught the restoration and the plan of salvation many times this week. The history of the restoration is one of my favorite things to teach. I love being able to testify without any doubt that the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith was a prophet of God! I am amazed as I see people take the restoration into their hearts, ponder it, and pray about it to see if it is true. Every time they ask the Lord, he tells them that it is true through the Holy Ghost. I am amazed how the Lord knows each of His children perfectly. I say that because he always gives answers in a way that we can recognize it if we are truly searching. When we ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, and having faith in Christ, we can know all things. I notice that it talks about faith in Jesus Christ; not faith in Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, or the church. We have faith in an immortal being. Someone that is perfect and loves us dearly.
We had an amazing week! Honestly one of the best ones of my entire mission. We found some amazing new people to teach! We found a family from Colombia, the Barrera family, and they are super open to the gospel. I am so grateful to the Lord for helping us find the elect.
I'm also grateful to him for helping the members around us find the elect. We taught a lot of lessons this week! 35 and found 9 new investigators. We taught the restoration and the plan of salvation many times this week. The history of the restoration is one of my favorite things to teach. I love being able to testify without any doubt that the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith was a prophet of God! I am amazed as I see people take the restoration into their hearts, ponder it, and pray about it to see if it is true. Every time they ask the Lord, he tells them that it is true through the Holy Ghost. I am amazed how the Lord knows each of His children perfectly. I say that because he always gives answers in a way that we can recognize it if we are truly searching. When we ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, and having faith in Christ, we can know all things. I notice that it talks about faith in Jesus Christ; not faith in Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, or the church. We have faith in an immortal being. Someone that is perfect and loves us dearly.
I know that when we have faith in Christ that we will
always find the truth. The honest seekers
of truth and true disciples of Christ cannot deny the truth once they find it.
We have 2 people on date for baptism for July 30th and we are trying to put a bunch of other people on date for that day too. It is my last Saturday. We will see what happens!
We have 2 people on date for baptism for July 30th and we are trying to put a bunch of other people on date for that day too. It is my last Saturday. We will see what happens!
Friday was Canada day! I hope you all had a fun time up there!
Today is July 4th
here so we are bound to have a fun day! I'm sure there will be lots of parties and fireworks around us!
Hahahahaha.
I have been trying to figure out a way to help
investigators receive a better
understanding of the necessity of baptism and confirmation in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
First, that's why I testified of the restoration.
Without the priesthood that comes with that
restoration we could not perform sacred ordinances such as baptism and confirmation. Also, we wouldn't be able to
seal families for time and all eternity
in the temple.
We are told that baptism is the gate. We are also told that the gate is straight and the way is narrow. In a sense, baptism is essentially registration not graduation. It's the start of our covenant making and keeping with our Father in Heaven. It's also the first ordinance of salvation that we need to enter the Celestial Kingdom. I found a really cool quote the other day while I was studying the topic of baptism, and I wanted to share it with you;
We are told that baptism is the gate. We are also told that the gate is straight and the way is narrow. In a sense, baptism is essentially registration not graduation. It's the start of our covenant making and keeping with our Father in Heaven. It's also the first ordinance of salvation that we need to enter the Celestial Kingdom. I found a really cool quote the other day while I was studying the topic of baptism, and I wanted to share it with you;
"The metaphor of the strait gate and narrow way
is an interesting one. The word strait
means narrow, but it also connotes another English word, straight. Not only is the gate strait
(difficult), it is also
straight (undeviating). In fact, the same idea is also implied by the
word righteous, which comes from a similar root. In English, we still
say “Come right home” when we mean “Come straight home.” A righteous person is a person who comes straight home to God through the strait gate. I find it interesting that a gate in Christ’s time was often a place where people would cast garbage--just as we cast off our imperfections when entering the strait and narrow gate of baptism."
- Arthur R. Bassett ("Floods, Winds, and the Gates of Hell", June 1991 Ensign)
I love the last line in that quote. I think if the people we are teaching at the moment will realize that baptism opens a way for them to rid themselves of imperfections that they will choose to be baptized. Baptism opens a door to receive a remission of your sins constantly through the cleansing power of the Holy Ghost.
straight (undeviating). In fact, the same idea is also implied by the
word righteous, which comes from a similar root. In English, we still
say “Come right home” when we mean “Come straight home.” A righteous person is a person who comes straight home to God through the strait gate. I find it interesting that a gate in Christ’s time was often a place where people would cast garbage--just as we cast off our imperfections when entering the strait and narrow gate of baptism."
- Arthur R. Bassett ("Floods, Winds, and the Gates of Hell", June 1991 Ensign)
I love the last line in that quote. I think if the people we are teaching at the moment will realize that baptism opens a way for them to rid themselves of imperfections that they will choose to be baptized. Baptism opens a door to receive a remission of your sins constantly through the cleansing power of the Holy Ghost.
Have a great week! Keep working hard! :)
Love,
Elder Strate
Love,
Elder Strate
Monday, 27 June 2016
"What are some possible "nets" in our lives?"
Hello!
This week was amazing! We had some of the best church attendance by our investigators, less actives, and recent converts this week! It was so awesome! We taught a lot of quality lessons this week too. Elder Valladares and I have been focusing a lot on how we can teach a lot of quality lessons. Not just teach a lot to get numbers or something like that but to teach people and what they need. I know that the spirit was guiding us this week. It was very inspiring for me and helped me
grow a lot in the gospel. The part of my testimony that was strengthened a lot this week was how relying on the spirit brings miracles. During a lot of lessons we tried very hard to listen to the people that we were teaching but also to the spirit. We saw testimonies strengthened as a result. I loved it so much!
We also went to temple square yesterday to watch Meet the Mormons with Juan Martinez and his family. That was a fun experience.
I read a lot from the New Testament this week. I love reading about the a Savior and His earthly ministry. He is the perfect example for us and I know that if we try to be like Him that we will receive
Heaven's help to become better everyday. At the end of Matthew 4 I learned a valuable lesson. It's during the part when Christ commanded His future apostles to follow him. They were simple fishermen before they heard the call. Casting their nets into the Sea of Galilee, Peter and Andrew stopped as Jesus approached, looked into their eyes, and spoke the simple words, "Follow me."
Matthew writes that the two fishermen "straightway left their nets, and followed him." Now let me ask you a questions, If the Savior were to call you today, would you be just as willing to leave your nets and follow Him?’ I am confident that many of you would.
Now, what are some possible "nets" in our lives? We might define a net as anything that entices or prevents us from following the call of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Nets in this context can be our work, our hobbies, our pleasures, and, above all else, our temptations and sins. In conclusion, a net can be anything that pulls us away from our relationship with our Heavenly Father or from His restored Church. Many of us enjoy watching television. But if this simple activity makes us neglect our families or ignore the opportunity to render acts of Christlike service, then television may also be an entangling net.
Joseph B. Wirthlin stated the following; “It is impossible to list the many nets that can ensnare us and keep us from following the Savior. But if we are sincere in our desire to follow Him, we must straightway leave the world’s entangling nets and follow Him” (“Follow Me,” Ensign, May 2002, 15).
My goal for the upcoming week is to identify some of the "nets" in my life and drop them. I want to invite all of you to do the same. It doesn't have to be something big. Pray and seek the Lord's guidance and I promise you that you will find some form of "net" to drop.
Love you! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Derek Strate
Someone surprised our car! I think they got the wrong car though because my companion and I aren't greenies! Hahaha
This week was amazing! We had some of the best church attendance by our investigators, less actives, and recent converts this week! It was so awesome! We taught a lot of quality lessons this week too. Elder Valladares and I have been focusing a lot on how we can teach a lot of quality lessons. Not just teach a lot to get numbers or something like that but to teach people and what they need. I know that the spirit was guiding us this week. It was very inspiring for me and helped me
grow a lot in the gospel. The part of my testimony that was strengthened a lot this week was how relying on the spirit brings miracles. During a lot of lessons we tried very hard to listen to the people that we were teaching but also to the spirit. We saw testimonies strengthened as a result. I loved it so much!
We also went to temple square yesterday to watch Meet the Mormons with Juan Martinez and his family. That was a fun experience.
I read a lot from the New Testament this week. I love reading about the a Savior and His earthly ministry. He is the perfect example for us and I know that if we try to be like Him that we will receive
Heaven's help to become better everyday. At the end of Matthew 4 I learned a valuable lesson. It's during the part when Christ commanded His future apostles to follow him. They were simple fishermen before they heard the call. Casting their nets into the Sea of Galilee, Peter and Andrew stopped as Jesus approached, looked into their eyes, and spoke the simple words, "Follow me."
Matthew writes that the two fishermen "straightway left their nets, and followed him." Now let me ask you a questions, If the Savior were to call you today, would you be just as willing to leave your nets and follow Him?’ I am confident that many of you would.
Now, what are some possible "nets" in our lives? We might define a net as anything that entices or prevents us from following the call of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Nets in this context can be our work, our hobbies, our pleasures, and, above all else, our temptations and sins. In conclusion, a net can be anything that pulls us away from our relationship with our Heavenly Father or from His restored Church. Many of us enjoy watching television. But if this simple activity makes us neglect our families or ignore the opportunity to render acts of Christlike service, then television may also be an entangling net.
Joseph B. Wirthlin stated the following; “It is impossible to list the many nets that can ensnare us and keep us from following the Savior. But if we are sincere in our desire to follow Him, we must straightway leave the world’s entangling nets and follow Him” (“Follow Me,” Ensign, May 2002, 15).
My goal for the upcoming week is to identify some of the "nets" in my life and drop them. I want to invite all of you to do the same. It doesn't have to be something big. Pray and seek the Lord's guidance and I promise you that you will find some form of "net" to drop.
Love you! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Derek Strate
Someone surprised our car! I think they got the wrong car though because my companion and I aren't greenies! Hahaha
Monday, 20 June 2016
Missionary work = Basketball
Hello everyone!
This week was
amazing. We had plenty of miracles and a great last week of the transfer.
I'll start with the fact that we went to the temple with a recent convert from our branch! His name is Salvador Chicas.
We went to the Bountiful temple because they offer their services in
Spanish there and he loved it! When I was
talking to him afterwards he was so grateful
for the temple. He told us that he is going to try and attend weekly! I am so happy for him. These last few weeks we
have been going to the temple with a lot
of recent converts, recently reactivated members,
and so forth. It has been such a blessing for me. I know that the temples help the work of salvation on the other
side of the veil, but they also provide
us with strength and comfort when we need it. I know that Jesus Christ lives today and this is His church!
We also found 6 new investigators this week! One of our investigator families, the Velasco family, had some cousins, aunts, and uncles move in with them that are not members of the church yet and they want to learn more! We also found a new family that wants us to teach them!
The work is definitely progressing here in the Cannon Stake! I'm starting my last transfer this week. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by. I love is work and I love the Lord so much. I'm going to work harder than ever before this transfer! I'm so grateful for the opportunity the Lord has given me to serve him 24/7 and I will not let this last transfer go to waste! I'm staying here with Elder Valladares for my last transfer, which I am pumped for! He's a good guy and we get along great!
Have a great week!
Congrats to the Cavaliers on their first NBA championship.
They deserve it, LeBron has been trying for so long to bring them a title and yesterday it was accomplished.
Now all the bandwagon Steph Curry and
Warriors fans can go cheer for Cleveland now...
Hahaha! I restate the FACT that LeBron is the best player on the planet, he has been for a while, and he will
continue to be the best until he retires.
Basketball is a
lot like missionary work honestly. Ready for this cheesy
comparison? Haha. In basketball it takes a great team effort to be the best. Everyone has to do their roles and
fulfill their duties. We need to be
selfless and humble as we try to help the team get better and work together. In missionary work we need
to work as a team with the members of the
ward. When the members of the Ward or branch (in this case) are working well together and are unified in bringing
souls unto Christ, then the work becomes much
easier. We can accomplish so much more
together than alone. Our team leader or team captain in this game is Jesus Christ. He is our redeemer and our Savior. I know that because of His sufferings we don't
have to suffer if we follow His gospel. I
know that the commandments are for our benefit,
to protect us and help us progress. I love God and I am so grateful for His love for me.
Oh yeah! Btw Happy
Fathers Day dad! Hahahaha you have been such a good influence to me throughout
my life. Thanks for all that you do Dad, I don't want my mission to end because
I love it so much but at the same time I am excited to see you in like 6 weeks.
It's going to be awesome. Hopefully we will win the family softball tournament
in Cardston this year! Hahahahaha Have a great week everyone!
Love,
Elder Derek Strate
Love,
Elder Derek Strate
Monday, 13 June 2016
Importance of Prayer
Howdy!
We had a very interesting week! I went on three different exchanges this week because some missionaries in our zone needed some help. It's good that Elder Valladares is a good companion because I was in other people's area for almost half of the week, so he still did good work in our area while I was gone.
Our zone is doing good! We have seen a huge improvement this last week. Our zone put a lot of people on date for baptism last week and I'm so grateful to the Lord for helping us in this work. I have been trying to do the work more spiritually by involving more scripture study, prayer, fasting, and being open minded as I receive counsel from other people. I've come to realize in my mission that one of the most important things we can do in life is listen. As we listen intently to others we will be enabled to learn from them and from the Holy Ghost. I'm so grateful for that.
Our area is doing well! We had stake conference yesterday and one of our recent converts got the Melchizedek priesthood. He is planning on going through the temple in Saturday for his endowments. We are so excited for that! His name is Salvador Chicas, he is a branch missionary and comes to lessons with us all of the time. He has family
members living with him that aren't members of the church yet and they came to Stake conference yesterday! We have been working with them and they are doing really well! We also have an investigator family that was in California for one week and they got home yesterday! They also brought more family members with them, so we are going to start teaching them. I know that God has a plan for everyone. I know that he puts specific people into our paths for specific reasons. We are hoping and praying that these people came from California prepared to receive the gospel.
I want to congratulate my Great Uncle Sam and Aunt Mona for being called as temple presidents in Mexico! That's so awesome! I know they will do an amazing job. I had no idea that they were mission presidents before! That's super cool! My prayers are with them at this time as they are preparing to serve the Lord. I know that the temples are for our benefit and they will protect us from the adversary. Our covenants are for our protection, and I know as we keep them that we will not fall into temptation.
Transfers are next week! We will see what happens. I can't believe how fast my mission has gone. It's ridiculous. I'm going to work the hardest I have ever worked on my mission these last few months! I love the Lord and I am so grateful for all he has done for me. Words cannot adequately describe how grateful I am for my Savior and for His Atonement.
Yesterday at stake conference our stake president talked about praying effectively. One of my favorite things he talked about was praying out loud and expressing our desires to the Lord in that way. I tried it yesterday and I found a lot of power in doing so. Sometimes when we pray in our hearts and minds it is easy to get distracted or wonder off into never never land, but when we pray out loud it is easier to stay focused. It is also and act of faith to do so. The Savior prayed vocally a variety of times, and usually he did it before critical events of His ministry. I think if you read the New Testament you will notice that! I testify that prayer is vital to our salvation. It's not simply something we do when we feel inadequate for life, but it's something that we should yearn to do everyday. I know that God the Father loves us, and he loves to listen to our prayers.
Speaking of prayers... Go Cavs! Haha hopefully Draymond Green being suspended will let LeBron do a little bit more offensively. He can also guard Steph Curry or Klay Thompson now so I think they can win tonight! Who knows, maybe they can get on a roll and win three straight! I have faith. Go Cavs!
Have a great week! I love you all so much, thanks for all that you do!
Love,
Elder Strate
We had a very interesting week! I went on three different exchanges this week because some missionaries in our zone needed some help. It's good that Elder Valladares is a good companion because I was in other people's area for almost half of the week, so he still did good work in our area while I was gone.
Our zone is doing good! We have seen a huge improvement this last week. Our zone put a lot of people on date for baptism last week and I'm so grateful to the Lord for helping us in this work. I have been trying to do the work more spiritually by involving more scripture study, prayer, fasting, and being open minded as I receive counsel from other people. I've come to realize in my mission that one of the most important things we can do in life is listen. As we listen intently to others we will be enabled to learn from them and from the Holy Ghost. I'm so grateful for that.
Our area is doing well! We had stake conference yesterday and one of our recent converts got the Melchizedek priesthood. He is planning on going through the temple in Saturday for his endowments. We are so excited for that! His name is Salvador Chicas, he is a branch missionary and comes to lessons with us all of the time. He has family
members living with him that aren't members of the church yet and they came to Stake conference yesterday! We have been working with them and they are doing really well! We also have an investigator family that was in California for one week and they got home yesterday! They also brought more family members with them, so we are going to start teaching them. I know that God has a plan for everyone. I know that he puts specific people into our paths for specific reasons. We are hoping and praying that these people came from California prepared to receive the gospel.
I want to congratulate my Great Uncle Sam and Aunt Mona for being called as temple presidents in Mexico! That's so awesome! I know they will do an amazing job. I had no idea that they were mission presidents before! That's super cool! My prayers are with them at this time as they are preparing to serve the Lord. I know that the temples are for our benefit and they will protect us from the adversary. Our covenants are for our protection, and I know as we keep them that we will not fall into temptation.
Transfers are next week! We will see what happens. I can't believe how fast my mission has gone. It's ridiculous. I'm going to work the hardest I have ever worked on my mission these last few months! I love the Lord and I am so grateful for all he has done for me. Words cannot adequately describe how grateful I am for my Savior and for His Atonement.
Yesterday at stake conference our stake president talked about praying effectively. One of my favorite things he talked about was praying out loud and expressing our desires to the Lord in that way. I tried it yesterday and I found a lot of power in doing so. Sometimes when we pray in our hearts and minds it is easy to get distracted or wonder off into never never land, but when we pray out loud it is easier to stay focused. It is also and act of faith to do so. The Savior prayed vocally a variety of times, and usually he did it before critical events of His ministry. I think if you read the New Testament you will notice that! I testify that prayer is vital to our salvation. It's not simply something we do when we feel inadequate for life, but it's something that we should yearn to do everyday. I know that God the Father loves us, and he loves to listen to our prayers.
Speaking of prayers... Go Cavs! Haha hopefully Draymond Green being suspended will let LeBron do a little bit more offensively. He can also guard Steph Curry or Klay Thompson now so I think they can win tonight! Who knows, maybe they can get on a roll and win three straight! I have faith. Go Cavs!
Have a great week! I love you all so much, thanks for all that you do!
Love,
Elder Strate
Monday, 6 June 2016
Wedding and a baptism
Hello!
We had a really good week this week! We had 4 investigators at church yesterday and they are doing really good! We also taught a good amount of lessons this week. We are doing really good in our area right now!
We went to the temple and did baptisms for the dead with some recent converts in the branch! It was an amazing experience!
We also had a wedding and baptism on Saturday in my last area for Julio Garcia. He and his wife Keyshla are from Puerto Rico. It was really fun to teach him because he always came into our lessons with a lot of questions. He studied the Book of Mormon a lot and always had questions for us. I know that if we diligently study the scriptures that we can find peace, joy, and comfort through them. I also know that they strengthen our knowledge and faith in Jesus Christ.
I read the talk, "Mountains to Climb", by President Eyring from the April 2012 General Conference. It's now one of my favorite talks. I love the message it brings about trials and challenges in our lives. I know that the Lord will give us mountains to climb for our benefit. I also know that he will never give us a bigger mountain than we can handle. We must rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ for strength in our difficult circumstances. The Lord will very rarely change our circumstances because he knows that our faith and progression will be strengthen as we rely on His son. I know that Christ lives. I know that he is our Savior and Redeemer. Through Him we may be saved and perfected. I'm so grateful for all that he has done for me. Not just for hard times, but also for the amazing experiences I have had on my mission. My mission so far has definitely been a refiners fire, and I'm so grateful for that! Please take a look at that talk. I know that no matter where you are at right now in your life that it will help you! We all have our occasional struggles, and we all need comfort. Please read it!
I'm going to make sure and wear my Cavs shirt today for p-day. I realized that I have been jinxing them by not wearing any of their gear. Hopefully they will turn things around on Wednesday. I’m sticking with them and being optimistic. #GoCavs!
That's about all for this week! Take care everyone!
Love,
Elder Strate
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