The Power to Change Lives

From Federico Llanos

Teaching in Tampico, Mexico

This last Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to witness ten people enter into the baptismal waters and make their first covenant with our Heavenly Father. I am so happy and my heart has so much joy. It is amazing to me how the hand of the Lord works in so many ways. After four months of hard work, prayer, patience, and so much more, these people have truly changed their lives and are so happy to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know this Church is true and I know the message we contain has the power to change any person’s life. 

He Changes Hearts and Lives

 From Rachel Weeks

Teaching in Georgia, USA

Well, this week we had some pretty amazing miracles with our investigators and their hearts softening. God is so good in the miracles that He shows us. Our investigator, Mary, talked about how she likes what she is hearing.  She  just wants peace in making her decision, because when she gets baptized she wants to keep that promise forever. It was such a good thing to hear. She really just gets it.  I love to look at her and see how she changes and the questions that she has and her willingness to align her will with God’s will. In church last Sunday we had a lesson on Priesthood blessings and she asked us if she would be able to get one to help her make her decision. Like I said, she really just gets it. 

Also Debbie this week told us that she knows that the Church is true, that The Book of Mormon is true and that..... SHE WANTS TO GET BAPTIZED. [The baptism] will be in a few months because she really wants her daughter to be baptized with her and she feels that that is a good time table. It is amazing how far she has come in just six short months - from being Jewish and not even believing in Christ, to accepting him into her life and believing His Gospel is true. If that isn't a testament that He changes hearts and lives and that this is His Gospel, I don't know what is.

A Simple Act that Lead to a Big Change

From Karsten Hinckley

Teaching in Thailand 

So yesterday a girl named Dung May ( ตังเม ) was baptized. She is 19 years old and was a referral from her friend from another area. She met with us about two weeks ago and I will tell you what we almost didn’t have this baptism. We took care of the program the night before and we thought all was well…Then the most important thing we forgot to do was FILL THE FONT!! The baptism was going to start in 30 minutes and we forgot to fill it. So we turned on the water and it wasn’t filling fast enough, so we started to get buckets of water and pour them in. That wasn’t going to do it, so we got the hose from outside and that saved our butts! It got done and filled in about 45 min. Without the hose we would have had to wait a long while to have it. It all went well. 

After the baptism,  Sister Dung May had the opportunity to share her testimony. She told of her conversion story. The only reason we found her is because her friend from another area was in our area for church. Her friend really wanted Dung May to learn. So we met with her and one of the first things she told us is that every religion teaches a person to be good. Our response was, “That is not enough!” As we taught over the next two weeks, she helped us teach. We taught three girls and we asked if they believed and they said no. Dung May found a scripture during the lesson that she wanted to use but didn’t. It was a great scripture. It talked about how some people don’t know truth because they harden their hearts. After the lesson she said, “I wish they would just open their hearts to this!” At that point she new that this was true. She talked about how she was thankful for her friend who brought her here, for the missionaries who taught her, and for the people in the ward who accepted her. At this point she was bawling and I could just feel the Spirit from her testimony! 

Dung May is a great person! She now knows about the Light of Christ! I am so thankful to help another one of Gods children learn about His Son. I can tell you one thing: all it took was a friend who loved her friend enough to take her to church. All it took was a small simple act that led to a big change in someone’s life! It was a miracle that we had the baptism. So much stuff has happened this week it is too much to write, but I am thankful that I am a mission at this time for the Lord! 

She Knew We Were Sent From God to Help Her

From Cambree King

Teaching in Honduras 

 This week we found a true miracle. We contacted a lady named Betulia the other day in the Carboneras. We went back to visit her and she was so willing to let us in and share with her. Her daughter has received missionaries before, but she said she has never had the desire to listen. As we got talking, she just broke down crying and said she knew that we were sent from God to help her in this time of her life. She has a son who lives in the states and a year ago, he had a surgery on his brain. He lost all of his memory of his time before and she hasn’t had contact with him since. We testified of the plan of salvation and how this gospel could help her have an eternal family. I have never seen someone listen with such a great desire to know. She couldn’t stop telling us how grateful she is that we passed by her house. Before we even invited her, she asked us when we had meetings in the Church and she said she would be there. 

It’s incredible how the Lord prepares people and puts them in our path so that we can help them experience the joys of the restored gospel. The only sad thing is that the adversary works hard in this work as well. Something happened and she had to go live in San Pedro Sula for a month. We don’t have contact with her, but it was still and incredible miracle to witness and one day she will go searching for the gospel because she knows that it is true.

We Did Not Meet Her by Accident

From Norvel and Karen Christenson

Teaching in Arizona, USA

We had a particularly sweet experience this week as we were out contacting the less active members we have been asked to find.  The first person we met on our mission was a young Native American woman that we met in KFC.  Through the months, we have "lost and found" her several times, but we have always felt that we did not meet her by accident.  On this particular day, we had not really planned to go to her place, but we were out working in her area.  We had actually planned to go to the home of another family, but not thinking just drove past the turn, so we decided we might as well try to drop in on Jessica.  

When we arrived there, we found Jessica and her son in a cold and dark house.  The day was overcast and gloomy, and she was completely out of firewood to heat her house, and she quickly dissolved into tears as we entered.  We sat down around her table, and she said, "I am so tired of my life.  I want to change, but I keep sliding back into alcoholism over and over, Today, I was so frustrated and lonely and so sad that I just fell to my knees and pleaded with God to hear my prayers and to bring me comfort.  I sobbed and sobbed, and as I sat here at my table with my head resting on my arms, I looked up and saw you turning into my driveway.  At that moment, I knew that God had not forgotten me.  I knew that He had heard my prayers."  

We were deeply humbled and grateful that we had come.  One thing we have come to know for sure is that God loves all of His children, and He uses His missionaries to bless their lives. He is mindful of each of us, 

Elder Norvel and Sister Karen Christenson

Serving in Arizona Scottsdale Mission

Assigned to the Pinetop-Lakeside Stake in the White Mountains

A Sincere Desire to Live a Better Life

From Braelyn Bean

Teaching in Peru

A couple weeks ago we received a reference of a man named Cesar. He lives way up in the hills or more like mountains. He has a fence in front of his house, so I jumped it real quick, knocked his door, and then jumped back over the fence , yelled his name, all of that about three different times and we could not find him. 

Anyway, just the other day we were kind of in the area and I had an impression that we should go one last time to see if we can find him. We got to his house and a man was standing outside. We asked him if he knew a man named Cesar. He said, "I’m Cesar. Could you come in and offer a prayer for me?  My dad had just passed away two days ago."

We entered the house, offered a kneeling prayer with him, and then explained where his father is and a little bit about the plan God has for us to return to live with Him again. In this moment, he was very happy to have heard and learned more about the life after death, but more than that he showed a sincere desire to change, to live a better life. 

We invited him to church with us Sunday and he accepted. We were sitting in church for 20 minutes...nothing... then we see Cesar making his way towards the church building, him, his wife, their kids, and his mother. He told me that he had taught his family the things we had taught to him. He found a lot of people he knew in the church and is very ready to make the changes necessary in his life for him and for his family.

Building The Kingdom in Honduras

From Cambree King

Teaching in Honduras

Well.... I survived... I have completely gotten a piece of cow intestine through my stomach and I am still living. Pops asked me about the food last week - yesterday we got a famous Honduran dish called sopa de mondongo. And yes... mondongo is cow intestine but don’t worry... Profa linda, the cook, assured us that cow intestine is sanitary because they only eat plants and they keep throwing up and eating the same thing again. I know that is not very pleasant, but imagine someone explaining that to you as you have a bowl of it in front of you that you have to eat. When she left the room I did slide two pieces in a napkin and put it in my backpack to go... for the garbage but hey, I tried it and I survived!

 We are teaching a little boy named Michael. He is eight years old and here in our district we have a joke about all the poderoso ninos! Kids just seem to understand the gospel and have such a desire to put it into practice. Maybe it’s because they just recently came from living with Father in Heaven but either way, there is something incredible about children. He is getting baptized this weekend and we are so excited for him. There is a member named Isabell who was baptized just a few months ago, but she basically claims all the neighborhood children as her own. When she arrives at church, over half the primary comes with her. She is so sweet and has an admirable love for kids. We visit her often and she makes our day.

A Front Row Seat for the Miracle Theater

From Rachel Weeks

Teaching in Georgia, USA

First off, I just need to start with  little funny story that happened last Monday. It was all sunny outside and we have to clean our car every week, so we took it through the car wash. But the guy working there said that we aren't allowed to go through with a bike rack on the car.. So we gave him the key and the wrench and, after about 10 minutes of him struggling and me holding up a whole line of cars sitting there, he had me pull over and asked if I knew how to do it. Well, I looked down at myself in a skirt and said, "Well, I have done it before but it has been a while." He proceeded to tell me that I was using the wrench wrong and tightening it instead of taking it off. After a couple minutes he walked away and I tried it the other way again and what do ya know? Sister Weeks in a skirt and using the wrench the right way got it off. :) YAY! I will try really hard to not be prideful. :)

There is a lady named Mary that we have been teaching. She was taught by sisters in the past, but took a little break. She is amazing. She is one of the most Christlike people ever! She does so much to try to help other people and she knows that what she is getting at her church right now is not fulfilling her.  She said that many people she knows wear a brand of Christianity and do not truly try to be Christians. Her husband said, “You can go [to the LDS Church], but I won't be going with you.” He isn't against her doing it, he just won't come. But she came to church today and she even commented in Relief Society!

Angela is a recent convert in the ward and we are teaching her son Guillermo and his father Guillermo (but mostly he is being taught by the Spanish Elders, but I have learned a lot of new Spanish words recently being around him. :) YAY!) [This family is] amazing! The miracles that have been taking place in their lives in the past few weeks blows me away. It shows me how much God loves all of his children and if He wants something to happen, He doesn't waste anytime for it. I love having a front row seat in the miracle theater, the best one of all. :)

You can read more of Rachel's experiences at http://sisterweeksgeorgiapeach.blogspot.com/

An Incredible Miracle in Hondurus

From Cambree King

Teaching in Hondurus

Cambree on top of Piedra del Cuerpo in Hondurus

Hermana Cecilia, the lady that I told you about who has read the Book of Mormon two times was baptized yesterday in the morning. I have never been to a baptism where the spirit was so strong. She has had the desire for so long and to see her finally enter the waters of baptism was incredible. I feel as though the Lord has blessed us beyond what we deserve here in Sabanagrande. To find someone like her, with such an incredible desire, who basically taught us the lessons is an incredible miracle.

How God Talks To Us Today