Week 81 Buena Vista

 

This week went by fast and was extremely interesting. First, I conducted my first ever Zone Conference. I was super nervous, but there were friends all over the zone, so I was alright. There were about 60 missionaries in the room. It went well, and President seemed pretty merciful about it being my first time. We went by Freddy and he basically said that he would be unable to give up wine. But we talked with Samantha a little, and we invited her to church, but she said that she couldn't make it last minute. That was a heart breaker. We did find a family who also would be baptized in the blink of an eye, but can't because of marriage problems.

   We saw quite a few miracles for other people: for example, we were on exchanges, and we were walking, and I really felt like there was something better we could be doing, so as we walked, I decided to try to find out what that was. I told Elder Tigrett what I felt, and I felt we shoukd turn the corner onto a fairly loud and busy road. We knocked a few doors there, and with one, a man opened up and we started teaching. When we told him that the Book of Mormon was written here, and that Jesus Christ came and visited, he stopped me and said "Wait, repeat that." I did and he said "I've got some reading to do." He took a Book of Mormon and said he'd read it. He thanked us for coming and told us to come back as soon as possible. 

   There was a referral that we received from the hermanas that sounds pretty legit. It's a part member family. 

   In my studies, I have been trying to get closer to my Savior. A thought occurred to me, that Jesus Christ suffered so much to know me personally. What am I doing to come to know Him? I take upon me His life as I take the sacrament, I become one with Him, and therefore I am worthy of the Holy Ghost because He is one with me. As I develop His attributes I come to know Him as well. He is there, and He reaches out to us, and we can apply His grace as we put His Name upon us. And the Holy Ghost is one of His biggest blessings He can bestow upon us. It is what makes us different than any other church.

   And, one more thing: from 3 Nephi 20:8-9 

   Eat of body to soul, drink of blood to soul.

 Soul= body & spirit combined. 

Blood in old testament was a symbol of life source or the spirit(BD). You're taking His soul upon you, becoking more like Him. He was the only one worthy of the Holy Ghost, so when we take Him upon us we become worthy. That's why the sacrament, in my opinion, allows the Spirit to sanctify you and be with you always. The sanctification comes as you, through the week, becoke a little better by a little better. That's why we take a small peice of bread and a small bit of water. It's a continual process God is willing to recognize. We thus grow grace by grace. 

   I hope your week is filled with miracles!!!

 Love Elder Sant

Week 80 - Buena Vista

 

Hello everyone, this week was a long but good week. We were able to work with our investigators. We came by Freddy, and his 14 year old cousin came in and said she wanted to get baptized before May. We were like "We can do it by the end of March." We taught her the Gospel and explained all the steps for before baptism, about the Sacrament for after and such, and then watched "My Words Never Cease" by Jeffrey R. Holland. She said it all made sense and that she'd come to church, but then she went and stayed the night at Wasco.

   We are both doing well. In my studies I was thinking about how the only filters on our phone are the Holy Ghost and our missionary purpose. We are free to use them, and we do not have enormous blocking and restricting rules, but as long as it's the desires of God we can. On the contrary, if we are to have many rules that restrict what we can do, the Spirit cannot tell you fully what to do and you cannot fully fulfill your purpose in the most effective ways. I was reading in Alma 61:15, which says "according to the Spirit of God, which is also the spirit of freedom which is in them". 

The book of Alma is full of people who try to take away agency, and they were always put to death. The Spirit of Freedom is the Spirit of God. When we deny ourselves or others their agency, we deny the Spirit of God. When Satan was cast out of heaven for trying to take away agency, he was denying the Holy Ghost. Without liberty and agency, we cannot follow the Spirit.

   The church could have put a bunch of filters on our phones so we don't act against the rules, but the freedom allows us to act according to God's will more freely. 

    We went by la familia Delgado, and their children are pretty cool, and we'll be working with them. When we taught Freddy on Tuesday, he said "When I draw, I am able to be patient because I can see the end product. I have hope for the end and how good it will turn out". 

I love my investigators, and I really see a lot to come in the future.

Week 79 - Buena Vista

 

Hello everyone. This week was a pretty good week, stressful, but good. Elder Barney and I are the new zone leaders of the south bakersfield zone, and neither one of us have ever done it before. We had a meeting with President Layton on Tuesay where we learned the basics of being a zone leader and our responsibilities. We met with Gaby, a person we've been teaching for a while, and we set her on a baptismal date she set herself and after promising the blessings of the Holy Ghost. We also taught Brandon Arias about Jesus Christ. We read 3 Nephi 17 with him, and left an invitation to watch the bible video about Jesus Christ healing the man born blind and to see ways he would have to apply the Atonement, and we said we'd do the same and get back to him on that. In my studies I was reading for Brandon. Alma 33:1,22-23 you plant the seed by beginning to believe in Christ. You nourish it by acting on that hope(believing Christ). Alma 34:41 You don't need to know,  you need to have enough hope to try(firm hope). Enough hope to try=faith- Quote by President Layton. I love you all!

Elder Sant

Go and Do

Week 78 - Buena Vista

Hello all. This week was a very good week. We found out that I will be staying here in Buena Vista and Elder Fillmore will be leaving and heading to Palmdale, my last Zone. My companion will be Elder Barney. This week Elder Fillmore and I realized we were far too soft on our investigators when we were with Freddy and we watched a video by Elder Bednar about how only members of the church can enjoy the full companionship of the Holy Ghost. Freddy was like "I don't like that". Naturally we tried to make it sound better, and after the lesson, I realized that I was denying him true knowledge by making it sound different and less rude than how Elder Bednar clearly explained. We came by again and explained to him how we had been soft, and that even though it sounded unfair that was how it was and that we just wanted him to find for himself if it were true, that truth doesn't change because someone doesn't like it. He accepted it, and we both learned that it's easier to get the investigator to act when you don't beat around the bush at all and just tell people how it is. We did that with another investigator family just by reading Preach My Gospel on the Apostasy section and saying "That's how it is" and we invited them to be baptized. One of them said they were catholic and couldn't change, and we asked what they'd do if they found it were true and from God, and they said "Well, change." They accepted a date, so please pray for them. By being bold the Spirit can declare the true doctrine through us and when we're soft we're putting a plug on the power hose of revelation they could receive.I love you all!