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| Yo quiero Taco Bell :) |
Highlights for 28/3/16:
Highlight #1: Garbanzo. As you may all recall my hype from last year about my favorite new Semana Santa food, I LOVE GARBANZO EN DULCE! So I called up a member this week remembering that it was 'this week or never' that I could once again find garbanzo en dulce to eat. She informed me that nobody sells it prepared...then followed up with a "reprimend" for not remembering that I have a mother and a home in this area! Then said that she would be waiting for us Thurs afternoon to eat garbanzo en dulce! How great is that?!!!! :) This year's rendition was made with platano and garbanzo and was pretty great!!! :) I'm excited for you all to try it when you come...this sister told me that she makes it throughout the year and would be happy to make it when you guys come :) :)
Highlight #2: Guate vs USA. As you guys may or may not have known, on Sat Guatemala and the States soccer teams played here in Guatemala City. AND GUATEMALA WON! This is unheard of! Guate is known in C.A. as the country that has no chance to ever win against the world's soccer world powers. And then on Sat Guatemala won 2-0 against the states! From what the members explained to me, if Guatemala can win a game or tie their following games they will be in a great position to go to their FIRST EVER World Cup...AND if the states lose this week at home against Guatemala or lose another game in these roundrobin they will have a very hard time making it to the World Cup. So, either way I'm going to be happy ;) Guatemala OR USA! ;) :) jaja!
Highlight #3: This week I saw a great change in one of the women we have been working with. She has been really focused on all the rumors that she has heard about the church. But then we were able to find this week an AMAZING member friend that she just loves! I could be 5 min before the cita and we call her up to see if she is able to go over to this members house for a lesson and she will drop everything to go! AND she began progressing since we've begun working with this member. We have been working with many different members with her, but something different just clicked! :) So we are super thankful for the member and her help! :) There are always still difficulties that have to be overcome but at least now our investigator has a member friend that is willing to be there whenever she is needed and help however she can! :) The ward is picking up! :) :) In every ward the missionaries find the families that work, that want to be involved, the selfless! :) My challenge and invitation to you all, BE THAT FAMILY! Help the missionaries. Tell them that whenever they would like to have an appointment at the house with you all to just give you the heads up...or organize with them that "our FHE has the expectation that investigators or less-actives will be present." Then let the missionaries know that every Monday, or Sunday, or whatever day, they are expected to bring an investigator (if they have one that they would like to bring) to the FHE! I know that sounds a little weird or maybe a little hard, but you WILL see the blessings, peace, and happiness that comes from working in the Lord's work. And I can't think of an easier way to do missionary work than just inviting their investigators to be a part of our family life, FHE :) :) Just an invitation...but let me know what you think :) and/or how it goes :) THE MISSIONARIES WILL LOVE YOU! :) (not that they don't already, but they will love you more!) :)
I love the story Pres Monson shares here and wanted to share it with all y'alls :) Enjoy!
"Before I begin my remarks, may I take this opportunity to thank you for your kind expressions during this difficult time of the loss of my beloved wife, Frances. I have been strengthened and sustained as I have felt your love and your prayers in my behalf.
For Sister Monson and me, missionary work has always been a part of our hearts and our lives together. We were still newly married when I was called to serve as bishop of the old Sixth-Seventh Ward in Salt Lake City—a ward of one thousand and eighty members. There were a number in the ward who were less active, and Sister Monson was always supportive and encouraging as my counselors and I visited with these dear members and worked to bring them back into activity.
A few years later I was called to serve as president of the Canadian Mission. Less than a month after the call came, Sister Monson and I left our newly built home and, with our two small children and one on the way,traveled to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where missionary work became our lives for the following three years.
May I endorse all that has been said here today. I testify to you that you will be blessed as you follow the counsel you have received.
The holy scriptures contain no proclamation more relevant, no responsibility more binding, no instruction more direct than the injunction given by the resurrected Lord as He appeared in Galilee to the eleven disciples. Said He: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). The Prophet Joseph Smith declared: “After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel.” Some of you here today will yet remember the words of President David O. McKay, who phrased the familiar “Every member a missionary!” President Gordon B. Hinckley told us: “So many of us look upon missionary work as simply tracting. Everyone who is familiar with this work knows there is a better way. That way is through the members of the Church.”
To their words I add my own. Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him. He has prepared the means for us to share the gospel in a multitude of ways, and He will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work.
During the time Sister Monson and I served in the Canadian Mission, we were witness to and strengthened by the deep faith of the Canadian Saints.This video clip sets forth the faith and the works of the members and missionaries in our mission who lived and labored in St. Thomas.
Another evidence of faith took place when I first visited the St. Thomas Branch of the mission, situated about 120 miles from Toronto. My wife and I had been invited to attend the branch sacrament meeting and to speak to the members there. As we drove along a fashionable street, we saw many church buildings and wondered which one was ours. None was. We located the address which had been provided and discovered it to be a decrepit lodge hall. Our branch met in the basement of the decrepit lodge hall and was comprised of perhaps 25 members, 12 of whom were in attendance. The same individuals conducted the meeting, blessed and passed the sacrament, offered the prayers, and sang the hymns.
At the conclusion of the services, the branch president, Irving Wilson, asked if he could meet with me. At this meeting, he handed to me a copy of the Improvement Era, forerunner of today’s Ensign magazine. Pointing to a picture of one of our chapels in Australia, a new chapel, President Wilson declared, “This is the building we need here in St. Thomas.”
I smiled and responded, “When we have enough members here to justify and to pay for such a building, I am sure we will have one.” At that time, the local members were required to raise 30 percent of the cost of the site and the building, in addition to the payment of their tithing and other offerings.
President Wilson countered, “Our children are growing to maturity. We need this building, and we need it now!”
I provided encouragement for them to grow in numbers by their personal efforts to fellowship and to teach. The outcome, brothers and sisters, is a classic example of faith coupled with effort and crowned with testimony.
President Wilson requested six additional missionaries be assigned to the city of St. Thomas. When this was accomplished, he called the missionaries to a meeting in the back room of his small jewelry store, where they knelt in humble prayer. At the conclusion of the prayer, he then asked one elder to hand to him the yellow-page telephone directory, which was on a nearby table. President Wilson took the book in hand and observed,“If we are ever to have our dream building in St.Thomas, we will need a Latter-day Saint to design it. Since we do not have a member who is an architect, we will simply have to convert one.” With his finger moving down the column of listed architects, he paused at one name and said, “This is the one we will invite to my home to hear the message of the Restoration.”
President Wilson followed the same procedure with regard to plumbers, electricians, and craftsmen of every description. Nor did he neglect other professions,feeling a desire for a well-balanced branch. The individuals were invited to his home to meet the missionaries, the truth was taught, testimonies were borne, and conversion resulted. Those newly baptized then repeated the procedure themselves, inviting others to listen. Week after week and month after month the procedure continued.
The St. Thomas Branch experienced marvelous growth.Within two and one-half years, a site was obtained, a beautiful building was constructed, and an inspired dream became a reality. That branch is now a thriving ward in a stake of Zion.
When I reflect on the town of St. Thomas, I dwell not on the ward’s hundreds of members and many dozens of families; rather, in memory I return to that sparse sacrament meeting in the lodge-hall basement, 12 people, and the Lord’s promise, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).
Many years have passed since that video was recorded.The voice you heard was younger, but the principle of faith as it pertains to missionary work remains just as true today as it was half a century ago in the St. Thomas Branch.
I testify that when we act in faith the Lord will show us how to strengthen His Church in the wards and branches in which we live. He will be with us and will become an active partner in our missionary labors.
As the number of missionaries increases in wards and stakes around the world, I implore you to exercise your faith, as did President Wilson in St. Thomas, as you prayerfully consider which of your family, your friends,your neighbors, and your acquaintances you would like to invite to your home to meet with the missionaries,that they might hear the message of the Restoration. As the Lord did with the city of St. Thomas, He will sanctify your efforts, and you will gain a capacity beyond your own to lift and bless the lives of others.
May we ever increase our faith and faithfulness in fulfilling our sacred duty to rescue our Heavenly Father’s children—our brothers and sisters. In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen." --Pres Thomas S Monson (Faith in the Work of Salvation)
With love and prayers,
Elder Flake
PS REMEMBER THAT GENERAL CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEKEND!!! Sat 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm (General Session) and 6pm-8pm (Priesthood Session) AND Sun 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm. (Mountain Time) WATCH IT! Watch it here: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04?lang=eng
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