Week 68 Letter June 30, 2014

Hello everyone!!

We had a really good week again.  We had a lot of meetings and a lot of good learning experiences. 

This week we had zone conference.  It was really good.  I could see that it really helped the missionaries from our zone.  We actually gave part of the conference.  We taught everyone how to have a better planning session.  We focused a lot on how we could use the Spirit in our planning.  I personally learned a lot from what we taught.  We have had a lot better planning sessions since then.

We also had our Stake Conference this weekend.  Elder Montoya from the quorum of the seventy came.  He gave some amazing talks.  I really felt the Spirit and learned a lot from him.  My favorite part was when he shared a story of him saving his child.  His child had climbed upa ladder but had fallen and was barely hanging on.  He began to scream, “Papito, Papito, Ayudame!” He was able to get out just in time to break his child’s fall.  He then compared that to the Savior’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane when Christ cries out, “Abba Padre.” It was like when Elder Montoya’s son cried out, “Papito.” But this time Christ’s Father, our Father, was not able to rush to save him.  But rather for the love he has for us, he had to let His Only

Begotten suffer.  It means a lot to me that Christ suffered for me.  The story that Elder Montoya told really helped increase my understanding.

Right after the conference, Fredy received the Melchizedek Priesthood.  We were able to go and watch.  It was a wonderful experience to see how happy Mayra was for him.  I am so excited that my converts now have the blessings of the Priesthood in their home.

Well, it looks like we should have another baptism on the 18^th of July! All of the members are really excited and helping us out a lot.  The work is extremely exciting right now and a lot of blessings are being received.

Until next week,

Elder Lightheart

Week 66 Letter June 16, 2014

Hello Everyone!
Happy Father’s Day! Thanks Dad for all that you do and have done for me.  I am constantly using and applying the things that you have taught me.  They have been of great importance for me here in my mission.  I am very grateful for all that you have helped me with in my life.  Thanks, Dad!

Well, we had an extremely busy week this week.  For starters, we had several ward activities this week that we helped out in.  They were great activities.  We had a lot of investigators and members come.  It reminded me of some of the activities that we did at home.  The best part was having our investigators interact with the members.

We also went to Villahermosa for our leadership council this week.  It was a great meeting.  We were able to go to the temple the night before and I felt that I got a lot of my questions answered and we definitely left edified.  The council was great as well.  We both learned a lot about how to become a better leader in the mission.

Despite being busy most of the week, we were able to have some really good lessons.  We had a couple of lessons with Yumara and Jose.  They are really excited to learn more about the church.  They went to both of the activities this week and are progressing really well.

We also had Miriam’s husband, Arturo come to church on Sunday.  It was only the second time we had ever seen him.  We had a really good lesson with him about the Book of Mormon and we have an appointment to meet with him on Saturday.

We started a Preach My Gospel class with the members.  They are super excited about missionary work.  They all committed to talk with one of their friends this week about the gospel.

Thanks for all of your support and Happy father’s Day!

Elder Lightheart

Week 65 Letter June 9, 2014

Hello Family!

Hope you are all doing well! How is everything going? It has continued to be hot in Mexico, but it’s OK because we have been at the work of the Lord.

Well, the best news about this week was definitely the three baptisms we had! Miriam, Mariane, and Kevin all got baptized.  They were very excited all week long and it ended in a great baptism service at the end.  A lot of people from the ward were able to go.  Mayra gave a talk and it was awesome.  She spoke like she had been a member her whole life and she had been a member her whole life and she has just barely completed a month as a member.  She shared her experience of being baptized with everyone and it really strengthened all of us.  Elder Struthers and I performed the ordinances.  Probably the best part was that Miriam’s husband came.  It was the first time we had met him and we could definitely see the effect the spirit had on him.

Apart from that, we are also going to have a baptism in the coming weeks.  Estefania is still really excited for her baptism.  She also came to the baptism and she really enjoyed it.  She told us afterwards that she wants her baptism to be just like Miriam’s.

She has accepted everything we have taught her so far.  She did have a little difficulty with the ward of wisdom.  She felt like it would be hard to leave behind coffee and tea.  Luckily, mayra and Fredy are a big help.  They assured her that it can be done.  That they were able to leave it all behind to follow God’s will.  We only have a couple of lessons left to teach her and she will be ready for baptism. 

The rest of the week went really well today.  We actually learned how to make hammocks.  One of the elders in our zone, Elder Mayers, came over to our house and showed us how to do it.  It was a lot of fun. It took a couple hours and we were only able to make one about 6 inches wide.  But it was really fun to learn!

Thanks for all of your prayers,

Elder Lightheart

Week 64 Pictures June 2, 2014