Hello Everyone,
It was another busy week! We had so many lessons to teach this past week and I
must say it was very tiring ha ha! It was also cloudy and cold this whole week. It was raining for most of the week, so I finally had to pull out the rain
coat and not just wear a sweater ha ha! I have been collecting Chinese ties. There is a member from Taiwan who orders Chinese ties for us. I have one in Chinese characters that say Families are Forever, pretty cool. You can see one of my new ties in the pictures.
One
of the investigators Elder Li and I have been teaching Mark, was baptized on
Saturday along with five others. So there was a total of 6 people baptized
into the City branch on Saturday. It was the most people I have ever seen be
baptized on the same day.
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| Elder Li and I with Mark on his Baptism Day |
Mark is just another testimony to me how God prepares
His children to hear the message of the Restored Gospel. Mark made sudden
changes in his life and his progression was 0 to 60. At first his mother did
not want him to be baptized. He hesitated, but attended a baptism of some
other recent converts. It was there he turned to me and said he wanted to be
baptized. For the next 2 weeks he met with us almost every day! He had
some struggles with some of the commandments. After reading the Book of
Mormon with him they were no longer of concern to him. His faith in Jesus
Christ increased tremendously. I can testify that the Book of Mormon is true
that the words within it are the words of God. I know because I have just witnessed
it change someone's life and helped them develop a belief in God from hearing and abiding by its
words. Not only that, but I have seen the Book change my life. I would exhort all
of you member of the church or not to read the Book of Mormon, my challenge
still stands from January to finish the book before the end of the year.
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| Me, Mark,and Elder Maddock |
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I
promise you all that it will change your life. Just like it changed Mark's
and how it has changed mine, because the words it contains are from God. Mark was baptized and then confirmed a member. He received the gift of the Holy Ghost as a constant
companion to lead him and guide him in his life. It was amazing to see how
converted he became in such a short amount of time. It reminds me of a quote I
believe from Russell M Ballard of the Quorum of the twelve Apostles, "The
institutions of the world teach us to know something, the Gospel of Jesus
Christ teaches us to BECOME something"!!! Mark truly became something on
Saturday, he became the child of God that God knew he can be and God knows
that we can all can become. I hope you all have a great week I will be
attending the temple next Thursday so that will be when I email next. I Love
You All!!!!!
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Sincerely,
Elder Ethan Salcedo
The Apostle Paul taught that the Lord’s teachings and teachers were given that we may all attain “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). This process requires far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even enough for us to be convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so that we are converted by it. In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something. (Dallin H Oaks, The Challenge to Become, General Conference, October 2000.
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