Hello Everyone,
Week 33
This
week was another busy week! We had lots of lessons, and we also prepared two
of our brothers for baptism! Nick and Jim were baptized on Saturday and
confirmed members of the church on Sunday. It was great to hear their
testimonies and see the change in their life.
Jim was really solid! He was going
through a depression because he broke up with his girlfriend. He attended one
of his friends baptisms last month and felt the Holy Ghost. From there he
always felt happy and he knew that God was real. He also knows the Holy Ghost really
does speak to us through our feelings. He has shared the gospel already with
his friends. He has helped them feel the influence of the Holy Ghost and helped
them find peace, which is super great.
Nick, I first taught him with Elder
Maddock and we invited him to baptism twice and he said no both times. He finally told us it is because he didn't believe in God. We had him read Alma
chapter 32 which taught him about faith and how to build it on his own. Then the
very next lesson after talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ he accepted
baptism. He said he finally believed and from there he was finally able to be
changed. He accepted all of the commandments no problem. He went from not
laughing to normal faced to smiling and laughing and actually socializing with
others. It was amazing to see the Gospel change his life and Jim's as well!
District Selfie |
Mark
our recent convert who was baptized 3 weeks ago was able to baptized them both. He
has already baptized 3 people!! Seeing the people I have witnessed change and be baptized has grown and strengthen my own testimony, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ
changes people. It's not me and it's not us, its not the church, but Jesus Christ
that allows us to change. The church and us are conduits in which our
brothers and sisters around us are able to feel and allow Jesus Christ to
change them.
It is like the famous comparison, the church is like a hospital
where we all go to be healed and Jesus Christ is the doctor. I heard something
that I really like it was, a silversmiths works all day melting down the
metal and cooling it down and allowing it to harden. Someone asked, well how do
you know when it is ready? The silversmith said when he can finally see his
reflection in the metal.
It is the same for us, God allows us through our
own experiences to be melted down. For us to experience trials in our life it is to
allow him to mold us into who He knows we can be. He knows when He is finished is
when He can see His reflection in us. It is our job to let Him do that. I
invite us all to allow ourselves to be molded into who Heavenly Father knows we
can be. I know that this Church is the restored and true church of
Jesus Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and because I know that, I
know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know that this is Jesus Christ's
church, and I know that Thomas Monson is the prophet today. I know that
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us with a perfect love. I know that through
Jesus Christ we can be molded into the child of God he knows that we can be. He knows when we have reached our potential as a child of God, when He
can see His reflection in us. I hope you all have a great week and I love you
all!!!!
District Temple Trip |
Week 34
This week was a busy week as always. We had quite a few lessons. We are also trying to find even more people to teach. It pretty much rained all week here, which is very new to me since it never rains in Arizona, ha ha! On top of it, it is also really cold. I hate the cold ha ha, There was a soccer game last night between the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power. I think they must be big rivals because everyone was driving around the city yelling stuff and waving their team flags. We could hear the yelling of the crowds all of the way from the stadium, which reminded me of football games in the states.
Sacrament meeting was interesting, there was a drunk man
who came into the building and started to cause a scene in the middle of
Sacrament. They had to escort the man out, but it was very crazy to say
the least. I have seen this man several times in the city and have spoken to him in the past, he told me a few weeks ago that he is trying to stop drinking and would like to attend church. Luckily it was testimony meeting, so the spirit was brought back
really fast with all of the amazing testimonies bore by the members of the
branch. On P-day we have been playing card games and getting shopping done. We are also teaching lessons too on our P-Day. We are keeping pretty busy. I can't believe it is already
week 6 of this transfer, which is crazy. It was probably the fastest transfer. I'm pretty excited because Elder Stevenson of the Quorum of the twelve apostles is
coming to speak to us. Everyone is preparing for his visit, including our recent converts. We can't wait! I hope you all have a great week and I love you all!!!
>
> --
> Sincerely,
> Elder Ethan Salcedo
>
> --
> Sincerely,
> Elder Ethan Salcedo
A silversmith explained that in the process of refining silver one holds the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames are hottest so as to burn away all the impurities. He not only has to sit there holding the silver, but he has to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time for if the silver is left a moment too long in the flames, it will be destroyed. The timing is determined by the ability of the silversmith to see his own image reflected in it's surface.
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