HOLA

Hey everyone,

I hope you all had the week you had, which is a good one I hope, but
you had what you had. Anyways!

This week was one of not many lessons.  A ton of our investigators
were not able to meet this week due to well, I don't know what.  It
was kinda a rough week as far as setting up appointments with people
and actually having them, But the lessons we were able to have this
week went pretty well!

Probably the funniest part of this week was our ward party.  Oh man,
we had a talent night for our ward party, and everyone and their mom
participated and showed up.  There were a ton of people there.  My
companion and I and the hermanas in our ward did this skit where we
have the other companion hide behind us and use his arms as if they
were our arms.  If you've never seen it before you are probably pretty
confused but if you have I hope you know what I am talking about.  Our
skit was about the typical day in the life of a missionary.  We ate
breakfast, shaved, brushed our teeth, exercised, but all with the arms
of our companion.  My companion pretty much put shaving cream all over
my whole face and almost made me die by putting too much cereal in my
mouth, but overall, it was a pretty successful skit! The people in the
ward thought it was pretty funny, so we were stoked with the way that
turned out.

This week I want to share with you part of one of the spiritual thoughts
we shared with one of the families in our ward.  We shared the Mormon
message with them called 'The Will of the Lord' (at least that's how
it translates from the Spanish title).  I'm sure many of you have seen
it.  It's about the talk D.Todd Christofferson gave in 2011 at a
general conference meeting.  In this talk, he gives the metaphor of
how the gardener has to cut down this beautiful plant, and the plant
is sad because it looses all the things that it had to make it happy and
beautiful in its appearance. The gardener then tells the plant that he
is the gardener there and he knows what he wants the plant to become.
Anyways, the plant eventually grows up into something even more
beautiful than it was before.

It's a metaphor that is very applicable to our lives.  Many times we
are doing good, we are doing the right things, and bam, something
comes and cuts us right down, and totally ruins everything we had
going for us.  Often times we wonder why does this happen.  If God
really does love us and want the best for us, why does he let those
trials enter our lives which make us unhappy for a time.  But the
answer is in the question.  Because God loves us, he lets these things
happen.  He has divine potential for each and every one of us, but
sometimes we have to have trials to help us fulfill this potential.

Or, Maybe sometimes we have to suffer something because there is
someone else who is going to suffer something similar in the future of
our lives, and he needs us there to help that person too.  Whatever it
is, many of the trials we have in our lives despite our efforts to be
the best we can be are to help us become even more, to become even
better.

But how do we keep our cool, and allow these trials to help us.  I
mean, sometimes it's really hard to look at the bright side of life
when it just feels like nothing is going your way.  We just need to do
everything we can to be patient, and trust that the lord will deliver
us.  I Love what it says in Mosiah 23:21-22

21 Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he
trieth their patience and their faith.

22 Nevertheless--whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be
lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people.

Remember that the Lord Loves each and every one of us, and he just
wants the best things possible for us.  Sometimes we have to pass
through the lowest of lows to get there, but we know we have a Savior
who suffered those same things to carry us through those times.  Our
Father in Heaven will lead us to never ending happiness if we trust
the gardener, and use the times where we are cut down to grow into
things that are even more beautiful.

Love you all and hope you have a fantastic week



Elder Baron