A 40 Day Fast

Hola Familia,

 

What a week!  Elder Laguna and I are working like none other and the fruits of our hard work are starting to come out of the fog.  I heard a lot of negative things about my new area and companion before I got here but I decided to come into the area with a positive attitude and man has that paid off.  I know that every area has people that the Lord is preparing and with love and understanding any companionship can work out.  So really this is going to be one of the most difficult changes of my mission so far but I know it will be one of the most rewarding as I stick it through and continue to be optimistic and just work like crazy.  We have someone named Yael on date for this coming weekend to be baptized and we found some great new families to start teaching.  I feel so happy and at peace to know that the Lord has trusted me to be here and now.  I am formulating many great plans and have a high hopes for Cuauhtemoc.

 

So this last week I did another interview and man are they powerful experiences.  I interviewed a man who has problems or had problems with a lot of the commandments.  However, as I taught and committed him to obey the laws of God he was more than willing to change his life completely.  The Holy Ghost was a third member of the interview and I felt the love of Lord for this man as we discussed the changes he needed to continue to make in order to honor the covenant of baptism.  He accepted everything and he was so happy to tell his Elders that he was going to be baptized.

 

So right now we are focusing huge time on talking to everyone we can in the street with a goal to talk to at least 140 people this coming week.  We are going to work with an urgency like I have never worked before in the mission running basically from appointment to appointment because every moment is precious in the Lord's time.  I know that this is something that will help us to find, teach, and help more people.  I KNOW that there are at least 3 complete families prepared by the Lord for us to find and this next week we are going to work with an urgency knowing that we are going to find them.

 

I started a 40 day fast on Sunday.  I made a list of all the things that are blocking my ability to have the Holy Ghost as my companion in every moment at its full extent.  I am going to pray every morning for the strength to avoid these things at all costs and to be able to recognize potential threats.  In the night I am going to give an accounting to the Lord and recommit myself.  I am looking forward to changing myself and to the opportunity to be a much more effective and dependable instrument in the hands of the Master.  I am going to make this sacrifice because I love the Savior and I love working in His vineyard.  I love the scripture in Revelations 3:19 and know that as I am obedient and work to overcome my weaknesses, the hard times I am facing right now and will face will be out of the Lord's love for me and His desire to make me the man He needs.  I love you all and hope that everyone of you is as happy and peaceful as I feel right now!

 

Disfrutando al máximo cada día,

Elder Janis

First Baptismal Interview

Hola Familia,

 

What an amazing week!  I am loving my new area and my companion is wonderful.  My companion has more time than me in the mission but did a couple things that he shouldn't have and the President put him with me to help him learn to be obedient.  I am excited to help him out and we have already had a great start in that regard!  He is a pro with the members, getting referrals and getting them excited to participate more in the work.  We work really well as a team and even though I am tecnically the Senior Companion, we work as if we are co-mayors (i.e., co-seniors).  I have a great feeling about the transfer and know that we are going to have TONS of success.  I also got to know my district on Tuesday and they are great!  I talked to them about the importance of contacting in the street and talking to as many people as they can in the day.  This last Sunday when they all called in their numbers there were already improvements in the number of lessons and new investigators.  I am excited to help them this next coming week to have more people in the chapel and people with baptismal date.

 

We had a wonderful baptism this last week in which one member of the family was baptized.  The rest of the family came to the baptism and the mom told us afterwards that she hopes that all the family follows suit!!  We are super excited to start working with the rest of the family and to help all of them accept the restored gospel.  The area that I am in has had many challenges for missionaries in the past and the President expects that I will be 100% obedient.  I am excited to do just that and I know that there are tons of people that the Lord will put in our path or us in their path.  I am grateful for the trust the Lord has put in me and will do everything to learn from my mistakes and be an example for my companion and my district.

 

So I gave my first baptismal interview this last week and man was it a special experience.  It was for a 13 year girl that was baptized but never got confirmed.  After 6 months you have to be re-baptized.  She hadn't gone to church in about 5 years and she and her mom are starting to return.  She was SO excited to start over again and be baptized but this time confirmed.  The interview was a super special opportunity and so far it is one of the things I like the best as a district leader.  Everytime I testified, told her that God loved her, or confirmed to her the blessing the baptism would have in her life, the Spirit was so strong.  I have had lessons in which the Spirit was incredibly strong but I haven't felt so strongly that the things I was saying were true.  I look forward to doing another!

 

This morning I climbed to the top of an extremely tall hill in my area called the Hill of Cuauhtemoc.  I took a lot of pictures because it was beautiful but I can't send all of them.  I chose to send you some of the ones I liked the best.  I especially love the one where I am jumping off a rock!  I love all of you and hope you all have a wonderful week!  I know that I will!!!:)

 

 

 

Con Amor,

Elder Janis

Transferred to Cuauhtemoc (Kwow-te-mok), Tenayo

Hola Familia,
 
I had one of the most fulfilling weeks that I have ever had in my life.  This past week was the last week of the transfer and it turned out to be the last week I had in Nápoles, Tacubaya.  I got a call Saturday night that I would be going to Cuauhtemoc(Kwow-te-mok), Tenayo.  Its fun to say right!  However, with this new transfer and area came a wonderful and exciting surprise.  I have just been called to be a District Leader!  What a great opportunity I have in front of me to serve and to not only help investigators but also missionaries.  I am praying and going to fast to know how to carry out this calling to the very best of my abilities.  What a responsibility but with the Lord's help I know that I can take in on and lead my district to success!  Thank you mom and dad for your excellent examples of carrying out your callings.  I can't tell you how excited I am to be in a new area and look for the elect that are prepared and waiting.  I was in Nápoles for 6 months which is super rare and such a blessing.  I loved the ward, the converts, the investigators, and all the wonderful experiences that I had there.
 
Speaking of leaving Nápoles, it was incredibly hard to leave.  The members were devastated and all told me that I would be missed.  They have all told me on multiple occasions how thankful they are for all the work that I did in their ward and for the wonderful families that we helped start going to the ward.  They were all telling me things way to nice and a couple cried when I started sharing the news.  I have grown to love the ward and it was hard to see them cry, however the missionary that will come and take my place will no doubt be a hard worker also.  I gave a talk in the sacrament meeting and it was a special experience to share with them a couple of the amazing moments I had while serving in the ward.  It was neat to look out over the stand and see the fruits of the hard work and obedience that my companions and I executed for 6 months.  They went by incredibly fast and man they were amazing!  I have been writing in my journal every night and I am so thankful for this goal that Craig gave me the idea to set because I want to remember every moment of my time here in the mission.
 
The hardest part of saying goodbye was to the families that I said goodbye to.  They were all wrote a message in a notebook I bought and we took pictures.  I shared a couple of thoughts with them and told them just how much I have grown to love them.  They all cried and it was hard to finally wave goodbye and walk out the door.  However, I know that I need to move on; I have a new opportunity to search for the wonderful souls that the Lord has prepared for me to find and help.  I have attached the photos of the families that I have grown to love so much and in the last couple of months.  I will never forget them!
 
One of the photos I am holding a bag of fish!  Lourdes and Karina, the two on the far right, bought them for me.  They were balling as they told me how much they were going to miss me and I'll never forget the appreciation they have for the little things I was able to do for them.  We can't have any type of pet and so I gave them to the two little girls in the photo, the one where we are sitting on a bed.  Another family bought me a malcajete (a stone bowl thing to make guacamole) and a maquina (to make homemade tortillas).  It was SO hard to say goodbye and know that I will be able to see them again, if not in this life, in the life that comes.
 
I hope that all of you had a wonderful week because mine was a amazing and super special; I'll never forget it!  I love all of you and look forward to informing you all about the wonderful experiences I will have here in a new area.
 
Con Amor,

Elder Janis

Overcoming Weakness

Hola Familia!

 

I am sending a quick letter to tell you that I am still alive and having the time of my life but don't have time to write much.  We had a wild week with experiences that make you love the mission field that much more and have an even greater desire work harder.  I have thought a lot about the missionary I have become and the missionary I want to become before I hit a year.  I came into the mission with a vision of who I wanted to become when all was said and done and I have thought a lot about the progress that I have in this preparation.  I have realized that I still have a long way to go and that I must focus on my weaknesses.  In my studies in the morning I have focused a portion of my time in what are my weaknesses and how I must overcome them.  I feel relieved to know that with prayer and faith Chirst will help me overcome this weakness.  I actually came to realize in a real sense that only through the Atonement of Christ will I ever progress and improve.  I am so grateful for my Savior and Redeemer and am actively looking for the sweet sensation of love that the Lord sends as we search for more understanding and comprension of His infinite sacrifice.  I love all of you and apologize again for the short letter!

 

LOVE,

Elder Janis

Janis, I want to be baptized. When can I be baptized?

Hola Familia,

 

I had a wonderful week that ended wonderfully!!!  The week was pretty stressful because we put on a ward activity to get the members more involved in missionary work and we spent a lot of time planning and carrying it out.  We passed out 300 flyers and talked with a lot members exciting them to invite people.  Sadly the day of the activity was a huge thunderstorm with thunder that shook everything as if atomic bombs were falling and there was absolutely nobody in the streets.  However, all of our progressing investigators and recent converts came and we had a blast teaching them the plan of salvation.  We had three different rooms to talk about "where did we come from?", "why are we here?", and "where are we going after this life?".  When we finished all of our progressing investigators were super excited to be baptized and the ones that were hesitant realized that it is something absolutely necessary!!  It turned out a lot different than we planned when not very many showed up but man am I thankful for the fruits that did come!

 

So we had an amazing baptismal service for a complete family of four that were so happy to make this decision as a family.  I love helping people make the correct decisions but it is especially wonderful when it is a family with father, mother, and all the kids that want to make this wonderful choice together.  They already make a great addition to the ward and the ward is especially happy to receive them!  I attached a photo that you can see them!  We ate dinner with them after church and they are so peaceful and happy.  Missionary work never gets old and won't! :)  I am looking forward to helping them prepare for a temple marriage about a year from now we hope to go with them in this special moment!

 

Right now we have a wayward son of Lourdes on date for this coming Sunday.  What a special experience it has been teaching him.  His family had to kick him out on the street because he would come home drunk yelling and hitting people.  They are had a super hard time having to do this but they have told him that they aren't going to let him in when he is in this state.  We decided that we would give it a shot trying to help him out but the two times we found him in the street he was SUPER drunk crying and pleading for help.  However, one day I felt we should stop by an investigator who ended up not being home but in the way there we found him at a taco stand.  We talked to him for a bit and invited him to come to church the next Sunday.  To our utter surprise he came and also LOVED it.  He then didn't drink for the next whole week and came to church a second time.  After the services he came up to me and said, "Janis, I want to be baptized.  When can I be baptized?"  Oh I could barely keep in my excitement and told him we would come by later in the night and we could put everything in order for a baptism.  The lesson went great and he is probably one of the most happiest people I have ever taught and the most excited to be baptized.

 

I am so thankful for the impressions of the Spirit that lead and guide us everyday in finding the people that are prepared for the Gospel.  I love the mission and especially love the moments when it hits me and I think "wow I'm here and I am actually a missionary!"  I love reading my name tag and treasure putting it on every morning!  I love you all and hope you have a great week!

 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Janis

Another Week of Multiple Miracles

Buenas Tardes Familia,

 

We had a crazy week that ended surprisingly well.  We started the week out with two complete families and a single mother to baptize but as the week progressed one by one they dropped off date.  It was hard to accept Sunday morning that we weren't going to baptize but we were excited to see our wonderful, progressing families in church.  We have one of the families with a baptismal date for this coming Sunday and we look forward to a wonderful experience throughout the week focusing on them.  The other family needs to get married and are more excited for the wedding than the baptism....we are going to work hard with them on the importance of both things and that it is vitally important that they are baptized as soon as possible.  More time they wait, more time for the opposition to do his nasty work.  We are praying hard for the two families and I know that God will work a miracle.  I will pray as if everything depends on the Lord and work as if everything depends on me.

 

We had an amazing experience this last week with inspiration from the Holy Ghost.  It was Saturday night and two of our evening appointments feel through.  With out any real solid plans of who we should pass by, we decided to seek inspiration.  We were in a bus to go to a part of our area pretty far away when I felt the need to immediately get off the bus and knock on the door of an investigator.  When we arrived at the door the investigator was not there.  I was a little confused because I felt so sure that I needed to go and knock her door.  On the way back to the main avenue to catch another bus we found a wayward son of Lourdes (a recent convert)!!  He is the only member of the Morales family that we haven't been able to talk to because he is living in the street and goes from place to place.  Lourdes, on the verge of tears, has wanted us to help him come unto Christ but without a way to contact him the Lord laid the way to find him in the street.  We talked to him for a bit in front of a taco stand and invited him to come to church.  He accepted but had the smell of a lot alcohol and the hopes of him remembering our little conversation was pretty slim.

 

After this miraculous encounter, we headed to a different part of the area to pass by another investigator.  However, again I got the impression that we must get off the bus and check on a family that lives in a HUGE apartment complex in my area.  We got off and I felt pretty lost and not sure of myself but I knew that I was impressed to get off and work in this apartment complex.  We checked on the family and they weren't there and as we were heading out to leave the thought came to me to pass by an inactive member who we had found randomly in the street the other day.  When we almost arrived at the door of the inactive member I recognized the building of a family we had received as a reference and felt the need to see how this family was doing.  About 5 months ago we had passed by and the mother told us to leave and to never come back unless called upon.  Not remembering this I went up to the gate to knock when one of the daughters came walking out of the house exclaiming "what a miracle!"  Taken aback by her extreme excitement at seeing us we walked in ready to find out why she greeted us so happily.  We started talking and she told us that her father, a member of the church, had recently died of cancer and that she had been thinking about us missionaries.  She said she had just been thinking about us when her mother asked her to go outside and dump some water out.  We shared a message with her but were interrupted by the mom telling us that we needed to leave.  We left but before leaving the daughter said the prayer.  She thanked God for allowing us to come and help her in her time of need and that only God knew what she was thinking and why she needed us to come by.  We wanted to find out why she had needed us to come by but with the time cut short by the mom and her vague answers we were left with the surety that we had come when we needed to come.  We also gave the message we were directed to give.  I don't know if I will ever know why we were directed to pass by with her but the Lord knows and I am thankful for the chance to be an instrument in the Lord's hands.

 

To end I thought I would tell you the exciting news that Lourdes´s son came to church and loved it!!!!!  What a cool experience to have found him in the street and that he actually came!  The Lord works in mysterious ways and has taken me on quite a few wonderful adventures lately.  I am excited to see what the next week has in store for us.  I love all of you and I hope that you have a wonderful start to summer vacations!

 

Con Amor,

 

Elder Janis

The Miracle Baptism of Daniel Peña

Hola Familia,

 

What an amazing week we had!!!  We are learning from our mistakes and working harder and smarter.  This week we had a baptism for Daniel Peña and I'll tell you more about how awesome of an experience it was a little later.  We also had two complete families in sacrament meeting and they are on date for this coming Sunday to be baptized!  This last Sunday was a neat experience once again to be sitting at the piano up in front and see that a good half of the ward are recent converts and investigators from my almost 6 months here.  I hope and pray that when I leave here that this doesn't change.  They all seem so happy and at peace and it brings happiness that I have never felt until the mission watching them enjoying the Sacrament.

 

So about the baptism of Daniel, it was a huge, honking, hecka miracle to the max!  He is a boyfriend of one of the members of the ward.  She brought him to church, introduced him to us, and then asked when we could come teach him.  We set up the appointment super grateful for the reference.  As we went to the first lesson we didn't know what to expect.  We began talking to him about how he liked Sacrament meeting the other day and he surprised us by saying that he had been in many a Sacrament meeting.  He then explained that he had been through many missionaries and that he still wasn't convinced about baptism. We had decided beforehand to talk about baptism and now in the lesson it was clear that it was the most important thing to talk about at the moment.  After teaching the doctrine it came time for the invitation to be baptized.  Feeling the strong Spirit that was in the room at the time I felt impressed to put him on date for the Sunday of the following week.  He thought about it for a moment and then started spitting out tons and tons of doubts.  We decided that instead of attacking them head on in this appointment that we would write a list and the next lesson we would address all of them.  He then listed off about 5 questions and doubts and we ended the lesson.

 

In the next lesson, we had prepared a lesson plan to address the list of questions and within a couple minutes we had resolved every single one of them.  We then asked him if he had any other doubts and he told us that he didn't.  Seizing this moment, I testified to him the importance of baptism and that he was ready to follow the example of Christ.  I then re-invited him and to our surprise he said "yes but I'll  tell you for sure the next time you come."  We were so excited and decided that the next time would be a baptismal interview by a Zone Leader.  When we were about to get to the church for the interview we got a phone call from his girlfriend the member telling us that he was sick and would not be going.  I told the girl from my ward that a missionary from far away was coming to talk specifically with Daniel and asked if he could still come.  About 10 minutes later she called us back saying that they would arrive in about 20 minutes.  Miraculously they arrived and we started the interview.  After the interview he came out and my Zone Leader told me that the next appointment on Friday he would tell us whether or not he would be baptized.  We were pretty excited that he was still considering following through with it and decided that we would pray and fast for him.

 

Thursday, a motorcycle policeman rolled up along side us and we not knowing what he would want greeted him cheerfully.  It turned out to be Daniel on duty in our area and he stopped to tell us that he would not be able to make it Friday because he was going to a different part of Distrito Federal to do something for work.  We made an appointment for later in the day on Friday and then went about our work of the day.  Friday we went to the church for the appointment and he wasn`t there.  We waited a whole 30 minutes calling every 2 or 3 minutes hoping that he would finally pick-up.  Elder Lubiano and I said a quick prayer together and then decided to wait a bit.  We then tried to call him again and this time he finally answered.  We asked him how he was doing and then if we could go ahead with his baptism and he said "yes, what do I need to bring?"!!!!  We then made all of the preparations.

 

Sunday the day of the baptism he arrived late to church meetings but man was I relieved to see him walk in, happy to be there.  During the third hour when we had finished putting all our investigators in their classes, the girl who gave us the referral of Daniel came up to us very worried about something.  She then explained that she was worried that Daniel wasn't ready for his baptism and that it would just be a bath rather than a real baptism.  I felt prompted to tell her that he was ready.  As I said it I felt a strong sensation of the Holy Ghost bearing testimony to me and to her that he was in fact ready and willing to be baptized for the right reasons.  She feeling a lot better about things went back to her class.  In the baptismal service there was such a sweet feeling of the Spirit in the room and I felt over and over again that Daniel was in fact ready.  As he went through the ordinance, the Spirit of Promise testified to us of the divinity of the baptism and that the Lord accepted it.  I talked to him afterwards as he explained to me that he finally understood the importance of obedience and that it was to do the things God commanded because there is no other way.

 

He congratulated us telling us that we were the winners of 8 other missionaries before us.  This experience is such a testimony to me of the purpose we have as missionaries.  We are here in the mission field to invite people unto Christ through faith, repentance, and baptism.  As we focus on this fundamental fact we will see much more success.  More people will want to take the step of baptism when they understand the importance and the blessings they will receive.

 

I love the Lord and going about His work.  It was such a sweet experience to look back on the conversion of Daniel and see the hand of the Lord guiding us in what to do.  I have learned that in every conversion story the hand of the Lord played the prominent role.  I am so grateful for this and for the opportunity to be a part of this miracle.  I hope all of you have a wonderful week and I love you tons and tons.  We will have news of the baptismal service of two families this next coming letter!

 

Con muchisimo amor,

Elder Janis