He cares enough to answer our simple pleas.

Aug 26, 2013

Well... We got transfer news on Saturday and............ Nothing is changing. The way training works is that it's a 12 week program which means I will be training Elder Bartlett for 2 transfers. (That's usually the way it works unless something crazy happens.) So I'm nice and cozy out here in AJ. But there is a lot going on in the mission, we have 39 new Elders coming in on Wednesday. They opened up like 14 new areas, it's super crazy. The work is definitely hastening!

This week was tough. One of those weeks with a lot of cancellations left and right. Jamie and Marlysa, the ones that have a son named Jayce, took a step back.. They almost stopped meeting with us and started going back to their own church because they didn't see a difference. That's when I realized that we had focused too much on them focusing on reading, and praying, and coming to church that we forgot what truly leads EVERYONE to true conversion. And that's the Spirit. In Alma chapter 5, Alma tells the people that the way that he knows the truth is through the Holy Spirit. That's where conversion will come from. And I forgot that for a bit... The Spirit gave me a little smack in the face on Friday.

I'd like to share an experience. On Wednesday we had District Meeting, during the meeting we talked about being the answer to peoples prayers. I racked and racked my mind for experiences I had had where I had answered someones prayer. I know they've happened but I just couldn't think of a very specific one. That night I knelt in prayer and asked Heavenly Father for the privilege of being an answer to someones prayer. To truly do His work. That next day we were riding past one of our investigators, Marie's, and we noticed her car was there. We had an appointment for the next day but we felt like we needed to stop by. So we got our ward mission leader and we were off!! When we arrived there was another young lady there. She told us she was a member of the church but hadn't been to church since she was 8. (She's about 23.) I shared with her and Marie a scripture in Mormon 9 about God performing miracles. We got on the subject of prayer. This young lady (her name is Emerald) broke down and told us that the night before she had prayed for guidance and we showed up. 

I know that He hears us, and He cares enough to answer our simple pleas.

I love you!

Love Elder Alexander

Just another week in Paradise

Aug 19, 2013

Just another week in Paradise. I'm going to give you some people updates. Yep, that's what I'm doing.

Jamie and Marlysa (Jayce's parents): They missed church this last week because they all got sick so we'll have to push their baptism back but they are still so excited. Marlysa is in the process of quitting smoking, it's been cool to see her rely on the Lord more than she ever has before.

Renea: I don't know if I've told you about her. She has been going to church since Easter. Never been real churchy but she loves coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon. She also has to quit smoking and has a truly sincere desire to do so. She's awesome. Her son is one of the reasons she started going to church and he doesn't turn 8 until next June. She wants to wait til then to be baptized but she'll be missing out on so many blessings if she does that!

Rodney, Valerie, and Tabitha: Tabitha had a baptism date. But..... Valerie left, Rodney came to church with us Sunday and has now decided to go to a Christian church and pick up smoking. And Tabitha is moving. But she is still going to get baptized! Which is fine with me!

William: Son of Recent Convert Jessica. Awesome kid, 10 years old, so smart. But his dad won't let him get baptized. So we're praying for it!!

Those are the main ones. We have others that we are working with like Steve and Carmen. We showed up to teach them this week and Steve arrived the same time we did. Drunk. Carmen was extremely upset and we were able to teach her the value of prayer. We testified of how much it will bless her life. Between Steve's off the wall comments the Spirit was really able to touch her heart.

We've been contacting Less Actives that the ward has set us on the week and it's been awesome. Knocked on a door. Guy was no longer living there but the current tenant was super nice. Just moved form Cali, and he's pitching at MCC. He invited us back and I can't wait to see the gospel bless his life!

Still working day to day. It's been hard to keep finding, we have to be on our toes. Even if somethings working really well, if we don't change things up we'll stop seeing success, and I know that's true, so we're trying everything we've got to find new people to teach!

We went thrift shopping today. I got three slacks and some brown eccos for 20 bucks. Call me Mr. Thrifty. One of the slacks are khakis so I'm pretty excited for that.

I learned a lot this week, so many of my weaknesses were shown to me. At first I got really down and then I realized what a blessing it was to have those things shown to me. So now I can do something about it! What a blessing it is that because of the Atonement we don't have to stay the same.

Thank you for all your support, I love you!

Love Elder Alexander

Another one of our Sister entered the waters of baptism.

Aug 12, 2013

We had a lot of meetings this week. So we didn't teach quite as many lessons, or find quite as many people, but we did have the opportunity to see Sharon enter the waters of baptism on Saturday. It was amazing. We showed the Mormon Message, "Waiting On Our Road to Damascus" after Sharon got baptized and talked about how we found her and the incredible miracles that we saw. As to Sharon's request we opened it up for everyone to bear their testimonies when she was all ready to go. (She had a lot of people there for her. Full house.) Sharon also bore her testimony. It was incredible to hear her testify of the Savior and of Joseph Smith. It's the first time I have heard anyone bear their testimony within 10 minutes of being baptized. 

She's a new person. We went and talked to her last night and to hear her talk about taking the sacrament as a baptized member of the church was amazing to me. I haven't appreciated throughout my life. Now I'm trying harder. We're truly washed clean every Sunday that we worthily partake of the Sacrament. I love that there's no set list of qualifications to taking the sacrament worthily (besides being baptized and confirmed) but Our Father in Heaven has given us the Spirit. So we can choose. We can know. By the Power of the Holy Ghost we can know the truth of all things. 

We're still teaching lots of people. Jamie and Marlysa were out of town this week but we're going by tonight and they are making us steak! I can't wait for that. We have to talk about the Word of Wisdom tonight which is also a little bit scary but it'll be great. They're so prepared that I'm not even worried.

That's so crazy that everyone is leaving!! I'll have to throw Madi a bone sometime! She's going to be a great missionary, as will Ryan. I'm excited to hear about all of the stories of the family missionaries.

 As for my I pod and all that jazz. EFY cds work great. Mostly I want unique hymns that still inspire the Spirit, and any other uplifting music that doesn't distract me. So it's pretty broad. Some Disney would be ok, but not all of it ya know? Like I can Go the Distance from Hercules and stuff like that would be good. Just use the Spirit. :)

We're still seeing so many miracles it's ridiculous. I continue to pray for everyone and I'm so grateful for all the prayers that I feel everyday. I'm so grateful for the restoration of this church. The organization of it and the inspired leadership. It's amazing. 

Love Elder Alexander

There are truly Angels round about preparing the hearts of the people.

August 05, 2013

Hola Madre,

(I'm really into Spanish right now.)

Anyways, it's been another great week in the 480. Lovin life. First I'll answer your "Motherly Questions"

1. Yes I am still on a bike, Schwinny's still doing her job, I love her a lot. She isn't the best bike but she gets me around. If I ever get a car, it's going to be a tough day for me. And being on a  bike is so much better! Sure there's the heat but on the other hand we get to talk to sooooo many people. It's such a blessing.

2. I live in an apartment now. I'll send you the address sometime. But it's a nice little place, I like it. It's just me and Elder Bartlett in there and then the Spanish missionaries Elder Duff and Elder Smith live right next door and they come over every night. But of course they leave before 10:30. It's nice to have other people to talk to every day.

3. I did get me a nice little mad bag and it's working out really well. Not as bad as I thought. It's pretty much a purse but whatevs, I like it well enough.

4. No we're not online proselyting quite yet. Apparently President said that we will have IPads and  Phones by the end of the year and I'm pretty sure at that time the show will begin. But the Sisters that serve in the Visitors' Center do have the I pads and I phones already and they're on good ol FB.

Now, we saw loads of miracles this week. Loads, upon loads. There are truly angels round about preparing the hearts of the people. Did I tell you about Sharon? Well, Sharon was a referral from church headquarters which we get over text. So we stopped by. She'd met with missionaries and was about to get baptized but she wasn't living the law of chastity (living with a less active member with a son named Colten) so she couldn't. When we talked to her she told us that she wanted to get baptized but she just didn't know when. Maybe in two years is what she said. Well not on my watch!! Haha. But we shared with her 1 Nephi 8:12. Because she knew she wanted her family to be a part of the church but her husband is still less active. We were pretty bold and told her if she's tasted of the fruit and knows it's desirable then she needed to lead her family to it. 

We went back this Monday and we had no idea what to teach her. About 15 minutes before we went over I felt like we should show her a  Mormon Message called, "Our Road to Demascus" (from that dvd you sent me, thank you momma!! (Speaking of which, you sent me Mormon Messages #2 because I had the first one in my last area. Well... I had to leave that there and I wouldn't mind having my own copy :))) Anyways. Check out that video. It talks about now waiting too long to dive into full discipleship. After it was over I wasn't sure how she was going to take it. And these were the first words out of her mouth, "When's the soonest I can get baptized?" Sharon's getting baptized this Saturday. It was so incredible to see the Spirit make such a mighty change in her heart. She's so prepared and I've already seen her grow so much.

Another story, did I tell you about Jamie? Jamie pulled us over when we were lost and told us his friend gave him a Book of Mormon. We met with him and his wife Marlysa on Tuesday. They have a little three year old son named..... Jayce!! He's really shy. But anyways, we taught them the first lesson. They are seriously the most prepared people in the world. He talked about all these incredible miracles that have lead their family to our church, he could seriously see God's hand guiding him straight to where he and his family need to be. Jamie and Marlysa were at church on Sunday and are planning on getting baptized on August 24th. 

It's been so incredible to find all of these prepared people. There are more but I'll probably tell you about them later!! Can't give all my secrets away. But it has been so incredible to continue to see the work building in the area. I thought with losing 4 investigators that were baptized last week that we wouldn't be as busy but we taught over 20 lessons again and we found 5 people preparing for baptism. It's no Brazil, but it's pretty exciting. I'm really grateful for Heavenly Father guiding His children in the way he does. He loves us, I found a scripture in 1 John 3:1 that talks about how incredible Heavenly Father's love is. It's so great that even though He is so much greater than us He calls us His children. I am His son. And we are all His children. 

I am so grateful for my family! I watched a video about Christmas and I got a little homesick, but I got over it. Thanks for the pictures of the partay. The fam looks really good. Tell everyone I love them a lot!!  

Til next time,

Love, Elder Alexander

 P.S. I decided against the GPS. We're getting the area pretty good and we see miracles when we get lost haha.