Should've brought my own...January 22, 2018 Week 26

Well another week has bitten the dust and again here we are, on an Ikea sofa in a mall writing emails haha. 

This past week has flown by. Time in the mission just seems to speed up, especially the harder you try to stay on top of it all. Last Tuesday we got off to quite a start going 4/5 on lessons which is ridiculous thinking back to the miracle it was to have one when I got here. The area has came a long way. Then we continued grinding and our good Venezuelan amigo John has finally made some progress. After 3 months of barely hanging by our fingertips, we reestablished some contact with him. By some miracle we ended up crossing paths with him and his kids Tuesday night, and set a lesson for Thursday morning. Then another miracle, he didn't fail the appointment. So we taught the plan of salvation to him (his kids were in school) and set a baptismal date! And we continued to grind. 

Then we had the zone conference Friday. It was awesome. We had just the regular announcements, dying testimonies (people headed home) and spiritual messages, all of which were about our purpose as missionaries. Then we ate lunch and started the second part of it. I walked back in, the tables were all changed up and I was like "it's about to go down" haha. Then they gave us our new smart phones, did an orientation,  gave us a bunch of other information like the fact that everyone that comes into the mission from now on will have their own smartphone instead of tablet. That why I should have just brought my own. But in all reality the technology is huge and has been super helpful already. Super excited to see where it goes from here. 

I've also been thinking a little about thoughts lately haha. And here are my thoughts. It's a little bit of a rant but something I've become super passionate about:

 Even as you think so you shall be. If you think about bad things, innapropriate things your bound to follow and eventually end up becoming, or acting on what your thoughts are. But the inverse is also true, and can have wonderful rewards. If you think about being a good person your bound to become a good person. AS YOU THINK SO YOU SHALL BE! I've realized this in my life especially looking back. Football was always one of the most important things to me, and so I thought about it a lot and eventually it paid it off. The other part to that was action. I had to leave some stuff behind, some junk food, a couple nights of staying up late, I had to change some stuff, my schedule, my priorities, I HAD TO PUT FORTH EFFORT. I found a really cheesy saying on Twitter one day and it said "Everyone wants to be a beast, but no one is willing to do beastly things".THERE COMES A POINT WHEN OUR PLEASURES COME IN CONFLICT WITH THE THINGS THAT WE TRULY WANT BUT ARE HARD and THIS IS WHEN IT MATTERS. What are you going to do? Will you do the beastly things? Will you be self disciplined? Do you give in and keep thinking about it? Are you so attached to insignificant things that you let them impede your progress? or do you take the step and leave some stupid stuff behind for something so much greater? Now I have seen this even more on my mission. I have spent a lot of time thinking about Jesus Christ, and trying to emulate his characteristics. But again the serpent rears its head, AM I WILLING TO GIVE UP PERSONAL COMFORTS TO BECOME SOMETHING GREATER? Will I go out of my way to help others? Will I take a pride check to become more humble? Will I legitimately do my best to be kind to others? Or will i take the easier route? If you were to lose everything you had, I mean everything, what would hurt the most to lose? Would it be your phone? Would it be your house? Would it be your 10 pairs of shoes, or your favorite outfit that you are ridiculously proud of? Or would it be the things that aren't replaceable? Like relationships, opportunities, and the other things we take for granted. Our Heavenly Father is the only person who knows what we are really capable of and what's going to matter in a thousand years. Will we let go of the frivolous extras, to become what God knows we can be? What I'm saying is, find out what's really important, do beastly things, but most importantly WATCH YOUR THOUGHTS!

 I love all of you guys and hope you have a good week this week. Remember to count your blessings, say your prayers, and play nice. I know God we help us in anything that is righteous, all we have to do is ask. Until next week. 

Ft. The Murcia Boys in Zara