Hey all!! We are doing great out here in the hot and humid jungle of La Merced!!! I am now with Elder Carrasco, from Chile. He is great, a convert of a little more than 2 years. He is 19 and is just a little ball of energy. He kinda looks like goofy but I love him the same. HaHa.
This week we are going to search for the Young Men and Young Women of the ward. They really need a lot of the principles taught by the gospel and so we are going to go find them and start doing their mutual activities with them to help them feel more comfortable in the church. it has become very evident to me how badly the people here need the church and the principles of Jesus Christ in their lives. I live in a very poor part of the country, where the education is limited, where they dont know how to read write and do simple mathmatics. All the teachings of Jesus Christ point to us being self sufficent and searching for more knowledge. hopefully we can get the youngins involved in this and help them prepare themselves for their futures and future families.
The church is really young here and many of the leaders are struggling with their callings. We have been praying for some help for them to figure out their stuff. And it came ;) This sunday we saw a great conference from Salt Lake talking about THE BASICS of the gospel. Which is centered in the family, and help us to have the unity we search for. We realize now this is what the members here are lacking, the family love and unity that comes from Family Prayer and Family Scripture study. We are going to help them all by starting this week teaching them how they can strengthen their homes and their families through prayer and scripture study. It will be a struggle, but I just always have to remind myself what our goal is. Our goal is to help the FAMILIES GO TO THE TEMPLE. Whether they are Active, Inactive, or non members, our goal is to help them and prepare them enough so they can get to the temple and make the sacred convanents we need to return AS A FAMILY to the presence of our Heavenly Father. There is no greater love than that of a Heavenly Father, or a Heavenly Family. That is our goal :)
I hope you all have a fantastic week, and ponder and think about how we can all get a little better, smile a little more, and remember a few more times every day, what our Heavenly Father has done for us. I promise that as you do this, you will begin to see the hand of God in your lives a little more, where you will have no choice but to thank Him for the love you gives you.
Hope yall have a great week,
Elder Bell
Monday, October 19, 2015>>>Last week of this Transfer...
It is crazy to think that another Transfer has come and gone!!! Elder Garcia is headed home and I am waiting for a new companion. I remember my second transfer here in the mission, Elder Garcia was my District leader. The first time I saw him, I thought, "crap another latino I have to speak spanish to," Then he responded to me, "Hey man whats up, how do you like the cold?" I almost pooped my pants. It was a great transfer here with him with a lot of great and humbling experiences that really helped us grow and taught us the things we needed to know, in the moment we needed it.
Now we wait... wait for the new companion to come in and start to help this ward. My goal for this transfer is to do service. But do it ALOT. We have so many members here who need help, that struggle reading and finding work or dont have the economical resources they need to clean or repair their homes, so that is where we come in. :) The church is very young here, and the worldly culture that surround it is completely contrary to its principles and teachings. Helping the members realize this and practice it is sometimes frustrating. But it gives us more opportunities to teach, and love like the Savior did to his early followers. I know that if we remember to love always, that we dont get frustrated and keep trying to help people. Someone will realize it, and they will make the change and the progress we are trying to give them.
This last week we went to a place called Pampa Michi. It is a actual indian tribe that still follows their ancient teachings, they wear dresses and paint their faces. we learned a lot about their culture and customs and their heritage. It was really cool I will have to send some photos next week :) Forgot the camera haha. After that we went up to a little waterfall. it was tiny but it was perfect, allowing us to head back to play some volleyball as a zone and take some time to just sit and chat and relax for once. it was a great P-Day to end the transfer.
I hope you all have a fantastic week and enjoy the little things, they are really the most important things anyway,
PS- I am going to the gym 3 times a week here it is great we just found a gym and it is fantastic!!!
Love you all!!!
Elder Bell
Love you all!!!
Elder Bell
Monday, October 12, 2015>>> The Jungle!!!
Well this week was a great week. Not a whole lot happened but a few things are:
We made the best tacos in the world...(must have used the Del Scorcho from Del Taco I sent him)
We are planning a few service activities for a few less active members
We are going to pampa michi today
Yeah not a whole lot but something that I learned was this.. The importance of being humble and repenting really take us far. Pride and ingorance dont get us anywhere. We need to humble ourselves and realize that we arent "all that and a bag of potatoe chips"... When we look at ourselves from a high plane of view we can really see where we need to improve, that we arent as good as we may think we are, BUT when we do that, we see the potential that we really have, and we can grow fast and furious.
I know that God knows us individually, He knows what we need and when we need. All we need to do is wait for the response and be willing to accept it and make the change.
I invite all you to follow the council given to us in General Conference, keep the commandments and keep moving forward.
I love you all, I dont have a whole bunch of time today, BUT know that I am going to have a great week ;)
Elder Bell
Monday, October 5, 2015>>> This week in the Jungle
Hello all,
Hope you had a great last week and a even great Conference Weekend. What a powerful conference it was. Seeing the sustaining of 3 new apostles, hearing the powerful declarations against the vain and impure things of the world, really goes to show that the church IS not and WILL not change just because the social and political flows are saying that it should. We know that this world is ran by an unseen power that has been put here to tempt us and help us grow. Unfortunately most of the world, gives into these temptations and are impeiding their personal and eternal progress when we allow ourselves to be swallowed up in the temptations of the adversary. What I learned this weekend I can not put it all into words. It was that much :) The importance of the family, and having it be centered on the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the importance of patience and understand of the Will and Timing of the Lord, the importance of being worthy of the priesthood and its blessings But most of all, the importance of keeping and upholding Gods commandments. They are NOT barriers that stop us from having fun, rather they are the ONLY things that keep us safe and allow us to have a controlled life while enjoying the benefits of having this mortal body. Many people say, "Its my body and I can do what i want to" well, having recieved your agency from God in the premortal life, this statement is partially true. But, our body is a gift from God to use in a proper manner, to tune our skills and abilities that we have been given to benefit others as well as ourselves. For example, President Russell M. Nelson was a extraordinary Heart Surgeon. He wasnt just born that way. He had to practice, learn and grow. He had many times where he wanted to give up along the way, but he didnt. He knew that the Savior did not give up on us so he could not give up, he had yet to reach his potential. So he kept the commandments, held his ground against temptation to quit, and then he went on to help develope the artifical heart for the benefit of all humanity. You see, keeping the commandments ALLOWS us to grow and become who we are meant to become. This life is not just a giant party and whatever happens, happens. This life is for us to look for, prepare, learn and perfect the gifts and skills that God has given us. We are all different, we all have different likes and dislikes, And that is EXACTLY why God created us, for us to grow and become like him, all-knowing. We can continually learn and get better, we can become a light to those around who seem to be lost, and because we have been faithful, we can pull them along until they can get back on their feet, and see with their own eyes the potential that they hold.
Conference really opened my eyes as you can see, we all have purpose in this life, but, we all have work to do, to obtain our potential. I hope all of you, can take the advice given in conference by Allan D. Haynie, The commandments are not a barrier to keep us from having fun, They are a barrier to keep us safe in an ever changing and fallen world, I love you all, I am grateful for the opportunity I have to be here and to help others realize and acheive their potential, the potential one can see when they search for, prepare, learn, and perfect their skills and abilities that God has given to each of us individually, because He loves each of us, individually.
Have a fantastic and life changing week,
Elder Bell
No comments:
Post a Comment