The Last One!!!

I can't believe that this has come to an end, at the beginning I thought this day would never come and now look where I am at. I am so blessed for so many things. There is a lot that I have learned and a lot of people I was able to meet and love. But more than anything the relationship I was able to create with my Savior and Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for the time that I have, it has not been easy but something that I am so grateful for. 

One thing that I have come to gain an appreciation for on my mission is my family. What they mean to me and what they have done for me. When I first came out and didn't have that time with them all, and individually, I realized what each of them meant to me and how much I love and care for each of them. Even though they are still crazy, I love them. It made me think a lot about the plan of

salvation and what that means to me in a different way. I am coming out and sacrificing my family and the time I would spend with them so others can be with theirs for eternity, because God has already given that to me. I thought to myself how selfish would that be of me to keep it to myself, and not go out and share that with others. And at that moment I was able to understand what this plan really meant to me. It helped me to know that this is a short time and that I can do it. But what I am going to give and share with others is so so so important I am going to be able to bless their lives. 

During my mission I have also been able to gain and appreciate other things and a few that I want to share with you are: the importance of the SCRIPTURES. I have

come to love mine, I have a desire to read and I don't want to put it down, finding answers and personal revelation. 

The importance of PRAYER! I can't tell you how many hours I have spent on my knees pleading to my Heavenly Father for help with all of my heart. I have holes in my pants from praying. I remember some nights I was praying for an hour or more. This one has changed me and helped me with my relationship with my Savior. I am SO SO SO GRATEFUL for it!!! 

Time of reverence, where I can receive revelation and know what I need to do. The two way communication of listening to my Savior and what He needs to say to me.

The importance of WORKING WITH OTHERS. This is a big one, with companions and missionaries. But also members and leaders, this is something that I will use the rest of my life and because of the time that I have spent here and learning it now it is going to be better and easier in the future. 

TRUSTING, let God prevail! Trusting in him and that He is there, He knows I am still learning but taking Him by the hand and walking with Him is something I do every day. 

TEMPLES have been a bigger part of my mission than I thought they were going to be. I have had MANY opportunities to go to the temple, and blessed with that spirit. It has helped me see that this is something that I

need to do constantly! I love to see the temple, I have been inside, I have felt the spirit I have listened and prayed. I know that is the house of God a place of love and beauty. I prepared myself when I was young, I am grateful this is my sacred duty!!! 

Making my PERSONAL STUDY a priority, I need to get my physical exercise in the morning and this is my spiritual exercise. I can't do my day without it. I will not have the spirit with me. I need JESUS! 

THE SACRAMENT, I think I could really say that and all of you would just know. The importance of renewing the covenants and promises that we have made with our Savior. AMAZING is all that I can say. 

FAITH, I have given it all to my Savior and asked Him to take me as I am and to change and improve me. And he has been able to help me though all of the times good and hard. I never fought Him. I know that there is a reason, I may not know why but there is something. He is there and He is going to help. He is my best friend and my older Brother the one who gave it all for me! And I don't want to disappoint Him, and I won’t. 

NOT QUITTING, I will never give up. I will do it to the end. I have been able to take my challenges head on. With the help of my Savior, my Mission President and his cute wife, other trusted leaders and people, and my family. I couldn't have done it on my own, but I will do it for the Lord. DO IT FOR JESUS! 

I am so grateful for all of the relationships I have been able to make in the mission, there are so many people who have helped me and

been by my side. Relationships I never want to lose. I have had amazing companions, missionary friends, leaders, members and ward families, the people I have been able to teach, and my mission president and his amazing wife. One of the things I have loved the most about Vegas is the people. What they mean to me and how they have helped me feel loved and welcome. They have helped me through the darkest of times and the lightest of times. No words can describe the gratitude I

have for the people in Vegas. My home, my family and my saving graces! 

But the love that I have for my Savior Jesus Christ and the relationship that I have been able to make with Him is what I am most thankful for. He has changed me for the better, making me the person I need to be to help others come unto Christ. He gave His life for each of us and made it possible for me to be with Him again. He made it possible for all of us to repent. Something that I am doing every day, asking for forgiveness, help and to be made new. He suffered in the garden of Gethsemaní; he knows all of the hurt and the pain that we would go through. Emotional, physical and spiritual! And he is the one person who knows and is never going to leave us. He

gave himself to the cross and let this be His will so we can have everything. This cup could not have passed and because He drank of the bitter cup I, you, we, are not alone! We are loved, cared for, and not forgotten. He is there, He knows so don't turn from Him he can help you taking the steps to Him is the first step but as we do that He is carrying us during the hardest times. No words can describe the gratitude I have for my Savior. This has not been easy, it has been so hard but He has been by my side the whole time cheering me on and taking the big steps with me. I am eternally grateful for Him. 

No words can describe how grateful I am for the last 18 months that I have had. If you told me at the beginning of the mission I would have felt this way, and that I would be

so sad when I had to leave I don't know if I would have believed you. But this is the best thing that I have done with my life, it has changed me for the better and that is something I am so grateful for. 

Thank you all so much for the love and support you have shown me, I am grateful I have had this chance to share this with you. I hope you all feel the love that God has for you! 

I love you all and I hope you know the love that I have for my Savior. Please don't ever be afraid to share the good word of God with others. This is the best gospel in the world, share it so others can also partake of the goodness also! 

I love you all, I love this gospel, I love my family and I love my older Brother, my Redeemer, my Savior, the Prince of Peace, my Shepherd, the Creator, and the ultimate sacrifice, JESUS CHRIST! 

In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Texas Road House

Hello everyone, I hope that you are doing amazing and have had a good week! Let me just say it has been such a good week, full of emotions but yet such a good week.  

Monday was so good, we went and played sports at the church with our district. Basketball and then a fun game of Pickleball but we were always running. Running in circles, once you hit it you had to run to the other side so you could hit the ball after the other person. So glad I could get some cardio in! Haha we took a video of the elders playing and then made a highlight reel and it is the

funniest thing ever. I have been in tears so many times watching it! Their personalities are all so funny. Then just another normal day of cleaning and shopping. 

Monday night all of our lessons canceled and so we had the chance to go to the Zamora’s, they are a couple and they have a baby boy on the way!!  Let me just say the spirit was so strong, we walked in and I just knew it was going to be good. We talked, got to know them and then heard their conversation stories and they are insane. So

amazing, the Lord works and has a plan for all of us. We were able to talk a lot about trusting in the Lord and all that he has done for us. I can say that it is one of the strongest I have ever felt the spirit in someones house. I felt so weird but good. Full of peace, it was so amazing. Like I was floating on a cloud! I promise I was not on drugs but if that is what it feels like we'll then. Just kidding only the spirit can do that! But it was just what I needed to start the week. 

Tuesday, it was a beautiful day! We were able to go street contacting and walked around. No one wanted to talk to us, but right when we were leaving we found this guy. He spoke Spanish and we were able to share a message with him. He was very interested in English class, and it was a great opportunity to share that with him.

 

After we went to Sister Mason’s and got to visit and get to know

her. She is so cute and has an amazing life story. She is in young Women's and that has been good for her. 

That night we had English class and we had a good turn out. I was able to teach one of my good friends Mónica. She is so cute, first off she came on her birthday, I asked her why and she said, you are leaving soon and I want to spend time with you and that's why I had to come. She started crying and said she was going to miss me. So of course the dust was in the air and I shed a few tears. She

has touched my heart a lot. We then were able to share a thought and it was a really good English class. 

Wednesday we got up really early and went to the temple. I thought we were late but it turns out that we were the first ones. Look at that haha. And I just love the temple so much. I have been so blessed to get to go a lot of my mission and it has blessed me knowing I need to continue to go and make it a priority in my life. Afterwards we got a lot of fun pictures and then sat in the car for a training. We went home and had to go to the church because Sister Padilla had an interview. One of the cute office ladies bought us lunch so we stayed and ate with them! And then we ran and had a lesson with Tiffany, it was so good. We had amazing fellowship and were able to talk about the importance of the gospel in our lives. 

We then had to run back to the church and we had a district meeting with President. It was so good, a lot of revelation was received and trying to find ways to improve. It has been hard for everyone lately and good to talk about things we can do to get over it. 

We then went to the park and did personal and comp study, the sun felt so good. We were getting fed spiritually and then through the sun with some good vitamin D. Then from there we ran to the Thomson’s and they gave us a yummy dinner and

good company. Let's just say a never dull moment in their home. Then we headed over to the Christensen’s and had an amazing lesson with them. I have been able to get close to their family and they feel like family! So we shared our thoughts and then they had to go tell us all about their young men's camp out adventures. And it was an eventful and funny story! I was laughing so hard, a good laugh cures everything! 

Thursday nothing too crazy happened on Thursday, we planned for our week. My last time planning for my full week! Kinda sad. That night we went to a family called the Egburts and they are so cute. Her kids have some sort of special needs and it was so cool to see her interact with her kids, they were so good. We made origami hearts and had a fun lesson about service. They are all so cute and so good for all of us and then we went over to Hna Solis and her husband Miguel, who is investigating the

church. We got there and he wasn't there so we had a lesson with his wife and then right in the middle he showed up. So we were able to go and talk about some of his concerns. It was so cool, because we had fellowship there and they were able to answer all of his concerns in a way that they could relate. And that is why we take members with us!!! It was so cool. 

Friday we had district council and it was amazing as usual, jokes and fun! Then we needed to get our oil changed and a tire rotation. We called earlier and they said they were going to be available, so we went and it was a three hour wait, no way I am waiting! So we told them to call us when it wasn’t so busy. We went and got some things at the mission office we needed printed off and then the other car coordinator told us to go to Chevrolet. Let me just say, they have the comfiest couches and we almost fell asleep! But it was good we were able to get in our Spanish study. 

That night we had dinner with a part-member family and they are the cutest thing. They made yummy tacos and were very welcoming. It was a good sign because it will help us try and get them coming to church. 

Then we went to the Mires and they are a cute older couple, we got to know them more. I know them a little but they have come and helped us with some of our lessons. And then we had this yummy cherry something with ice cream. The house was warm, we got some good food and we were almost out. Haha it was fun! 

Saturday was so much fun, we went to Sunset Park and it was so windy. Well at Sunset Park they have a little pond and people usually are fishing, but on Saturday they were having a tournament. And people have remote control boats that are around 2ft long and 1ft wide and they were racing them. It was like Nascar but for boats! It was the funniest thing that I had ever seen, it just had made my day watching them race the boats in circles. One of the boats turned too sharply and they jumped in and it flipped. We were able to talk to a few people there and everyone we talked to were

so kind. We were able to find a few people, the last couple that we talked to were so nice and we were able to get to know them a lot. They believe in Christ, they were just some wholesome people, it was amazing. They are moving and aren't interested at the moment but sometimes it’s just that we plant a seed of the goodness of this living gospel.  

We then went to the Barillas and visited with them and then ran to the Leavitt, and that was a blast. They wanted to take us to Texas Roadhouse for my last week. And it was so much fun, good food, good company, and good MUSIC! I love country music and I got to hear a lot of my favorite songs. It made me so happy! 

And then we had a good lesson with Philly on the phone and

making sure he understands and if this is something that he wants. It was a good call and a good thing that happened. 

Sunday was fast Sunday, so a good day to be able to go to the church and partake of the Sacrament. It was so good to be able to go and visit with the Members and then with the Spanish branch we had an activity of breaking the fast. It was good to visit with the Members. After that we went to the Cardenas and had a lesson with James. We did the gospel of Jesus Christ, and what a good lesson it was. We then at the end did an object lesson, it is where you draw yourself and then with an erasable pen you draw sins on you. And then baptism by fire you have a lighter and then very close to the paper you get the fire and it makes the ink disappear. It was so cool and they loved it!!! 

Then we had dinner at the Christensen’s, just what I needed to finish my fast Sunday. They are always so funny, never a dull moment in their house. We had a lot of good conversations and talked about Joseph! 

And then we finished our night at the Buttas, they are a cute couple. I have been able to get to know them well over this time that I have been here. So we talked with them about a lot and they gave me a lot of good life tips. Things that will be good and useful. And then we talked about D & C 18:10-15,

and bringing souls unto church and our personal conversation and how vital that is!!! It was so cool to talk to them a and hear their conversation stories  But also how they have been able to share the gospel. 

Today I want to share, is a part from the talk "We Can Do Better And Be Better- Russell M Nelson ( April 2019 Conference) He says, "The word for repentance in the Greek New Testament is metanoeo. The prefix meta- means “change.” The suffix -noeo is related to Greek words that mean “mind,” “knowledge,” “spirit,” and “breath.”

Thus, when Jesus asks you and me to “repent,” He is inviting us to change our mind, our knowledge, our spirit—even the way we breathe. He is asking us to change the way we love, think, serve, spend our time, treat our wives, teach our children, and even care for our bodies. Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ." 

I love that repentance is not just this one time thing, this is something that we have to do over and over again. This is not just when we commit big sins it is all of it. The things we say and what we think, what we do and how we act that are unkind,

negative and rude. When we repent I love how he says that it’s a process. The way we serve, our knowledge, our mind, our spirit, even the way that we breathe. But also the ways we love, think, serve, and others. It is so important that we continue to try and be better each and every day. In the big and little things, and become more like our Savior. But this is a daily thing, I can't sit for two hours and pray for forgiveness and say that I am good for the next three months. It doesn't work that way, I know it's surprising! This is a daily thing, we all do things every day that make us into perfect people and we need the Lord to help us through it. To make us better and help us to become better and through that prodded we get better in the ways that we think and act. He is there for us and is always going to help us. I know that he is here for me and is never going to leave me, DO NOT think repentance is scary because it shouldn't be. It is a good thing because we are trying to become better! 

I love you all and hope you have a good week.