May 27, 2009

Well first i want to thank you for the letter, because it was a good one. which means that i will forgive for last week. but how is everything going? is sure seems like everything is going really well for you guys there. Having fun, going to the Zoo, and playing around. which is always good. we do the same thing here when we want to have a little bit of fun. like today for example we played some soccer and had some fun, and it is pretty good having a district that is awesome. we always joke around and have tons of fun, but it doesnt interupt our work. our district has been having a baptism every week and we have to thank Our Father in Heaven for that. Because very week we are able to find some one that is interested in moving their life. and that is one thing that i have really been able to see on my mission. The gospel moves livs and blesses people beyond anything that you can imagine. i am really gratful for the gospel and for the opportunity that i have been givn to serve in this area. last week we had a really good week. the assistants arrived last week and they stayed with us until monday morning. they came to see how the work is going and how we are doing. we had a lot of fun with them but also we got a ton of stuff done. and as you know that two of old companions are assistant and well one of them came here and i was able to work with him. it was pretty cool being able to work with him again. but yeah.....as for our week....... We started the week out with marking four baptisms. A family that we had been teaching for a long time but we had stopped teaching them because they werent progressing. but on Sunday last week they came to church without an invitation. so we marked their baptism for next week and if everything goes well they will all be baptized. and then on the same day we starting teaching an incredible family, Carla´s family. Carla is friends with a recent convert and we started teaching here two weeks ago. but we were only teaching her and then she told us that her family wanted to hear our message. so we went there and we taked with all of them. they are a family of 5 and their cousin is living with them right now. and they are just an awesome family. they went to to church and are progressing everyday more and more. all the kids have said that they know that everything that we have been teaching is true. and the mom also received an answer to her prayer. but the father hasnt prayed yet. and you know how they are.....they are always the hardest to teach. but tonight we are going to mark their baptismal date, knowing that the kids will accept and praying that the spirit has already touched the father´s heart.I also want to tell you a little bit about Carla. she is way cool.....she is 17 and already has a strong testimony of the church and is a great help and example for her family. She already loves to do missionary work and is always living with the other members to visit investigators and recent converts and less active members. On Sunday she brought a family of recent converts to church. she went to their house to take them to church. it was a first for me, i have never seen an investigator take recent converts to church. she also has given us a couple of referrals and went with us one day to her cousins house....one of her referrals. we left the message with her and then Carla said the closing prayer. and it was a pretty dang good prayer....she asked that her cousin could make it to OUR(meaning her church as well) church and also that her cousin could feel the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.....i couldnt believe that she is already calling The Church Her church. and her cousin is way funny too. she is a fourteen year old girl and you know how they are. hey way they talk and the way the act. well yeah.....we were at their house on Monday and we were answering their questions. and she always asks tons of questions. and so she started.......she asked us if God really forgives us when we repent. so we explained to her that He does. then she asked if we can trick God into believing that we have repented but in our hearts we really havent. so we explained that God knows our hearts and knows our deepest desires and even our thoughts and He knows when we have really repented. and then came the last question......But how does know our hearts when our heart is only a red ball full of blood?.......and i couldnt help myself, i started laughing my head off along with everyone else. it was really funny, and she always asks us things that that too. but on monday night we had a great lesson there. we had a little bit of a testimony meeting there, because a few members showed up to help out with the lesson. so all nine of us bore our testimonies. and it was a really good thing too, because it helped them feel the impact that the church has had on all of our lives. Our Ward Mission Leader used to be a drunk that always past out in the street and slept in the street and now is a leader in the church and helps us out a ton. we was really good to be able to also bear my testimony to them. because it has been awhile since the last time that i was able to bear my testimony like that. i was able to tell them how i gained my testimony and i cryed and it felt good to do so. alot of the family was crying there because the spirit was so strong, it was awesome. i love the mission, there is no other place that i would want to be. i mean i miss my family and my friends and a lot of things that i used to do at home. but i have never felt so happy in all my life. the gospel is true and it is because of the gospel that i am able to enjoy happiness. i have had a lot of struggles in my life and i know that there are other people in the world that have had worse or more struggles than i have. but i know that anybody can receive happiness beyond there wilderness dreams through the gospel. i know that Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet, like Moses and Noah and Adam and Enoch and all the holy prophets from the Scripture. Jesus is the Christ and it because of Him and His love that i am able to say all of this. it is because of all the He as done. On the earth and in the Heavens, because He is no longer on the face of the earth. but He continues to guide this church through a living Prophet of God who is Thomas S. Monson. i love you all and i hope that everything is going for everyone in the states. i miss you all but i love being a missionary. but yeah.... think that that is all that i have to say for the time being. but pray me and pray for my investigators and pray for everyone so that they may all be able to come unto the marvelous light that is the gospel. love you and until next week. Hugs and Kisses to all!!!!!
With Love, Elder Jory B. Spotts