tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10442735428137639592024-03-12T19:12:03.432-07:00Elder Humbert's MishUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-51830092098774456452013-01-05T16:20:00.000-08:002013-01-05T16:20:07.193-08:00Homecoming Talk<br />
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Perfected
by Charity</div>
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I served in the Hermosillo Mexico Mission, which is located in the state of Sonora, just below Arizona. And for
those of you that don't know, Sonora is a desert. Four of my five
areas were especially hot (with temperatures reaching up to 130<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">º</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
F in the summer)</span>, and I was sunburned in each and every one of
them. Fortunately, however, after being home for about a month, all
the burns have faded away, although the tan lines are taking a bit
longer. I know that with time, all of the physical evidences of the
fact that I served a mission shall be gone. But I also know that what
I did in my mission, and more importantly what the Lord did to me,
shall forever affect me spiritually. I know that a mission,
faithfully served with all the might, mind, and strength that a youth
can muster, shall also bless his or her life forever.
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Two
years ago, in the MTC, I heard Jeffrey R. Holland say that he hopes
that every returned missionary can say what he has said on numerous
occasions, that “[His] mission meant everything to [him].” I can
gladly stand before you all today and say the same. My mission meant
everything to me, and I would also desire for each and every person
that is preparing to serve, that is serving, or that has already
served as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints to one day be able to say that their mission meant everything
to them. I was not a perfect missionary, and was by no means the
best, but I do know that serving a mission can help anyone progress
farther on their path to become what the Lord would have them be,
which is to be “. . . holy, without spot” (Moroni 10:33).</div>
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<a href="" name="footnote77"></a>
This, the admonition to become perfect, is nothing new. In 3 Nephi
12:48, Jesus Christ extends to each of us an invitation—“Therefore
I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in
heaven is perfect. ” This has been described by many as the most
difficult commandment, and is surely one of the most challenging. But
it should not be much of a surprise for any of us. Our Heavenly
Father is surely a God of high expectations, and requires nothing but
our best efforts in order to receive all the blessings that He has
and to become what He desires us to become. It is because of this
that He has given us the mandate to do all that we possibly can in
order to become perfect.</div>
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Unfortunately,
the seemingly impossible nature of this commandment causes some of us
to falter, to lose hope in our own abilities and potential, and to
even give up completely on ever fully obtaining this goal, becoming a
hindrance rather than a help. But despite its difficulty, each and
every one of us must strive to obey it—for there is no imperfect
person that dwells in the presence of God, and mediocrity does not
exist in the cele<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">stial king</span>dom
(3 Nephi 27:19). Fortunately, however, we are not alone. The path has
been walked before by our Elder Brother Jesus, and He is willing to
teach us how to walk it as He once did, and to be there to help every
step of the way. And so that we too may be able to enjoy all the
blessings that He enjoys and “be perfect with the Lord [our] God”
(Deut. 18:13), the Messiah performed the Atonement in order for us to
be pure and holy, even as He and our Father in Heaven are pure and
holy. Because of this great and eternal sacrifice, we may know that
once we have done all that is in our power to meet the Lord's perfect
requirements, He shall fill in the rest.</div>
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But
before we try to perfect ourselves, we must have a clear vision of
what we must become, and to know what the end result of all of this
is. As Alfred Adler once said, “God, who is eternally complete, who
directs the stars, who is the master of fates, who elevates man from
his lowliness to Himself, who speaks from the cosmos to every single
human soul, is the most brilliant manifestation of the goal of
perfection.” Heavenly Father Himself and His Son Jesus Christ have
always been our examples. They are one in mind, purpose, and
character, although not in personage. We know that They, like all
glorified persons, have perfect and incorruptible bodies of flesh and
bones (D&C 130:22,) are all-knowing (2 Nephi 9:20), all-powerful
(1 Nephi 7:12), all-just (Deut. 32:4), all-merciful (Mosiah 28:4),
and all-loving (Romans 8:38-39).
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That's
quite an intimidating list. It is understandable to think that shall
never arrive to that point in this life, and I doubt that any of us
have perfected even one of those attributes. But that should never
stop us from trying.</div>
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Unfortunately,
though, we cannot attain complete physical perfection like the Father
and His Son, and never will until after the Resurrection (Alma
40:22-23), no matter how much we exercise and how well we eat. But we
can, in our desire to reach the finish line, drive ourselves to
become excellent in our physical and technical efforts. Olympic
athletes continue to set and break world records every four years,
some even receiving perfect scores in the process. In a similar
manner, those who enjoy activities such as art, poetry, music, and
other pursuits are driven to greater and newer heights as they strive
to perfect what they do and who they are.</div>
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But
physical completeness and technical excellence should not be our
primary goal in this life. They are important, to be sure, but unless
they help us achieve our goal of spiritual perfection, they are not
of great significance, for as Paul once taught Timothy, “. . .
bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto
all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which
is to come” (1 Tim. 4:8). The true perfection of which Christ spoke
is that of perfection in spiritual matters, to be “complete, whole,
and fully developed; totally righteous [and] without sin or evil”
(see <u>The Guide to the Scriptures</u>:
Perfection). This divine ambition can include striving to learn and
apply all we can of the Gospel of Christ, magnifying our Church
callings, loving and serving our neighbor, along with practicing and
fostering a Spirit of righteousness within our own homes and
families.</div>
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As with our physical goals, the desire to be perfect in spiritual
matters can serve as a great motivation to do all that we can to
become all that the Father would have us be. And of all the divine
attributes that we should acquire and perfect in this life is that of
charity, the pure love of Christ. The reason for this is simple. As
Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, “Though I speak with the
tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as
sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though
I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not
charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the
poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity,
it profiteth me nothing.” Therefore, as much as knowledge, faith,
sacrifice, and covenants prepare us to be with God after this life,
so is charity an essential element in helping us to return to live
with the Lord and becoming perfected in Him, and without it, we “.
. . cannot inherit that place which [Christ] hast prepared in the
mansions of [His] Father” (Ether 12:34). Without charity, we can do
nothing (D&C 18:19).
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So for whom should we have charity? We learn from the Scriptures
that we should “. . . love the Lord the [our] God with all [our]
heart, and with all [our] soul, and with all [our] mind” (Matthew
22:37, 39), and as 2 Nephi 31:20 states, we should also have a love
of ALL men. This means that put simply, we should love absolutely
EVERYone—our Father in Heaven being the most important of them all,
and that we should always manifest that love by keeping His
commandments (John 14:15).</div>
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But charity, for the Lord and for others, is not just a requisite to
live in the celestial kingdom, but is one of the greatest blessings
that we can have in order to live the Gospel. When we have charity, a
few interesting things happen. If you truly love the Lord as the
Scripture states, you will not have desires to disobey the
commandments. You shall stop questioning His counsel and that of His
servants, becoming submissive, meek, humble, patient, and willing to
submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon you
(Mosiah 3:19). And if you truly love others, as PMG states, “You
will come to feel a sincere concern for the eternal welfare and
happiness of other people. You will see them as children of God with
the potential of becoming like our Heavenly Father, and you will
labor in their behalf. You will avoid negative feelings such as
anger, envy, lust, or covetousness. You will avoid judging others,
criticizing them, or saying negative things about them. You will try
to understand them and their points of view. You will be patient with
them and try to help them when they are struggling or discouraged”
(p. 118).</div>
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If you have charity, living the commandments will not be a hardship,
but a privilege. Doing your home or visiting teaching will no longer
be a chore, but a joy. You will not have to fight with yourself to
fulfill your responsibilities in the Church or in your own home. If
you and your family have perfect charity one for another, there will
be no bickering, no fighting, and no contention. Charity, in a sense,
makes the entire Gospel “easier,” not because it is something
that we do, but because it is something that we are.</div>
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But how can we cultivate this type of charity? First, we must
understand our need of it, not just in our minds, but also in our
hearts, and for that need to be confirmed by the Holy Ghost (2 Nephi
33:1). This spiritual confirmation of the heart, which is <i>felt</i>
rather than thought or heard, is key in our efforts to be
charitable, for as M. Russell Ballard said in the past General
Conference, “Only when our testimony transcends what is in our mind
and burrows deep into our heart will our motivation to love and to
serve become like unto the Savior's. It is then, and only then, that
we become deeply converted disciples of Christ empowered by the
Spirit to reach the hearts of our fellowmen” (<i>Anxiously Engaged</i>,
p. 30 <u>Ensign</u>
Nov. 2012). Second, we may “. . . pray unto the Father with
all the energy of heart, that [we] may be filled with this love . .
.” (Moroni 7:48), asking for divine help through prayer. Third, we
must try all we can to see the good in others. If we focus on the
negative, there will always be some fault or defect in the character
of other people. But if we focus on that which is good, we will have
a sincere and natural admiration for that person, which fosters an
attitude of charity. And fourth, after having done all we can to have
this perfect charity, we can let the Lord fill in the rest, and let
ourselves feel His love for the people we also want to love.</div>
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I had many experiences with this on my mission. It is easy to get
along with fun and hard-working companions, and to feel affection for
investigators and members that always do what they can to help the
work continue to move forward. But then again, there are the
companions that aren't so easy to love, and investigators that are
very hard to even like. But missionaries, more than anyone else, need
to have this love for others, and for others to feel charity radiate
through them. Obviously we do not want others to be converted to us,
but to Christ, but as I just stated, when the Spirit of the pure love
of Christ is present, it is much easier to live the Gospel.</div>
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When I was in my fourth area, I arrived in the place of an
incredible missionary. He had worked miracles there, and replacing
him was no small task. He and my new companion had been teaching a
family, who were preparing to be baptized. When we first arrived to
their home, they told us, “Honestly, we don't want to become
attached to or love either of you. It hurt too much when the other
elder left, and we don't want to go through that again.” I sat
there, brand new in the area, thinking, “Great. This is going to be
awesome. Even the investigators that want to be baptized don't want
anything to do with us.” I tried my hardest to see the good in the
situation, and to see the good in them, even though it was obvious
that they would have preferred that I be the other elder. They still
wanted to learn, however, so we continued to teach and prepare them
for baptism. In the process, I understood and felt the need to love
them, and I prayed for the Lord's help to do so as often as I could.
I also tried to see the good in their family, despite their obvious
disappointment of who we were. And even after all of this, I came up
short. I still did not feel perfect love towards them. That is when I
tried the fourth step. I could not bring myself to do it on my own,
so I brought in the Lord's help, not <i>just</i> through prayer, but
through an active effort. Perhaps I could not love them completely,
but I knew that the Lord already did. I tried to think of what <i>He</i>
felt for them, and <i>His</i> desire for them to be a happy and
complete family.</div>
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As a quick side note, I only speak for myself. My companion loved
that family, and my personal struggle in doing so is in no way a
statement of his love for them.</div>
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<i>That</i> is when the true miracle occurred. I had done all I
could. And after that, the Lord filled in the rest. We felt love for
them, and they felt it. Not only was the family baptized, but they
were truly converted. The whole house changed. The small and
insignificant problems that they had had no longer mattered as much.
There was less contention and more love. They are more unified. They
still love the Church, and the two youngest daughters even sang in
the Primary program of their ward a few weeks ago. They are still far
from perfect, as we all are, but as they continue to do all that they
can to have that love for the Lord and for one another, they will
become more and more perfected in Christ.</div>
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I know that it was not because of me, my love, or my companion and
his love, that they were converted, but I know that the Lord had a
hand in them feeling His love through us. And with that, they were
more prepared to descend into the waters of baptism and to begin a
new life in Christ.</div>
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I love that family, almost as much as I love my own. I would do
anything for them. I love all of my converts. I love the people I
taught. I love my companions. I love Mexico, and I love its people,
despite all their imperfections. I love my mission. I love the Lord,
for what He has done for me and for what He has done for those that I
love. But above all, I love Him because He helped me learn what it is
to truly love others.</div>
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But don't get me wrong. I am not all-loving. I don't have the most
charity in the world, and I would be very wrong to say such a thing.
I have met people like that, and so far, I am not one of them. But I
also know another thing. If I continue this pattern, I can, through
that charity, become perfect in it. I know that all the principles of
the Gospel are true, and that all Christ-like attributes are
important, but in my own personal opinion, charity is the one that
purifies us the most. For as Paul once exhorted the Colossians, “And
above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of
perfectness” (Colossians 3:14).</div>
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If any of you feel you can improve in your desires and efforts to be
spiritually perfect, I would invite to try a little harder, and I
promise you that charity will help you do so. And if you feel that
you are already doing all that you can, I promise that if you ask for
God's help, and actively strive to deserve it, He will fill in the
rest, for “. . . it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can
do” (2 Nephi 25:23).</div>
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<a href="" name="footnote56"></a><a href="" name="footnote57"></a><a href="" name="footnote58"></a><a href="" name="footnote59"></a><a href="" name="footnote60"></a><a href="" name="footnote61"></a><a href="" name="footnote62"></a><a href="" name="footnote63"></a><a href="" name="footnote64"></a>
In closing, I would like to
remind all of you of an invitation similar to that which Jesus Christ
extended to us in 3 Nephi 12:48. This was given by Moroni, and these
words are some of the last that he wrote in the Book of Mormon. It is
found in Moroni 10:32-33, and states, “Yea, come unto
Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all
ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and
love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace
sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ;
and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise
deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace of God are
perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in
Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of
Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of
your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.”</div>
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TESTIMONY</div>
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In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.</div>
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-29046686948614353302012-11-01T13:53:00.000-07:002012-11-01T13:53:02.836-07:0010.29.12 -- Nogales <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Hey,</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">A common street in my area. You can see other pictures later. Patience is a virtue.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z9FPEZgtm6w/UJLgkKHWiPI/AAAAAAAAHRQ/-4n6GxNPmlo/s1600/October_29th_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z9FPEZgtm6w/UJLgkKHWiPI/AAAAAAAAHRQ/-4n6GxNPmlo/s400/October_29th_003.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I`ll talk to the missionaries when I get home. I`m looking forward to that--I want to see how the work is in the States, and see if I can adjust to teaching in English. Although I`ll have to start looking for a job when I get home too, so I don`t know what`ll be happening. But just remember this: we force NO ONE to live the gospel. No one can live on borrowed light and never will. The only person that was able to vicariously save anyone else (ALONE) was Jesus Christ. WE may be able to do vicarious work for others in the temple, but that is ONLY thanks to the Atonement.<br /><br />I`ll be looking forward to Skyler´s talk. That´s so cool that he´s going on a mission. THAT. IS. AWESOME.</div>
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We´ll keep working all this week. I´ve never stopped working and I have no intention of doing it now. Even if we´re losing two days in the week because of concilio--we leave tomorrow to go to Hermosillo and get back on Wednesday. I´ll be going through the Hermosillo temple for the last time tomorrow night. And on Wednesday I have to present something on how to help people repent in concilio . . . that´ll be interesting. Especially since I had to prepare a talk again last week for Church.</div>
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Experiences--</div>
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We were able to see E. Barker and E. Martinez baptize a small family this Sunday. The Spirit was strong and we were able to take two investigator families to the service. They loved it. And yes, we were able to find another family this week--just the Dad is a member, and he travels a lot. He got to Nogales and told us to come teach his family. Yet another family I`ll be leaving. That kind of hurts, but at least I`ve got practice.</div>
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We visited an old woman this week. She´s been a member for 50 years, but can´t get to Church by herself, she needs help. But when we got there, her whole face just lit up. She´s shorter, wrinkled, and, well, very "mature," but I`m pretty sure some of the Lord´s purest and most precious souls are contained in the smallest and most wizened vessels.</div>
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We taught a Christian man this week about the Book of Mormon. His family are members, but he´s not, and really did NOT want to accept the Book of Mormon, he just wanted to continue reading the Old and New Testaments (which <i>are</i> important and great, by the way). "A Bible, a Bible . . ." We tried as hard as we could to keep it peaceful, and we did, but in the end, as all people have to do when confronted with someone that doesn´t want to listen, we testified. E. Hurtado bore his testimony. The already present Spirit increased. I testified. I read to him 2 Nephi 33: 10-11.</div>
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<div style="background-color: #f9f6ed; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #2f393a; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 1px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">10 </span>And now, my beloved brethren, and also <sup style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 10px; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/33?lang=eng#" rel="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?lang=eng&volumeUri=bofm&bookUri=2-ne&chapterUri=33&noteID=10a" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #486fae; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Jew</a>, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and <sup style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 10px; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">b</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/33?lang=eng#" rel="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?lang=eng&volumeUri=bofm&bookUri=2-ne&chapterUri=33&noteID=10b" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #486fae; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">believe</a> in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall<sup style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 10px; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">c</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/33?lang=eng#" rel="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?lang=eng&volumeUri=bofm&bookUri=2-ne&chapterUri=33&noteID=10c" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #486fae; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">believe</a> in Christ ye will believe in these <sup style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 10px; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">d</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/33?lang=eng#" rel="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?lang=eng&volumeUri=bofm&bookUri=2-ne&chapterUri=33&noteID=10d" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #486fae; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">words</a>, for they are the<sup style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 10px; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">e</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/33?lang=eng#" rel="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?lang=eng&volumeUri=bofm&bookUri=2-ne&chapterUri=33&noteID=10e" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #486fae; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">words</a> of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they <sup style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 10px; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">f</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/33?lang=eng#" rel="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?lang=eng&volumeUri=bofm&bookUri=2-ne&chapterUri=33&noteID=10f" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #486fae; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">teach</a> all men that they should do good.</div>
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<a href="" name="13aaf5f137a4cf3f_11" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #486fae; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </a><span style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 1px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">11 </span>And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with <sup style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 10px; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/33?lang=eng#" rel="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?lang=eng&volumeUri=bofm&bookUri=2-ne&chapterUri=33&noteID=11a" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #486fae; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">power</a> and great <sup style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 10px; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">b</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/33?lang=eng#" rel="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?lang=eng&volumeUri=bofm&bookUri=2-ne&chapterUri=33&noteID=11b" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #486fae; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">glory</a>, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness.</div>
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I testified of the Book of Mormon too him, and told him that these were the words of Christ. As I did so, I remembered an experience I had nearly a year and a half ago.</div>
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I was with E. Cancino, I had a few weeks into the mission, and we were teaching a very intelligent older man, with his wife present but not really participating. They were richer than usual, a normal thing for Satélite. I could hardly understand a thing, I was phsyically, mentally, and spritually spent and I hardly understood a thing that they were saying. But I got the gist of it. E. Cancino was defending the Book of Mormon and the man was declining it. The discussion grew more heated and I was . . . hurt . . . to see that he wouldn´t even accept the Book. I slowly raised my hand in the air. They stopped and looked at me. An American that harldy spoke Spanish wanting to teach something to an educated man. I opened my recently received Book of Mormon and read him the same passage of scripture in halting Spanish. I then looked at him straight in the eyes and told him that without that Book, I would have no witness of Christ and no witness of the existence of God, and that without that Book, I was really worth nothing as a missionary. The man just sat there staring at me with his lips parted and his eyes astonished. E. Cancino had the same look on his face. I hung my head and they began to speak again. A few minutes later, someone, I don´t remember who, said the closing prayer, and we left.</div>
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I wanted him to accept the truth. I cried that night as I prayed and wondered "Why will ye die?" (Helaman 7:17). I received the answer: agency. All have it. And no one that truly understands and follows the Gospel can manipulate it.</div>
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Later in this past week, we taught a less active woman. She was having a few problems and we taught of faith in the Lord and His divine Plan. E. Hurtado and I both testified and she looked at us, saying, "I find it so amazing that I can look you both in the eyes and I can tell that neither of you have any doubt about this."</div>
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I know that all this is true. All of it, for me, is thanks to the Book of Mormon. Testimony is not conversion, but I have the first, even if it´s not the strongest, and I`m striving to do all I can to receive the second.</div>
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I know that all of this is true. I know that a mission is the best thing that any youth can ever do. It is all worth it. I don`t know exactly what´s going to happen when I get home, but I have no intention to stop working this last week. And I don´t want to be depressed after arriving home either--deep discouragement ends spiritual growth, and is one of Satan´s most effective tools. But neither will I be completely happy, or the mission will not have meant that much to me. Everyone has to find a balance. I hope I can find mine. But like E. Holland says, this has meant everything to me. And I hope I´ll always be able to say that.</div>
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I never have been nor will be a perfect missionary, but I`ve done all I can up to this point, this last week. And that´s all the Lord asks--your best.</div>
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See you all soon,</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
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Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-85196308148276527482012-10-22T22:09:00.001-07:002012-10-22T22:09:12.927-07:0010.22.12 -- Nogales<br />
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Hey,</div>
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We found this in the house today when we cleaned for almost the ENTIRE morning.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ETQhvUNzWzQ/UIYfm2GW7PI/AAAAAAAAHQ4/1v0s4ABittw/s1600/October_2012_009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ETQhvUNzWzQ/UIYfm2GW7PI/AAAAAAAAHQ4/1v0s4ABittw/s400/October_2012_009.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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We`re teaching a man that is really trying to learn and prepare to be baptized, but he has something that is for some reason keeping him from going to Church . . . it`s kind of annoying to help people when they don`t let themselves be helped. There`s only so much that we can do to help them, unless we want to start interfering with their agency . . . but we don`t really want to do that.</div>
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We`ve been blessed with the chance to teach a family the last few weeks. The mom is a less active member, but she`s the only one in her family. She got baptized in Huatabampo (haha, I know her home city better than she does now, because it`s been so long that she´s been there), but once she got here to Nogales, she never looked for the Church. But since we found them (member referrals are so AWESOME), she`s slowly been getting more and more anxious to live the Gospel. She told us this last week that she <strong>has</strong> to start going to Church again, for the sake of her children. The dad is great as well--he constantly is teaching and reminding everyone else in his family to say their prayers. They have a few kids, and we`re happy to teach the entire family.</div>
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Yet another family that I`ve found. But seeing as how things have turned out so far in my mission, I`ll be very blessed and fortunate to see them baptized before I leave. I want to help families . . . but it`s okay. We just have to keep doing our part--we can`t do anything else.</div>
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We fasted as a zone this past week. Everyone did it, and even if it didn`t bring ALL the desired results, the missionaries of the zone saw miracles.</div>
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We found a less active family a few weeks ago and we started teaching them. Well, actually, it`s the grandma, the daughter, and the 12 year old grandkid. Since we got there, the grandma loved us and wanted us to teach everyone there. Her husband wasn´t too receptive, but her grandson wanted to learn. We started to teach them, and they started learning it all again. The youth read everything, and they went to District and General Conference. He wanted me to baptize him, and the best part of all was the Sunday of his confirmation. We had fast and testimony meeting the last week (8 days ago), and the grandma got up to testify. She expressed her thanks to be able to come back to Church and for her grandson being the catalyst of the whole thing. It was great.</div>
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I also had to talk this last week. I broke my record. The latest I had found out that I would be talking is 5 minutes before sacrament meeting, but this time I found out after the Sacrament. Cool. I had to get a talk ready in about 7 minutes. I did alright though. 13 minutes with almost no preparation. And I felt the Spirit while doing it, so I guess it was alright.</div>
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Love you all,</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
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"Slow down, everyone, you´re moving too fast . . . frames can´t catch ya when you´re movin´ like that . . ."</div>
Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-82849568829631202152012-10-22T18:15:00.002-07:002012-10-22T18:15:50.859-07:0010.15.12 -- Nogales<br />
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You know you´re a missionary when you get psyched by a bunch of old guys in suits and ties that are talking about the gospel.</div>
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I loved nearly all the talks--the only weird thing is that E. Holland already gave that talk a year and a half ago in the MTC. And he was much more open with his feelings in the MTC. I´ve got a DVD with the entire talk. You can all see that later if you want. "Do you love me? DO YOU LOVE ME?!"</div>
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Also, E. Bednar´s was great, but he kind of robbed it from E. Oaks´ "The Challenge to Become" from October 2000.</div>
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I read a lot of talks.</div>
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In other news, I found out that I´ll be getting home to Sacramento at 7:00 p.m. after a 5 hour layover in LAX. That´s not going to be too fun, but whatever, I don´t have to worry about it just yet. Also, please thank Bishop Weight for the letter again--we have a lot of experiences like that in Mexico. </div>
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Thug Smurf.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5sMDffqKvjE/UIXu9NWsCyI/AAAAAAAAHQY/BaZmFsUOqF0/s1600/Sept_24_(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5sMDffqKvjE/UIXu9NWsCyI/AAAAAAAAHQY/BaZmFsUOqF0/s400/Sept_24_(3).jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />And here´s a house that we found after looking for a referral we got. Both houses have the same number, and they´re both abandoned and/or destroyed. Nice. That´s what happens with the referrals we get sometimes.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AjK6fVohg5o/UIXuvu0FOMI/AAAAAAAAHQQ/uy4FpBt9yTc/s1600/IMG_0161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AjK6fVohg5o/UIXuvu0FOMI/AAAAAAAAHQQ/uy4FpBt9yTc/s400/IMG_0161.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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E. Hurtado in zone meeting. Awesome comp. I also taught--more on that later.</div>
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<br />We had concilio this week. It was . . . different. Instead of hearing the APs and President teach, we all had an open discussion about the rules. I personally had the idea that E. Christofferson talked about a few years ago when he gave the talk "Moral Discipline." It doesn´t matter how many rules and laws you have in society (or in a mission) if the people involved are bent on disobeying. All that happens is that they get more creative in the art of sin. The real thing we must do is change the people/missionaries so that THEY can make their OWN changes.</div>
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So what happened was that the "open discussion" pretty much turned into a "tumult of opinions," but with a few rays of light poking through. It was interesting, different, and charged with an air of pride--I was glad to get out.</div>
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It was strange teaching about all that in Zone Meeting. What we did was just talk about our own personal conversion and how we help others to do that as well--what it really means to be a missionary. If we are truly missionaries, and not just "in the mission," all obedience problems will no longer exist. Also, we all have good and bad desires--how we choose between them decides who we are. Good desires (finding, teaching, and baptizing) can be satisfied only in the mission--once it ends, that´s it. The mantle of missionary is taken away and that´s it. Other desires, that aren´t necessarily bad in and of themselves but not good in the mission, cannot be fully satisfied unless that missionary goes home early. And all those desires can be satisfied after the mission anyway. I talk about missonary disobedience, not sinful disobedience.</div>
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The ex drug addict I was teaching in Obregón is still progressing, but he still has to work out a few things before he can get baptized. And the family E. Cirne and I reactivated and helped so that the youngest son could be baptized by his dad is also doing great. The dad is the 2nd counselor in the Young Men´s Presidency, and the mom told E. Cirne the other day that this is the first time in their lives that they´ve been able to get along together, everyone, with the Gospel. AWESOME</div>
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We´ve got to go to an appointment now, adios, I love you all,</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
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Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-73393240938969083672012-10-08T22:41:00.000-07:002012-10-08T22:41:04.686-07:0010.1.12 -- Nogales<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The internet place I`m in is still horrible, so all I can send when it comes pictures are more ones from the Mexican Independence Day thing. E. Herron and a few other elders left the zone this last week, and I`ll miss a few of them, but the zone is doing great. We`ve got great missionaries and I <i>really</i> enjoyed the DL meeting we had last Sunday. I`m psyched for this month--the zone didn`t do too well in September and we just need to keep on working to forget about it and keep moving on.</div>
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E. Hurtado is great. I met him when I was in Navojoa and Huatabampo, since he was in Villa Juarez for about 7.5 months, a few of which he was branch president. He knows how to WORK. I`m not lazy, but I`m not the best at finding people, but things really picked up this week. We found a bunch of new investigators and we`re working great with the members. I`m really glad we were able to do that this week--honestly, I love missionary work, but as far the work goes, finding is the part that is the least fun. At least we`re not in Hermosillo though--walking through the streets when it`s 53 degrees Celsius outside is not a very pleasant experience.</div>
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But anyway, we continue working. I have no desire to slow down. Just gotta keeeep goin´. . . </div>
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Oh, and by the way, E. Hurtado is from Pachuca, Hidalgo. It`s about an hour north of Mexico City. He`s got 20 months in the mission and I respect him a lot.</div>
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And when it comes to my time to go home, I`ll be going to Hermosillo on the 5th of November and I`ll be flying home the 6th. I should be arriving in the Sacramento Airport, if what E. Stewart from the offices is correct. </div>
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We´re psyched for General Conference and we`re going to trying to get as many people as we can to go--listening to a prophet`s voice is definitely something that helps in the conversion process. Even if it`s really a translator that`s saying everything.</div>
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We had an FHE this week with a family that has about 3 years in the Church--we went over and the sister told us that she had accidentally mixed up an appointment with some community type meeting in her house with our appointment with her, and started apologizing. We told her that it was alright, and that we would teach anyway. There was a woman in the doorway that was waiting for the community thing (I honestly have no idea what they were doing, but it`s alright), and the sister asked her if she`d like to hear a message about Jesus Christ. She said, "Sure, I need it anyway." We sat down and started teaching about the 5 basic principles of the gospel (faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end), and she just opened right up. She started talking about a lot of stuff that was happening in her life and she told us, "I haven`t told this to anybody before, but I don`t know, I just feel that I need to talk to you two." The Spirit was very strong and E. Hurtado and I felt great. Along with everyone else there. Sometimes we just need to be humbled a bit, before we can be helped out by the Lord and lifted up (Ether 12:27), but in the end, we always end up at a higher spiritual level than we would have otherwise been able to get to.</div>
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I know the Atonement is true. It`s just that simple.</div>
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In Moroni 7, it talks in the first few verses that if we give a gift, but not really meaning to, it benefits us for nothing. Maybe it might help the person we have given it to, but we are not edified or changed by it.</div>
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That`s the difference in real prayer and the average prayer. At times we just say things. Other time, we talk to the Lord. If you`re used to it, you can easily discern between the two. The Spirit is present in one and absent in the other. The Lord always answers one and might ignore the other, because we might not be completely ready to receive that blessing that we think we so desperately need. I know Bro. Newey knows the difference. And he not only knows, he does. If the Lord is willing and the prayers continue, "everything will work out."</div>
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We`re going to Concilio in Hermosillo in an hour. Take care everyone, don´t forget to think of questions you want answered in Conference.</div>
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Adios</div>
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<br />Elder Humbert</div>
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P.S. Elder Rivas is training again and Elder Hustis, Elder Rivas´ first trainee, is training as well. According to mission slang, I`ve got one son, two grandsons, and one great-grandkid. My seed continues to multiply and replenish the mission!</div>
Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-17497119237018359922012-10-08T22:30:00.000-07:002012-10-08T22:30:30.841-07:009.24.12 -- Nogales<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px;">Hey,</span><br />
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We got to go to Hermosillo as a zone this week. It was cool. I hate being responsible of a bunch of missionaries that are hard to keep track of, since they all blend into the crowd with all the black suits, white shirts and ties. It's like a ton of penguins.</div>
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The . . . talk? Devotional? Training? Seminar? What's it called in English? of Elder Alonso of the 70 was cool. He just spoke a ton about our purpose as missionaries--of course we're here to bless the people and serve them, but our primary purpose, above everything else is to administer the saving ordinances of the gospel to every single person we can. The best thing of all was his testimony though--special witnesses of Christ testify with a power that can't be matched by any normal person.</div>
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E. Alonso shook everyone's hand and stared each and every missionary in the eyes. He told why he did so later. "Anyone with the correct stewardship and with the spirit of discernment can often tell who is worthy and who is not just by a quick glance in the eyes, into the soul. I can see which of you are obedient or not--those who are in need of repentance, and those who are pure. I can say more than that--I know what you did, where you did it, and when you did it. Do not believe that the ends justify the means. You must help others to progress towards baptism AND obey. If you believe anything else, you are deceived of the devil and are digging your own spiritual grave."</div>
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E. Alonso is very direct.</div>
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I spoke with him after the meeting. I had tried to make it a point to stare at him in the eye every time he looked my way for that exact reason, and I kept doing so when I was talking to him. What he said was true. If you have the Spirit of discernment, you can look right through anyone. But I'm glad to be able to say that I have nothing to hide. I am not perfect, but I have nothing to hide. I make my mistakes. But repentance is not too far away in order to not be able to be cleansed, again, and again, and again. I just asked him a few more questions. I love being around people in order to learn. A spiritual giant isn't just heard, he's felt and seen. And not just with physical eyes or senses.</div>
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Another thing. We had transfers this week. E. Campos has left--I`ll miss him a lot. I honestly wanted him to be my last companion, but he`s headed off to Hermosillo to be a zone leader out there--the person that will be coming is E. Hurtado. I met him in Navojoa (he was Branch President in Villa Juarez for a while) and he´s part American. Well, I actually don`t know the whole story, but he knows English. But from what I know, he`s a cool guy and a hard worker, so I feel good about this next month.<br /><br />The only downside is that we are STILL not having much success in getting people to Church. We need to change something, and I`m willing to do it. I will leave EVERYthing here. I will.<br /><br />Haha, and as far as I can tell, we`re doing it right so far. 3 times this week we got home, planned, and I laid down on my bed to rest a bit before getting ready to go to sleep. That didn`t work out. All 3 times, I woke up around 2, 3, or 5 in the morning and realized that I still had my shirt, pants, and shoes on. Yeah. I`m kind of tired these days.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I don`t have any pictures because I am once again in a poor quality internet place that doesn`t have hookups for my camera.<br /><br />In other news, I accidentally mixed up the word for "preservatives" with the word for "contraceptives" when we were with a member this week. Yeah. Kind of awkward.<br /><br />Love you all,<br /><br />Elder Humbert</div>
Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-78739074797533025582012-09-18T22:37:00.000-07:002012-09-18T22:37:45.055-07:009.17.12 -- Nogales<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Hey,</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The 16th of September is Mexican Independence Day. On the 14th, Rama 3 had they`re branch activity. I was fortunate enough to be able to go on exchanges that day with E. Herron (he`s the grandson of the man that baptized Pte. Hernández a long time ago, by the way), becuase I had to conduct a few interviews. The activity was great, but the interviews were even better--true converts. I love being with people that are willing to take that step. Both of the investigators finished the interview with a prayer, and each thanked the Lord for sending angels to guide them back to the Lord. I`m no angel, but the work that missionaries do is definitely angelic.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">E. Carver, the new missionary I talked about last week, was able to baptize for the first time on Saturday. I loved seeing the look on his face when he did so.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Mexi-stache. Boo yah.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jE8Kr6BI_QM/UFlZGlAiCKI/AAAAAAAAHF8/Lc41J0neL8A/s1600/September_17th_(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jE8Kr6BI_QM/UFlZGlAiCKI/AAAAAAAAHF8/Lc41J0neL8A/s400/September_17th_(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">This is a massive statue called the "Mono Bichy." "Mono" literally means monkey, but it also means any kind of figure/statue type thing. "Bichy" is a purely Sonoran word that means naked. Hence, the "Mono Bichy." I don`t remember if that`s how you use the word "hence," but I tried. The meaning of this statue is pretty cool. Benito Juarez is the man standing and pointing in front. He was the president of Mexico that seperated Church and State--and is very respected for that. The massive statue represents the Mexican people, pure of any kind of outside influence. He has a spear, and is splitting a monster in half. One half is an eagle--the Mexican government. The other half is a bat--the Catholic Church.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OT26yZtHktQ/UFlZOxWulcI/AAAAAAAAHGE/j307MRRg1U4/s1600/September_17th_(4).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OT26yZtHktQ/UFlZOxWulcI/AAAAAAAAHGE/j307MRRg1U4/s400/September_17th_(4).jpg" width="300" /></a> </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_obM8KXcwI4/UFlZW9i_e2I/AAAAAAAAHGM/J-AK78W0nWA/s1600/September_17th_(5).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_obM8KXcwI4/UFlZW9i_e2I/AAAAAAAAHGM/J-AK78W0nWA/s400/September_17th_(5).jpg" width="300" /></a></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Yeah, Nogales is dirty, but it`s about the same as every other city I´ve been in. Well, except for Hermosillo and Obregón. There was a lot more pavement there.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">The branch activity was cool, but honestly, this week was not one of our best. People weren`t home, they were busy, or things just didn`t work out. But we`re going to keep working hard in the week--holiday times aren`t the best for missionaries, but whatever. I`ve had much worse weeks. Plus, we got somebody to go to church this week, so we`re doing a bit better.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Tomorrow we`re heading out to go to Hermosillo. It`s going to be special meeting with Elder Alonso of the 70--all the northern zones are heading down to the stake center in Hermosillo for the meeting. We`ll be getting back on Wednesday night. Unfortunately, we`ll be losing half the week, but it`s alright. We`ll pick it up later.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Love you all</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Elder Humbert</span>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-71493358279463824942012-09-18T13:40:00.006-07:002012-09-18T22:37:38.894-07:009.10.12 -- Nogales<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Hey,</span><br />
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Well, I´ll be honest. I really don´t know how to respond to the news about Kelly. News from home is kind of hard for me to grasp sometimes, but I do know one thing--<i>some</i>thing good has to come out of this. And, like you said, Mom, it´s going to be a life changing experience, but the Neweys have all the spiritual and temporal back up necessary to make the best out of all of this.</div>
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Check out this article as well--<a href="https://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/06/the-miracle-of-spiritual-healing?lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.lds.org/<wbr></wbr>liahona/2012/06/the-miracle-<wbr></wbr>of-spiritual-healing?lang=eng</a></div>
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Physical afflictions can be healed, or not, but in the end, our physical destiny is already fixed. But spiritual afflictions can be healed, and if tended, will stay healthy forever.</div>
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D&C 122: 7-8</div>
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The work is going alright here. There´s a new missionary here in the zone, and 4 weeks ago when he got here I got a flashback to when I was in his position. He´s asking the same questions (When will Spanish really click? What the heck is going on with Mexico? Will I ever stop having stomach pain because of the food?). Okay, I didn´t ask all the same questions, but he has the same look on his face. Time goes by so fast. He´s going to do great.</div>
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If you wonder about what the border looks like, this is it. I see it about every day, since our area is right next it.</div>
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We found A&W in a store here. Crazy.</div>
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We also had concilio last week, and I got to see 2 of my very good friends in the mission. E. Rivas has been a great example since the beginning, and I´m sure he taught me much more than I think I taught him. He´s in Guaymas right now. E. McKenna is also one of the best people I´ve ever known and a great missionary. He´s in Hermosillo. I would have sent the "good" version of the photo, but this was taken right after E. Rivas started jabbing us in the kidneys. It´s more accurate as to how things really are when we´re able to hang out.</div>
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Pte. Hernandez is focusing a lot more on conversion rather than baptism. He´s teaching the mission from a different point of view, and things will be looking up.</div>
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We went to a lesson this week with a youth (well, he´s in his mid-20s, I don´t that if that´s a "youth" or not, I dunno) that we contacted in the street. We gave him a pamphlet, and he read it all. We gave him a Book of Mormon before the weekend and went back on Wednesday morning. When we knocked on the door, he peeked out the window and motioned us to wait for a little bit. I jokingly said to E. Campos, "This´ll be one of those times when we come in and he tells us that he read past Jacob." We went in, sat down, and he told us that he had read past 2 Nephi 2.</div>
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I need to say that more often.</div>
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We´re also teaching the sister of a convert that was baptized about a year and a half ago--he´s the seminary teacher for our branch now, and is serving great in the Church. Every time we teach with him there, he always has a sincere testimony and always invites the Spirit. His sister has been listening to the missionaries off and on since her brother got baptized and is finally starting to really understand and live the Gospel. I really enjoy our lessons with them.</div>
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Actually, the first time we taught her, I was sitting there on their couch and listening to E. Campos explain a little bit about how Jesus Christ came to the Americas. He finished, I taught a bit, asked a question, and listened. In that moment, I felt like someone had just whispered in my ear, "You won´t be able to do this often for much longer." I feel little impressions every day to keep making me want to work. I want to be able the Spirit like this every day.</div>
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We´re doing alright, we just need to get more people to go to Church.</div>
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Oh, and as for my birthday, I woke up, started my workout, and didn´t remember that it was my birthday until Pte. and Hna. Hernández called me to wish me a happy birthday. A few minutes later, E. Barker called me and as soon as I answered the phone, I could hear his guitar and him singing "Las Mañanitas" (Mexican happy birthday song). As soon as he finished, he promptly hung up and left me laughing.</div>
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I had a good birthday. Or at least, I liked it--we worked all day and were able to teach.</div>
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Love you all,</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-27296159348417597042012-09-04T22:29:00.001-07:002012-09-04T22:29:06.224-07:009.3.12 -- Nogales<br />
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Hey,<div>
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Well, we didn´t have much time on Monday to write but we´re waiting for the bus to get here to go back to Nogales, so E. Campos and I wanted to take advantage of the time to write.</div>
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A few experiences.</div>
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These past few weeks I´ve been studying a bit more about humility. Once you start focusing on a certain subject in your studies, you start seeing it everywhere in the scriptures. Haha, E. Campos even told me one day, "Yeah, I get it, you´re working on that, you tell me about it every single time we have companionship study." E. Campos is awesome, by the way.</div>
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So, I started thinking about the need to repent when it comes to pride. I asked in a prayer for the Lord to humble me, without taking away the blessings of others. He obliged. A ton of things started happening every day to remind me that I honestly know nothing and I have no right to start thinking that I´m better than anyone else, or any other missionary.</div>
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That´s what I miss about being a newbie. When I didn´t speak Spanish, I had to rely completely on the Spirit. The most powerful spiritual experiences that I´ve had happened near the beginning of the mission. Maybe because I wasn´t as used to feeling the Spirit as I am now, but I know that it also has something to do with my awareness of my own nothingness. In the GEE (Guía para el Estudio de las Escrituras, like the Bible Dictionary in Spanish), you can read that humility is the power to be changed and guided by God. If you are prideful, your eternal progression comes grinding to a halt. "Condemnation" can also be understood as the inability to change. Because if you are condemned, whether to outer darkness or whatever place, you can no longer spiritually progress.</div>
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An example of what God has been doing to me are the lessons in English. I am not used to teaching in English. I´ve gotten to the point with my Spanish that I can talk and teach without thinking. That´s a good ability (and is very useful when preparing last minute talks), but when you do not focus, with your mind <i>or</i> with your heart, the Spirit is offended, and recedes. But when you have to teach a lesson in a language that you thought you knew but have not spoken for almost 2 years, you cannot teach without striving to do so. But when that happens, your words may not be as eloquent, but the Spirit is stronger and the people are converted.</div>
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For example, we taught a lady from Ohio a few weeks ago. She said that she had heard the missionaries around 10 years ago. When we began teaching (E. Campos says the prayer and testifies, but that´s about it for his English), she told us, "This is different. They didn´t teach like this before." I told her about the way teaching has changed. We don´t recite lessons anymore, we teach them according to the Spirit. She said that she had never felt the way she had felt when we explained about the Restoration.</div>
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I have a testimony of <i>Preach My Gospel. </i>I know that people are converted by the Spirit, not by pretty words. I know that humility is the key to eternal progress. I know that this is true. Not because anyone else has told me, but because the Spirit has testified to me. I know it.</div>
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Adios, I love you all</div>
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Elder Humbert<br /></div>
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Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-21707989248529962792012-08-27T22:39:00.003-07:002012-08-27T22:39:32.774-07:008.27.12 -- Nogales<br />
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Hey,</div>
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Great, awesome week. So cool. </div>
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We still go to Hermosillo once a month. I really like concilio--we learn a lot and I get to see good friends each week.</div>
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We baptized as well this week--this man is great. He`s the guy I wrote about last week, and he loved his baptism. He`s been coming to Church for about a month now, and he`s excited to serve. We bought him a cake, since it was also his birthday, and he just spent the whole time serving everyone else because he was so happy. He`s made a lot of sacrifices to be able to live the Gospel, but we talked with him a bit and he`s doing great.</div>
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Oh, and by the way, I talked in Church last Sunday. Want to know when I found out? 5 minutes before sacrament meeting. Cool, huh?</div>
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Ah, I don`t have much time, I`m sorry, but I love the email, I had a great week, the Lord is answering my prayers and I`m still growing. I love the mission. Thank Bishop Weight for writing me I love you all</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
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PS the good news is that I can send pictures now</div>
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Border crossing? </div>
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Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-57332657863277152832012-08-21T17:50:00.000-07:002012-08-21T17:50:51.227-07:008.20.12 -- Nogales<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Hey,</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">No mission can really be compared with another. There are so many things that you just can´t do it. It´s just better to accept that each mission is specifically suited for each and every missionary, no matter who baptizes more or the external results, the only thing you take with you are the changes that were made</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><div>
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That is, if you can´t keep in contact with your converts after the mission. Geez, I hope I can do that. Because I´d like to see my converts on Earth again, not <i>only </i>like it says in D&C 18.</div>
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Saying goodbye in Obregón was pretty hard. The minute we got the transfers from the APs, I felt like my stomach flipped over. But I was able to say goodbye to almost everyone--I´m going to miss my converts so much. And my investigators. The ex-drug addict guy we were teaching took it especially hard. It´s not very fun to say goodbye to someone when they´re crying. But he´s still progressing.</div>
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I´ll also miss all the elders from the zone. Good missionaries, and good friends.</div>
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One story from last week. I went with E. Tovar on exchanges to Esperanza, and we ended up going to a small town called Cocorit a few minutes from the city. We met an old man, the father of a less active member. We shared a bit about the Church that Christ established on the Earth, but as the lesson went on, he started saying, "But which is the right one? Which is the true Church? And how can I know?" I just sat there thinking, "Wow, it´s as if he was trying to do everything that Preach My Gospel says," and I began to share the Joseph Smith story. By the end, he was just staring at me with an amazed look on his face. I offered him a Book of Mormon and he took it without hesitation. When we left, we taught him how to pray, and he did, thanking the Lord for sending us to his home. He went to Church last Sunday, and as far as I know, he´s still doing great.</div>
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As for Nogales, it´s great. I love the city. It´s nowhere NEAR as hot (air conditioning is no longer a necessity--we can survive with just a fan), it rained 4 days last week, it´s full of hills (my calves are killing me), the members are cool, it´s GREEN, and it´s literally right next to the border. Seriously, I can walk 1 minute from where I´m seated right now and see the border and Arizona on the other side.</div>
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E. Campos was Branch Pres. in Bacobampo when I was in Huatabampo, and we´ve known each other for a little while. He´s from Cancún, Quintana Roo, and he´s a really good guy. We´re working hard.</div>
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Two experiences. One. We´re (or at least I am) teaching a family from the US. The dad was deported a few years ago, so they all came with him to live here. The only people that are really listening are the kids (17 and 14), but their parents are supporting them in everything. Teaching in English is weird. My mind works much faster in English, so I can teach quicker, but my mind is programmed to teach in Spanish. I feel weird doing it. Honestly, I prefer Spanish.</div>
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Two. We started teaching a man this week that had already gone to Church a few times. But E. Palfreyman and E. Campos couldn´t teach him before for a few crazy reasons. He was first contacted by the elders from the other branch (oh, and the Church here is a District, composed of 5 branches, 3 in Nogales, 1 in Imuris with E. Vargas as Branch Pres, and 1 in Magdalena), and he started going to Church the moment they invited him. They then gave the referral to the other elders. But his brother, whom he was living with, wasn´t happy with E. Palfreyman and E. Campos coming over to teach him. His brother took and threw away his Book of Mormon and all his pamphlets. So, the man moved out. He found another apartment, and we set an appointment to go see him. We got to his apartment, knocked his door, and waited. He wasn´t there. We called him. "Oh, elders, sorry, I´m in the chapel. The branch pres. invited me to come help them clean the church, so I came." We were surprised, needless to say, and headed over to the chapel. He was there mopping, and we helped him out, along with the other members that were there. We taught him afterwards, and he asked us, "So what do I need to do to be baptized?" He´s been progressing like crazy. Awesome guy.</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
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</span></span>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-7910482504917974692012-08-16T15:58:00.001-07:002012-08-16T15:58:21.324-07:008.13.12 -- Obregón<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Hey I don`t have much time, but yeah, I´m being transferred. I love every single one of my areas, and Obregón was no exception. I love the people here, I love the ward, I love my converts, and honestly, I knew that I was being transferred. But it didn´t make it hurt any less when I said goodbye. But we never stopped working, even in the last week. The missionary slang in Spanish that means that a missionary stops working is "morir." In other words, to die. I never want to die.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">I´ll fill you in next week about what happened in the week, but I´m going to Nogales, with E. Campos, in place of E. Palfreyman. Nogales is colder, we have a washing machine, and one of the elders before me left a bunch of weights in the house to work out with. Cool.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">I love the mission. I love my converts. I will never regret the decision of serving.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Say hi to the returned missionaries for me, I`m glad Kurt`s back.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Thanks for the news, I love you all.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Elder Humbert</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-8004421017095381242012-08-10T22:54:00.000-07:002012-08-10T22:54:27.782-07:008.6.12 Obregon<br />
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Hey,</div>
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Mom, just so you know, I really, really liked that article. I can`t understand the complete magnitude of it, because I haven`t lived as long as many, many people, but we`re right when we tell the youth of the Church here that the most important decisions they will ever make in their entire life is (1) whether or not they serve a mission and (2) who they will marry. The mission is the most important thing I have done in my life. In high school I thought that I had lost myself in football. That`s nothing compared to the work. I`m not saying that I`ve lost myself completely, I`m not perfect, but I`ve tried as hard as I can, and this is the biggest thing that any young man can ever do.</div>
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And yeah . . . I`m honestly not that good at teaching large groups of kids, because they normally just sit there looking at me, silently. Unless I start playing with them. And then I don`t really teach much. Normally they just laugh about the fact that I`m American. But in the US that isn`t as rare.</div>
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But I HAVE to keep speaking Spanish after the mission as well. I HAVE to. Whether I work with Mexicans or take a bunch of Spanish classes, I HAVE to keep it. That will involve going to the Spanish ward when I go home. But I don`t know how that`s going to work.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aXxHaKPMydk/UCXzNvO6jfI/AAAAAAAAHBg/aUx8Mq42j4o/s1600/Imagen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aXxHaKPMydk/UCXzNvO6jfI/AAAAAAAAHBg/aUx8Mq42j4o/s320/Imagen.jpg" width="320" /></a>The temple was great. The downside of this concilio was that we had to say goodbye to a few missionaries. The one that I knew the best was E. Spencer (I couldn`t take any pics because my camera died). But here`s a picture of us near the beginning of the mission, of the first meeting that we had with the zone leaders in Hermosillo. E. Spencer has got to be one of the best missionaries I have met in my life. He´s the tall one standing behind me. And in one week, I will be the only one left from this picture.</div>
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As for the week, honestly, it wasn´t the most eventful. We had concilio for 2 full days, and we worked our butts off the other days to try and make up the work for the week. And we did, fortunately. </div>
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We had a good week, even if it wasn`t super interesting. But I`ve got to go now. Please don`t get mad, I promise a longer email later. Although next week are transfers, so who knows how much time I`ll have.</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brok--thought this was a good article. Read it when you get a chance.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Mitt Romney effect on Mormon missionary curiosity (From the Deseret News)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span>Twenty years ago this month I stepped off a plane after serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At no time during the last two decades have I faced more questions and curiosity about my mission to Belo Horizonte, Brazil.</div>
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Call it the Mitt Romney effect.</div>
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It’s understandable. For the first time in history, a “Mormon” will be the official nominee for president of a major political party. More people than ever before are Googling or Yahooing the name of the LDS Church, well-known members and common myths.</div>
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While it’s true that I’ve met Mitt Romney and we share the same faith, I have no idea how he would characterize his own mission to France or where he would rank it among the decisions and defining events of his life. I can only speculate that it’s among the most important.</div>
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If Romney’s mission was like mine, he was taught early on to work hard by dedicated companions who ranked among the best of the best. My first companion and trainer was Elder Alves, a Brazilian who was easily the hardest working young man I’d ever known. We walked miles and miles everyday in search of the one person he believed was waiting to hear our message.</div>
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I’d never worn through soles before, but before I left Brazil, I was sticking surplus pamphlets into my shoes to protect my feet.</div>
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If Romney’s mission was like mine, he learned to face hate and rejection. Doors were closed and hearts slammed shut. In one city, several angry men chased my companion and me through an outside café. For weeks we took circuitous routes home to avoid being followed. Once we helped an abused wife hide from her drunken, enraged husband by twisting her up in the curtains dividing two rooms of the chapel. In another city, after baptizing a courageous woman in a river in her backyard, members of her family raced after us cursing and throwing rocks.</div>
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We learn failure, too, and it’s often the most tragic aspect of the work. Missionaries find, teach and build friendships with families who will eventually look them in the eye and, for a variety of reasons, ask them never to come back.</div>
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If Romney’s mission was like mine, he learned to love people who were different from him in every imaginable way. My heart found room for people so poor that having anything other than rice and beans was like a holiday feast. For some, having a chicken to kill for lunch or dinner was a miracle of Red Sea-parting proportions.</div>
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Missionaries also learn to love those of every faith and of no faith at all. We discover that many of the most honorable, faithful Christians in the world are quite happily members of other churches. And while some of our beliefs are different, our God is the same. We discover quickly that Heavenly Father loves all of his children equally, no matter what name is on the church’s sign outside.</div>
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If Romney’s mission was like mine, he made friends he continues to love and pray for many years after returning home. Through the miracle of modern technology and social networking, I am able to communicate regularly with several families I worked with from 1990-1992. I love and admire all they have accomplished on their spiritual journeys.</div>
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One of my companions near the end of my mission has since left the church. It’s heartbreaking, but I still cherish the time we worked together and the lessons he taught me. I love him just as much as the other dozen or so companions I served with.</div>
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Whether you agree with Romney's politics or not, it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t accomplished quite a bit in the years since his mission to France. He’s made millions, built businesses, rescued the Salt Lake City Olympic games from scandal and served as governor of Massachusetts.</div>
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My own accomplishments in the years since my mission are much less impressive. I’ve made a few bestseller lists, been on television, met some celebrities and spoken to audiences around the world.</div>
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But if Romney’s mission was anything like mine, it ranks well above his other accomplishments. At the time, choosing to serve a mission was easily the most important decision I’d ever made. Today, all these years and countless choices later, only one has become more important: the decision to marry my wife and start a family.</div>
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As I observe this unique presidential campaign, I am grateful for the curiosity about the LDS Church and our worldwide missionary program. I welcome the chance to share my faith and the experience of laboring a world away as a representative of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.</div>
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As I celebrate this 20-year mission anniversary, I wonder what career accomplishments would ever overtake it. Would selling a million more books? Would topping the New York Times list for three years straight? Would seeing one of my books finally make it to theatres? What about becoming president of the United States?</div>
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Not a chance. And if Mitt Romney’s mission was anything like mine, he’d agree.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span>Jason F. Wright is a New York Times best-selling author of eight books, including "Christmas Jars," "The Wednesday Letters" and "The Wedding Letters." He can be reached at <a href="mailto:feedback@jasonfwright.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">feedback@jasonfwright.com</a> or <a href="http://www.jasonfwright.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.jasonfwright.com</a>.</div>
</span></div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-16661242182025342822012-08-10T22:47:00.000-07:002012-08-10T22:47:02.173-07:007.30.12 -- Obregon<br />
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Hey,</div>
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As for the photos, we went to go visit a sister that has a four year old, who somehow got me to assemble a Barbie puzzle for her in front of her small store that her mom owns. It took me about 5 minutes. But then she took it apart again and wanted to make E. Cirne do the same thing.</div>
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And there isn`t much water out here, but the canal is kind of big. No rivers though.</div>
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Aaaanyway . . . this week was the first EFY in the history of the Church in Sonora. It was kind of annoying, because we couldn`t visit some of our converts/recently activated members/their family members because they were busy in San Carlos, but sacrament meeting on Sunday made up for everything. Instead of having speakers, the Bishop got up and asked about 4 youth to get up and bear their testimonies and/or share an experience that they had in the activity. After the 4 finished, he would get back up and ask 4 more.</div>
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Every single youth that went bore their testimony. It was incredible to see--and feel. Every single youth seemed nervous, and they definitely had a lot of emotion when they spoke. But it was great. The Spirit was felt so strongly, and I got to see the youth that I baptized a few months ago get up and bear his testimony, saying that he wants to serve a mission. I saw a few other youth that were struggling get up and say without any doubt that what they had felt during the activities in EFY was the Spirit. Other youth that we`ve worked with also bore their testimonies.</div>
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I feel so good when I see people we`ve taught express themselves. Something that most adults are afraid of is easy for a lot of the youth here.</div>
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The ex-drug addict that we`re teaching is doing well. I don`t really enjoy writing that every time, though. So the guy that we`re teaching is doing well. He has a small family, but everytime we had gone to his house and tried to teach his wife, she just said hi to us and walked to the other room. She`s not rude, but she was really shy. So we told our investigator to invite his family to watch a movie with us. He did so. So the next time we went, we were able to watch <em>Finding Faith in Christ</em> with him, his 4 small children, and his wife. When it ended, we talked a bit more about the Atonement and what it means for the family. The change of expression in people`s faces is always so awesome to see. Everyone was participating in the lesson, and by the end, his wife was talking to us naturally. His 3 year old even high fives us now, even though he didn`t even like looking at us before.</div>
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Teaching families. Great experiences. The only thing that I`m afraid of is that transfers are in 2 weeks. But oh well. If something happens, it happens. Whatever the Lord wants.</div>
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Love you all,</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
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</div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-73991283805445904952012-07-24T14:16:00.002-07:002012-07-24T15:57:08.754-07:007.23.12 Obregon<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Hey,</span><br />
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We had a crazy storm here again. Luckily we were inside, but yeah. It was cool. We saw a plastic seat go flying through the air, and then a few moments later, a car pushing it, but with one of the seat legs stuck in the grill.</div>
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E. Mckenna and I found Panda Express (REAL Panda Express) in Mexico. E. Cirne and I went to a baptismal service of one of their investigators and we saw this cup outside. Honestly, I shouldn´t get so excited for something so small, but I did it anyway.</div>
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Yeah. Everything´s going by pretty dang fast. That´s normally what happens when you´re busy. Which means that you´ve had a pretty busy year. That´s always good.</div>
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Anyway, I love the mission. So much. Yes, it´s very hard. But it´s the best, most rewarding, most joyful experience I´ve ever had. Yes, the cliché is true.</div>
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This week was good. The zone has been doing great, and E. Cirne and I have been busy doing a lot of interviews lately. Interviews are cool. VERY talkative people, however, make the experience a little less enjoyable. But I still like doing them. For example, two of the people I´ve interviewed lately have said, "Let me tell you my life story," or, "When I was born . . ." Gah.</div>
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Other good news is that we were able to see another person enter the waters of baptism--a while ago we got a call from some less actives--they wanted to go back to Church. We, of course, went to teach them as fast as possible, and they were receptive from the beginning. Finding people like that is awesome. It´s also great because they did it with their own free will--we didn´t even need to go out looking and knocking doors in the hope of helping them do something with their lives. They haven´t missed a single Sunday since we started teaching them and the daughter of the family is currently in EFY (the first one that has been done in the history of the Church in Sonora). The father was able to talk with the bishop, we taught the whole family, and he was able to baptize his youngest son. Great.</div>
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Do you remember about the story of the ex-drug addict that E. Mooney and I found a few months ago? We couldn´t find him for a while (we honestly just could not find him in his house for a few weeks), so we had to stop visiting him. But a few weeks ago, I passed in front of his house with another elder in exchanges, and he was sitting out front. He saw us and yelled out--he wanted to hear everything again. E. Cirne and I went back later, and he hadn´t just read what we had left for him, but had actually bought a notebook to take notes of what he reads in the Book of Mormon. He´s progressing great again. We enjoy seeing him every week--he truly wants to change. Seeing the process of conversion has been awesome with him. He truly has a testimony of prayer and repentance. He´s truly repented.</div>
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We also had a Family Home Evening with the youth that was baptized a few months ago. He´s also in EFY right now (it´s being held in San Carlos, a beach in Guaymas), but we went to go watch the Joseph Smith movie with him. He invited his mother and sister, and we were able to watch it with them. E. Cirne is normally great at reading body language, and I´ve learned a few things from him, so we were a little freaked out by the way that the mother and sister were watching the movie. They looked completely serious, as if they didn´t want to really think about what they were watching. But the movie ended and they both turned over to look at us. "That was really good--I liked that a lot. Do you have anything we could read?."</div>
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I like how the Spirit helps us out even when we aren´t sure of our own abilities or that of something as simple as a Church movie. Or when we´re really worried about teaching a class. Or giving a talk. Or anything else, really, that has to do with the Gospel.</div>
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Hope you´re all doing well--</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-52987212749451072472012-07-17T15:56:00.000-07:002012-07-24T15:56:49.094-07:007.16.12 Obregon<br />
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Hey,</div>
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This is E. Hardison explaining in district meeting how one of his investigator`s kids is always drooling everywhere and throwing toys at them while they try to teach the kid`s dad. E. Hardison is GREAT</div>
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Say hi to all the people that ask about me. Even if there might not be many. But who knows. I hope Ricky is doing well too. It`ll be interesting how much everyone has changed during my time in Mexico. And I hope Houston can enjoy his mission as well.</div>
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Bro. Aten was a great teacher. And like I said before, I have so much respect for converts. They change their whole lives sometimes to live the Gospel, while kids that were born in the Church (like me) have always been this way. Thanks Dad, Bro. Aten, E. Cancino, and all the other converts that have served--that´s an incredible thing.</div>
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We haven`t gone to the temple recently, no. But we should soon. Pte. Hernández mentioned that he´ll be inviting the missionaries regularly. But the "big" changes are still to come, though. I think he´s just getting used to the fact that he´s a mission president first. But I don´t know. I´ll just do what he says.</div>
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We also had a bit of rain this week. We got caught by a <em>violent</em> summer storm about a half mile from the house at 9:00 p.m. and had to sprint all the way back. We were soaked when we got there. Oh, and this is E. Cirne, by the way. He´s just making that weird face because he felt like doing it. He normally doesn´t look like that. He´s a great teacher and a hard worker--we both have the same time in the mission and we´re doing well here in Juárez.</div>
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The downside of the rain is that the humidity got a lot worse this week. I´m back to seeing my arms drip sweat all day. The good thing about Obregón is that there´s a lot more pavement instead of just plants--that means a bit more heat, but a lot less gnats.</div>
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We´ve had a bit of success these past few weeks--the investigator that loved 1 Nephi 3:7 got permission from her father to be baptized. She was invited to Church by her boyfriend a few months ago, and has been coming constantly almost every week. She didn`t let E. Mooney and I teach her for a while, until one day one of the teachers for the youth told us that she had asked in the class how much time she needed to come to church before she could get baptized. We started teaching and she`s loved everything. She actually left her job and found another to come to church on Sunday. Her boyfriend baptized her but we made sure to teach her right--so she could baptized for the right reasons. She´s been a pleasure to teach.</div>
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This past week we were able to also see a few youth be baptized. Some weeks ago, we got a call from the missionaries from the other Zone--they had a referral for us. A less active woman that lived in our area wanted to come back to the Gospel--from the moment we knocked on her door she was super excited to be able to become active. She had us teach her kids and they all immediately started to see the differences in their family. Less fighting, less cursing, better family relations, everything. They were ready to be baptized this weekend--the 12 year old ALWAYS has a lot of questions and the 8 year old is always funny. The only downside is that we couldn`t find clothing to fit the 8 year old--we had to improvise and fold up the pant legs. I baptized the 12 year old and E. Cirne the 8 year old. They`re seeing the blessings of the Gospel, and it`s also been great to teach them. They had a ton of support from the ward in the baptismal service, and the Spirit was felt. Even though the 8 year old was afraid of the water and kept throwing his arms into the air everytime E. Cirne tried to baptize him. They ended with a grand total of 7.</div>
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We keep visiting everyone, though--we try to go see all the recent converts at least <em>one</em> time a week, and more if we can. Gospel Principles is full every week.</div>
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Thanks for writing, love you all.</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-36780958340689121972012-07-10T15:55:00.003-07:002012-07-10T15:55:52.836-07:007.9.12 -- Obregon<br />
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Check it out. Bitter enemies can be friends. As long as you tame them and then raise them together.</div>
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Concilio this week was interesting. Pte. and Hna. Hernández are from Minas, Lavalleja, Uruguay, and both were converted while young. Hna. Hernández´s family met the missionaries when she was 8, and the entire family was baptized. She served a mission in Argentina and is excited to be a missionary again. Pte. was baptized at age 15 when he was working in a car shop. I asked him what was the principle of the gospel that had really converted him and he replied that it had been the Book of Mormon--he did not understand all the things he read, but as he read, he could feel the Spirit testifying to him that it was true. He told the missionaries he wanted to be baptized immediately. He was called to be Branch Pres. in Minas at age 21, without a spouse or family. He has not served a mission until now. He´s soft spoken but firm, and seems completely open to any whisper of the Spirit. He has (sorry, I don´t remember the number) various children, one of which served in Oakland, California, about 10 years ago.</div>
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Other things about them--the grandson of the missionary that baptized Pte. Hernández is serving here in this mission. That is pretty dang cool.</div>
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They speak with one of the strangest accents I have ever heard--I want to speak with Harrison afterwards to see if he learned to speak that way as well. It´s a mix between the Argentinian accent and other completely unique pronunciations--lots of "j" sounds instead of "y." I can´t describe this well through writing. But I don´t want it to sound like they talk badly, it´s just a LOT different.</div>
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I remember what I first thought and felt when I met Pte. Velez--I felt that I could trust him. What I felt when I first heard Pte. Hernández was that I know and feel that is that <em>he</em> (and his wife) <em>know </em>and <em>feel</em> that this Gospel is true. The Spirit let me know that they have their testimony from the same source as every person that has a true testimony.</div>
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The mission will start changing soon, but only Pte. and the Lord knows what. But one thing is for sure--he´s stressing<em>conversion</em> a lot more now instead of just baptism. Pte. Velez stressed both, but Pte. Hernández is leaning a lot more towards total conversion.</div>
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Other news--the youth we baptized a few months ago still wants to go on a mission. We´re trying to teach his mom, who is very nice (and would like him to go on a mission as well) and has already been fellowshipped by the ward. Things are going well.</div>
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We have an investigator who is super into the Book of Mormon. When we arrive, he opens the door immediately, tells us everything about what he learned about when he read the chapter we left him, he already uses the cross references to find other scriptures, and often keeps reading even after finishing what we´ve left him. He is PSYCHED. Cool. The Book of Mormon is true. Just people´s reaction to it is a testimony of that.</div>
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Another cool thing from this week--we went to go see a less active sister who is having a lot of problems. Work, health, family, many things--we went to go teach her and at one point we felt prompted to speak. "You would not have these problems unless the Lord knew that you could support them. You have the ability to overcome all of this, and even if you still have problems, you will be stronger becuase of it." We shared Ether 12:6 and 27. I looked at her again and just said, "Dios confia en usted." (God trusts you) Her face softened and said, motioning towards her chest, "I just felt something." We finished teaching and then left. </div>
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We don´t know what we´re doing differently, but we´re having a lot things happening in our area. Which makes me remember a phrase that E. Bednar often tells missionaries, "Success is not earned, it is given. The Lord will decide whether or not you have success. It is just your job to work, and to be worthy of the blessings that God is willing to give you." And another, "Do not strive to receive blessings. Strive to be worthy enough to receive them."</div>
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Not exact quotes, but close enough. Love you all</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
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First Zone Leader Council. That´s an overly long name. And it´s not even that crazy, really. But the stuff we learn is pretty dang cool.</div>
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</div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-13964854062000494362012-07-03T22:51:00.003-07:002012-07-03T22:51:58.266-07:007.2.12 -- Obregon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Hey,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"></span></span><br />
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And check out what we found downtown. Nope, no one saw us taking the pictures.</div>
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Elder Cirne is from my generation, and was in Hermosillo when I was, was in Etchojoa when I was in Huatabampo, and was in Reforma (here in Obregón) last transfer. Like I said, he´s poblano (from Puebla), and he knows how to work. We honestly don´t know what happened this week, but we were blessed with a lot of people to teach. We were both telling each other, "I have no idea what´s going on, but it seems like God is happy with us this week." We worked, as usual, but everything turned out<em>well</em>, instead of the normal trend (some days bad, some days good).</div>
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We´re working with a less active family, and the father isn´t a member. The mom and husband arrived to Church a few months ago by themselves, but this week we got every member of the family in Church. It was great because right before I got up to share my testimony in sacrament meeting, the daughter of the family got up and bore her testimony about how she can already feel that the Church will help their family become more unified and strong--she felt that when she entered the chapel.</div>
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We had two other less active families that came, each with at least one person that isn´t a member. It was incredible.</div>
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As for Pres. Monson´s quote, it´s true. I remember in Hermosillo when E. Rivas and I went with the sister missionaries to teach a man from Utah. I taught him in English the entire time, but after 20 minutes of feeling the Spirit so strongly, one of the sisters burst out and said, "I have to say something, I don´t understand a word either of you are saying, but I HAVE to say something, the Spirit is so strong here right now." She shared a scripture and I translated.</div>
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Off to Hermosillo.</div>
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Adios,</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
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<pre style="font-size: 9pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', sans-serif;">Quote sent to Brok today
In the April 1985 general conference, President Thomas S. Monson, then
a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, said, "There is one language . .
. that is understood by each missionary: The language of the Spirit.
It is not learned from textbooks written by men of letters, nor is it
acquired through reading and memorization. The language of the Spirit
comes to him who seeks with all his heart to know God and to keep His
divine commandments. Proficiency in this language permits one to
breach barriers, overcome obstacles and touch the human heart.<tt><span style="font-family: arial;">"</span></tt></span></pre>
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</div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-11723827440246114812012-06-20T13:30:00.003-07:002012-06-20T13:30:50.744-07:006.19.12 Obregon<br />
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Hey,</div>
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This is E. Mooney´s last week. It´s scary to think of how fast it´s going by. I know that every missionary says this, but I want it to end, but I don´t. It´s annoying. It hurts. But I can say one thing for sure--I want summer to end NOW. And it hasn´t even really started yet.</div>
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Pictures.</div>
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Here´s something to gross you out.</div>
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Here´s a guy that´s from Elk Grove. E. Marsh. Awesome guy. He started out in Huatabampo, and when I went to Esperanza to interview one of his investigators, we were talking the whole time about the city. Now that the bad memories of not having electricity, food, or a washing machine have faded away, I miss the place. Well, I miss the people more than the place, but it´s still cool. He´s a great missionary, and loves every single one of his investigators. He also speaks Spanish perfectly. The gift of tongues is definitely real.</div>
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I found Jimi Hendrix in the Jardines area. We were busy going on splits this week for interviews. Awesome.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px;">Pte. and Hna. Velez in their last Zone Leader Council. Hna. Velez cried a lot. She loves the missionaries like her own sons, even if she is SUPER strict with each and every one. Except for when we had our last zone conference here in Obregón. She broke down completely when we sang "Called to Serve" as the closing hymn, with everyone on their feet. She then proceeded to give everyone a hug, saying "I don´t care if the rules say I can´t hug you, I will never see some of you again." She´ll be missed.</span></div>
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Anyway, the week was good. The highlight was seeing a convert from Huatabampo. The young woman that we baptized lives in Obregón for college during the week, and we were able to go pay a quick visit. Someone from the branch in Huatabampo gave her a triple and she´s becoming involved in the YSA activities here in Obregón. She knows she made the right decision when she was baptized. She knows it and she feels it.</div>
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Throughout the course of my mission, I´ve thought about the people I´ve helped. Even if I don´t baptize the most, I at least know that many of my converts have stayed. They´re ok. They have a testimony. They´re active. Not all of them, which hurts, but I know that I´ve done my part.</div>
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I am so grateful for this mission.</div>
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I just wish that I was grateful for the heat as well. But I´m not.</div>
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Adios</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
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Hey,</div>
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The reason why I´m writing today is because we had a meeting with Pte. Velez yesterday, his last meeting in Obregon. So P-Day is today. More on that later, if my time doesn´t run out.</div>
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I love hearing mission stories. And hearing about Nick and all the other youth is GREAT. That is so cool. Hahaha awesome</div>
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I´ve stopped to analyze the many ways that the mission has changed me. Little moments like that one with Scott have normally been the ways that it has happened. I love the mission. I am so grateful for it. But at the same time, I HATE the heat and humidity soooo much. But I´ll end up missing it at some point as well. Which sounds so dumb to me right now in the moment.</div>
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We went to Concilio this last week. Pte. let E. Mooney drive both his cars to and from the offices and mission home. He was stoked, even if he´s ashamed to say that he has now officially driven a mini-van.</div>
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The elders that are leaving with Pte. all testified.</div>
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E. Beeston was first. He´ll be remembered for his singing voice, irrepressible cheerfulness, the wonders that he worked in every single one of his areas, and for the fact that in almost every single place he´s been in, women have almost assaulted him for having blue eyes and being so handsome.</div>
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E. Dewey had more success in Cananea, one of the hardest areas in the mission, than some missionaries for the majority of their mission. And the family he helped be baptized are still going strong. He´ll be remembered for being so dang tall and allegedly speaking like Spanish like an Arab.</div>
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E. Sanchez (he has a Mexican last name, but he´s from Livermore) worked his heart out in Bacobampo as a Branch Pres. He never stopped working, no matter how much difficulties he had, and continued to convert people even if their circumstances did not permit them to be baptized. He´ll be finishing up in Hermosillo with E. Rivas (the guy I trained). I also loved his accent. The guy is hilarious</div>
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E. Mooney is known for turning the small town of Sonoyta into what it is now. He built houses, gave service, and did not care what any of his leaders told him about how he needed to change the way he worked if he knew the Spirit was telling him to do so. When he knows something is right, it does not matter what anyone else tells him, he will do it regardless. He knows more about the drug trade (he taught so many dealers up there on the border) than most policeman. He never complains and has never stopped working. He´ll be remembered for a lot of reasons.</div>
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We went with the youth that got baptized a few weeks ago. He wants to go on a mission. No time for details.</div>
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Our investigator that we testified to loves the BoM. Her favorite verse so far is 1 Nephi 3:7, even though no one told her about it.</div>
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Love you all,</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-20639496776098812962012-06-05T13:05:00.000-07:002012-06-05T13:05:14.636-07:006.4.12 -- Obregon<br />
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Hey,</div>
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Yeah, I have to write a little quickly right now. Sorry about that. Going to Hermosillo has its perks, but also it´s downsides. Although I might just be overeacting and thinking that I have less time than I really have.</div>
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has anyone eaten a chiltepin yet? (the little dried red peppers I sent home) I want to hear the reaction.</div>
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We went over to our convert´s house the other day and the little 8-year-old wanted to mess around with my nametag.</div>
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Also, this is called "guamuchi." It´s a weird fruit that doesn´t taste that good.</div>
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This past month, Pte. Velez has let me borrow some audio CDs that he has--they´re the recordings of the Seminary for New Mission Presidents, 2011. Unfortunately, they´re all in English, so what he´s been doing is lending them out and having the American missionaries write notes and translate them. I would tell you all the really cool things that I´ve learned, but let me settle right now for something short.</div>
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E. Nelson was at one point attending a stake conference, and the speaker was going over time a bit. The stake president started getting antsy, and asked E. Nelson if he should nudge his elbow to get him to end his talk. E. Nelson kept his eyes straight on the speaker and quietly replied, "It doesn´t matter whose lips are moving when the Spirit is speaking."</div>
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That quote sums up a lot of things about teaching. When we´ve taught lessons or Gospel Principles class (and priesthood class as well in Huatabampo), we normally don´t finish everything that´s in the manual. It´s not so much about what we have to teach, just what the people learn. I´m positive that students will remember a class where they learned one principle through the Spirit than 10 principles through a person. That´s a lesson you have to learn pretty quick after getting to the mission--it´s one of the first things they teach you in the MTC. So I´ve known about that for a while, but with the time in the mission and that quote by E. Nelson, that knowledge becomes reaffirmed a lot more.</div>
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We were doing that this week in a lesson. We were just teaching one of the first principles that we teach (God is our loving Heavenly Father), which normally just consists of that saying that phrase, since most Mexicans normally already know that (it´s very rare to meet an atheist here--we normally only have to teach about the nature of the Godhead). But we just felt that it was necessary to testify of that principle. We were teaching a young woman with a member there accompanying us, and we just simply testified, "You are a daughter of God. He knows you better than you know yourself, and even though you have never seen Him, He is always there." I don´t remember the exact words, but I felt the Spirit testify to her as well as to us. It´s nice to just have your own testimony confirmed again and again, even with the most simple truths of the Gospel. She understood and felt it as well. Awesome.</div>
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One question--has Brother (or should I say Bishop? I don´t know what I should officialy say) Newey ever heard of E. Mooney´s family in Reno? Apparently they´re well known there, since E. Mooney, his father, and grandfather are all classic car lovers, and they´re always there in Hot August Nights.</div>
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And in response to Andre--thanks for writing, man. I enjoy reading about everything. Make a movie list for me when I get back. And thanks for making fun of Kyle for me, although I already know that you and Steve do it too much anyway. Tell Kyle to not come back with the Barcelona (or Barthelona) lisp. And tell Kellen that I´ll be praying for his Dad. I love you all</div>
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Oh, and as for my Spanish, does anyone know the best way to lose a gringo accent when speaking in Spanish? I´ve noticed that as long I´m not nervous when talking to people, I can say and understand almost anything I want, but my accent is horrible--or at least that´s what people tell me. Some tell me I speak like a Mexican and others say I speak like a white guy fresh out of the states. I´m just glad that I´ve been able to learn as much as I have though. I do NOT want to lose my Spanish when I get home.</div>
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Anyway, I´ve got to go.</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
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And say hi to Sister McGlone for me--she wrote me as well. And tell her that since the heat kills so many plants here that allergies don´t exist. It´s bad, but good.</div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-18549150594759877552012-05-28T22:31:00.000-07:002012-06-07T22:43:11.320-07:005.28.12 Obregon<br />
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Hey,</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Happy Memorial Day. It doesn´t exist here, but I do enjoy celebrating anything that has to do with patriotism with E. Carlson--here´s a picture of him explaining how the U.S. would have destroyed Russia if anything had happened in the Cold War to all the Mexican elders in the few minutes we had before district leader meeting started.</span><br /><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: small; text-align: center;">
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<br />And does anyone know about the place Smash Burger? Here´s the Mexican rip off. When Mexicans say words that start with "s," they say it as if they put an "e" in front. So Joseph Smith is commonly pronounced like "José E-smith."</div>
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Here´s the massive hot dog from last week, with a "normal" Sonoran hot dog at it´s left.</div>
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Some people from the water company came this week and "kindly" installed a new water meter for us. Unfortunately, they installed it wrong, so we didn´t have water for a few days. I hope they´re fixing it right now. Here we are in the tiny park in the front of the house "borrowing" water to bathe with. The downside is that the bucket is tiny and we have to go out to fill it up every time we want to do ANYthing that has to do with water.</div>
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In other news (or the most important news)--last week, we went up to a young man in Church that we´ve been teaching for a little while. He´s been coming to Church off and on for a few months, but when we started teaching him, he really started doing more. We invited him to baptism 2 weeks ago for the 26th of May, and he accepted. But E. Mooney and I felt that we might have been pressuring him--and we obviously didn´t want to do so. Anyway, when we went up to him on Sunday, we asked him last Sunday, "How do you feel about the 26th?" We asked him straight out if he felt rushed or anything. He just looked at us and said, "No, I feel good about it. I already invited my Mom and I feel ready." We just sat there and I thought, "Wow. Well, that´s cool."</div>
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We cleared up all his doubts and questions in the week, and got everything ready for the weekend. He asked me to baptize him, and we´ve got the Young Men working with us to keep strengthening his testimony. His Mom was very supportive, and says she wants to be more serious when it comes to teaching her as well as her son, since she just used to say she couldn´t listen because of being so tired at night. But she felt the Spirit in the service, that´s for sure.</div>
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When he came up out of the water, he looked at me and asked, "That´s it?" "Yeah, that´s it." "Wow." Yeah. The act is quick, but the effects are a bit longer lasting.</div>
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The ward is helping us out a lot. I am so thankful for that. Especially since it´s getting hotter.</div>
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Adios,</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>
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</div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-54483754217184807372012-05-22T15:08:00.001-07:002012-06-05T12:32:08.071-07:005.21.12 Obregon<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px;">Hey,</span><br />
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Teaching is awesome. I`m getting better, even if I haven´t reached a super high level yet--I improved a lot with E. Olguin. That guy, honestly, is one of the best teachers I have ever seen in my life--better than most adults. He knew how to put himself into other people´s shoes. I`m using what I learned with him now.</div>
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The zone is okay. E. Valdez and E. Ruiz baptized this week and I was fortunate enough to be able to conduct the interview. It was incredible. Some of the most spiritual experiences I´ve had in the mission have been interviews. The Spirit is so strong there--but the responsibility as well--the person that got baptized is a true convert.</div>
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E. Mooney is also great. This is his last transfer (today was transfers--we´re staying), and he wants to finish strong. I want to help him do so as well.</div>
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One of my converts from Huatabampo went to the temple last week to do baptisms for the dead. E. Beeston, currently in my first zone (he was actually in Satélite with E. Cancino a transfer before I got there) tells me that one of my converts there is possibly going to be sealed in the temple soon. Awesome. Let´s see what happens.</div>
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Also, I want to write two stories related to your one last week--in Huatabampo, E. Olguin and I were teaching a 10-year-old that we had invited to the Church. He went every week, without our help, whether finding a ride with a member or riding his little bicycle all the way to the chapel. We met with his parents, taught them (this is actually the little family I wrote about a month or so ago--the dad whose expression changed in the lesson), and all was going well. They gave him permission to be baptized a month ago, and has kept going to Church. E. Olguin told me that they were in a lesson and he said the closing prayer--he prayed that the Lord would help his parents go to Church and make the decision of becoming baptized as well. Apparently the parents immediately softened, even more, after that.</div>
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We are also teaching a 13-year-old here. We found her through a sister who constantly has the neighborhood kids telling her that they want her to teach them. We don`t normally dedicate ourselves to teaching kids, since it´s so easy for them to go inactive without parent support, but she´s a bit more responsable than normal kids her age. She can´t go to school because she has to help her Mom wash the clothes, make food for her little brothers, and take care of them when her parents aren´t at work. She works as well. Child labor laws don´t exist (or at least aren´t enforced) here. She´s like a second mom to her brothers and sisters. But she loves to learn. We taught her how to pray, and she went out to teach all of her friends. She says at least one every lesson. She can´t go to school, but she´s making the effort to learn anyway. We just need to meet the parents as soon as possible.</div>
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In other news, I ate a hot-dog that was a foot and a half long in about 10-15 minutes this week. I won the contest. Unfortunately I can´t send pics because of this low class ciber place I´m in right now. </div>
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Adios</div>
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Elder Humbert</div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-19182583739201118542012-05-22T15:04:00.001-07:002012-05-22T15:04:47.156-07:005.14.12 Obregon<br />
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We had to go with E. Flores to Telcel (the Mexican phone company that the mission uses) to get a new phone chip because his got stolen by a cholo. We got stuck waiting there for a few hours.</div>
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And sorry for the lack of pictures. My memory card is getting a little full, so I need to start making backup CDs for more room on my memory card.</div>
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On Friday, I had my last normal interview with Pte. Velez. I can`t describe everything, but we finished with me asking him what the most important thing that a missionary can take home. He told me that he could not choose for me--everything depends on the missionary. His personal opinion was letting oneself be led by the Spirit. He opened up PMG to the part that speaks of "A Successful Missionary," and asked me which was most important to me. I had never thought of that before. Without thinking, unconsciously, really, I reached out and pointed at the second--"Amo a las personas y deseo su salvación," or, "I love the people and desire their salvation." I had never thought about it before. But to me, that has become the most important one. He said the closing prayer, we got up, and I told him I loved him. He laughed and said, "Oh yeah? Well I love you more." That guy is great.</div>
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At the bus stop after the interviews, a drunk guy came up to us and started talking. That always happens in Mexico, but he suddenly pulled out a Book of Mormon and started saying that he loves reading it. He was apparently an active member in Mexicali years ago, and told us, "El presidente de estaca allá es mi homeboy!" or, "The stake president is . . ." He kept talking and we invited him to Church. He said yes, and walked away. E. Mooney and I just sat there laughing. We don`t want people to drink, but happy drunks are AWESOME.</div>
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We were in Church and a woman had been assigned to talk about missionary work. She has a son who`s the right age to go on a mission. She started telling him from the pulpit to go on a mission. She plead with him from the stand. I just dropped my head and thought, "This is so dumb--our investigators are going to think that we force people into going on missions. They cannot do this . . . gahh." We have agency. Inviting, not obligating, is the way the gospel should work.</div>
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We continued to priesthood class. The same young man was there and the teacher kept implying that he should go on a mission. Forcefully. I got a little bothered again, but we continued. Suddenly, the door opened and the drunk we had invited to Church in the street walked in with a clean white shirt (not a dress shirt, but is was clean nonetheless) and pants. E. Mooney and I just sat there staring at him. He looked at us and smiled. He no longer smelled like alcohol, even if he still had a giant bushy mustache. He even participated in the class, raising his hand and giving good comments. We were amazed. After the class, we went up to him and he told us, "I`m going back to Mexicali tomorrow. Thanks for inviting me," and walked off again. Cool.</div>
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I went over to the young man that everyone had been pressuring into going on a mission after the class. I asked him if he was the guy. He said yes. I asked him, "You know you SHOULD go on a mission, right?" He nodded. "But you still aren`t sure?" He began to explain why he wasn`t sure. I listened to him and then told him, "Look, you already know you should, and I strongly, strongly reccomend that you go on one. If you do so, you will be blessed more than you can ever imagine, no matter what you leave." He acknowledged that, and kept listening. I then told him, "You can go, you should go, but you cannot let anyone obligate you into going. If you leave, you have to do it because you love the Lord and want to please Him--if you leave with any other motive, there`s a chance that a mission will do nothing for you or even make you bitter towards the Church. This is between you and God. You represent Him and Jesus Christ. No one else." I pulled out my triple and opened up to D&C 121:34-45. We read together there in the hall.</div>
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"34 Behold, there are many <sup>a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=34a&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">called</a>, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?<span>35 </span>Because their <sup>a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=35a&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">hearts</a> are set so much upon the things of this <sup>b</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=35b&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">world</a>, and <sup>c</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=35c&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">aspire</a> to the <sup>d</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=35d&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">honors</a> of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—</div>
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<span>36 </span>That the <sup>a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=36a&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">rights</a> of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be <sup>b</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=36b&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">controlled</a> nor handled only upon the <sup>c</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=36c&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">principles</a> of righteousness.</div>
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<span>37 </span>That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to <sup>a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=37a&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">cover</a> our <sup>b</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=37b&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">sins</a>, or to gratify our <sup>c</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=37c&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">pride</a>, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or <sup>d</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=37d&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">dominion</a> or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens <sup>e</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=37e&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">withdraw</a> themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.</div>
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<span>38 </span>Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to <sup>a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=38a&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">kick</a> against the pricks, to <sup>b</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=38b&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">persecute</a> the saints, and to <sup>c</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=38c&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">fight</a> against God.</div>
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<span>39 </span>We have learned by sad experience that it is the <sup>a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=39a&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">nature</a> and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little<sup>b</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=39b&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">authority</a>, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise <sup>c</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=39c&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">unrighteous</a> dominion.</div>
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<span>40 </span>Hence many are called, but <sup>a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=40a&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">few</a> are chosen.</div>
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<span>41 </span>No <sup>a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=41a&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">power</a> or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the <sup>b</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=41b&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">priesthood</a>, only by <sup>c</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=41c&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">persuasion</a>, by <sup>d</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=41d&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">long</a>-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned.</div>
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<span>42 </span>By <sup>a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=42a&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">kindness</a>, and pure <sup>b</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=42b&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">knowledge</a>, which shall greatly enlarge the <sup>c</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=42c&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">soul</a> without <sup>d</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=42d&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">hypocrisy</a>, and without <sup>e</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=42e&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">guile</a>—</div>
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<span>43 </span><sup>a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=43a&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Reproving</a> betimes with <sup>b</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=43b&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">sharpness</a>, when <sup>c</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=43c&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">moved</a> upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of <sup>d</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=43d&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">love</a> toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;</div>
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<span>44 </span>That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of <sup>a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=44a&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">death</a>.</div>
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<span>45 </span>Let thy <sup>a</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=45a&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">bowels</a> also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let <sup>b</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=45b&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">virtue</a> garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy <sup>c</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=45c&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">confidence</a> wax strong in the <sup>d</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=45d&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">presence</a> of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the <sup>e</sup><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/121?lang=eng#" rel="/scriptures/chapter/footnote/default.xqy?volumeUri=dc-testament&bookUri=dc&chapterUri=121&noteID=45e&lang=eng" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">dews</a> from heaven."</div>
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He sat there staring at the scripture. I told him again, "Please go on a mission. Please go. You have no idea how much it will bless you. But go because you love the Lord. If someone forces you to go, you will receive blessings anyway, but at least have a small part of the right motives."</div>
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I believe all young men should go on a mission, and some realize the true reason that they are there when they`re already there, but I`ve seen the damage that unfocused and uncaring missionaries can do to the Church and the people. You have to go because you love God, even if that desire isn`t completely recognized yet.</div>
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This is all my personal opinion, not doctrine. But obligation has never been and never will be part of the doctrine of Christ. I at least know that.</div>
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We sat there in the hall talking a bit more. I went to shake his hand and was surprised when he gave me a hug. I really hope he prays like I asked him to.</div>
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Adios,</div>
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Elder Humbert<br /><br /> </div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1044273542813763959.post-47938734819088117352012-05-07T15:35:00.000-07:002012-05-07T15:35:01.280-07:005.7.12 -- Obregon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Hey,</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Our ward has a Mother´s Day activity this week. It´s so weird being in a ward that has activities now. I had gotten so used to organizing everything by myself and the other elders.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">It got up to 40 degrees Celsius here last week. Crazy. Already heating up.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Let me explain the pictures quickly.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">In Hermosillo, E. Church played the piano, E. Valdez the violin (he´s awesome, and has been playing since age 5), and E. Spencer and E. Beeston sang "Savior, Redeemer of my Soul." The main times in my life when I´ve regretted not learning anything about music or singing is when I hear the elders hear play instruments and/or sing--I told E. Spencer so, and he just laughed a little bit. He´s too humble to accept praise. The guy is awesome. I honestly wish you could have heard it back home. I was once again reminded of what E. Bowler, one of my first leaders in the mission, said more than a year ago in a district meeting: "All people can understand two languages--the Spirit, and music."</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">I made cinnamon rolls at the Velez´ house for concilio. All the elders loved them, as well as Pte. and Hna. Velez.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">I bought these AWESOME custom leather scripture cases. E. Olguin knows a guy in his stake in Puebla that makes them. They were completely worth it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">This is a woman that got baptized the Sunday before I got to Obregón, with E. Mooney and E. Beeston, who baptized her. This lady is amazing. She LOVES the scriptures, and told us that she had been waiting for 20 years for someone to come to her home and teach her. She´s been reading the Bible her entire life, and already knew a lot of the truths of the gospel. She invited herself to baptism as soon as possible. We´ve continued to visit her, and she already has her Book of Mormon all marked up. She noticed our scriptures and started asking us about Doctrine and Covenants, and how she can get a hold of new scriptures (her Bible is old and tattered from so much use). We told her that we could get some in Hermosillo, and she asked us about the nice ones that have the tabs on them for being able to find scriptures faster. We told her they were only on the nice ones, and that they were pretty expensive. She expressed dissappointment.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">When we got to Hermosillo and were in the Church store, we saw the nice scriptures on the shelf. E. Mooney and I looked at each other. I reached out and grabbed a black triple. He grabbed a Bible. We paid for them and took them to the woman this week. I was carrying them in my backpack, still wrapped in plastic. We had another appointment at that time, so we had to give them to her quickly. She saw them and her face just lit up. I´m not exaggerating when I say this--she told us that that gift was the greatest that she had received since being able to be a part of the Lord´s Church. We quickly had to leave, but came back later in the week.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">We came to her door and she was sitting out front on her rocking chair. Next to her, she had a small table with the Bible carefully placed upon a towel. She was reading the triple, which was wrapped in another towel. She told us that she wants to show as much respect to her new scriptures as possible, and that she only wanted to handle them with something on her hands. I was touched. I remembered one of E. Christofferson´s talks--"The Blessing of Scripture." "I feel more complete now," she said.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Cool week. But I unfortunately have run out of time by "quickly" explaining my pictures.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Happy Mother´s Day, everyone. I´m looking forward to talking on Sunday. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Adios,</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Elder Humbert</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">P.S. E. Mooney says hi too</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: arial;"></span></div>Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02633492873119438993noreply@blogger.com0