Elder Soares! (And New Trainee!)

- August 16, 2021

Monday August 16, 2021

This week has been great! We've been praying for miracles to happen and to be able to find more people to teach and it came through! One person we found was a referral from some other Elders in Chandler, and she has a desire to be baptized. She has had a rough history in the past which resulted in some injury, but when we talked to her at the door she told us something I will never forget. We were talking about church and she said she loves going because she feels so good there and because she feels stronger. That is coming from someone who has a disability and that strengthened my testimony on the power of church attendance. It's awesome to see how much church affects her, more importantly how Christ affects her. We went over the baptismal interview questions with Stacy and she is ready! She still doesn't have a date for baptism because they're trying to get a date where all the family can be in. They were thinking September the 11th, but it's not set.

Elder Way is doing good! I'm trying to help him feel the urgency of the work. He's a good Elder. He's catching on well. His desire to serve is there and that's all the Lord needs to work with.

We also had Elder Soares come to the mission and speak to us! He had come to dedicate the visitor center and then the next day spoke to our mission. He is so cool! He spoke a lot on faith and being lifelong disciples and not just good missionaries. He told us that during his mission he focused a lot on developing a relationship with Christ and he never stopped doing the small things in life that he learned from his mission. Really cool!

I've been thinking a lot about how to have more of the spirit with me. I've noticed that as I really focus on having the spirit the more I notice how little things can drive the spirit out. I was impressed by Elder Soares and his devotion to the Gospel. That makes me think that we should all strive to act as he does. It doesn't matter if we're Apostles or not, if we want the spirit with us and we want to have a close relationship with our Savior, then we must do the things necessary to bring the spirit in our life. That includes not making any childish or immature jokes. That includes not judging others. That includes not being crazy or doing things for our own attention. If everyone asked themselves if they would be comfortable if Christ was around them then I feel majority of us all could easily find minor things that set us back. Then why not change those minor faults now? I've noticed that often times when we don't fully have the spirit with us it is not because of a huge problem, but because of many minor things that can be changed. Many of our problems are the smallest details that go unnoticed. They can be noticed with the Saviors help. These are some changes I'm trying to make. I'm trying to be a more consecrated disciple of Christ and not just a missionary that has good numbers and acts Christlike. I desire to have Christ be a part of me, a normal way how I act and speak with others. There is great joy in life when we truly desire to be exactly as Christ is. I could speak on that topic forever, but I feel it's so important.

That's all for me this week, have a great week everyone!

From our conversation over chat : Elder Way is from Arkansas and is a little immature, but is doing well! They don't have much in common, but he's cool and fun and has a desire to be out on a mission. He's doing great so far!