Family and Friends,
Shout Out: I know there is absolutely no way that this shoutout will get to this person but... Abby Stubbs! Wow, you are pregnant! 17 more to go while I am gone. Get to work! (this is for my own memory mostly).
It has been said that my English is going down the tube. I have to agree with that statement. Por ejemplo: el otro diá, estaba escribiendo en mi diario y cuando escribió la palabra "Mary" yo actulamente escribió "Mery." Lo esta verdadero. Español es mas facil. Wow, that takes way to much effort to write in Spanish, even if my English is going down I am going to have to live with it... sorry everyone else.
So I want to talk about Temples and Prayer today. Temples have been on my mind the past few days and Prayer has a very significant role in a story I am going to tell. I hope you enjoy:
Temples. Wow, talk about AMAZING. I have not been to one in a month, and as long as I am in Pasaje I will be unable to attend the one in Guayaquil. But for Personal Study this morning I decided to study up and read the pamphlet "Preparing to Enter the Temple." I would highly recomend everyone read this, no matter if you have been in the temple 100x or wont go for another 2 years (some fall in this catagory). As I was reading I realized that nothing the church does is even significant or even worthwile if the blessings of the Temple were not possible. Por Ejemplo, is heaven really heaven without a family? And if the Family can only be organized properly (sealing) in the Temple then why go through with everything else (Baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, Commandments...etc) if you are going to live in heaven eternally single... odd. I hope I am making sense. In missionary work everything we do is toward our purpose "Invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo a fin de que acepten el Evangelio restarado por medio el fé en Jesucristo y Su expiación, el arripentimiento, el bautismo, la don del espíritu santo, y preseverar hasta el fin." (Invite others to come unto Christ to the end of accepting the Gospel restored through Fe en Jesus Christ and his Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Preservering until the end....). But our purpose is nothing if people don´t hold out until the end and make it to the Temple. Basically... the temple is everything and the blessings we receive in the Temple are what life, repenting, family, todo, is worth living and working for.
Wow, I hope you enjoyed my niave lecture on Temples. If you want a much better lecture talk to my mom or my Grandpa. My mom is a Temple Worker and my Grandpa knows everything spiritual.
Prayer. We were teaching a lesson the other day to a less active member in the ward. We have been trying to get him to come to church but he really is making no progress in that area. Before our lesson began we sang a song "Mas Cerca Dios de Ti" (Nearer my God to Thee) and during the song I had the thought, "change the lesson, talk of Prayer and Scripture study." Interesting. OK. I told my companion. We started the lesson.
We soon found that the family does not pray or read the scriptures (except the mother). Ouch. Why? Follow up question: Why? Answer: We don´t believe that God answers prayers. Hammer. Ouch. Hmmm... Next follow up Question: Why? Answer: (Mother almost in tears) My husband does not Pray in Faith so he stopped praying... Ouch. Ok. We have a family that is not going to church (Except the mom and her daughters) and does not believe in prayer, and has stopped reading the scriptures... and has lost faith. I think we found the root of our problem. Why would anyone want to spend 3 hours at church if God did not care enough about them to answer their prayers (am I making sense... if no, tell me in 2 years). If I may submit here is a great solution: Turn with me to Santiago (James) 1:6. Very powerful! We have to pray with Faith. What is the gosple again: Fe, arripentimiento, bautismo, ...etc. THE FIRST PART OF THE GOSPLE IS FAITH: IF YOU DON¨T HAVE IT NOTHING ELSE WORKS.
I am not yelling at you. I just had to get that out. We will continue to work with that family. I think they have great potential.
Ok... My week.
So I love Ecuador. I really do. The people in Pasaje are absolutely amazing. I love them enough to probably die for them. I thought I would never say that about anyone outside of my family. But it is so true, they are amazing. They have so little but yet they are happy. I definitely will learn a lot from them in the next few weeks.
We went to the edge of our sector this week. I am in one of the largest sectors in the mission, I have to take a 30 minute bus ride to get to the edge of it to teach people. And it is the coolest busride I have ever taken (rainforrest, hills, rollercoster effects, no shocks, 15 cents...). Come visit. For 15 cents I can take you on the ride of your life.
We are making progress with people. We have a family that will be getting married this week. They are strong in the gosple and love each other enough to get married and not separate. We are hoping to baptise them on the 12th of September with a few other people.
The Armijos Family is great. (we found them my first week, they cried...remember?) We can baptise them the second they get a testimony, they have been to church more than 3 times in the past month and thy continue to come. We just need a testimony...
Wow. Long letter. I am SOOOO sorry. I hope everyone is ok. I am. I have now been in Ecuador for 5 weeks. The change ends in a week. 15 more to go!
I love you all. I just bought a TON of postcards, people will be getting them in the mail soon... (give it 3 weeks or so)
Love,
Elder Robinson
Mom: A package will come in 3-4 weeks, please take care of it for me.
Ruth: I got your letter you wrote on the 10th on the 23rd. Thank you so much for your insights into prayer and your thoughts on so many subjects. I get really excited and really enjoy reading your letters. I can´t believe you are in China. I am so thrilled that someone else in the world now is as culture-shocked as I am (if not more so). No problem about the questions, just keep me updated on life in China, I can guarentee it is a LOT more different than what I am now used to here in Ecuador. THanks for being such a huge support.
Sister Judd: I get your letters. Thank you so much. I miss home and your family. You can write me about anything, I don´t mind and it won´t distract me. As for your cousin who is a catholic...You are going to have to get them to read the Book of Mormon, as long as they are in the Bible you are in their playingfield. However, if you have to be in their playingfield throw them a few curveballs
1. Ephesians (Efesios in Spanish...) 2:20, Christ´s church has Prophets, 12 Apostles, and Christ at its head.
2. They pray to Mary. Luke 6:11 (if it is not chapter 6 then check all the versus 11, it is a verse 11) Christ said not to do that.
3. They pray to Saints. This breaks the first commandment.
4. Mary is not a Virgin (last verse of Mathew chapter 1)
5. Amos prophecied of the fall and so did christ.
Good luck. Testify, Testify, Testify. It is the only thing they can´t disprove.
Spencer: Say hi to Cyd for me. She lives near you right?
Shout Out: I know there is absolutely no way that this shoutout will get to this person but... Abby Stubbs! Wow, you are pregnant! 17 more to go while I am gone. Get to work! (this is for my own memory mostly).
It has been said that my English is going down the tube. I have to agree with that statement. Por ejemplo: el otro diá, estaba escribiendo en mi diario y cuando escribió la palabra "Mary" yo actulamente escribió "Mery." Lo esta verdadero. Español es mas facil. Wow, that takes way to much effort to write in Spanish, even if my English is going down I am going to have to live with it... sorry everyone else.
So I want to talk about Temples and Prayer today. Temples have been on my mind the past few days and Prayer has a very significant role in a story I am going to tell. I hope you enjoy:
Temples. Wow, talk about AMAZING. I have not been to one in a month, and as long as I am in Pasaje I will be unable to attend the one in Guayaquil. But for Personal Study this morning I decided to study up and read the pamphlet "Preparing to Enter the Temple." I would highly recomend everyone read this, no matter if you have been in the temple 100x or wont go for another 2 years (some fall in this catagory). As I was reading I realized that nothing the church does is even significant or even worthwile if the blessings of the Temple were not possible. Por Ejemplo, is heaven really heaven without a family? And if the Family can only be organized properly (sealing) in the Temple then why go through with everything else (Baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, Commandments...etc) if you are going to live in heaven eternally single... odd. I hope I am making sense. In missionary work everything we do is toward our purpose "Invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo a fin de que acepten el Evangelio restarado por medio el fé en Jesucristo y Su expiación, el arripentimiento, el bautismo, la don del espíritu santo, y preseverar hasta el fin." (Invite others to come unto Christ to the end of accepting the Gospel restored through Fe en Jesus Christ and his Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Preservering until the end....). But our purpose is nothing if people don´t hold out until the end and make it to the Temple. Basically... the temple is everything and the blessings we receive in the Temple are what life, repenting, family, todo, is worth living and working for.
Wow, I hope you enjoyed my niave lecture on Temples. If you want a much better lecture talk to my mom or my Grandpa. My mom is a Temple Worker and my Grandpa knows everything spiritual.
Prayer. We were teaching a lesson the other day to a less active member in the ward. We have been trying to get him to come to church but he really is making no progress in that area. Before our lesson began we sang a song "Mas Cerca Dios de Ti" (Nearer my God to Thee) and during the song I had the thought, "change the lesson, talk of Prayer and Scripture study." Interesting. OK. I told my companion. We started the lesson.
We soon found that the family does not pray or read the scriptures (except the mother). Ouch. Why? Follow up question: Why? Answer: We don´t believe that God answers prayers. Hammer. Ouch. Hmmm... Next follow up Question: Why? Answer: (Mother almost in tears) My husband does not Pray in Faith so he stopped praying... Ouch. Ok. We have a family that is not going to church (Except the mom and her daughters) and does not believe in prayer, and has stopped reading the scriptures... and has lost faith. I think we found the root of our problem. Why would anyone want to spend 3 hours at church if God did not care enough about them to answer their prayers (am I making sense... if no, tell me in 2 years). If I may submit here is a great solution: Turn with me to Santiago (James) 1:6. Very powerful! We have to pray with Faith. What is the gosple again: Fe, arripentimiento, bautismo, ...etc. THE FIRST PART OF THE GOSPLE IS FAITH: IF YOU DON¨T HAVE IT NOTHING ELSE WORKS.
I am not yelling at you. I just had to get that out. We will continue to work with that family. I think they have great potential.
Ok... My week.
So I love Ecuador. I really do. The people in Pasaje are absolutely amazing. I love them enough to probably die for them. I thought I would never say that about anyone outside of my family. But it is so true, they are amazing. They have so little but yet they are happy. I definitely will learn a lot from them in the next few weeks.
We went to the edge of our sector this week. I am in one of the largest sectors in the mission, I have to take a 30 minute bus ride to get to the edge of it to teach people. And it is the coolest busride I have ever taken (rainforrest, hills, rollercoster effects, no shocks, 15 cents...). Come visit. For 15 cents I can take you on the ride of your life.
We are making progress with people. We have a family that will be getting married this week. They are strong in the gosple and love each other enough to get married and not separate. We are hoping to baptise them on the 12th of September with a few other people.
The Armijos Family is great. (we found them my first week, they cried...remember?) We can baptise them the second they get a testimony, they have been to church more than 3 times in the past month and thy continue to come. We just need a testimony...
Wow. Long letter. I am SOOOO sorry. I hope everyone is ok. I am. I have now been in Ecuador for 5 weeks. The change ends in a week. 15 more to go!
I love you all. I just bought a TON of postcards, people will be getting them in the mail soon... (give it 3 weeks or so)
Love,
Elder Robinson
Mom: A package will come in 3-4 weeks, please take care of it for me.
Ruth: I got your letter you wrote on the 10th on the 23rd. Thank you so much for your insights into prayer and your thoughts on so many subjects. I get really excited and really enjoy reading your letters. I can´t believe you are in China. I am so thrilled that someone else in the world now is as culture-shocked as I am (if not more so). No problem about the questions, just keep me updated on life in China, I can guarentee it is a LOT more different than what I am now used to here in Ecuador. THanks for being such a huge support.
Sister Judd: I get your letters. Thank you so much. I miss home and your family. You can write me about anything, I don´t mind and it won´t distract me. As for your cousin who is a catholic...You are going to have to get them to read the Book of Mormon, as long as they are in the Bible you are in their playingfield. However, if you have to be in their playingfield throw them a few curveballs
1. Ephesians (Efesios in Spanish...) 2:20, Christ´s church has Prophets, 12 Apostles, and Christ at its head.
2. They pray to Mary. Luke 6:11 (if it is not chapter 6 then check all the versus 11, it is a verse 11) Christ said not to do that.
3. They pray to Saints. This breaks the first commandment.
4. Mary is not a Virgin (last verse of Mathew chapter 1)
5. Amos prophecied of the fall and so did christ.
Good luck. Testify, Testify, Testify. It is the only thing they can´t disprove.
Spencer: Say hi to Cyd for me. She lives near you right?
No comments:
Post a Comment