Power and Authority

Hey family!

Sorry I couldn't write yesterday. I am sure you have heard but we had a conference with Elder Christofferson. He came with both the missions and we all went to Guadalajara to listen to him. It was really awesome to be able to be with him and hear him talk. He actually knows Spanish which surprised me but was really cool! It was awesome to receive even more direction as to what I should be doing as a missionary!

We also have some other investigators that accepted a baptismal date! It is really great to be able to work with them! I hope that we will be able to help them a lot in these next couple weeks so that they can make this next big step in their lives!

One really cool thing that I liked about this week was seeing just how much the scriptures testify of the importance of prayer. I am reading at the beginning of Alma right now and I am loving just how Alma was able to be such a great missionary because of his dedication to prayer and then teaching with power and authority! I had my prayers answered many, many times this week. I know that God truly hears my prayers and as I fast he hears my cries to him. I give thanks day after day for the chance to communicate with him!

Sorry this is short but we have to get back all the way to the area still and we are running late! I love you all and pray that God blesses you all!

Elder O'Brien

Prayer of Faith

Hey family! 

Well this week seemed to go by extremely quick again but it was another really good one! It sounds like you all had a really good time also being able to go to Salt Lake! I am glad that all went really well for the wedding. Hope it didn't stress ya all out too much. But hey if it wasn't stressful what fun would it be? :)

We had our zone conference again this week which was good! I really enjoyed it! We also had one lesson that was extremely good! It was with our investigator who is just at the point to get baptized. We prepared a really good lesson about repentance to share with her! It seemed to go extremely well and she even started praying to know when she should get baptized! She is extremely close, and we just want to help to to get that last assurance that this is the right path.

We are also going to have a really cool Family Home Evening today. We hope that all goes as planned. We are hoping to be able to meet a lot of new investigators but we will have to see how it goes! 

We have met a few cool people lately but they really didn't progress too much so we are hoping to find some truly chosen investigators who are ready to receive the message of the gospel! 

In my prayers lately I have been trying to really give that prayer of faith I was mentioning! I am trying to put all my heart into my prayers. Really focusing to remember that I am truly talking to my Heavenly Father. I have been putting a lot of goals with him. Telling Him with faith for the things I want to complete and asking for His help. Also asking for forgiveness when I realize something in which I should improve. I have noticed that in this way I feel I am accelerating faster than ever personally and receiving much more revelation.

One example is the lesson that we gave about repentance.  While praying in the night I felt that we should talk about that with our investigator.  So I got up in the night and wrote that down with some scriptures that came to my mind. Then the next morning when we went to share that lesson with those scriptures it turned out to be one of the best lessons I have ever had. 

Another really cool experience I had this week was the chance to be able to give a baptismal interview. It was really great to see just how great of a change the message we share had in the life of one person. She was able to give great testimony of the things my companions had taught her and it was so obvious she was ready to be baptized and join the true fold of God.

I am so grateful for this time that I have to serve the Lord and I am so grateful for all that He is teaching me. I pray that I may be the best servant I can be for these two years. 

Thank you for all your support! Have a really great Mothers day mom and grandma! I am really excited to be able to talk to you all on Sunday! See ya there! :)

Love

Elder O'Brien 

He is truly listening

Hey family!

 

Well another quick week came and went! Half the week I spent in the conference in Morelia. It was extremely interesting and I loved all that I was able to learn! I understood that we must teach even more the basics of the gospel such as studying the Book of Mormon and prayer so that all may gain their firm testimony of those things and then their testimony may be able to expand even more after. It was also really great to see a lot of old friends like Elder Jones, Elder Rueda,  and Elder Scott. I will try to get some pictures but if not I will get them next week.

 

Well some other cool news! I didn't get changed but I did get called to be district leader here! I am really excited for the opportunity to serve and help the members of the district and myself to grow even more. I think the Lord feels I am finally ready to grow even more and He is putting me to the test!

 

We are hoping to see some baptisms coming up but we'll see how that goes. We are going to put all that we learned in the conference into practice so that we can help these people to prepare for baptism and the members to convert themselves even more to the gospel.

 

One thing that I really liked about the conference was our discussion of the prayer of faith. At times we fall into routines with our prayers but we must realize that we are truly speaking to God. We can openly speak with him. We have to commit ourselves to be even better, set goals with the Lord and then work with all diligence to complete them. I know that as we truly show our faith we will see the many ways the Lord is helping us and He will show that he is truly listening to us.

Sorry I have got to go so quick but have a really good week! Remember I love you all and I can't wait to talk to you all on Mothers day. I'll be sure to fill you all in soon!

 

Love ya!!

 

Elder O'Brien :)

Live the Gospel of Christ

Hey family! :)

It is great to hear that you are all doing so well! How does McKenzie feel back up in Rexburg? Is it weird having the house so quiet again? I am sure Ashley is dying of boredom haha. It will sure be nice for you two though.

This week was a pretty good week. We were able to find a couple more investigators which was really nice. One is a young man named Fernando. He even went to church for the first time yesterday. Our other investigators are also starting to progress a lot also. We are really happy for them and hope they can continue learning and understanding more of the gospel of Christ so they will continue having the desire to follow Him.

Today was a cool day. We came to Uruapan to play soccer with the President which is cool! We are also getting ready to go to the leadership conference in Morelia in just a bit. I hope it will be another great opportunity to continue learning!

One thing that I really liked that President Camarillo told us today is that we should be more worried about inviting these people to live the gospel of Christ than receiving references and baptizing people. We should be loving these people with all our hearts and teach them the principles necessary that they might find peace in this life and eternal life in the life to come. I realized that when I just pray to have more love and charity then I teach what I think will help these people is when the Spirit takes control of our work. He becomes the senior companion and we simply become those humble tools in the Lord's hands to save His children.

Sorry I totally forgot to thank you all for the Easter package! It was super great! I loved the candy, notes, letters, and the ties. I am actually going to take both the ties to the conference tomorrow cuz I liked them so much! I also got some letters from Steph, Mark, and Aubrey Allen. It is good to hear everyone is doing so well!

I hope you all continue to have a really good week and I can't wait to talk to you all on Mother's Day! Keep working hard and doing what is right. It is always worth it!

Love ya all!

Elder O'Brien :)