We Baptized!

Hey Family!

 

Sorry that I don't have much time to write this week but this week went really well! Well guess what...we did baptize this week! :) It was truly really great! I was very happy for Jorge and Rafael! They both seemed to really enjoy it and I hope it was a really good experience for them! It really felt great to see loved ones make those covenants with Heavenly Father.

 

Right now we are in Guadalajara. We traveled all the way here last night and we had to get up early to sign our visas. I didn't want to walk around illegal any more haha. Afterwards we went to a buffet call Sirloin.  It was a bit expensive but SO SO worth it! I had wings, mashed potatoes and gravy, soft serve ice cream, brownies. I was sad that my stomach has become small and I couldn't get more down after 3 plates but oh man it was good! :)

 

Right now I am going to head back to Nueva Italia but I just want to let you all know that I love you and thanks for all your prayers and support. I can really feel your help always. Oh I got your package also! I have yet to open it but thank you all so much! There is truly many things I have been grateful for in these days!

 

God bless you all and have an amazing week. Miss you loads but love ya more!

 

Love,

 

Elder O'Brien

Strengthening our Testimony

Dear Family!

Well it was another really good week here in the mission! All seemed to go pretty well which made me really happy! It was definitely a tiring week cuz it is starting to rain a bit so it is hot and humid! It is definitely a killer combination! All seems to be going really well though which is awesome!

I think what we are looking forward to more than anything this week is the baptism on Saturday. All seems to be going perfectly up until now. We will definitely be praying and fasting for Jorge and Rafael a lot this week! I think I have already mentioned it but Rafael read the Book of Mormon and the whole Index in a month! He was later to give very strong testimony to his family about the divinity of the Book! We are very excited for the decision he has made along with his grandson!

One really cool experience I had this week came from Preach My Gospel. I was thinking about how it says we should often be strengthening our testimony about the Book of Mormon and Moroni´s promise in Moroni 10:3-5. I decided to do that again this week after one of my personal studies. I did exactly what we ask our investigators to do. I asked of the Lord if what I had read was true. On this occasion I was able to feel that same answer through the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon truly is the Word of God. It contains the fullness of the Gospel of Christ and is more correct than any other book over the face of the earth! Such power is within that promise of Moroni and I know that is it true!  I have experienced for myself its power. 

One of my other favorite experiences of the week was last Tuesday when I went on divisions with the Elders in Apatzingan. We went with a young woman who just started listening to the missionaries and she told us when we arrived that she wasn't sure if she wanted to keep listening to us.  We started to ask some questions about God and we began to testify of the Restoration of the Gospel. I can truly say I felt the power of the Holy Ghost work through me as I testified of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. It was amazing to see the change in her, and her interest to listen increased as we shared all this. There is power in this message!

Scary story. Yesterday we went to a little ranch just outside of Nueva Italia to visit the members there. It was to our surprise that there were many transvestites there when we got out. I have seriously never been so scared in my life. They were walking by us, giggling, and making comments about us. We got out of there quick for sure! I'm pretty sure we'll take a little break from going over to that neck of the woods!

Well I continue here in my area of Nueva Italia with my companion Elder Guillen. I hope that we will be able to have much success in these weeks and throughout the change! 

Keep prayerful and hopeful. I hope you all have a great week! 

Love you all!

Elder O'Brien

Preparing for Baptism

Hey Family!

 

From the looks of it you all had a really good week! It makes me very happy to hear that you are all doing so well! :)

 

This week was a really good week! I felt like we were able to work well and hard! We truly had a miracle this week that happened while I was on divisiones so I couldn't be there to see it but it had to do with one of our investigadores. He is 77 years old and didn't really seem interested at first about the church so I just kind of put him aside. Then, a miracle happened. My companion shared with me that they were talking to the family when mom had a few problems accepting the idea of baptism. Then the older man began to testify of the Book of Mormon. He was able to teach from the Book of Mormon to help her overcome her problem. I thought it was the biggest miracle that the Book of Mormon could have such a great effect on the life of one man. I truly know that ANYONE who reads it and asks the Eternal Father if it is true with real intent can receive an answer from God that it is. This man was able to testify of it to his family and now he is preparing for baptism on the 15th of this month. Keep praying for him so that all can go well! :)

 

We had our zone training this week and I got to share part of it. I shared about how we can find more people to teach. I shared a lot about the importance of inviting the Spirit in our lessons and helping the members and investigators feel the need to share this message with others. It is amazing as we learn more about the redemption that comes from Christ in our personal lives, our desires to share the gospel with others increases. I have seen it here in the mission frequently. As I read in the Book of Mormon about the saving grace and misery of Christ I feel that necessity to share with everyone I know the joy that comes from feeling free of everything. I know that through Christ's atonement we can feel such peace and have all that is bearing down on us lifted from our shoulders.

 

I have been extremely busy and am very tired! It is good though. I feel that I am really putting in a good effort! It is really all worth it when I can see those investigators and less active members in church on Sunday and the changes in them that I am able to see! It makes it all worth it at the end of all. I was thinking a lot about Tepa, my last area. Wow was that the hardest thing ever but now I miss it so much! I could see the biggest change in Tepa and I am so glad that I could serve there also!

 

I pray that you all have an extremely good week! I know that God lives and loves us.  Never let something you do impede you from receiving His blessings!

 

Have an amazing week!

 

Love,

 

Elder O'Brien

Diligence and Humility

Dear Family,

Well this week was quite the experience! We definitely had quite the adventure the whole week!

 

Like I mentioned in my last letter I had the chance to listen to Elder Christofferson in Guadalajara! It was really awesome to be able to listen to him and hear his words (which were in Spanish! did you all know he speaks Spanish?). I could really see that he came to teach us exactly what we need to be doing here to be able to have success as missionaries in these missions in Mexico!

We also had interviews with President Camarillo this week! I really enjoyed it to see how I can improve so that I will be able to help even more people every week! He gave me some really good tips and I could see that as I prayed and applied them throughout the week just how much that the Lord could help us in our area!

 

One blessing that we could see is that a sister who got baptized over 20 years ago came to church for the first time in over 15 years! She also brought her grandchildren with her. We also hope to be able to work with one of her daughters to help her progress in the gospel also! Overall it was a great blessing of the Lord!

We were also able to help a new family come to church this week! It was really awesome cuz they enjoyed it at lot! We hope that they will be able to be very prepared for their baptisms in a couple weeks! It should be a really great experience! This upcoming week we also have zone training! I hope that I will be able to learn even more!

 

One thing we have been talking more than anything about is the power of prayer, the Book of Mormon and its power in the conversion, and the commitments that we leave with the people. I have been studying the power of these 3 things. As we truly commit ourselves to study the Book of Mormon, truly thinking in what it says and teaches, then we apply those principles to our lives we can truly see miracles. I am reading through the Book of Mormon over again and I currently am reading in Alma. It is amazing to see how many things that happened anciently still happen to us in these days! I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon and the guide that it is for me! Prayer also gives us so many blessings! It gives us direction to what we should do in our lives. It is the way by which we may communicate with our loving Heavenly Father! I know He will truly give us anything righteous that we ask as we put in our part to receive it and we are worthy of what we ask! As we commit ourselves to complete these 2 actions the Lord is able to work miracles in our lives!

 

We are very excited for the progress in our area right now! We look forward to putting many baptismal dates this week! June should be quite a miracle month for us here! I hope with our diligence and humility our righteous desires will be made reality!

 

Thanks for all the support from everyone! It is great to hear from you all! It is great to see the ways in which the Lord is blessing you all!

 

Love you all! Have a great week!

Elder O'Brien :)