Week 74: Heat Wave!

Well HI!!!

To tell you the truth I am absolutely tired wow we just got back form our every 6 months activity and this time we had it in IZAPA where there are a lot of ruins so that was pretty good.

Well this week was pretty all right not too bad either and not too great.  it was a week haha. The thing is its heating up and well its nice and toasty!!! Here its known as Tapachula the heat kills ya.  the truth is we drink lots of water so i just came from the house where i drank 3 liters of water! i was pretty thirsty haha but that’s a good thing. This week was pretty alright because we walked a lot and since we have like a lot of area we decided to see who we could find to talk with and well there are some pretty interesting children of god -its a thing i learned this week is that everyone is different and they all have different beliefs, the thing is that we all have a belief in god but if we don’t really use the faith we have to do something. If we have a "dead" faith where are we going to go? The truth is nowhere!!! We will not have any success with god. Its like i say a lot down here if you want to play futbol, soccer, you first need to pick up the ball and go out and kick it around. If you want to be in the world cup this year you better have tried out and worked on all the things you can before you can even think you can play with the best in the world. we met with a lady who has never picked up a bible but she wanted to tell us how it was. how? and anyways we tried to tell her she could compete if she would take a bit of time to try and read it. It’s like my companion Elder Zambrano, he told me that before his mission his stake president asked him if he had ever read the Book of Mormon and he said no, he then asked him a question that’s sort of funny, "how in the world will you preach something you don't know?, how will you help other know its true if you yourself don’t know its true?" haha he said “President thats a very good question” haha. the thing is you should know the word to teach it. In Doctrine and Covenants it teaches you should first seek the word before you preach it. But how? President Packer taught a very good lesson…

Years ago, Elder S. Dilworth Young of the Seventy taught me a lesson about reading the scriptures. A stake was struggling with tensions and difficulties among the members, and counsel needed to be given.

I asked President Young, “What should I say?”

He answered simply, “Tell them to read the scriptures.”

I asked, “Which scriptures?”

He said, “It really doesn’t matter. Tell them to open up the Book of Mormon, for instance, and begin to read. Soon the feeling of peace and inspiration will come, and a solution will present itself.”

Make scripture reading a part of your regular routine, and the blessings will follow. There is in the scriptures a voice of warning, but there is also great nourishment.

If the language of the scriptures at first seems strange to you, keep reading. Soon you will come to recognize the beauty and power found on those pages. first seek and then preach. if someone tells you that Mormons aren't Christians well then you can explain to them that we are we believe n Christ you can say a few articles of faith but if you don't know them then what will you do? Elder Parry said, “I encourage you to use your bright minds to study and learn the Articles of Faith and the doctrines they teach. They are among the most important and certainly the most concise statements of doctrine in the Church. If you will use them as a guide to direct your studies of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will find yourself prepared to declare your witness of the restored truth to the world. You will be able to declare in simple, straightforward, and profound ways the core beliefs you hold dear as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. When we have the faith we can do we can do great things if we study we can back up our reasons. We live in a wonderful world full of wonderful things we are made by a wondrous Father who loves us and well he does such wondrous things. let him work the wonders inside of you by reading the scriptures. because as i read a few days ago in 2 Nephi 32: 3 “angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will Tell you all things what ye should do”.

So do it! Just do it! I love this work!!!

Elder Jaymes Monson

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/the-doctrines-and-principles-contained-in-the-articles-of-faith?lang=eng

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/the-key-to-spiritual-protection?lang=eng

Week 73: "You Can Do It Now!"

Well this week was an awesome week!!!

This weeks baptisms

Elder Aguila and I are staying together so no changes. But we got word this week that this ward is baptizing more than my last zone! wow that’s crazy!!! Its not anything to do with us!! Its our awesome bishopric who all baptized this week. in this Picture from left to right is, on bottom the two handsome Elders and then UBI (2nd Con.) Fransisco (his best friend) Alicia and Juan (who just got married) Raul (1st CON. who drove us every week to Juans house) and our beloved Bishop Gonzalez (baptized Juan). now there is a cool thing with our bishop and Juan. Juan has been attending church for 20 years in a different!!! and when he started who was the bishop in that ward the man who baptized him!! ya he has been bishop a long time!!! but everyone of these grand men had a special part in the lives of these new Members. Do you remember the man who brought 3 inv to church my first week UBi would be that man he has now baptized every one of them. Its amazing how the lord works and well by the small things he does. We had the wedding of JUan and Alicia Friday when the Bishop turned a problem into a solution and well took the responsibility and well he did it and he couldn't be more happier!! Everyone of these people have had a rough past but now it doesn’t matter. President Diter F Uchtdorf talked about this in the priesthood season of General Conference in October. his talk was entitled you can do it now! and well the bishopric basically told this to these wonderful children of our father in heaven. Pres. Uchtdorf says in his talk, "

When I was young, falling and getting up seemed to be one and the same motion. Over the years, however, I have come to the unsettling conclusion that the laws of physics have changed—and not to my advantage.

Not long ago I was skiing with my 12-year-old grandson. We were enjoying our time together when I hit an icy spot and ended up making a glorious crash landing on a steep slope.

I tried every trick to stand up, but I couldn’t—I had fallen, and I couldn’t get up.

I felt fine physically, but my ego was a bit bruised. So I made sure that my helmet and goggles were in place, since I much preferred that other skiers not recognize me. I could imagine myself sitting there helplessly as they skied by elegantly, shouting a cheery, “Hello, Brother Uchtdorf!”

I began to wonder what it would take to rescue me. That was when my grandson came to my side. I told him what had happened, but he didn’t seem very interested in my explanations of why I couldn’t get up. He looked me in the eyes, reached out, took my hand, and in a firm tone said, “Opa, you can do it now!”

Instantly, I stood.

I am still shaking my head over this. What had seemed impossible only a moment before immediately became a reality because a 12-year-old boy reached out to me and said, “You can do it now!” To me, it was an infusion of confidence, enthusiasm, and strength.

Brethren, there may be times in our lives when rising up and continuing on may seem beyond our own ability. That day on a snow-covered slope, I learned something. Even when we think we cannot rise up, there is still hope. And sometimes we just need someone to look us in the eyes, take our hand, and say, “You can do it now!”" Each one of these people had fallen in some things they would have regretted and well now they have a new start and are moving on this path of righteousness, President Uchtdorf goes on with this awesome statement our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward." this statement reminds me of one of my favorite Disney quotes Hakuna Matata haha no its from Walt himself "Around here; However, We Don't look Backward for very long. Wee keep Moving foreword, Opening up New Doors and doing new things, because we’re Curious...And Curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." we don't look backward much we keep moving forward. Now if we put this in a scripture 2 Nephi 31:19-20

 19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken Faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

 20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a clove of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

If we Press forward we are moving foreword right? well this is what Juan has been doing he has walked 2 hours to get to church to keep pressing foreword and well he wanted so badly to be baptized and well now he is he is a member and well he will keep moving forward. 

Elder Edward Dude told a story in Conference about his mom and how he kept looking forward. While I was a boy working in the fields with my mother, she taught me one of the most important lessons in life. It was late in the morning, the sun was up, and we had been hoeing for what I thought to be a very long time. I stopped to look back at what we had accomplished and said to my mother, “Look at all we have done!” Mother did not respond. Thinking that she had not heard me, I repeated what I had said a little louder. She still did not reply. Raising my voice a little higher, I repeated again. Finally, she turned to me and said, “Edward, never look back. Look ahead at what we still have to do.”

While my mother’s lesson of looking ahead was directed toward the visible weeds in the field, that challenge was minor in comparison to what the early Saints went through. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin described this experience so well: “In 1846, more than 10,000 [people] left the thriving city [of Nauvoo] that had been built on the banks of the Mississippi River. With faith in prophetic leaders, those early Church members left their ‘City Beautiful’ and struck off into the wilderness of the American frontier. They did not know exactly where they were going, precisely how many miles lay ahead, how long the journey would take, or what the future held in store for them. But they did know they were led by the Lord and His servants” the saints of the trails didn't now how long it would be to Utah but they kept moving foreword. there is a better way. Let us rise up and become men of God. We have a champion, a Savior, who walked through the valley of the shadow of death on our behalf. He gave Himself as a ransom for our sins. No one has ever had greater love than this—Jesus Christ, the Lamb without blemish, willingly laid Himself on the altar of sacrifice and paid the price for our sins to “the uttermost farthing.” He took upon Himself our suffering. He took our burdens, our guilt upon His shoulders. My dear friends, when we decide to come to Him, when we take upon ourselves His name and boldly walk in the path of discipleship, then through the Atonement we are promised not only happiness and “peace in this world” but also “eternal life in the world to come.” True heartfelt repentance brings with it the heavenly assurance that “we can do it now.” 

Everyone changes just like President Monson talked about in OCT 2012 that everyone can change the truth is Fransisco and Emmanuel were sure and well their families where sure they would never change but when they heard that drinking was bad and that god didn't want it they said ok ill stop and well they did!!! the lord works in mysterious ways! the greatest way to do anything is on the lord side! so be on the team and don't run out of bounds in times of need stay in the game and battle it out and well we can do it!!! when you fall get up and brush it all off and start running again!!! I love this work!!!

Love you ALL!! Hope you have a great week!!

Elder Jaymes Monson

Week 72: Doctrine and Covenants 100:6, “For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say”.

Hello!!!!

Well I hope everyone had a great week and I know I did!!! Our Zone Leaders called our Ward the “working machine” because we are working so well and the sister as well because we both baptized this week and the ward has been baptizing for a month straight and this week we have 3 baptisms planned for us and the sisters will help us go for 2 months straight! its just awesome and I love seeing the whole ward just smiling and the bishop tells the ward how proud he is of the them and we are all just smile and it comes from the people who you would not even think would be excited so ya its interesting. the thing is is that the ward is happy. i remember president telling me one time that when a missionary and his companion work hard and let the lord bring them higher as well as the members they become happy and then the whole place is smiles. I have seen all smiles as the people really do care for these souls who are coming into the church and in some areas the attendance to a baptism is 10 maybe 20 people but here they come by the 40s and 50s to the baptisms because they know how important it is for the person that they are there, it is just so great to be happy!!

Coconut season is in full swing

One thing I have seen through out my mission is that the spirit works through people in so many different ways one of my favorite short films is "A man without Eloquence" by Pres. Young (http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-07-048-a-man-without-eloquence?lang=eng) A man without eloquence (the practice or art of using language with fluency and aptness.) the spirit turns these people who are new or are afraid to talk and changes them into the people who say the exact words to touch ones heart. the truth is this is a perfect example of a missionary, a young man or a young woman or couples are sent to strange land and they aren't really sure how to speak a language. they are lead by the gifts of the spirit that are mentioned in Moroni 10 and well they are given the words in the exact moment. or as it says in Doctrine and Covenants 100:6, “For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say”.  the lord promises us that if we open our moths the words will be there and we will know exactly what we need to say to make the moment more powerful. the Sister Missionaries here just baptized a young man who just married the bishops daughter. he is a bit shy but the words he spoke Saturday night were the words we needed to hear he faced a fear he had and he had the words he needed he told us he just signed a paper that is more important than the one he did at his wedding and just as important as the papers he will sign to bring his kids into the world. another one was in our baptism Wednesday with a young man named Emmanuel. He is an awesome young man!!! doing the will of the lord. he felt the importance of the decisions he made so impactful that he cried through the whole thing and well then he told the words exactly to the point that his sister, who didn't want to hear us before, is now trying to make it back on the right road and she told us she is thinking of being baptized as well. Brigham young tells about the man who changed his heart to become a member and I just love this video its awesome!!! the power of God is awesome and If we open our mouths we will have them filled. i would invite you all to open your mouths for a good purpose for the word of God and well they will know the church is true by what you can tell them!! i love this work and i hope you do too Love you all and hope the week goes by well!!

Elder Jaymes Monson

PS its so hard to writ in English now!!! haha

Week 71: Amesome!

Well Happy February!!!

It’s awesome to be in a good mood!!! i just love to be happy!!! i hope you do as well!! this week was actually awesome!! i really can say that here the ward knows what every member a missionary is, the truth is its awesome!!! we had a baptism this week and well we are planning to have 4 in the next two weeks. John the Baptist and his wife on the 14th and the one we had this past week Roberto, and the one we will have this week and the 14th as well, Emmanuel and Fransisco they are all from the person who i told you about two weeks ago the guy who brings 3 investigators to church every week. we are going to baptize them all in the next two weeks. the funny thing is is that we don't teach them a lot of times they don't have time. sure we teach them the basics but this family they are always with they teach them everything they read and they even have prepared them to give lesson. Emmanuel gave the lesson in the YSA class yesterday. he also has told me he knows More than me several times. I'm not going to compete with him but really it is awesome!!! the members are really doing their work!! one of our problems is that we don't get to see Fransisco as much he works a lot and is only home at night at like 10 so we don't teach him at night we try to teach him during lunch break and well its been hard but the truth is we went to see him Thursday and well this family Ubi and his wife Alva invited him to be baptized and they read the book of Mormon with him and well he accepted and before he said we weren't going to get him in the water soon haha it was funny we didn't Alva did, what an awesome thing it is to see the members get involved.

this week we did have a baptism of an awesome young man named Roberto, or Pollo (chicken) he just is called by that name and well he is awesome!! he has been attending church for 8 years he couldn't make the choice to get baptized before because his mom wouldn't let him. then he was a bit led astray for a bit made bad choices and well then he came back he didn't want to get baptized until Ubi asked him why and well they talked and he is now baptized. its just awesome! we only were tools to teach but his best friend and well basically his family helped him out a lot and well he is now just happy and going to endure to the end. how awesome is this work!! i love it and well with the members on board its a lot easier and well its just awesome!!! i love this work and this ward is awesome we are just so excited to keep the work going. we had our Zone conference this week with president Cardenas and well we learned how we need to be obedient and to always be firm in what we do and stand for. we are representatives of Jesus Christ ans well we better keep that name safe and to always honor it!. so ya all good I love this work and I love being Happy, I hear there is snow on the Horizon in Utah and well hopefully it will be a good one to bring lots of water and smiles to everyone!!! 

I love you all and well just keep smiling!!!

Elder Jaymes Monson

walking over the bridge

Thanks to Bro. Darby for the tie!

enjoying the porch at our apartment

sunset