Week 92:The truth is San Cristobal is super different!!!

Happy Monday to all of you!! The truth is San Cristobal is super different!!!

Right now I have a cold… it’s awesome to sleep because you feel so good in cool weather but it’s hard to wake up!! Because well its freezing cold, for an elder that just barley traveled from Tapachula where its 100 degrees and rain to a place where it doesn't rain much and to have it be 50 degrees in the morning, I know, I know, its not too cold but seriously its a big difference. and well I’m glad I’m in the cool weather.

Well this week has been awesome!! Really being a Zone leader with Elder Coto is awesome!!!! The truth is the church it true!! I told Elder Coto today, in the morning, that I have no idea what to write this week, to tell you the truth, we have been trying to work but my companion has been sick and well we have been under the weather or well he has I just have a cold but that doesn't stop me from working. But I was thinking, Wednesday we taught a very important lesson to our district leaders we taught them to be modern day Moroni’s and we taught through Alma 43: it says:  

7 Now this he did that he might preserve their hatred towards the Nephites, that he might bring them into subjection to the accomplishment of his designs.

8 For behold, his designs were to stir up the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites; this he did that he might usurp great power over them, and also that he might gain power over the Nephites by bringing them into bondage

we explained that this was the devil and his evil works and well he always wants to bring us down to bondage

9 And now the design of the Nephites was to support their lands, and their houses, and their wives, and their children, that they might preserve them from the hands of their enemies; and also that they might preserve their rights and their privileges, yea, and also their liberty, that they might worship God according to their desires.

10 For they knew that if they should fall into the hands of the Lamanites, that whosoever should worship God in spirit and in truth, the true and the living God,

These are us, we are the good guys and we want to win and we are only here to protect those who know the word of God. We are also here to teach the others so that they know.

16 Now, the leader of the Nephites, or the man who had been appointed to be the chief captain over the Nephites—now the chief captain took the command of all the armies of the Nephites—and his name was Moroni;

and thses are our leaders our disterict leaders god has picked us as leaders to lead the people to the strength and will of god. and well if we really want the salvation we need to lead by example.

17 And Moroni took all the command, and the government of their wars. And he was only twenty and five years old when he was appointed chief captain over the armies of the Nephites.

18 And it came to pass that he met the Lamanites in the borders of Jershon, and his people were armed with swords, and with cimeters, and all manner of weapons of war.

19 And when the armies of the Lamanites saw that the people of Nephi, or that Moroni, had prepared his people with breastplates and with arm-shields, yea, and also shields to defend their heads, and also they were dressed with thick clothing.

Well we need to put on our true armor of god and he will surly bless us and well if we teach and lead by examples we will be blessed in the best ways. Our leaders were amazed and we have seen a lot better leadership, as we are going to our meetings today with Pres. George to show that the San Cristobal Zone is getting better. Its one of the hardest areas to work in the mission it’s known for not having lots of success because its a very Catholic place and lots of people are really closed to hear our messages and well lots are not from here they are visitors but really our zone has worked their tails off and we will just keep going upward and onward. 

One of the coolest things happened last night President George called us, I answered and he asked who I was, I said, Elder Monson, he asked how my companion was and then he just said Elder wow your a zone leader right? I said yes and he talked to me for a bit and it was awesome I really could feel the love this man has for this mission and he is in good hands right now as the assistants are running the show while he gets into the mission ha ha but all is good, we get to talk to him tomorrow and interviews Thursday and well we are just so excited to be in the mission it will be awesome.

That was my week we are going to work hard this week sorry not much but this week passed by too fast and well in like an hour or so we will be getting on a bus to go to Tuxtla so ya!!! so ya all good i love you all!!!!  Elder Coto is a great companion and well the church is true!!!

Elder Jaymes Monson

Week 91: Transfer new assignment!

Happy Tuesday to all of you!!! The truth is this past week has been super crazy!!! but all good!! Right now I am really glad I'm not sweating because here in the mountains you don't sweat too much!!!

I am right now in San Cristobal de las Casas Chiapas and yesterday was a really interesting day!!!

Let me tell you about our week. Elder Reyes and I worked our guts out! It was a great week. We worked super hard to plan to baptize every week in July so we worked and it was great we taught the gospel of Christ to a lot of people! We helped the parents of one family, their names are Herminio and Angela, to accept to be baptized. wow what a huge blessing they have received. 4 years of attending church!!! four years!! and well the missionaries have struggled and struggled to try and get them to accept and well they did finally on Saturday the spirit touched the hearts of these wonderful people and it was all by a simple scripture. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23) we have all fallen short and have all sinned and after we are baptized the sins are washed away but it doesn't mean we will be forever sin free. It means we need to work! and well to work we need to be  on the right path.. BOOM! It struck a part of their hearts and they said, “Elders, Yes we will be getting baptized in two weeks!” wow! and well that was about the whole week we have worked and we have found the needs of everyone and Elder Reyes and I were super duper excited to work and we were just ready, or you could say pumped!!! We were on fire and we knew it!!! Elder Reyes was learning really quickly, we didn't have many investigators but we had a goal to baptize all of the investigators we had.  They were all preparing and they were progressing and we were so happy and super excited we had reached the goal to baptize all of July we knew it and we couldn’t let down our own faith. But you know the lord works in mysterious ways.

Saturday President Cardenas did his last transfers til he is gone and Sunday in the afternoon as we were talking to a lady, who will be getting baptized, we just met her but I know she will get baptized… Anyway Elder Bassett (my DL) called me and said "Elder Monson you have transfers!" I thought what???!!! He continued "you will be going to San Cristobal, as Zone Leader" Wow Zone Leader? and I’m close to finishing… ok that will be fun, then i hear "and your companion Elder Reyes will be going to Laureles 2", Wait what?!  “Yes elder they closed your area" wait!! We are excited to work and what!?!?! Well the sisters in Vista Hermosa will be taking over our area and their area will be the whole ward. Wow I actually feel bad for them. But the worst part was packing I was leaving the next morning at 9 am and had to be in the OCC at 8 so it was a long night. Elder Reyes, who is now with a good friend of mine Elder Zambrano, so ya all is well for him. At least he got to go 20 minutes or so away while I got to sit on a bus for 9 hours!!!

Ya we left Tapachula at 9:15am and we got to Tuxtla at 4:10 in time to go to the bus next to ours and go another 1 and a half or more I have no idea I was sleeping haha and well I finally got here and it’s nice and cool here in the mountains. My Companion, Elder Coto, was there to give me a hug and to wake me up a bit and say, Welcome to San Cris. Wow its great to be here, so after we waited for another sister who's bus left without her and well she got here and it was straight to work doing the Zone numbers for the last week! and then well we slept and my feet felt cold it was nice i was in heaven not sweating all night. Then we woke up today and we rode another 2 hours to Ocosingo to interview a person who is getting baptized and drop off a summer missionary there to work with one of the district leaders. so ya its been a whole bunch of fun and well I just am glad I got my head screwed on straight, 13 hours of travel in 2 days is a lot and Friday we need to go back to Ocosingo and to Tuxtla tuesday!! ahh! but all is well

I just love this work and just love being a missionary!!! hope all is well sorry it has been a crazy week and well at least I'm nice and cool!!! love you all!!!

Elder Jaymes Monson

Week 90: Small and Simple things

Happy Fathers day to all you great fathers!!

This week was a pretty alright week, not too bad but we sure do need new investigators so we will work super hard this week to find some new ones. We will figure it out some how.  Anyways these last few weeks it has been raining a lot! But not like wow that's a lot of rain it’s more like why is my companion dumping buckets of water on me? I was thinking the other day as we where in a Com b (its sort of like a bus but they are crazier and they smash everyone in and they drive quickly to get to your destination it’s quite interesting) anyways we were in this com b and well it was raining really hard and I was thinking about a lot of things and we reached a part where the driver couldn't see out the front windows and the side windows were flowing with water. it was very interesting, then the driver did something not many com b drivers do- he slowed down. Well of course he needed to but I was thinking if he hadn't slowed down what would have happened? We might have been hydro sliding or maybe on the side of the road, who knows but I'm glad he slowed down!

It reminds me of many times as my family would drive in the snow down sardine canyon or anytime it would be snowing we would slow down. It reminds me of one night in the winter I had just gotten off of work and the snow was coming down as I was in a little putt putt car that didn't have much traction and all I wanted was to be warm because the heater didn't really heat up haha and I wanted to be home. The streets were really slick and well I was stopped at a red light and I said a prayer in my heart and said father all I want is to get home safely. The light turned green and I felt an unseen force wake me up and tell me son take it one light at a time. Sure I got home in an hour instead of a half hour of 20 minutes but I got home safe and that is what matters!  As I pulled into the garage I said a quick prayer thanking my father in heaven for helping me get home.  As I came in the door my dad was sitting in the chair in the family room and he got up gave me a dad size hug and told me he was glad I got home safely then he told me, son tomorrow is Sunday ill be at the church, but if you don't mind would you clear off the driveway there will be lots of snow in it tomorrow so that you and your mom can get to church safely I just smiled and said sure.

I learned three very important things: one my dad can always trust in me, two God answers prayers and three the works of God are taken one step at a time. He says "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39) but to receive his glory we need to go one step at a time. We need to be focused on his glory to get to his glory. The prophet Alma told us "And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls”. (Alma 37:7) Its by small things in our lives that bring to pass the eternal purposes of our father in heaven. Just think something as easy as saying our prayers, it’s a small and simple thing but it brings an eternity of blessings. Just talking to our father in heaven down on our knees brings blessings that we would never have imagined. Forgetting one day may lead to 2 or 3 times till we forget to pray. And well we can’t afford that. Its in our scripture study forgetting one day we can say well we can read tomorrow till tomorrow is up and well it leads to all of summer vacation and well we forget where we were and well we start again. Its a small thing but an element in our lives that's small and lasting.

The lord asks us to do these small things I talked about once last week about Emanuel. Its the Small things that matter. In our lives as we walk we will have a spiritual storm as I mentioned before and a stumbling block as well but the truth is the devil will find our weaknesses and he knows how to find them really well but we cant let the Small things turn into a really big things because they will. My mom always has told me how there is so much to do its amazing I have time to do it all. When we get that way in our spiritual lives we just need to do what the com b driver did and what I did- we need to slow down and take it one step at a time. We need to say a prayer and then continue forward. We need to pray and say father all I need to do is get home or read or anything. He will hear us and we will be blessed. Our spiritual roads will be slick and our little putt putt cars will need more heating and more traction but if we follow the spirit and trust in the lord he will do the rest. Slow and steady always won the race. "And out of small things proceedeth that which is great." (Doctrine and Covenants 64:33) now "behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." (Alma 34:32) we aren't going to make it in one soccer game it will be like the world cup one game at a time. One trial at a time it just depends on us if we want to win we will do our best but if we don't then well start wanting to win and let god do the rest. By small and simple things the lord will give us the great and grand prize, which is immortality and eternal life. From small beginnings great things come to pass, Joseph Smith did something very small and simple he said a prayer and he received and answer and trough Joseph smith the lord established his Church once again. A small thing that has had a huge blessing. the church is true let us do the small things to bring us towards god and not let the pebbles in our roads to heaven make us trip. You can ask my companion Elder Reyes a pebble tripped him this week. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Romans 1:16) I love this work!!

Hope everyone has had a great week hope you all have a wonderful week ahead, and well happy fathers day to all the wonderful fathers especially my hero father! Thanks dad for everything! Love you all!!

Elder Jaymes Monson

         

Week 89: A baptism from learning about the power of God!

Well… What a rainy week!!! I am pretty glad the sun came out so I could dry out, I didn't care if my cloths dried super fast I wanted to dry myself out!! My prayer came true when the sun came out I was in an oven!!! It was super hot then, i was like don't be mean to me mother nature and she sent rain again so ya it was a very interesting sort of things that happened waking up and feeling the cool air and then feeling the scalding sun and then having it rain once again! It was crazy and I’m not sure how I could have made it with out my boots but now they just need to dry out and well I needed to get the 8 inches of mud off of them too! Its been a crazy week. Its funny my companion Elder Reyes has never walked in mud before but  he has now until the shoes just about don't come out! haha but all good here we are safe and dry and well we are always expecting the rain in the afternoon.

So this week was absolutely awesome!! We had a baptism! The baptism of Jesus Emanuel a 12 year old young man who is a bit small for his age! But a great young man. It was sort of funny he didn't want to be baptized before. Elder Aguila and I had a really hard time with him oh it was a spiritual war with him. The spirit was there he felt it but he didn't like to feel it. oh and we couldn't find his needs he wouldn't listen at times oh ya it was like what aren't we doing right?!?!?! but we keep working and praying and doing everything to help him. and well we reactivated his family and well, they where happy to be back. The ward accepted them with open arms and he felt it but the youth wouldn't really do much for him and well we were just like why? help!!!! We got the bishop to help him and well he's his best friend.  The members where a bit like- we can help but not where his lives because there is lots of mud and lots of dirt and lots of wind and its hard to get there. I was like then OK we will go there some of the youth helped, but it wasn’t what we needed. We kept working. His mom was like -he has his own free will and well he can choose. He said -I’ll get baptized when I turn 18. Are you serious?! 18 well I will hopefully be married and have a family at least part of one in 6 years! Are you serious? I thought why? Then I asked him Why? He said he had no idea. Its hard enough to work with someone that knows why and they tell us but its even harder when they don't know why. We kept working, until one day at church the high counselor sat by him and as he was getting ready to leave he asked- why he wasn't baptized. He still didn't have an idea he asked him if he knew what the priesthood was. He said no he said -this week the missionaries will teach you this, right elder? looking at me I said of course we can explain that. During the week Elder Reyes and I went and it was a very spiritual lesson. We got there and we stared explaining the priesthood and its purpose. It was good he started to learn and he started to understand. Then we talked about confidence having an assurance, belief, trust, or faith in something, especially God and Jesus Christ.  “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” (Proverbs 118:8) We explained how God needs to trust in us to have the priesthood. It was a very spiritual lesson and well we really taught through the spirit there and we really learned. We then asked him if God could trust in him to have and honor his priesthood. He said yes he can trust in me! Then we explained that we need to trust in God to have the blessings of the priesthood. Then my companion said “Emanuel will you be baptized to put your trust in god?” Ding! We found the need he had, “Yes” he said! and what a baptism it was a very spiritual uplifting thing for him and well he is now a  member of the church. Man it just reminds me of my baptism when I was 8 as my dad baptized me with the divine power of God. What a blessing! Now he is baptized and he just needs to endure to the end. This happens with everyone, we as missionaries need to listen to the spirit and together try to find this need that everyone has. Sometimes its hard sometimes its a bit easy but everyone has this need and the want to do what is right, when we find the need, boom a blessing comes and we breath and we drop them off at the feet of the Savior and we go and bring more people in. what a blessing it is. The Lord says he works in small and simple things, its amazing how one thing changes everything. If Joseph Smith didn't ACT I wouldn't be here in Mexico and I wouldn't know the truth! If he wouldn't have done it would I have the courage to trust God and act. I don't know but I do know I am in the truth and that I love this work!! Now is the time to act and to start small and well change peoples lives!  I love changing peoples lives or better said Saving lives!! I love this work!!!

Hope you have a great week! and just remember people can change, Simba remember who you are! oh wait!! Love you all!!

Elder Jaymes Monson