January 27 2014

Super fast week! Was good, slow with teaching but that will get better. 

Last week we had a meeting with President Amaya, wow. Super strong chastizing. The work is slow in the two zones in Las Orquideas, yes Im still in the samw area, but he had missionaries stand up and asked them questions about this paper that they handed out bout 2 weeks ago and no one knew it.. Was pretty bad, but he gave a good talk about how we can do better. Funny how some of us miss the ovbious, he said, If you go out and contact, youll have new investigatores, a bit ovbious but answers the question that everyone asks, where can we find new investigatores? 

Rain is picking up and they are predicting that Feb is gonna be crazyyyyyy.

We are teaching a girl that wants to get baptized but her parents wont let her cause shes not 18. Other day we were there and she starting crying cause her mom said no again. The mom is so closed off and I had, had a little too much so I let the spirit flow and it was pretty  direct. We are really hoping that she will allow permissino and that later we can get the mom to act on something! 

Hope is something that I have trying to have. The truth is, it could be a lot better with teaching and life always seems to give you things that you need in that moment, but with that Ive been trying to learn about hope. Thought id share a lil take by Elder Uchtdorf: 

The Importance of Hope

Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time. The scriptures are clear and certain about the importance of hope. The Apostle Paul taught that the scriptures were written to the end that we “might have hope.” 1

Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness. 2 Its absence—when this desire of our heart is delayed—can make “the heart sick.” 3

Hope is a gift of the Spirit. 4 It is a hope that through the Atonement ofJesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection, we shall be raised unto life eternal and this because of our faith in the Savior. 5 This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as well as a commandment, 6 and, as with all commandments, we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the temptation to lose hope. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace, 7 mercy, 8 rejoicing, 9and gladness. 10 The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet; 11 it is the foundation of our faith 12 and an anchor to our souls. 13

Moroni in his solitude—even after having witnessed the complete destruction of his people—believed in hope. In the twilight of the Nephite nation, Moroni wrote that without hope we cannot receive an inheritance in the kingdom of God. 14

But Why Then Is There Despair?

The scriptures say that there must be “an opposition in all things.” 15 So it is with faith, hope, and charity. Doubt, despair, and failure to care for our fellowmen lead us into temptation, which can cause us to forfeit choice and precious blessings.

The adversary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness. Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. Despair kills ambition, advances sickness, pollutes the soul, and deadens the heart. Despair can seem like a staircase that leads only and forever downward.

Hope, on the other hand, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion, and of fear.

What, Then, Is Hope?

The complexities of language offer several variations and intensities of the word hope. For example, a toddler may hope for a toy phone; an adolescent may hope for a phone call from a special friend; and an adult may simply hope that the phone will stop ringing altogether.

I wish to speak today of the hope that transcends the trivial and centers on the Hope of Israel, 16 the great hope of mankind, even our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Hope is not knowledge, 17 but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It is confidence that if we live according to God’s laws and the words of His prophets now, we will receive desired blessings in the future. 18 It is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance.

In the language of the gospel, this hope is sure, unwavering, and active. The prophets of old speak of a “firm hope” 19 and a “lively hope.” 20 It is ahope glorifying God through good works. With hope comes joy and happiness. 21 With hope, we can “have patience, and bear … [our] afflictions.” 22

Elder Strang speaking agian, we went yesterday with the elders quourn and brought this message to some of the inactive families which went way good. We have challenges but if we didnt have challenges, we wouldnt know the happy times. Have hope along with faith! We can overcome anything with the help of Christ and his infinite atonement! 

Love you all and hope you all have a good week. Thank you all for the support, 

Love Elder Strang

January 20 2014

Hola a todo en Estados Unidos y otra personas que están leyendo mi blog! :) 

This last week was quite different for me. Its weird to see the big picture and see the district, zone and mission go from such a huge month in December to where we are struggling now. I cant testafy that it is quite hard to find new people to teach! We have looked and seached and nopeeee. We have a few that we are teaching and some that are progressing but we need more. 

Still in the same area, 5 months running! Haha the members say that I started in this area and that Im going to finish in this area ha :) I think that change is coming here soon! The weather is interesting. It rains most nights and is very nice temp until the sun comes out and cooks the water that has fallen, then its more or less like an oven :) but I like it! We swim to most appointments, not a big deal... ha Tons of people are sick with the ¨climate change¨ as they call it, including yours truly. Its weird cause you get sick feel terrible for a day then after youre good :) 

New Assitant in the Mish and new Zl for us... Wasnt exacly a smooth change with him but thats okay! We´ll live. Bought a straight razor and tried shaving... scariest thing.. open blade next to my jugguler vain.. not much of a fan, or maybe I jsut dont know how to do it right. 

Im reading In the Blue book in spanish, trying to better the spanish so I dont plateua. And this week realized that the BOM is so powerful and we cant learn something new everythime that we read. We are teaching this 16 year old girl and her mom a lil bit but the mom is so hard to deal with. Thinks that she doesnt need to do anything or change anything. So we had a lesson with her and it was the same old crap, so I thought to myself, self you need to say something. So I did. Probably was a lil strong, but it worked. The past two times we have taught we show up and shes reading the Book of Mormon! And went to church this week :) and the whole family is going to listen to us! READ THE BLUE BOOK. It will answer all your questions. 

Got to go. Love you all. Until next week, yours truly

Elder Strang