April 20, 2015

Hello!!!

So this week was pretty goooooood.

On Monday. We had a lesson with the J. Family and the P. Family and with the P.'s we talked about yoking ourselves to Christ and we talked about how we needed to read the scriptures, pray, and go to church to show our faith and be able to receive that help that we need. It went super good and we committed them to church this Sunday. We'll see how it all goes!

Tuesday. We had a little lesson with D. He is doing alright. We are still trying to help him get to church but he stopped smoking so that’s super good. Hopefully we can help him to church this week! Then we had dinner with the Rivera family at 3:30! Soooo Early!!! But it was good! We had some soup and then fish with lettuce and rice. It was super simple but super good. After that we had a lesson with L! She is on Fire!!!!! We taught the Plan of Salvation! It went super well. Moses was with us. We have more or less gotten into a pretty good teaching pattern. So the lesson went super well. And that was about it for that day.

Wednesday. So we had exchanges and Elder Workman came with me. We had a good day. It was slow. We had a little lesson with C.

Thursday. We did some service!!! Yay!!!! We unloaded some trucks of food into a small food pantry and then we put together boxes and bags to be given out to the people. It was a lot of fun! After doing weekly planning we had a lesson with the A. Family. It was super sweet! We taught the Restoration and they really captured the points very well! It’s super awesome because they are also now on date for baptism. The 16th of May!!!

Friday. Dinner was super fun that day. We went to the C’s. They are one of the best families in the ward. Hno. is the 1st Counselor in the Young Mens Presidency and Hna. Is the Presidenta of the Young Women. So they are super involved and willing to help us out with about anything. That night we had another lesson with the P. kids and we did a role play of asking their dad to take them to church. They did it super well, we'll see what happens on Sunday haha.

Saturday. Was good. We went to the Library because we had a ummm what’s the word... like when they tell you what you’re going to do and stuff...hmmm. well we signed up to volunteer at the library and so we had that meeting and I basically already knew what was going on because of the service I'd done at home in the library so it should be pretty good. I'm excited. We went to the M. families home and we had a lesson with everyone and the oldest son, his wife, and kids, all said they'd be coming to church the next day!!! It was awesome!!

Sunday! So we get a ride to the church we get there at about 10:20. At 10:30 the M family shows up!!! We were awestruck! They were 30 minutes early to church!!! It was super cool. Then we saw the A. family come in and then Maggy too! We had 6 people at church! I was sooo excited I almost couldn't contain myself! All these people were coming and they loved it!!! Just a super good day!!!

But that was the week!

Oh and so I saw this when I first got to the area but my name is written in spray paint on the sidewalk just outside of our complex. Like I have no idea why it’s there. But it is so I decided I'd finally take a picture of it haha.

I hope everyone has a good week and lots of fun! Make good choices and Read and Pray every single day!!! Talk to you all next week!

-Elder Zachary Gore

April 13, 2015

Hello!!!

Soooooo this week. Was good. 

Monday we had a sweet family home evening with the Larios Family. They are L. fellowshipers. They are awesome. I also sent the picture home for my moms B-Day!! 

Tuesday. We went over to visit Hno Tapia, and Hna. Toriz was there too so we talked to them about missionary work and we found out that she knows one of Elder Juarez's investigators from San B. I know her too, because of exchanges while I was there in San B. But yeah Hna. Toriz is going to invite her to church!!! Yay!!

Wednesday. We had another awesome lesson with L.!! We watched the Restoration Video. It was super good. She said it made everything very clear. After that lesson we had our first dinner with Hna. Cativo, and we had subs at Subway they were super good after that we tried to visit a couple other people but they weren’t home and so then the time came for our second dinner with the Familia Monarrez.

Thursday. We had a really good lesson with the M. Family. In the M. family the Hna. and all the kids are members, less active though, but the husband is not a member. So we had a super good lesson about the Book of Mormon and how it helps and why it’s important and they asked where in the Bible it talked about the Book of Mormon, they were doubting that it could be true and not be in the Bible, which thank goodness I had marked the verses in Ezekiel where it talks about the Stick of Judah and the Stick of Ephraim, and how they will be put together into one Stick, and I explained that scripture to them and they were just like, whooooa. Well there it is. So that was super cool. They needed that, I think, to be willing to start reading as a family. 

Friday. We went to the church early and helped set up for the Relief Society Anniversary dinner thing, and then we rode around and made a bunch of calls and talked to people and all or appointments fell through and that kind of stunk. On the bright side we had some bomb Teriyaki Chicken for dinner. It was soooo good!!

Saturday. So Saturday, we had another lesson with L., and we talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about how we have to have faith and repent and then get baptized. And so we talked about baptism and about how it can clean us and we can start over, and receive the Holy Ghost after. And we asked if she would like that and she said yes, and so then we invited her to be baptized the 9th of May and she accepted the Baptismal Date!! Super awesome!!! She is doing great!!!

-After that we had our meeting with Hno. Toriz and it went good.

Sunday was good. But I realized during Gospel Principles that I needed to kick the Spanish practice back up into gear. I was asked to read a verse and I don’t know why I was struggling so much to read it and then I realized I just wasn't used to reading scripture out loud. We try and have the investigators or members read because it’s more powerful that way, but I decided to read the Book of Mormon out loud more during language study.

And that was the week. But other than that I also got my Trunky Call!!! >.< When they call you about your flight plans to go home. It was sooo sad :(

I hope everyone has a great one and has lots of fun! 

I know this Church is True!!!

-Elder Zachary Gore

April 6, 2015

Ok. sooooooo this week.

Monday we played soccer. With the elders from R3 and M. L. came and played too. It was super fun. That night we had a family home evening at the R. home. It was fun. We shared the Easter video #BecauseHelives. Then we had some carne asada, and tacos and it was super good.

Tuesday I was feeling pretty bad. I think I got a cold. I was just sneezing, and coughing, and my nose was running, and I was all stuffed up. Ugh. District meeting was hard to sit through but then basically everything that day fell through. Just a rough day. We started exchanges that night and Elder Curtis came with me.

Exchanges were good. We had some good lessons. The best lesson was the one we had with L. So the lesson went really good. We talked about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. She had a lot of questions but we were able to answer them.

So Thursday we had a great lesson with R, J., and K. We talked about the Restoration. These kids are awesome. They basically taught the lesson to us. M. came and he was in shock. He said during the lesson, "so when are these kids getting baptized. R. is on date for the 9th of May and his brothers we are waiting until we get permission from their dad. But yeah super good lesson.

Friday. Not much happened. We had a really good dinner with the Rivera Family. I had 3 plates! Full of chicken, rice, and a little salad. It was super good.

Saturday was Conference. Super good!!! The talks I felt were exactly what I needed to hear. I'm super glad I was prepared to receive revelation and that I had taken the time to prepare by reading the Book of Mormon and finishing it before conference. That's a challenge I have for you. Read the Book of Mormon. 5 pages every day, starting today, and in English you'll finish the day I get home lol. It'll be fun. I'm going to do it in Spanish so I have to read 6 pages. Who wants to join me?? :) In between the morning and afternoon sessions we went to Asia Buffet with M. and had lunch. It was super fun, to get to talk to him because he was where we are just a month ago. Second session started. There are sooooo many missionaries, and temples, and stakes, and wards, and members! It’s awesome!!!!

Conference notes

 

Sunday. We watched the first session in Spanish and then during the break the ward, well those who came to the chapel, brought food and we had a big picnic lunch. I'm sorry I forgot to take pictures >.< But it was super good. After that they set up a room with English and we went and watched the second session there. Up until the people that spoke native Spanish then we rushed back to the chapel to listen to it. It's hard to listen to the translations because I understand both the languages haha.

That was the week. Hope you all had a good one too!

Remember to Read and Pray every day. Go to church every Sunday! The prophets have taught us, now we have to do it. It’s really not that hard. 5 pages a day is a good place to start. I know this church is true. I know we have a living Prophet who was called by God and that all they teach us is to help us grow and become closer to our Savior Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.

Have a great week peeps!

-Elder Zachary Gore

30 March 2015

Hello Familia, Amigos, y las otras personas que leen mi blog,

So 2 Saturdays ago, we met this guy named D.. He was just jamming out in his car and he invited use to go see him on Monday. So Monday roles around and we stop by his house and we have a super sweet lesson. We talked to him about what he wants in life, about what he wants to change to be better and we promised him that the Gospel of Jesus Christ would help him if he applied it. It was just a super awesome experience. He wants to change and be better so bad, he just doesn't know how to get out of his rut, but we are helping him. He told us to come by the next day!

 -Oh and a side note. We had to walk home because my bike was getting fixed at the bike shop.

Tuesday.

So we walked to District Meeting, which took about 30-35 minutes, and it was good. After we walked to the bike shop which took us close to an hour round trip. My feet have never been more sore, because then we decided to go and walk again and we did that for an hour or so, and we got a lot of cool potentials. That night we had our lesson with D. We get to his house and he is pulling out of the drive way so we just stop and he sees us and pulls back in. He apologized and told us he had completely forgotten, but we all jumped into his car and we taught him about the Restoration. It was a super good lesson, and he understood super quick some of the points of doctrine that people frequently confuse, such as the need of Authority, the Book of Mormon, and the need of prophets! It was super bomb! We set up for a lesson Saturday and yeah. That was basically the night.

Wednesday.

Wednesday was our rough day of the week. A lot of people were out but we saw the Sarabia family and that went really well. Carlos said he would like to start coming to church and the FHE that we have. So we can tell that he can see the difference in his kids since they started coming and he likes it. Then we saw N.  We have never had a lesson, but we've left her with the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlets, which she has read, along with the Finding Faith in Christ DVD, which she has watched, and we gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon, which she is reading. It was a little after 8 when we showed up and she was like freaking out because we normally come earlier, and she told us that her and her boyfriend were thinking that maybe something was wrong, like somebody was chasing us and we needed somewhere to hide, and they were all ready to get us inside haha. It was super funny. We are really trying to get a sit down, inside lesson with her. We'll see if we can do it this week.

Thursday.

Thursday was pretty good. We had a good lesson with a new investigator named L.  She's cool, she came to church one Sunday with a friend and then the second Sunday we got her info and we had a lesson on Thursday at the church with Mosies Larios, the RM. It went super well. We invited her to read the Restoration pamphlet, and she said she's try because she hates reading and we agreed on 2 pgs a day, and like an hour and a half after the lesson, she texts us and says she's already half way done with it. It was pretty cool.

Friday.

Friday was crazy because we planned to go down to Bloomington first, but it was good over all. We saw the Medina family, and the Rodriguez family, they made me a belt. I'll send you a picture of it next week! Its super nice :) But that night we had a Noche de Hogar, FHE. It was super fun! We played Scripture Charades. Hna Jimenez took a bunch of pictures, I'll try to get them and send them to you next week!!

Saturday was super good. We had a mission Conference and Elder Nielson of the 70. He spoke to us about the Atonement and the Redeeming Power and the Enabling Power. There is a lot to it but basically the Atonement applies to every single person no matter where they are in life. It makes bad men good and good men better. The Redeeming power involves forgiveness from sin, and being lifted and changed. While the Enabling Power takes us from one level to another on our way to becoming more like our Heavenly Father. We "share the yoke" with Jesus Christ and he pulls far more then we can and we are able to get through hard times, and sad moments. We are able to face our trials and grow and overcome them. We went walking that afternoon and had some super cool contacts. And we found this lady named N. She was a referral. We invited her to church and guess what! She came!!!

Sunday.

Sunday was good. We had L., N., and her son at church. Noelia and Maggy were in Texas so they didn't go. But N. and her son loved it! And they said next week they want to come and bring her other 3 kids!! Yay!! Basically everything just sort of fell through. We don't really know what happened. I guess you can't have awesome lessons and success everyday right haha. 

But that's the week! I hope everyone has a great week and that we remember the importance of Easter. It's the day the Jesus Christ was resurrected. And because he was resurrected we don't have to worry, we don't have to fear. He Lives and so will We.

#BecauseHeLives

I love you all!

-Elder Zachary Gore