From: Camille Weller [mailto:camille.weller@myldsmail.net]
Sent: Monday, June 23, 2014 11:35 AM
To: Melissa Wheatley;
Subject: 15 minutes early to church...
Wow this week was so awesome!!! Apart from the progress and
work here in Chivay we got to go to a zone conference in arequipa, with two
other zones and it was the most spiritual conference i can remember.. loved it!
Well i guess ill start with what else happened this week.
Oportunities to serve both miembros and investigators came
out of the woodwork this week, we got to help Hna Gladis, one of our new
investigators clean and organize her store(which included moving huge bags of
noodles and rice.. talk about a work out.), we got to help hna sonilda pull the
dried corn kernals off the stem.... our hands were practically bleeding but it
was worth it(: She has been less active for quite some time and we couldnt find
a way to gain her trust... until that day, now were practically best friends
and she is excited to meet with us and come to the activity this friday..
charity never faitheth(: then last but not least, we got to help put back
together a nursery room for one of our investigators. Ive gained a strong
testimony that if we pray to have more service oportunities the Lord will open
our eyes so that we can find them (:
At our zone conference we talked about so many good things!
heres some of my favorite things..
Attitude is the key to accomplishing our goals.
We can not have a testimony of the church without paying
tithing.. tithing is a commandment of obedience and blessings.
We also talked about the importance of the sacrament.. and
we were challenged to be at church 15 minutes before the meeting starts.. and
to invite the members and investigators to do the same.. in that time we can
think about the past week and think about the things we need to change.. i
loved that. we did it this week and it made such a difference.. i never even
thought to do that at home.. it was always rushing to get there right on time..
it makes a difference to just take time to get there, and then have time there
in the chapel to think and to listen to what the spirit wants to tell us. So
thats one of my invitations to all of you, and i know that if you try it, you
will feel the difference, especially during the sacrament.
We also talked alot about fear.. about how when we have
fear.. we cannot have the spirit with us. then we talked about ways to get rid
of fear..
1 to trust in God.. to trust in the holy ghost and trust in
things you cant see..
That like the people in alma who burried their weapons of
war.. we should burry our fears and never look back.. some fears we might have
are being affraid to share the gospel.. or to fully commit to living the
gospel.. we might be affraid to reach out to someone or to express our love for
those around us.. whatever our fears may be we can overcome them and become
stronger..
2 is love.. "El amor perfecta desecha todo el
temor" .. perfect love casteth out all fear. When we love those around us
and love our Heavenly Father then we wont be affraid to show it.. to be obedient
and to love and serve those around us.
then we talked about how there will always be oposition but
that we also put our own limits and we decide how far or how much we will do.
loved that.
I think the best part of the whole conference was at the
end.. each zone had to do a musical number and it turned out so cool! one of
them did Joseph Smiths first prayer.. another did i know Heavenly Father loves
me, and then our zone sang Army of Helamen... the spirit was so strong and i
just sat and thought about how much i love being a missionary.. and how much i
love my mission and the people here in peru. These last 3 months couldnt go by
slow enough for me. as much as i miss my family and friends, the love that i
have come to have for the mission is more than i thought possible.. i didnt
even think that i would make it this far, but here i am(: And i know that it
was because of the help of my Heavenly Father.. missions are the best. THE
BEST.
Then after the conference we got to hang out with president
and sister zobrist and talk about a conference thats coming up, they are
seriously the best.. i feel like they are my 2nd parents and can feel thier
love each time im with them.. we have the best mission presidents in the world,
im sure of it(:
When we got back on friday night there was a huge party in
the plaza for the anniversary of chivay and then saturday we got to see alittle
bit of the ceremony and stuff that they do, they also had a parade.. and a
bunch of drunk people passed out on the benches... rough night i suppose
haha
Sunday was such a good day, we got to church early and had
time to sit and think and make some new goals on things we want to improve, all
the missionaries did a special musical number as well which turned out pretty
good, were just full of musical numbers this week! Victor also recieved the
priesthood! so proud of him, he is such an amazing guy is progressing more than
i could have hoped for(: Then me and hna stone taught the gospel principles
class about agency and the decisions we make heres some parts from that
chapter..
“Thou mayest choose for
thyself, for it is given unto thee” (Moses 3:17).
God has told us through His
prophets that we are free to choose between good and evil. We may choose
liberty and eternal life by following Jesus Christ. We are also free to choose
captivity and death by following Satan. (See 2 Nephi 2:27.) The right to choose
between good and evil and to act for ourselves is called agency.
Agency makes our life on earth
a period of testing. When planning the mortal creation of His children, God
said, “We will prove [test] them herewith, to see if they will do all things
whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:25). Without the
gift of agency, we would have been unable to show our Heavenly Father whether
we would do all that He commanded us. Because we are able to choose, we are
responsible for our actions (see Helaman 14:30–31).
When we choose to live
according to God’s plan for us, our agency is strengthened. Right choices
increase our power to make more right choices.
As we obey each of our
Father’s commandments, we grow in wisdom and strength of character. Our faith
increases. We find it easier to make right choices.
We cannot choose righteousness
unless the opposites of good and evil are placed before us. Lehi, a great Book
of Mormon prophet, told his son Jacob that in order to bring about the eternal
purposes of God, there must be “an opposition in all things. If not so, …
righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither
holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad” (2 Nephi 2:11).
When we follow the temptations
of Satan, we limit our choices. The following example suggests how this works.
Imagine seeing a sign on the seashore that reads: “Danger—whirlpool. No swimming
allowed here.” We might think that is a restriction. But is it? We still have
many choices. We are free to swim somewhere else. We are free to walk along the
beach and pick up seashells. We are free to watch the sunset. We are free to go
home. We are also free to ignore the sign and swim in the dangerous place. But
once the whirlpool has us in its grasp and we are pulled under, we have very
few choices. We can try to escape, or we can call for help, but we may drown.
Even though we are free to
choose our course of action, we are not free to choose the consequences of our
actions. The consequences, whether good or bad, follow as a natural result of
any choice we make (see Galatians 6:7; Revelation 22:12).
Heavenly Father has told us
how to escape the captivity of Satan. We must watch and pray always, asking God
to help us withstand the temptations of Satan (see 3 Nephi 18:15). Our Heavenly
Father will not allow us to be tempted beyond our power to resist (see 1
Corinthians 10:13; Alma 13:28).
God’s commandments direct us
away from danger and toward eternal life. By choosing wisely, we will gain
exaltation, progress eternally, and enjoy perfect happiness (see 2 Nephi
2:27–28).
That was probably one of my favorite lessons.. i got to
share my testimony that i know that when we choose to be obedient and do what
is right we are more blessed and we are actually more free.. and when we choose
to do what is wrong, we cannot be happy and that it will actually only bring
less freedom into our lives.
Well this past week was amazing, this week is the last week
of transfers and we will see what happens(: we had some missionaries from
Arequipa come visit so today we will be hanging out with them which will be fun
to have visitors here! We´ve got Elder Boyds birthday this week, which will be
fun, and were still praying that Brenda will get baptized this saturday..
keeping the hope! also i will hit my 15 month mark this week! crazy!!! i hope
all of you have an amazing week and can look for more oportunities to serve and
also make the effort to be at church 15 minutes earlier! love you all!!!
(:
Hermana Weller
