if you don’t have the spirit you wont be able to teach

Hey fam hows it goin. All is well in villa sur I guess. Haha ya thanx for writing me you little punks. Well at least jenna and jansen and shae love me…jk but no its all good im sure I will have a couple old emails next week when I get on. Just a perfect way to finish a hard week eh? 

First I want to talk about something that is so sad but it is so true. It says that “if you don’t have the spirit you wont be able to teach.” This is so true and I have seen it in the last couple weeks. A week ago I was able to go on divisions with my district leader. This elder is so awesome. You can tell he has a strong testimony and lives what he teaches. He taught with such power and authority it was incredible. The next day I came back with my comp. I don’t want to bag on my comp, don’t get me wrong. He is a awesome guy and I really love him. But ya, we went to teach a lesson when I got back with him. And we taught about prayer. And my comp never says prayers unless he has to. He doesn’t say them before going to bed, before studying or anything like that. When he taught about prayer and bore his testimony it was so sad. I felt nothing. I could tell and the investigator could tell that he didn’t have a strong testimony of prayer. The spirit wasnt there and they could tell that it was just a 21 yr old boy talking by himself about a subject that he didn’t know very much and didn’t really care about. Without the spirit we cannot teach. Without living the gospel principles we cannot have a testimony. DO THE SMALL THINGS AND YOU WILL BE BLESSED. READ EVERY SINGLE DAY. SAY YOUR PRAYERS EVERY NIGHT AND MORNING. GO TO CHURCH. I KNOW THAT YOUR TESTIMONY WILL GROW AND YOU WILL BECOME SO MUCH STRONGER. The gospel is true and don’t you ever forget it. 

Ya well a couple days ago I was reading in my personal study in alma 24:27. here it is talking about how the Lord works in different ways to save His people. When I read this, a strong feeling came to my heart and I couldn´t stop thinking about Bishop Cummings. I kept thinking about how much he changed my life since he has been gone. Because of him I really have become a better person. Because of his example I have not missed a day of reading the scriptures since the night he died. Just to see how much he has helped me and my life is incredible. But to think of the impact that he has had on others is even more incredible. I am positive that his example and all that he did has helped many people. Also there have been many times that I have used Bishop Cummings in my teachings. His example and his life is still making a huge affect on peoples lives. Its incredible how the Lord really knows what he is doing and he knows all. I am so thankful for Him and for his infinite wisdom.  

This week we got the opportunity to listen to Richard G. Scott as a mission. It was really cool to be able to see and him from a apostle of the Lord. What is more incredible is what he talked about. He said lots of things but something that really stuck out was when he talked about his own mission. He told the story of one comp that he had. This comp wanted to be a painter when he got off his mission so when they were suppost to leave and work he would want to go and paint the beautiful landscapes of Argentina. Also he liked to sleep in and do things that were not approved as a missionary. Elder Scott said that this was really hard for him. He wanted to be the best missionary he could be but with a comp like that it was difficult to do so. 

Elder Scott said that he started slacking off a little, sleeping in a little and doing things a little less than how he knew they should be. He said one day he realized what was happening and he thought, “Am I going to let my comp control what kind of missionary I am and what kind of mission I have?” he decided that he was going to work extra hard and do things how they are suppost to be done. He started waking up on time and getting ready and doing his studies and everything that he needed to do. He was a obedient missionary and he tried his hardest. He said that he remembers sitting by the door all ready to go work and hoping and praying that his comp would wake up and get ready to go. He said in time his comp did and they started seeing success. He said make sure you don’t let your comp define who you are. 

Wow, so that was way awesome to hear. Even an apostle of the Lord had a hard comp and hard time on his mission. Then yesterday I had just a really really hard day. We show up at the church and 2 investigators who said that they would be there, weren’t there. Then out of the 10 recent converts that we have, only 3 came. Then only 57 people came in total to church. When I got to villa sur about 90 people assisted every week. I have seen this sector showly dying even though I am trying my hardest to keep it going. To top that off, all 3 of the families that me and my comp re-activated in my last change didn’t come… 

Oh man I was way way down. Then we went out to work and no one would let us in, not even members. It was so hard. I was thinking about home, and other things and I just was down. Then last night we had a meeting with our bishop and talked about the ward and the recent converts. Then out of no where he starts telling stories of his mission and a bunch of hard times he had. He told us experiences and then told us something that really hit me hard. He said that “no matter what, if you try your hardest, your efforts are never ever in vain. Never! As long as you serve and maybe you don’t get the success that you are looking for, it doesn’t matter. God knows what you are doing and he will help you. He does things in his own time and not ours.” 

…Oh my gosh it was so awesome. Out of no where the bishop starts saying all this stuff that I needed to hear and he had no idea of our day or what was going on in my mind. There you have it, elder Scott and Bishop Lopez, 2 examples of leaders who somehow knew exactly what I needed to hear without even knowing that I needed to hear those things. I have such a strong testimony of leaders and that they really receive revelation to our needs. WE HAVE TO FOLLOW OUR LEADERS. THEY KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR US!!!! 

I love you guys. Keep going always. It will be alright, God knows all and he is there for us. Kneel and pray and pray and pray until you feel his love and know that you are all right. Keep up the good work and God be with you all. 

Love

Elder hall