It's March and Almost Easter, #Hallelujah

Hello everybody!

The One and Only True Church and the
Greatest Mission on the Earth!

So this week has been a good one! Nothing to crazy but we did have some great things happen during exchanges! Nothing to report otherwise, other than its March and Easter and Conference are literally right around the corner... I feel we just had conference and it was Christmas last week... But anyways, England is doing well!

Tuesday: March 1st, 2016
March already... Where does the time go!? Wow, well today we went to a place called Hythe with Dave (amazing member missionary) and we saw some less active members and had a great time there. After, he took a carvery which was super good! Super cheap for a crazy good amount of food! Later in the evening, we had some member visits to teach them the G.R.O.W model, which went super well!

Wednesday: March 2nd, 2016
First exchange of the week and I got to work with Elder Schulthies again! Been a while since we've worked together and it felt like old times back in Reading for sure! We had a good day and later in the evening, the office Elders joined us for some Burritos at an England style Chipotle, it's called Tortilla but it is basically chipotle haha... It even says a California style burrito so enough said there.

Thursday: March 3rd, 2016
So we finished up our exchanges and then we had to do some driving lessons for Elder Lika with Dave and after some good time, we went to subway and what was funny is the guy working just goes, "do you three usually come in here after the lunch rush?" Well, I think that means we go to subway to much but hey, when you have vouchers that get you cheaper food, why not right? Especially if it's an Italian B.M.T... Can't go wrong there! (Bigger, Meatier, Tastier) I finally figured out what the B.M.T stood for haha. Even the worker had to look it up on google one time when he first heard about it.

Friday: March 4th, 2016
Exchanges round two today with Elder Barrett and it was super good! We had some time to contact in the rain (which then turned to a bit of wet snow) and it was good! We met a super cool Muslim guy named Ali and he asked if he could take a Book of Mormon to read it and we were just like, "of course! Everyone can have one!" Later in the evening we knocked on this door who a guy named Steve said we could come back another time because he was busy putting five kids down for bed, but we said we share a message about how families can be together forever and he was like, "oh, that's brilliant, come back around 2:00 Sunday" so it was pretty sweet!

Saturday: March 5th, 2016
After exchanges finished again, we did some more driving and then went knocking for two hours in a good posh neighborhood and we met some solid people who we will follow up with this week. A lady opened the door and we said we are sharing a message about the Book of Mormon and are inviting people to read it and understand how God still speaks to us today and how he has revealed more truth to lead and guide his children. Lady says, "but I can't read it if I don't own the book..?" Well, it was simple, she took the book and said we could come back to follow up with her and teach her family more about it! Miracles are happening...! It's amazing!

Sunday: March 6th, 2016
So fast Sunday's are just super great! I had a different outlook on today's fast with some things president shared with us and it made a huge difference for me. Normally, when I fast, everything I see turns into food... But not today. It was all focused on the reason we fast and the questions I was wanting answered and other things reaffirmed to my knowledge and it was amazing. Before church, our friend Ali (super committed man to the gospel and now has a baptismal date for the end of the month) and us had a good lesson with a member over FaceTime so he could translate english into Persian for us. During the testimony meeting, Felix (recent convert last week) gets up FIRST, and

Our Friend Ali in front of our
New Mission Banners!

bears his testimony and oh my... It was super powerful! As he was standing there bearing testimony about the Book of Mormon and how he was a Christian before and was asking the question of why are these two boys giving me another book, we already have the bible and don't need anything else. But then he said how powerful the Book of Mormon is and how it filled a hole in his heart and added
so much to him and how much it has changed his life because he read it and asked God if it was real, and God answered him, which in turn, lead him to joining the Church and following Christ even more. It was an amazing experience. This is why I am on a mission, to see people learn for themselves the very thing I have learned and then act upon what God has given them. It brings no greater joy to me then seeing another brother/sister come into the true fold of God with a bright shining countenance around and in them!:)

Verse of the Week:
Alma 13:24
24 For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.

Angels are declaring it around the world! We sometimes just need to pay attention to who the Angels are that the Lord is sending to you, cause it could very well be that young man or woman dressed in white with the Lord's name over their heart on that black tag! Pay close attention to the things the Lord is teaching you each day because you might need to be that angel for someone very close to you!

I love you all and hope that this week will bring you many things! Remember to prepare questions for general conference! A good talk to look up is, "The Blessings of General Conference" by Elder Paul V. Johnson - October 2005 General Conference

-Elder Rivera