Connecting Yourself with the Powers of Heaven!

Central Zone a Conference with Elder Herbertson!

Greetings from England!

This week has been a great one! We were able to have a great start to this short transfer and we saw a ton of miracles, but also some opposition. We had an amazing zone conference with Elder Herbertson and a lot of personal revelation came! Learned a lot for sure this week and I hope to carry it in to this next week.

Tuesday: May 17th, 2016
We did some computer work in the morning and then we saw our friend Ali and taught him and then had a chance to go knocking the rest of the evening and we prepared for zone conference.

Wednesday: May 18th, 2016
Great zone conference! Elder Herbertson was amazing and he shared a ton of amazing stories and miracles from the time when he was a Bishop and also the stake presidency in Slough. Super crazy! But again, a lot of personal revelation came to me from some prayers I've been looking for answers for quite the while. Elder Lika had departure interviews and then we traveled a long way home... We left at 5 and due to traffic...we finally arrived at 8 and finished with dinner. Long day but it was amazing!

Largest Cruise Ship in the World was docked
in Southampton! It was HUGE!

Thursday: May 19th, 2016
Exchanges with Elder Wu today and before we went park contacting and a lot of rejection but then we saw this one guy laying down alone in the distance and decided to go over and talk to him. We approached him and as we spoke, startled him and he goes, "I wasn't sleeping"(as his notebook flies off his face) it was funny. But Matt is a great man from Poland and he was super interested and he even said, "why can't we just go back to one church..." And also, "why haven't I ever heard of this before..." So, good things are coming. He couldn't make it church sadly but next week!

Friday: May 20th, 2016

Here is a diagram from President Gubler on how you
can connect yourself more with the powers of
Heaven:

We finished up exchanges today and in the morning, Elder Wu and I went knocking in this area called Blenheim Gardens and man! It was amazing! Our first 15 minutes we placed 3 copies of the Book of Mormon and had some return appointments. Truly a miracle as last night we decided to go to the map to see where the Lord needed us to go and we both felt great about it. Results and fruit came! Super amazing! We then headed to visit two members in Hythe that need an extra push for help.

Saturday: May 21st, 2016
Today was a looooooong day. We had to do some weekly planning and then proceed to do a huge newsletter for the zone as we now do it once per transfer. But my inner perfectionist comes out and it needs to look well, perfect. It's coming along very well and we still need to finish it. If anyone wants to see our artistic skills, email me and I can send it to you haha.

Sunday: May 22nd, 2016
Great day at church. We had to finish up more of the letter, but still didn't manage to finish completely. We saw Amy and then had our Sunday accounting session. Good way to end the week! This week will be great!

Yours Truly....

Verse of the Week:
Mosiah 15:11
"Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord-I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God."

Well I love you all so very much! Have a great week! Enjoy Summer!!!:)

Love,
-Elder Rivera

The Book of Mormon!!!

Mabuhai!

His last transfer planning..!

Well, another transfer has come and gone and Elder Lika and myself will be staying together again! Which means I have the opportunity of sending my first companion home...! Crazy! It's only a five week transfer too this time around so an even shorter transfer than normal. Of course we have amazing things coming up this transfer as I said before with zone conferences this week and then Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on June 7th... So we are looking well forward to these events and being able to stick it out for one more together! This week has been good though! Hopefully everyone had a good week! I can't believe that by the time we see Elder Oaks... It'll be 11 months in England! Great way to celebrate the successes I've had thus far in the field serving the Lord and His children!

Monday: May 9th, 2016
Today was a normal day due to transfers and we pounded out a ton of things today. We got some progress records done on the computer for the stake and the ward and then we had some hours of work on some roads that our Ward Mission Leader prayer over for us. Nothing this time around, but we were able to find a couple of more roads that felt good to knock and will be doing those soon. Following that, we taught our friend Alfred and that was just a total mess... When you have two missionaries and two members in one teach and everyone served a mission or is serving... Starts to just jump in... Things get chaotic and we had absolutely no direction of where to go with the lesson so we basically just taught him according to things he was saying which in the end... Wasn't bad, but the Spirit definitely was not there. 

Tuesday: May 10th, 2016
So... Today was fun. We had to drop off and pick people up for moves from the train station and we were doing a lot of going back and forth and also driving in circles waiting for people to arrive because in England... You can only park for 20 minutes free and then you have to move or find a bay to park and pay.. Which is just ridiculously expensive so we decided to do some circles around the city. After that, we needed to get our car fixed because a headlight had burnt out sadly. To finish up our evening, we had dinner with the Edge's, a wonderful family and they had some of the cutest kids ever! Total goobers with the things the things they said and how they acted but my companion and I were just laughing a lot and frankly... Looking forward to the future with kids and stuff!:)

Wednesday: May 11th, 2016
In the morning we stopped by a Nigerian family and did some G.R.O.W Models with them.(a plan to improve member missionary work and helping them achieve their own goals) After that, we headed to the shop again to fix our car because guess what... Yesterday we fixed one side of the car due to a burnt light and then the other side burns out the next morning... Yeah wasn't fun. We then had my companions driving test round 2:00 and sadly... He didn't make it this time. I hope he takes it again because he would easily pass it. Let's just say... He didn't make it due to driving a "little" but under the national speed limit on a single carriage way. After the disappointment there... Dave took us to dinner and then we stopped by the Connels and did some FHE activities explaining key principles to the kids on the importance of praying to God for answers and how we can only serve God, not the other. It's a cool activity I might do with others back home so stay tuned.

Thursday: May 12th, 2016
Early morning correlation due to a lesson we were having in the evening. So we knocked around our ward mission leader and then stopped by for correlation which went super well. We had some lunch and knocked around Shirley Avenue for a few hours before we had to go perform a baptismal interview for the Winchester Elders. Sherrie passed! We headed to our appointment after that and she wasn't home... three cars were there but no answer... Frustrating! So we knocked around and then headed to our dinner appointment with the Manseebo family.(Philippino) They made an amazing pork and chicken dish with peri-peri sauce. Super good! We also had cheesecake for dessert! 

Friday: May 13th, 2016
Best weekly planning we have had together and we taught our friend Katie after and things went super well there! Then... We had to do some intensive transfer planning for the zone which took a few hours and we had to pause it due to a service activity with a member that needed help moving some stuff around to prepare his house to be retiled and other stuff he was doing with it. We finished up the night by resuming the final portion of planning and getting our exchange calendar all sorted and sent out. Every Friday of a new transfer is pretty crazy with planning but it's super important so no complaining here.

Saturday: May 14th, 2016
Today was nuts let me tell you! I was super sore after we moved our polish friend Pavel to a new house. He had so many things we had to move and climbing stairs and down and back up with heavy wardrobes and all sorts of other things... Man! It was crazy! We only thought it was gonna take an couple of hours buuuuuut it took so much more longer! We headed to the baptism of Sherrie and it was wonderful! So many of her friends came and supported her and they loved it! After the baptism we headed to teach our other friend Ali and wow! It was the best lesson we have ever had with him and the greatest part about it... Is we didn't really know what to teach him this time around but man... The Spirit took over very easily and we got the message God needed to give to Ali. After, we had a great Polish dinner and were treated by Pavel for helping. A great day indeed!

Sunday: May 15th, 2016
Sabbath!!! We had an amazing day at church and what happened after was just amazing! We went and had lunch with Dave and Pavel again but after we went and stopped by a potential investigator but he wasn't home and his roommate told us to come by another time. We were right outside Ali's studio so we decided to surprise him! We headed upstairs and we had no plan cause it was an unplanned visit... Buuuut as we were walking to the door we both go, what can we share. We both ponder for a second and both agree immediately on Elder Holland's talk from April 2013 Conference, Lord I Believe. After watching it and FEELING such a powerful spirit in the room... We asked him how he felt or if he had anything to share and the greatest words you could ever hear as a missionary came out. "How did you know I needed to hear this? I really needed to hear that." It was amazing! It was a very short unplanned visit but it packed a punch of spiritual food for all of us but mainly Ali. Following that, we had another powerful lesson about testimony and the Book of Mormon with Katie. She opened up and shared some experiences she has had and little does she know, that both of could tell that she has a seed of a testimony of the Book of Mormon but now we have to help her nourish that seed and help it grow into a tree.(Alma 32) Really great day and way to end the week!

Verse of the Week:
Jacob 1:7
"Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest,"

From Elder Holland's Talk: Safety for the Soul
"I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day work--and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in these, our times--until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies."

May we all find that safety for our souls and may we study and ponder the beautiful and simple truths that are found within it. That we may come to know that God speaks in these the latter days to his children through his many ways! If you have not read the Book of Mormon... I encourage you to read it for it contains the fullness of the everlasting gospel. If you have read it. Read it again. Find something knew to continue your spiritual journey. If you can't find the time... Make time because if you don't ever make time for this, you may want to check your priorities and think again. The Book of Mormon is the greatest tool we have in drawing closer to our God and knowing more about his great plan for all of us his children... Then any...other...book in this world. Read it. Study it. Ponder over it. Pray about it. God will tell you the truth of this great and marvellous work in these, the last days before the coming of our Lord, even Jesus Christ. 

Love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
-Elder Rivera

Apostle in T-5..!

Hello all!

When summer arrives... We have meetings outside:)

This week was brilliant! Summer has finally showed itself just a tad over here and England has embraced if for the day it lasted... Haha. We had an amazing MLC with Elder Herbertsen of the Seventy and we also received an announcement from President Gubler that on June 7th, we will be heading into London to see Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles! I am super pumped for that! Not only do I get the privilege to be at the feet of an Apostle of the Lord, but I also get to step foot in London for the first time! Better yet, it's across the river! So we can get to see the nicer part of London haha. Something to look forward too and something miraculous to prepare for! Not very often do you get the privilege to be taught from the Lord's very servant and special witness! For my first time, this is truly a blessing from heaven!:)


Tuesday: May 3rd, 2016
Today we had a wonderful MLC with Elder Herbersten. He explained a couple of points on increasing our member work throughout the mission and what he shared was gold. Members are the key to hundreds of baptisms and we need to use them more because they are the key that just needs to be turned a little more in the mission, but in fact, I think the world too.

Wednesday: May 4th, 2016

Sending our favorite Korean back home!

Today we had our DLC outside in the beautiful sun! There was no cloud in the sky and we took advantage of the magnificent weather! A lot of good came out of the meeting and following it, we began our last exchange with Hamble a River for the transfer and I got to work with Elder Oh one last time before he heads home to Korea. It was a good exchange but sickness from his side did slow us down a tad but it was still great.  

Thursday: May 5th, 2016
We finished up our exchange today and we had the opportunity to minister to a member of church at a hospital but it turns out, after we searched for her for like 15 minutes and finally found a nurse to help us but turns out again, she had been discharged earlier in the week which is good news! We finished up the day with correlation meeting and dinner and then accounted to finish the night.

Friday: May 6th, 2016
So we started today with service with Brother Ozard and his friend Andy came by and oh my goodness...! He spent a vacation with billionaires (his son in law's family) He went and visited his daughter in Dubai and oh man... We saw pictures of them doing things that happen in movies. Private jets...Expensive cars...yachts...swimming pools that overlook the sea. It was crazy! He then showed us his very nice bike. Super nice! It was nuts though, his son in law is rolling in the dough for sure. Zultan is his name and he has met Prince William and will be meeting the Queen soon. Things like that. He's a smart business man and yeah, that's to say the least. Then I had to take a nice course... Let's just say, I don't plan to drive fast anymore...(well faster than is necessary):) haha

Saturday: May 7th, 2016
Today was kind of a blur to be honest. We did some work around some areas but then we had a district meeting before our Stake Road Shows! Oh man! Our wards need to do this back home. Basically, each Ward in the stake prepares a skit or idea of their own and then they perform it. It's a load of a good time and there were some good laughs that came out of it. We should definitely have a Mormon's Got Talent because it was super amazing! Just something to hopefully bring home because it gets everyone involved and although you may make a fool of yourself at some points, it is just super fun!

Sunday: May 8th, 2016
We had a remarkable Sunday today. Our friend Ali came to church today  and he loved it. Said he felt super peaceful and I also had the opportunity to give a talk. First time in a while I've been asked and I loved it! I used to always be scared of giving talks or presentations in front of lots of people... But I can't get enough of it now! I hope I can give more soon. It's truly a blessing to give a talk because you get to be the voice of some sort of message the Lord has asked you to deliver. (especially those last minute ones you are asked to give as missionaries to fill a slot haha) but also to provide assistance to those who need a good message. Hopefully mine got across. Hopefully in the future when I'm home, I'll get to share the same talk because I loved it and learned a lot from preparing it. Skyping was good as well! Crazy how fast it came around again! It was great to see the fam again for sure!

When summer hits in England...

Verse of the Week:
2 Nephi 9:23
"And he commandeth all men (and women) that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God."
(Connect to John 3:5)

I hope everyone continues to grow! Always remember that if you do not read the Book of Mormon for at least 30 minutes a day... You are putting your soul in jeopardy. Study hard. Ponder hard. The knowledge will come and your testimony will be firm. Build upon the Rock of your Redeemer and learn of him, listen to his words, and walk in the meekness of His Spirit, and ye shall have peace in Him. Love you all! 

Have a great week!

~Love,
Elder Rivera

The Work Never Stops!...

When you turn the front facing camera on....

Hello everyone!

So this week wasn't to eventful due to being sick so if it's not a super long email, forgive me!

Tuesday: April 26th, 2016
So just after things felt good about not being sick... It relapsed and it got hit harder than before with it Monday night and I was out for the count all day today.

Wednesday: April 27th, 2016
Today as well... Fever and huge headache... Just slept all day.

Thursday: April 28th, 2016
Today also... Same as Wednesday.

Friday: April 29th, 2016
Finally... Was able to do something. Wasn't 100%, but we planned and we saw a couple of people but took it easy relatively.

Saturday: April 30th, 2016
Finally... We were able to get some work done... However... My companion got sick and so again... We weren't able to do much other than a newsletter for the zone and a couple of visits to new investigators.

The cruise ship in the back was bigger
than anything I have ever seen before...

Sunday: May 1st, 2016

Barbecue Time!

Fast and testimony meeting and I felt encouraged to bear testimony to the youth of the church about who they are and what their role is and what God expects of them. It was amazing and it felt good afterward. We then had a barbecue with some of our Romanian investigators and man! Did it feel good to have a barbecue in the sun with a ton of pork and chicken! 

So yeah... Not the most exciting week but it still was good. Although we were stuck being sick, the Lord still provided opportunities to teach others and also find new people through the ones we were already teaching. The Lord is mindful of His servants for sure and although they are sick and bed bound... He allows them to have some work to get done because even He knows how important it is for the work to always be moving, even when His servants aren't 100%.

Verse of the Week:
1 Nephi 9:6
"But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen."

L Squared..!:)

~Love,
Elder Rivera