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