Another preparation day has arrived! This week has been AMAZING!!! We had one of the best weeks as a mission but also our own area has flourished with success! We picked up 2 more baptismal dates which gives us a total of 4 now! Each of them are doing great and progressing well towards their big day! We also had our first 5 zone conference of the mission(we like changing it up a bit) and it was insanely packed to say the least. We had 110 missionaries join us in Crawley which is over half of the ELSM in one place at one time... crazy enough, we made it work and the conference went super well.
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| White Christmas came a bit late... |
Friday: January 13th, 2017
President joined us today a portion of our day which was pretty sweet! He came and joined us for lunch at our flat and then we headed off to teach Maureen together. We taught her about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and she was very pleased with the answers to the questions his story brought to her. President explained very simply about how the need of a restoration was required and also that the miracles of God have not ceased among the children of men. I had a humbling experience today as we taught her and as I testified of Joseph Smith's First Vision and I am grateful to know that this event is true. I may not have been in the Sacred Grove with Jospeh Smith but I know with a surety that this is true and because of that, God is still speaking to us today through Prophets and Apostles that are called of Him. He has given us the Book of Mormon to know and discover for ourselves these truths that we may also be a witness of the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ upon the earth once again. Following our lesson, we headed back to our flat with president and we had companionship study together where we went through some of the scriptures with our 'master teacher' in the mission. I've learned so much from him in the time I've served around and with him... over 18 months, my knowledge of the scriptures has grown so much because of his example and his simple teachings of doctrine. With the background he has of seminary teaching, he is really good at ensuring that an understanding of his students(missionaries) takes place while he teaches and they go away learning what they needed to learn for that day. To top off the wonderful day... ENGLAND HAD SNOW!!! The first time we've had snow back since December 2015. The three of us were like little kids as we may or may not have had a snow ball fight briefly as we synced our iPads at the end of the day... oops. What missionary doesn't want to have fun in the snow when it doesn't drop down very often in England?
Saturday: January 14th, 2017
So after all of the snow, England wasn't to much in panic mode of an inch of snow so that was a relief to everyone I bet. We had some service today with the Hunt's and the Cooper's. We helped the Hunt's gather the pieces of their shed that they are having built in their backyard. Among the driving from place to place(which was about 40 minutes) Elder Wright and I had a long conversation and pretty deeply to about how our missions are literally the stepping stones to everything else. We reminisced in the moments of our missions and how they will help us in the future when we return home which is pretty soon for all 3 of us. Elder Cloward was asleep in the back so the two of us just kept talking on the way. It's an exciting time to think about when it'll come for all of us. The future is as bright as your faith and I'm super excited. I know that time I have left will go super fast... especially with the new missionary schedule we have and the busy schedule we have this transfer. Crazy to think I'll see all of you in 3 1/2 months... where has the time gone. I say this a lot... but my mission has taught me so much about myself but also what I want in life. Serving a mission has been the most rewarding experience in my life... in many ways. Not only have I had crazy spiritual experiences but I have had the chance to serve with so many wonderful missionaries over the past 18 months. It started with an awesome trainer in Elder Richins, to the many leadership opportunities that came after that with the others. God has put so many things in my path to be able to learn and grow and I've been grateful for every hard moment of my mission. It's been a blast and I'm glad I still have some time to create more experiences and gather stories to share with all of you upon returning back.
Sunday: January 15th, 2017
What a Sabbath! Maureen came to church and she LOVED it! It was like God knew she was coming or something... our lessons today and the talks given were all about prayer and Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Gospel. Coincidence? I think not... We sat down with her at the end of the block and just asked her how she felt throughout the day and immediately she said, "Yeah, I'll come back." It was an awesome day for church and we also sat down with Brittany later on that evening and covered the blessings of obedience to God's commandments and the importance of what that obedience will do for us in our lives. I spent a lot of time pondering and studying my Patriarchal Blessing and thinking a lot about what it says about me currently and also what is to come for the near future post-mission. I look forward to receiving those promised blessings that will come from my service in the mission field! There is so much to take in every time I read it and a lot of it makes me nervous at times but then I realize that God has specifically given that to me personally as my own scripture and that brings a lot more comfort to me.
Monday: January 16th, 2017
Well... today started off super well with accounting as our mission had the highest number of new investigators at 253 during our Harvest Week. After the normal accounting with the Zone Leaders... we got a message from a missionary and then we received an assignment from President to go check out what was happening. Sadly, the situation was not a good one and the hardest time for both of these missionaries were upon them. One was in the right and the other in the wrong and sadly... by the end of the evening we were helping one pack their bags and he was coming home with us and then off on a plane the next day. However... in the evening hours after preparing for our conference the next day, we got a text in the late hours of the night asking for us to meet with one to talk. I had the chance to have a one on one conversation with this missionary and well... it was a tender but intense moment for me. I knew what the situation was going to cause and the result that was already in place but I did everything that the Lord would have me do in that moment to spark some hope and help for the future of this missionary's life. My mouth was filled... my heart was in pain for this missionary and all I wanted to do was help but the Lord had a course of action that needed to be taken and so it was done. I've had to many moment like this on my mission and it gets harder and harder every time... the only good that comes out of it is knowing how to better handle more situations that I'll most likely run into in the future in whatever circumstances may come about within the church and also in family life, parenthood, marriage, etc. They are great learning experiences but they are hard in the moment to really gather yourself and try and be a Christlike leader in the hardest of moments. I know that they'll be fine though. Rough day... and no sleep.
Tuesday: January 17th, 2017
So, on 4 hours of sleep we had our conference today with the 5 zones as I mentioned above and it went super well! We had zone breakouts after lunch and as we bounced around to different zones, we had a fun activity in one of them where we played a game where you could only ask questions to each other and give a response in the form of a question. Let me tell you, that was super hard but it really helped you to know how to ask really good questions and answer using questions. Later that evening, we had the Ryan's join us for a teach with Maureen and also two other friends that we have been working with for a while now and Maureen is still solid. We taught the Plan of Salvation and it rang true to her. She said it made so much sense about a pre-earth life(which is something she never really focused on) and also the reality of God having a body of flesh and bones along with His Only Begotten Son who are two separate beings. She loved it and we are continuing to see her growth in understanding and also the working of the Spirit upon her heart as she draws nearer to her big day of baptism into the Lord's true church!
Wednesday: January 18th, 2017
Today... well, I cleared out a bunch of junk that was within my suitcases that I didn't really need and I relieved myself of the pain of doing that later on. Basically today is a day on the computer as I need to do scholarship essays still and get that done before the end of the month. Yay..! It's exciting but when you haven't written a proper essay in over 18 months, you just really get to a point where it's hard to be diligent in doing them. We'll be traveling to Poole tonight for our next Quad Conference with the Western Zones which will be super fun! The drive to Poole is always nice so looking forward to spending time there again! We'll also be down in Plymouth this weekend for exchanges so looking forward to being out in the far far west again(for maybe the last time) so it'll be loads of fun!
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| I left at 19 but still counts... :D |
Verses of the Week:
Book of Mormon:
Mosiah 4:9-10
9 Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
10 And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.
Doctrine and Covenants:
D&C 27:15-18
15 Wherefore, lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to stand.
16 Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, which I have sent mine angels to commit unto you;
17 Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked;
18 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of my Spirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you, and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up, that where I am ye shall be also. Amen.
It has been a good week in England and in the mission field! Hope you all have a great week!
~Love,
Elder Rivera
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