December 16, 2012

HOLA FAMILIA Y AMIGOS!

How are you all doing? This week was crazy! Full of Christmas fun with the mission, ward Christmas activates and a baptism! Guiliana got baptized! Her parents came and they loved it! I have a good feeling they are going to get baptized! They don't live in our area. Which might be an odd situation because I think they are going to want to go where their daughter goes. I'm not sure, the Elders are going to teach them and then we will have to see.

This week I thought about writing you all a sermon. But sometimes I feel like you will all get bored if I do and stop reading my blog. . . and I like to believe you all love me and read my blog because you miss my presence in your lives.

Lately I have been obsessed with the thought of what is a true convert. I remember when I was younger I use to be really jealous of converts. I always wished that I hadn't been born in the church. I felt like my testimony wasn't real or  as valid as someone who found the church later in life. But not as a missionary I have realized something. Being a convert or having a true conversion doesn't come down to when we first learn about the church. We don't have to go inactive and suffer through all sorts of sins to have a testimony of the atonement. It's true that these circumstances CAN bring about a true conversion, but the pain isn't actually necessary. A true conversion comes from living the gospel, but not living the gospel out of habit but TRUELY living and loving the commandments. That's when someone truly becomes a convert.
The other day I was thinking about teenagers who were like me when I was a teen ager. People who feel the way I felt. Like their testimony doesn't mean as much because they were raised in the church, or maybe they feel like people won't take them seriously in life because they have never "lived" they don't have "experiences".  My advice for teenager who feels this way is the SERVE A MISSION! I'm serious. IF you want to find out if drinking and doing drugs really is as bad as they all say. You could drink and suffer down the road, or you could serve a mission, help others that are suffering and I can promise you if you do it with all your heart. You will never want to drink. All of the "experiences" I didn't get to have because I was raised in the church. Or all the "life" That I didn't live because I tried to live the commandments I have gotten to experience and live here in the mission. Helping people find the truth, overcome sins and addictions and changing their lives for the better has first of all made me very thankful for being raised in the church, and it also helped me gain a testimony of all the things I never did without having to suffer personally. On a mission you suffer vicariously for all the pains of your investigators. Personally just the vicarious suffering is enough for me.

So that's my advice. If you have a testimony but it isn't the strongest or if you want to "experience" life! GO ON A MISSION!
And if you are past that part of your life I was invite you all to find a way to love the commandments and live them out of love for the Lord and not out of habit. It will change your life.

Well that's my little idea for the day. I hope it all makes sense written out like it does running around in my head.

I love you all! Next week I'll give you all the Peruvian Christmas information that you need.
Love you all!