1 Junio, 2015

Today was a pretty solid week with my new companion, Elder Acosta. We are getting along really well, and he is quite a character to say the least. I am really working how I want to with him, but I am making him drop some weight haha and getting him used to running up and down all the hills in our area. I am really looking forward to this transfer with him, and it should be really great. 

To get down to the grit, we worked really harded and had about 11 less actives that were going to go back to church, but only 3 went. For that, if you are an active member, visit some less actives to make sure they always go to church to renew their covenants. We did not unfortunately bring anybody to church because people suddenly changed their minds and did not want to go or were not home in the morning to bring them to church. We did however get our baptism from last week confirmed a member of the church, and she will be doing great! We also were able to baptism Guadalupe and Margarita Olivares Hernandez this week. They were really excited to get baptized, and their mom was super excited too. Unfortunately she still cannot get baptized because she is not married, but we will see if her husband can change, so that she can be baptized. It was a great Sunday though. 

My message from this week comes from one simple scripture that describes perfectly the Church of Jesus Christ. In James 1:27 it says, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world." Sometimes we try to think that religion is this grand complicated thing that we have to try to decifer. On one hand, yes, the scriptures contain many mysteries that we need to search and study. But when we get down to it, all Christ did was help others. He suffered for us. He died for us. And sometimes we take that for granted, and it seems as common to us as the sun above us every day. However, Christ is unspotted from the world but does carry the marks of our sins. In order to also be unspotted from the world, we need to help all the fatherless and widows in their afflictions. Not just the fatherless in the world but also the fatherless who do not know their Heavenly Father. If we are always trying to help others and bring others into the true fold, we will be tired and carry marks with us. Although it will not be as great as what Christ did, our efforts will make the Atonement not be in vain and will remain clean of the sins of the world. 

I love you all hope you have all had a great week and a great one to come!

Elder Andrews

P.S We have to take the water out by hand with buckets. I actually enjoy it.