October 27, 2014- TRANSFERS

Transfers...

So today we did receive transfer calls this morning. I will be moving from the Riverside 2 area to the Riverside 1 area. So basically Im not going anywhere, just moving apartments and companions. So i will be starting my 4th transfer here in the branch. Which i am excited because the work is just going so good right now!! Not going to lie I was looking forward to going to a new area, but Im excited to stay as well. I am still going to be the district leader so i will keep going forward trying to build the district.

So the reason I am excited to stay here is because we have had very cool miracles happening lately. So the first miracle is that we now have a family on date for this Saturday, they finally decided this week to get baptized finally. So on Friday we are going over to just teach all the lessons over again. it has been almost over a year since they started coming to church, and they are finaly choosing to do this. Also the elder who will be my companion was the elder who found them and he will be back for the baptism because he will be here. It is very exciting. Also this last Sunday we had another miracle. So right before church started some random guy showed up for church. nobody knew him or meet him before. We went and talked to him and he told us that he had looked up the closed LDS church building to his house because he wanted to come. He has family in Mexico that are members and he has wanted to come to church for about 5 years and finally decided to do something about it.So he came not knowing when we started and happened to get here right on time. He also has a wife and two children. We are going over there this week to teach them and are we going to put them on baptism date for the 29th of November or sooner. The Lord has truly blessed this area in ways I cant even count. 

I truly love doing the mission work, there is nothing more tiring and more rewarding as it. I love being able to see the lives of people change. It has been such an amazing experience thus far and im so excited i get to serve for another 10 months. I dont want it to end but i know it will. I will just work every moment i can until that moment I get released.

Con Mucho Amor

Elder Lamb     

October 20, 2014-Baptirm

Baptism....

As that little introduction states we had a baptism!! yes Sister Martinez got baptized this last Friday and confirmed yesterday. My son Elder Farr got to go into the font and do the actual ordinance of baptism, but then i got to confirm her. Which in my opinion is the better of the two anyway. But it was very exciting for us, we prayed very hard in every prayer we have said since the beginning of September that we would be able to find someone who was ready for the gospel and would get baptized this month. It is a strong testimony to me that God really does answer prayers especially if it is for a worthy cause. It also helped me to see that I am able to lead an area and see success. All the other Baptisms in which i have participated, I was always the Junior companion. Not leading the area or the lesson plans or anything. But it has been very cool to see that I can lead an area  and we can still have success, because i have learned what to do and can just do it. We will have transfers next week and I am excited to see what happens, because i have learned i am ready to just go out and do it because i know how to lead and how to work. So if i do end up going to a new area I will be completely ready for it.

Other than that this week was just full of follow up appointment and trying to find new people in which to teach. I am really excited for this area, good things are really starting to happen. Yesterday we found a lady (who is white) who speaks Spanish ( she married a Hispanic) and is a less active. She invited us to come over and share a message with her and her family some day this week. So we hope both a reactivation and baptisms from this and also a random Hispanic called us and asked if he could help us teach English class and then he said he is looking for a new church and wants to come early to the class so we can give him a tour of the church. So we are hoping great things out of this as well.

This sums up the week nicely, till next time

Siga adelante

Elder Lamb

October 13, 2014

Thats a cool experience to be able to go to that, cool to meet the leaders of the state. I wish you the best of luck with soccer. You couched basketball well, so i bet youll be fine with soccer. also happy birthday grandpa Lamb!! Sorry thats late but cant change Pday. A better letter will be there eventually, but i need the address. Also i need all your health card info and your social security stuff. So i dont know if you just want to call sister residori and get the number from her and set it up so you dont have to send all that sensitive stuff. Any time after this Friday would work for us. I heard yall are going to have allot of snow this year, im bummed i wont be there so go snowboarding so it better be good next year.  

the work moving forward...

These last several weeks especially this last have been some of the best and most stressful i have had. On the great hand Sister Martinez is so ready for baptism. When we taught the word of wisdom she was drinking coffee, but as soon as we told her she said she would stop. Then when we taught her last night she told us she had been very tempted several times but she knew the lord would help her, so she still has not drank coffee and she told us how she throw away all the coffee they had so she would not have any temptations in her home. She also told us how somebody tried to get her to stop listening with some anti stuff, but she said she knows what we are teaching is good and it does not matter what they say. She even stopped being friends with one of those people because of it. It is so amazing how the Lord truly prepares people to hear this message and then protects them. With faith all things are possible. 

On the other hand the stressful part has been trying to find new people to teach. With transfers coming up and being pretty sure im leaving I am doing all that i can to try to find new investigators and people for my son (the missionary im training) and who ever comes in to teach, so they dont just have to knock doors all day. Im just giving it my all because i remember when i was in Gainesville with no one to teach. And i dont want anyone to go through that.  So me and my son are knocking, following up and getting referrals like we are just starting in the area. We need the help of the Lord in order to leave this place in the standing that we want it to be. we keep seeing small miracles come forth from the Lord to find people to at lest listen, and we know with time we will find those prepared to accept. Im not to sure if I will just get switched to the other area here in this branch or go to a different part of the mission, all i know is i am not staying in this apartment with my same companion. But before I go I want to leave this area how I would want to find it. My experiences have really helped me to want to make things better for others so they do not have to go through what I have. Hopefully Im developing Christ like love :)

Con Mucho Amor

Elder Lamb

October 6, 2014- The week of Meetings!

The week of meetings...

As the tittle says we had a long week of meetings. Between exchanges and meetings i really only got to do actual mission work in my area for about 12 hours this week. So needless to say numbers were low and got chewed out by the Zone Leaders. But its what ever, we have a good plan for this week so we are just ready to kill it. 

General conference was great! watched about half of it in Spanish, i find it so neat to be able to understand in two languages. There were very many talks about a wide array of topics but thee i really saw were the sacrament, honoring the priesthood leaders, and of course obedience. All awesome topics that we can all apply more deeply. But the talk i liked the most given by Jorg some weird name. He basically said 6 things we need to do. I liked it because he was so direct and clear and said it how it is. he did not bother to chop at the branches, he just cut down the whole tree. He told everyone to stop making excuses and stop justifying. just take responsibility. he said to choose to be obedient because you love God. and other things. But it was a great talk and i learned allot. All I learned is in my study Journal but i forgot it. So you'll have to look it up. 

Sister Martinez is still progressing very well. We were able to finish up the plan of salvation and when we had called her on Saturday night to see if she could come to conference she said a member had already called her and was going to come by. Solid member work. So she did come to conference and liked it. She even brought some food to bring for in between sessions. It is so cool to see her desire and willingness to change and follow God in the correct way. We also had asked her is she believed Joseph Smith was a prophet and said " Yes, why else would God and Jesus appear unto him if he was not a good person" So that was cool. She is still going good to be baptized on the 18th. So please keep her in your prayers.

Also as a sad news, the mission president has now said we have to many Spanish missionary's and no where to put them so they have started switching some English. Im sure im safe because i have been out so long but its sad to see that some people lose all their hard work because there is nowhere to go. 

Con Mucho Amor

Elder Lamb    

P.s. here is a picture of the district.  

September 29, 2014- Cool Things!

cool things...

The first cool thing that has been happening is the weather. it has not gotten over 80 this week!! it has been so awesome, im so ready for winter to come back. I miss the cold and just the feel. Because i started my mission in the field about this time. so it just brings back magical feelings from being a greeny :) But also a cool/ awesome miracle that has happened is that we has somebody on date for the 18th of October!

Her name is Mrs Martinez,  she is an older lady in about her 60s. she is from Venezuela. She was found through a missionary referral. we have been able to teach her the first lesson and parts of the second. She keeps her reading assignments and really likes what she is learning. But the biggest step is that yesterday she was able to come to church! this past week we had two lessons with her in which we brought members and both offered her a ride. So she had no excuse. She came and she loved it. Especially relief society. She is excited to come back next week as well. I know she can get baptized on the date. Its very close but i know with the lord she will be able to do it. We set up 3 days a week we will go over there to teacher so it gives us 9 times (not including Sundays) to talk to her face to face and help her out. We are very excited for this opportunity and know she can do it. She does have a desire to change and come closer to God. And what better way to come unto God then through his path, right? I love sharing the gospel, there is nothing that can help someone in their life more then the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Other that her the work continues with knocking doors and finding more people to teach. We keep focusing on others so we can help them come unto the fold. But we are her to find the elect, they are out there and its our job to find them.

I hope everything goes well with the new work,ill keep that in my prayers that you can keep the clients assets so they dont have to move around and you get that. I hope you dont get all the snow this year and then there is none when i come back. I look forward to snowboarding and the cold.

Con Mucho Amor

Elder Lamb

September 22, 2014

Realizing what miracles really are...

This is a subject that have many different answers form everyone that has an opinion. But what truly is a miracle? Does it have to be someone being healed instantly? or being lead from danger 2 seconds before it happens or is it only when something incredible, out of the ordinary happens? Or can a miracle be a small settle thing. Like a district meeting going great, or a lesson that actually went through, or if nothing else just feeling the spirit touch the hearts of those you teach. Now ask, are any of those smaller things and less miraculous then the bigger ones i listed? Do we as children of God differ in worth to him? So do the miracles that happen differ in worth or amazement? This has been one of the most important lessons i have learned in all my mission. Is that miracles from God are always happening, just us as humans don't always realize them. Because most the time they just appear to be regular everyday things. But i think it is those regular everyday things that happen that are the most important to us. We spend so much time praying and asking for something miraculous to happen so we can either reaffirm our faith or build us up when we are down. We become so focused on these ideas we have of what miracles that we let pass all the little ones the Lord is throwing our way. When i was but a "greeny" in the mission. I though miracles were only things that where big, like random people showing up to church and you've never meet them or people crying in the first lesson asking to be baptized. I have seen many such miracles but they are usually less common and far between. But recently i have learned through experience that miracles are just the small things the Lord gives us. Teaching a lesson is a miracle, sharing a testimony is a miracle, having a meaningful contact is a miracle. Its truly those small things, that seem so normal, are truly the things that define our lives. My experience has become so much more rewarding just looking for the small miracles that happen. Because each day i can get up with out a doubt I will see miracles.  Its really the small miracles i have come to love because the feed my soul in a constant way and not in a every now and again way. I love miracles, everyday we get up is one and every night we lay down is one as well. If we will all just look harder for the tiny miracles, then will we understand how miraculous our lives truly are.

Este momento es un momento de milagros...

Elder Lamb 

September 15, 2014

Transfer week...

Well this will be the first transfer of my mission were i will be doing
nothing. because i have been in so many trios I have either myself been
leaving or losing or gaining companions. But nothing is happening now so
for the first time It will be a quite Wednesday morning. But this week is
always exciting because i get to make my new planner covers about 6 other
missionary's planner covers and just the wonder of whats all going to
happen is just fun.

But this week it has been different trying to plan for the days we are on
bike. Because our area is very big for to be on bike, but we make it work.
Bike has not been to bad and it is kinda fun. But we were able to get some
really cool  people. None are progressing right now but they show
potential. We have really been seeing changes in our area since we have
started praying for the area in ever prayer we do. We have been getting
good referrals and finding more prepared people. I know that if we keep
doing it then very shortly we will find those that are truly prepared to
receive the message and be willing to make steps to change. also our
mission president has asked us to start doing role plays with the members.
Because he is really putting pressure on being better teachers. so he says
we need to teach more even if it is just with members. So we are and it is
cool. It really helps build the trust with members to because they can see
we are trying to get better.

But for me to help me become a better teacher i decided about 2 weeks ago
to study all the lessons over, but not just study. But to really get and
understanding and spiritual confirmation they are true. not just the whole
lesson by its self but each individual part. So i have been reading them in
preach my gospel and after each little part i pray to know if that specific
principal is true, then i write what i learn in my study journal. It has
been so awesome because i cant testify more powerfully because each little
part is backed up with a personal answer.

To end i what to share that i know this work is true and that it is hard,
and why shouldn't it be? a mission is one of the hardest things you can do.
But if it was not hard would it be as rewarding? So i made a theme for this
planner its all about the war that we fight while in the mission and in
life. So i also took a bunch of powerful scriptures and put them together
to make one power house scripture. So i will share it...

"Awake my sons put on the armor of righteousness, shake off the chains with
which ye are bound and come forth from obscurity and arise from the dust.
for we have a labor to preform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we
may conquer the enemy of all righteousness. for behold now is the time and
day for men to flee or to prepare for war. That when the devil shall send
forth his mighty winds, yea his shafts in the whirl winds yea when all his
hail and his mighty storms shall beat upon you it shall have no power over
you. I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, be perfected in
him, to prepare for war and awake and arise from the dust.

And it came to pass that he rent his coat and he took a piece there of and
wrote on it: in memory of our God, religion and freedom and our peace our
wives and our children. And he fastened on his head plate and his breast
plate and his shield and girted his armor about his loins. And it came to
pass that when he had proclaimed these words, behold, the people came
running together with their armor girded about their loins, rending their
garments in token. And they were doing that which they felt was the duty
which they owed to their God, for the Lord had said unto them: ye shall
defend your family's, lands, country, rights and religion. And in that self
same hour they began to stand with power."

The district is doing good. We just have several people that are having a
ruff time and are close to going home as well so they are hard to motivate.
But other than that they are doing well and i love the responsibility, its
hard but good.

Sigamos adelante
Elder Lamb