Blake and Braxton

Thank you guys for the thoughtful notes!  Blake I haven't been able to play soccer because my old companion didn't like it, but I plan on playing with Latinos today that are crazy good so wish me luck! You're a beast, keep studying the scriptures, working hard and everything will work out!

Braxton, you are a machine bro!  Way to go on scoring after a bee-sting! I don't even know if i am that tough! Haha about the Pink!

Love you guys!

If Life became a Pitcher, its specialty would be curveballs!

Hey Everyone,

This week has been incredibly full of ups and downs, and I pray that I will have the time to express everything that's been going down in this crazy eventful week!  

So last Saturday, I was told my companion Elder Manwill, that he was going home!  This was incredibly difficult because I had seen him struggling and tried to offer him comfort but nothing seemed to work! He told me that he would be flying out with another Elder from our district that was also going home!  This put a huge damper in the group because we have all grown to love each other so much and the fact that they both were going home for unknown reasons made it really difficult to handle!  But then I was reading once again in the 24th chapter of Mosiah, which deals the people of Alma being placed in bondage, and I was comforted by the following verses: 

14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

I strongly recommend you read the whole chapter or verses 10-16 to get a better understand of the context!

This was the best time to be reminded of this story because I feel that I'm the kind of person that wishes to immediately fix whatever problems I see but in this instance I was helpless and I felt as though I had failed somehow, and this caused a burden on my missionary efforts!  But through God, I was able to feel lightened, and face this challenging time head on with faith and hope that whatever was to go down would be according to the desires of God!

Sunday:  We had a phenomenal Sacrament meeting, and I was able to play some musical numbers once again which is honestly my favorite part of the week, but the Spirit is incredibly strong when Missionaries pour out their hearts in songs like I Need Thee Every Hour, and I Believe in Christ!  We had a phenomenal district meeting, and many wonderful things were said leading up to the transition of losing two members of the district.

Monday:  We had a MASSIVE tie exchange in honor of the Elders going home, and I was able to exchange with the two leaving Elders so now I have something to remind me of them constantly!  It was a phenomenal day and our lesson with Naomi (Hermana Correa, the morning teacher) went amazingly well which was a tender mercy because Elder Manwill had been upset at his struggles with teaching in Spanish but he taught incredibly well!

Tuesday:  The day finally came where we had to say goodbye to Elder Manwill and Johnson, and this was very difficult internally but each of us knew that this was the right step for everyone! After they had flown home Elder James and I went to reception expecting to become companions, but surprise two new Elders from the Provo MTC who had a difficult time getting their visas were coming to be our new companions. My new companions name is Elder Sabin, and Elder James' is Elder Gunderson!  

Elder Johnson

Elder Manwill

Elder Sabin is a really awesome guy from Seattle, Washington, who is incredibly calm, and has been the perfect fit to this crazy past week! Although we've only known each other for 48 hours, I have
a good feeling about our companionship! 

Elder Sabin from Seattle WA

That evening we had a devotional from Elder Pingree of the Seventy and he shared a phenomenal talk about the importance of the Atonement, and I wish that I could forward the devotional to you guys, but they don't redistribute MTC devotionals! One thing I got out of it that I want to challenge you guys to do is to find a way every day in which you can write down how the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ strengthened you to do something that day.  I promise that if you do so, you will have a deeper sense of gratitude and love of others by seeking to find the daily application of the Atonement.  The pattern is "The Atonement of Jesus Christ helped me to (Fill in the blank) today"

Wednesday: Fairly uneventful, but I learned that Elder Sabin is crazy good at basketball, so when we do 2V2 in the morning it is the best playing in my companionship, haha!

Thursday: We performed service cleaning up classrooms abandoned by the sixth-week missionaries that left this week!

Friday: Today we are going to the temple again, so I got to go, but I love you all so much and you're in my prayers!

Love,
Elder Raven

Hola Mi Familia

Hola Mi Familia Amado, (Hey My Loved Family, doesn't exactly translate haha)

This past week has been the greatest rollercoaster of my live!  There

have been so many highs and lows and I just don't know where to start,

so I guess I will give you a quick overview! I'll start with some of

the difficult things and then go into the awesome stuff so that way

you aren't depressed, haha!

 For starters, I learned last Saturday that Elder Manwill and Elder

Johnson were going home.  He hadn't told me anything about leaving,

but he had been really reserved, irritable and meeting with Presidente

Caldwell so I kinda had a theory that could be possible.  He told me

that they were flying out together on Tuesday.  It was so sad to see

him suffer and be unable to assist him in any way!  So we ended up

throwing get togethers everynight leading up to their departure by

using Personal time 9:00 - 10:30 to sit around, enjoy snacks, and tell

stories!  It was a beautiful bonding experience and somehow it made it

easier to let go of two of them.

So anyways, Presidente Henrie knew on Sunday that both Elder Johnson

and Manwill were leaving so he told me that I would be paired with

Elder James and that we would both be Zone Leaders! I felt incredibly

torn apart by this because I wanted the opportunity to serve others

but not at the expense of my companion's departure!

The time came this past Tuesday for him to say goodbye, and we shared

contact information so that we could find each other after the

mission, and everyone was really downhearted about the whole affair.

So Elder James and I went to reception desk and found out that we were

not going to be companions but that two Elders from the Provo MTC

would be flying here.  Their names are Elder Sabin and Elder

Gunderson!  This was a curveball because Elder James and I had already

made preparations to be companions so this was really interesting.

The reason why the two new Elders were coming is because they had had

a difficult time with their visas and were originally supposed to come

to the Mexico MTC, but complications stopped that.  Elder Sabin is now

my new companion and he is a really cool guy that went to a year of

School at BYU is majoring in Electrical Engineering and is from

Seattle, Washington!  It has honestly been so great having him as my

companion because he is a low key, humble, kind of guy that is very

active, which is a huge blessing because Elder Manwill really disliked

when we tried to play sports.  We have only been companions for 48

hours but I feel like this is going to be a phenomenal companionship!

There have been tons of blessings in our lessons with Naomi and Teresa

and I want to share with you guys some of the amazing lessons I have

learned.

On Tuesday, a member of the 70 came and spoke with us, Elder Pingree,

about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and its importance in missionary

work!  He reallly surprised me because he is the first general

authority that I have heard speak that is super energetic and kind of

like Hank Smith in his engaging story telling style!  He has an

incredible sense of humor which combined with powerful spiritual

doctine has caused me to truly internalize the teachings he shared.

One instance is to journal every day one thing where the Atonement has

strengthened you (the enabling power of the Atonement)  For Example,

Today the Atonement of Jesus Christ helped me to be patient with my

struggling companion, or be charitable with someone who was saying

horrible things about me.  This has filled my life with a deeper sense

of gratitude and I would like to ask you all to try to do this!  I

have been focusing on the Christlike attribute of Charity, and I have

found that as Moroni stated "Without charity we are nothing." It is

much like the song "Proof of your love"by For King and Country where

we need to evidence the love of God in all that we do if we are to be

counted among his people!  I love you guys, and challenge you to read

the Scriptures every day together, and I know that you will be

blessed!

If you need comfort Romans 8 is beautiful or the story of the people

of Alma in bondage to the Lamanites because God doesn't always take

away our burdens but he certainly has the power to make them feel

light!

Miles Away but Close in Heart,

Elder Raven