Interviews with President Maucotel

Hey Everyone!

This past week has been wild!  Right now I am on my way out the door to head to our district activity en el planetario alfa, which is going to be way awesome!  We had interviews with President Maucotel yesterday which was truly inspiring!  I can truly testify that the Lord has called these men to stand representatives and receive revelation for all beneath their care!

This past Sabado Isael and David called us an hour before their baptismal service where we had filled the baptismal font, invited all the members, printed out programs and everything, and they told us that they weren't going to be baptized!  It was truly disheartening after having been committed and taught, and after they had expressed their testimonies to us of the reality of this church as the Church of our Savior, but due to a lot of familial intervention they were basically going to disown them for their acts, and several clever ways in which Satan attacked them, and with the death of their uncle, they lost their desire, and we are going to continue animating them in the hopes that they will join the church! 

On the flipside we found several wonderful families and I would love to share their stories, but all 4 of them have been committed to church, one brother, Antonio, I would like to mention specifically because he was in front of his house in the shade, studying the bible when we passed by and I asked him if we could help him learn about a book written by prophets that also teaches of Jesus Christ.  

He was really curious and asked, how can I get this book and extra knowledge, and I responded by taking out a Book of Mormon, testifying of the reality of the Apostasy and the Restauration (in a simplified version) and he told me that he would begin reading and try to finish it before the end of June!  He is a powerful brother that has battled through a lot of health issues with his kidneys, but I have a feeling that God truly blessed us to be in the right moment to help this brother learn.  Later last week, we taught him all the restoration and he accepted our invitations to pray to God about our message and to attend church with us!  I am so excited for him and I feel that he truly has been prepared for the gospel message!

Anyway, I love you all! Keep praying and hoping for your dreams and for the missionary work wherever you may be, and then take an active part in bringing souls unto Christ!  It will be the best thing you could ever do!

Love,

Elder Raven

Jump Start!

Wow, 

this past week has been full of ups and downs, but the best thing is that now I am on my feet, I got cleared from the doctor to work normally, and we are on fire here in Felipe Carrillo!  Elder Chavez and I have been able to find several wonderful families to begin teaching this last week that look amazing, but the coolest thing is a youth named Daniel that showed up to church unexpectedly!

We already had the Ramos Family, Marcos, Paola, and Hermano Martinez all seated next to us but a brother from the back of the congregation with a handful of minutes to go before starting church he called us out back and we came to know Daniel who was talking with the missionaries a long time back but because of his work and a few other struggles of faith he was never baptized but he always loved the church and he applied all the principles were taught in the church like a sponge!  He is really prepared to receive the gospel, and I just felt so grateful that God is entrusting our ward with so much growth and progression!

It was a powerful sacrament meeting yesterday as well because we changed our Bishopric completely and two members from the Stake high Council are going to be the Bishop and his first Councilor!  They are really excited to help animate the ward, and the Ward is having a literal jumpstart with this change in leadership!  We are so excited and I am praying to be able to stay another change in Felipe Carrillo because it is such a wonderful blessing to get a new energy going and after being bedridden for a little bit of time from my ingrown toenails we are going to be on fire!

There are so many wonderful blessings and stories I wish I could share, but til next week I would just like to finish with a small spiritual thought!

As I was studying this past week I came across this scripture in section 88 of Doctrine and Covenants which states:

40 For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things.  

I would like to focus on the line that mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own.  In reflecting upon this line it became more clear to me the absolute necessity of demonstrating a loving kindness to all who are around me in the mission.  That as I strive to be more kind to others, that in the same manner, I will receive the blessings of greater kindness in the judgment day.  I had heard this thought expressed several times before, but reading this scripture it came with a great power into several ways that I can improve my kindness with my companion, with the investigators, members, and other missionaries.  Even though I was not inherently bad in my treatment of them, it just gave me greater motives to seek the light in others, build them up, and dedicate myself as an instrument of light in the hands of God.  We already have so many pessimistic voices in the world today and so my invitation is that we can try to be more merciful with those who have wronged us, more patient in our weakness, and more willing to leave the past in the past and step forward into the glorious promise of future days to come, for this I am constantly striving and praying!

I hope you have a wonderful week, and that you can always remember our Savior and His Great Atoning Sacrifice! 

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder Raven 

Count Your Many Blessings!

Family and Friends!

This past week has been full of miracles, and challenges as well!  We have been able to see Paola commit to be baptized on the 25th, the Ramos family from Veracruz all went to stake conference, and we are finding a lot of prepared people to further the work here in the Pedregal!  We are finding all sorts of miracles here in the district and the zone, and we are praying that we will be able to continue in our faith-based actions, Christ-like service, and connection with the Holy Ghost to be able to be even greater workers of miracles here in Estaca Anahuac!  I honestly don´t have anything too crazy to share, but I do have a few personal thoughts for anyone facing a difficult time right now (which I believe in one way or another applies to most of us):

As part of this past week, I had to go to the Christus Muguerza Hospital here in Monterrey to remove the ingrown toenails of my left and right big toe.  I began with the belief that only one side was ingrown on both toes, but came to find out that all sides had to be taken out.  This was tough because it has limited my ability to work as a normal missionary, and it is often infuriating to stay in the house for such long periods of time, but this added time of rest has given me the opportunity to realize several things:

1. How much I appreciate small thing such as having feet that work normally, jaja!

2.  The power of being patient in affliction with the assurance that it is all part of God´s grand master plan for me!

3. I have the capacity to suffer with joy in every moment of my life.  As members of the church we have the truths that these afflictions are for our welfare, and that really God wishes us to find the everyday miracles when things don´t look to be going our way when in reality God is creating a far greater creation out of what I had in mind!  I truly trust in this I am praying for each and every one of you that are facing challenges of a much graver scope that you can find hope, joy, and peace through the Light of the World, our Advocate with the Father, and our Perfect Ejemplar, Jesus Christ!  I truly testify that he can lift our burdens, carry us through our sorrows, and that thanks to him, we are never alone.  This is my simple testimony and I hope that each and every one of us can turn to our Heavenly Father in humble prayer and feel the peace of His Divine Love!

WIth Love,

Elder Raven

Milagros son Fe y Amor y El Espiritu (Miracles equals Faith+Love+The Spirit)

Hey!

This past week was absolutely awesome! We found a ton of new people to teach, and it was really so great!  I am really rushed on time so I will just try to give a spiritual thought, and let you all know that if things go well, we will be finally be able to baptize David y Israel this Saturday which will be great!

So this past Tuesday as I was helping to teach the missionaries in our area, I was truly studying and praying to find something that would help build their animo, and bless our missionary efforts!  As part of this, I came up with the following

Miracles are a product of our faith, love, and the power of the Holy Ghost acting in our lives! I was reflecting upon many of the miracles of the Book of Mormon and the New Testament and I truly recognized that this pattern exists in every part of our lives.  That as we take actions of faith, with a love of God and our fellow men, and listen to the guiding voice of the spirit, any child of God will be able to view miracles in their lives, with everything according to the will of God.  As missionaries, I have not been able to witness a Red Sea parting experience, but as i have placed my faith in God, loved the people I am teaching, and tried to follow what the Spirit tells me, I have seen great miracles in the lives of los demas.  I have been able to see people who were completely closed off and felt isolated from God, do a 180 turn, and experience the joy and light of the gospel.  And in this I would like to share with each and every one of you an invitation to look to God for the miracles that we are seeking, sincerely search in how we can develop our faith, love, and connection with the Spirit, and if everything is according to God's plan, he will give to us according to our desires but we can not lack any part of this formula if we wish to truly have a miraculous experience!  I love each and every one of you!  I testify that Christ Lives, and that we have an inherent worth as Children of God that is beyond any earthly possession. As we store up treasures in heaven, we will have an eternity to enjoy them! 

Hope you all can change the world for someone else!

Love,

Elder Raven