One Year of Miracles in Monterrey!

Wow! It is quite insane looking at all the events that have gone on in this past year!

WE had a wonderful week this past week and even with the scorching sun, we are seeing a lot of wonderful little miracles!

The Ramos Family after seeing many struggles with their schedule is going to be baptized in two weeks!  We have seen a lot of wonderful little miracles with them and the Hermana Nubia is so spiritually prepared! We are still seeing how the Lord is preparing them and we are just including all the members we can to help them feel loved and stay animated about their decisions!

We also had some miraculous experiences with the members because the Sisters were also able to baptize a complete family this past week and the family Galvan Medina are so wonderful and the Sister Ivonne bore a powerful spiritual witness of the veracity of the church and they are clearly on course to be sealed in the temple!

District Activity Bowling and Trampoline

We also had our district activity today which was great because we went bowling in a little plaza and it was great because due to recent changes in the zone our district has 12 missionaries now (3 normal companionships and 2 trios!) which has made things really wonderful! We have seen how the Lord is truly blessing our district with a support and love for each other which helps us stay really animated!  It was so great being with them and we found this cool 70s diner here that made some massive hamburgers that were absolutely delicious!

But as for a more spiritual side of things I saw this Mormon Message the past week in the Quorum de Elderes Class and dealing with how we minister to others!

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/one-on-one  

It is an excerpt from the October 2016 conference talk by Elder Holland, Emissaries to the Church, which is absolutely beautiful!  I know that the Lord has given us the capacity to bless those around us through small and simple means!  I know that as we strive to love as the Savior loved and demonstrate our gratitude for all of the wonderful blessings we receive gracias a Él (thanks to Him) we can be angeles here upon the earth to those around us!  This past week my companion and I were studying Alma 13 in companionship study and we were discussing how as missionaries and members of the church we can oftentimes be these mortal angels that others need in order to receive the gospel, referring to verse 24, and I know that every charitable act done with a pure heart will be purifying to us!  I would like to invite you to find someone to serve and be able to apply as well the new videos of the church that were shared about how to share the gospel with others that are in this link;

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/blog/sharing-the-gospel-in-normal-and-natural-ways 

And that we can all strive to model these simple examples and see those who need our love and support!

I love every wonderful and charitable act that you have ever done and for the many examples that you all have given me of how Christ always looked to serve others!

Til next week!

Elder Raven

Que legal (How Cool in Portugese)

Hey Everyone!

This past week was full of wonderful experiences from an accidental run in with Marcos to learning all kinds of Portuguese slang and words this has been one of my favorite weeks in the mission so far!

We had the Ramos Family and Marcos come to church yesterday which was phenomenal!

There has been huge progress with many of our investigators and they are so incredible and I am so grateful for the many blessings which we saw in this past week and thanks to my new companion Elder Santana I have really been able to enjoy the work in a different way!

It is still hard, and there are days where the work is difficult but I have come to feel and see more often how the Lord is working in every single one of the lives that we interact with on a daily basis!

One cool experience was with Mizael and Cinthia who are absolutely amazing because they were being taught by the missionaries a long time ago but they never got baptized because they weren´t married and they didn´t want to make the commitment, but then we were checking the registros (teaching records) and felt that we should visit them! It was so wonderful to have a lesson where the spirit was testifying to them of the reality of this Church and the importance of the principles of the Atonement and Repentance in their lives, and at the end of the first lesson, we felt a need to invite them to return to the church and become members! The wonderful thing is that they said, yes it is about time that we put God first in our decisions! And they also let us know that they had been feeling impressions to get married for the two young girls that they have and about a month ago they got married! So now it seems that they have been truly prepared to become members! They are so incredible and they have an iron-like resolve to be baptized!

A spiritual thought comes from the Elder Holland Talk in Abril 2009 of None Were With Him

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/none-were-with-him-2 

Even though this is a Easter Video I feel like it is something we can always benefit from because:

I love these words he shared and I also would like to testify that Christ knows us, he knows our challenges and he can succor us (run to us) wherever we may be found!  His loneliness means that we are never alone and that He stands with open arms to receive us the minute we turn our lives over to Him and say, Thank You for paying for me, please help me to make use of your gift and become more like You.

I hope you can find comfort from this video and that you can always remember our Savior Jesus Christ and strive to emulate His Perfection!

Elder Raven

Isaiah 52:7!!! Also Happy 50thAnniversary to my grandparents!

HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY TO MY GRANDPA AND GRANDMA SCHULTHIES
It was fun to get to talk to them today on their 50th!!! My mom is in Oregon so I got to say hi to them!

Wow, this past week was incredible!

I am loving my time with Elder Santana who is a really upbeat and fun personality but also teaches and helps other people with power and love!  It has been so nice to be able to learn Portuguese with him and sometimes in lessons I have been accidentally throwing in Portuguese words which always creates a confused look from the investigators but anyway its caused a lot of funny experiences this past week!

Service Project with Hermana Arroyo cut, paint, and prepare a wood sign for her smoothie stand!

We found several new investigators this past week which was wonderful but specifically I would like to talk about 2 older couples this past week we started teaching who are really awesome! The first couple is named Juan and Juana and Juan is an ex-judge for the city of Escobedo and a really religious and wonderful man who is very receptive to the message of the Restauration, which is very rare here in Mexico because generally speaking the older generation is very close to Catholic traditions, but they began right of the bat by saying, we only wanted to talk with you two at first because you were always smiling and talking with the people in the street, and the simple fact that you always said good morning, or good afternoon to us helped us gain a lot of confidence with you two, but now after taking a real interest in us and after hearing about Jose Smith, we have felt and recognized that you have been sent from God to bless us!  This was one of the most incredible moments of the mission so far, not because of self-recognition or anything, but the fact that the Lord had prepared these two very humble and wonderful people to learn about the Restored Gospel of Christ.  They couldn´t come to church yesterday but they are reading the Book of Mormon and have said that they are coming this week!

The other couple is named Rodrigo and Seda! They were really closed off to us at first, but after passing by their house every day and talking a little bit with them, they finally accepted the offer that we could visit them! It was a wonderful lesson that we had and they truly felt a peace after hearing the message of the plan of salvation, (because they had lost a grandson recently) and said please keep coming back because this is the first time we have been able to have hope for our grandson because he wasn´t baptized in the Catholic church and they thought that he had gone to an eternal torment, but now they are also willing to begin coming to our church and learn more about God´s love and the principles he has revealed through his prophets!

After seeing these lessons and so many others I would just like to add my simple testimony that truly God is preparing people for the message of the Gospel and much like He has declared in 2 Nephi 27:20-21 *He will do his own work!* He just needs us to be able to take part in this process and receive the miraculous learning experiences that come from sharing the gospel with other people! I know that He love us! He has a plan for us and that He is in control over the seemingly insignificant details of our lives!

I love you all so much!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Keep Praying, Keep Believing!

Elder Raven

Message from Blake to Elder Raven

Hi Kyle,

this is Blake, I just finished the park city cup I did well. one game I had three opportunities to score but I didn't score any of them I just hit the ball with the wrong side of my foot. I am now playing a holding center mid or left mid I am really happy about that. my team got to the semi-finals and then the ref was bad and we had a PK in overtime to tie the game we shot and scored but one of our players stepped over the line so instead of letting us get the kick she gave the other team a goal kick. 

It was fun.

 I wish you were here so we could practice soccer together and you could help me get better at shooting.

From Blake

Message back from Elder Raven

Ok love you bud! That is tough, but I am glad that you are still playing! I would love to practice with you, and don´t worry, when I get back from the mission I am going to spend a lot of time helping you out with whatever you want!

That is so cool that you changed position, you are much better midfielder than defender!

Your big bro!

Elder Raven

Voce fala portugues? (Do you speak Portuguese?)

Elder Chavez saying goodbye to Castro Familia!!! 

Wow!

Crazy news with Presidente Isaguirre giving us special changes so that I am now going to be with Elder Santana from Brazil who doesn´t have much time in the mission but I am so stoked to apply the portuguese that I have been studying these past two months!  (Its a long story but many weeks ago I had the feeling after talking with some Brazilian Elders that I would need to learn portuguese as well in the mission so I began asking them for grammar books, doctrinal things, and then I went and bought a book of mormon in portuguese to be able to learn here in the mission because even though we are in Mexico I have found 3 families here that speak Portuguese and it was so crazy how this small impression is going to help me so much with my new companion!

Another crazy thing is that the investigators from last weeks email, Cristi, Mari, y Alejandra all came to church on sunday with their kids and the members just enveloped them in their love and I they are progressing and it is so wonderful to see the light come on in their eyes as the hope of Christ and his Atonement takes a greater part in their lives. 

We also had to postpone the baptism of Marcos to this week, but that´s alright because it also works out better for the ward! And now it is so great because the members here are giving a lot more references now and this change is going to be so incredible!  It is sad saying goodbye to Elder Chavez but I know that we will be able to keep in touch after the mission!

Anyway there are a lot of exciting member activities coming up to include the ward even more in the spirit of Missionary Work and everything looks to be going up from here!

Anyway for a spiritual thought we were studying a lot this past week the importance of opening our mouths as misionaries and we decided to have a chant, or motto of Romans 1:16-17 (sorry you will have to look it up)

The Wonderful CASTRO FAMILIA!

Sorry I ran out time to explain it better, but I know that we can be a light to help others come into a fulness of the blessings of the gospel but we must never be ashamed or hide our light under a bushel, but in sharing our light, our own personal darknesses or difficulties will also be illuminated!

I know that Jesus Christ is the light of the world and He can guide us through whatever challenge we may be facing if we can but trust in His Divine Love, and know that He Lives and can Resurrect Us from our past selfs then comes the Joy of the Gospel!

I love you all!

Hope you have a great week!

Elder Raven

Anahuac Stake Mission

 

This past week was phenomenal in so many aspects but a really amazing opportunity was given to me this past week to be able to visit my past area in the Alianza Real due to a stake missionary activity that we had last Saturday where we united all of the missionaries in the Stake and with all the Stake Presidency, High Council, and Several Other Stake Leaders. We divided up and had a member from the Alianza Branch accompany us to be able to know our way around the area, but after 6 months serving in this wonderful branch, it was like coming home and it was a wonderful experience running into the Hermano Uriel and his family who started coming to church again after our visit, and even though we were given a specific route, the Elders in the branch kind of let me go as a free agent to find all the people that I felt needed the invite which was so wonderful! 

It was also a funny experience because in the activity I was talking with the Stake Presidency and Stake High Council, and they all recognized me by name without having to look at my nametag which is awesome, because I am going for a year now in the same amazing Stake, called Anahuac, and it has been a wonderful learning opportunity because I feel like I know this part of Monterrey incredibly well and I have grown to love this little part of the Lord´s vineyard a ton! and even some members and recent converts from the other wards have gotten to know me which sometimes makes me feel like a celebrity, haha!

But anyway on a little more spiritual side of things we had a really amazing experience with some Member references this past week named Cristi, Mari and Alejandra.  They are three single mothers with several teenage children and they have had very complicated family relations.  We began teaching them by getting to know them a little bit and sharing our purpose as missionaries, and these women just broke down crying because they had passed by us in their car before the appointment where we had walked from the other side of the ward to be able to reach their house, which was an hour walk in 100 degree weather, and they asked us why we had come walking in such extreme conditions to help them, and I was able to respond to them, Because you are that important to God, and we hope to teach you about your worth and the potential you have in His Eyes. With this simple recognition of a principle I think they had known a long time ago, but now were not so sure after such difficult marriages, it opened up a beautiful spirit in the Room, and these sweet sisters told us, what can we do to learn more, for which we began to tie in principles of the Plan of Salvation with the restoration, and after we finished teaching about the Book of Mormon, I brought out a copy of the Book of Mormon and Elder Chavez did as well, and with a humble tone of voice we said that we would like to share with you the key to everything that makes us happy and lets us know more of God´s plan, and we committed them that if we gave them copies of the Book of Mormon, that they would read them to which the Hermana Cristi literally snatched the Book out of my hands and basically said, [I am not only going to read it, but I am going to study every aspect of this book!

This beautiful experience made me wish to share with everyone of you that truly this Church is so wonderful because when investigators, members, or contacts on the street,  who have been beaten and torn up by life and feel like they have little left to contribute or accomplish in life are able to recognize the divine plan of Forgiveness, of Happiness, and of Peace, everything changes! The light in their eyes begins to return, and time and time again I can testify that I have seen the Light of the Atonement revolutionize everyone from rebellious teenagers to sweet, arthritic, grandmothers, and in every situation they begin to sense this greater Redeeming force and that they are not alone!  I can truly share just like C.S. Lewis declared, I believe in Christ as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.  I love the mission, I love this gospel and I love our Savior because through His Loving Sacrifice all things are possible!

I would like to invite each of us to reflect upon the many blessings we receive at the Hands of our all-loving, all-knowing Heavenly Father, and His Son Jesus Christ and resolve to set a few goals to express our gratitude for Their never-ending Grace and Goodness!

I love you all!

Hope you have a phenomenal week!

1. Activity in Alianza

2. and 3. Elder Chavez and I passing Abandoned Railroad lines

Finding the Deeper Meaning of Shoes!

Hey Everyone!

This past week has been phenomenal because we were able to see several miracles with the Hermano Oscar blessing the sacrament with his son Daniel passing the sacrament and with Hermano Gerardo as well all taking part of the passing of the sacrament yesterday my eyes were filled with tears of gratitude in seeing how little by little the Lord has changed these young men and father into worthy bearers of the priesthood of God!  It´s the little daily moments like these that make the mission the most valueable gift one could ever receive!

This past week as well was a little tough because they took out an ingrown toenail for a second time (because they didn´t cut it very well the first time) and I had to take several days of rest which can be quite maddening but it was a wonderful experience because I was truly able to reflect and study and apply myself with goals that weren´t exactly connected with preaching, but that still will help us improve our efforts in Felipe Carrillo! It showed up in our results this past week because of the many families we have had that have been attending church, none of them came which I feel is due to our lack in being able to travel the distances to visit them, and we sent members to them, but in the end only a young man named Marcos made it because he is amazing! But on the flipside I was given the chance to be able to talk in Sacrament Meeting yesterday about one of my favorite topics; MISSIONARY WORK! 

I really tried to invite a spirit of prayer and study to be able to discern what the ward needed at this time, and after a great deal of reflection and several drafts the spirit helped me remember a story I had heard a long time back about the Town without Shoes

Even though many of you may have heard this story I would just like to paraphraze it rapidly so that you can get an idea of the main message I was sharing;

Several years ago a man went to a very far away city on a buisness trip.  He came to this town in the middle of December with a climate that was completely frigid and rainy.  After a very short period of time looking at the busied people passing to and fro he noticed two very distinct things:  1. Every was dressed in very rich clothes (fur pelts, diamonds, pearls and the like) and 2. Everyone was hobbling along because they lacked shoes

and due to the lack of shoes they all had cuts and scrapes and bruises that limited the quality of their lives.

This discovery intrigued the man and he began asking everyone if they knew about shoes or if there was a place where someone could purchase a pair.  This lead him to find a shoe factory on the outskirts of the town which had many people leaving in and out of the building but everyone still walked barefoot.  

So the man asked a nearby worker, [What do you do in the factory over there? to which the man responded, oh well we talk about shoes, we sing about shoes and we even pray about shoes.  This left the man completely bewildered and said then why won´t you put them on.  The worker reflected for a moment and said, What an interesting idea! but never answered his question.

So this man then looked high and low for a pair of shoes and was able to find a humble shoemaker, purchased a pair and approached the same worker and said would you like a pair now?  To which the worker heaved a deep sigh and said, If only you knew that shoes are only used by the fanatics. And left the man reflecting about the fallen condition of this town in complete confusion.

Here it is pretty simple to make the connectiont that the shoes in this story are the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He really is the Great Physician, Master Healer that can not only heal our wounded soles (souls, pun intended) but as well give us the protection and ennobling power of his grace (a functional pair of shoes!)  And this is our duty as members to not get so caught up in our fleeting pleasures, such as the nice clothes, and really focus on the basic principles of prayer, scripture studying, and standing in holy places.  And as we go about tightening up our laces, we will be less likely to fall, and more likely to testify of the ways in which the shoes (the Gospel) has changed our lives.  I know that God really will magnify our simple efforts if we but look to him and strive to open our mouths, and share our simple testimonies of the blessings of the gospel, in deed, word, and thought and through our love and guidance the church will continue to grow and our capacity to minister as Christ did will expand!  I truly loved this analogy because it helps me think about my calling as a full time minister (Mosiah 18;8-10) and how to help heal other that even though they may not appear too effected from a first glance are truly pleading for the blessings of the gospel in our lives.  For this reason I invite each and every one of us to strive to be more bold, yet not overbearing in the ways in which we share the gospel, that we love as Jesus loved and that we seek to live up to the gratitude which we have for the many blessings of the gospel!

Even though I never became a great soccer player, I know that the cleates I used affected my quality of contributions to my team, and we should equally strive to have our feet shod with the gospel of peace as stated in the armor of God in Ephesians!  

But anyways, you all are very intelligent and can make similar applications in your lives and I know that if you seek to make the missionary work a priority in your life you will have more: peace, understanding, revelation, access to divine grace, happiness, joy, unity with your family and fellow men, and the Lord will make you holy, He will forgive your sins as you help others obtain this forgiveness, and you will have the power to overcome the temptations that are waying you down! Of these things I testify because I have seen each and every one of these blessings in my life, and as well in the lives of every member that has seriously applied to call to be a Savior on Mount Zion!

I would like to turn to a final scripture about feet and shoes 

16 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!

17 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever!

18 And behold, I say unto you, this is not all. For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the ^afeet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of ^bpeace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people;

I love you all and till next week!

Keep Praying, Keep Believing!

Elder Raven