Week #19 Happy New Year!!

I hope that everyone had an AMAZING CHRISTMAS and a FANTASTIC NEW YEAR´S.   For Christmas, we had dinner with two different families...both investigators.   It was super amazing getting to get to know them even deeper on a personal level.   Also, the food was RICO!!!   One meal was all the meat you could dream of and the other was all of the seafood you could dream of.   I got a wallet from the World Cup for Christmas and a tie.   I am so grateful for both of them. I wasn´t expecting to get anything... expecially because I had only been here for like a week. Haha

So this week, we saw miracles.   The work flourished.   People who haven´t been to church in 30 years came this Sunday. The spirit was really strong in the house, at church, and during lessons.

We had another lesson with Andrea yesterday.   At the end, she said " You know, I don´t know what it is about you, but I feel something every time you´re here. It´s not like a tired feeling, but like I could doze off any second because of how relaxed and at peace I am."   We began to explain that that was the spirit testifying to her that what we were telling her she needed to do with her life, is right.  She has a son, Santiago, who is like 3 years old.  "What you said about me wanting the gospel for my son in his life Elder Jackson, is exactly right.   I made a promise to Heavenly Father when I had my son that he would have the gospel in his life.   I don´t know...it feels like you knew that."   I told her "Then you know what you need to do."   It was literally one of the best feelings of my life.   I knew in that moment that she understood who we are.   We aren´t just young men....we are disciples of Christ!   There´s a reason that we say what we say.

Also, we had a super strong lesson with Hermana Valinsuela this week.   We showed up and she told us that they didn´t have much time, but that we could share something.   Elder Soulier asked me to share my conversion story and my testimony of the church.   I began to share the adventure.   I don´t know exactly what I said, but Hermana Valinsuela and I were talking...or rather her and the spirit. As I told my story and testified of the things that I know to be sure beyond the shadow of a doubt in my heart, she opened up to us more than ever.   She told us things about her life that she hasn´t told anybody ever...much less two 20 year olds.   It was just such a spiritual moment and I´m so grateful to know that I have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion always.   That I can say the things that need to be said for these people to realize that they aren´t even talking to me...but to God.   It´s a feeling I can´t even describe except pure joy.

Now for the lesson of the week.

As Latter-Day-Saints, we dedicate our lives to Heavenly Father and covenant with him to live a higher law.   When we are doing the norms in the church, we typically, as a generalization, feel that we have a firm stand on Satan and his powers against us.   Is this really the case?   Or have we tricked ourselves and in the process lost sight of the real picture?

In the gospel, it has never been sufficient to just do the minimal requirements.   It isn´t sufficient to follow the doctine of the church, and to ignore the non-doctinal "shoulds and shouldn´ts" of the prophets.   It isn´t sufficient to only worry about our salvation and the salvation of our loved ones. (Doctine and Covenants 18:10 " Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God") It is our DUTY and PLEASURE to assist Heavenly Father in his work so that we can all return to the presence of the Father.   That being said, me must do all we can to save our brothers/sisters.   We must not let Satan get a grasp on the small things in our lives.   When he does, several things happen

1) Our testimony fades.

2)We have less of a desire to excell in lthe gospel. 

3) We become slothful(Doctrine and Covenants 107:99-100)

4) We fail to fulfill our duty to God and Jesus Christ.

For many of us, we don´t even realize the impact the little things we do have on others.   Example, If women or men are wearing unmodest clothing, we are training the mind of the opposite sex that that is what they want.   We are training them to be more interested in our outter beauty than the goodness of our souls.   Is it important to look presentable,yes.   It is worth sacrificing the glory of our souls to look good, no.   We have to have a better understanding of Satan and how he works.   We have to start living our lives noth through our eyes, but through the eyes of Christ.   We have to be aware what we are sub-consciencely teaching others...especially the youth.   There are tons of examples of this.(Proverbs 23:7 and Doctine and Covenants 121:45)

 

I encourage each of you to sit down and to evaluate yourselves. Think about not what you are doing to represent the church, but WHAT YOU COULD BE DOING TO REPRESENT CHRIST. Think about this, and fix it.   I know everybody can find at least one thing...one little thing that you could to to help the world.   And ask yourself afterwards " Am I allowing Satan to work through me?"

I love you all and hope that this message with sink in with at least one of you.   Have a GREAT New Years.

Con amor,

Elder Jackson

Week #18 Christmas Week

Link on to the Video.......

Merry Christmas!!

Alan and Jessica

Bastain and Santiago

Cantrerez Family

Christmas in Gran Av!

Christmas presents from Bishop Contrerez

Corro Family

Ducuad on Cerro Negro

Elder Asplund and Elder Jackson at the Christmas Party

Elder Despain and Elder Jackson

Enrique

Family GOnzalez

Family Soto

Henriquez Family

Last Moments in Gran Av.

Maritza

Making Christmas Cake with Elder Soulier

Sad at my going away party at the Church

Week #17 Moving to Ducaud

So our predictions were confirmed...I left Gran Avenida and came to Ducaud(Du-CO).   It is the furthest South our mission goes.  There are parts really rich and parts really poor.  The people here are definitely more humble than Gran Av, but I miss GA the same.  The cool part is that there are a ton more young people here.  Most are like in their thirties.  We were contacting yesterday, and the first contact we did let us in! lol  We hadn´t even asked to share something...we were just talking.  How COOL!  That didn´t happen in my three months in Gran Avenida.  It was hard saying bye to everyone after only three months, but there is something or someone waiting for me in Ducaud.  :)

This week, I want to address the subject of love again.  I want to address the question of "How do we find love in a self-centered world?"  

First,  What is the great commandment?? 

John 13:34-35.  We are commanded to love one another as the Lord loves us.  Through this, everyone will know that we are disciples of Christ.  Why is this important?  This is really important because it is a requirement to have charity in the last day to return to the presence of the Lord. 

Moroni 7:44-47.  In this quest to develop charity, there are many advesaries.  First and foremost, Satan.  

2 Nephi 2:27.  Also, we have the world against us.  Everything of the world is to turn us away from Heavenly Father.  

WIth these trials, we are promised strength if we will just turn to the Lord in our weakness.  With the Lord, we have several things. First, we have the light of Christ.  We have the light of Christ to help guide us and to keep us on the path of righteousness.  We LITERALLY have a part of Christ in us!!  Second, we have a family in the church.  

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, we are one.  We are one body united.  We are here to help each other in our times of need.  That is part of the covenant that we made with Heavenly Father when we were baptized.  It is not NEARLY enough to take care of things for ourselves...we have to help others...it´s our duty.  Last, we are promised angels on our left and angels on our right.  We have the power of Heaven with us, always. We have the most powerful weapon in existence.  When we are shown love, it is a byproduct that we are going to share that love with others...it it not in our nature not to. To end, when we are looking for love in Christ, we are going to have the spirit with us always and know where to turn to  find the true loves of the world...which are Christ, family,  helping others,  and the gospel.  Deuteronomy 6:5  

Thank you all for your love and prayers.  I know that God has heard them and is blessing me because of them.  Thank you all,  so much.  God Bless. 

Week #16

This week was a handful.  First,  I went on like three divisions.  lol.  A companionship in our district was having problems one day, so Elder Peck and I went on divisions with them to seperate them for a little bit.  

On another note, Elder Orchard received a cake mix in a package...I cooked it for breakfast yesterday. lol.  Even made topping.  (By the way, if you blend normal sugar...you get powdered sugar!) Lol  While I was on divisions with Elder Johnson yesterday, we had a lesson with a guy named Jose.  When we got there, he was really upset and frustrated.  Basically, his car broke, he missed breakfast and lunch bc he was at the doctor´s office and they couldn´t help him.  And he is having a problem with his kids who are like 30 something being "bad people".  I honestly don´t really remember what exactly was said, but Elder Johnson shared a scripture on patience and I shared a scripture about enduring faith and prayer.  The spirit was SO strong.  He even commented that after our scriptures and prayer, he felt peace and comfort.  I pointed out and testified that what he is feeling is the spirit testifying that what we´ve said is true.  It was such an amazing lesson.

Just because of all of the events that have taken place this past week, I feel inclined to talk about charity.

What is charity?  The scriptures say that charity is "the pure love of Christ" or "everlasting love". (Moroni 7:47)  

We have the perfect example of charity in Jesus Christ.  During his mortal ministry, he always "went around doing good" and showing tender compassion for all of the afflicted and distressed.  His ultimate expression of charity was his infinite Atonement. (John15:13)  This is the single greatest act of charity that the world has and will ever know.  Through an understanding of the Savior´s love for each of us, we can exercise faith in him and repent...there with becoming perfected IN HIM.

The Savior wants each of us to receive his love with outstretched arms.  He wants us to use this love and to share it with others.  Not only does he want it, but the fact is that he commands it! (John 13:34-35)  

It should always be our goal to love as the Savior loves...with compassion, patience, and mercy.  As we share the love of Christ, we find that our very capacity to love increases.  Preach My Gospel teaches this very concept...that as our understanding of the Savior and his Atonement grow, so does our desire and need to share it with others. (Moroni 7:45-48)

My friends and family,  it is essential that we all strive daily to grow more charitable.  As we do, our capacity to love will expand beyond measure.  In return, we will continuely draw closer to Christ.  And we will find, that with this love, comes fearlessness... for "perfect love casteth out all fear" (Moroni 8:18)  My prayer is this, that each of you would make it a daily goal to exercise charity in your lives.  Love someone, nurture someone, show compassion towards someone...just as Christ does to each of us.  In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Con Amor,

Elder Jackson

Week #15 Hard Week

Hello All!!!

This was a hard week. We had an "Open Capilla" this Saturday, so we spent a ton of time this week trying to get stuff ready for that.   Cordinating things with the leaders of the church, printing and cutting things,  CUTTING THE YARD AND CLEANING THE CHURCH SATURDAY MORNING.  It is always a great event here, but it is the one day that it rains, so it was rainey and super cold, so not as many people came.   Elder Peck and I stood out in the rain to invite people to the capilla.  Although the odds and mother nature were against us, we had a decent turnout and the members worked super hard to make it a success. :)

 

Other than the open capilla, not a lot happened this week.   We taught less than normal because of the open house, but we had some good lessons.   We invited two people to be baptized, and they both agreed.   As cool as that is, the challenge is just starting...now we get to see what they are made of. Satan is going to be working hard this month. We commited ourselves to them that we would give it everything we have that they´d be ready by their dates, but they have to do their parts too. One of those people, Lucia, had an experience.   We quit going by pretty much because her daughter in law told us that she didn´t want us to come by anymore.   We went by randomly the other day.   She told us that she´d really been having a hard time lately and had prayed about an hour before we got there that something or someone would come to help relieve her of this pain...an hour later we show up.  It is so amazing to see the power of prayer in action.

 

Temptation is a challenge that stares all of us in the eyes each and every day...just as it did Coriantom with the temptress.  It is one of the greatest tools in the arsenal of Satan.

 

What is temptation? The Bible Dictionary says that "tempt" is "to test,try, or prove.   To seduce or leads to evil.   To provoke to anger." Sok, the definition of "temptation" is "To test, try,prove, provoke to anger, and to lead to evil" That being said, I think it´s safe to say that the world is FULL of temptation.

 

These are, as Paul said, "perilous times". (2 Timothy 3:1) Satan is in almost every place on the Earth in some manner for he "seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." (2 Nephi 2:27) With this omnipresent power in this land, it is often very difficult for us to focus on what´s important, which is Christ and righteousness.  Luckily, we have been given the gift of "agency" or "the ability to choose good or evil for ourselves".   With this gift, we have several ways to avoid the temptations of this world.

 

1) Center your life on the Savior-When we center our lives on the Savior, promised blessings are fulfilled in our lives. With this focus, we can fulfill our potential here on the Earth and become Children of Christ. (Helamen 5:12)

 

2)Pray for strength- Our greatest source of strength comes through our Heavenly Father. With this communication co0mes a better relation with our Heavenly Father and a better understanding of his will in our lives. He will always help us to make the right decisions if we earnestly seek his guidence. (3Nephi20:1 We should always be praying in our heart to be closer to the Savior.

 

3) Study the scriptures dailey-Ass we study and apply the truths that we learn from the gospel in our lives, we find that we´re better prepared to confront the advesary when he attempts to begile us. (Helamen 3:29-30)

 

4)Fill your life with goodness-When we focus on filling our time with goodness, we have no time to even ponder the wicked things of the world. When you fill up a cup 100% with water, there´s no room for calories. ;)

 

5)Avoid tempting places and situations-When we put ourselves in bad situations, we are just asking for trouble. It´s like jumping head-first into quicksand...we have 0 control of what happens.

 

6)Strie to infrluence others to do good-As Latter-Day Saints, it is our duty and our obligation to help others. To help them realize their worth and their potential...to be examples. We have the ultimate example of this int eh Lord Jesus Christ. (John 17:14-18)

It should always be our goal to overcome the evil of the world and to follow the Savior. We should be firm and quick as Jesus was. (Luke 4:8) Through rightous thoughts, prayers, actions, and desires, you WILL overcome the world...just as our Savior Jesus Christ.  I know that this is easier said than done, but it is something that we are all OBLIGED to do as sons/daughters of God.   Through the power of the Atonement, we can do all things and will become who we are ordained to be. (James 4:7-8) I have a short video.   It´s a play that I saw once growing up.  I´ve seen it several times since then, and every time that I see it...I can´t help but crying and thanking my Savior on the spot for what he does for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkzNjA5Rt2o or search obra de teatro cristiana

I pray that each of you would do your best to always overcome temptation, choose the right, and be forever thankful to our Lord and Savior.   That you would feel his hands guiding you.   And that you always feel the warmth of his love forever embracing you.   This is my humble prayer. (3Nephi 22:17) In the holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen.