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| Blessings Of Listening To The Spirit |
Tortillas for the week: 30
Last night we had a super powerful lesson and after the
lesson I asked the family do you guys drink coffee? They all looked at each
other and I knew the answer in that very moment; they all said yes we do, so we
explained that are bodies are sacred and that we should treat with respect and
reverence and that should avoid harmful substances and went into greater detail
about the Word of Wisdom. I then asked, “Where is your coffee?” They said right
here, I asked can I have it and they were a bit shocked but said yes. They knew
I was going to take it but as soon as we were leaving things got a bit awkward,
you could see they were like wow, there goes our coffee and you knew that they
wanted one last drink. I wasn’t going to let that happen because they will
always want one last drink. This was opportunity for them to receive great
blessings through obedience. Hermana Cony was like you have to give the coffee
back, they are going be so mad and they won’t want you to come back. I just had
a feeling that they were not going to be mad. Hermana Cony kept insisting so I
did but then they said to my comp take it we need to drink something else, and
I just wanted to shout YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dumped out the coffee today,
let just say I hate the smell of coffee. I’m still in shock that I felt
prompted to take their can of coffee and they agreed that it was the right
thing to do. I testify when you obey the promptings of the spirit that miracles
will happen because that was a miracle.
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| Some Things Never Change |
General Conference was a definite highlight of the week.
I watched every session in Spanish, it was good but because I still struggle
with Spanish it would have been so much better for me to watch it in English
but I will never regret that I watched it all in Spanish. For 2 sessions we had
over 25 people in attendance, wow that is a miracle, you could feel the spirit
just testify to everyone in attendance that the messages shared were words from
God. I love the focus from this conference, TESTIMONY: receiving your personal
testimony and as Elder Anderson said, “Each believer needs a spiritual
confirmation of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith.” Knowing that
Joseph Smith is the Prophet of the restoration is a key part of our testimonies.
I love the message from President Uchtdorf when he teaches us we need to “read,
ponder and ask Heavenly Father, in Christ’s name, to manifest the truth of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. By following those steps, God is
bound by His word to manifest the truth through the power of the Holy Ghost.
The more we incline our hearts and minds toward God, the more heavenly light
distills upon our souls. And each time we willingly and earnestly seek that
light, we indicate to God our readiness to receive more light. A personal testimony
of the gospel and the Church is the most important thing you can earn in this
life.” As I watched conference I felt my spirit being filled, I felt something
magical swell up inside me, I felt the power of my testimony, I NOW CAN SAY I
HAVE MY OWN TESTIMONY!!!! This feeling is the greatest feeling ever, the
process was hard and long but it was worth it. I now can understand why the
Lord said to Peter, when thou art converted strengthen your brethren.
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| Made A Cake For One Of The Families We Are Teaching |
I want to talk about one of my favorite talks, by Elder
Tad R. Callister, “Parents: The prime gospel teachers of their children.” He
said, “As parents we are to be the prime gospel teachers and examples for our
children, not the bishop, the Sunday School, the Young Women or Young Men, but
the parents. As their prime gospel teachers, we can teach them the power and
reality of the Atonement, of their identity and divine destiny and in so doing
give them a rock foundation upon which to build. When all is said and done, the
home is the ideal forum for teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.” I say to you
all I know these things because of my parents; they taught me everything I
know. They are my most dearest teachers because Christ taught me through them.
I owe Him and them everything. We all are in debt to our earthly parents and
our Heavenly Father because they have given us so much. I thank you Mom and Dad
for everything, thank you.
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| Sharing Messages Of Eternal Families |
I just can’t say enough about conference, the messages
shared taught me so much. One of the most powerful messages was from President
Uchtdorf during the priesthood session when he recounting what happened at the
last supper of Jesus and His apostles when He said that one of them would
betray Him, and they each asked, “Is it I?” I have pondered so much on that one
question, LORD IS IT I??? Have I betrayed thee in any way? We need to ask that
question to ourselves every day. If there are days when we say yes we need to
change for that is the pathway to personal conversion and lasting change. We
need to say, “si senor yo te seguire” (yes, Lord I will follow thee.) We need
to follow the Lord every day we need to be more concerned about what Heavenly Father
thinks of us than what the other people think of us. We need to be Disciples of
Christ not just followers of Christ. Followers say, “oh it is good to see
Hermano Vicinete here especially since he has been struggling
or hey Brother Johnson is here, he hasn’t come in a long time.” Disciples of
Christ notice the needs of others and go to work to help them. Disciples of
Christ also look inside their hearts and examine if they have gradually turned
from the things of the Spirit and moved towards the things of the world and
ask, “Lord is it I???” Disciples of Christ do not make excuses or justify
unworthy thoughts and action, they constantly ask what do I need to fix and are
willing to change. By doing so President Uchtdorf said, “those who learn
of the Savior and desire to be like Him, those who humble themselves as a
little child and seek to bring their thoughts and actions into harmony with our
Father in Heaven—they will experience the miracle of the Savior’s
Atonement. They will be blessed with the desire and discipline to
become true disciples of Jesus Christ.” May we be Disciples of Christ and say
through are words and actions, “Voy a seguir a Cristo” (I will follow Christ.) I
testify that Thomas S. Monson is our living prophet; I know Joseph Smith was
called of God to restore His church and I know he saw God the Father and His
Son Jesus Christ. I also testify that the belief is the first step toward our
conversion and conviction of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have seen belief
becomes conversion as our recent convert, Ana Paula, has come with us to visit
some people and as she shares her testimony you can see a light in her eyes
because of her belief which once was a tiny seed has blossomed. She knows
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love her and she trusts in their plan for her.
She is a disciple as she testifies, “vamos todos a seguir al Señor” (let’s all
follow the Lord) May we all be worthy for His priesthood power. I know that the
priesthood was restored by celestial angles to the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know
the priesthood is the power of God and I can feel Him work through me every
time I give blessings to members. Yo quiero mucho a mis hermanos y hermanas;
tenemos que decir que voy a seguir a Cristo (I love you so much my brothers and
sisters; we need to say I will follow Christ.) I pray for every day I will not
be the one to ask Lord is it I but I will be a true disciple of Christ and
follow Him.
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| Brotherly Love |
What I love about Mom and Dad is that we would always
watch conference as a family and that they made it a priority.
con mucho amor, ducks forever.
Elder John D. Mcilmoil
October 6, 2014
Scripture of the week: John 14:6
He is the way and the light and the life.
“As we look to Jesus as our Exemplar and as we follow in
His footsteps, we can return safely to our Heavenly Father to live with Him
forever.” President Thomas S. Monson
“If the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and be strong,
trusting in happier days ahead.” Elder Holland
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| #LDSConf #ShareGoodness #ElderHolland |
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