The Gospel isTrue, Everyone!

This week was absolutely incredible!!

Today is Mexico Independence day and the Mexicans are going crazy! Fireworks all night long hahaha!

That food I had was super good! It usually is good. But the first day we were here, they served soggy corndogs. They are an abomination and should be burned. And sometimes for breakfast they have ham and cheese sandwiches, which is weird. Or Eggs with hot dog bits. DON'T EAT THE HOT DOGS!!

I drew the stick figures, yes.

The panorama pic is an interesting artist rendition of Jesus and his 12 apostles all smiling and
 laughing. It's pretty cool.

[Ran into some friends from Lehi!]

Elder Nathan Huggins, Sister Kimmie Mortenson, Elder Landon Greenwood

Just said "good-bye" to some latino roomates, whom I loved. Here are my new roomies!

Elders Gardner, Melchor, Arguelles, and Greenwood

This week we got to celebrate the re-dedication of the Mexico City Temple! From our auditorium, we got to watch a live broadcast of the Cultural Event the day before (Where tons of actors laid out the history of Mexico's journey to having its temple and the LDS religion). They showed from the Nephites' and Lamanites' times (like when Jesus visited), to when Brigham Young sent people down to settle the cities of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, to when the first missionaries were sent to Mexico City to spread the Gospel in pioneer times and were killed because of it, to the building of the beautiful temple that it is today. It was really cool!

 

The next day we got to watch the Temple Re-dedication! Elder Eyring re-dedicated it and Elder Holland was also in attendance. Sadly, they couldn't come to the CCM. To think we were only like 20 minutes away from two apostles!! But the meeting was amazing and super spiritual. Watching the temple dedication, a video of the story of John Tanner, and an older crucifixion video was amazing! After the Dedication, we had a district meeting where, basically, everyone just bore their testimonies. It was incredible.

One of the stories that Elder Holland spoke about was when Brigham Young announced the site for the Salt Lake Temple 4 days after they got there. Keep in mind that the saints, in their poverty, had built 2 temples already that were both abandoned not long after they were finished, and they'd suffered from the death of Joseph Smith during the building of one of them. Some saints were probably not really excited about building another one. But Brigham Young said, "You are probably wondering if we will have to leave this temple behind, or if we'll even get to finish it. I have been asked by many of you this question. And here is my answer, I don't know, and I Don't Care. We have been asked of God to build this temple and it is our duty to do it."

Sometimes, we don't know why God asks us to do things. Does he understand or is he even aware of what we're going through?

Brigham Young said, "God knows that you have been through so much. He asks you to do these hard things because he knows how much it will bless you when you do it. He can see everything. And we just need to trust and know that he is doing what's best for us." (I paraphrased that last part and may have added a bit of my own insights, but the fact remains, God knows and cares about us and what he allows us to be put through will be for our benefit in the end.)

Sorry for the Long email, the Spirit is so strong here, I want to share everything with you and have you guys feel what I'm feeling!

We just went and did a temple session today, Probably my last one for 23 more months. But I have never been so spiritually edified. I decided that I"m just going to write some words from my journal about it here:

"That final temple experience was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I will never forget the indescribable feeling that I felt in the celestial room. I left by myself, with the spirit with me, just pondering and being grateful for the power that comes from the temple. One thought that I had was about how incredible and amazing the celestial room felt, and how that feeling is only a portion of what the celestial kingdom will feel like. I was having a hard time imagining a better feeling than the celestial room, when I thought about what it will feel like when I have a wife and kids with me. The way the celestial kingdom will be. The eternal feeling is one that I want more than anything else in the world"

This Gospel is True. Being able to walk into a room, and feel something that can only be described as the Holy Ghost, reaffirmed that fact again. I encourage all who can to return to the Temple as often as possible to be reminded of the Love and greatness of God's eternal plan for us. If you cannot go through the temple yet, prepare yourself and be ready to do so when the time comes. I promise you with all my heart that you will never regret being worthy to enter the temple and you will be blessed of God.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Greenwood :)