What a Week!

This week was pretty sweet! (Except the habenero I ate last week was NOT SWEET!)

Habenero eating play by play...#1 - in it goes...

First of all, we had a world-wide missionary meeting with members of the Quorum of the 12. First one ever! Super cool! I learned a lot of stuff that I plan to apply to my work as a missionary and become more effective in my teaching and things.

#2 - starting to feel the burn...

Also, had the coolest contact ever this week! We didn't even contact her; she contacted us! She and her friend were walking in front of us on the sidewalk when she turned around and said "Hey, have you heard of this book called, 'The teachings of the Prophets of the Church: John Taylor'?"

#3 - If I laugh about it, maybe the pain will go away...

We were like... uh, yeah, where did you hear of that? She said that someone gave it to her and that she'd been reading it and REALLY liked what she was reading, especially about the chapter, "Faith and Service in the Church."

#4 - Yes! Conquered the habenero! 

Hahaha!  It was crazy! I haven't even read that book and, yet, it is changing the life of this girl. We had our first lesson with her and it was great! She is well on her way to getting baptized! :)

Or maybe not....the effects are long lasting....time to pray for help!

Speaking of baptism, we had one! It was incredible! This person, Lilia, changed SO much in these last 2 weeks! I've never seen someone change so much. I never thought that she was going to change, She always was against baptism and stuff. But then, I don't even know what happened! She randomly showed up to church, we had a great lesson with her, and she wanted to know a bit more about the Book of Mormon, then she was down for baptism! The Lord works many miracles in this world today. And people's lives can change because of it.

Elders Greenwood, Vivanco (comp), Lopez (ZL), and another Elder with Lilia at her Baptism

 I'm so grateful that I was able to work as an instrument in the Lord's hands to help bring about this work and bring fruits unto Him. Missionary work is the greatest work on the Earth today and the feeling that comes from sharing the Light of the Gospel with those who are living in Darkness is one of the greatest feelings on this Earth :)

Blisters.....part of being a missionary...all worth it!

Love you all! Have a fantastic week!

Elder Greenwood :)

Cool Subject Line

Hi everybody!

On top of the world....er....wall!

I'm quite studly, aren't I?

Hmmm...how do I get down?

This week was a good week! My comp and I worked hard. Elder Vivanco has 19 months in the mission and is still going strong! Hahaha! He is a REALLY good teacher. I am learning a lot from him. It's pretty great :)

Guess I'll jump!

This week we played some soccer with some little Mexican kids. I didn't get as wrecked as I thought I would. Hahaha! I pulled some pretty sick moves on those 12-13 year olds hahaha! But it was tons of fun and we have their addresses now so we can visit them and talk about the gospel and how it can make you more happy than soccer. :)

This last Sunday, we had a few investigators who said that they would come to church by themselves, (so we went and brought other investigators to the church), and some of those people didn't show. My comp, when that happened said, "Why don't people want to receive blessings?"

Ate straight habenero...the pain!

It's the truth - going to church and doing the things that God wants us to do brings us more blessings than we realize. But sometimes we don't realize that. When we know the reason why we do the things we do, like go to church, it will make us want to go more, and we'll be more happy to do it.

All the "Whys" of the commandments of God are found in the Scriptures. I invite you all to read about a certain subject that you may be unsure on the "why."I promise that your testimony will be strengthened on that subject as you do so.

My scripture of the week is Alma 37:37 - It's about Prayer. Prayer is one of the most powerful tools we have in the war against Satan (D&C 10:5) And it helps us stay calm when we're in times of stormy troubles. Prayer is one of the greatest gifts that God has given us the ability to do.

  

Love you all! Have a great week and Stuff! Enjoy life to the fullest! Animo!!!

Elder Greenwood :)

Another good week

Hello all!

Chillin' (Elders Greenwood, Cruz, & Larsen)

Life has been going well here in the mission. Elder Cruz and I have taught some great lessons to some great people. And we brought a lot of our investigators to church this week, which was super cool! 

New scarf - really chillin' here!

At the church, there is a special feeling that can be felt, and when the investigators feel it, they will want to have that feeling all the time. That feeling is the Holy Ghost. We can have that feeling and the guidance of the Holy Ghost when we are baptized and confirmed. For us who are already baptized and confirmed, we can have that feeling when we are doing the things that God wants us to do, like reading the scriptures, going to church, and trying to develop Christ-like attributes.

Elder Lopez (Zone Leader) and Elder Greenwood with Kings Cake

Pastel de Reyes (Kings Cake) for Mexican Holiday (Three Kings Day) on January 6th

Star Wars Mementos

Elder Cruz and I are also no longer companions. I really enjoyed my time with him. But now, I am with a new companion named Elder Vivanco. He's from Spain. I've known him for about a good hour now. Hahaha! But he seems like a great missionary and ready to work. He has 19 months in the mission.

Love to you all! Wish you well! Follow Christ!!!

Elder Greenwood :)

Baptism!!!!!

What up people!

Not your normal Mexican fare!

Solved it!

We  baptized this week! A recent convert (who was baptized about a month ago), who LOVES to do visits with us and plans on going on a mission, AND has even visited our investigators on his own time to help them feel the goodness of the gospel, Just Baptized his own mother. It was SO cool to see a faithful son of God baptize his mother into the one true gospel. That was obviously the highlight of this week.

Esperanza baptized by her son, Jorge

Other than that, we have found a few investigators who are really progressing well and have baptismal dates set for later this month. My comp and I also found a lady in the street who has been to Sacrament Meeting about 4 times, her kids even more, has a strong testimony, and is totally ready to be baptized! Hopefully we can baptize her this week and help her family work towards finding the true joy of the Gospel.

District Meeting

 There are people prepared for baptism everywhere we go. It just takes some effort to find them. This gospel is meant for everyone. And those with open hearts and contrite spirits and humility will see that and see that there is a light in this church that is brighter than any light we can think of. It is the Light of Christ. And that light is in every one of us as we do what's right and follow the teachings of Christ and the promptings of the Spirit. Which leads me to my Scripture of the week:

3 Nephi 18:20-21 - "And Whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall recieve, behold it shall be given unto you. Pray in your families unto the father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed."


























All sorts of promises in there. And we simply need to pray to our Father in Heaven with total sincerity. We will find joy. We will find happiness. We will be blessed. Our families will be blessed.

  

God is literally our Father. It is absolutely crazy to think about that. It's almost incomprehensible. But it's true. And he listens to us, just like our fathers here on Earth do. And he loves us like our fathers here on earth do. And he has a wife who equally loves us and listens to us and wants the best for us. Remember what you're doing when you pray and you will find peace. :)

Interior of Catholic Cathedral

Visited a beautiful Catholic Cathedral

Love to all

Elder Greenwood :)