CAMBIOS, CAMbios, Cambios, cambios

Guess what everybody?!?

Elder Murillo (new companion) and Elder Greenwood at transfers

We just had Cambios, Changes. I now have a new comp. His name is Elder Murillo. He has 3 months in the mission and is excited to start working in my area and BAPTIZING. Elder Vivanco, now on his last cycle, went with some other missionary.

Mexican Feast!

This week we worked hard all week, but did not see a lot of pay off. But, we know that the pay off does come as we strive to be diligent in all that we do. That is a promise to us in the mission, and a promise to us in life. Strive to do good, especially when it's hard. And the pay off is ALWAYS worth it all.

My scripture of this week is
Moroni 8:3 -

I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.

It applied to me this week and I know that it applies to all of you too.

Love you all!

You are all in my prayers and I hope the best for each and every one of you.

Elder Greenwood :)

Another Week of Missionary Work Flown By

Hey, hey! How's it going everybody?

We had a pretty normal week in the mission this week. Of course, by normal I mean that things that you could NEVER expect happened to us. It's incredible how frequently that happens.

We were outside a couple days ago, contacting people on the street and looking for an address of someone who wanted us to visit them, when a drunk guy called us over to talk to him and these other 2 non-drunk ladies. This dude then decided to talk to us for almost 30 minutes about all these other churches that he had seen in his life, starting with Catholics, then moving on to Christian Churches, then the Jehovah's Witnesses. 

He told us about all these terrible people that he had met in all those churches and that they didn't practice what they preached. Then, this drunk man proceeded to testify to us and to his 2 lady friends about how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only church that he has never ever seen a problem with. That the people are always kind and Charitable, and never judge.

He said all that while drunk. Then, the 2 ladies heard that we believe that having eternal families is possible. And they got SUPER interested.

I learned just a bit more that day about the great responsibility we have as members of the church to ALWAYS be representatives of Christ, no matter who we are, where we came from, or what calling we may or may not have. We have all been called and have made the covenant to take upon us the name of Christ through baptism. And people are watching us and notice the good and bad that we do. When we always strive to do good, it ALWAYS pays off. It's WORTH IT. 

My scripture of the week is Isiah 55:8. The Lord has his ways, and I am always surprised how often and well it works out when we trust in and follow His promptings.

Love you all! Have a Great Week! Be a Good Representative of Christ!!!!

Elder Greenwood :)

----------------------------------- BONUS STORIES--------------------------------

Note from Landon's Mom:
Landon has sent us a couple of stories lately that were not included in his weekly group letter. I'm including them below for your enjoyment. =)

Bonus Story #1 - 

This week, we found a mountain of straight black pebbles. And we just had to climb it. It was super hard. Every step we took, we would start to slide back some. We just had to keep on moving up to avoid sliding down. Way fun :)  But, writing about that just now made me realize that pebble mountain is an example of life. If we don't keep strengthening ourselves and moving towards the top of the mountain, we will slide backwards into old habits and the temptations of Satan. But God is there to help us up the mountain. He is like the guide that is there to tell us where to go.

Bonus Story #2 (so Landon)- 

I did 500 push-ups yesterday....

I did 100 to work out this morning. Then, Elder Babb, our zone leader, used me as an example [at zone conference]. He would give a doughnut to one of the 18 missionaries there and I would have to do 15 push-ups every time he gave out a doughnut. Everybody got a doughnut. I showed my love for the zone by paying for all of them. 270 push-ups more.

Elder Babb told me about 2 hours before that I would be doing it. BUT, he said that he was going to have me do 10 push-ups for each doughnut. Of course I said, piece of cake. I can do it. And I told him that I would be preparing myself and stuff. And he was like "No, don't do that. It needs to be hard!" I said, "OK."

THEN! In the moment, he said that I would be doing 15 every doughnut. I just smiled and knew that I was in for it. Hahaha. Then, in the night, I decided that I couldn't just stop with 370 [for the day], and 400 is a lame number, so yeah. 500 :)

Love you all!

Elder Greenwood :)

Double Baptism!

Great, Great week this week!

Liseth and Griselda's Baptisms

The Assistants came by on Monday and REALLY helped me and the zone get moving again with work and seeing results. This week, my comp and I destroyed with the Key Indicators that we pass. And the Lord really does bless you when you do what he wants you to do.

 We had one "for sure" baptism this week with the interview and everything. Her name is Griselda. But, we knew that her sister was also ready to go. We just had to win her trust more, animate her, and hope for the mercy of the Lord to kick in. And Hallelujah! Liseth was baptized as well! She got super animated and everything went great.

Utah and Sombreros -- Two of my favorite things!

The field is white and already to harvest. We, as missionaries, are here to pay the price to help someone make steps towards salvation and help those that will let us. Anything is possible with the Lord.

I invite you all to take a chance this week and do something to help someone else come closer to the Gospel in some way, with the hope and faith that the Lord will bless you and them with his infinite mercy.

I love you all! Que tenga una buena semana!!!

Elder Greenwood :)

Conferencia General

What up people!

Watching General Conference

Hope that your week was incredible!! Mine sure was with the Conference. This Conference was one of the best I have ever had the experience to witness in my entire 19 years of life. I hope that you took advantage and are taking advantage of the teachings that literally came from servants of God. Or, more specifically, God himself.

I am going to share a few things that I wrote down this last weekend.

FIRST, RIGHT OFF THE BAT -

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland - Remember, apply the things you learned. If we don’t apply what we learned in the Conference then it serves for nothing and we are ignoring the tools and protection that God is giving us to fight against Satan these next 6 months.

President Henry B. Eyring - The promise of words being given in the moment applies especially to Testimonies. [The Spirit will guide you in what you say when you share your testimony.]

Sister Mary R. Durham - The best way to learn how to use the Spirit and rely on it more is to immerse yourself in it.

Brother Donald L. Hallstrom - YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD.... KNOW IT....   - The Lord lets you suffer because he knows that it will bless you.

Brother Kevin R. Duncan - The Atonement is the ointment that softens the heart and gives peace.

Brother Stephen E. Snow - Blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble.

Elder Dale G. Renlund - If life were fair, we would not be resurrected. Thank heavens that life isn’t fair.

Mexican Bus Ride

ULYSIS CHAVEZ (OUR MISSION PRESIDENT) JUST GOT CALLED TO BECOME AN AREA 70! YEAH PRESIDENT!

Elder Neil L. Andersen - Remember who you are – A Child of God.

Elder David A. Bednar - The sacrament is the invitation to repent sincerely. Strive to be born again all the time. We can’t be perfect right now, but we can become increasingly worthy.

Elder Russell M. Nelson - Only a man who has paid the price for Priesthood Power will have it. And an eternal family.... The same applies in ALL things.

Brother Stephen W. Owen - Sometimes you are called to lead, sometimes to follow. But you are always a leader.  When you are not perfect at something but you still try, you are being a leader.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf - Astonish your spouse. “Seek and you shall find” is the promise, and you can use it for good or bad.  Pride has no place in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Batman never looked so good.

President Henry B. Eyring - Everything that we do should have focus on Celestial Marriage. The most important work as Priesthood Fathers is within the walls of our own homes.

President Thomas S. Monson - Remember who you are and who God expects you to be. Are you standing in Holy places?

I didn’t get to see all of conference, YET. I will be downloading the talks and listening to them many, many times and reading them over and over, to understand better and apply it differently every time. I invite you all to do the same.

I love you all! Have the best week ever!

PUT ON THE ARMOR OF GOD!!! :)

Elder Greenwood :)