Miracle

Hey people!

How are all of you?

I'm doing very well thank you :)

This week was a very stressful week, but a big miracle happened.

Last week, one of the people who was baptized was unable to get confirmed on Sunday in Sacrament Meeting because her husband went kind of crazy and locked him, her, and the whole family inside with the only keys to the house.

Bus Ride

This week, we couldn't find her at any good time to talk and make plans for the next week, until Friday. We went over, waited for her to come out, played with her kids. But, she was acting strange and didn't talk to us. She just sent her kid out to say that she was going to go with her sister on vacation at 4 o'clock that day and would be there until Monday.    We were dumbfounded, without any way of communicating with her or changing her mind or anything. We passed by later, and their gate was locked and everything.

I didn't know what to do.

Then, the next day, we decided to just pass by out of a dying hope that she would be there or that we could do something. AND SHE WAS THERE!!! She got a splitting headache that day and decided not to go. She still had that headache, so we gave her a blessing and helped her clean her house for 2 hours, with great excitement that she would get confirmed the next day.

Elder Greenwood's Zone

Then, strangely enough, her husband didn't have work AGAIN on Sunday (which is rare). He came out and yelled at us for the 2nd week in a row, this time with more dynamic swear words and a couple threats. He prevented his wife again. BUT! God always puts the means by which those who desire to go into his kingdom can.

We were able to get permission to confirm her at her house when her husband wasn't there. And everything turned out ok. She has an incredibly strong testimony and truly wants to follow God. She did everything she could. And God showed his merciful hand to us.

The Gospel is true, and God will and does help us every step along the way. All we have to do is walk.

Love you all!

Elder Greenwood :)

Crazy Crazy Week of Stuff

We had a pretty insane week this week. SO much stuff happened and so many challenges and miracles passed that I believe that this last week will be a week that I will never forget in the mission.

Starting off, on Monday night, me and my District Leader went to the house of someone who literally the day of her baptism sent us a message when the font was full saying that she wouldn't be coming. On that same day, of course,  we ran to find her. She told us that she wanted to stay Catholic with her family and stuff. But my comp and I knew that she knew that the church was true. But, there was nothing we could do, and it was an incredibly sad day.

My district leader and I went there, now after about 2 months, and he interviewed her and she found her testimony and chose to be baptized! This time she came to her baptism and everything was incredible and wonderful. She loved her baptism and said that she felt a peace that she hasn't felt before.

We also had the chance to baptize a little 9 year old girl named Xochitl (pronounced - So-chee-tl with less emphasis on the t). We found her and her family by a pure miracle, knocking on the neighbor's door of one of our investigators to see if they knew if our investigators were home. They have the goal now to reactivate as a family and make it to the temple to be sealed!

DJ Landon

 Crazy things happened and more crazy things are sure to come. The mission is full of miracles and I am extremely happy and humbled to have the opportunity to be here, a part of the front lines of God's army, fighting to bring others to the truth.

Celebrating Elders Sanchez & Heindal's Birthdays

Lots of good food in Mexico!

Have a great week everyone, and remember to be a good soldier in God's army!

Elder Greenwood :)

Summer is coming...Surprise!

Hi guys!

Landon playing "Where's Waldo?" Can you find him?

This week's weather was pretty crazy. It started to get super hot like the summer heat of what I hear June, July, and August was here. And then, one day, it just decided to rain. And the next day too, and then on Sunday!Hahaha!! Pretty crazy.

Here he is!

 This week, my comp and I put a lot of work in and didn't see a whole lot of results. But, we know that our hard work will pay off eventually and we will continue to do just that with Doctrine and Covenants 123:17 in mind:

"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed".

The Lord will ALWAYS come through as we put our shoulder to the wheel and push along. Have a great week everyone and apply D&C 123:17 in your own lives!

With Much Love,

Elder Greenwood :)

Paying the Price

This week was an incredible week of Work.

Elders Greenwood & Jimenez

I read a thing that had a bunch of quotes from apostles recently that all talked about how every blessing comes with a price. When we pay the price, we receive the blessings.

It totally changed my vision about the bad days that we have in life. Those days are there to give us the chance to Pay the Price. While it may be hard in the moment, if we still do our very best, even when it's hard, and ESPECIALLY when we don't want to, the price will be paid, and you will receive an incredible blessing. :)

Carlos' Baptism

This week , we paid the price a lot.

AND

It all paid off. My comp and I were able to finish the week with 3 baptisms! It was an incredible experience to be a part of the Lord's work and help these people get baptized.

Brother and Sister Baptized

Dark time?

The good times always come and the dark times will always go away if we turn towards Christ with Faith that He can and WILL help us.

Good time =)

And I testify to you all that He can and WILL help you.Just trust in Him. Have the Faith, and Keep the Faith.

Satan works hard to bring us down, but we work harder and we always come out on top. :)

I love you all! Have a great week and Love Life!

Elder Greenwood :)

A Week of Work

This week was a big week of work for me and my new comp. We got a lot of stuff done and hope to see the fruits of it this week. We had a certain investigator in the church (who claims to not be religious but has an incredibly strong belief in Christ) with his son (who has already been baptized) who, when they got to the Chapel, started to talk about how they didn't understand why they don't go there more often. 

Then, at the end of the meeting, the guy (Carlos) told us that for sure he would be coming back the next week, and the next one, and the next one too. This guy was thought to be an eternal investigator, but now his baptism will be this Thursday :) It was an incredible feeling to hear him testify to us that he now wanted to truly come closer unto Christ and do what He would have him do.

The work of missionaries is hard, but it always pays off. The work of trying to be worthy of Eternal Life is hard, but it always pays off. What Carlos didn't understand was that of all the sins that he has committed, not one of them was left unpaid by the Savior. 3 Nephi 11:11-

And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.

Christ paid for all of our sins. And we all have the chance to repent and become better people.

The biggest mistake that we can make in our lives is not to sin, but to not repent of our sins.

We all make mistakes. We can all repent thanks to our kind and loving older Brother, Jesus Christ.

I love you all and invite you all to remember and apply the sacrifice that Christ made for you.

Elder Greenwood :)

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 :)