Freezing cold? No worries.

Elders with Mauricio

This week was a rather wonderful week. Got lots of stuff done.

This last Tuesday, I had the chance to go and see a baptism of someone other missionaries taught. And there, I was able to see, talk to, and teach good old Mauricio a bit. He's getting there --progressing and becoming better -- changing his life little by little. Mauricio asked the person who was baptized if he really felt something when he was baptized. And the guy testified hard core about how amazing it felt to be baptized. Good old Mauricio... I have never met another person with more desire to get baptized.

THEN! This last Saturday, our sisters had a baptism! In a family where the father was a less-active member, his whole family now comes to church, and his wife and one of his sons were baptized. I had the opportunity to baptize the son, Josue. 

Josue and Silvia's Baptisms

Now, when we went to go get in the font that a couple members were so kind as to fill up, the water was FREEZING COLD!!! Hahaha! I walked in first and said, "Hey, the water is pretty cold, be ready" and he just said, with so much determination, "Que tiene." Which is like saying, "No worries, doesn't matter". And he got baptized. Then, as he left the font, he said, "Wow! Thank you! I'm finally baptized!" (And coming from a kid who really doesn't express himself much, that was really surprising.) It was a really great experience.

 The feelings that we had when we were baptized, we can all say, is undescribable --an Incredible experience. But, it doesn't have to be the only time that we feel that way. Every time that we take the sacrament, or testify to another person, or read the scriptures, we can have feelings just like in our baptism. It's like God gives us a little taste of what the Celestial Kingdom is and what we will feel all the time when we get there, just to remind us of how good our life will be when we complete our goal of Eternal Life with our families.

I invite you all to look for a way to feel, once again, how you felt at your baptism, 

and God will help you find a way.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Greenwood :)

Peace, Joy, and Happiness

At the airport sayiing good-bye to a friend

Another week of being a Secretary has flown by.

The mission is flying; there is so much to do and so little time to do it.

This week was a lot of fun. We were able to teach more lessons to people with the extra time that we had. We taught one lesson to someone whose husband is in prison right now. Her name is Jovana. During this particular lesson she really started to open up more and have more trust in us and realize who we are and what we are here to do.

Celebrating Elder Navaratte's birthday at Denny's

She made me realize something crazy during the lesson. She started to talk about how she had been asking God for help in her life for 8 months (and she felt like God had not answered her). And right then I realized, with a spiritual prompting, that we, meaning the missionaries who found her a couple of months ago, and now us, who are here to teach her, were sent by God as an answer to her prayers.

Pretty sure I see Lucky Charms marshmallows on top of one

He's a wise owl

We then started teaching her and helping her realize and understand the same thing; That we literally are sent from God. We are on the Lord's Errand. And we are here to help people in their lives -- help them in a way that lasts. We don't just give lessons to people so that they feel good for 30-45 minutes because we were talking about Christ. We give lessons to people so that they apply those principles that we teach into their own lives and find out that, by doing so, their lives become more happy, more joyful, and that they find more peace.



That is what the gospel of Jesus Christ does, and that is what He and our Eternal Father want for each and every one of us: Peace, Joy, and Happiness.

The more that you understand about the reason why we are here, or what God has in store for us, the more we will want to follow the teachings of his Son. Blessings and answers to prayers come in ways that we sometimes never would have expected. I invite you all to ask God about any question that you may have, or ask him for any help that you may need, and then LOOK. And you will find.

I love you all!

Have a great Week,

Elder Greenwood :)

A Different Week

(Sent 11/7/16)

Hello!

It's me.

This week was just a bit different. (Well, I guess that all weeks are different here...with their own surprises. Haha). This week's surprises were very surprising. President got the whole office team together and we decided to get organized and figure out exactly when we should be in the offices, and when we should be out in our area working.

With those changes, my comp and I have been able to get out even more to go teach the people the gospel of Christ. I think that it'll be very good for us. Teaching the gospel and talking to others about it is really one of the greatest ways to find joy here in this life.

This week my comp and I found a family of less-active brothers (with one brother who was never baptized), who were incredibly happy to see us again. They expressed to us just how joyful they felt to go to church, listen to the missionaries, and read the Book of Mormon. They were reflecting on those times in the past when they were baptized and active members in the church.One of them was able to join us in the church this last week so that he could remember the peace and the joy that he felt.

It really got me thinking. Sometimes we really just do not know what we have until it's gone. We, as members of the church, sometimes become accustomed to the joy and light and peace that we feel and we forget from where it comes.

As a secretary, there are days that are so crazy that there is not time to sit down and study like a normal missionary. And I promise you all that there is a big difference in how I feel during the day and how much light and peace I have on those days when I do true study as opposed to the days when I just read, or whatever.

I promise you all that as you read the scriptures (ESPECIALLY The Book of Mormon) and as you take real time to think about and apply to your life what you are studying, AND if you talk to your friends about things that you've learned from your time studying or just from being a member of the true church of God (if they're members of this church or not), you will find more joy, more peace, more success physically and spiritually, and you will know what it means to truly be happy.

That's just a little something that I wanted to share with you all this week. I know that this Church is true and that Jesus Christ is its head. I love you all and pray for you daily!

Elder Greenwood :)

Examples

 (Sent 10-30-16)

Hola todos! Como estan? Que bueno. Me da mucho gusto al escuchar que esten bien y que aman al senor y que quieren servirle hasta el fin. Hay algunos de ustedes que van a poner todo esto en Google Translate me imagino. Y algunos solo van a saltar esta parte y seguir en ingles, jajaja. ok, ahora vamos a hablar en ingles.

Zone, Office, and Sister Leaders

This week was a pretty great week! I'm learning lots of things as a secretary of the mission. But, like things that will help me a lot in my life (Not saying that learning how to put in Immigration papers won't help me in my future, but I'm not super sure that it will much. Haha.)

This week, we had the chance to go to another Zone Activity in the Center Plaza area of the City of Chihuahua. I mentioned this before in a past email (Still working on following up with the miracle from last time, it's a process :) ) We basically did the same thing again, talking to people about some Self-sufficiency classes that just started yesterday. (They did this whole thing for several weeks leading up to the classes)



But, this time President Montoya and Sister Montoya came to see us all. And I thought like "Wow, cool, they're going to come and see us and watch us work and whatnot, that's cool" But no. They showed up, grabbed some Self-Sufficiency cards and started to talk to people in the street. It was a big example to me of humility, and love for others. They may be the presidents of the Mission Mexico Chihuahua, and they have a lot of other "more important" things to do. But, being a part of saving the souls of others just brings a joy unlike any other.

It was really cool to see my president do that. That is my little story for you this week.

Hope that you all have a great one!

With Much Love,

Elder Greenwood :)

Sigan el Espíritu (Follow the Spirit)

Hello all of you people!

Hope that your week was fantastic!

If not, this week is a new week! Make it fantastic!

To Eternity....and Beyond!

This week was a bit more of getting used to my new calling as Executive Secretary. It's been going pretty well. I have a lot to learn still, but I am starting to get the hang of things.This week we had the pleasure to welcome another injured missionary. Hahaha! Elder Wright got to join us for a couple days because, long story short, he stepped on a sharp metal wire thing. He was going to use my cane... but he broke it :'( hahaha! But now, as tradition goes, he will become the new secretary. I guess I'm done here. Hahaha! JKJKJK.

A special experience that I was able to have this week was when Elder Wright and I were headed out of the offices to go eat. We were going to go in an Uber (like Taxis, but they are nicer cars-- more safe, more quality, AND cheaper). I've been trying to work on acting on spiritual promptings in the moment that I receive them, even if they are inconvenient.

Elder Wright and I left. Elder Wright headed to the car while I closed the security gate. I closed it and felt that I should grab a Book of Mormon. I did not have one in my bag at the time. And I thought, "No, Elder Wright is already in the car, I don't want to have to unlock the security gate and then the office door. No.." Then, I decided to go in and get one. It was inconvenient, but I figured that I would see what would happen.

Well, I got it, put it in my bag, and got in the Uber Car. We started going, and the first thing the driver did was say, "Hey, I have a friend who's an Elder right now too!" I would have kicked myself had I not gone to go get that Book of Mormon. In the end we gave it to him, and ending up giving more books away to other cool Uber drivers. It was really a lot of fun giving those away. Finding people who are willing to take that Book, not for obligation, but for a strange desire inside to read it, is very special.

I would imagine that one day they will pass through some challenge and life will feel hard, and then they will see the old book that two white guys dressed in white shirts gave them long ago. And then they'll read it, and find joy -- Find Christ.

I invite you all to start before life feels hard, to read and to find Christ. That will make your challenges much easier to go through.

I love you all!

Have a Great week!

and GIVE 'EM HEAVEN!

Elder Greenwood :)

Surprise!!!

(Sent 10-17-16)

Delivery of 44 Air conditioners!

Well, I don't remember if I already told all of you guys, but, I guess that President likes me here in the offices because he just put me in as his Executive Secretary. So now, I have a ton of different responsibilities that I deal with to make sure that the entire mission functions, such as stuff about Migration, Immigration, buy plane tickets for the missionaries leaving, buy materials for the mission, take care of President's calendar, make sure that all the missionaries have phones and sim cards and that we have registered correctly where they live, make sure that all the missionaries that are going home make it to security and stuff all-right, and basically whatever President asks. I do many things.

Office Missionaries

It is a lot different from normal missionary work. Of course, I still have an area, and I get to work there, and I have a district of sisters to take care of as well. It's very different, but I know that I am here for a reason, and that God has many things in store for me to both teach to others and learn for myself.

Setting up for Street Contacting

I have already started to see one of the why's behind why I am here in the offices. We all went to a zone activity in Chuviscar (My old zone from when I was in Chihuahua, Chih). We went to centro (a big plaza type place with a bunch of little stores where lots of people go to shop) and we set up a table and a projector and lots of signs talking about the self-sufficiency classes that they are going to start giving in the chapel nearest to there.

All set!

We contacted people, inviting them to come and sign up for the class so that they can become self-sufficient physically and spiritually. The studies show that 90% of the non-members who take that class end up getting baptized. :)

Elders Bustos (companion) & Greenwood

So yeah, we were contacting people, playing videos, answering questions, when, out of the blue, walks up a person that I believe I have mentioned in past emails. His name is Mauricio. I started to teach him in Chuviscar with Elder Vivanco. He was an INcredible contact, who started to progress very quickly, he then completely disappeared one day without a trace. Then re-appeared for like a week, and we taught him, and then he disappeared again! But there he was, now about 5-6 months later. He walked up to me and was like, "Hey, you remember me?" I was like "uh (nodding my head a bunch) yeah" and we just started to talk like old friends with him and his friend. Then, I gave him some lesson 1 and 2 booklets and his friend was like, "Hey, can I get some of those too?" It was crazy awesome to see them again and see that they are still interested in the gospel. They just didn't know where to find it.

Zone Activity - Pool and...

Now, I will surely be keeping in touch with the missionaries in that area now to watch his progress. He also gave me his cell number, so we will be talking, and I will be inviting him to church. It was a true surprise (and really a miracle) to see him again.

...Ping Pong

So that is my story for you all this week. I love being a missionary! I've never been happier. I find true peace and joy as I go out and serve others and share the gospel with them --the gospel that has changed my life and the lives of countless others -- the true gospel of Jesus Christ restored to the Earth by God's prophet, Joseph Smith!

Love you all!

Have a Fantastic Week!

Elder Greenwood :)

Buenas Tardes Todos! Como les van? Que bueno.

Office Missionaries

Hello all of you people out in the world today! Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I hope that it is a quality experience and that you can learn something new from it that will bring you to learn more of and come closer to Christ.

Family Home Evening at the Mission President's Home

This week was a pretty awesome week! We gathered all the Zone Leaders in Chihuahua together and had dinner at President's house and had a little family home evening type thing there. That was tons of fun. Then, the next day we gathered up and talked about what President wants to do to help the mission more and further the work. I learned a lot of new things and will be applying them to my work here in the offices and when I can get back to the normal normal grind of missionary work.

Zone Leaders and Office Missionaries studying at a conference

A miracle that happened this week, that was super cool, actually happened while I was writing my family a little bit ago. I was just sitting here writing when the doorbell of the offices rang. I went to push the security button to let the random dude outside in. (For some reason the thought that I had that maybe he could be dangerous or something just became a stupor of thought in my mind.) He came in and asked us: "Hey, uh, when do you guys have your services in the church next door?" I was like, "Well, they're on Sundays at 9... What's your name? Where do you live? You've talked with missionaries?" hahaha! So, in the end, he talked with missionaries a while back (like 6 months ago) and went to church once. And he'll be joining us tomorrow at 9am with his brand new Book of Mormon in hand! :)Cr azy miracle. I love being a missionary. :)

Those types of things just strengthen my testimony so much about how this is the only true Church of God on the Earth. People literally just feel drawn to it. Those who are humble and prepared will find the truth, or the truth will show up on their doorstep.

These types of miracles don't just happen as missionaries either. They can happen in each and every one of your lives. My challenge for you all this week is to ask God for a "missionary" experience. And then, when you follow the spiritual promptings that you will receive, you will have one. :)

Field Trip

Also! I learned something cool yesterday. I was pondering the steps to repentance, thinking about feeling Godlike sadness. An Elder was feeling it yesterday, but he was like SUPER down, like he REALLY wanted to feel bad. Then, because I've experienced the same sadness that he's felt where you just want to be sad and feel bad, I thought, "but true repentance is more than just feeling bad and changing your actions with a shameful look on your face." 

The last step of repentance, Following Christ and his Commandments, is more than just doing what Christ says. It's doing it with a heart full of joy. Like in Elder Nelson's talk, God put us here on Earth so that we could experience joy. And some of the greatest joy that we can experience is the joy of being forgiven of our sins. Being happy that, now, after making a mistake, we are going to work harder and become better people after all is said and done. It's pretty cool.

I love you all!

Have a Fantastic Week!

Elder Greenwood :)