Thursday, November 6, 2014

One Year Mark! - November 6, 2014

Sorry I couldn’t be there to wish Grandpa a Happy Birthday! I am sure the food and pie were DELICIOUS :) Felcidades Abuelo! 

Looks like Megan and Haylee´s costumes turned out awesome! I loved the pic of the two of them on the porch. Megan looks great as Maleficent and Haylee too as a cute little Hermione. Homemade costumes are the best! 

And ShayLynn and Luis made a great couple as well as Rapunzel and Flynn. It is great that she was able to have fun through the stress of planning and driving and all :) 

Congratulations Whitney! That is great that you were able to go to her baptism. Hope that Mac and Laurie are doing well. It is also exciting to hear that Amanda was able to go to the temple! Wow! That means that her time to leave is getting close :) 

Thanks for the One-Year-Mark wishes! The time feels like it has gone by fast, but at the same time, if I look back, I feel like a lot has happened.... That is good I guess. I hope to be able to keep chugging along, becoming a better and better missionary =) I bought myself a piece of chocolate cake to celebrate :) It is better than burning a shirt in my opinion :)

I don’t feel like I have a lot to tell this week... 
On Friday, Halloween, we had a Zone Conference with President Bird. We talked a lot about faith and the acting part of it. We also learned about Personal Revelation and how we can look for it better. The Zone Leaders taught us a cycle we can use. Fist we need to be worthy to receive revelation. Then, we need to Pray, then read, then think or meditate on what we learned, write down what we learned, and then do the cycle again, asking further knowledge. Pray, Read, Think, Write. And then the most important: act on it. We also learned how we can follow the spirit better while teaching lessons. 
We were not able to have a lot of success that night with Halloween though... 
While were in the street, we even saw a protest against Halloween by a Christian church, a truck driving down the street with a man in the pickup with a megaphone, and a crowd of kids dressed up as angels following, with signs that said If You Love God, Say No To Halloween! It is interesting how big of a controversy it is here. Many really like the holiday and others do not, even among the members. It is interesting :) 

For my district meeting this week, I also trained on how teaching the Atonement can answer almost any doubt that our investigators have, and it is true. We really need to constantly be studying and thinking about the Atonement. There is always something to learn about it. The prophets even admit to not understanding it fully still. But it is real. And it is powerful. Alejandro is still going strong, going to church and everything, but doesn’t want to set a baptismal date... I think that he needs, also, to understand better the Atonement.  

On Tuesday we had companion exchanges with the Zone Leaders, and I worked here with Elder Arizmendi for the day. It was great. We walked a lot though, looking for fake addresses... We got to knock a few doors though. We can do that now. Not like all the houses in a row on the same street, but at random, and if we feel like we should. So that is something new we can try. I was able to learn a few things from him too :) 

And then today to celebrate my 1 year mark, we went to the Temple, and saw the new video. It is very different. Some things I like better and other things not as much. It did help me though to learn a little more about the Atonement though, and for that I am very grateful. The Lord´s sacrifice for us is something we can never set aside. It is amazing that He took our place, to suffer the punishment of our sins, even though he had nothing to do with it. And even after all of that pain, he doesn’t blame anyone for it either. He just wants everyone that will do what he asks, so that that sacrifice isn’t in vain. It testifies of His great love for all of us. 

Ok, maybe I did have things to tell :) 

Thanks for all your love and the news from home! And the pictures! 

 And yes, I think that my clothes are holding up. I just have a few little stains here and there on my shirts, nothing to worry about. I bought a few pairs of garments today at the temple as well. 

Enjoy Chuck O Rama!

Love, Elder Hayden Redford 


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