Hola hola! :) Buenas tardes de Ecuador :) ¡Esta semana pasada fue super bien!
This week the big highlight was the visit from Elder Rasband from the 12 apostles! :) wow that was sooooo neat! he came saturday in the morning. we had to be in the chapel suuupper early so we could be seated and ready for when he came. i luckily was in the choir, so my seat was reserved and up front in the choir seats! :) but there were 3 missions there- the west, south, and north mission..... so about 600+ missionaries were there.
after about an hour and a half of waiting, Elder rasband and his wife came!! we ALL got to shake his hand!! :) that was so neat. he said he was looking into our eyes as he shook our hands, looking to see if we had a sparkle! :) Elder Montoya and his wife came too, they are from the area presidency.
Elder montoya and his wife spoke first, and then Sister Rasband spoke. wow. she is just the sweetest ever!! :) she has such a glow about her and when she speaks she speaks with such love. i know she has a great testimony, and is such a great leader and example. she talked about smiling! :) we all need to smile, because when we do, others will see the light in us, and want to have that same happiness. she said, "let the message of the plan of salvation penetrate so deeply in your heart, that when you smile, people will see how the plan of salvation has changed your life and made you happy." she is a great speaker, and even gave her testimony in spanish! :) she did a great job and i looooved listening to her. one of my favorite moments of the day.
Elder Rasband was amazing. i know he is an apostle of God. he spoke like an apostle!! :) he spoke with such order and such power. he talked about many things. he gave us a message from the prophet Thomas Monson- that he loves us and thanks us. He also said that we are only one hand shake away from shaking President Monsons hand! :)
Another thing he talked about was the Holy Ghost. he said that a lot of us often wonder if the thoughts we have are from the Holy Ghost or just our own thoughts. He said "if the thought is good, its from God." if it leads us to do a good thing, it is good. we dont need to worry about it. he said that often, we talk ourselves out of doing good things, or out of spiritual promptings- our own selves!! he reminded us that we need to just follow the first prompting, and if it is good, its from God. Read Moroni 7. Also he told us that we need to have the "sparkle" in our eyes when we smile. it comes from having the love of Christ and practice!!
Also he talked about how missionaries are assigned to their missions. ok this was such a cool part!! wow. he explained that ONLY the apostles can assign calls. its not the staff workers. only the apostles. and they fast and pray and ask to know PERFECTLY where we need to go on our mission. it was so neat. i realized in that moment that i truly have been called of God. it was not a mistake that i'm here. each missionary is in his or her mission for a reason. while we may not realize the reason, the reason is there. we may even feel inadequate, but God knows we can do it. and for that reason he sends us, individually, to our individual mission, because we are each individual children of God.
and his testimony was so neat and so heart felt. i know that he knows that Jesus Christ lives and loves us. he left us with his apostolic blessing, and that was incredible as well! i also feel so blessed to have been able to sing in the choir for him! :) that was so neat! :) we sang a medely of "Pon Tu Hombro a la Lid/Con Valor Marchemos (put your shoulder to the wheel/onward Christian soldiers)" and also sang "We´ll bring the World His Truth". that was amazing. how i love music. Elder Rasband said that we should all joining the Mormon Tablernacle Choir! :)
such a great opportunity we had to see elder rasband. wow. it was so neat and i know that the Church is true, and that Jesus Christ directs the Church through His prophets and apostles. we are so blessed to have the restored Gospel here on the earth!!!!
other notes of this week... one of the recent converts here - Roque Macias baptized his 8 year old daughter yesterday and it was so sweet. i ate cow heart for lunch thursday. we had a house inspection by President Riggins and passed.:) a mosquito flew in my mouth as we were walking down the street.
i hope you have a great week!!!! i love you all lots! thanks for all you do! remember that Heavenly Father knows us and loves us each individually. i know that Thomas S Monson is the living prophet of God on earth today. :)
con mucho amor,
Hermana Warburton
No comments:
Post a Comment