Monday, February 8, 2016

Let's go to Monserrat...again

Well the title says it all, we went to Montserrat again.  I am currently writing from a train as it shakes back and forth with the missionaries from sabadell, close to terrassa.  It was a great
adventure.  This time we hiked up the mountain and it was a long hike and now I am really tired.

Random thoughts:

Mom I know that you never want to hear about stories about blood or knives, but I will let you know that I AM OKAY. I just burned my finger last Monday, all is well...

One day we were on a bus and I was just completely exhausted.  I just wanted to fall asleep, but there is no time when there is an important message to be shared.

We went to Burger King twice this week, one because we had coupons and the other because it was transfers and we had to go to Barcelona and we were hungry. ( I am still in terrassa with Élder Islas.)

We were on a train and I saw a field and s farmer burning weeds.  I thought of Jacob 5.

I love the family home evening Manual! It makes our work as missionaries a little easier.  I would invite you to read it and see how it can help you with your family home evenings.  I used a lesson to teach 2 families yesterday.

I love reading the bible.

I had a bad morning last week.  I dropped an egg on the ground and the iron put a grease stain on my shirt.  I prayed to get some more help from God to have a good day and change my attitude, and it worked!

We helped our recent convert family with a costume for a holiday they have here called the carnival.  It's a week long event where the kids in school dress up and have a new theme every day.  Think of it like spirit week for school.  Then they have a parade.  They have teams and
they dress up and have their cars decorated and March the streets.

I love trains and train rides!

We helped clean the church last Saturday.  There were two members cleaning the church and so we decided to help them.  We cleaned the shutters on the outside of the church and rubbed graffiti off the wall.

I love the Muslim people!  They are really nice.

I made potato soup last week when my companion was sick.  It is the first time in the mission.

We had lots of investigators in church, 8!

For our last hour in church we learned the proper way to bless and keep the reverence during the sacrament hour.

Question:
Mom: I also saw on the weather channel yesterday that your area was getting some rain?  :  we had rain on Saturday, the first time we had rain in the Barcelona area in 3 months.

I have a few thoughts that I want to share with you.  I am currently reading the GC of 1972, October.  It is a fantastic conference! Mom, dad you are lucky to have heard from such wonderful prophets and apostles and general authorities.  I loved the talk from Élder kimball.  He said,"It is reassuring to know that President Lee was not elected through committees and conventions with all their conflicts, criticisms, and by the vote of men, but was called of God and then sustained by the people."  Again while in the cathedral in Montserrat I saw again the effects of the apostasy,( spiritual famine, Élder hunter, same conf.). I am grateful for a living prophet and apostles.

Also Élder Ashton said "There seems to be a misunderstanding on the part of some men today as to what it means to be a friend. Acts of a friend should result in self-improvement, better attitudes, self-reliance, comfort, consolation, self-respect, and better welfare.  Certainly the word friend is misused if it is identified with a person who contributes to our delinquency, misery, and heartaches. When we make a man feel he is wanted, his whole attitude changes. Our friendship will be recognizable if our actions and attitudes result in improvement and independence.
...Aren’t we something less than a friend if we have the gospel of Jesus Christ and are unwilling to share it by word and example with a family, a member, neighbor, or the stranger? Aren’t we something less than a friend if we have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and are unwilling to share it?" ( have I done any good in the world today) And finally president lee said "The ancient prophets seemed to have foreseen our day of complete frustration, when men would be looking for answers in the wrong places and the solutions to their problems in
the wrong way. The prophets foresaw the day when there would be “a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.” Furthermore, said the prophet, “… they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not
find it.” (Amos 8:11–12.) It seems that in these days of frustration, from every side we are
being asked such questions as: What does the Church think about the Vietnam war? What is the stand of the Church on overpopulation and birth control? What is the position of the Church relative to abortion? How should we combat the threat of Communism throughout the
world? What are the views of the Church relative to the crime wave and the increase of juvenile delinquency? What can be done to strengthen family ties and reduce the wave of immorality, to teach self-reliance and responsibility and moral and physical discipline? Are there no solutions to these problems? To set the theme for my few remarks, may I repeat something of vital importance that was said from this pulpit almost ten years ago by a former President of the Church, President David O. McKay: “In these days of uncertainty and unrest,
liberty-loving peoples’ greatest responsibility and paramount duty is to preserve and proclaim the freedom of the individual, his relationship to Deity, and the necessity of obedience to the
principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only, thus will mankind find peace and happiness.” (Improvement Era, December 1962, p. 903.)".

And at the end of his talk he says: "If we follow the leadership of the priesthood, the Lord will fulfill his promise contained in the preface to his revelations, when Satan would have power over his own dominion. This was his promise: “… the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst, and shall come down in judgment upon … the world.” (D&C 1:36.)
I earnestly urge all our people to unite under the true banner of the Master, to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ so powerfully that no truly converted person could ever be aligned with these controversial concepts and procedures contrary to the Lord’s plan of salvation.  The Lord does reign in the midst of his Saints through his priesthood, which he delegates to man, rather than through other man-made organizations, the like of those to which I have made reference." (teach the gospel of salvation, October 1972)


  I know that God lives.  This is the church of Jesus Christ.  We are guided by a living prophet with continual revelation.  No other church believes in that.  We do not believe in a "God that's dead." ( Élder hunter, same conf.). I love doing what I do.  Even if I don't make a big
difference, my little efforts do make a difference.  I love my family and I know we can be together forever.  I hope you have a great week.

Con cariño de un misionero en España,
Élder Gonzalez

Sent from my iPad

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