8.10.15 - La verdad, vemos milagros todos los dia

Hi great family!

 

Let me say how appreciative I am to you for the tremendous support you are to me. I feel the effects of your prayers often. When things just seem to work our in our favor, when we seem clear of any accident or danger for an unusually long period of time, and when my attitude is on all time high I recognize that the distant prayers are bolstering and protecting our work. Thank you so much.

We see miracles every day. On Tuesday on an exchange to mission creek we saw a group of children surrounding a man helping to fix their bikes. They were a reasonable distance out of our way, but at this point if I can see or hear them they are still "on the way" and we talk to them. It turned out great. We taught the first lesson to half of the family and they all committed to be baptized. Elder Forebrush was really good at helping them understand the restoration so that it applied to their life, so that it could become a part of what they're living. They spirit testified powerfully to them that following the council of God's living prophets was the most sure way to guide and protect a modern family.

 

At a gas station we thought we'd say to a woman filling up a little ways off. She brightened up when we went over because she'd been wondering what to say to us. She'd asked for a book of mormon to be sent to her by mail and now wasn't sure what to do with it. How great it is to know that God is conscientious of where we are in every instance, and his promise that he will place people in our path that are prepared to receive Gospel is true.

 

Elder Bertelsen is a fun companion. He's teaching me a lot, and his strengths are very different from mine so i like to learn from the way he does things.

 

Claudia who was recently baptized, and the oldest girl of our most progressing family went to girls camp this week. They both had very positive spiritual experiences and their testimonies were strengthened. Brianna now can say that she believes Joseph Smith is a true prophet. Beautiful.

I want to bear my testimony of the divine calling of our living prophets and apostles. As we've prepared for an upcoming spanish conference i had to recheck our language learning with the council given in preach my gospel. I was learning a decent amount of spanish before, but since i've made the inspired words of our leaders the foundation for the way I live my life in one more way, I've felt the grace of God become a part of of our studies. Retention has increased and i've felt more satisfaction in knowing that what i'm learning will help me preach to gospel by the power of the spirit.

 

I love you!

Stay Salty!

 

Elder Tyler Meidell

8.3.15 - Deja brillar tu luz

I think the thing I'm most excited about right now, is that Claudia our recent convert, and Briana our new investigator are both at Girls camp right now! I don't know what kind of voodoo they do in those hills but my sisters always seemed to come home more cheerful and a lot more sure about the gospel. I'm hoping Briana who is 13 comes back with that fire and leads her 2 younger sisters to get baptized along with her.

 

I taught Elder Quorum yesterday at church. We talked about how to let your light so shine. There was good participation, and a younger man I was trying to teach specifically among everyone else seemed like he got answers for his current family problems. That makes you feel good you prepared!

 

We did 3 exchanges this week, and i loved to see Christ teaching the missionaries all throughout our 24 hours with them. The things they take away normally aren't what we talk about, there will just be something the spirit helps them to understand or see a different way that opens up doors they previously felt were closed to them.

 

I met a recent convert family in the bulverde ward while I was there that was baptized 3 months ago. They are superstars. A father, mother and children were all baptized together because one junior in high school invited a friend on her cross country team to church. They now are now going to the temple (They live 5 minutes from the san antonio temple) doing their family home evenings, doing their home and visiting teaching, and all of the other outward signals that they are correctly savoring the gospel and truly following their savior.

 

I also had the chance to have a first lesson on exchanges with a family the missionaries met for the first time at sacrament meeting. They were taught all of the lessons by skype missionaries out of Provo and finally decided to make it out to church. They honestly knew more church history than I did, and had already read the book of mormon. Needless to say it was an out of the ordinary good first lesson.

 

I tried to find out today why the scriptures focus so much on the name of Christ. Why do we have to believe on his name, and be called by his name, and join the church with his name? Elder Talmage explained that to beleive on his name is to accept him and to act according to the revelations given of him as written in scripture. What more tangible evidence of the body, being and sacrifice of Christ than his name. I haven't come closer to knowing him in person than what my leaders tell me of him and what the scriptures preach of him. The spirit of God has changed my life as I've lived his words. I know that he exists. He is the Son of God. Through covenants we bear his name. Praised be his name.

 

I love you!

Stay Salty!

 

Elder Tyler Meidell

7.27.15 - Helaman Camp

Hello!

I'm sure i've exhausted this phrase for everyone, but this week flew by. I'd honestly be surprised if any upcoming week goes faster just because of how all over the place we were. Tuesday we exchanged with the east zone leaders. Elder Acor was soimpressive, He's still under a year, but he's prepared for a mission in the best way anyone can. He had a long consistent life of pure living. For that reason he is a clean vessel for the Lord, and his purity brings a spiritual power and maturity to his conduct and teaching. He didn't have to tell me about what he did before the mission for me to know, I could see it in his countenance, and feel it in the way he loved me and the people we met. What a tremendous secret. The best way to get ready for a mission, it to live the principles from for the strength of youth, to a T. I believe that! That same day we ate with a family who lived on the Air Force base and I really liked the life style of this byu air force rotc grad. Anywho, it was neat to see what the product of that program looked like. He was a pilot instructor.

Wednesday was an out of the ordinary fun day. There were last minute needs for missionaries in the kyle texas Helaman camp. Elder Masters and I could go because when we leave, our companions work our two areas together because we serve in the same ward.

It was such a good experience. 60 young men were divided up into companionships and zones. For  their second day in a three-day camp, one full-time missionary works with each pair of young men. I worked with brother bishop and brother casteblanca. The camp director pulled me aside asking if I could help one boy who was battling between a mission and a girlfriend and I said I was all over that. That's my specialty. When I'd left he'd verbally committed to truly prepare by letting this girl go. I emailed him today to follow up. It was so fun to see how the spirit was working with him all day, and as I worked believing that the Lord would manifest his spirit and convert this boys heart the promises were fulfilled. As president slaughter spoke on purity you could see the spirit work in the boys needing repentance as they literally squirmed and shuffled around in their seats.

I served with Elder Rasmussen on thursday in a singles ward, and then Elder Tingey in the border. I was so excited to work in Eagle Pass again. A huge part of my heart is still in that city. I made some of my first promises to God there, and my life has forever been changed because of the experiences he let me have there. We biked in 105 degrees so it was just like last summer! We were hungry and sweaty and we taught a lot. Elder TIngey is so humble, I really look up to him for that, and Elder Jackson has been on a bike for over a year of his mission, so he gets my respect.

The Doctrine I learned this week that really changed who I am was the doctrine of the fall. Knowing that we are carnal, sensual, develish, contary to the nature of happiness, fallen, filthy and in the gall of bitterness gives light and reason to the question, who am I? Why am I like this? How can I change? Self criticism has been a big part of my life as I've tried to improve, and often the spirit has left as i've spoken ill of the lord's annointed - myself. Knowing who I really am as a fallen man, let me know to not beat myself over weakness that will always be with me. Of course i'm working to overcome them, but they don't have to beset and discourage me. In this life I guess you never arrive at the tree of eternal life, you have to die to get there, but in this life you can progress on the path of the gospel by applying the doctrine of christ as trials spur us toward progression.

I love you!
Stay Salty!

Elder Tyler Meidell

7.20.15 - Esperanza de ser sellada

Hi everyone!

We started using the iPad planner and area book, and the paper to computer transfer process requires a process much like indexing. We're taking one hour every day to transfer teaching records and referrals.

We impulse purchased a big bag of potatoes so we're replacing our breads with our spuds. Today we made hot dogs, with a potatoe nearly cut in half to hold the dog. Yesterday we made hoagies, same principle.

My Saturday this week was easily one of the best days I've had as a missionary, everything was just ideal. We woke up on an exchange with the hill country zone leaders, and played soccer with 8 missionaries, had an enlightening personal and companionship study, and then cruised over to the San Antonio temple. We'd set up a lesson with Claudia on the grounds that morning, because even though she's be baptized that evening, we wanted to set her goal on the temple and for her baptism to just be the first step. Sister Perez shared some moving personal experiences, and the spirit was strong while Claudia asked about the potential she had to be sealed with her mom.

We then made a few visits to invite less active and part member families which went well aside from one where we learned a progressing investigator has cancer and will be starting chemo, impeding him from going to populated places, like church. Next I interviewed the Heubner creek elders investigator family for baptism. They are so ready. This man from the Dominican Republic immediately began to testify the moment he sat down about the truthfulness of the church and the Book of Mormon. When I asked him if he believed god was his loving Heavenly Father he nearly shouted his affirmation.

Of course Claudia was then baptized. I so so so hope she serves a mission, she would be excellent. Some of her friends and family came to the service, and they let us give them a church tour. We got ice cream on the way home.

I learned God respects agency, and won't force us to good any more than he wants us to be forced to do bad. The spirit testifies of good done, intentional, and thought out good. We can strengthen our own testimonies as we search after experiences where the spirit can testify of the thought out and intentional good we do. He loves when we study his scripture and strive to live what he teaches.

I love you,
Be salty!

Elder Tyler meidell

Elder Bertelsen, myself, Claudia and her mom.

7.13.15 - La Oracion de Fe

What a fun week. I must say every week how fast the time is going. When you plan every minute of your day there's just no time to think about the time until you have a mandatory hour to report and remember how much time has passed.

 

Claudia is doing wonderful. We taught her nearly every day this week. She wasn't feeling very ready for her baptism because she was getting really psyched out about the monumental idea of having to endure faithful to the end after being baptized. Rather than postpone her baptism and make her feel like it was an insurmountable barrier. we kept it at the set date so she could see that although she did need to prepare it wasn't impossible. As a result, we taught every commandment in 1 week and honed in on the baptismal interview questions. I think initially we took the wrong approach in thinking she had already felt the witness of the spirit, so as we rolled though the commandments which we taught on a door step and she started slipping. Her attention and participation wasn't there to the point that she leaned her head against the door frame and looked off into the distance while she listened to us. Correcting our original course we hunkered down and studied the next day, decided a doorstep was not a sufficiently spiritual location and called a member of the young womans presidency to come pick her up and take her to her house. We weren't going to teach prayer and reading because she was already doing those things, and had thought to share fasting with her. As we studied it was made clear to us a return to her fundamentals would strengthen her more than anything to feel spiritually prepared to testify to her interviewer.

 

As we taught in the Perez home on Friday, we invited Claudia to say a prayer, then in the lesson and then again on her own, to know if the decision to be baptized was what God wanted her to do. She committed, and in that lesson and again later that day she kneeled to say a prayer very mature for her age. As she came to the interview the next day she entered with confidence. We heard from her Sunday school teacher yesterday that she'd testified to her class that as she'd prayed and asked sincerely in prayer, she had felt her answer that it was true.

 

What a good story, and what a clear fulfillment of the promise to all those that will knock and ask, that it shall be opened unto them.

 

We've been doing a mission study from the for the strength of youth manual. Two pages into the reading I got stuck. I hit the sentence, "true freedom is obtained by using your agency to choose obedience." I want the answer. I know so far that agency and freedom aren't the same thing. I know our agency is our ability to choose to do good over evil, but I only know that being free has to do with Christ's redeeming power over the fall. There's more to learn. I did find a lot of specifics that I think I intentionally glazed over in my younger years. Such as... don't participate in media that is violent ... a date is a planned activity ... things like that.

 

My new companion is Elder Bertelsen. He's from Kansas City, Missouri. I'll have to remember to take a picture at some point this week. He has a great sense of humor. We've been able to get a lot of good work done in just these past 5 days. I can't wait to see how much we can do by the end of the transfer.

 

The Spanish test we made up for this last transfer was administered smoothly. We corrected the exams and so that the only thing that impedes the missionaries from learning is their own desire we're going to give back their tests, with the answer key attached, and the page number in our textbook where the principle being tested is found. Hopefully that helps everyone!

 

We've been cleared to start using the area book planner app on our ipads. That means no more clunky area books, and no more tattered planners! Whoo!

 

I love you!

Stay Salty!

 

Elder Tyler Meidell