¡Hola!
¿Comó le va? I am great! I love the CCM but I can't wait to leave
and start my work in Ecuador. To answer your questions, no I did not see
the new temple video. I really want to though. As a zone leader I makes sure
my zone is doing what they are suppose to and I help them in anyway I can and I make sure the Sacrament gets done every week. And I don't understand your
questions about the gunshots?
The spiritual experiences that I have had are as follows: I call it, "FORGET YOURSELF AND GO TO WORK!" No matter how bad our situation is we need to
forget ourselves and go to work. Christ has suffered all things so we don't have
to suffer and because of that He knows exactly what we are going through and
maybe even worse. He asks us to work! We need to preach the gospel to everyone
so they can know what Christ did for them. (D&C 4:2) We can't serve Him with
all our heart, might, mind, and strength if we are focused on ourselves (D&C 34:3-6, 10-11). All of our worldly concerns must be put
off--we can focus on those things when the work is DONE.
-family concerns, families are forever
-health problems, can be healed
-language problems, we can learn a language
-home sickness, home will be there when we are done
-laziness, we just need to work
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH THE LORDS HELP! (John 3:16) He died for us. God's purpose is to bring to
pass the immortality and eternal life of man and He accomplishes this purpose by
bringing people unto Him, through baptism. We need to forget ourselves and go
to work. The Lord is coming and we need to follow Him. He is hastening His
work. We need to stand blameless before God and tell Him when He comes
that we did all we could to further His work. There's a poem by an Elder
Whittle and it's called "He´s Been there Before" (full poem below). We
need God! God needs us to further his work. We have to choose GOD or OURSELVES. Are we going to put our wants ahead of God's wants? Tell Kendall and Cami to
FORGET THEMSELVES AND GO TO WORK. They should be on time to seminary, feast on the
scriptures everyday, and pray with real intent everyday. They need to do this because when temptations come they will fall if they are not doing
ALL they can to further God's work. I fear that they are not built as strong in the
gospel as they could be (Helaman 5:12). In Lehi´s Dream there were
four groups of people; the first group were the people who were in the
building mocking the people at the tree, the second group of people were
wandering in darkness not knowing where they were or where they were going, the
third group of people held to the rod and when they got to the tree they were
envious of the people in the building and let go of the rod and were lost, and the last group held tight to the rod and
when they got to the tree they fell to the ground, partook of the fruit, and recognized where
they were and why they were there. The iron rod is the word of god, or in
other words, the scriptures. Are Morgan, George, Kendall, Cami, Davis and Hayden CLINGING to the rod? We all need to
forget ourselves and go to work.
Well that is something I have learned while here in the
CCM. I hope it brings to you guys a better understanding of things. The temple was awesome! I loved it! I thought it was so beautiful. The only kinda
hard part was that it was in Spanish. But I understood most of it so it wasn't so bad. I love everything about the MTC. I LOVE IT A LOT! I can't wait until I can start my work in Ecuador. I love you all and make sure you hug and kiss
Chase everyday for me.
Oh one more thing--so at the CCM we are not allowed to go
outside. All the guys in my district wanted street tacos. There are guys
on the street selling tacos so for this whole time we have been here we have tried to get
our teachers to get us some tacos. They wouldn't get us any, so yesterday
Elder Parrish talked to a Mexican custodian and we paid him to get us tacos. He did it! BOOOY were they good!!!! So that's the cool story
for today.
Love you, Chou
Elder Farley
The alarm bell rings at 6:30, I stumble to my feet
I grab my companions bedding and pull off his sheets
A groan fills the room, is it already time to arise?
It seems like just a second ago, I was able to shut my eyes
The morning activities follow- study, prayer and such
When it's time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven't accomplished much
"We have a super day planned,"
My comp. says with a grin
I lowly utter a faithless breath,
"Yeah, if anyone lets us in."
With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street prepared to
Face another day of humidity and heat
It's 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through
My champion and I are riding home not accomplishing what we thought to do
We ride up to the mailbox, hoping to receive a lot
Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate "air Box"
We go up to our apartment, the day is now complete
The only thing to show for our work is a case of blistery feet
It's past 10:30 p.m. My companion is fast asleep,
Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep
In the midst of sadness, I kneel down to pray
I need to talk to father, but I'm not sure what to say
"Oh, Father" I begin, "What happened to us today?
I thought we'd teach somebody, but everyone was away
My hands, my aching hands- worn, hurt and beat;
If our area was any smaller, we'd have knocked every street"
"Why on missions are the days so much alike?
The only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike
Will you send some cooler weather? The heat is killing me
I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes, it's very hard to see"
"Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn't your protection enough?
People always laugh at me, and call me stupid stuff
Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack
I want to give them Books of Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back"
"And what about my family: They don't have much to say
I'm sick of not hearing from home day after day after day
Oh Father, Why am I here am I just wasting time?
Sometimes I just want to go home, I'm sorry but that's on my mind"
"My companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me?"
The way he rides his bicycle, I don't think he can see
Now you have it, I can't go on, I don't know what to do
That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I have for you"
My prayer now finished, I stand up, then jump right into bed
I need my rest for tomorrow, we have another long day ahead
Sleep start to overtake me, I seem to drift away
Then it seems a vision takes me to another time in another day
I'm standing alone on the hill. The view is very nice
A man walks to wards me and says, "My name is Jesus Christ"
Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet
"Arise," He states, "Follow me to the shade. You and I need to speak"
My attention's towards my Savior, total and complete
He says, "Your mission is similar of what happened to me
I understand how you feel, I know what you're going through
In fact, it would be fair to say I've felt the same as you"
"I even know how you felt when no one listened to you
At times I felt not quite sure what else I could do
I know you don't like to ride a bicycle, for you a car would be sweet
Just remember the donkey I rode wasn't equipped with 21 speeds"
"I understand you don't like sweating, in fact it's something you hate
I remember when I sweat blood from ev’ry pore, oh the agony was great!
I see you don't like your companion- you'd rather have someone else-
I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth"
"It's hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you
I remember when they put thorns on my head and called me King of the Jews
So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack
I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back"
"Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day
I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way
It's hard not to hear from home when your family's not there to see
I lost communication on the cross and cried, "Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?"
"We have a lot in common, but there's a difference between us you see
I endured to the end and finished my mission, so follow and do like me"
He embraced me with His arms and His light filled me with His love
With tears in my eyes I watched as He went back to the Father above
I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head
I listened and heard the alarm, then realized I was in my bed
My companion let out a groan, "6:30 already, no way!"
I sat up and said, "Come on, I'll even carry your scriptures today!"
No matter what we go through,
When we feel we can't take more
Just stop and think about Jesus Christ,
He's been there before!
By Elder Troy Whittle
Texas Houston Mission
He's Been There Before
by Elder Whittle
The alarm bell rings at 6:30, I stumble to my feet
I grab my companions bedding and pull off his sheets
A groan fills the room, is it already time to arise?
It seems like just a second ago, I was able to shut my eyes
The morning activities follow- study, prayer and such
When it's time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven't accomplished much
"We have a super day planned,"
My comp. says with a grin
I lowly utter a faithless breath,
"Yeah, if anyone lets us in."
With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street prepared to
Face another day of humidity and heat
It's 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through
My champion and I are riding home not accomplishing what we thought to do
We ride up to the mailbox, hoping to receive a lot
Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate "air Box"
We go up to our apartment, the day is now complete
The only thing to show for our work is a case of blistery feet
It's past 10:30 p.m. My companion is fast asleep,
Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep
In the midst of sadness, I kneel down to pray
I need to talk to father, but I'm not sure what to say
"Oh, Father" I begin, "What happened to us today?
I thought we'd teach somebody, but everyone was away
My hands, my aching hands- worn, hurt and beat;
If our area was any smaller, we'd have knocked every street"
"Why on missions are the days so much alike?
The only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike
Will you send some cooler weather? The heat is killing me
I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes, it's very hard to see"
"Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn't your protection enough?
People always laugh at me, and call me stupid stuff
Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack
I want to give them Books of Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back"
"And what about my family: They don't have much to say
I'm sick of not hearing from home day after day after day
Oh Father, Why am I here am I just wasting time?
Sometimes I just want to go home, I'm sorry but that's on my mind"
"My companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me?"
The way he rides his bicycle, I don't think he can see
Now you have it, I can't go on, I don't know what to do
That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I have for you"
My prayer now finished, I stand up, then jump right into bed
I need my rest for tomorrow, we have another long day ahead
Sleep start to overtake me, I seem to drift away
Then it seems a vision takes me to another time in another day
I'm standing alone on the hill. The view is very nice
A man walks to wards me and says, "My name is Jesus Christ"
Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet
"Arise," He states, "Follow me to the shade. You and I need to speak"
My attention's towards my Savior, total and complete
He says, "Your mission is similar of what happened to me
I understand how you feel, I know what you're going through
In fact, it would be fair to say I've felt the same as you"
"I even know how you felt when no one listened to you
At times I felt not quite sure what else I could do
I know you don't like to ride a bicycle, for you a car would be sweet
Just remember the donkey I rode wasn't equipped with 21 speeds"
"I understand you don't like sweating, in fact it's something you hate
I remember when I sweat blood from ev’ry pore, oh the agony was great!
I see you don't like your companion- you'd rather have someone else-
I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth"
"It's hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you
I remember when they put thorns on my head and called me King of the Jews
So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack
I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back"
"Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day
I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way
It's hard not to hear from home when your family's not there to see
I lost communication on the cross and cried, "Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?"
"We have a lot in common, but there's a difference between us you see
I endured to the end and finished my mission, so follow and do like me"
He embraced me with His arms and His light filled me with His love
With tears in my eyes I watched as He went back to the Father above
I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head
I listened and heard the alarm, then realized I was in my bed
My companion let out a groan, "6:30 already, no way!"
I sat up and said, "Come on, I'll even carry your scriptures today!"
No matter what we go through,
When we feel we can't take more
Just stop and think about Jesus Christ,
He's been there before!
By Elder Troy Whittle
Texas Houston Mission
 |
| Elder Farley and Elder Mecham -- CCM Companions |
 |
| Garrett's District at the Mexico City Temple |
 |
| Elder Farley at the Mexico City Temple |
 |
| Strike a pose Elder Farley |
 |
| Yum...the highly anticipated "Street Tacos" |
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