Time in Guayaquil
How is everyone?! I hope all is well with everyone and that you all had an incredible week!
Things
in the CCM are sooooo awesome! I have adapted to the schedule and all
for the most part! My companion is so LEGIT! He is honestly such a stud!
One of my number one homies here in the CCM is Elder W though!
He is the funniest guy out there...and he he is literally a celebrity!
No joke! He likes 1D, Ed Sheeran, and we talk about anything and
everything! We are the same person! You would not believe what he did
for me...I told him how much I was missing my 'Ville homies and I told
him about the gallon challenge and drinking Orange HiC until we threw up
and he instantly turned on the eye of the tiger. He went to the
Sandwich bar and threw down THREE Nutella & Peanut butter Sandwiches
and drank 6 full cups of orange juice...and all of that on top of the
meal he had just ate! He threw up for an hour strait...among other
things as well that I will not describe in this email! ;) He said it was
all worth it though...anyways...like I said...we are the same person!
Our District is so tight! We have two Hermanas (Sisters) who I call
Hermamas because they are basically my mothers. They make sure I am on
time to everything and they help all of us knuckleheads out with Spanish
quite a bit! AND...Hermama Wing has literally put me in time out on
more than one occasion. She is harsher than my own mother! ;) HAHA!
The language is coming along alright...I can understand for the
most part but speaking on the spot is pretty challenging. I have full
faith that it will come though. We taught an investigator yesterday and
Elder S and I went in with basically nothing and were able to
communicate through the spirit with this man! It was such a tender mercy
from our Heavenly Father. I have been writing a ´´MIRACLE OF THE DAY´´
each night in my journal and it is one of the hardest things of the day
because of how hard it is to narrow it down to just one. The Lord
blesses His missionaries, and all of God´s hijos!
Our Casa is a party! There are five rooms to a casa and two bunk
beds in each room with a bathroom in each room as well. Elder S and I
are the only ones in our room which is nice because of the extra space
for everything but Elder W comes over to our room to have
sleepovers sometimes! Haha! I woke up the other morning with bed bug
bites, or spider bides, or something, ALL OVER ME! Kinda freaky to know
that I am sharing a bed with creepy crawlies...but I guess it is a
blessing to be able to feed the sheep of the Lord as well as feed the
Insects of Mexico! ;) HAHA! One of my favorite experiences this week was
Sacrament...in ALL SPANISH! Even the blessing of the bread and water!
We have sacrament meeting as a zone in this little tiny room. It gets
sooo hot so we have to open the windows and during the meeting it was
hard to focus because just across the street there was a Rihanna song
blasting!
The sacrament prayer sounded a little like this...
Oh, Dios
We found love in a hopeless place,
Jesucristo,
I just cant DEEEENNNYYYYYYY!
Amen.
HAHAH! I almost lost it! Anways...I am loving it here and every day is a new adventure!
I see Elder J and O ALL the time! It is so cool!
And
Elder P and L just got here the other day! Springville is
taking over the CCM! I saw Elder T too from Mapleton! He is the
biggest stud!
Here is the spiritual message for the week:
Let´s just
start out by saying that it has been a tough week. I am not going to lie
to everyone and say that this work is easy! HAHA! Friday was nuts. The
schedule was and still is crazy, my mind was blown, I could not
understand my teachers, all I have eaten for the past 2 weeks has been
beans and rice, and I had spider bites all over me! Quite the life,
right? ;) Well on Friday I had a change of heart. We had just finished
our third, 2 hour class with Hermano Carmona and my brain was fried. I
was more stressed out than I have ever been. Just when I thought things
could not get any worse...it started to POOR rain. It rains everyday
here in Mexico but not like this. I have NEVER been in a storm like
this! The streets were flooded instantly and the water was literally
up to my ankles, not to mention I was the only one without an umbrella!
:/ I dropped my shoulders in disappointment and lowered my head in hopes
to at least to keep my face dry and while doing so...my heart was
touched by the little black name tag on my heart with the words that
translate directly to
´´Elder Noll
The Church of
JESUS CHRIST
of Latter Day Saints´´
It that split second...time seemed to stand still. I am reminded of a
group of Apostles...mind blown, heartbroken, confused, happy, and on top
of all that...they have caught 0 fish. Elder Holland explains this
account very well so a little bit of what I have to say comes from his
General Conference talk ´´Do You Love Me?´´ Three of the Apostles, with
Peter as the Senior Apostle, I would guess are somewhat shattered. Their
Master Teacher, our Savior & Redeemer, has fulfilled the Atonement,
been crucified & Resurrected, and is going to be exalted once again
with Our Father in Heaven, and these Disciples are at a loss as to what
to do without the savior guiding them. I guess in their sorrowed minds
they thought it would be best to return to the sea, where the Savior had
found them before...and fish. After a while at sea, and no fish, Peter
sees a man on the shore and he tells the fishermen to cast their nets
on the right side of the boat. Following the counsel of the man, the
Apostles are not capable of even pulling in the amount of fish. By that
time, they all come to the realization that the Savior has returned to
them. Overjoyed, these fishermen get to the shore as fast as they can to
reunite with their Master, who is the only reason for the 153 fish
eventually accounted for. I am sure, after conversing for a little
while, The Savior asks the Senior Apostle,
´´Peter, do you love ME more than you love all of THIS?´´
Peter responds, ´´Yea Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.´´
For a second time & probably a little bit more intensely, the Savior asks,
´´Peter, do you LOVE me?´´
Most likely a little confused he responds,
´´Yea Lord, I love thee.´´
Now, FOR THE THIRD TIME...
´´PETER. DO YOU LOVE ME?´´
I would assume that Peter is feeling a bit insecure and timed by now. But he responds with the same answer,
´´Yea Lord, Thou knowest that I love thee.´´
´´Peter.
Then what are you doing here homie?! When I asked you to be an Apostle I
asked you to be an Apostle for forever. Just because my earthly
ministry has ended did you think that my Gospel ended with it? Did you
suppose that you could just return to your previous ways? I need
Disciples. Forever. Disciples who are going to throw their nets &
fish aside. Disciples who will save my lambs and feed my sheep. Disciples
who will defend my faith of The Church of Jesus Christ. Peter, I am
asking you to leave all of this behind...and write my name on your
heart...I NEED someone to Preach My Gospel. I NEED someone who loves
Me.´´
Following this account, Peter began his
LEGENDARY Apostalic mission & he saved many of the Lord´s sheep and
performed many miracles.
Brothers and Sisters, my heart is full.
As I stood there, soaking wet, water up to
my ankles, staring at my name tag with the Everlasting Redeemer of the
world´s name on it, I asked myself...
Do I love the Lord?
Because if I do I will ´´cast out my nets
& fish´´, I will defend His faith and preach His Gospel. Not for me
but for Him. For others. I will put on this name tag every single
day...and LOVE HIM. Forever. There are so many people who are
desperately searching for the truth, but they do not know where to find
it. Brothers and Sister, put on your name tags. Defend His faith and
preach His Gospel. TRULY, TRULY, LOVE HIM. Do not wait until you are in
the middle of Mexico with water up to your ankles to decide.
I love you all so much. The Church is
true. I know it. I LOVE the Lord and it is because of my love for the
Lord that I am here. His love for me and for all of you is endless and
eternal. As is our Father in Heaven´s. I am going to show my love by
giving up two years of my life to help others for eternity.
No matter how heavy the rain...how deep
the water...or how challenging the task...wear the Lord´s name on your
heart and remember who you represent.
Love Him.
I love you all!
Elder Noll
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| Jessi's Mission Scripture |
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| Jessi must be in Heaven with access to a piano! |
