March 9, 2015

¿Que ay, Estados?!

    How is everyone? How is school for all you studious studiers? Getting warmer? Is there still snow? What is the fatality rate in Utah with my little sister on the road? I am sure it has changed drastically...

´´you can never be too careful...a lot of baaaaddd drivers out there...´´

    I really do hope everyone is sooo good. You are all in my constant prayers. 

This week was another one for the books! :) 

    Tuesday was really neat...we had the chance to take a less active member around with us to all of our lessons. In the first lesson, I asked him if he would bare his testimony and he strait up said ´´NO´´. So that kind of caught us off guard. But each lesson throughout the day got a little better. By the last lesson this dude was throwing out scriptures, baring testimony, and LOVING every second of it and has showed up at our door every day since then to help us. I find this as such a blessing. As missionaries we are not here to baptize. We are here to help others come unto Christ. What a tender mercy from The Lord it was to help this young man increase his testimony and let it shine. 

    We had a family make the trip to Quevedo to spend their years earnings to get married. They are still in the process of finishing up but their faith is something that I wish I had. So humbling...they are absolutely incredible. Keep the Family Murillo in your prayers!!!

    I got a few letters from back home the other day!! Thank you so much! You have no idea how much it helps! It truly is great to hear from fam and friends! :)

    On Friday we made cookies...LOL. Tried to make cookies. Elder M made the cookie dough, which was incredible, but we took them to a Hermana´s house to bake and that part didn´t work out so well. 

Must be the humidity ;) 

I guess we better just stick to the food they give us here...maaaayyybee...

    The other day I was given sopa de chancho. Literal Translation: Pig Soup. Good grief. Everything was okay besides the GIANT slab of PIG flesh in my soup with the hair still on it. The only thing I can try to relate it to is if you took some water...stuck it in the microwave...threw some salt in it...took the biggest piece of meat you could find...cut all of the fat off of the meat...throw the meat away...put the fat in the water...and go to the hair salon and put all of the cut hair on the ground in your bowl of water and pig fat. 

So there´s that...

but I guess we got to eat it with a banana...idk if that makes anything better??

Haha! But it´s good...we still livin´!

    On of the best moments of this week was teaching a recent convert family about baptisms for the dead. If you could have seen their faces when we told them they could perform sacred ordinances to save their parents, brothers, and sisters. My heart completely melted. Could this gospel be any more perfect? Could it be any more miraculous or incredible? The answer is no. Everything we could ever want or ever need comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. USE IT! LIVE IT! LOVE IT! AND SHARE IT! 

Yesterday night was kind of funny...

    We passed by some dude who was 125% hammered! Just drunk as could be. And he was still going strong with what seemed to be a 4 gallon bottle of whisky. I asked him why he was drinking. We told him that it wasn´t good for him. I asked him if I could see the bottle for just a second...haha...I have no idea why he handed it over...I think he was just too drunk to realize what he was doing...but he gave it it me and I dumped the rest of it out in the street. 

LESSON 1: Don´t dump a man´s booze out in the street.

LESSON 2: If you dump a man´s booze out in the street...get out of there.

Haha! He was not too happy with me! But it´s all good...he forgot about it about 3 seconds later and then we helped him cross the street.

    As for now I am just kicking it in a tiny little cyber...a bunch of elementary school girls looking at me and making jokes...and a little dude named Anthony asking me if he can have my computer. I told him if he waits I will give him something... that did the trick!

I will give him my testimony or something like that! ;) Haha!

ANNNYYWAAAYYYYY...

Forgive my translation from Spanish to English...

´´The happiness in the family has a greater probability to come when you base your home on the teaching of Jesus Christ.´´

Something like that!

With the short amount of time I have left I just wanted to talk a little bit about family happiness and how to achieve it. Obviously I don´t know anything about raising a family but...

1) I was raised by modern day pioneers

and 2) In my mission so far I have learned so much more about how to raise a successful and happy family.

It truly is amazing to see families and people change. Husbands and wives become as one. Brothers and sisters becoming best friends. And parents developing the same love for their children that Heavenly Father has for all of us...

and it all starts with Jesus Christ being the focus in the home!

There are 3 things we can do as a family that will strengthen us and our home more than we can possibly imagine...

1) ´´ Behold, I say unto you that you shall let your time be devoted to the studying of the scriptures...´´

There is no better study than the study of scriptures. And there is no better way to do it than with your family. It will invite the spirit into your home and that spirit is destine to stay and to linger. 

2) Nephi was born of and taught by goodly parents. What is the best way for parents to teach their children aside from being an everyday example? Perhaps there is a specific time? A specific day? MONDAY!

Family Home Evening is the most important evening in the entire week. That is something I wish I had learned a LOOONNGGG time ago. I truly feel and testify that it will and can change lives. D&C 59 talks about keeping ourselves un-spotted from the world by going to The Lord´s house. Why not make our own homes The Lord´s home too? We can stay safe and protected when we are within the walls of a home where Christ is the foundation. One day a week is not much to ask when you compare it to all that you will be blessed with. We can be free from the spots of the world when we are with our families on Monday nights...growing in our relationship with one another and growing in testimony.

If you want your children to become like Nephi...Family Home Evening is crucial.

3) There is only one prayer in the history of the universe that will ever be more powerful than a family prayer and that is the prayer offered by our Savior Jesus Christ before He atoned for the sins of the world. The power of a family kneeling before their maker, talking to Heavenly Father, is when miracles occur, testimonies sprout, and lasting relationships begin. 

    Parents...YOU ARE YOUR CHILDREN'S CAPTAIN...whether you like it or not...AND YOU MUST ARM YOUR SOLDIERS. They have a battle to fight each and every day and they cannot be protected physically OR spiritually without the armor of God that comes through prayer. If you want to send your strippling warriors to fight with miraculous power and not be slain the last thing you say before they enter the battlefield of the world better be ´´Amen´´.

There is no other way.

The windows of Heaven will be opened and your warriors will be protected.

Your little girl cannot be touched. Your son cannot be harmed.

God´s angels will be in front, behind, and to the side of them ready to fight off every fiery dart that the devil has to cast at them. 

I know that when we apply these 3 principles to our family lives we will be blessed beyond our comprehension.

    God´s angels are LITERALLY standing at the gates of Heaven...ready to flock to your families protection. But YOU are the Coach and YOU have to decide when to put them in. YOU have to give these angels the permission to play the game...to arm your soldiers. And this kind of permission only comes through Family Scripture Study, Family Home Evening, and Prayer.

PUT EM´ IN!

Elder Noll