Baptism and New Pictures - Elder Pack (10/29/12 Letter)

Well hello all!!

So how have we been? I have been well and I love the mission just in case anyone had that question.
We had a baptism for Christina and her husband came to see her get baptized.  It was great.  The spirit was strong and everyone was very happy.  We are hoping that the baptism has a good effect on her husband and that he starts to change his life so that he too can be baptized one day.

Something sad happened here this week.  The church was broken into.  They broke a few windows and dirtied the whole building. It’s sad that people can be so stupid as to break into these buildings. There really isn’t all that much that you can rob (a few paintings, a few chairs, a computer).

I’ve sent a few pictures that I hope you enjoy!

Love you all and I hope that all have a great week!!!

LOVE ELDER PACK

Camping Style Living in Formosa and Loving it! - Sister Pack (10/29/12 Letter)

Hey Family!

So I can hardly believe that we are at the beginning of a new transfer! Seriously the time is passing by so fast now! So I realized I have never really explained where I am at, but I am pretty sure that I will be staying here in Formosa so I will tell you right now. So I am serving in the capital. In a Barrio that we share with elders and we have tons of fun together. HERE THE PEOPLE LISTEN! The members are great, we do a lot of FHEs and it’s helping the members and helping us. Our apt. is pretty nice.  It has AC in the bedroom THANK HEAVENS because this place is hot! And the only down part is we have to shower with a bucket. It is the funniest thing ever but I am so grateful for my dad and our campouts.  It has come in handy here in the mission. The people are so amazing here and get the gospel! We have had some good success with finding people and now we will be having a wedding in the next few weeks! My life has been really hectic but so much fun. So we had the baptism of Emilia this last week. Her sons who are twins got baptized in December of last year. She was really closed off but we did a noche de hogar and after this she opened right up! I have a firm testimony that there are companionships for every person. She is so happy and is now working to go to the temple this December to have the work done for her husband and in one year will get sealed to him! (I think they can do that?) Not sure. We found an amazing woman named Yadira and she is from Columbia! Her husband is practicing adventista but she is looking for the truth! We went to church with her yesterday and after she fed us! It was so amazing and she is rocking. We just have to get her and her boyfriend married! lol.

So this last few weeks I had one of those moments where I was wondering if this mission was really what the Lord wanted from me or did I go against His will.  You know what every missionary asks from time to time. My testimony has grown so much that He listens and answers when His children need it. He has shown me so many things like Emilia who said she wouldn’t get baptized but with us she felt and found that it was right.  It was one of the most spiritual experiences in my entire mission. I truly cannot explain it. There were so many things like this that happened in the last two weeks, and it has given me so much joy. Life isn’t perfect but it is a lot easier when you know that the Lord is happy with your decisions. I know that He listens and I pray that each of go to the Lord in each of your dealings.  I know through following Him we will always be happy. Well I love you guys. Love Hermana Pack

Agua Nuevo - Elder Pack (10/15/12 Letter)

Hello Family and Friends,

I hope that everyone had a great week and that this week will be even better for you all!

In this week, we have had a little success dealing with disunion. We just hope that the things that they are trying to put in affect will get things going here in Agua Nuevo. Our mission leader of the branch is really trying hard. He wants the bad things to change, and I think that with his help, we will get all the things back under control. Up till now we haven’t had people entering the waters of baptism but we hope that soon that shall change. I want this area to progress.

In this week we had the opportunity to start teaching a daughter-in-law to the family Sausedo. They just got activated, well more active than before that is. She is very ready to listen to the missionaries. She doesn’t have too much religious background, and she wants to learn more that’s the best part. So right now we are hoping that she accepts baptism.

Well I don’t know what to say because nothing special happened this week. We are just trying to get things going here in our area is all.

Love you all and hope that you all have a great day!!!!

LOVE ELDER PACK

Eternal Families - Sister Pack (10/15/12 Letter)

Hey guys!

   So this week was so amazing! We had the baptism of Yamila and her Cousin Santiago! It was a really cool experience to watch the families join together in a spiritual thing as that. I was so happy.  My joy couldn't have been fuller! I cannot believe we are already into our last weeks of this transfer.  Time passed by so fast! Seriously. I am scared for these last 4 months. lol. Anyways so Hermana Espinoza and I are working really well together. We are rocking Formosa! I am so grateful for this opportunity to help bless the lives of other people and enjoy it also! This week we are helping a mom of two new conversos to get baptized. She is really excited that she can be an eternal family with her husband who died about a year ago. This is the reason we serve missions to bring the happiness to others that we enjoy so much (like an eternal family).  Hope you enjoy some photos!
                                                                                                                            Hermana Pack

Thoughts on Conference - Sister Pack (10/8/12 Letter)

Hey family!

   So this conference was so amazing and LIFE CHANGING! I am so excited that they have moved the age down for girls to go on missions. I know that there will be many more missionaries on the street with us! It will be weird because the first 19 year old girls will get here my last few transfers! But THIS MEANS CHELSEA UPSHAW NEEDS TO GET ON A MISSION! lol. Chels I know that it will bless your life. There was a saying that Elder Christofferson said in a devotional with us.  He said that you will become more indebted to the lord throughout your mission for the miracles he has performed in you. I can testify that it is true. I finally understand how I can grow to be a true disciple of Christ.

  My favorite talk was the talk of Elder Uchtdorf about the journey. I am so grateful for my life and for the journey that I have been on. Not going to lie…I have hurt myself and done things that probably weren't the most intelligent, but now I see how they have helped me to become the person I am today and the person I am learning to love. So Chels had a question about how she can prepare for her mission. I feel like there is so much that one can do, read the scriptures PMG, start reading out loud the Book of Mormon in the language of your mission.  Living with Hermanas will bless each one that is getting ready to leave! But something that I have learned here in the mission that has been an ongoing process in my life is the importance of my personal conversion. Conversion is really hard to explain but I have learned it starts with hope and prayer. There is a saying that I love “where there is hope miracles blossom.” Only if we have hope that when we do our best the Lord will make up for the rest.  To help us be like Him, we must have a real conversion. The second is prayer. Nephi talks about how he prayed to the Lord to soften his heart in the 3rd or 4th chapter. This surprised me so much because he gave his testimony in the first chapter that he knew these things were true. This taught me a testimony is not enough we need to give our whole heart to the Lord pleading (in hope) with Him for His mercy and the miracles will pass! I am so grateful for this opportunity to understand my Lord and become more like Him. I SUGGEST TO ALL GIRLS to get going on their papers and have an experience that will change you for a life time and all eternity if you allow it. Well love you all.

                                                                                                   Hermana Pack

Thoughts from Conference - Elder Pack (10/8/12 Letter)

Hello Family and Friends!!

Well I would like to start with this.... WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS…I WAITED FOREVER AND HAD TO WAIT TILL I WAS 19!!!!!!!! (some might comment you didn't turn in your papers until you had 19 to them I say shhhhhh don’t ruin the fun and that’s beside the point!!! hahahahha) BUT SERIOUSLY HOW INCONVINIENT THAT IT HAPPENED 2 YEARS LATE HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. But I’m glad they made these changes the truth is that it’s a great change that will help in many ways.  So many youth like me waited for the call and well I know some that started to get into problems around that time of waiting. It’s great that they will not have to wait like I had to.  Also the women…how awesome that they can serve earlier too.  Some will be able to serve and have the great experience that Dena and I are having (but this also makes things a little more complicated for me because I fear that all the girls will be preparing for the mission when I get home hahahahhahahaha).  Well, if that happens that just means I’m going to have to figure out a plan B haha.

I hope that everyone was able to enjoy conference. I know that I did. Which talk did you like most? I liked well Elder Bednar, Elder Holland, President Monson, President Uchtdorf, President Eyring, President Packer, and Elder Christoferson.  The truth is that I liked them all but I liked the ones that made me feel like I'm not doing enough the most. Elder Christoferson and his talk about being hombres was so awesome!!! It made me laugh because of the truth of it all and then feel bad because I have been one of those guys that haven’t done my part hahaha. (and then I hear a comment from my parents "We told him that for the last 21 years and well it never sunk in.”  My response is well when I was 1-5 I really didn't understand what that meant and well I was not very focused on what you said due to other things...plus what do my parents know there old and they don’t know what it means to be young!!!!! hahahahahhahahah.)

So the last few days I have been thinking of the meaning of the heart and I have figured it out yet... hahaha. No I have figured out some things. In the Spanish guide to the scriptures we find the heart is the center of all emotion and feeling. But something better is that the heart is the symbol of our disposition and will. Then I was thinking about it. Clean hands and a pure heart... well has more meaning now. And then when you read the talk from Elder Bednar we learn a little bit more. "Clean hands and a pure heart." So I was also thinking about love. Love is such an interesting word with many different meanings. But we find profound devotion and affection in the scriptures. Then I think about Christ and his love for us in John 15:13-14  "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends...”  His heart in the right place and really loves us. I’m trying to figure out how to do this myself and well love like I should.

Some thoughts would be fantastic. I really do get bored having no emails to read or to contest.

I love you all and I hope that all have a great day and week!!!!

LOVE ELDER PACK!!!!!!!

Loving Formosa - Sister Pack (10/1/12 Letter)

Hey family!

   So we have been way busy here in Formosa. This place is unreal! I seriously forgot what it is like to actually teach people (all the lessons)! Good news!! Elìas got baptized!!! Hna Lòpez sent me a letter and told me how beautiful it was. I was a little sad to not be there but to know that he got there is an amazing feeling. Resistencia was an amazing experience for me. It taught me a lot of patcience a lot about obedience when times are hard and the fruit isn't there and how to grow the attribute esperanza. I remember about 6 months ago our mission president focused on this subject and what exactly is faith. I learned in this moment that faith isn't the faith to baptize a certain number of people (to meet our norma de excelencia) but was to have faith to be obedient and faith that we will fulfill the Lords will for the area. I seriously will never forget Resistencia. I love this area I am in now but nothing will replace my time there. So General Conference is this weekend and I am so excited! I am so excited to bring people to something that I cherish so much. We are working a fúl to bring as many people as will come. I am so excited to see these people nourished by the Lord. I hope all will take the opportunity and invite a friend to enjoy this special occasion! Well I want to say congrats a Trenton y Charity! I AM SO STOKED! glad I will be there for the birth of my new nephew! I swear our family has tripled since I have been in the mission. Well this is my thought for this week. Be obedient have faith in the Lords plan. AND GO TO GENERAL CONFERENCE! love you guys so much Love you Ty so much and I’ll be praying for you to bring all to conference!
                                                                                                                         Hermana Pack

Getting Ready for Conference - Elder Pack (9/24/12 Letter)

Hello All!!!!

So I would like to wish my brother Trent a very happy birthday this day of September. ¡¡¡¡Feliz Cumpleaños Trenton!!!!

So about this week that we had. Well, this week we worked so as to have success and received a few blessings. A less active member and his family want to listen to us and we will be trying all that we can to teach this family.  The sir is less active because he loves to play soccer and his wife doesn't/didn't support him.  But, she has come to church 2 times and she said the 2nd time was really quick and that she liked it.  Christina is going to get baptized in the week, and we are happy because for the last few weeks we haven’t had too many people progressing all that much.  Christina is ready to be baptized the only thing that could make it all complicated is her husband.  She told us the second week that we saw her that her husband wasn't all too much in favor of her getting baptized.  It gets sadder because her husband is relative to members and well he went to church when he was younger.  It goes to show that when we start to drift away that we lose the light that we once might have had.  I see it every time that I talk with less active members.  They/we  always start slowly forgetting to do the small things and with time we have forgotten to do the bigger and more significant things.

I’m still with my companion.  I feel a little bad for him to tell you the truth, this is his first area and he will be here 6 months or so. I also think that that means I’m going to be in this area until the end of my mission. I say this because in the next change I’m most likely going to be here again and well there isn't much intelligence in moving me to a new area for my last change of my mission.  But I guess that means that we will have to see because truth be told President does really crazy things hahaha.

The real question is who is ready for conference???!!! I know that I am!  It shall be a fantastic day to feel the spirit and receive new ideas on how I can progress as a person. Also, how I can help the people of my mission. I hope to hear that my mission is getting a temple!!!!!!! (very unlikely because the people aren't ready right now, but I can hope!!!!!!!!!! hhahaha)

Well I don’t know what more to tell you the truth.  Please write me and give me some questions to answer!  
So I hope that everyone has a great week and that they get stoked for conference!

LOVE ELDER PACK

P.S. My last conference in my mission how strange no?