Life's Good 😀 (Week 21)

Elder Herman on a moto taxi.

      This week was good, we have been putting in some WORK! Highlight of the week was we had 8 investigators at church yesterday! And all but one have baptismal dates! There are 2 families, one the family Angeles Rosales (Yareli and her kids Kevin, Brian, Joselyn, and Evelyn) and the family Carlon Martinez (Manuel, Guadelupe, Diana, and their little girl Alondra) and then a members friend, Dany! Sunday was kinda crazy running around getting them to church, but it was great! Also had a really good lesson with family Angeles Rosales and broke the ice with them a little better cause they didn’t talk much, but ay va! And they said they are still feeling good about their baptismal date the 25 of June! So that’s great. Also the other night it was raining so hard and I looked outside and saw poor little Jimmy (our dog) all curled up getting soaked! So me and my comp went out and made him shelter! We are so good to him!

Spiritual Thought Of The Week

      I just wanna say, how blessed are those that know the gospel and are obedient! This week we had a lot of lessons with members, and their testimonies are so awesome! In every converts testimony they say their life has changed. We can see changes in ourselves and others when we are living the gospel. The gospel principles are the answer to every problem that anyone will ever have in this life. A couple months ago in Campestre a guy on the streets was saying how Mormons always have nice houses and are living good. All I could tell him was welp, we are blessed! We just have to do our part and God will do his and take care of us! There are so many temporal blessings that we can earn with obedience in the gospel. I can testify that living the gospel honestly helped me to be a better baseball player and so many other temporal things. Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21 “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated. And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it was predicated.” We have so many blessings just sitting up in heaven waiting for us to earn them with our obedience. God wants to bless us but he also wants us to learn and grow and to go get the blessings! There are also spiritual blessings. Blessings of feelings like peace and happiness in our lives no matter what the situation. Mosiah 2:41 “And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in ALL things, both TEMPORAL and SPIRITUAL; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of NEVER ENDING HAPPINESS. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.” Wow. That’s pretty dang cool. Keep the commandments (there are a lot more than just 10) and you will be blessed in all things! You will dwell with God in heaven in a state of never ending happiness! How great is that? But, that is if you hold out faithful to the end. It’s not free. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it! And remember, remember that these things are true! For the Lord God hath spoken it! I love you all and I want everyone of you to earn the blessings that God has for you. Be obedient. Do what you are supposed to do even if it isn’t the easy thing. Read your scriptures. Say your prayers. Go to church. And build from that. Remember why you are here and who gives you everything. God wants us to be happy. He wants us to return to live with him in a state of never ending happiness. One more time. Be obedient. I love you all! Go get those blessings!

Con Amor, 

Elder Herman

Jimmy the dog under his shelter and out of the rain.

The Church Is True (Week 20)

Elder Herman & Elder Wegner

      This week was good. Man time is flying though! We had 5 investigators at church yesterday so that was great! We were expecting more, but we will get them next week! We also keep finding a lot of people that are interested so the work is going great! We taught a woman how to pray this week. She had never prayed before and she is somewhere around 60 years old. We asked her to say the closing prayer and it was great, and she really liked it! Also I talked to a guy that believes in death.. They are called Santo Muertos. Everyone here believes in Saints, like virgins and stuff, but these guys believe in death cause after we die we are going to be skeletons. So I asked if he believes in eternal life and he said ya. So they just focus on the body part of death, I guess? I don’t know, the dude couldn’t even explain to me what they believe in. He believes in Jesus and God but doesn’t believe the Bible, so we asked him how he knows Jesus is real and he said cause we are here. He couldn’t answer half of our questions about his own religion but he still didn’t want to learn more about Jesus. This world is so lost.

Spiritual Thought Of The Week

      On this week's special of “Spiritual Thought Of The Week by Elder Herman”, we are gonna take a little look at some scriptures in the Bible and Book of Mormon! Wahoo! First off in the Bible John 10:16 “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd”. Hmm, who are the other sheep that Jesus is talking about? Boom 3 Nephi 15:21 “And verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.” The Book of Mormon is true! I hope you guys had the chance to read and pray about the Book of Mormon this week! As you do you will have a greater desire to learn more and will grow close to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! This church is SO true! The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and if we read it everyday we can have more of him in our lives! We will have the spirit with us to comfort us and guide us everyday! I love being a missionary! Thank you all for your support, I love you all!

               

Love, Elder Herman

Must be a typical day on the road in Mexico.

Life is so Good (Week 19)

Elder Herman & Elder Wegner showing some good old
patriotism in Mexico on Memorial Day!

     Well this week was full of adventures! So we had cambios (transfers) on Tuesday and now I am with Elder Wegner! Funny thing is, lol, after I got my call I went on to Twitter and searched my mission to see if anyone else was leaving soon and I found Elder Wegner! I sent him a dm and now 9 months later we are comps! He is from Arizona and played football and soccer in high school and we are getting along really well! Also we have a 3^rd comp, Jimmy! He is a dog from the streets and he always follows us everywhere! When we go to a lesson he sits outside and waits for us and then when we get home he sleeps outside and then in the morning comes with us again. haha It’s awesome. I freaking love him! Our area is Cincoc 2 in Atotonilco! I love the area! Also our house is way nice and the members have already helped us a ton! We set 3 new baptismal dates this week and found 8 new investigators! I’m real pumped to be here and really happy!  : ) One funny story, haha, so we went to our food appointment and the Hermana gave us some Little Caesers Pizza and we went to a park to eat it. We tried sitting down to eat but Jimmy kept trying to eat it, so we went up on this little ghetto slide and ate haha we were in this little street and all the Mexicans were looking at us and laughing lol two white guys eating pizza on top of a slide. Also we have been jamming to some good hymns and singing a lot, haha. I freaking love it! We are having a good time. Also, I would love it if someone sang some hymns and sent them to us! Also, because I am new, people have been asking how much time I have in the mission and when I say 4 months they are amazed by my Spanish, and some have asked if I was almost done! God has helped me with the language, don de lenguas is real!

 

Spiritual Thought Of The Week

                

     This week we had a pretty cool experience with an investigator Manuel. After our lesson we invited him to pray and asked if we could kneel. We didn’t talk about the Book of Mormon too much and they all said they already know the book is true. But I felt like I should ask him to pray to know if the book is true. He acted a little surprised because he had said he already knew it was true. He told me “I already know it’s true” I told him it doesn’t matter he can do it as many times as he wants. So in his prayer he asked to know the truth and if the Book of Mormon was true. At the end of his prayer he struggled to close his prayer, but after he did he looked amazed. He said he felt something and was holding his heart. He said he felt something so strong it almost hurt, haha, so we asked if it was good and he said yes and we all know exactly what he felt. We told him it’s the Holy Ghost, testifying of the truth. Family and friends, the Book Of Mormon is so powerful! And when you combine your reading with prayer you will find the truth. You will find answers to your prayers and feel of the love that our Heavenly Father has for you. There is power in the book and in prayer. I want to invite all of you tonight to read the Book of Mormon. If you don’t know where, read Moroni 10:3-5, it’s the classic. Read the book and most importantly pray after. With a sincere heart, real intent and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be able to feel the love of God and know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon for yourself. I love this work so much. I am so grateful to know I have a Father above that loves me more than I can imagine. I am so grateful for the scriptures that help me everyday. They give me comfort and knowledge. Last but not least I am so grateful for the power and gift of prayer. How amazing is it that we can talk with our God whenever we want and about whatever we want? He is my best friend and my loving Father in Heaven.

Love, Elder Herman

Pizza at the top of a slide.

Estados Unidos = United States

 

The Church is True (Week 18)

Baptism in Villa Del Carbon

     Welp nothing too special happened this week. Except our zone had 4 baptisms this week! There was a family of 3 from Villa Del Carbon and man they are special! They have had some awesome experiences and the baptisms were so powerful! The mom said when the Elders invited her to be baptized she could just see a bright light and a voice told her she was ready! Crazy! Theres a lot more details but that's just the short story, haha. We also sang at the baptisms and I love singing with a bunch of missionaries! I get the chills every time! Also transfers are tomorrow! And last night I figured out I’m leaving my area already! Elder Ibarra and I are both leaving and they are bringing 2 new missionaries to our area. So crazy! I did not think I was going to be leaving. I’m a little bummed 'cause we have been doing a lot of work and the area is definitely moving in the right direction! But I am excited to go somewhere else and also a little nervous, haha. My first real cambio.

Spiritual Thought Of The Week

     Well this week I shared a scripture a lot because well.. I love it. Mosiah 7:33 “But if ye will turn to the Lord with FULL PURPOSE of heart, and put your TRUST in him; and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.” This says it all. When we turn to the Lord with full purpose and have faith in Him, He will help us in whatever situation we may be in. And I love the part that says “according to his own will and pleasure”. He loves us so much He just hopes that we will make the right decisions so He can bless our lives. He wants us to be happy. We just have to do our part. I want everyone to remember that our Lord is always cheering us on. He wants us to be happy! I promise when you turn to the Lord in all things you will be blessed more than you can imagine! I love this gospel so much and I am so grateful to be a missionary!

Love Elder Herman 

Not sure what's happening in this picture,
but Elder Herman is looking mighty handsome!

Chicken foot soup!!  

When the font needs to be filled with water in a hurry.

Man What a Week! (Week 17)

Happy Mother's Day love from Elder Herman!!

      This week was bien loca. But first I wanna tell all my many mothers out there that I love you all and Happy Mothers Day yesterday! My mom says it had to take more than one mom to get me to where I am today, so thank you all you’re all amazing! Alright so here’s my week. Saturday we had a baptism for Hermana Laura Oyuki! It was very special and I felt the Spirit a ton! I was a witness and almost started crying the Spirit was so strong! It was such an amazing experience, and also her confirmation. Pure joy! J Then we also set 2 new baptismal dates, which I am very excited for, but we still gotta work with them a lot! This week was really productive! Also I bought a sombrero that I freaking love! I kinda look like a Jehovah's Witness but it’s all good. Haha, especially cause now we can knock on doors (which I love) so I am kinda acting like one too, just in the right way. J Also a bird pooped on me but luckily just got my hand and then some transgenders were hitting on me. Definitely shook me up a little haha.. Very adventurous week I’d say!

Spiritual Thought Of The Week

     Alright I studied a talk thingy on lds.org the other day called “Why It Will All Work Out”, man I love this topic! So get ready for a bunch of great quotes by the optimistic Gordon B. Hinckley! “Stop seeking out storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight.” Also it talks about Faith. Sometimes life requires us to take a leap of faith. The requirement for faith is that we act first. First we act then the power comes. If your trust in the Lord is firm you will be able to conquer the fears that this life brings. “If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us.” Gordon B. Hinckley. Also we need to see the long view. When we see life with the long view none of our fears that we deal with in mortality should feel unconquerable. “It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning.” Once again Gordon B. Hinckley. Realmente puedo testificar sobre estas palabras. We will always have challenges in our lives but if we have faith that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, He will not forsake us. He will always be there to support us! Heaven is cheering us on today, tomorrow, and forever! No failure is final because of Jesus Christ.  Love you all thank you so much for your support!

                Con Amor, Elder Herman

First Baptism!!

Lookin' good!

Be careful, 'cuz you know it's not true!!

The Mission Keeps Getting Better (Week 10 in Mexico, 16 overall)

     This week really was great! The mission just keeps getting better! I felt the Spirit a lot and our lessons went really well. We set a baptismal date for a dad in a part member family. The only reason he is not baptized is cause he smokes. So we are gonna work with him and get him in the waters! Also we are having a baptism this Saturday, wahoo! : ) We found a lot of new investigators this week and I am really excited to work with them! Also got to talk to the fam bam yesterday and it was so great! I don’t know how I got blessed with such a good family!

Spiritual Thought Of The Week

     Ok I wanna talk a little bit about opposition. We will always have opposition in our lives. Satan will always be there attacking us, telling us things like, “It’s too hard”, “I can’t do it”, “I am alone”, and many more that we all know and have heard in our lives. I like to read Moses in the Pearl Of Great Price for this. In the first chapter Moses sees God face to face and when God leaves his presence Satan came tempting him. But Moses was strong and knew where to turn, so he called upon God and received the strength to command Satan to leave, and after, Satan began to fear and he left because the power of God. We need to always be aware of this. When we are on spiritual highs or doing really good we need to watch out for when Satan is going to attack. We need to be prepared by studying the scriptures and having a good relationship with our Heavenly Father. We need to be on God's team because it is the winning team.   

 Love,  Elder Herman

Skype with the fam!

Great Start (Week 9 in Mexico, 15 overall)

Elder Passeri and Elder Herman

     This week started off great! We had intercambios with our Zone Leaders and I was with Elder Passeri, my freaking favorite missionary! He is from Argentina and is hilarious! First off this guy is a legend. He finished his training in 6 weeks, then right after trained and was district leader and he only had 6 weeks in the mission field! Then 2 changes later he started being our zone leader! He only has 6 months in the mission! So ya I had a good time with him, haha. We were contacting people in the street and we played a game that one person would pick a word and the other had to use that word while contacting. Haha. The best one was tacos. So we were talking to this guy about tacos and relating it to the Gospel and honestly it was one of our best contacts! The person was interested and we got in a couple laughs with him! Other than this day, this week was pretty rough. Everyone cancelled on us and we didn’t have too much success! But I am finding ways to stay positive, and growing everyday!  :) Also the Spanish is coming along great! Still don’t understand everything obviously, but man it’s getting there! 

Spiritual Thought Of The Week

      Ok this week I want to talk about 1 Nephi chapter 18. The chapter is gold! This is when Nephi and his family arrive in the promised land and there are so many lessons that could be learned by this chapter. In verse 1 it says “And the Lord did show me from time to time after what manner I should work the timbers of the ship.” The Lord will show us how to work our timbers in our own lives. Verse 2 ”Now I Nephi did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men, but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me.” The Lord will show us what we need to do but we need to follow his manner and not the manner of men. This can apply to everyone and every situation! Build your lives the way the Lord has shown us! If you don’t know what or where to go or of what manner you should build your ship, verse 3 ”And I, Nephi did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things.” Man these are just the first 3 verses! I could go on more and we could learn more lessons but I’ll let you guys do that later in your scripture studies. J If we pray and look for the guidance of the Lord we will find it. Then once we find it we have to have the faith to act in His manner and not the manner of man, which is the enemy of the Lord!

Love, Elder Herman

Look at that Mt. Dew Voltage!  Mom learned how to send good things without breaking the bank!