Spike's Letter 4/9

Hey Hey Hey..


As you all know this last weekend was the 178th general conference. It was amazing to say the least and I loved it. As I look back to the years past I really see how immature I was. Not interested in the long talks, the old men crying, and the one talk that you can never really understand cause the person has a bad accent.=) but as I sat in a crowded room with me and three other American elder, listening to the conference in English, I realized how amazing conference really is. I found myself hanging onto every word, interested in the council most eloquently given. I love the conference, and when it came to a close I was so bummed, knowing it would be another six months before I could see the next. But what I did do was take a lot of notes. After reviewing them and seeing the things that touched my heart, that I wrote down, one thing that I would like to share a bit with you about is NOT BEING ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, which was spoken of by L. Tom Perry and W. Craig Zwich. I loved these talks, along with the others. I loved the point that they made….´are we lowering our standard to fit into our neighborhoods, work, or friends?´ it is something that I know I have done in the past, and am guilty of. Sometimes we feel out of place, but we need to stand up for what we believe in! don´t be men pleasers, but true servants and saints of our god. Now is the time. Live his council. Draw ourselves to full stature. Testify of Christ and our heavenly father. Bear testimony of their divinity- We, or I atleast, get even scared to do this at times and I am on a mission. What can we do to gain the strength to do so? We need to pray for guidance and protection from the lord. As we gain his help, which he will most certainly give, we will be able to testify os his name that each of us took upon ourselves at baptism. As the apostle Peter said, ´we need to go about doing good.´ We, as members need to stand up, we need to fight the fight, and bear witness of his name. many times the world shuns religion, but I loved the quote that elder Maxwell said, ´Laughter of the world is loneliness trying to reassure itself!´it is so true. The world needs our help, each and every person needs to hear the gospel of jesus Christ, the restoration of the true church upon the earth. And why is it true? Like it was said in conference also, it is because we have the KEYS to administer the ordinances necessary for eternal life and exaltation. How awesome is that. If we have no doubt of the divinity of Christ of the restoration of the gospel, and the vision of joseph smith, then let it be known. Each member a missionary, and each member is a full time finder. What a great responsibility for us. We need not pray that the missionaries can be able to find people, but that they will have the spirit as they teach those that are already found. I know that as we do these things, the missionaries lives willl be bless, and the members also. This is such a important work. We are all called and have a part in the gathering of Israel and the finding of christ´s lost sheep. It is my prayer that we can bear testimony more often of our saviors name, and be the voice of the truth more adiquatly in our daily lives, as our beliefs are questioned or exclaimed falsely. They will never know the truth if they are not taught.Well this week was special. The baptisms inbetween the sessions was amazing. To see close to thirty people enter into the waters of baptism was amazing. I cant believe it really. The thing is that we set a number to baptize way above what we can do, and someway god prepares a way that our goals can be met. I really have gained a testimony of goal setting. We WILL NOT grow without setting goals and testing what we think that we can do. We become more efficient and more effective in the things that we are doing. It was awesome though. Also, this week we found a new area to work. We had been having trouble finding people and after alittle praying and putting it in the lords court, we found investigators. It is alittle village called Calunga. It is right next to the usually ragging rio branco that is now almost dried up cause it has not rained in a month. The houses are tiny, wooden, and on stilts about 15 ft in the air. Prevention from flooding from the river. The people are very humble, and you can tell they do not get out that much.. they are so receptive though. We could teach 10 lessons in a couple hours or so. Its awesome. We have set a couple baptisms for the upcoming weeks. What I found funny is that the people, when you ask them if they already attend a church, say ´No i´m Catholic!!!! Ha. Funny. But we have a lot of work there and that’s where we are working. It is stinking hot here. About 40 celcius, I don’t care what anything says its that hot, and I am sweating like a pig. Its hard to describe being cooked alive, the common phrase that people use, but really now I think I have an idea=) and YES I am healthy. People seem pretty worried about that. Could use some IB profin. They do not have any down here. I have way sore muscles. The little ones that I have=( I am working out and I am trying to keep somewhat in shape. I need some help or something. Now I do not eat, and I am not loosing weight. Also, to answer some of dads questions, I don’t know what kinds of medicin I would need for prevention down here. I got your daily vitamin and vitamin c that I take every morning before I work out. That’s it. And I would probably need more vitamin c. there were only ninty tablets in that one. But maybe you could look into what I might need down here cause I have no idea. Also, yes I use the water puifyer every day. It actually does help. I read the instructions and everything. It is so nice. It is super fast too. It makes me think of backpacking into ancient lakes. We used the water purifier and orange tang to drink. Remember? It is handy. Tell brett thanks for the purifier. I think he got it. Idk. Oh and he is still a punk I have written him for a month now. Letter and e mail and he still hasn’t said BOO to me. Man what a freakin punk. I guess ill see ya in a year in a half. (trying to be mean so he sends me something.) everyone else does amazing at keeping in touch and I love it. I also loved Andrews run down of the mlb. Sounds like the tigers are freaking stacked. They should have big bats plus a reliable pitching staff. As for Clemens..who knows what to think. I wonder if he just started using the roids the last couple years as he chased the records or what. That is sad. Dad was always a big fan of his. But…. Mom and dad are going to utah this weekend. That should be an exciting adventure. Driving down there too. Man you guys have put some miles on the highweigh the last couple weeks! The Oregon trip seemed rad. You got to see aj too? That is so cool. I loved the trip down there. It was amazingly fun and I willl never forget it. The city full of weird people. Ha. So you guys got some razor clams besides some of the rain and the wind huh? You eaten any yet? I remember the ones that dad and brett or whoever got from Alaska were awesome. You went to the same places there that the young men went this last summer I think. They enjoyed it also. I still need to do that sometime. But make sure you call katelyn and give her the run down and set a time for meeting up and things. She talked to me today and said that she is packing up a bunch of stuff to send back with you guys. Sounds like she really appreciates the help. That would be awesome if you guys could send some pics of the trip there to me. I am in need of pictures. FROM EVERYONE. The ones that I have seem to get really old after I find myself flipping through them everyday. Ha. But CASSIE, you got called to Chisom or something AFB. Why are you bumbed?you guys are Royal fans now!!! Eeek. But that should be good seriously. There is a purpose in all things. I am sure that you will be welcomed there and you will find yourself falling in love with the area. I will be visiting there too. It seems like a tradition, me visiting every place you live, except Oklahoma. You will still be there when I get home from da mission. I will be home before thanksgiving. Sweet huh? Well sounds like your will have a good time there anyways. How are the boys etc? I miss em. Well the days and weeks keep on passing by, and my testimony of the gospel keeps getting stronger. I loved the parts of the conference that spoke in reference to joseph smith. Especially when they talked about the Liberty Jail. He suffered for 5 MONTHS there. Talk about a trial of your faith. That is the same amount of time that I have been on my mission. How amazingly unfathomable that is for me. I could no do it.. it is just a testimony of the faith that he had and the power and tust in god that he had. I believe that it validates him as being able to restore the gospel. I love this gospel. I love everyone of you and I want you to know that I have a testimony of it. Pray, put your trust in the lord, and he will provide a way, and answer your prayers. I know it. Have an awesome week, and I hope this e mail gets to you guys, I am cutting it short, so it is smaller and does not take as much memory to send. I love you guys. Love you Drew. Thanks for the update man. And Tyler where are the portugues letters man. Hook it up . seriously. I love you dad and mom. Drive safe…and please let her know how much I love here. Maybe even before you see her get her a grilled cheese sandwich from Sonic for her and say it was from me! Love you guys.

Later gattengang/parks
Elder gatten