Hola evryone how has the last 2-3 weeks been going?
These last 2-3 weeks have been good and having one baptism, Sabrina. She has been going to church by herself and is a great example of faith because her family all are members but after covid hit the parents separated and her siblings have inactive and all their family.
This week we are going to have 4-5 baptisms, one family we found that are members except the mother and the younger son, Luciana and Dominic. They are awesome and the mom will be part of the reaskn their family becomes active again, we’ll see with the father but their grandpa is going to baptize them. We did a blessing of health for the mom yesterday!
Also another family that is inactive, the Frankavillas, the Grandma has such a strong testimony, so their 2 daughters are not baptized including 2 of the children of the older daughter that lives with them. But for this week the youngest daughter Morena and the Grandchild Martina will be baptized this week. Their faith has been increased that Martina was like imma be baptized the 19th, Morena was just I don’t know even though knew the importance, but we helped her understand faith and raking courage to the things you know are good. So I shared that at timesin life we know that it is right but we don’t feel to rake the action but I said it is a thing of trust and confidence to move yourself before hesitating the action and for example let’s say that a door is baptism and your sitting right and you are like I don’t know if want to even if you knew let’s say 1 million dollars or we could say blessings and I will be happy for taking action so how do you get yourself to do it? Well you just make step by step and if it is a challenge you just move to the just go and no more and so you open and you know recieve the million blessings that comes from being baptized and now you just move foward with faith as you do to follow Jesus Christ forever with what you know is right. So faith is a big oart of just trusting and taking action before you hesitate when you natually feel just to take action but this principle con apply to everything and it starts with just believing you can and it is good and I ought to take action. So we decided to do a video of all of us what we are going to do th 19th of July the two said I will be being baptized. Now like the other family the man of the house is not so much but the two want to support the decisions of their families and they are both members. The daughter Anabella I think right now wants to wait for her son that is turning 8 next month to be baptized in thw same day, so that will be awesome. We gave a blessing to the Grandpa for his health the other week, it is just awesome what is happening helping people be baptized and reenactivating members to come back on the path of Jesus Christ.
There is a Mother and her daughter that are wanting to be baptized, Vanina and Martina that are awesome they want to become a part of the blessings of the church and baptism of Jesus Christ, especially the Mother. So we are helping but probably will be the week after because Martina had not come to rhe church for Sunday yet, we need two times at least for someone to be baptized but they missed the last week, partly with staying up with the world cup when Argentina played at 10 in the night and people party a lot here especially for when Argentina plays! Now the mom just has a lot on her load in her life and responsibility so just a bit much for her but we are helping her and her daughter to have the help of the gospel.
One thing this week from Sunday that came to mind is to comprehend the reality of reality. So 2 things that clicked for me of how I managed to realize, it is meditation or time with your ownself to think. It is esencial to the growth of one-self to have self control and learn to be without the need to do something. This is the best way to recieve inspiration from God after you have done the work and or the start of something in order to find what you are trying to do. This is best when you have done the work of the day and when you come to this point I am just doing to do something or this one thing, this is the perfect time to be still but still it comes from this though can I be still and just focus on God without the need of doing something like depend on god souly without electronics without sound no not nothing and just live here in this moment. So what has it done for me, it has been a check for me how am I doing with my state of being as a person and has helped me to think things though, be intencional and become concience with reality when I focus on the purposes of God. So now I feel like my mind is clear what I need to do as I have done thing for much in my life and now put it in the thing most important that rhis has changed my life and my understanding after all the good action I take in life. So I think this is to comprehend reality it is a non stopping chase in life to recieve a perspective of God and not take all things as an enemy or ally but as something to grow and learn from my character but if we don’t grow we fall and we keep falling until we take the effort to gain momentum in life. So the great example of this is the last talk of Elder Uctdorf that made it click about the emty tomb to imagen the perspective of the people that came to the tomb that we can’t understand completly but we can try to comprehend what it might of been that they did not understand it all of a miracle could happen or that they understood why the Savior of died and even could be how could of this happen. But they went to him to his tomb for the love they had for him and he was risen, imagen what they felt or what that really means that Jesus Christ no is history but lives and that he has his own church right now here to save us from our natural being to comprehend the reality so that we can truely stand strong always and prepare to live with God once again though faith repentance and the ordenances of God. So I invite to really comprehend what does it mean to you the things of God and truely ask what will I do in order that I may this live eternal. So like the savior who suffered all that we may build our character yo be like him that we may recieve the freedom and happiness that comes from his walk to do all and then spend the rest of time with him and family nothing else with the purpose to progress and what will progress our life to God and seeing more what he sees for our happiness.
One consept also has caught my atention this week of what actually helps us to focus more and more as I said that helps us grow to be our savior is spiritual momentum. There is a talk from President Nelson that talks about 5 things we can do to strengthen our spiritual momentum, and so what is spiritual momentum? Just like anything with momentum that we gain an advantage and use that keep it grow maintain it and we gain the results after the consistancy of the habits that we do in order to help. So when we talk about spiritual momentum we our talking about how can we get through all of life in all that it has for us so that we can in the future live with God. So it is opportunities, it is leverage not definitives that if we do this, this will pass but it is for the likelihood of recieving the word, all in all that what we do to deserve the eternal life god offers never will be enough, we were just given our life not we choosed to recieve this life but God gave us opportunity to recieve when we don’t deserve but it does take action but all in all it is Jesus Christ that gives us access to the blessings and we can only recieve if we are on his path of baptism and choosing everyday to progress in it. So really we are just here that we may choose for ourselves what we want in life, but if we want to live with God and recieve all the blessings we much be willing to change and do all rhings not only one day but eternally because Jesus Christ and God are eternal who they are is eternal. So if we want to live with them forever we must become eternally like them, so we must change as much as posible and forever with determinatiok do the will of God and recieve what he has not only because we are children of God or he gave us life but we became separated from him eternally and we must eternally change and give all time for him as posible to comprender what it means to live as God and he will direct us to help as we listen and are willing to change. So we need all the help and consitancy in order to live with God and so I invite you to listen what president Neslon said en the April 2022 conference talk to comprehend more and more than that to give your life to God because at some point you have to give it all in order to recieve the blessing.
Well this is what I have for you guys I hope you have a great week and I pray for the progression of all y’all that we may all live God as we work individually to keep our promises with that that connect us to him and our grow to give our life to him
Good Journey
Elder Shepherd