My last area

Hey!                                                                           May 31, 2015

How are you mom! It sounds like with each new week there are new challenges and new things to get done! But thats how life is! 

I was in a ward activity when the 1st counselor of the bishopric informed me that Elder Perry had passed away. I was sad to hear that. It was hard to take. But I believe that those men have no fear of death. Im sure that Elder Perry knew it was coming and that it was his time to go. He is a great example to all of us.

And yes, the time has come. Me and Elder Wallace will no longer be comps... It is sad but we had a good run together. We learned alot together and I am grateful for his great example! And yes I will still be a zone leader but I will be going to the zone of Angol. 32 missonaries hahaha. My sector is called Alemania. It is spanish for Germany. No I will not be speaking german haha thank the heavens! My comp will be Elder L! He is from Texas and his dad is Mexican, but he is as gringo as it gets haha. This will actually be his last cambio in the mission, which means that I will be ¨killing¨ him (I will be the comp that ends his mission) haha.  He his a great guy and I actually lived with him when I was in Boca. We lived together for about 2 months and I have known him since the beginning of my mission. He is a convert of a little over 2 years.  His parents are not members. But he has a really strong testimony of the Gospel and I am excited to be with him!

This last week was another struggle haha.  We ended the month of May with 8 baptisms in the zone, which may or may not be the highest in the mission, but we will enter June with only 2 baptismal dates. That doesn't mean we will only have 2 baptisms but it doesn't mean we will have 50 haha. I know that Elder Wallace will be able to handle it tho, he is a stud.

It will be hard to leave Labranza and I will miss the people here that I was able to know and meet. Especially Z and L. They are both great people and once L gets baptized some day in the future the will both be great members of the church.

I pray for the family every day and I may not be aware of everyone's personal challenges but I know that the answer is found in the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no other way (2 Nephi 31:21) That leads to true happiness and peace! I love you mom and I love this gospel! I hope that you have a great week and know that I am okay. I am fighting the battle that needs to be fought! I love you!!

Elder Noel

The Labranza Zone

My Testimony

Hey Mom,                                                               May 25, 2015                                                                     

 How are you doing? It sounds like this week that just past was a big week and that alot of things were going on!   Me and Elder Wallace have a week left, we will make it a good one. L is still there, we are pushing for him to get baptized this weekend.  But I would like to share with you and the family some of my thoughts on the mission.

This week for us was full of challenges and difficulties, but with each challenge and difficulty that we face the Lord gives us a chance to respond in righteousness and to follow Christ. I listened to many talks this week by Henry B Eyring. I am not sure why but I really enjoy the talks that he gives and the spirit that he has.  In his talks he talks about how trials are blessings and that if we act in the way of the Lord we can learn to endure trials with patience and long suffering.  I tried to notice that in my life and especially in my mission, as I look back on my mission I am so grateful for the trials and the problems and issues that I went through. I am not saying that they were easy or that I enjoyed having them, but I am grateful for them. The Lord gave me the opportunity to act in faith and to rely on HIM and on HIS SON Jesus Christ. I never really noticed it until now. As I think and ponder over the blessing that the Lord has given me through my trials, a feeling of peace and love come over me. I cannot fully express the gratitude that I feel for God and for our Savior Jesus Christ.  I know that He loves me. I know that He lives and I know that He gave his life for me.  I don't and can't understand or fully comprehend why He did it or how He was able to do it but I do know that He did it. He suffered and died for me.  This knowledge just helps me to be more grateful for his atoning sacrifice and love.  

My mission has been the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life. Physically, mentally, emotionally,  and spiritually I have never been so tired in my entire life like I have been on my mission.  Before my mission I would ask return missionaries if they liked their missions and they all responded that they loved them. They then would explain that it was the hardest thing ever. I did not understand how you could love something that was hard to do. I now understand. It is not something that is explainable with words, its something more than that. You have to live it.  Before my mission I felt that I was in debt to the Lord, in debt because of the blessings that he has given me, and I went on a mission thinking that in these two years I would be able to pay the Lord back a little of the debt that I had, but as my mission has gone by I realized that I am in even more debt than when I started, because the Lord has blessed me more than ever.  I now that its not over and that I still have time left to give what I can to the Lord. I have learned that we can never pay the Lord back for what he has given us. The only thing we can do, is his will.  I am not perfect, far from it. I have realized that I have more weaknesses than I thought.  But that is what happens when we do our best to come unto Christ (Ether 12:27).  I am again grateful for the opportunity I have to represent the Lord as a full time missionary, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I love Him, and I know He loves me.

I love you mom and family! You guys are the greatest and I hope that you have a great week! This week I just hit 19 months, wow. Time flies.

With Love,

Elder Noel

P.S. Today is Elder Wallace's birthday

Fun times with a sheep

Some of Elder Wallace's birthday decorations