Elder Faithful!‏

7-25-15

Well this week was special! We had a visit from a 70. Elder Leal (faithful in English). It was a super cool experience! We talked a lot about pondering the scriptures and about the spirit. We talked about how we are the tools that the spirit uses to help the other people that God wants for them. It was super cool because Elder Leal asked us to do some practices and then he would do the practice with Pres. Ramilfo as his companion! It was super cool just to see how the spirit worked so well with him. It was interesting to see how comfortable he was speaking with the spirit and how natural it seemed. He always spoke so lovingly to the people in the practices! 

     Then we had a special meeting with him afterwards as the staff. He started off asking each of us what our functions were in the staff and when it was my turn I talked and said that I was training Elder Betts to take my place in the office.  The president’s wife was like “yeah cause he is going home now!!” :P Elder Leal just laughed and then we got down to business. He started to talk to us and it seemed as though that loving manner disappeared!!!! He was like I am going to be tough with you guys because you are the people that president trusts the most or else you wouldn’t be here. You guys need to be the example. You guys are the ones that will take away all the excuses from the other missionaries. Your president has given you guys a goal to baptize one person per month per missionary. You must do that. You are capable. If you aren’t on the road to that now Pray for the spirit to give you inspiration to be able to accomplish it. God hath given no commandment unto the children of men without before preparing a way by which they might accomplish the thing he asked them to do. He said that we are the tone setters, if we can do it everyone else will be able to do it as well. It was a lot of responsibility and is going to require a lot of SPRINTING ;p but I am going to do my very best and a little bit more :) Please pray for us!(Elder Sánez, Elder Sierras, Elder Fernandez, Elder Collett, Elder Betts, Elder Jopia, and I) (that is the whole staff) that we may be able to have the spirit with us and that we can recognize the people who are ready to come unto Christ.

Thank you for all the prayers that you are already giving for us! They really do strengthen and help us to continue in this important work :)

Other things that happened this week, we were teaching a less active family about the Holy Ghost and there was an impression that came to my mind. I felt that I should teach a little about how the Holy Ghost prepares us for the second coming. I felt the spirit really strong as We talked about how if we follow the spirit we will be prepared and sanctified spiritually so that one day we will be able to see our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

We had another good experience with an investigator! She was just saying thank you for all the help that we have given her. It was a really good feeling to just feel that appreciation :) It was a very cool moment because it is kind of hard for me to communicate to her because she speaks Spanish and so sometimes I don’t understand everything that she says but it was just a cool experience :)  Remind me about it when I get home and I will tell you guys the full story :)

I love you guys and I know that Jesus Christ Lives and the he loves each and every one of us. I know that he qualifies us, through his atonement and that is what should comfort us on our lowest days. We will never be alone.

Love, Elder Pachner II

Extremely Blessed

Extremely Blessed

 7/18/15

 This week I feel blessed. Blessed to be on a mission! Blessed to have you all as a family. Blessed to feel my Savior’s love, blessed to be his son. This week I have learned a little bit about how blessed we have been to be born in this last dispensation where there are more temples, missionaries, members, and blessings than any of the other dispensations. I read a couple talks about the times we live in and their great blessings and I realize that truly Heavenly Father trusts in us a lot to put us in this last dispensation where everything is so much harder, and at the same time so great. 

This week we talked a little with a couple less actives about the importance of reading the scriptures and how it blesses our lives. We read a talk called The power of the Word by Presidente Ezra Taft Benson. It talks about diving into the scriptures, (actually in Portuguese it uses the word mergulhar which means to submerge or like scuba dive in the scriptures ;P) it just showed me that it was never about quantity but about quality! What we get from the scriptures and how we apply it to our lives in much more important that if we read a whole chapter or not :P I honestly have never finished the Book of Mormon in Portuguese (I’m in Alma) but I feel as though I am understanding a whole lot more than I would have got if I just read it fast. I love the scriptures and I love the feeling of excitement as I learn something new and just want to share it with my companions :) The spirit of god is real and it truly with teach us everything through study and through faith.

I have a new comp! His name is Elder Betts! He is from Grand Rapids Michigan. We welcomed him to the staff by having an epic water gun battle in the house....we cleaned really well today ;P It was fun and it helped everyone relax after the audit! Everything went fine with the audit! :)

I know that this church is true and I know that God loves you and I know that He loves me. I know that God reveals his truth to us today through scripture study,  modern day prophets and personal revelation! I love you all so much!! Can’t wait to see you! :)

Love,

Elder Pachner II

What’s UP?!?!?!?!

My week this week has been a really good week :P hahahaha I proctored the English test this week and I realized that maybe I am going to need to take the English test before I go home :P

This week sounds like it was the week of prayer at our house and so I wanted share an experience that I had as well. We have been preparing to teach some of the recent converts about the importance of the family. I was studying the Liahona from this past conference...you know they talked a lot about the family!!!  We used the Proclamation to the World! It was a really good study and as I was praying in the end I just thanked Heavenly Father for the privilege that I have to be sealed to you guys. You are so very special to me and I am so thank full that you guys are my family forever! I think it was the first time I have shed some tears in a long time but it was the good type :) I am just grateful for the temples and the power of the priesthood.

This week was a little crazy!!! I had to buy more that 90 bus tickets for the transfer!!  We have been preparing for the audit and I am just kind of anxious to get my new computer!!!! 

As to the work in the field, all is going well :) We are working with more less actives here. We have been working with this one family for awhile and last week the mother came again to the church! That means out of 3 weeks she has been 2!! It is all going good :) It is like a whole extended family that we are trying to get them to come back and everyone promised to com this week so we will see how it goes tomorrow :)

This week we had a really cool experience. We were able to give a blessing to a cousin of one of the people we are teaching. She is pregnant and had a stroke.  She asked us to go to the hospital and give her a blessing. We got there after visiting hours by like 4 min but they still let us in. She was still in the ICU but we were able to shut the curtains around her bed and give her a blessing. I was thinking in my head....this is really super important....I have never given anyone a blessing in this type of situation and I started to pray in my head that we would be able to be inspired and give her the blessing that she would need. It was a very sweet experience and the blessing was one full of spirit and hope. I know that the priesthood is real and that it is the way that God blesses all of his children. I know that prayer is real and like you guys I know that God cares about even the seemingly inconsequential things in our lives! I love you all and am so glad that you guys are part of my life and that God allowed me to be born into our family!

Love, Elder Pachner II

D&C 29:34-35

7/4/15

This is a scripture that my companion showed to me during the district meeting this week! It made me feel a lot better about everything that we do here in the office. The other day we were studying about what it means to be a missionary of success. I realized that in the office, sure we don’t really get much of a chance to go out and teach, but if we are diligent and most of all Patient with the other missionaries we become missionaries of success :P

This week I made no bake cookies!!! They were super good!! We went out with the members and took them to their neighbors. So far we now have all of the members addicted to peanut butter cookies :)

Well this week we did a bunch of stuff in the office. I am going to receive a new computer and so I was making a digital copy of all the passports and all the other important stuff that I have here!

Also we received some new Americans which was pretty fun! 

We learned a lot about responsibility this week. One of the ladies that we have been teaching told us how hard her life has been and how she always asks for God to show her a light. We talked to her once again about keeping the commandments and how this will bless her and how she will be able to see how this truly is the best thing.  The thing is that when we ask her if she is going to go church and she is like “I don’t know...maybe” and we were like COME PLEASE!! You ask God to show you a way to receive blessings and then you don’t follow when we show you!! Please just come with us and see how it betters your life!!! Unfortunately she still didn’t make any firm decision.  We are going to go to her house tomorrow at 08h30 to walk with her to church. I am hopeful but it just goes to show how everyone has their agency and is able to choose what they want. We even used that scripture with her.  It goes to show how we must take the first steps of faith!

I think that is about it for this week. I know that Christ lives, and that this church is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God. 

Love, Elder Pachner II