Sorry, I'm hardly writing anything for the blog now. It seems like there´s always someone else to write or general conference invitations that I want to make to print out and give to everybody, or information that I have to send to the mission offices for my zone of missionaries.
I should at leat tell you all that I have new companion. His name is Elder Esquivel. He´s from San Juan, Argentina and has the same amount of time as me in the mission- 21 months. He´s actually my 4th companion from my same group (in missionary jargon "group" refers to all of the missionaries who started and will end their misions on the same day).
Elder Casdorph
Monday, March 31, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Elder Grow
We had a special conference with Elder Grow, a member of the 1st quorum of the seventy and member of the preisudencia of the South America Northwest Area. It was powerful and very spiritual. He congratulated the members for the work that they have been doing. In the last 4 months in the area (which includes Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela) there have been 8,000 rescued less-active members who are now active in the church, which is the equivalent of 3 new stakes. Everyone is really excited for the work of salvation.
I personally am super excited for the upcoming General Conference. The last general conferences have changed my entire mission with the announcements of reduced ages, new missions, and a whole new focus in the work of salvation.
Please watch conference April 5th and 6th....
LINK TO WEB STREAM
....and please invite everyone you know to watch it too.
Elder Casdorph
p.s. I had a baptism Saturday. Jaime Muñoz (24 yrs.) got baptized, but I forgot the SD Card with the picture in my house, asi que no habrá foto.
I personally am super excited for the upcoming General Conference. The last general conferences have changed my entire mission with the announcements of reduced ages, new missions, and a whole new focus in the work of salvation.
Please watch conference April 5th and 6th....
LINK TO WEB STREAM
....and please invite everyone you know to watch it too.
Elder Casdorph
p.s. I had a baptism Saturday. Jaime Muñoz (24 yrs.) got baptized, but I forgot the SD Card with the picture in my house, asi que no habrá foto.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Apresuraré mi obra en su tiempo
Sorry, I didn´t have much time to write last week. I have a ton of things to write all of you, but I´ve got a bunch of other things to do too, so we´ll see if I have enough time.
My mom recently asked me for ideas about how to have more refferals to give the missionaries. I wrote this to her, and then later decided that it´d be something good to put on the blog.
The idea is:
1.Make a list of all of your friends, family, and aquaintences that don´t know the gospel, and might be interested in listening (when someone doesn´t know that many people, this list should basically be all of the non-members that you know within the ward boundaries).
2. Pray and ask for help from the Lord to know which of the people in the list is prepared to recieve the Gospel (D+C 88:73 "Behold, I will hasten my work in its time" - the Lord is hastening is work and SOMEBODY in that list is ready to recieve the Gospel).
3. GO with the missionaries and with Dad and try to teach, invite, inspire, or get to know better the person in the list. (Call them and say, "hey Elders I have a referral for you")
Trust me, this works.
You can also read this article, especially the Section "Bringing people into the Church" for more ideas.
If after doing the 3 steps and reading the powerful words of President Hinckley, you still don´t have anyone to present to the missionaries. Go and visit a less-active member and invite him to go back to church. Ask him who he knows that could receive the missionaries. The less-actives always have a bunch of non-member friends.
Elder Casdorph
My mom recently asked me for ideas about how to have more refferals to give the missionaries. I wrote this to her, and then later decided that it´d be something good to put on the blog.
The idea is:
1.Make a list of all of your friends, family, and aquaintences that don´t know the gospel, and might be interested in listening (when someone doesn´t know that many people, this list should basically be all of the non-members that you know within the ward boundaries).
2. Pray and ask for help from the Lord to know which of the people in the list is prepared to recieve the Gospel (D+C 88:73 "Behold, I will hasten my work in its time" - the Lord is hastening is work and SOMEBODY in that list is ready to recieve the Gospel).
3. GO with the missionaries and with Dad and try to teach, invite, inspire, or get to know better the person in the list. (Call them and say, "hey Elders I have a referral for you")
Trust me, this works.
You can also read this article, especially the Section "Bringing people into the Church" for more ideas.
If after doing the 3 steps and reading the powerful words of President Hinckley, you still don´t have anyone to present to the missionaries. Go and visit a less-active member and invite him to go back to church. Ask him who he knows that could receive the missionaries. The less-actives always have a bunch of non-member friends.
Elder Casdorph
Monday, February 24, 2014
Casi Carnival
Next week is Carnival, a Catholic, Latin American holiday that celebrates giving up carnal desires before the start of Easter. Well...... the idea is giving up or denouncing carnal desires, in reality it is 3 days of giving in to such desires such as drinking (a lot) and basically every other type of iniquity and immorality, and well.....carnal desires. The point that I am trying to illustrate is that it is 3 days of stuff that a missionary should not have anything to do with.
During carnival, the missionaries aren´t allowed to leave the house at all, which means that I won´t be writing next week.
All is going well here, we don´t have many investigators, but we have recieved some pretty good references fom a couple members (something that the missionaries in your ward surely need as well). We will have a couple of baptisms in the next couple of weeks, but they don´t hardly count, because they´re just re-baptisms of members who for some reason don´t show up in the church record system as being baptized.
I know that this church is true and that this is His work. The Lord is hastening his work right now as the members and missionaries work together.
The missionaries worldwide are extremely able, but sometimes clueless as to what it is that they need to do; just a tiny bit of help from the members can make a big difference in a missionary´s mission experience. Please help the missionaries to change that experience so that you and they can change the lives of many.
Elder Casdorph
During carnival, the missionaries aren´t allowed to leave the house at all, which means that I won´t be writing next week.
All is going well here, we don´t have many investigators, but we have recieved some pretty good references fom a couple members (something that the missionaries in your ward surely need as well). We will have a couple of baptisms in the next couple of weeks, but they don´t hardly count, because they´re just re-baptisms of members who for some reason don´t show up in the church record system as being baptized.
I know that this church is true and that this is His work. The Lord is hastening his work right now as the members and missionaries work together.
The missionaries worldwide are extremely able, but sometimes clueless as to what it is that they need to do; just a tiny bit of help from the members can make a big difference in a missionary´s mission experience. Please help the missionaries to change that experience so that you and they can change the lives of many.
Elder Casdorph
Monday, February 17, 2014
Las Misiones
I got transfered. :(
I am now in Santa Cruz again. May ward is calles las Misiones. My companion is Elder Laura and he has 21 months in the mission. The ward seems really strong, partially because my last 2 areas have been wimpy little small-town branches. There are more active priesthood holders in my ward than in the last 2 branches combined. Among those members are the 2nd counselor of the Bolivia Santa Cruz Mission and the former president of the Bolivia La Paz Mission.
Despite the strength of the members, the area is pretty weak. There have not been any baptims in my area for the last 5 months, and we currently have next to nothing as far as investigators. The only investigators that we do have is a young couple, the Hinojosa family. They are from a tiny, rural town, and speak very little Spanish. They mostly speak quechua, a common native language here. A member who also speaks quechua accompanies us in the lessons to help translate. They understand about 75% of what we say in Spanish and we understand about 50% of what they are saying when they speak Quechua, and the member tries to make up for the rest. They came to church Sunday and really enjoyed it (or what they could understand of it). Thay are progressing slowly, but surely, and if we can help them to get married, they will be getting baptized in mid-March.
Elder Casdorph
I am now in Santa Cruz again. May ward is calles las Misiones. My companion is Elder Laura and he has 21 months in the mission. The ward seems really strong, partially because my last 2 areas have been wimpy little small-town branches. There are more active priesthood holders in my ward than in the last 2 branches combined. Among those members are the 2nd counselor of the Bolivia Santa Cruz Mission and the former president of the Bolivia La Paz Mission.
Despite the strength of the members, the area is pretty weak. There have not been any baptims in my area for the last 5 months, and we currently have next to nothing as far as investigators. The only investigators that we do have is a young couple, the Hinojosa family. They are from a tiny, rural town, and speak very little Spanish. They mostly speak quechua, a common native language here. A member who also speaks quechua accompanies us in the lessons to help translate. They understand about 75% of what we say in Spanish and we understand about 50% of what they are saying when they speak Quechua, and the member tries to make up for the rest. They came to church Sunday and really enjoyed it (or what they could understand of it). Thay are progressing slowly, but surely, and if we can help them to get married, they will be getting baptized in mid-March.
Elder Casdorph
Monday, February 10, 2014
Paola
I don´t have much time to write, but what I will write is that Paola got baptised and Alex Rodriquez (the 19 year old that got baptised 2 weeks ago) baptised her. Last Sunday he recieved the Aaronic Priesthood in the office of a Priest and Saturday, he performed his first baptism. I´ll write more next week. The tranfers are in 2 days and it´s pretty likely that my days in Bermejo are over, but I´ll let you all know next week.
Elder Casdorph
Elder Casdorph
Monday, February 3, 2014
Paola y Alejandro
Alejandro (Alex), the investigator who got baptised last Saturday is doing REALLY well. He is now the #1 miembro misionero in all of Bermejo (and I know all of the good member missionaries in Bermejo). He´s given like 8 referrals, and has gone with the missionaries to teach those referrals. Friday, he went with one companionship in the morning, another in the afternoon, and with us in the evening. Yesterday, he brought his girlfriend to church. Two weeks ago he gave her a Book of Mormon and a couple of days ago watched The Testaments with her. In church yesterday, a couple of members mentioned baptism to her, and she asked, "Who do I have to talk to to get baptized?" Today we are going to have our first lesson, but it looks like thanks to a couple simple efforts of a recent convert with a powerful testimony, she´s ready and willing to receive the Gospel in her life.
We will be having another baptism this Saturday. Her name is Paola. She´s a single mother, who really likes the church and the Gospel because she feels like it will help her to be a better mother (and she´s right). She was also a referral from a member in our branch. Her whole journey in the Gospel started when Bro. Meriles gave her a copy of The Family:a Proclamation to the World about a month ago.
The prophet recently said: "Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him. He has prepared the means for us to share the gospel in a multitude of ways, and He will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work." I can see the Lord fulfilling His prophetic promise here as the members and missionaries work together.
My mission changed June 23, 2013, because of what the prophet said. I don´t know how things have changed back at home, and if they have not really changed much, I invite you: Go and find the missionaries and ask them how you can help them. Share your testimony with a friend. It worked with Alejandro, it worked with Bro. Meriles, and it will work for you.
Elder Casdorph
We will be having another baptism this Saturday. Her name is Paola. She´s a single mother, who really likes the church and the Gospel because she feels like it will help her to be a better mother (and she´s right). She was also a referral from a member in our branch. Her whole journey in the Gospel started when Bro. Meriles gave her a copy of The Family:a Proclamation to the World about a month ago.
The prophet recently said: "Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him. He has prepared the means for us to share the gospel in a multitude of ways, and He will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work." I can see the Lord fulfilling His prophetic promise here as the members and missionaries work together.
My mission changed June 23, 2013, because of what the prophet said. I don´t know how things have changed back at home, and if they have not really changed much, I invite you: Go and find the missionaries and ask them how you can help them. Share your testimony with a friend. It worked with Alejandro, it worked with Bro. Meriles, and it will work for you.
Elder Casdorph
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)