New Area--Nueva America

I am comforted to know that grandma went peacefully I know that she is with Grandpa I know they are enjoying an eternal life together with a fullness of Joy and happiness. I have been really comforted to know that The Plan Of Salvation comes directly from our Father in Heaven who created this Plan so that we WILL be able to return to him again. 

Well this week has been really interesting so far here in my new area. I am current in a area called Nueva America 2. Well I will start with the first couple of days here in my area. Well I arrived and got settled in and unpacked my bags and all that good stuff. When I finished we left to proselyte and visit. On our way out the door I met the owner of the whole house. We started talking and then she accused my companion that another joven had slept over that Sunday. And she called us liars on the spot. Great first impression that she gave me. I started to try and reason with her to understand what was going on. I told her that I just got here and I have no clue what is going on. But I told her that she didn't know the whole story it didn't line up.

Well this place is pretty awesome I will tell you that! There are mountains! I love to climb! I will send pictures so that you can see them. Pictures speak louder than words. 

I am still district leader and yes I have a new companion!! His name is Elder Villagran! He speaks English but I talk with him in Spanish always.

2 Baptisms!

NOTE FROM MOM:
Nathan's grandmother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on May 23. It was very hard for Nate to not come home, but he seemed to work through it and study more of the Plan of Salvation. Nate wrote his testimony to her. It was beautiful. Grandma died on June 4. We were able to talk to Nate's mission president. The President said that Nate is a wonderful missionary. Every area where he goes lots of work gets done. The President said he wishes all his missionaries were like Nate. That was a sweet tender mercy to hear at a tender time.

Hey mother, 

This week has been full of surprises. Well this week seemed to go by really slow because we had 2 baptisms this Saturday! We are really truckin along here in Sol Del Pinar! I have been recently study the Plan of Salvation a lot more in depth. With the news of Grandma and all. I have really started to understand this Plan a lot more. There was a scripture that I came across a scripture in 2 Nephi 9:6-7.

 6 For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.

 7 Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.

The two people that we baptized this Saturday!

Well this week we have been working soo hard. We have had a really good time here in my area! We Baptized 2 people this Saturday. I will attach photos later. But they are soo awesome. The Lord is always blessing us in our time of need. Well I don't know if I told you all but recently I have been called to be District Leader! It has been alright. It isn't really that hard. I just have to be the example all the time in all things... not that hard right? Haha but I know that the Lord is helping me work through my faults and helping me learn even more in this calling. 

This Month of June we have another baptism! And we are going to help marry a family and then baptize the Wife! We have a lot of good things that are going for us here! The ward is helping us now. 

Well this week as a Stake we had a service project. There is a street here that is really busy and really dirty with garbage. We got

Cleaning or hardly cleaning.

together as a Stake and we did a big cleaning of this street. It took us 4 hours of cleaning but we finally completed it! 

Well just wanted to tell you a little bit about what has happened this week and what is coming up! 

Elder Spencer 

At first we didn't have shovels or brooms so pick up the trash. And me being a Boy Scout found a pipe and started to work.

Humble

Mom! 

This week has been a very humbling week. I have learned so much about myself this past week and the kind of person that I want to be. This week has been humbling because I recently became District Leader. I have been studying to find guidance about how to be a better leader. But then I remembered that the best Leader in this world was Christ. He lead by example. I am trying to do my best in this calling. God obviously wants me to learn something from this calling. And everyday I am trying to find it. I have come to the conclusion with these three steps: 

1. Always try

When we try to do our best and serve others they see that we really care about them and want to help them. Trying is the best way to show your love and compassion. 

2. Don't think about yourself. 

When we are constantly thinking about others and what they need we gain even more love for them. 

3. BE FUN

No one likes those office nerds that do the same thing every day. Crack a joke every now and then. Show them that the Work of The Lord can be accomplished and you can have fun in the same time. 

Well this Monday we will be hold a World Cup with the mission! I am soo excited to participate! We have been practicing for a month preparing ourselves to win! The style of play here is sooo different then the states! I have adapted! I will be taking a bunch of pictures don't worry! 

Well this week was so satisfying! We baptized this young man at the beginning of the month and received The Priesthood this Tuesday! I will attach a picture so that you can see! Also in the picture is his mother who is going to get baptized this Saturday! We are planning on preparing Aaron so baptize his mother! This is the plan! 

Just wanted to tell you guys how much I appreciate your prayers and your support! 

Elder Spencer

Love these people!

Working with the Members

This week has been so good it went by really fast that is for sure! There is so much to tell and so little time to tell it all!

Well this week we have been working so hard with some of the members to help us out with some of our investigators. The members here are always ready to help us with what ever we need. They really are awesome! Well this week we taught one of the references that we received. He is really awesome! We taught him the first lesson and he understood really well! Then Friday we had a lesson with him and we invited him to baptism and he accepted! June 6th is when he will get baptized! Sol del Pinar is being so blessed right now! 

Where I do my studies!!

A couple weeks ago we found a less active family! They recently moved here and they attended 2 weeks ago and we have visited them. The young man has a girlfriend and they want to get married and he wants to get baptized! So we are teaching her and him to get married and baptized this next month! The blessings just keep coming. I don't know how to explain them! They are just miracles that God gives us! When we are obedient of course!! 

My balcony!!

WE have many other people that have potential and we are teaching and finding here in my area. We are doing the Lords work here and living it up!!!! 

Mosiah 2:41 

Elder Spencer 

My little kitchen ;)

Preach My Gospel

This week has been full of surprises and spiritual experiences. Wow where do I even begin. Well we started out this week... not so well. We only had 5 lessons in two days. I was really starting to judge my teaching and finding skills. I started to read Preach My Gospel about how I could improve these skills. And what do you know the next day we taught 6 lessons. Which was crazy!!! And the day after that we taught 9!! I have a strong testimony of Preach my Gospel! It really was written for our use! 

Well we have been working really hard! I am soooo tired all the time but I just have to keep going. I can't really tell if I am sick or what I am just tired all the time. I hope I am able to jump this. But we have been soo blessed thanks to the obedience that we are showing to God! We were walking in the street one day like 2 weeks ago. And we meet a kid. He told us that he lived in this area but was going to a different church that was really far away and he asked us if there was a closer church. And we told him that there was and he gave us his number and left. Well... to continue the story we were knocking some doors and we had so idea where he lived. And we knocked his door!! We started talking and then he invited us in! The lesson that we had was indescribable. The spirit was so strong!! We invited him to get baptized and he said yes! We are going to help him prepare for this 30th of May!

Another story! ;) 

Well we had a baptism this Saturday! WHOO!! ( I will send pictures ) But this joven is really really really cool! We meet him a while back! But I thought that he was a member. But he wasn't. It was actually really funny when I found that out I asked him if he wanted to be. And he said yes! And from there we taught and taught and helped and helped for a long time! But this Saturday he got baptized! But that wasn't the story ;) The coolest part is that his mom came to the service! And she expressed that she wanted to get baptized to. She had been talking to the Jehovah's Witnesses. And she just didn't feel right about them. She told us after that she felt a Spirit during the service that she had never felt. That day, 2 of May in the evening, we passed by and talked about it. And she also accepted to get baptized this 30 of May. And we are trying to prepare her right now. 

Another cool fact ;) 

Her son got baptized. Obviously I have said that like 100 times. But he is 17 years old which means he is a Priest!! And he is going to be ordained! We are thinking that he could baptize her!!!!! AHHHHH!! 

Well this Sunday has been better then the rest! Our investigators came!! Also a less active with his girlfriend who is not a member. He told us that he wants that she can be a member too! And we have planned to visit them this week. Another potential baptism! 

I know that God looks after his children. We just have to put our trust in Him and do the things that we wants to do to really receive the blessing that he wants for each and every one of us! 

Elder Spencer 

Ouch!

This week has been a really good week as far as the work goes! I keep forgetting to write in my journal so that is why my emails have been a little short. But we had a really active week this week. We met some really cool people and had some really cool experiences. 

Well to begin this week I had an ingrown toenail. I don't want to send a picture. I think you will freak out. This happened Monday. All the last week I had pain in my toe. I was trying to take care of it myself and I thought it would go away. But obviously it didn't. We found a nurse in the Sisters area that is a member and she offered to operate on it. I wasn't very enthusiastic about that. I knew it would hurt sooo bad!! But that night we went to the members house and she told me that she has been practicing Podologia or the study of toes for 13 years. I didn't even know there was such a practice. We arrived at 5 and left at 6:30!!! It hurt sooo bad! I couldn't walk that day so we didn't work. I started to think about the Atonement of Christ during my operation. And that he had felt this pain. Something as silly has a ingrown toenail--he has felt that pain. 

But last week we found a really cool kid. He lives by a Emmanuel Church. He told us that we could come by and talk with him that Friday. We arrived at the designated time and he wasn't there but we found ourselves with his brother. Who was a die hard member of the other church. We started talking. We started talking about baptism. And he told us that by faith we will all be saved. I told him directly that he was wrong. And we read John 3:1-5. After that the things he was saying were contradicting the things that he said earlier. He told us that we were Anti-Bibles. But we explained to him that we were reading out of the Bible. He didn't say much after that. A little later we was just trying to argue with us. And so we left.

We have been working with a young man to get him baptized. But last week he didn't come. We taught him that what he did was not okay. And we explained The Day of Rest of the 100th time to him. But this time it stayed. And that same week we visited him again to teach him The Commandments and we repassed The Day of Rest. We visited him on a Saturday and I asked him what day was tomorrow. And he told me The Day of Rest. And I asked him what we do and he told me we go to church! And this week he came! So this Saturday we are going to have a baptism!! :) Whoo!!!! 

My comp is doing soooo much better! He isn't really homesick anymore. Just Mondays when we write our families! But we have progressed so much! We are great friends now! He is the coolest guy! He is sooo funny! 

We are teaching a family right now they are really cool! They are understanding what we are teaching. But they aren't married! So we are going to invite them to get married and baptized this month! Hope all turns out well. 

I found a scripture that is really cool that I would like to share and it says: (In Spanish) 

Hermanos, yo mismo to pretendo haberlo ya alcanzado; pero una cosa hago:

 olvidando ciertamente lo que queda atrás; y extendiéndome a lo que esta delante. 

Filipenses 3:13

 Brethren, I do intend to have apprehended ; but one thing I do:

 Forgetting what is behind ; and straining toward what is ahead. Philippians 3:13 

Baptism!

Hey Mother, 

This week has been really good! We finally had a baptism here in my ward! The first in like 3 or 4 months. This ward is struggling really hard. We don't have that many people attending. We have the members. But they are aren't coming to church. We are trying to reactivate them. 

We have been working really hard here. We are working really diligently. I have a lot of pictures that I need to send you so you can see how my week has been because pictures speak louder than words. 

But one thing that I want to share with you guys is what I have been studying. I have been studying the Grace of Christ. I was reading in a Liahoana about the Grace and how that Christ and God require so much of us so that we can have a life like Christ. And that through his grace we are able to understand his Misery and The Atonement. In the end this talk said a phrase this is so true. It said," Su gracia es suficiente." ( His grace is sufficient) I know that without the Grace of God we couldn't receive the blessings that we wants us to receive. I am going to keep studying to understand. And the talk said that if we understand the Grace we will understand what we need to do. 

A bike that I found and had to get a picture! 

I also found a cat! 

And a ice cream bike!  they have an annoying horn that they blow!!! 

And I got a picture with a manhole. 

I baptized this little girl! Her name is Liset! 

Elder Spencer