Feliz Navidad from Bridgeport, Washington


Hola! Feliz Navidad! espero que todo esta bien y ustedes estan difrutando este tiempo hermosa del ano
Hello! Merry Christmas I hope all is well and you are enjoying this beautiful time of year!
I'm doing very well! I was pretty sad to leave Moses Lake-all the people I love: The (9th Branch, and Investigators past and present-ecspeacialy my good friend Oscar. It was an incredible experience leaving my home and going to Moses Lake-I consider Moses Lake my second home!
Love you Elder Nunez!

Moses Lake became my 1st 2nd home

Bridgeport is soooo cold but I am truly loving the type of people that live here. 90% of the people we meet in the tiny town of Bridgeport speak spanish and work in the outlining apple orchards. They work 10 hours a day even in this freezing weather. It's been a pleasure to get to know some of them. They are so grateful for everything they have. One of the things that strike me most is how even when they have to get up super early to go to work in this cold weather they continually thank God for another day of life. I feel so blessed to know these people. I pray that we can find a way to help them accept the complete joy and truth that is found in the restored gospel
These people are very kind and loving even when 2 white boys who speak poor spanish knock on their door at 8:30 when its 10 degrees. However, it is very difficult to understand how they feel when we don't completely understand the language, we can't express our thoughts completely, and the barrier that their Catholic belief produces often a severe difficulty in establishing return appointments.

Nevertheless we are working hard to learn spanish(I study hard, listen to conf. talks in spanish whenever possible, and talk as much Spanish to my companion as possible until I become very tired) and yesterday we received a little light about the approach we can take to help establish return appointments with these people. WE NEED TO OPEN THE SCRIPTURES! We will strive this week to turn these people into Book of Mormon loving Catholics by opening the book of Mormon, testifying of the love of Christ it brings, and describing that this book is about their ancestors! I'm excited! This'll work if we are perfectly obedient, have Faith, and work hard!
We did something like this with a very hard working, close to God Father named Bolivar who welcomed us into his home on a very cold night this week. It was such a tender Mercy. He testified of how all things testify of God and that he is always there for us. We were lead by the Spirit and I opened up a Libro de Mormon to him, gave a quick overview by sharing pictures of Lehi leaving Jerusalem on the ship, Alma baptizing in the waters of Mormon, and Christ coming to visit these people on this side of the world. Even though the holy Ghost was with us we saw the nervousness in his eyes. I hope he felt our love for him and will choose to follow our invitation to read and pray.

The Branch here is so small it mostly involves old men(english speaking) who work/worked on the dam and their families and sadly enough if we don't see more people join the church here-within 15 80% of the branch will be dead... We really got to get going!

Elder Nelson and I are getting along very well! I've loved getting to know him and learning from him. Sadly enough because his first language is English and He's from St. George I already know him better than my last companion Elder Nunez. We set a plan yesterday for door approaches that one of us will hold the pamphlets and pass along cards and the other one will have scriptures in hand so we can open the scriptures right to them and they can know in their hearts that what we say is true and we are mesangers sent from God. We are both excited!

I gave a talk IN ENGLISH on sunday! I gave it largely on the talk that we read together "joy and Spiritual survival" and about opening the gifts Christ has given to us!

I am SOOOO excited to talk to you all this week! Can't wait! Again thank you for all the Christmas gifts, emails, and prayers. I feel them. I really do! Thank you Thank you! 


To answer your questions mom:
Bridgeport is half the size of Parowan. We walk around in 10 degree weather, I love my companion he is a little quite but I'm getting along with him so much better than my other companions largerly because we don't have that culture gap! Bridgeport is 1hr away from the border.
I'm so sorry I can't send any Christmas presents but I'll send a bunch of picutres and videos and letters! Love you all soo much.
And to answer what I hope this week brings to my life... I hope I can make someone happy by bringing them closer to Christ. This is all I want.
I love you all so much!
Mission Amigos

A street I have tracted many times in Moses


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1st transfers

Image
Hello! I made it through the first transfer!!! This week has been fantastic. I'm coming closer to Christ. I'm my first investigator and this one is progressing!  I've learned so much this week. Lately I've been struggling on  how to create a productive language study plan, but I received an answer that really opened things up for me!  Everything we do every moment of the day as missionaries is to help or prepare to help others. My study plan should be soley focused on helping others come unto Christ using whatever materials or methods possible to make that happen. Like my study plan every thing I do from exercising, eating, personal study, companionship study, 12-week training study, sleeping, p-day, taking a minute to relax, teaching, finding, and even using the restroom:) should be focused on preparing to help or helping people come unto Christ!  This concept of everything we do should be focused on helping others come unto Christ is something I plan to c
Read more

Coming Home

Image
  It wasn't Paris, or Zimbabwe, or Portugal- it was Yakima, Washington and to our family it is sacred ground.  Ground that we sent our brother and son to... for two years.  Our other four grew up while Seleck was gone-some of it was pretty tough.  Looking back now, it was worth it. And I am pretty certain we had angels watching over us for those two years.   We arrived at the mission home at 8:30 am on June 19th- a day we had been counting down to for quite sometime.  What a reunion it was!  President and Sister Lewis served us an amazing breakfast- thank you!  We enjoyed visiting with the other Elders who would soon be joining their families across the United States.   For the next four days, we visited, hugged, laughed, and shared so much with the people Seleck served and served with--- there are so many ways to be a missionary- just ask the Schonwald family in Bridgeport, Washington or Brother and Sister Lott in Moses Lake.  And if you want to know a
Read more

The drop off- Weeping Wednesday

Image
Families are Forever...   I am starting a new blog today to record Seleck's adventures as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is his blog.  I am just the story keeper.  Each week I will share his letters, emails, and pictures.  Today, I share with you our "Weeping Wednesday."  We dropped Elder Rigby off at the Provo MTC yesterday, Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at 1:45 pm.  There were 647 missionaries entering the MTC with him. If I ever wondered if these kids loved each other, today gave me the answer.... These three little boys now grown tall have always held my heart! I want to be a missionary now. I don't want to wait until I've grown... Like Father Like Son The best things are always the hardest! There is nothing quite like this bond. Heart wrenching- the birthday brothers!   Seleck challenged
Read more