How the Book of Mormon and the Bible Intertwine, May 17, 2021

Hello all! Hope you had a great week.

Elder Hatch and I have been really studying on how the Book of Mormon and the Bible support each other. It has been very enlightening to study the Bible and how it talks about the restored gospel. I have began to learn more about a big part of peoples culture here. Religion is huge and an important aspect of live here. Reading what they read is helping me connect to them better. 

Elder Hatch and I made our own belts! That was a really cool experience. I will send a picture of what it looks like. Pretty cool memory. 

I had my first Spanish meal. We ate a south american dish, and the whole conversation was in Spanish. I was able to recognize a few words and with their body language I was able to comprehend a tiny part of what they were talking about. It was a good learning experience. I love you all. God does too. 

Elder Spencer

Slept in the Middle of Our Apartment! May 10, 2021

Hello everyone! Did any of you get lots of rain this week? We sure did here.

On Saturday morning at 4:30am  we were woken up by intense lightning, heavy rain, and thunder. We thought a tornado was going to come. So we each got a blanket and slept in the middle of our apartment away from all the windows. Luckily there was no tornado! 

Elder Hatch is a great companion. He is happy and excited to work here. We are still going to be doing english work but we will be starting to build up the spanish work here with another set of elders. We went to the spanish group this Sunday. I recognized a few words they said but overall I did not comprehend most of what was said. "Line by line, precept by precept, here a little and there  a little." (2 Nephi 28:30) That will be me.

We met with Joseph and Kaylee this week! We taught them the rest of the plan of salvation. Joseph had a great question about where we get the details for the three kingdoms of glory. The verse in 1 Corinthians 15 does not have much detail. We shared D&C 76 with him. We will see if he read that. 

I hope you are all doing great! Love you all, Elder Spencer

 

Elder Hatch and I

                                            My trainer Elder Decker has another Trainee! 

                                                                Bye bye Elder Buhman

                                                                                Skating!!!

Vaccine Number Two, Transfers, and Sacrament May 2, 2021

Hello everyone! I trust you are doing well and staying happy. 

What a week! We had our transfer calls and I am staying here in Springfield, MO! My new companion is Elder Hatch. He is a Spanish elder so we are going to be assisting some other elders here in Springfield with the Spanish work! We will have to see how much of my three years of high school Spanish I will remember. My companion Elder Buhman is being transferred to Joplin, MO. He is a great guy. He taught me how to teach better and to be an obedient missionary. I have been blessed greatly because of his example and leadership. 

I got my second Covid Vaccine this week! With the first one my arm was just sore so I thought it would be the same for the second. Well it was definitely not. I got real sick in the night. I had the chills so I went and got on a hoodie. Than I got really hot and threw up. I felt miserable the entire night but the next day after more rest I felt better. I am glad that I have been fully vaccinated though! 

Church on Sunday was amazing. We invited our friend Joseph and his wife Kaylee to come to church when we met with them last week. They said they would come. Well Sunday rolled around and who do I see walking up to the doors? None other than Joseph and Kaylee! We brought them in and introduced them to a family in the ward. They sat beside them and got acquainted. I think they really enjoyed the service. I was really happy to see them there. What made me more happy though was they kept the commitment they made. They said they would come to church and they did. That is special. 

Hope you all enjoy this first week of May! Love, Elder Spencer

Six month mark tie burning! (Don't worry. It wasn't one of my personal ties. I just got one from a thrift store) 

Talking to my Brothers and Sisters, April 26, 2021

Is the sun shining where you are? Yes, the Son is always shining where you are. You just have to look up and feel His warm loving rays.

This week we talked to a lot of people. We shared the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ with them through an experiment. It is really amazing what happens. Once conversation begins, I don't have to think about what I am going to say. The words just come to my mind. One friend in particular had some concerns. I quietly listened to what he had to say, listened to what my companion had to say, than opened my mouth and spoke. I was able to learn more about his beliefs and care about them. I did not feel angry or frustrated because he wasn't listening to what we were saying. Instead of ending in an argument over beliefs, our conversation ended in peace and knowledge gained.

We drove to Elder Buhman's old area for a baptism. It was nice to have a road trip! I hope you get a chance this week to listen to some of general conference again. I have found it really uplifting to go back and relisten to the words spoken. 

Love you all, Elder Spencer 

Disc Golf!

Both My Companions, April 19, 2021

Bonjour mis amigos y mi familia! My home and native land and the land of the free 🇨🇦🇺🇸 other languages are cool. 

This week I had lots of practice talking to people. I am still not a pro by any means but you know what they say, "practice makes perfect." I participated in two Book of Mormon experiments which really help me reach out and talk to those around me. Many people do not accept our invitation to read a page from the Book but those who do like what they read and a few of them have accepted to meet and talk about what they read. Jessica, Jacob and Steven are those people we found this week. Hopefully we can meet with them soon. 

I watched an amazing missionary devotional by Elder Holland yesterday. He stressed the importance that we as missionaries always have the Spirit with us. In our finding, teaching, studying, and preparing. Because we should have the Spirit with us all day we need to try our best to watch what we say, do, and act so we can have the Spirit with us. I have a companion, Elder Buhman. I am responsible to stay with him, within sight and sound so we keep each other safe. The Holy Ghost is also my companion. I need to do all I can to have Him with me to keep me safe. Sight and sound for BOTH of my companions. 

We did some biking this week. Rain and shine. I was singing songs to keep me going. Elder Buhman thought is was funny. 

You guys are awesome. Love, Elder Spencer

Setting up Visits, April 12 2021

Hello my family and friends!

This week we made a big push for finding. We sent out a lot of texts, some Facebook videos, made and delivered free service flyers and did two Book Of Mormon experiments.

I had my last interview with President and Sister Strong this week. It is always so wonderful to be with them. I always come out knowing how I can improve myself so I can them better help those I serve. Cleaning out the debris in my life so I can be worthy and prepared to bring others unto Christ.

I really enjoyed listening to the 2021 Youth Music Festival this week. I believe it happend in the end of March. The music is really well done. You can watch it if you look it up on comeuntochrist.org or on the Sacred Music App.

This is my update for this week. I hope you are all staying healthy and strong. Stay safe.

Love, Elder Spencer

Vaccine and Getting Dropped, April 4, 2021

Hello everyone! This week I got my first Covid Vaccine! It is pretty amazing that I have the opportunity to get the shot. I am trying my best to help lower the cases of the virus so we can get back to our normal activities. So we can enter the temple again. That will be an amazing day. I was so happy to hear the announcement of twenty new temples! The work is moving forward!

The sad news this week was that Teresa and Lori have decided that they do not want to take the discussions at this time. It was sad because we had just found them and got really excited about teaching them and helping them come closer to Christ. I don't think our efforts were in vain though. I gained more experience and grew my faith. 

We had some great experiences with Bryan this week though!! Bishop came to one of the lessons. That was so awesome. He connected quickly with Bryan and even invited him and us over to his house for dinner. He lives really close to Bryan so he will be able to give lots of support and encouragement. Bryan also came to a session of General Conference which was so great! He is a good man. 

I had the opportunity to attend a baptism this week. That was so amazing to see someone make a covenant with God. Before my mission I took baptisms for granted. Now that I am a missionary however, I have really started to see how much goes into a baptism. People make a lot of changes in their life to follow Jesus. It takes a lot more effort than I realised. It takes faith. 

Elder Buhman and I are really going to make a push to find people to teach. It is one of the hardest things to do. It takes time, diligence and effort. "For behold, angels are declaring it (the word) unto many at this time in our land (Springfield, MO)" (Alma 13:24) With these encouraging words from the Book Of Mormon I know we can find those who are ready to recieve the gospel.

Love you all, Elder Spencer 

Andy's ice cream

                                                                                Vaccine