Link to article and pictures of Seth and the mission President's visit.
http://terryandjanetturk.blogspot.com/2012/10/our-elders-in-laredo.html
Monday, October 15, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Wow, I can't believe they lower the missionary age.... Crazy.
Hey, Everyone!
Well, this week went by alright. Though we did find a wonderful miracle. We've found several new complete families in these past few days. It's been really amazing to watch the spirit work with them even in the first lesson. But we're really excited to work with them and they've already become a big focus in our work for this week. Though it still presents one problem, we have to marry them all. We're working on that part. But there are some public weddings coming up where we can marry them for less money, so we're hoping that they can get their papers together before the date.
Other than that, we've made goals to better ourselves with all of the comitments that they extended during Conference. I made a long list from my notes, and I plan on makeing goals and plans to work more efficently and with the Spirit (and to just become more like Christ, of course). But I could really feel the Lord speak through His servants to help me. I know that they're called of the Lord. And I know that they recieve revelation to help the whole world. And it was amazing to see my investigators feel the Spirit testify the same to them.
But, wow, I can't believe they lowered the missionary age! That's insane. Guys can leave at 18 and girls at 19. That should really change things. There's gonna be a lot more sister missionaries. But like they said, we need them.
And they announced another temple in Peru! So they're gonna go from one to three in a short amount of time! But it's gonna be in Arequipa, which is the hometown of my companion! He totally flipped out the second they announced that! He jumped out of his chair and almost screamed. He held it in, but I could see that it almost came out. But that was super exciting for everyone. The work is really going forward here in Peru. The temples are gonna change the Chruch here completely.
Hope everyone is doing well! Stay safe and apply what you all learned in conference!
Elder Seth Prestwich
Well, this week went by alright. Though we did find a wonderful miracle. We've found several new complete families in these past few days. It's been really amazing to watch the spirit work with them even in the first lesson. But we're really excited to work with them and they've already become a big focus in our work for this week. Though it still presents one problem, we have to marry them all. We're working on that part. But there are some public weddings coming up where we can marry them for less money, so we're hoping that they can get their papers together before the date.
Other than that, we've made goals to better ourselves with all of the comitments that they extended during Conference. I made a long list from my notes, and I plan on makeing goals and plans to work more efficently and with the Spirit (and to just become more like Christ, of course). But I could really feel the Lord speak through His servants to help me. I know that they're called of the Lord. And I know that they recieve revelation to help the whole world. And it was amazing to see my investigators feel the Spirit testify the same to them.
But, wow, I can't believe they lowered the missionary age! That's insane. Guys can leave at 18 and girls at 19. That should really change things. There's gonna be a lot more sister missionaries. But like they said, we need them.
And they announced another temple in Peru! So they're gonna go from one to three in a short amount of time! But it's gonna be in Arequipa, which is the hometown of my companion! He totally flipped out the second they announced that! He jumped out of his chair and almost screamed. He held it in, but I could see that it almost came out. But that was super exciting for everyone. The work is really going forward here in Peru. The temples are gonna change the Chruch here completely.
Hope everyone is doing well! Stay safe and apply what you all learned in conference!
Elder Seth Prestwich
Monday, October 1, 2012
Seth's Birthday Pictures
These pictures were taken close to Seth's birthday...must have been his companions birthday as well. The egg on the head is traditional in many South American countries...not sure why.
General Conference is coming up!!
Hey everyone!
Well, we were
able to confirm Hna. Sabina on Sunday, so all went well. She really
could feel the Spirit and we can see the huge change that she's felt in
her life.
This week I've been working hard on praying at all
moments. While walking, teaching, preparing, everything. I've really
felt a difference in the presence of the spirit. It really comes every
time I ask for His company and for dirrection. It's definitely going to
be a wonderful change in the amount of revelation that I can recive for
my investigators.
We're running into a lot of road blocks with our
investigators as of late. There's a lot of things that are keeping them
from progressing, unfortunately. One pair isn't married and the papers
are in remote corners of Huamachuco (even though they really want to get
married and baptised). One was the best friend of a priest in the ward,
but his parents didn't five him permission to be baptised. Another find
other work that will leave Sunday open to go to church... I feel a bit
frustrated with all of the obstacles that we can't seem to jump. But
we'll keep working and trying to help them find a way to come to Christ
and we'll keep looking for more people who are ready to come to Christ.
We also ended up without a Pensionista this month.
That's a bit worrying for us. So we have today covered by a member who
can feed us once or twice, but after that...
Well, we're
working hard. We've asked the whole ward and even some non members and
everyone has said no. We'll just keep praying and hoping things work
out...
And we don't have a kitchen, so we can't exactly cook for ourselves, but we'll figure it out....
So
during fast and testimony meeting, I really felt touched by the
testimonies of the members who talked about their conversions and about
missionary work. It was just amazing to me the impact that missionaries
and their message left on the lives of these people. There really aren't
many things that someone can give that affects a life every day. One of
the Sisters talked about when the missionaries came to her over 50
years ago, and the story still brought tears to her eyes. It's just
amazing thinking about how greatly this message affects the lives of
those who accept it. I guess it really renewed my energy to work hard to
help other come to Christ. I honestly can't give much that will bring
tears of joy to the eyes of someone 50 years from now, but here in the
mission is probably my best chance to bless the lives of others. And not
just for 50 years, but for all eternity.
I just take, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ keeps giving every day
of your life and for all of eternity. It's amazing to share this with
others and see it work in their lives. I hope everyone can feel the
profound blessings that they recieve by being members of this church.
And don't forget to go to Conference prepared to recieve revelation and answers to your questions!
Love you all! Take Care!
Elder Seth Prestwich
Monday, September 24, 2012
Baptism of Sabina
Hey everyone!
We had another baptism today! Our investigator, Sabina, got baptised. She's the mother of a member in the ward, but she's always been againt religion before. She's had a ton of problems and bad expiriences before and didn't want to get involved at first. But when she prayed and asked God if it was true, she got her answer and everything changed. We had to help her out a lot though, because she can't read or write. So we were always reading from the Book of Mormon to help her gain a personal testimony. She really found everything through prayer. She really has a ton of faith, and even though her other daughters were telling her not to get baptised, she told them that she made up her mind. She told them that she made a promise to God and nothing would stop her from following Him. So that was super cool. One of her daughters told us that she wanted to listen and would like to get baptised as well after she listened to the testimony of Sabina. She lives in another area, but she will still be a wonderful reference for someone.
And as a side note, we finally had a baptism where everything just worked out. There was noise from all the children, but that was about it. We had planned everything a head of time and it actually turned out like we planned. That was pretty amazing. So that's the first time in my mission that that's happened. So I could feel the spirit and relax a lot more that day.
Other than that, I've been eating cow liver with rice and showering in ice cold water every day, so everything is normal. We got "pizza" as well, so that was pretty cool... Though I'm gonna have to eat real pizza as soon as I get back. I can't wait for that and a real hamburger. And real ice cream. And Root Beer. And, well, the list could get pretty long, so I'll just leave it there. But I can't complain in all honesty, I'm really happy here. I guess my blessings all come in different ways.
But I've really been blessed with the chance to help people here. I love every day and every person that we teach. We'll be working really hard to help others see the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Just keep those I teach in your prayers and I know they'll find the faith to come unto Christ.
Thanks for all of your love and support! I love you all and you're all in my prayers!
Take care!
Elder Seth Prestwich (prezz-weish)
We had another baptism today! Our investigator, Sabina, got baptised. She's the mother of a member in the ward, but she's always been againt religion before. She's had a ton of problems and bad expiriences before and didn't want to get involved at first. But when she prayed and asked God if it was true, she got her answer and everything changed. We had to help her out a lot though, because she can't read or write. So we were always reading from the Book of Mormon to help her gain a personal testimony. She really found everything through prayer. She really has a ton of faith, and even though her other daughters were telling her not to get baptised, she told them that she made up her mind. She told them that she made a promise to God and nothing would stop her from following Him. So that was super cool. One of her daughters told us that she wanted to listen and would like to get baptised as well after she listened to the testimony of Sabina. She lives in another area, but she will still be a wonderful reference for someone.
And as a side note, we finally had a baptism where everything just worked out. There was noise from all the children, but that was about it. We had planned everything a head of time and it actually turned out like we planned. That was pretty amazing. So that's the first time in my mission that that's happened. So I could feel the spirit and relax a lot more that day.
Other than that, I've been eating cow liver with rice and showering in ice cold water every day, so everything is normal. We got "pizza" as well, so that was pretty cool... Though I'm gonna have to eat real pizza as soon as I get back. I can't wait for that and a real hamburger. And real ice cream. And Root Beer. And, well, the list could get pretty long, so I'll just leave it there. But I can't complain in all honesty, I'm really happy here. I guess my blessings all come in different ways.
But I've really been blessed with the chance to help people here. I love every day and every person that we teach. We'll be working really hard to help others see the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Just keep those I teach in your prayers and I know they'll find the faith to come unto Christ.
Thanks for all of your love and support! I love you all and you're all in my prayers!
Take care!
Elder Seth Prestwich (prezz-weish)
Monday, September 17, 2012
And now I'm counting down....
Everything has been going well here in Laredo! We've been working really
hard to keep people coming to Christ. We've had a little success in our
new goals of finding families as well! We've managed to find two
families that seem really nice. We'll have to work really hard with them
so they can make covenants, but I feel like they can both progress with
a little time. We're gonna keep looking hard so we can find a family
that's ready and willing to come unto Christ, though.
I was really impressed by the other Elders (Elder Palma and Elder Coronado) in Progresso with their baptism. Their investigator was pretty sick the day of her baptism, but she was still willing to do it. So the two of them brought her breakfast in the morning and managed to find a big portable stove to heat up the water for her as well. She was able to be baptised in luke warm water at least. But it really impressed my how they went as far as bringing her breakfast to make sure she was alright and happy. They really know how to make her feel loved and show that they care.
Nothing way too interesting happend other than that this week. We're just working and hopeing that all goes well! Thanks so much for your support and care!
Love ya!
Elder Seth Prestwich
I was really impressed by the other Elders (Elder Palma and Elder Coronado) in Progresso with their baptism. Their investigator was pretty sick the day of her baptism, but she was still willing to do it. So the two of them brought her breakfast in the morning and managed to find a big portable stove to heat up the water for her as well. She was able to be baptised in luke warm water at least. But it really impressed my how they went as far as bringing her breakfast to make sure she was alright and happy. They really know how to make her feel loved and show that they care.
Nothing way too interesting happend other than that this week. We're just working and hopeing that all goes well! Thanks so much for your support and care!
Love ya!
Elder Seth Prestwich
Monday, September 10, 2012
I still put my fingers on W S A D....
Well, I feel really great about what we could do this week. We've been
really trying to follow the Spirit and be obedient with all the rules,
and it's shown. We've been able to find new people and the people we're
working with have started to progress. Well, two or three of those
people. We're really excited about our two fechas and have, as always,
high hopes for them.
When I was on divisions with my mission leader last Sunday, he started asking me what it was like to be a missionary and how I felt about it. He's preparing to go on his mission, but in this last while he seems to have gotten excited about going. He asked me how I felt being a missionary, and I started wondering about how normal it seemed to me these days. It's what I do every day without rest. I do the same thing every day in the same area, but it somehow stays interresting. I feel a consistent happiness that doesn't often leave me. I guess I just got used to having all that, so I didn't really think about it much. So I sat there thinking about how blessed I really am. I guess I've let consistencey rob me of the wonders that come from this work. So I'm rededicating myself to looking for the little miracles that happen every day.
Oh, and I found out that two more of my investigators that were close to baptism in Huanchaco got baptized recently!
Hna. Cleidy and Hno. Pepe. So that was super exciting to hear about. I'm super happy for them and really hope they can keep strong as well.
As for cool things that I've done these day, it would be when we went to the lake here in Laredo. There a tiny little village that's about a half hour away called Conache, but there's a little lake and some sand dunes over there. It was actually super fun to go. They've got a nice little picnick area to go to and a field to play soccer. We went with a few families from the ward and it was tons of fun. We played soccer for a while, then headed up to the dunes. It was about a 20 minute hike through the farm fields so it was nice and green. Then we went sprinting up the dunes (as far as we could get, anyway) and running or rolling back down. It really made for a good time.
But thanks for the updates! I hope all is well and that everyone is healthy!
I'll be praying for everyone!
Elder Seth Prestwich
When I was on divisions with my mission leader last Sunday, he started asking me what it was like to be a missionary and how I felt about it. He's preparing to go on his mission, but in this last while he seems to have gotten excited about going. He asked me how I felt being a missionary, and I started wondering about how normal it seemed to me these days. It's what I do every day without rest. I do the same thing every day in the same area, but it somehow stays interresting. I feel a consistent happiness that doesn't often leave me. I guess I just got used to having all that, so I didn't really think about it much. So I sat there thinking about how blessed I really am. I guess I've let consistencey rob me of the wonders that come from this work. So I'm rededicating myself to looking for the little miracles that happen every day.
Oh, and I found out that two more of my investigators that were close to baptism in Huanchaco got baptized recently!
Hna. Cleidy and Hno. Pepe. So that was super exciting to hear about. I'm super happy for them and really hope they can keep strong as well.
As for cool things that I've done these day, it would be when we went to the lake here in Laredo. There a tiny little village that's about a half hour away called Conache, but there's a little lake and some sand dunes over there. It was actually super fun to go. They've got a nice little picnick area to go to and a field to play soccer. We went with a few families from the ward and it was tons of fun. We played soccer for a while, then headed up to the dunes. It was about a 20 minute hike through the farm fields so it was nice and green. Then we went sprinting up the dunes (as far as we could get, anyway) and running or rolling back down. It really made for a good time.
But thanks for the updates! I hope all is well and that everyone is healthy!
I'll be praying for everyone!
Elder Seth Prestwich
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