Monday, July 27, 2015

Comforter, Which is the Holy Ghost.‏ Week 21

                                                         Elder Gentry's new District Minneola South


Hey Everyone,

This week has been pretty great, it's going to be a little different for the next four weeks of the Transfer because one of the Elders from the Minneola North Area is going home Early for Knee Surgery. So Me and Elder Bateman in the Minneola South Area are going into a Trio and we will be covering the whole Ward, Minneola South and North. The Elder that is joining us is Elder Lavin he is from San Diego, California. He is pretty cool and he is ready to work hard. So we are all looking forward to helping strengthen this Ward.

District meeting this week was really good and I learned a lot. We focused on our Purpose on Inviting Others to come unto Christ. And what it means to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. And when we truly accept our Savior and make him the center of our life our desire to grow and learn more of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the Elders in Our meeting was bearing his testimony and he said "I like to think that if Jesus Christ had to die for just one of us he would still do it because that is how much love he has for all of us" I know that to be true and I've been able to see how much love our savior has for us.

One thing we have all been working on this week as a District is our invitation to be baptized in the first lesson, it says in Preach My Gospel "During this lesson, do not hesitate to invite people to be baptized and confirmed. The invitation to be baptized and confirmed should be specific and direct: “Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God? That day we were talking to this guy about our church and he really wasn't interested till I invited him to be baptized, he said "I've already been baptized", so we started talking about that authority and how we know that we have the same authority that Jesus Christ had and he was more interested and wants to learn more so we are looking forward to meeting with him this next coming week.

We had a lesson with Brother and Sister Wasden, Less Active Members in our Ward. They are really cool and they do have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our main focus in our lesson was the purpose of the Holy Ghost. And they both talked about how they have felt the presence of the Holy Ghost in there life. The Guidance that they have been given with making hard decisions. And it made me focus on how much of an Influence the Holy Ghost has had on me and how it has been a huge tool in my life. It also helped me realize the Comfort that the Holy Ghost Brings. They scripture that I want to share this week is John 14:26-27, 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. I love that scripture and it is just so comforting to understand and recognize the spirt. This week was pretty good and I am looking forward to this next week hope you all have a good week. Love ya 

Elder Gentry
FOM

Sent from my iPad

Monday, July 20, 2015

MINNEOLA FLORIDA!!! (My new area) Week 20


Hey Everyone,

This Week has been a good one!! It is my first time moving areas. Me and My new companion Elder Bateman both Whitewashed our new area. Minneola South. White wash is when you take over an area together like replacing the sisters. Me and Elder Bateman are looking forward to working hard in Minneola South. It looks like there is a lot of potential in this area and a lot of part member family's to work with. transfer meeting on Tuesday was pretty great. i was pretty happy and excited when i heard that me and Elder Bateman were going to be companions. he was my district leader in Melbourne, also on Tuesday, Elder Anderson gave his departing testimony and I am so  thankful for the time I had to serve around him in Melbourne.

I had an Exchange with Elder Leishman from my M.T.C. group (in the photo above  not the alligator) it was pretty fun me and him got to work with each other for a day and got a lot of work done. We went and saw this guy named David and taught him the restoration he was really interested in learning more and loved what we had to say. we also had a really good lesson with his less active wife and helped her learn  more about her savior and the power he has to heal us spiritually and Physically. 

We have a pretty good district it is all Elders so we all have fun. My area has a lot of people that are not interested in the gospel so we had to drop a bunch of people and now we are just working thru less actives and finding investigators thru there.

I'm Thankful for this opportunity to work here with an Elder that is very smart when it comes to Missionary work and can help me learn and grow so much. the exchanges that we had in his last area Viera  I learned so much on Teaching simply and how to teach simple truths.  I've learned from him that the Spirit Testifies of Simple Truths. The Scripture i would like to leave with you this week is Alma 37:6 Now ye May Suppose this is foolish of me; but Behold i say unto you that by small and simple things are great things Brought to Pass and Small means in Simple Instances doth confound the wise. 


Monday, July 13, 2015

Goodbye Melbourne!! Week 19

Hey everyone,
So I just found out that I will be leaving Melbourne, me and Elder Honda are both leaving. Sister missionaries are coming in to replace us in our area. I am going to miss it here in Melbourne and all the people here that I've grown to love. But I am also looking forward to a new area and I'm pretty excited for the change and I'm so thankful for this past 4 1/2 months that I've been able to spend here.

Me and Elder Honda had a really good week and we were able to see a lot of success. We had a really good lesson with one of our investigators J. He is been going through some tough times we shared a lesson on forgiveness one of the most important attributes of Christ he really enjoyed it and it helped him a lot. I'm really going to miss J.  and it was pretty hard to tell him that we will both be leaving because it was so hard on him and he's not sure how he'll be able to make the change but I know that he will be able to progress. He is such a good guy and is progressing so well in the Gospel and can't wait to hear how he'll be doing.

We also had a really good lesson with one of my favorite members Brother H, our lesson was on recognizing and understanding the spirit. And how we must be always striving to have the spirit with us and asking for the spirit at all times to help us and guide us through our life. I have been able to see on my mission how important it is to have the Holy Spirt with us at all times. But we also must recognize the spirit and understand what it is teaching us and wants us to do. I'm really going to miss brother houser, he is such a good guy and has such a strong testimony of the Gospel. He is Just so AWESOME.

Friday was such a fun day this week, they did something with the whole Cocoa stake where they had all of the priests and elders that haven't gone on a mission yet have a chance to be with the missionary for a day, i wish I would have got hat opportunity. so I had a new companion on Friday. Ian F. , he is a kid with special needs and has always wanted to serve a mission it was so fun taking him out for the day and he is so smart. He memorized all of the points in the lessons that we teach. So when we would have a lesson he would name a point and I would teach about it then he would name the next point and so on I was so proud of him and he made me so happy that I was able to make him happy.

I am so thankful for the Time that I have been able to spend here in Melbourne and I'm really going to miss all of the members and all the people that I've got to know but I am looking forward and getting pretty excited about my next area. the scripture that I want to leave with you guys this week is Helaman 5:30 And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul. Anyways have a great week love you all.

Elder Gentry
FOM 







Monday, July 6, 2015

CHARITY = Pure Love of Christ Week 18


ChHey 

arity=Pure Love Of Christ

   
1:19 PM
 Hey Everyone this week has been HOT, 

Elder Bateman's  1 Year Mark!! 

Hey Everyone this week has been HOT,

It is getting hotter and hotter each day and more and more humid, when riding bikes it is not the most fun thing in the world. Haha Especially in the rain when you get soaked. And when it rains in Florida it rains buckets. There were two times me and Elder Honda got caught in a rainstorm and nobody likes a soaked missionary, but when you're wet it's fun because you just don't care anymore. But it was a good week and we got a lot done and saw a lot of different people.

We had a pretty funny experience when we were teaching this one lady, Who at one point was atheist but now she believes in God. We were talking about how we believe that we lived in the pre-mortal existence. And as we were telling her this her five-year-old son piped up and said "that's not what we believe but good try Mormons" haha it was pretty funny. But we continued to have a pretty good lesson with her and she's got a lot of logic to what she believes and confusion and we want to help her find the truth.

We had a little miracle when we were grocery shopping, all four of us elders were filling up a cart full of food and this lady walked up to us and said if you're a friend of Jesus Christ your friend of mine, and she wanted to pay for all of our food she spent like $100 paying for all of our food,she was the nicest lady in the world. It's nice to see that there are still good People in this world.

Me and Elder Honda had a really solid lesson with one of my favorite members in the ward brother Houser
, he so fun to be around and he has a great sense of humor. We taught him a lesson on Christlike attributes and how it is important to develop them. We challenged him to do the Christlike attributes activity in the preach my gospel book. My favorite attribute is charity the pure love of Christ. That's one thing that I've learned on my mission is we have to have so much love for the people that we teach. No one cares how much you know unless you show them how much you care.

We had zone training meeting on Thursday, and learned more about the importance of setting goals and I've been able to see that this week as I've applied it. That when we set goals and keep ourselves accountable it helps us improve in the work. We also taught A good lesson to one of our investigators and we can see his progression as we taught him the plan of salvation and help him have a better understanding of God's plan for us.

Me and Elder Honda had a wonderful week and we look forward to having another great week which could be my last one here in Melbourne, transfers are coming up and I will find out if I'm staying or leaving. I really would like to stay because I love the people here in Melbourne but I also kind of want to go to experience something new. The scripture I would like to leave with you guys this week is 2 Nephi 26:30 Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is love. And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish. I hope you all have a great week. :)

Elder Gentry
FOM