Showing Charity and Gaining Faith!‏ Week 30!!

Hey everyone,
Well another week has gone by, can't believe I am entering the last week of the transfer. That's so crazy I will find out what will happen next Saturday and I will let you guys know on Monday. I think me and Elder Gillen Will be staying together, it should be awesome because I love that guy. I think Elder Black will be leaving and I'll miss him a lot. It is been a fun week and we got a lot of work done and We were able to see some success.

We had a really good lesson on Tuesday with one of our less active members, he is a really good guy and he was really nice to us, from what we gathered he was pretty strong in the church but he got pushed into doing a lot of things and it kind of pushed them away. So we did our best by just showing love towards him, cause at this point I think that's all we can do trying to push him to church won't help. It will have to be done with charity, so our plans are every week or two we will just share a spiritual message with his family and try and help them with whatever they are going through, something I have learned is we need to take care of the members we have before the lord will trust us with bringing others into the church.

One thing that I've been struggling with is having faith, having faith in the people that we talk to that they will be interested in wanting to learn and wanting to hear from us. One day this week I was kind of sick of doing anything and Elder Gillen suggested we go knock a street and I was just thinking yeah that's gonna work ha ha anyways we went to knock the street and we found three new investigators from it. Sometimes it's so hard to be faithful and my companions have to have that faith for me but it is so cool when you do something that you have no faith in and something good happens, it is such a faith Builder for me. 

I gave a training this week in district meeting, about loving the people around us especially our companions. It all kind of comes back to we treat those we love and care for the most worse than we treat people we don't know. I love my to companions Elder Gillen and Elder Black and I've learned a lot from them. but the things that I shared in my training was that Jesus Christ loves everyone with a perfect love. And if we can just look for that perfect love and apply it to those around us especially loved ones it will help us grow as individuals and grow a stronger witness of Jesus Christ. I also think it is important to Forget One's Self, Forgetting One’s Self-The Mission is not about you, Put Companions, Members, Less Active's, Recent Converts, Investigators and Contacts above you. We as Missionaries need to look for opportunities to be an example of the Pure Love of Christ.

This week went really well and I was able to see how showing love and caring for others help strengthen my faith in finding and in this wonderful work the scripture at like to share with you guys this week is 1st Nephi 1:20 .....But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance. Love and miss you all have a wonderful week. :)

Elder Gentry

FOM

Not my will, but thine, be done!‏ WEEK 29!!!

This week went pretty good, even though there were some disappoint. The reason for that is we had 5 people lined up to come to church and none of them showed up. It can be frustrating sometimes but I know if I just keep working hard and doing my best I will see results and I will be able to see people receive blessings. A lot of good things did happen this week though and I have been able to see not only myself grow a stronger testimony for this great work but I have been able to see the missionary's around me grow, especially my companions. 

On Tuesday we had a way good lesson with a less active member and her non-member sister and nephew. Her nephew had been struggling with nightmares so she asked us to come over to give her nephew a blessing, with her asking us to do this is shows that she has faith that a priesthood blessing can help, we ended up giving all three of them blessings and have been able to see the lords hand in our work. We had a really good Restoration lesson and we invited them to be baptized and they both said Yes! It was pretty exciting to see them go from not caring at all about the church just 8 weeks ago to wanting to be baptized. We are hoping this week to set a date and prepare them the best we can for baptism.

Something I shared In District meeting this week that really got me thinking: He trusted His Father, declaring, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done,” and then He exercised His agency to suffer for our sins. Through the humiliation of a public trial and the agony of crucifixion, He waited upon His Father, willing to be “wounded for our transgressions … [and] bruised for our iniquities.” Even as He cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? I really like where it says He Exercised his Free agency, because "not my will, but thine, be done" we all have the choice to do good and I'm so happy that I have exercised my free agency and have made the choice to serve a mission. And I'm thankful for the opportunity to grow a stronger witness of our Savior Jesus Christ!

Last night we went to the Why I Believe Fireside, it went really good and it was a good opportunity to hear others share their testimony of the Gospel. One thing that is tough when teaching others is helping them have to desire to have a spiritual experience and witness that this is Christ's Church and it has been restored to the earth again. So it was cool to have some of my investigators hear the stories of many who were once in there shoes. And have strong testimonies witness to my investigators. 

Once again I am Blessed to be a part of this great work and I'm looking forward to this next and am ready for the challenge of preparing others for baptism. The scriptures I would like to share this week is 3rd Nephi 13 9-13. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 12 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 13 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. Love you all have a blessed week.

Elder Gentry

FOM 

Decisions Determine Destiny Week 28!!

                               B-Day Cake Elder Gentry  Made Elder King

Elder Gentry's Mark is to the Right of the K

Hey Everyone,
This week was pretty good, we had Zone Conference on Tuesday and it went really well. We also were able to help a lot of people this week and bring them closer to their savior. This week we also did a lot of searching to try and get those select people that have faith and are prepared to receive the restored gospel. Sometimes it's hard to have faith when searching  because there's a lot of people that just reject and don't care or want to hear what you have to say. It also can be very frustrating because you know how much you can bless and will bless their lives if they just accept and listen.

This Tuesday when we had zone conference it went really well, there were some things that were said by the trainings that were given that really stuck out to me. Sister Berry when she was giving her training she first focused on cherishing mothers. It had been the three-year mark since her mother past away, It really got me thinking and realizing how blessed I am to have the mother that I have and how thankful I am for the support and the love that she show's me. She also focused on how decisions determine destiny. Decisions bridge the gap of what we know and what we do. She also said don't put the keys of your happiness in someone else's pocket. I realized how much even the little things can change our happiness and future and how we all need to be striving to do our best to make the right decisions.

A miracle that happened this week was a guy that we've been working with for over eight weeks in our ward has had a lot of ups and downs in just two months, he's had a lot of struggles with addiction to things that hold him back from doing the things that are heavenly father want us to do. But it is so cool because he's decided that he doesn't want to do any of those things and he wants to be closer to the Savior and heavenly father and come back to church and to bless the sacrament again so it's been a really good getting to know him and helping him change and know what he needs to do to. He has become a good friend and I have loved seeing him change his life.

Another really cool thing that happened this week, is we weren't really sure what to do and where to go so we all said a prayer and we decided to go visit this random girl who we just thought about in our area book. She was so happy to See us and she has been stressed out of her mind and she can't think straight. It was so nice just to go over to her house and to be able to help her with anything that she needed and to be able to give her a lesson that Heavenly Father and the savior are always with us at all times so we are never alone in times of struggle and in times of need. Really cool to help someone out even if she wasn't interested in coming to church or being baptized it was still awesome to help someone out and make someone feel good.

It was a really good week and I got to see how the gospel once again helps so many lives, I'm truly BLESSED to be doing what I'm doing every day and enjoying every second of it the scripture I like to share with you guys this week is Alma 12:24 .....therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead. This is such a good scripture and I know that this is the time to prepare to meet God and that's why we need to be making good decisions that bring us closer to thee. Anyways Love you all have a great week.

Elder Gentry

FOM

Let us pray, then let us go and do. Week 27

Hey everyone,
This week went really good we are able to see a lot of success. We were able to find some more people to teach and to bring others closer to thee and thy son. I find myself becoming really good friends with my two companions. Elder Gillen has a great sense of humor and likes to have fun. While black is more on the serious side he still likes to have fun as well and wants to be the best missionary he can be. This week was the first week that we get to be on bikes so We're out their biking those hills having lots of fun And most importantly getting work done. 

We had a really good lesson with our new investigator Rochelle, she is a referral from some missionaries and the Tampa Bay mission. They ran into her and showed her because he lives video and she was really interested in meeting with missionaries. So we went and saw her and she is so prepared and ready to receive the restored gospel. She says she has been looking for something that she knows is missing in her life, it's so cool to slowly fill that void for her. We invited her to be baptized and she said yes so she's a really big focus for us to get her ready for that day. In our lesson we focused on the importance of church and to be taking the sacrament weekly. The spiritually refill that we get each time we take he bread and water. 

Things aren't going as well as we wish they would with Cesar, we were going to try to put on one date this week but it doesn't seem he is ready for that and he's not really committed to living the Gospel so while we will slowly work with him and try to help him be ready will do all that we can to help change his desire and change his mind. We still had some really good lessons with him but we just don't feel like he's fully committed. 

During district meeting this week we focused on a talk given by Thomas S. Monson, they pray and they go. Something that really stuck out to me was: "Let us, as a mighty body of priesthood, be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Let us pray, then let us go and do" what I really took out of this is us as missionaries we receive so many good trainings and talk that help us become better missionaries, but we need to take the things that are said and apply them to actually make them useful so we must pray and then go and do. I also liked "Should any of us feel inadequate or tend to doubt the ability to respond to a priesthood call to serve the Lord, let this divine truth be remembered: “With God all things are possible.” As we grow our faith and work hard even though biking hills are not fun we will se miracles as we work hard and with faith.

Tomorrow zone conference goes from6:30 in the morning to 3:30, even though it is early I am excited to learn a lot and apply it to my area. I'm looking forward to this next week not only because we have the car haha but because we have a lot of things going good, the scripture I like to share with you guys this week is Mark10:27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. Love you all have a great week.

Elder Gentry

FOM

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