🙏🏻"What A Time To Be Alive"🙏🏻 Week #78

What's Up everyone,

 If i was a Sister I would be Home Right Nawww!!!! It's all good tho I'm excited for the next 6 Months! Wow Oh Wow I can't believe I only have 6 Months! You know I'm gonna be Grindin' till the day I fly home!!! Hah ummmm at least I'll try.....ok enough Trunky Talk! This past week was ok, a little slow but it's all good. We are trying to build this area and figure out where we want to take it. We did have some good things happen!! 

This Week we had Zone Conference! It was pretty good, I really liked President Clark's Training, he talked a lot about being positive and all that we do in the aspects of our missionary work. He also touched a lot on loving our companion and how important it is to have the spirit in our companionship. It is so hard to teach by the Spirit when you don't get along with your companion I'm so thankful for the companions that I've had and the great friends that they've been!! :) I also really loved my boi, Elder Christensen's training on Faith in our planing shout out to him!!! 

We had a decent lesson with this new investigator we are going to be teaching hah it was kinda rough but we made it through haha.. As we were teaching Elder Reyes went off hahah he kinda confused himself.... He was explaining how Prophets work and said "its just like talking to your mom the phone is the Prophet and your mom is like God and that allows you to here what she is saying" hahahahaha it was pretty confusing, Elder Reyes is a good teacher it was just one of those moments hahaha. her name is Brooke and she is 11 years old, she is the niece of Brother and Sister Rodriguez from the ward. She is interested and overall I think she understood the lesson for the most part. We hope to keep teaching her and we can see where it goes!! 

This next week should be good, We will be going to the temple with Willie, it will just be a temple tour. We want to get him to the temple soon to do baptisms. Bishop wants him to learn his priesthood responsibilities first, so this last week the young men in the ward helped him learn how to pass the sacrament. Willie is the Man. Makyla our other investigator on the other hand isn't doing as well. We were unable to see her this last week and she didn't make it to church, we're hoping to see her this week and we hope everything goes good.

Something I wanted to share this week comes from a talk titled "Gospel Learning and Teaching" by David M. McConkie.....President Thomas S. Monson taught: “We watch. We wait. We listen for that still, small voice. When it speaks, wise men and women obey. Promptings of the Spirit are not to be postponed.” You must not be afraid to exercise your agency and act upon the thoughts and impressions that the Spirit of the Lord puts into your heart. You may feel awkward at first, but I promise you that the sweetest and most gratifying experiences you will have as a teacher will be when you submit to the will of the Lord and follow the promptings you receive from the Holy Ghost. Your experiences will strengthen your faith and give you greater courage to act in the future.

Well everyone I'm still doing good, it was weird hitting my 18 month mark and just knowing that I only have 1/4 of my Mission Left. I love it tho so I'm happy to continue serving the Lord and Growing in the best way that I can!! BLESSED, the scripture I would like to share 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   I know it is important to listen to the Spirit in all we do, especially missionary work. I love this scripture and I love you all have a good week!!

Elder Gentry

FOM                                   Me and my Homie Thornock on our 18 Month Mark!!
                                                        We were at the MTC together!!

                                                            Me and The Goob!

                                               Willie Looking Sharp!!    and message from Willie

🙏🏻🙌🏻"Peace In His Holy House" 🙌🏻🙏🏻 Week #77

What's up everyone, 

Elder Gentry coming at you from the land of Deland!!! We have officially finished half of the transfer and this next week I hit my 18 Month Mark!! Elder Reyes and I have been puttin' in the Work! Things have kinda been a struggle lately but I know the Lord will bless us as we continue to work hard and show love to the people we are workin' with! This week we had some good things happen!!

Willie received the Aaronic Priesthood and it was pretty cool to be a part of that and to see how far he has come from the day we found him to now! The members have done a really good job at helping him, we had 3 members that bought him some clothes to wear to church. We also had a member just take off his suit jacket and just give it to him, it fits him perfectly. The members have been really good to him. This next Wednesday we will continue working on his Family History so we can get him to the Temple soon.

Things are going ok with Makyla, we are still visiting with her and were doing are best to help her progress. She has been struggling a little bit and hasn't been reading but we hope things pick up and she continues to do the things that will bring her closer to her Father in heaven!

This week I had the Privilege of attending the House Of The Lord!! I always love going to the temple, this was my 3rd Temple trip of my mission! There is always a special spirt that you can feel at the temple that you can't feel anywhere else. I feel so close to my Savior Jesus Christ as I attend the temple, I really feel that this last visit has really given me that extra motivation I need to continue working hard and finishing these last 6 months strong!

Something I wasted to share this week comes from a talk given by Bishop W. Christopher Waddell titled "A Pattern For Peace" Each time we attend the templej--in all that we hear, do, and say; in every ordinance in which we participate; and in every covenant that we make--we are pointed to Jesus Christ. We feel peace as we hear His words and learn from His example. President Gordon B. Hinckley taught, “Go to the house of the Lord and there feel of His Spirit and commune with Him and you will know a peace that you will find nowhere else.” I know that attending the temple is very important not only for the work that we can accomplish but to give us that peace we need to keep moving forward in our lives!! I love the Temple!

Well another week about to begin, we do have some things going in this area. It has been though lately but we will continue to put trust in the Lord and we will work. I love this great work even when it's tough I know that the Lord has qualified me to do this!! The scripture i would like to share this week comes from Revelation 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. Love you all have a great week!!

Elder Gentry

FOM

We Goin' Zero to 💯 Real Quick WEEK #76

What's up everyone, 

Elder Gentry and my boi Elder Reyes are doing very well, this week has been tough! We have had a ton of appointments cancel on us and it's just been one of those weeks haha. Hey it's all good tho, we will bounce back and kill the Game!!! One thing that's cool is even in the bad weeks you still can see the Lords hand in your work and you have some good things happen! So even tho it was a tough week I can say good things happened!!

So update on Willie, He is doing very well and he just had his interview with the Bishop yesterday and will be receiving the Aaronic Priesthood next Sunday!! He's been doing really good and he has told us that he feels super Blessed, he just got a new full time job and he said he's already seeing the blessing of tithing! He said I like these blessing but I want to help others have them too! He told us this week that we the missionaries are his new superheroes!! This is the reason I love this work, bringing blessings I've seen in the Gospel to other people!! I love my brotha Willie!!

We have done a lot of finding this week with all of the appointments canceling and it's been tough and really has tested my patience. I know that there are prepared people and we just have to find them. We will keep doing are Best and pushing through!!! 

We had a really good lesson with Makyla, it was on the Word of Wisdom and we were able to talk about how are body's are temples and we need to take care of them and keep them healthy, we also answered her question about tattoos and helped her understand why we shouldn't have them. She's doing really well, we did move her baptismal date back to the 17th, she said she has been worried about it and she's not sure what happens at them, the other Ward is having a baptism next week and she said she would like to go to check it out. Makyla is awesome and we know the Lord will bless her and help her make this right decision! 

Something I wanted to share this week is from a talk given by Elder Randall K. Bennett, "Your Next Step" The Lord more than matches our willingness to act in faith. Our willingness to take a step is not just met; it is exceeded by the Lord’s promised blessings. Heavenly Father and our Savior are eager to bless us. After all, They ask only for one-tenth of what They bless us with and then promise that the windows of heaven will open! Whenever we willingly act with faith in Jesus Christ and take another step, especially an uncomfortable step requiring change or repentance, we are blessed with strength. 

Things here in Deland are going good, I love my mission and the blessing that come from this great Work!! Elder Reyes and I will keep pushing forward with faith and do the best we can to help build up this area!! The scripture I would like to share this week is Mormon 9:22 For behold, thus said Jesus Christ, the Son of God, unto his disciples who should tarry, yea, and also to all his disciples, in the hearing of the multitude: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature; Love this Scripture, Love you All!! Have a good week!

Elder Gentry

FOM

🙌🏻🙏🏻Way, Way, Way Up!!🙏🏻🙌🏻 week #75

What's Up Everyone,

This is Elder Gentry coming at you from Deland!!! This has been a great week, My new Companion Elder Reyes is a great guy and we are going to get along really well! Elder Reyes is Super funny and he loves to laugh so it always makes the day better. The work here is going pretty good, we have some good things that will be happening this Transfer and I'm excited to do the Lords work!!

Willie is doing really well!! He is pumped and fired up to share the Gospel, he has already handed out 2 copies of The Book of Mormon to some friends of his. We brought Willie out to a lesson with us and it went really well. He was excited to be there and told us after the lesson how thankful he was that we took him out with us to teach. It's been so cool to see someone recognize the blessings of the Gospel in their life just in such a short time. Once again Willie is the man!

So the lesson we brought Willie out with us we went and taught Makyla and she is awesome she is 15 years old and her Grandmother is a Returning LA! We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we invited her to be baptized and she said "Yes" we set a date for her to be baptized September 3rd!! Willie helped a lot in the lesson and he was able to testify to her how much of a blessing it has been in his life to make the decision to be baptized. She made it to church this past week and said she really is enjoying it. We will be seeing her 2 X's this week and were excited to help her and work with her. 

Something I wanted to share this week comes from chapter 1 of Teachings of the president "Howard W. Hunter" ...If our lives and our faith are centered upon Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong. On the other hand, if our lives are not centered on the Savior and his teachings, no other success can ever be permanently right. …Brothers and sisters, you have and will have worries and challenges of many kinds, but embrace life joyfully and full of faith. Study the scriptures regularly. Pray fervently. Obey the voice of the Spirit and the prophets. Do all that you can to help others. You will find great happiness in such a course. Some glorious day all your worries will be turned to joys.

Im doing really well, The work here in Deland is moving forward and I'm enjoying it, I'm happy to be grindin' the streets with my bro from the Bronx!!! I love my mission. Shout out to the Goob (Elder Gubler) for sharing this scripture with me!! The scripture this week is Mosiah 5:4 And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy. Love this scripture, love you all have a great week!! 

Elder Gentry

FOM

😂🙌🏻Wet Willie🙌🏻😂 Week #74

Hey everyone,

 This week was Amazing!!! Things are going really good here in Deland!! I'm super happy to be here in this area. So news with transfers, Well Elder Olsen is going home and I've really enjoyed my time with him and I wish him luck!! My new companion is Elder Reyes!! He's from New York and he's 28 years old, I've heard a lot of good things about him so I'm super pumped!!

Well the best news of the week! Willie  was baptized! It has been so cool to witness all of this and see the change in him from day 1! Elder Olsen and I ran into him the 2nd day I was here and he has just progressed so much. It was an honor to be able to baptize such a wonderful person and a "Straight Homie" He was so happy and everything with the baptism just went perfect and it all worked out!! Willie is the most kind hearted person I've ever met and he's so respectful to everyone! The ward has done a really good job at a being his friend and making him feel welcome!! I'm thankful that the Lord put Willie in my path!! 

So I received some sad news yesterday, Elder Hawkins my last companion, gave me a call to let me know that Brother John Moore passed away. I was very sad to hear that. He was a great man and I'm happy I got to spend the time with him that I did! I always loved putting a smile on his face! And I will miss our Awkward Hugs every time I left his house haha. Elder Hawkins and I had some good times with Brother Moore and I'll never forget them! I know God has a plan for him!

Something I wanted to share this week comes from a talk given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, The Hope Of Gods Light...Your Heavenly Father knows that you will make mistakes. He knows that you will stumble--perhaps many times. This saddens Him, but He loves you. He does not wish to break your spirit. On the contrary, He desires that you rise up and become the person you were designed to be. To that end, He sent His Son to this earth to illuminate the way and show us how to safely cross the stumbling blocks placed in our path. He has given us the gospel, which teaches the way of the disciple. It teaches us the things we must know, do, and be to walk in His light, following in the footsteps of His Beloved Son, our Savior. Light Overcomes Darkness Yes, we will make mistakes, Yes, we will falter, But as we seek to increase our love for God and strive to love our neighbor, the light of the gospel will surround and uplift us. The darkness will surely fade, because it cannot exist in the presence of light. As we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. And day by day, the hope of God’s light will grow within us, “brighter and brighter until the perfect day

WOW!! Another transfer in the books!! This last transfer has been amazing! We have seen the Lord bless us countless times for our efforts! This work is great and I'm happy to be a part of it. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything!! The scripture I would like to share this week is found in John 8:12  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. I'm so thankful for my savior Jesus Christ and the Light he gives to all of us!! I love you all have a wonderful week!!

Elder Gentry

FOM                                     Willie Was so Pumped!!

                                             This Experience has been a blessing!!

  Got too see My Man Tyson Stiggins!!! 

                                            I will miss Brother Moore, Such a STUD!!!