Acorn Grove Cont.

Dec. 5, 2011

Hey Capos!

Another pretty great week here in the Acorn Grove (Avellaneda). This week was pretty darn awesome. We had a Gira Misional this week with Presidente Aiduikitus of the First Quorom of the Seventy. He's a great leader from our South America South Area Presidency. He is from Brazil and had the funniest accent. It was awesome to listen to him speak. He talked to us a lot about faith and what it really means to have faith. I loved what he said. "Faith is doing everything you possibly can to make your goals become reality.” As missionaries we are always setting goals. Everyday we set goals for that day, and then we have weekly goals, and goals for the month and goals for the year and goals for the mission! We have a TON of goals. And they are all worthy and achievable. But as it says in James 2 "Faith without works is dead."

If I only have faith that God is going to provide a way to find someone ready to hear this message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and I never leave the Pension then my faith is dead and serves no one. But if I have faith that God will help me find someone and I leave the Pension right on time, talking to every person I can, inviting every person I meet to hear the gospel and I find that one person. Well then my faith proved to be a true faith. Faith always precedes the miracle, but if we don't work for the miracle, it will never come.

I've learned here that God is a God that expects a lot of us. He expects our very best. But when we give that, he blesses us and makes everything we do that much better, that much more effective, it reaches farther and has more power. God is willing to work through me, not for me. Every great example we see in the Book of Mormon and Bible, labored hard in the vineyard. Not one person was ever rewarded for their laziness and they never will be. That is not the program. So if you’re like me and you expect to see miracles in your life, work for them. When you do that, I promise they will come. I've seen it work in my life, and especially this week.

We have found an incredible lady that is ready to change her life. That is what being a disciple of Jesus Christ requires us to do, change our lives and be better. And not just to change one time, but every day until forever. "If your life is comfortable, you aren't doing something right." I'm not sure who told me that but it has been stuck in my mind lately and it is true.

I love you all and hope you are doing well. I'm doing GREAT!!!! Getting into the Christmas Spirit! This Christmas is gonna be way different! That is for sure!

Love you all,

Elder Anderson