'Tis the Christmas Spirit

There is a Mormon Message that I absolutely love during this time of year. It is about what the Christmas season should really be about.

The reason behind Christmas

This is the link of you want to watch it, I highly recommend it!

As we went about our week, the day that stood out to me the most was Wednesday. We had our yearly missionary Christmas Conference! We started it out by listening to fellow missionaries get up and read out of Luke chapter 2 and from other Christmas stories. In between those stories, we sang as a whole, and there were a couple songs that the choir got up and sang! The spirit was so strong! 

After that, we went and had A TON OF FOOD!!! We were blessed to have Trike, Brisket, and Smoked Sausage! Man, I haven't been that full for a while! Actually, more like Thanksgiving! Haha, along with the food, we had an awesome jazz band play for us! 

We were then able to have an awesome talent show! We heard so many different talents ranging from guitar solos, to piano solos, to violin solos, and back to guitar solos! ;) We also had in between those, some stand-up comedians from the crowd! One of those comedians was myself! My jokes weren't very funny, but I got maybe 2 or 3 people laughing, and that made me happy! I was also nervous beyond nervous to be up there telling jokes that I had only heard within the last 6 months. Haha, but it went well.

Something that I have loved this year has been all of the service that we have been able to give to the people in this area. Last night, we gave the best service that I have been able to be a part of. We went and sang at a retirement home and sang the the folks there, and were able to bring the spirit of Christ himself! I love this Gospel. I love the Christmas season. And I especially love the spirit that comes with this season!

- Elder J.T.Yates

That Jazz band that I was talking about.

What the Lexington building looked like during the Christmas conference.

Elder Whetzel and I.

Elder Lofgran, Bovee, and I getting that "pop" on! Haha

Sister Wilkinson and I.

Santa's not-so-little helpers

Man Oh Man! Was this week awesome!!

I am going to try something a little different this week... So here we GO!!

Monday: The usual P-Day, playing scatter-ball (free-for-all dodge-ball), went shopping, and I got a haircut. Then at night we went to a former investigator's home and shared a message with him after he had fed us chicken and dumplings. We will see where this goes.

Tuesday: We went on exchanges with the Spanish Elders today. I went up into their area, and Elder Gillies stayed in our area. The exchange went really good, and we were all able to learn a lot about how to be better missionaries. After the exchange ended, we went Christmas caroling to an old-folks community. That was awesome! There were 9 missionaries there and the older couple that were members that sang with us.

Wednesday: I am still getting used to leading District Council, but it isn't as bad as I originally thought it would be. After all of our studies, we went down to the farthest regions of our area, and tried some referrals and tried to teach them about the Gospel, that didn't end up working out, but we did end our day by finding and teaching one of the daughters of our most progressing investigator!! That was awesome!

Thursday: In the morning, we started by helping out a less-active member with her gutters. they literally had trees growing in them! One of the members that was there took us out to eat at the most ghetto Chinese/Japanese/I have no clue what food it was restaurant. But, was still super good! We ended our night by imputing like a million progress records into our devices so that we can make them digital.

Friday: To start the day, we went down to Texas City and helped out the Salvation Army again. They had over 1300 boxes for families that got displaced in Harvey. We went through and sorted out all the boxes and made sure that every child had a present! It was so awesome to be able to do something like this for people in need. After helping the Salvation Army, we went to League City and helped out at a Methodist church as they were passing out food for the homeless and the less fortunate. Without the missionary force, there would be so much service gone undone.

Saturday: On Saturday, we went back down to Texas City and helped actually pass out all of the clothes/toys/bikes/beds/etc. It was so cool to see the smiles on peoples faces as we would give them their Christmas presents! To end our night, we went to a member's home where their son is going to London, England for his mission, and they had their open-house.

Sunday: To end our week, we had church!! The literal best part of the week! We were able to partake of the sacrament and renew our covenants that we have made with the Lord. We were even able to go help usher at a Methodist Christmas conference! It was called "The Messiah". It was actually super sick, they had a ton of opera singers and a fairly large orchestra.

Now that I have told you all about my week, I am sure that you are just begging for more right?? Right! That's how the Gospel is, when you learn of something, we shouldn't push it away and say that we already know enough, but we should be always searching for more in our lives.

In John 5:39, it says: "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

How often do we search the scriptures for that eternal life that it is talking about? How often are we pondering on the things that pertain to our salvation? Most importantly, how often are we sharing those most precious truths with those that are around us?

As we are constantly sharing the Gospel, the Lord promises that He will bless us for our efforts! I promise, as a literal representative of Jesus Christ, that as you share the Gospel with friends and family, you will feel the spirit more in your life! I can testify to you that what I say is true, and I promise these blessings in our Lord and Savior's name, even Jesus the Christ. Amen.

 

Elder J.T. Yates 

 Elder Whetzel posing very nicely for the camera!

 

Our exchange selfie (Elder Merrill and me)

 

 Our study table. Can you tell which side is mine? (The right side)

Elder Whetzel and I being Santa's not-so-little helpers!

Small acts, BIG miracles

This week was another one of constant confusion. 2 weeks ago, our mission was one of the first 5 missions in the United States to receive smartphones. Which has really made missionary work easier for us. But, it has been a hard transition from paper copies of everything to digital. It's crazy the amount of trust the Lord has in this generation of missionaries. I feel like I don't live up to His trust, and then he hands me something else.

As we have been going through the past records, there are so many times that I have seen small miracles that have been seen in this part of the Lord's vineyard. It feels like I am not making a difference at times, and I know that I have felt that before in the past, and that some of you feel that way now. But, I can promise you that these feelings in our lives are not true!

In Doctrine & Covenants 18:15 it says:

15 "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!"

My experience on a mission has only been 8 months, but I know that through these small efforts that I am performing, large miracles are taking place. I have talked to so many converts of the church who through a life lived in the shadows, are brought to the light by our love and devotion to Christ. Performing service truly brings joy unto our hearts.

I love the Savior. I love this Christmas season. This year, join me in continuing to "Light The World" through service. If you haven't already been doing it, join along and share the blessings of this Gospel. If you are already doing this, keep sharing the light of Christ and show Him how much we can do to give back to Him during this season.

- Elder J.T.Yates

Elder Gillies and I built a snowman! In flippin' Texas of all places!

Elder Whetzel and I after some service with the Salvation Army. With some eggs and Elder Ledezma photobombing.

The Salvation Army's setup for their Christmas service.

A Chinese Buffet that we ate at after a different service. With some fresh squid! Tasty!

A couple of cool Texas Elders!

And Thus We See........

This week was probably the weirdest week for me... On Monday, we received our very own smartphones! Tuesday we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. On the exchange, we learned how to better use our phones for missionary purposes. Then, on Wednesday we had a zone conference with just Elders... That was the strangest part. We learned how to keep our hearts on our purpose as a missionary. From Thursday up until now we have been visiting with members and less actives trying to find new investigators through them as well as bringing them closer to Christ. 

I know that there are many parts of the scriptures that have affected so many of us. But there is always something that has stuck out to me: "And it came to pass..."

Whenever you read this in the scriptures, this is when Mormon was abridging the plates of Nephi. This always sticks out to me because of how much work Mormon put into abridging the plates! He took the time to make sure that we have the most important messages that we could use in our day.

I know that I am terrible at taking the time to write emails, so just rely on Mormon! Haha, I love you all!

Elder J.T. Yates

On the way to Galveston!

Using the new phone to edit those nice photos! ;)

The pleasure pier off of the Sea Wall.

Just the Elders at Zone Conference