League City (Bay)by!!

This last week has gone by sooo fast! Last week felt like I was cramming everything in that I could last second. But, it is nice to be a regular missionary again! Serving the Lord has changed my perspective on how I take things. Like, opinions, good/bad news, etc. 

As we go through our daily/weekly/monthly lives, how often do we sit down and ponder what we have read in the scriptures? Like Moroni's promise in Moroni 10:3-5, if we read, ponder, and pray SINCERELY, we will receive an answer that it is true! It has been promised by a Prophet of old, as well as our current Prophet and Apostles that the scriptures can and will give us answers to anything and everything that we want. WE just have to put the work into it!

The work is hard here in Houston, but it is even more hard for y'all at home. Our testimony is being attacked from EVERY angle that the deceiver can think of! Are we fighting against these attacks, or are we just giving in?

In 1 Nephi 15:24 it says: "And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction."

As we CONTINUOUSLY feast upon the words of God, we are strengthened against those fiery darts of the adversary. Do we want to defend ourselves?

I sure as heaven do! So as I feast upon the words of Christ, I know that they tell me ALL thing which I should do! 

My challenge to y'all is to read 2 Nephi 31:19-21, then ponder on what you read, and email me back with what you got out of it.

I love all of you! Keep being those Disciples that I know you can be!

- Elder Yates

 

(we obtained one picture this week from Elder Yates' new companion's mom, say hello to Elder Gillies!) :

 

This is it.....

I got the opportunity these past 6 months to serve in the wonderful
ward of Sienna Plantation 1st. I have loved being able to be around
these amazing members! They all have amazing testimonies and love
being around us as missionaries. I am going to miss them, but I am
glad to know that the Lord trusts me enough to know that I am going to
be doing good somewhere else in the mission.

I recieved an email this morning saying that I am going to be serving
in the Bacliff area in the League City Stake/Zone! I will be serving
in the Galveston area at least for the next 6 weeks! I am serving with
Elder Gillies! He was trained by the Elder Johnson from my MTC
District! Small world... I will let y'all know of my new address when
I get it!

I have had a lot of cool experiences this week! I have been blessed to
hear and talk to multiple people whos faith and testimony are stronger
than most people that we talk to. I love being able to knock doors and
talk with everyone we can! It honestly sucks actually, haha, but I
love being able to just testify to people. When they go to slam the
door in my face, I just ask if they know anyone who could use any
help, if they need any help, or if we could give them our card. It's
really awesome to see someone who is almost fuming with anger that we
are "Soliciting" just turn to a very nice human being because all we
want is to serve people.

This Gospel truly blesses families! It has blessed mine! Because of
this Gospel I have been able to witness the beautiful blessings that
come from having an eternal family! I love knowing that because we
have been sealed by the proper authority, we will be together forever!
I KNOW that the Lord wants to give us all of these blessings, but it
is our use of Agency that God has given us to make these choices. So,
the questions I have been asking myself lately are...

1. How is my testimony of the Restored Priesthood?
2. Do I know that I will live forever with my family? If so, why and
how do I know that?
3. How can I strengthen my faith in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ?

I implore all of you to think of these questions yourself. Think of
how you can bless your own life or the life of your family. Then, go
out and do it! These things are essential to our returning to our
Heavenly Father! He needs us to have these things if we want to dwell
with Him forever!

I love all of you! I am so proud to be out here representing the Lord
and my family! I am proud to say that I have never missed a day of
reading the Book of Mormon every day since being on the mission, and I
will never miss a day in my entire life! I know that this church is
true! I know that the saving ordinances come in and only through this
church, no other way. Keep praying, keep reading, and keep sharing!

- Elder Yates

All I have to say.....

Well, I have to formally apologize to everyone reading. I have been busy beyond measure this Monday... But, just know that my testimony has been strengthened from hearing our beloved Prophets and Apostles. I know the Book of Mormon is true! I know that God still speaks to man today! And I know that through the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ we have the opportunity to return to live with our Heavenly Father through our faithfulness and through our actions that we make.

Never stop being true to what you believe, who you serve, and why you are serving.

I love you all!

- Elder Yates

 

1) Calculator Watch Crew.

 

 

 2) A beautiful sunset.

 

 3) District 41B in the flesh!

 

4) My personal wall in the apartment.

The Atonement, BIG or little?

As a missionary, you learn to adapt to what you have been given really quickly. There are always new things that are thrown (or slammed) in front of you. If you can't adapt to what you have been given, it's really hard to be able to perform missionary work to the best of your abilities. This past week, well I guess two weeks, I have been having a lot of self-reflection. I have had to look at where I am standing in my own personal testimony, how my relationship is with my Heavenly Father, and if I have been using the Atonement in my life.

The Atonement is commonly connected with BIG sins, but from what I have learned and from what I have been able to understand is that The Atonement is the greatest tool to our own conversion. A quote that I have always loved from President Gordon B. Hinckley is: "You never truly fail, until you have quit trying.". How many times do we feel like we have failed? How many times do we feel like there isn't any hope... "I've already gone too far, might as well just give up". I have felt all of these multiple times in my life. But, as I have adapted to the mission field, it required me to utilize the Infinite Atonement of Jesus Christ.

As I have gone through these last couple of weeks, I have been focusing a lot on my personal commitment to the work. Again, this requires the use of the Atonement. Why? His Infinite Atonement fixes everything that we have ever done wrong in our lives. This includes for me lately not working hard enough, singing non-church songs, etc. All of these things can be given up to serve Him more fully. So that's what I have done!

My favorite part of this week has to be when I used my Priesthood worthily to give 3 people a blessing this week. The coolest experience was when one of those was an investigator named Mike Mack. He told us that he has been feeling sick lately, and both Elder Smith and I felt inspired to ask if he'd like a blessing! After he agreed, we asked if he had the faith to be healed, and he said yes I do! The spirit was so strong! I know that through is faith and through exercising our Priesthood worthily, he can be healed!

Now my question that I pose is this: Have you given up?

Because I can promise, our Lord and Savior hasn't given upon us! I can promise this as a representative of Jesus Christ. Never give up on yourself, because the Savior will NEVER give up on anyone!

- Elder Yates

Below are some pictures of Jacek, just being Jacek!

 1) My impression on Donny Trump

 

2) Me as a semi-normal human being

 

 

 3) Me, Elder Lofgran, The GREATEST Mission President of all time!, Elder Bovee, and Elder Smith (wearing donated t-shirts from a local college, just because)

4) Me as a not-so-normal human being! Haha

Elder Yates, Pres. Barrow (my cousin, and former MP of the Busan, Korea Mission), Elder Smith

We'll call this one Short and Sweet.....

 When we asked Elder Yates about how he's doing and what he has learned this week, here's what he said:

 EY: "I am doing great because of how much I have learned from the scriptures!"

Us: "Was it one particular thing that stood out to you?"

EY: "As for Captain Moroni, I love how strong his faith and understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is. When he is fighting the Lamenites for the first time, he stops right before he could kill them and gives them a second chance, and then gives them a third chance to live after another battle.

Sorry that I am not going to be able to update everyone this week. I have been very distracted today with being around a lot of different missionaries.. Haha, but here are some photos for y'all!" 

-Elder Yates

1) Writing our number on a million different pass-along cards.

2) Me, Elder Johnson, and Elder Whetzel at our trainee's 8 week training.

 3) How high the water got in some areas. It's about 3 feet from the height of the road.

4) How Elder Smith and I have felt these past couple weeks from all of the service we have done. Except, he actually fell asleep! Haha

Assessing the damage...Then moving the damage!

Well, I have received instruction this week to send an update on how life is going down here in the great "country" of Texas! Haha

So for this week, we had a very busy schedule! Elder Smith and I have now helped muck out 14 houses in the Houston area! No matter how damaged, moldy, or wet they are, there was always an opportunity to tell people about the Gospel!

One of the houses we served at, we were helping a lady named Amy. Her house had over 2 feet of water, and all of her possessions were just ruined. We were able to help her take out the most important things to the back so she could sort through what she wanted to keep/throw away. After a hefty chore of moving items around the property, we were able to get to the fun part! Ripping up her kitchen!

We were instructed to rip out all of the cabinets/granite from her house so we could get to the floor to make sure that there wasn't any black mold down there. While working, we met this really nice guy named Mike. He has never wanted to talk to a Mormon Missionary until he saw how much we loved to serve. So, we started to talk to him about his religious life, and we found out that he believes in a lot of the same things that we do!

To make a long story short... He agreed to have some missionaries come over and talk with him about Jesus Christ and His Gospel! Woo Hoo!!

-Elder Yates

1) Elder Smith and I finishing cleaning up a new house

2) Elder Low, VanMaren, Smith, and I ripping up Wood floors.

What the cuss Harvey?!

This week has literally been the hardest week of my life! Last Sunday we were stuck inside ALL day! We had to do everything we could to not die of boredom! On Monday, after emailing our families, we received a phone call that all of Sienna was on Mandatory evacuation! We hurried home and got packed up and went to a member's home for 3 days! It was the craziest experience that I have ever had! We stayed with Brother Gerald and his wife, Sister Sims, Sister Mosely, and Brother and Sister Nelson. We all had a fun time together and learned a lot about each other. But, after 3 days, I could only handle so much! Haha

After the storm passed, we went and surveyed the damage... Half of our area was underwater, but not nearly as deep as downtown Houston! But, now it was the waiting game to see if the river would cap over and make the houses go under even more, or it would drain out into the ocean...

Luckily it drained! Once it did, we were able to go and help muck out some houses. So far, Elder Smith and I have been to 10 houses to help get the Dry-wall and carpet out of! I actually really like doing this type of work! I get to rip out the houses without being yelled at for it! Haha, along with that, we have been making sure that everyone in the surrounding neighborhoods are being helped. Funny thing is, whenever we go to a house, they tell us that there are too many volunteers and that they don't need anymore help! I guess that's a pretty good problem to have!

Personally, this has been one of the greatest experiences in my life! I haven't worked this hard in the history of ever, prayed harder, or slept less. I know that all of these things are just here to test me and to show my true love and devotion to this Gospel! I surely do love this Gospel! I love Jesus Christ! And I especially love the Book of Mormon! Without all of these things, I wouldn't be able to be out here serving!

- Elder Yates

Don't worry little flock

Don't worry! I am alive and well!!! I am not hurt. So, you can all rest easy! Hurricane Harvey is nothing compared to the Texas Houston South Missionaries! We went out and helped clean up a tornado that landed 5 miles away from our apartment on Friday, which was awesome!! Haha, I know that everyone is freaking out, but I am having a blast! We were told to stay in our apartment ALL day yesterday, and I just about died... I thought I would never say that, but after about 4 or 5 hours of not doing anything, I was flipping out! But, after a good night's rest last night, I am doing great now!

Oh boy, if you could all see the flooding and damage done by the winds and the rain... Oh wait, y'all have the internet! Haha, there have been so many times where us as missionaries have wanted to know what it looks like outside, but we can't see because we have our apartment complex surrounding us. A lot of you are wondering how I am doing, and like I said earlier, I am doing great! As far as emailing goes today, I won't be able to email as much as I'd like... But, I hope that this is okay!

 

Elder Yates 

  Elder Smith, me, Elder Johnson, and Elder Newby

The damage done from a tornado that hit near us

Favorite missionary story!

Alright, so today I am just going to talk about my favorite missionary story in the Book of Mormon! Alma and Amulek!

These two are the greatest! They both had "hardened their hearts" towards God, and had rebelled in His teachings.

We already know about Alma the younger. His father was a Prophet and led the people. Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah were the "very vilest of sinners". But, the Lord had a plan and work for them to do!

Amulek on the other hand was a very popular man! He had many friends, a large reputation, and a lot of money! He was called many times to hear and preach the word of the Lord, but never listened until the 4th of July!! He was spiritually freed on the day of our freedom as Americans! Haha, just had to throw that fun fact in there! But, after he had been freed and accepted the call, and Angel appeared to him and told him that he and Alma were going to preach the word of God!

Pretty sick mission call if I do say so myself! Told to him by and Angel of the Lord!

Well, after Alma had already gone to Ammonihah, he was commanded to go back and preach repentance and to baptize! So, Alma and Amulek did just that! They were preaching the Doctrine of Christ, and no one would listen, until Amulek got up and bore his testimony!

From this point there was a large portion who immediately started repenting. But, the chief judges didn't want to listen, so they threw Alma and Amulek in prison and then made them watch those righteous people have to perish because they did believe.

At this point Amulek is afraid that they are going to die, so he voices his concern. But Alma says "Be it according to the will of the Lord. But, behold, our work is not finished; therefore, they burn us not.".

He literally says, "We haven't given our message, so God won't let that happen!". Isn't that awesome!? 

As a missionary in the Lord's army, I have the courage to continue talking to everyone I see. This is only the first part of the story, and I would love to continue telling you the rest of the story, but I challenge you to go read the rest! 

- Elder Yates

1) Helping some former investigators

2) Elder Smith and I joining the Houston gangster squad!

3) Super pretty sunrise (this morning)

Do you want to partake?

First, a fun fact that I learned this week! "Beth" is the second letter in the Hebrew language, and means house or place. So, Bethlehem means house of bread!!! Isn't that awesome! 

As I went through another week of deep diving into the life of Jesus Christ, I came across John 6:35. It reads "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.".

As I thought about this verse, I wondered to myself if I am coming to him and partaking of that "bread of life"? Now, I would like to pose the same question to y'all! Are you extending your hand and partaking of that bread of life that will lead you to everlasting life?

In Alma 5:34 it says "Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely;". Now this is just yet another witness to me that Jesus Christ is what we should CENTER all of our lives on. Not just read the scriptures, go to church, pray, etc. No, as we are nearing the second coming of our Redeemer, we need to completely surround and center our lives on Jesus Christ!

Comparing those scriptures, some thoughts I had were: We have a choice to come unto the Savior, but He is begging us to come and partake, I also had the thought that as we do partake of the bread and water of life (the sacrament), we are able to do so freely and have more of a spiritual abundance in our lives!

From a recent message on LDS.org, "When you reach for the Sacrament, you reach for the Savior", we read about the woman who reaches for the hem of the Saviors garment. As we think about the faith and the desire to be made whole, use this analogy with the sacrament! Do you have anything in your life that you are feeling guilty about? Anything that you wish you could get rid of? etc...

Well, just like Brent Croxton said, "During the weekly sacrament we, in our need, can touch the hem of the Savior’s garment as our hands and hearts reach to receive the Bread of Life and the Living Water, our Savior, Jesus Christ. We, like the woman, can be made whole."

Finally, I'd like to say something to anyone who is reading this, and feels like they have "gone too far". There is never a place too dark, too deep, or too far away that the light of the Savior can't reach you! And, if you feel like you don't need this saving power in your life, or it is "not for you", then you need to change your mindset, and get to fixing that! Trust me, when He comes again, and He will... You will want to be able to look Him in the eyes and not have any regrets or fears from our past.

I love all of you, and I know that it seems a little harsh, but I am out here serving the Lord, and something I have learned is that we all need to be repenting and asking for help EVERYDAY!

I can testify with all the power on conviction of my heart that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the only way back to our Heavenly Father! I can testify as a representative of Jesus Christ that the cleansing power of the Sacrament is real, and has healed me! I know that everything I have told you is true, and have only found for myself by reading and praying!

That is my departing challenge, to read about Him! Read and pray! Then, go and find ways you can all become closer to Him, and ways you can be a better disciple of Him!

- Elder Yates

1) My lizard friend I caught that just ended up chilling on my hand. Haha

2) Elder Smith getting a "tan" on the inside of his arms!

3) Elder Unick (one of the APs) and I after an awesome day of exchanges!