In Christ alone

I had such a great week! We had a week where our schedule wasn't very different than most weeks. What made the difference was my mindset that I had. I have been working on becoming consecrated, and this is a hard process...

President Hall had given us a challenge for the month of July before he left. He challenged us to study the Atonement of Jesus Christ everyday, and gave us an outline to help our studies. Through this study, I have been able to feel my Savior's love.

In my studies this morning, I was reading out of Mosiah chapters 2 through 5. In these chapters, I lost count of how many times it said "only through the name of Jesus Christ are we saved", or something along those lines. This single principle answers so many doctrinal questions.

In Mosiah 3:12 it says, "...salvation cometh to none such except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ."

I love how repentance and faith are inseparable. As we have faith, it leads us to act. And when we act on our faith, we repent of the things we have done in our lives that don't align with the Savior's will.

Only through Christ are we saved and brought unto our Heavenly Father. This is my purpose as a missionary; to serve others, and help them come unto Christ. I know that as we increase our faith in Christ and repent daily of the small and simple things, we will see our days, weeks, and life become so much better than we could hope for.

I love y'all!

-Elder J.T.Yates

 My favorite Vietnamese Elder, Elder Nguyen.

 President and Sister Guthrie!!! I love them so much!

Elder Nguyen feeding a homeless cat some squid.

This dude this morning bought 400 oranges! 

Return and Report

Many of you know, this was a sad week for the Texas Houston South Mission. Our beloved and cherished Mission President, President Aaron Hall went home. He finished his 3 years here in the great THSM. It was sad to see him go, but onward and upward!

I am ecstatic to be under President Guthrie's service. He has nothing but love and kindness in his heart for this work, the people here in Houston, and us as his missionaries. Though I have yet to personally meet him, I know that he is called of God! :)

I have been greatly bless to have been able to serve under the guidance and direction of President Hall! He taught me so many plain and precious truths. Of these, one of my favorites is the principle of "Return & Report". 

Every week in the mission, I have sent a weekly email to President Hall reporting of my actions throughout the week. This form of accountability has helped me continue to improve and progress towards my vision, goals, and plans. I will forever be grateful for the accountability I have learned on my mission.

We have been taught that under the direction of Heavenly Father, Christ formed and created all things. After each of these creative periods, Christ would return to Heavenly Father and report upon His actions. Each time, he would give a full accounting and would display His full obedience to the instructions given to Him.

Because of this eternal truth of accountability, I have found myself on the wrong side of the fence, where I avoid accounting for the things I have done. Not because I didn't do them, but because I feel as if I could've done better. Too many times do we feel inadequate and that we have fallen short. In the words of one of our Apostles, "Believe in God and yourself. You are doing better than you think you are."

As I am completely honest in all of my actions, the power and Spirit of God is brought into my life more. That is what I desire most (see 3 Nephi 19:9). This simple yet profound principle is what can and will help us have a more Christ centered life.

As I was pondering what I should write on today, this principle stuck out most because of my own personal lack of accountability before my mission. Now, I have personally felt and partaken of the fruit (see 1 Nephi 8:10-16). And as it says, "...for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit."

Brothers and Sisters, this is merely one of the "fruits". I promise in the name of our Savior, that as you strive to personally develop this attribute of accountability not only to those around you, but especially to our living Father in Heaven, that you will see an increased love for those around you, and you will have a better connection with those same people. 

I am eternally grateful for this gospel. Jesus Christ is my Savior. He lived and died for me, and because of Him, all of my sins, worries, and pains will be washed away. I have come to personally love Him and what He has done for me.

I love all of you!

-Elder J.T.Yates

 I got to see my boy, Elder Smith! He hit his one-year mark last month!

 The "Briefcase Boizzz"!!

 My best friend, Elder Whetzel and I!

We were blessed to receive a brand new 2018 Toyota Corolla with 12 miles on it. So, we took a pic next to our new "whip". Also, if any of you have ideas for a name for her, let me know!

Drawing ideas from the heart

This week was great! Getting to know Elder James is great! He works really hard, and loves the work, so it is as Tony the Tiger says, "It's Greeeeaaaaaattt!!" It rained soooo hard 2 days in a row, and gave me a little bit of PTSD from Harvey. Haha, but Elder James and I didn't care! We went out and biked, walked, and ran in the rain to our appointments!

We had a fun time this week working on our vision, goals, and plans for myself, our companionship, and the zone. And, I love it! I love being able to think about what I can do to better improve my own testimony, the work in the area, and for the other missionaries around me! Being able to reach deep down inside, then look and behold at what I have done.

Being able to look inside yourself and then take what you have done and then improve upon that takes a lot of humility and faith. I know that this is truly a skill only developed upon relying on the Lord. I have been getting closer to achieve this, yet I feel so far. 

This is a short email, but the message is still there. I promise in the name of Jesus Christ that as you humbly come before Him in prayer and ask for help in what you do, He will help you think of ideas of how to help the people in your surrounding areas. I know this with all my heart! I am so grateful for the gift of Christ and His gospel. I love all of you!

-Elder J.T.Yates

 Pictures of Elder James and I 

A sweet drawing that I have been working on for a while.

Bro. McClendon from the ward. He served his mission with my papa!! #smallworld

Goodbyes and Hellos

I got transferred! I am now in Richmond in the Memorial Ward. Man, it really sucks leaving. But, I know that I am moving into bigger and better things! The Lord has a lot in store for each of us. It's my turn to now find out what that is for my life and missionary work!

This past week however was amazing! Elder Fisher, Gilleland, and I worked as hard as we could, knowing that one of us were leaving. Not knowing who, we each set individual goals to push ourselves to serve those in both the West University and the Macgregor Wards.

You could say that this was blind faith. Working as hard as we could not knowing what was going to happen. This type of work, helps me know that God is there. As I am walking forward in a dark room, with only enough light to lead me a couple of steps ahead of me, I am always increasing my faith in the Savior!

I have always had a hard time with goodbyes... They are awful. These goodbyes include leaving an area, leaving a companion, friends or family pass away, etc. But, there is always a brighter future! This is through the Atonement of Jesus Christ!

I testify in the name of Jesus Christ and know that through the Atonement, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING can be made better! I have personally experienced this in my life.

I love my Savior, my Redeemer, my Lord, my Brother, and my Advocate. He is to me, all of these and more! He has blessed my life in more ways than I ever though possible. 

I love this work, and know that it is true. I know because I have prayed, and then went out and did what my Heavenly Father has asked of me. I know because I have experienced the blessings that come from this Gospel. 

I love you all! As always!

-Elder J.T.Yates

 Downtown from on of our investigators' houses

 I saw my boy Elder Whetzel!!

A flippin' cardboard castle! This homeless man has got it good!

The first District pic in this area! #RichmondGang

Impressions....

This week was great! I can't believe it's already Monday again! It has blown my mind how quickly time has gone by these past 5 weeks. It just feels like yesterday that I was put into a trio.

Elder Gilleland, Fisher, and I all were trying to work really hard this past week. We haven't seen a ton of success in our finding. But, our efforts sure did pay off! Last night, marking the end of our week, we received a text from our Ward Mission Leader thanking us for all the hard work we have done. He then went on to say that we have earned the trust of the ward, and if we need anything, to not hesitate and ask. That, for me is a huge task to accomplish, and one that is payment for our hard work!

We have been experimenting with new foods and trying to up our cooking game. This is one of the most impossible things to do. I bet you could make a reality TV show out of it. But, in the process, we found about 5 fast food places around us that have meals under $5 and can fill you up! Hahaha

We have also been trying to get "RIPPED"! This is really hard to do! But, the effects are slowly setting in as the three of us work our hardest. Not just spiritually, but physically.

As I was studying last night, I had a very strong impression from the Spirit that I should write my email about impressions. Why that is, I have no idea. But, what the Spirit tells me to do, I do it. 

When I think of this Celestial Principle, I often question what an "impression" feels like. Well, what does it feel like to you? Go on... Think about it for a second.

Okay, back to impressions. :) For me, I feel the Spirit in many ways. The most common for Elder Yates is a burning excitement in my chest. But, this doesn't last for long... I think of it like an impression someone can make in the sand. When you walk along the beach and come across a patch of sand which has been soaking in the ocean water, you make an impression. But if you watch it, it will eventually be washed away by the constant force of the waves.

If I receive an impression, and I dont act on it fast, it will eventually dissapear from the constant force of the adversary and the "wordly" influences. Like a footprint, the spirit can be flooded by outer forces that we can't control. 

I have asked myself so many times if this is me, and if I am not acting fast enough. Other times, I question if it is an impression from the Spirit of not. Then I remember this...

Moroni 7:12

 "Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God..."

Remembering this, helps me know that anything that comes into my head, if it be good, comes from God and I should act on that thought! 

I testify in the name of Jesus Christ that as you act on impressions from the Spirit as soon as you receive them, you will be more blessed than you already are. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that this is His church. That no other church has the authority to have the saving ordinances required for the Celestial Kingdom. I love you all and wish you a blessed week!

-Elder J.T.Yates

 The three of us with one of our favorite investigators, Sean!

A FLIPPIN' FERRARI next to a Mercedes-Benz.

A book I will need for when I become a parent. Haha

Me, Elder Gilleland, and Elder Fisher after helping someone move. And on top of the parking garage. :)

Bad Haircuts

This week was one for the books ladies and gents! We started off by going to see an old investigator named Clarence. The name might sounds familiar, and if you are thinking "that is the guy that is super creepy", then you are right! Teaching him is like going in a circle. We have explained to him the importance of the Priesthood, and every time we explain it to him, he tells us that he thinks he has already been baptized. Ugh, so frustrating... Good news though! I got the rest of his music that he has made! He sings along to Psalms, Proverbs, Revelations, and the Gospels. They are awesome.

Throughout the week, I had a hard time keeping on task. I would get distracted and couldn't focus on missionary work. In all reality, that is just me giving an excuse for not putting my whole heart, might, mind, and strength. But, good news!! We ended the week with a fireball finish though! 

During the middle of the week, we allowed a member in the West University Ward to give us a haircut. We normally would not do this, like at all. But, this guy is currently going through stage 4 cancer, and was begging for us to go so he wasn't sitting around all day by himself. And let me tell you what! I was about 65% satisfied with my haircut. He gave Elder Fisher a bomb haircut, mine was mediocre at best, and then gave Elder Gilleland a "chilly bowl cut" or "the Shrek" as I like to call it. You can definitely say that we will all be getting haircuts from me.

As I was thinking about what happened this week, I was drawn to our experimenting upon the charcoal face masks. Last week, we tried some that we had purchased from Walmart, those turned out as expected... Garbage. And this week, we tried a face mask from a different company. This had better results, but still didn't give us what we wanted.

When thinking about this, I was taken to the experience of Joseph Smith that I have recited and explained to people hundreds of times. In almost the same way, Joseph had gone through a similar experience. He had tried church after church not finding the one that gave him what he wanted. He then did what he was taught to do... Pray!

He knew that if and when he would pray, he would receive an answer. He had the faith that God would answer. At times, I do not. As a missionary, I should and do have this faith. But not all the time. I know that this Gospel gives me everything that I need. It gives every one of you who are reading this everything that you need. It may not feel like it, but I promise in the name of Jesus Christ that is does! 

Though face masks are an easy fix and can be resolved by not buying them. Our relationship with God is the most important thing that we can ever do in this life. Yet, this is one of the easiest things we can accomplish. It only takes humility, prayer, and patience. 

I love this Gospel. I know that it is true. Jospeh Smith had the faith, and because of him, I will receive salvation. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. And I invite all of you to go off by yourself and pray to our Father for truth. I promise in the name of Jesus Christ that you will receive an answer as you exercise humility, prayer, and patience. I love all of you!

-Elder J.T.Yates

The second round of charcoal face masks

Elder Fisher getting his haircut by our friend

A lizard egg that we found while doing some service at the Hermann Park Centennial Gardens

A flippin' Pontiac Firebird!!

The Temple along with a Homeless Ragemonster

This week went by so fast, it was ridiculous! I am already approaching my 14 month aniversary! Holy moly artichokey well, last Monday my whole District and I went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science! That place is super bomb and we didn't even get to see all of it... So, the senior missionaries in my District have a pass there and can get us in for free! So we are going to go again today. Hahaha

Throughout the week, there were many miracles that had shown themselves and many other experiences as well...

The greatest miracle this week was that of visiting the Temple after almost 10 months of not being able to go. I love the Temple! The blessings inside are so incredible and I just absolutely love the spirit that is even just on the Temple grounds. As we drove onto those holy grounds, the Spirit was so strong! And of course, as we proceeded into the actual Temple, the Spirit just got stronger!

The funniest, wankiest, and most uncomfortable experience of the week was this last Saturday night. We had ridden the MetroRail into Midtown and had just finished a lesson. We made sure to leave with enough time to get home ON TIME. That didn't happen. Instead a flippin huge rainstorm attacked us from out of the blue! The MetroRails wouldn't go to where we needed them, so we had to wait next to the Dynamo stadium for about an hour. While we were waiting, there was this homeless man who looked harmless and was asking for any spare change. We told him we didn't have any on us, which truthfully... We didn't. Anyways, we went to talk to him for a few minutes. I got a phone call from the Zone Leaders, while Elder Gilleland and Fisher got yelled at by this guy. He kept telling about how Jesus was black, Islam is the truth, the Quran is the word of God, etc., etc... I have never used the Christlike attribute ot patience more in my life than at this moment. We had to listen to this guy for about 45 minutes yell at the top of his lungs... Ugh, 3rd ward. Haha

Back to the spiritual stuff! ;)

I have come to love and appreciate Science as I have been out here on my mission. As I have without a doubt that we did NOT evolve from monkeys, God does indeed work in mysterious ways. Yet, He still works within the laws of science.

As we walked around, we were taken from the prehistoric dinosaurs to the new-age energy exhibits. Both of them fascinated me and made me want to learn more. Which is part of the reason why we are going back! Lol, but I love being able to know the "why" behind things and how they work. Knowing this "why" helps me understand the need for it. 

God has always been there for me, and has always been there for you! Now if I could pose a question to all y'all... WHY do YOU need Him there?

If we are going to strengthen our relationship with God, WHY do we even try? WHY do we continue going to church every Sunday, read our scriptures everyday, or prayer multiple times a day? WHY do you do these things?

I can tell you my why! I go to church every Sunday because I get to renew the covenants that I had made with my Heavenly Father. I read my scriptures everyday because I know that it is one way God speaks to us. And I pray multiple times a day because I know that when I pray, I feel so much better and receive so many answers because of it. 

Now, why do I (Elder Yates) need God? Because of almost an infinite number of reasons. But I can name a few...

-Without Him, we would have no clue where to go in life.

-Without Him, we wouldn't have any spiritual guidance to guide us in our decisions.

-Without Him, you or I would still be intelligences without form and wouldn't even have a body.

Brothers and Sisters, I know my why. I know why I am on a mission. I know in what ways I need my Heavenly Father. So, my invitation to y'all is to pray about why do you personally need Heavenly Father in your life. I can promise in our Savior's name that as you do this, you will have the Holy Spirit testify to your hearts and mind of your why.

I love all of you! As I always will!

-Elder J.T.Yates

 

 Elder Htay(Tay), Stites, Akin, Ferrero, me, Gilleland, and Fisher

 

 The beautiful Temple!

 

 Elder Fisher, me, Elder Gilleland

 Me and my awkward self in front of the Temple

 

One of the funniest bathroom signs ever!

 The West MacGregaverisity Elders coming at you with a black seaweed mask on!

 

A super awesome building in Downtown Houston!

 

A homeless community under one of the freeways here. This is a natural occurrence here. It's really sad that this has to be a thing.

 

 Another super small lizard! So cute!

Doodlebug diseases

Hello everyone!! I am so grateful for yet another fresh start, to yet another amazing week! This past week was everywhere... Grateful that the clustercuss of appointments are over.

To start, Elder Larsen and I had a great exchange on Tuesday. He is such a hard worker and has become so much more consecrated than I am at the moment. But, as I have been striving to become more like the Savior, consecration is key. On our exchange, we talked about why we need to talk to everyone. Even the rich white people (Those are the scariest). We biked all day, around 15-20 miles with our bikes on 3/8 gears the whole time. My legs were burning by the end of the night. But, I loved every minute of it! 

The coolest experience out of that whole day was when we stopped to talk to a Spanish dude. He had his car parked on the side of the road with the hood up, and looked frustrated as ever. When we stopped to talk to him, as expected, he didn't know much English... So, with the little and very broken Spanish that I know, I was able to talk to him for a few minutes. We found out that his car had overheated and he needed it to cool down. I offered him my last water bottle, knowing that he needed it more than me. We gave him the number for the Spanish missionaries in the area, and wished him a good day. And that was it. But that one experience of me speaking very broken, almost shattered Spanish, was one I will never forget. 

Throughout the week, we had appointments on the opposite ends of the universe. Since we are now covering 2 wards (West University & MacGregor), we have been trying to figure out how in the cuss to work both of them. But, President Hall has counseled us to put the majority of our efforts into MacGregor. 90% of the population in the West University Ward boundaries is stuck-up, stand-offish, rich white people. So, in other words, they don't want to talk to us filthy trash. 

We signed up to feed this Less Active dude's cat... And that was probably one of the dumbest things we've done yet. It was like Fort Knox getting in there! His cat is 19 years old, and lazier than all get out. But, he said he'd take us out to dinner... So, I guess it's a fair trade. 

All week, I have had this artistic craze. I don'

t know where it came from, but I have it. I call it the Doodlebug Disease. There is a pizza place down here called MOD Pizza. It's like Subway, but for Pizza!! So, YES PLEASE! We go every Wednesday after District Council. So, I started getting crazy with the logo. Haha

Now for more spiritual things... 

As I have been studying this week, my favorite topic to study is that of the Pre-Earth Life and our Post-Mortal Life. These topics fascinate me, and are so much fun to study!

In our Pre-Earth Life, we lived with God. We spoke to Him. We learned from Him. And we wanted to become like Him. In order for us to do that, we had to come to Earth. Everyone who is reading this voluntarily submitted their "I volunteer as tribute" if you will... And now we are here. Everyone chose to be here. And here we are!

After we leave this life, we go into the Spirit World. We go to a spiritual waiting room. A place where we continue to learn and grow as we wait for the resurrection. This is a place for those spirit sons and daughters of our loving Heavenly Father who didn't get to learn or more fully know our Savior here on this Earth. As they are also taught, that is why temple work is so important. No spirit can get baptized. That is our job to help them. 

Now, after the Spirit World, we are re-united with our physical body and then judged by our great Mediator, Jesus Christ. This is where we are placed into the 3 different Kingdoms of Glory.

The Celestial: The literal dwelling place of God and Jesus Christ. We must be baptized, married for time and all eternity, have gone through the temple and made sacred promises with God. Without anyone of these, we cannot return to live in His presence. 

The Terrestrial: A place for those who lived great and honorable lives, but who are not willing to live or accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

The Telestial: The resting place for those who continue to live in their sins and do not repent.

I love this doctrine! It is so simple! I hate math, but this equation is the one for me!

Live God's commandments = Live with God

I love all of you! Have a great week!

-Elder J.T.Yates

 

 

 

 

 My doodles that I have been experimenting with

We were able to get up inside the roof at the church building. 10/10 would not recommend if it is summer time. We were sweating buckets!

 

 Some ridiculously nice cars. Worth more than all of my possessions combined.

 Ghetto houses in front of modern apartments

A flippin' sweet sunset at the MetroRail station

A Mother's Love

AWESOME SAUCE!! That's how this week went! I can't explain the feeling, emotions, and love that I have felt this past weekend! With so many days that we spent outside of our area and not proselyting, I felt as if nothing got done. However, I am so grateful that our loving Father in Heaven still would reach out in love and provide us with tender mercies to have throughout the week.

The biggest tender mercy that I saw this week was when we were at the Beechnut Building having our Zone Leadership meeting. During the meeting, I had a very strong impression that whatever I am doing here, will help and benefit my family in the future. This is something that I look forward to, but know that the harder that I work, the better my life after the mission will be!

Of course, the actual best tender mercy was talking to my mom! I was getting so impatient throughout the week, and when it finally arrived, my heart was filled with all those emotions and feelings previously described.

Like the Primary song says... "Like sunshine in the morning that wakens day from night, like flowers in the springtime so colorful and bright, like happy songs bluebirds that fill the air with cheer, A person bright and lovely is my mother dear."

I love being able to talk to my momma! She truly does bring sunshine and joy into my soul! Having a strong mother figure in my life has made all the difference! I love my mom! I love the mother figures who have also been guiding me throughout my life! I want to thank all of you! Momma Yates, Aunt Stacey, Grandma Yates and Metcalf. All of you have pushed me to become better, and because of that... Here I am!

From a conference talk in October 2015 called "Behold Thy Mother" from Elder Jefferey R. Holland, he puts the divine calling of a mother in a way I couldn't ever say better. He says, "No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child." This is such a true statement. A mother's love is so much closer to that of Christ's love for all of us! 

In Alma 56:47-48, it says...

"47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it."

I love this story! It is such a great show of love and respect to their mothers. These some two thousand young men, who had never fought in their life, knew that if and when they would listen to the teachings of their mothers, they would not perish. Oh how true this is!

My own mother has warned me and helped me become better throughout my life and continues to lead and guide me almost 1,500 miles away! How blessed are mothers? How blessed are we? I love my mother, and all she does for me!

So, to all of you mothers out there reading this, Happy Mothers Day! And to all the rest of you, Happy regular Monday! Haha, I love you all!!

-Elder J.T.Yates

 

 

 Mr. Business Man Yates

 

The bestest Tripanionship of missionaries in the whole world!

My tarot card, along with my $2.00 Burlington tie