I Still Love Being Out Here, It's Great!

October 28, 2013

Howdy!!

 

Those were some good looking pumpkins you guys painted. (See my Halloween tribute to Elder Higgins below!)

 

So for a little update. P-days are crazy in Moreno Valley. We are now out numbered by sister missionaries. There are around 14 sister missionaries and 8 elders. Every sister companionship has a car, and between the 8 of us elders, we have one! So we have to borrow cars every p-day, and every time there is a meeting. It's a sorts of confusing! That is also why we are Emailing so late today. I apologize for keeping you waiting.

 

My new companion is really cool. He's got a good sense of humor and keeps me laughing. Speaking of humor, we ran into a stand up comedian in the street the other day. He was practicing his routine with us and everything. He was dancing, and telling jokes, and making funny voices. I applauded him for his routine, and laughed generously throughout, but to be honest he needs a little more practice before he makes it on stage. But yeah, My companion is cool. We're going to have a good time.

 

I don't know if I told you before but a ward member found a less active member Mom the other day in her work that has two unbaptized kids. We have been working with them these past weeks, and they are all set to get baptized on this Sunday. They are awesome! They love going to mutual, and coming to church, and pretty much everything! Other than that we are going to start looking for more people to teach. We are going to start visiting with the members more and help them realize their duty to share the gospel. We just had a Stake Conference yesterday and every talk was centered on the hastening of the work of salvation, and focused on how members can do their part in this beautiful work. So we will be riding that fire, and start helping the members get to work. It'll be a good time! :)

 

(I had asked what his district leader responsibilities are) Oh and the District Leaders responsibilities are just conducting DDM's (district development meetings) every week, and training, and just helping out the district. Oh and doing baptismal interviews. I actually got to do one of those this week. It was a cool experience. I was thinking on some of my first interviews, and how nervous I was to be "interviewed." It's just kind of an intimidating word!

 

But yeah! Love you and all that. I still love being out here. It's great!

 

Love Elder Higgins :)

                                     

Transfers and I'm a District Leader!

        October 21, 2013

So here's all the juicy transfer details. My companion is going to the Deanza ward in Jurupa. I'm going to miss him a ton! We're pretty good friends, and learned a lot from each other. Everyone in our ward knew we were sad getting split up. They could tell we were good friends cause we were always laughing and stuff. As for me, I will be staying in Moreno Valley for another transfer. I guess there are still some people here that need to hear my testimony. I'm super excited! I love this ward a lot. I honestly didn't expect to stay though. My new companion is from Mexico, I've met him before and I'm excited to work with him!

Our ward is getting two new sister missionaries. We'll have 6 now!! Pretty crazy! It will be cool to see how it works out. The members will be kept busy here. That's for sure!

I was also called to be a district leader. I'm in a district with all the Spanish sisters. So we will have all our district meetings in Spanish, which will be neat. I've never seen that happen before. I'm pretty excited!

We had a week of committing people to church, and re-committing them......our recent converts were confirmed, and given the Holy Ghost yesterday. That's also Pretty cool. I love the Holy Ghost!

Love, Elder Higgins :)

It's Good News and I Love Sharing it with People!

October 14, 2013

Hola!  I'm glad everyone is keeping it up! Thanks for sending me my friends emails, and pictures.  Elder Alexander looks good in white! It looks like there are miracles happening all over the world. 

This week was pretty great! It went by really fast! We had a little mini multi-zone conference this week. It was good. We heard miracle experiences from the new missionaries, and from the missionaries going home we heard their outgoing testimony. I did the math and Elder Littlewood (his first companion) is home now, because their transfers (in new Redlands mission) happen two weeks earlier than ours. He's been home for a week. Pretty crazy! The months have flown by! Anyway, Multi-zones were pretty good. We learned about the new resource the church has come out with about how to manage stress. Pretty neat. But they also took some pictures so I'm sure you could find them on the mission blog. Or maybe you already have. I wouldn't be surprised. 

Had a baptism yesterday, it was a really simple, little ceremony. His wife, and kid came, and his sister, and then the bishop, the elders quorum leader, and us. His wife, a recent convert of one week, gave a talk about baptism. She got new scriptures after her baptism, so I think she was excited that she got to use them. She did gave a really good talk.

Oh, and speaking of talks, I had to give one in sacrament meeting yesterday. Hermana D, and I, were assigned to give talks. I talked very generally about the work and glory of God. Shared some scriptures about how they can receive revelation, and share their testimonies with others. I like in D&C 15, I think it is, when the Lord tells John Whitmer what he could do that would be of most value in his life right now, and that is to declare repentance. I know it is of great value, and it filled John's life with light and love, as well as the people that received him. We can do that by just extending simple invitations to people. It does mean we have to literally tell them to repent. Invite someone to a church activity, or give them a Book of Mormon, and share your testimony. 

That's kind of what I talked about. The spirit helped me a lot with Spanish up there. I'm super grateful for the gift of tongues. I know the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It's good news, and I love sharing it with people!

I love you, my dear family. :) Thanks for all you do!

Love Elder Higgins :)

                       Moreno Valley Zone from this past weeks multizone conference

I've learned that compassion is what produces true charity......

October 7, 2013

Hola!  So this week was pretty fantastic. Especially with the great messages that we heard from the prophets and apostles of our day! I really enjoyed a lot of them. I watched half of one session in Spanish with an investigator we are teaching.  He really enjoyed it. His kind of a hard guy to figure out though. He's got a unique personality. Anyway, I think my favorite talk this time around was.. Elder Dallin H. Oak's, and President Eyring's, but they were all so good. I also loved Elder Hollands, and Elder Bednars. They were all just really good, and eye opening. I like their inspired ways of viewing everything. It's a blessing to have heard from them. I know you guys enjoyed them as well.

 

Nothing too new this week. We found one new family this week. They were former investigators and we just went one day to see if they still lived there. They do, and they are a really cool family! The Dad is pretty intelligent, and asks good questions. He is a little hesitant to believe some things. For instance, he thought it hard to believe that Nephi was able to build a boat with their limited technology in those times. We reminded him that he believed the Bible, and similarly in Noah's ark. How in the world did Noah build that boat?? They are super cool though, and the Mom was super interested to know that she could receive an answer from the Holy Ghost. She is excited to Read, Ponder, and Pray. It will be fun working with them!

 

Besides that we are still working with a lot of the same people, trying to resolve problems and such. It's always the same, but always progression to be made. The story of my life this past year. It's actually really tiring. I am exhausted. It's also really fun and rewarding.

 

I learned that compassion is what produces true charity. It's what happens back stage. Putting ourselves in the shoes of others, and trying to understand them. It's much easier said then done. I'm trying to implement that in my life more. Jesus has so so much compassion for us. He understands us perfectly. It amazes me.

 

Well, that's about it for today. I know it's true. The Church of Jesus Christ is once again on the earth. It's pretty cool.

 

Love Elder Higgins

"I Can't Believe a Year has Already Flown By"

September 30, 2013

(I told Elder Higggins about taking a drive on the Alpine Loop to look at the fall leaves) He replied: I remember about a year ago we were doing the same thing. SOO CRAZY! I can't believe a year has already flown by. It's nuts.

Thanks for sending me updates on my friends. Elder Jessee's letters make me laugh. I'm glad he's doing good, except for all the pant incidents. 

This week's report is as follows: Our investigators were married as was planned. It was a super simple ceremony. It only lasted 15 minutes. I was thinking the whole time about how something so simple, can also be so profound, and mean so much. I compare it to baptism. It's a similiar story. Anyway, it was a precious lil' ceremony, and I'm glad she is finally married. She has been waiting a long time for this. She's got a cute little son I always play catch with him with his little football. He's got an arm, I think he'll be a quarter back someday. 

After the bishop starting talking with us, and we ended up talking for a good thirty minutes. He said we we are doing good, and encouraged us to keep it up, and he told us he called President Smart and told him he wants two more missionaries. So we might get 6 missionaries in the ward next transfer. Crazy! Yeah Bishop is super cool. His mom was actually in my branch in Murrieta, and she visited the ward a couple weeks ago. She is the cutest thing in the world! I've heard her conversion story over 5 times. It's the best! 

K's baptism was yesterday as well! It was cool. It's kind of a weird situation because she doesn't speak much spanish at all, but she lives with a family in our ward. So the baptism was in a weird spanglish baptism, and I ended up having to conduct. It was super fun! I'll send you some pictures. It was really good though because she has been waiting for this for a few years as well. Righteous desires rewarded. Gotta love it.

Another story really quick. Last sunday we got into a reasoning session (A nicer word for bash) with a guy on the street. We ended up talking about authority, and eventually told him to come to church. He told us he would, and we said we'd believe it when he came. And he did. It was pretty cool, but then after church we starting our reasoning session again. There members all around, and a few would stop and listen in. We had a pretty good little crowd at one point. At one point we got him backed into a corner, and asked him if he really thought he had the whole truth, and he said no, and then he said, "but either do you." looking at me. I met his eyes and said, "I have the truth." And we just looked into one another's eyes for a good moment. And then he looked away, and mumbled something, but I knew, that he knew, that I knew, that I had the truth, and he couldn't deny it after that.  It was a cool moment. He asked a few more questions, and then left with a Book of Mormon. We can't meet up with him because he is in the process of moving, and doesn't have a phone. So that's kind of lame, but it was cool he actually came.

So that was about it. We have a few others that came to church, and have set baptism dates for the end of the transfer. Hopefully everything goes good with them.

So that's about it! Love you guys! I love this work. Elder Richards last week said that we were the gatherers. I love that term. We're gathering the truth seekers, honest in heart, and the humble. Those are the people that listen. I will cherish my second year out here and will strive to do everything that Jesus Christ wants me to do. Thanks for everything!

Love Elder Higgins :)

Another Productive a week in Moreno Valley!

September 24, 2013

 

This has been another productive week in Moreno Valley. It was a lot cooler this week. One night I was actually wishing I had a sweater on. Nothing too crazy happened this week. We still have a goal of finding new people to teach, and it's going pretty good! I don't have too much to report this week, but I have a couple of cool stories to share.

 

We have kind of been visiting this girl, she's a super awesome girl, but in order to get baptized she has to get married first. She reads and prays everyday. She's pretty great, but we haven't spent too much time on her because she knows everything, and it's just a matter of trying to convince the boyfriend to get married.. The guys are always the one's that won't commit. Super Lame! They're giving us a bad rep. Anyway, she called us a few days ago, and she's finally getting married. So she'll be getting married on Saturday by the bishop, and then we are hoping to have the baptism on Sunday. I'd consider that our miracle of the week.

 

Other than that, we heard from General Authority Elder Kent Richards. It was a very cool experience. I took a lot of notes and plan on studying them this week. He definitely did a good job at helping us want to be better missionaries, and better teachers. It was a good time. He spoke on the topic "The Atonement Covers All Pain" about 60 missionaries were at the conference.

 

Oh and something else that's cool. At one dinner a while ago one of the Hermanas heard us talking about making smoothies, and went out and but us a Magic-Bullet. That's a super good blender if you weren't aware. It's sweet!! I make smoothies twice a day!!

 

Love you. Love Elder Higgins :)

September 16, 2013

This week was a pretty normal week. We focused on finding new investigators, and we were able to find 2 new families to teach. The Lord really helped us out with them. One was a family that the Sisters reffered us to. They are really cool. They are an older couple.  All their kids have flown the coup already. They're seventh day adventists and ask a ton of questions. We also have a new version of the same conversation each time we go there. They repeat themselves a lot. It's pretty funny. We manage to teach new things each time though. We taught about authority. They have been one of the first to actually catch and comprehend the idea and importance of authority. If we act in Jesus's name it has to be authorized by him. We just sat back and listened to them as they tried to figure out how their church got authority from Jesus. When at last they just turned to us and asked,"So has our church decieved us?" We said, "Well.. how did it authority?" They just gasped were upset that they had been decieved. They are pretty cute little couple. I enjoy teaching them.

 

Other than that, we have been trying to complete all the families we have baptized.  Some are just, "Waiting for a moment" What is that supposed to mean?? God gave us agency to act, not to be acted upon. We make our moments.. We haven't been able to get them to understand that. 

Love, Elder Higgins

The Most Eventful Week of My Mission

September 9, 2013

So here's the answer to some of your questions before I forget. It is not cooling off at all down here. It has rained a little bit, but then it's just hot and humid for the next few days.

My bike is holding up like a champ. My comp actually went through a few bikes. He got a flat tire on his, and then started using another elders bike, but he some how flattened those tires as well. So he had to use another bike....He's kind of a mess when it comes to taking care of bikes! Poor kid. We spent last P-day fixing every one's bike. 

And yes I still play the guitar. I play during lunch sometimes, and before I go to bed. Ramona (his guitar) teaches me a lot about life.

So this was the last week of the transfer. So that means we got calls on Saturday night, and the whole mission is moving around today to their new places. I'll be staying here in Nuevo Ward in Moreno Valley for a while longer with my current companion. Yeah!! That's what we were hoping for. 

So I'll have you know we ended this transfer with what I consider to be the most eventful week of my mission. It was probably one of the most stressful as well. We had been preparing my little buddy J-- for baptism, and he was baptized as was planned. So that was on Saturday. It was super fun. I don't know if you remember, but I think I told you how that whole family applauds for everything. Well anyway, after I baptized him the whole family started applauding, and I heard one of them shout, "That a boy a Joseph!" It made me smile :) In the back room as we were changing back into our normal clothes he said, "Man, I feel good!"

That was the spirit. Kids don't lie.

We have also been teaching the S-- family. The mom still doesn't feel like she is ready, but out of nowhere a few weeks ago the kids J-- and T-- starting listening to the lessons, and they just couldn't wait for their mom. They were baptized yesterday evening. It was very neat experience.  J-- was super nervous before, and was having second thoughts, but afterwards said with wonder, "I don't know why I can't stop smiling!" It's cool to see the first few moments after a baptism.  We'll be hoping the parents follow suit in the next weeks.

The daughter of Hermana L--, was also baptized ... She brought a friend to church, and to the baptism so we are hoping to begin teaching her. 

You could say my heart is full. I grew closer to my Savior this week and I feel a little bit His love for us, His Children.

But that's about all I got time for.  Love Elder Higgins :)