Talking in Chuch, Following the Spirit, and a Tribute to his Mom

Hola,

Wow that ward sounds pretty fun. Haha with his harmonica! That would be a sweet site! Kudos to him! (His mom and sister's family visited Elder Neifert's Grandmother in Santa Fe, where a brother played the harmonica as a part of his talk) I haven't had much time to practice playing the harmonica to much. Sometimes I miss singing in English, and I forget that everyone else is singing in Spanish. There are some hymns where I've forgotten the lyrics in English. Wow that would be a really cool assignment - teaching the atonement.  (In the same ward as talked about earlier, the Missionaries taught Sunday School about the atonement.)  I spoke in church yesterday on prayer for a scrambling 15 minutes. Sometimes I feel like time flies by, but the 15 minutes of discoursando felt pretty long. I talked about the prayer of Nephi to break the bonds his brothers tied him up with and also the prayers of Alma, the prophet, for his rebellious son. Both prayers offered with faith, were contested. Like Moroni 10:4 says when we have a sincere heart, true intention, and faith in Jesus Christ our prayers are more powerful. We pray to know Gods will and act on it, not to persuade him of our selfish desires. When we ask or pray while being directed by the spirit, we are completing his will. I think it's in Doctrine and Covenants 50:30 that says we will be lead what to ask. We should always pray for the spirit. We can't survive spiritually without the help of the spirit. We know we need His help, there aren't any doubts about that. 

This week we were walking down the street about to walk to a different area when I stopped dropped and prayed. Minus the dropped part. But I said a prayer in my heart to know where we needed to go. I looked at this house a little ways a way and searched my feelings. Does this feel right? I felt good. I took that as a yes and we knocked. A solo mom answered. We couldn't share a lesson because it's not appropriate to be alone (my companion, me, and one woman). So we talked from outside her house about how we can help her and her two children with the principles and Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know shes ready to be taught. She has cousins who are returned missionaries and other family who are members. We are planning on visiting her when her cousins visit. I think that the more I practice praying for the spirit and listen to my feelings I can receive help which comes directly from a loving Heavenly Father.

We talked with a member about his experiences in his mission and one thing that I liked which he talked about was service. He said that we can say "we care about you!" One true way to show love is service. When we serve, people really see how much we care or not. I like one of the note cards which Seth sent me. It says, "Nobody care what we have to say if they don't know how much we care."  I felt guilty because the first month I didn't wash my plate when we ate at the cocineras (cook's) house for lunch every day. I started to wash them and the cocinera told me to stop. I just told her that if my mom saw me, and I wasn't washing my plate she would be pretty mad. After that she hasn't bugged me too much about it. I think that's a pretty good excuse for doing a lot of things. I hope that's okay that I speak for you mom. I think about you guys sometimes and I'm super grateful for who you are, and what you've done to help me. Your influence extends to El Salvador. I think there is a good comparison between Alma the prophet and you guys. He prayed and prayed for the help of his son and an angel came to his son in response because of the prayer of the righteous who had faith. I love thinking about the power of your prayers. I think probably on of the most earnest and heartfelt prayer comes from siblings and parents for the other. I love you, and pray for you everyday! I know Heavenly Father Hears our prayers. He knows our hearts and our needs and He gives pretty awesome gifts! Matthew 7:11.

Elder Neifert