Elder Madird and Elder Sosa

5/27/2014

Well, that week went fast very fast, I enjoyed it very much. It was a little bit better after saturday we got some rest and today we went and played soccer for a long time with all of the missionaries. The Kind of stress here is different that just being in the missionfield all of the bills and that stuff can be very frustrating when it doesn't go smoothly. We were able to go and teach yesterday and we had some good lessons. We are now in the richest part of the mission so contacting is a little bit like being back in Aruba or Bonaire again. Most of the places are just big nice conduminiums and besides that just masnion looking houses where company owners live. It is strange being in a ward that everyone gets here in their own car and they get here late anyway. Dominican Island time is way behind.

 I have been reading the general conference talks and one of them has been very good for me lately...actually two of them if you get time to look at them and really ponder upon the words that are said I know that it can be a blessing in your lives. one is called "Bear up their burdens with ease" by Elder Bednar and "I have given you an example" By Richard G. Scott.. the other talk that I had been needing to hear and answered a few questions it was in the preisthood session titled "The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood" by Dallin H. Oaks. Please dedicate a little bit of time to relax and feel the peace of mind and spirit these words of apostles bring. We all need to be a little nourished spiritually every day.

 Love you, very much I hope that this summer starts and ends great and as you are hoping it will. It is my last summer here as a full time missionary and I am grateful for it. I am content with myself. But it is not over and I can't be too content or I might stop becoming what I have the potential to become. I love the short phrase in Elder Bednar's talk "It was the load"  peace isn't having the load taken of of us. I hope I can carry my load with Him.  Love, Elder Bell

MTC DR 11/8/12

November 15, 2012 MTC DR

Praying for you dad and Brittan I love your guts and don't forget it. I hope you and mom have been praying together.Our companionship prayer really helps me throught the week and comforts me! You should definately keep me really well informed on how wrestling is going! Tell Brea to Email me I want to talk to her! and Baylin too I love heaing from them! I hope Brittan will tell me about how wrestling is going also!

November 15, 2012 MTC DR

Also, I went through the temple in Spanish today. Suprisingly I understood everything even though it is all in vosotros haha. I think I may have made a mistake in judgement last night ;too. I have been playing Futbol with the latinos and last night I told them that us greengos would play them in futbol and they took it as a challenge so now we are playin five on five in the parking lot againts really good mexican players that want to make us look silly! :) wooohoooo

(I promise mom I won't get competitive and get hurt ;)) I hope I can get more pictures for you when I am out in the mission field I am having trouble downloading pictures with this computer. Well I think that is all for now Love you Mom and dad ( Baylin Brittan and Brea too!) keep writing me please your letters brighten my day! :)

November 15, 2012 DR MTC

I leave the mtc next tuesday! :) I won't have another p-day till the monday of the 26th so I can't email until then. So, here are the interesting things that have happened this week!

 

 We went on exchanges in the mission field last friday and are going again tomorrow my exchange companion's name is elder perschon he is from Spanish Fork Utah. We didn't have many appointment s with people because he works in the mission office, but we got to go tracting alot! I absolutely loved tracting it felt really good and I understood what was going on and for the most part I understood all of our contacts in the street. At one point a policeman stopped traffic to cross the road and chase us down because he wanted to talk with us. It was kind of intimidating because we didn't know what he wanted at first, but we ended up getting to talk with him about priesthood authority and he wanted to know what we think about resurrection and The spiritual world. He told us that he read the corin?( the holy book muhamad wrote) and he really wanted to know what we thought of muslims and if we believed in prophets what we think of muhamad. That is what brought up priesthood authority and Joseph Smith. He already had a book of Mormon and said that is hat he wants to read now that he finished the Corin. He explained to us that he really loves to read and we agreed with him that El Libro De Mormon is a very good next option :) ha. Also we had an appointment with a woman named Ulda. Her family basically has nothing they live in an abondoned building that is falling apart and had three chairs which they brought outside for us to sit on. Ulda and her husband Domingo had plans to get baptized a couple months ago, however Ulda doesn't have a birth certificate, and she does not have money to buy a birth certificate, and without that she cannot be legally married. An interesting thing was how happy she was even though it seemed as if she has nothing she was just working washing clothes and peeling potatoes and smiling while she worked. Also, she has read to fourth nephi in the Book of Mormon in about a month which is pretty impressive. She says it makes her feel good and happy and helps her in her life. I am interested to see if she has been keeping commitments with Elder perschon tomorrow like praying on her own and with her family. I got to share a message with her about family prayer and how it blesses us from 3 nephi chpt 18: verses 19- 12 last week and she promised she would pray with her family. I really miss family prayer. Well, we do have family prayer at the MTC, but it is a little bit different when it is 55 missionaries and I can't even remember everyone's name.

 

Oh I got Christmas care pakages from Elder and sis. Bell and also The Excell Family yesterday :) Don't worry I had my companion open them and take out any candy that could melt and then he closed the rest of the stuff back up with duct tape so I could open them on Christmas. I think the addresses I gave you for the mission office are alot faster than the ones adressed to the Mtc because that stuff only took a week. I love you guys!Tthink about you often! Here is the scripturee I want to share this week Helamen 10:4-6 I like looking at the things I have to do to be blessed and how the Lord can bless me if I do those things in these verses. Love, Elder Bell

November 7, 2012 DR MTC

Love you dad, I think about you often please continue to keep me updated.. I hope you recognize how much you have helped me to become the person I am now. Love you so much. Tell Brittan Brea and Bay that I miss them and look forward to being with my best friends in eternity and in two years. Love, Elder Travis Brennan Bell

November 7, 2012 DR MTC

I was really disappointed that Obabma won,. but my companion almost died.. It is a little bit frustrating when people think the world will end because of something like that. I have heard that marijuana is now legal in a lot of states is that true?

 

My week has gone pretty well I have been able to communicate with the ten district leaders and my use of Espanol has definately gotten better. Sometimes I have found that the only thing that can help me is prayer. For example, I had alot of questions this last fast sunday and my head was fuzzy and I wanted some guidance as to how I should study and I recieved all my answers as I faithfully fasted. Usually my answers either come through a prompting of the spirit or through guidance from my leaders. What's crazy is my leaders don't know what I am thinking or what exactly I have been praying about all week, but the spirit guides them to help all of us missionaries. One cool experience this week was that two elders were really struggling getting along one with another and only one had been teaching in lessons and not letting the other one speak. Their district leaders told us about this and the situation was getting really bad, in fact, one elder broke down crying in frustration because he couldn't teach in the middle of a lesson. When we got to speak with the leaders of that district I was able to speak spanish really well and bear a testimonyof the power of companionship prayer. Companionship prayer is what holds my comapanionship together throughout the week It is such a blessing and keeps peace between me and my companion and helps us so that we can help each other. there are a few scripures about the light of Christ that I read this week and really helped me. They are 3 Nephi 18: 16 d and c 67:13 3 nephi 27:27 . I know that I can be a light for others so that they can go unto Christ with the Spirit and the key to all of us having the light or spirit of Christ is Mosiah 3:19  The Holy Ghost is what helps us be like Christ. Actually it literally is Christ Strength and we can come unto Christ or be like him if we use it appropritely. My Question for you is ( because questions are how we learn and are converted  if we act to find the answer) how do we Appropriately and worthly use the holy Ghost there are a few things , but the primary verse of scripture which helped me in this process is D&C 82:10. I love all of you and enjoy the letters so much I pray for you and think of you often please keep writing me and telling me how your lives are going!

    love, Elder Bell

Domican Republic MTC - Oct. 18, 2012

Alright so I have a hard time writing because so much happens I can't even remember it all but I will try!

 I have still been watching general conference highlights every morning just two minutes  it is amazing how looking at the words right below the talk helps me to better study what is being taught. I've got to say having President Glazier here so close and personal with us is such a huge huge blessing he already knows me and I already feel close with him. Elder Jenkins and I are the district leaders of our district now and we got to teach the first lesson in sunday school It was avery spiritual expericne and I guess we did a pretty good job... Sister Glazier's brother in law said it was amazing how I taught and called me a "mini Elder Bednar"haha when he asked me how I got my knowledge of the gospel I didn't know what to say execpt for I love it at the time... but I realize that I got knowledge from trying to become a bettter servant of the Lord just in the past few weeks. President Gazier blew all of our minds with a insight on the scripture in Mosiah 3:19 and had us look at the process of becoming a saint and that when we are baptized we actually become saints hence the name of our church. Because the Holy Ghost gives us the power to put off the natural man we can become saints and the Holy Ghost is also a symbol of Grace. I have a whole new view of what grace is in my life. We looked up its meaning in the B.D. bible dictionary and I would ask you to do so too. Grace is what enable us to be like Christ. Also, if you all could look in 2 Nephi 31 and 32 and 3 Nephi 11 and 3 Nephi 27 these chapters are a huge part of what is so awesome about Christ's gospel they are of the doctrine of Christ in its most pure and simple form. We have pretty much only studied these scriptures this whole last week and we continue doing so. I didn't really know that our baptism meant nothing without the Holy Ghost, and that without the Holy Ghost a remission of our sins doesn't come. Our sins don't get washed away in baptismal water that is symbolic of us leaving our old natural man behind and becoming a new person ( Mosiah 27:24-26, 2 Nephi 31) I can't remember what verse in 2 Nephi 31 but it is there. Also, we learned about the Holy Spirit of promise and I didn't know that the Holy Ghost is what testifies that we lived up to our temple covenants or not when we are judged... therefore our covenants are also irrelevant without the Holy ghost to witness them and we are sealed when the Holy Ghost testifies that we have done all required of us look up th holy spirit of promise in the bible dictionary so many scriptures are about this that I never even noticed before.

 oooo k so My spanish is coming along really well I am actually thinking in spanish at times! I really look forward to the packet! and I wish I could be there to give you a big old hug mom! I love you all so much. I am working on playing soccer and basketball now because that is all we can really do at gym time here.. I have learned some cool tricks with a soccer ball, also I love my teachers Hermano Nuñez is amazing and really funny he worked with me on subjunctive tense yesterday and I am getting much better at it now. There are now people from Jamaica, San Vincent, Trinidad and the U.S. here I love the islanders and getting to know them we joke around and do lots of fun things together. I am going to miss it when they leave in two weeks to Jamaica and the West Indies.

Love you all! please keep me updated with sports and you lives. I love you mommy!
Be Happy and know that I am safe! P.S. I get to go to the temple every week that I am here so six times and then every 4 months after I am in the field! Love, Elder Bell