HEY YOU GUYS!
Sounds like you are all doin good in Tmec. Be careful Cam... haha sick scars though. Ok so in my earlier letter today I said "Esta semana fue muy .... enfermo :) " haha I was laughing so hard at your response. Casi casi I am not sick so there is no need to worry. But this week really was sick.
Let me explain ...
So as you already know from Elder Hakes letter, he stepped in a dead dog las tweek haha. I ment to send that home but I forgot. So this week on Wed. Elder Hakes started feeling ... sick. He has been sick since then. So we were stuck inside for threes days straight and on Sunday was our first day out. He had a fever of 103.1 and had to stay in contact with the nurse all week. He had to give some samples to a local lab, and today he got the results. We don't know what they are cuz its all medical terms in Spanish so the nurse will get back to us later. He doesn't have a fever any more and seems to be getting a lot better compared to Thursday haha. Oh and Caden.... the answer is... no for me but twice for Elder Hakes this week hahahahahha. We wonder if this is all cuz of the dog! If so, haha I dont know. He thinks its cuz he ate 50 burgers last week so that might be the case hahahaha.
Ok so this week was really rough, but .... FRAN came to church yesterday! That was so sick (told you sick week). He has a fecha for the 14th so everything is looking good. We will see how it goes this week. We still have to follow up on word of wisdom he is having small problems with this but I know he will get past them. He has some really good member friends that are actively involved in his conversion process.
So I don't have much to talk about this week so I thought I would share some good stuff from the Standard Works. I truly love the scriptures. The subject I want to share with you today is about the straight and narrow path. I have been interested and this for quite a while and decided I would spend a good time studying it.
So we understand that there is one path that leads to our Heavenly Father, But what are the details? How do we get on the Path? What happens if we fall? and where exactly does it lead? So I thought I would start with Jesus Christ. Christ is our brother, our Savior, our teacher, and our ultimate example. He loves us so much and has shown us the way to have true happiness and joy. Nephi teaches us in 2 Ne. 31:9 that Christ " showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them". So from this we understand that in order to enter the path we must enter the gate. And what is the gate? "...the gate by which you should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then commeth the remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost"(v. 17). So from this we learn that through baptism we can enter the path of the Lord. Where does the path go? V. 18 says " then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life" Eternal Life meaning living in the presense of God and Jesus Christ in the highest degree of glory meaning exaltation. IF we follow this path, we can one day live in the presense of our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. We can have eternal life, which truly is the greatest gift from God. Now what happens if we fall? This is what I love about the Gospel. We are given a second chance. God knows that we are going to fall. He knows that we will mess up. Nobody is perfect, and we will face trials, but the Lord has provided a way so that we can overcome our weaknesses. This is what lead me to D & C 33:10. It says "... Repent, Repent, and prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make His paths straight; for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Through repentance we can fix the dents in our lives and we can make our paths straight. So the Gospel of Jesus Christ is very simple. Faith in Christ, repentance, Baptism by immersion, Recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. After we have entered into the gate we are on the path. We now, with the assistance of the Holy Ghost which we have, have to endure to the end. Through our faith in Christ we recognize and practice repentance where needed, we keep our bapt covenants being sanctified by the Holy Ghost and we ultimately endure to the end. I love the last part of verse 10 it tell us that the Kingdom of Heaven is what´s at stake here. This lead to me to the scripture that Christ says Himself to the Nephites in 3 ne. 11:33 " whosso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God." Through baptism we can be saved and can inherit the kingdom of God. That is our goal in life to reach the Kingdom of God. To have eternal life in our Father and His Son´s presense.
I know this that God has a plan for us and that he loves us so much. I am thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love my Savior and the opportunity I have to follow His example. I encourage all to study His teachings and the basic doctrines of His true restored Church. This is why I love the Scriptures, so I hope your minds are blown. I know Bro. Koford is prolly cracking up right now if he is reading this haha. So if your minds aren't blown good.... if they are good. Equal no mas.
I love you all so much I got to go. Study the scriptures this week it is fun.
Chau. Con mucho amor,
Elder Carpenter
