Dear everybody,

 

Well it is time for another transfer! I am off to Umatilla, Oregon to serve with Elder T_____, who I thought I knew, but apparently there are two so maybe not. I'm really excited for the new experience that will come and the wonderful people I will be able to talk with there.

 

Well, this week's appointments all fell through. When I say all I mean ALL. Despite that, I think I have felt the Lord's hand in my life more this week than almost all the weeks of my mission. I especially felt it as I partook of the Sacrament yesterday and renewed my covenant to serve God and keep his commandments. I felt forgiven of all of the many things that I do wrong, which if I were to list would put you all to sleep.

 

We found out this morning that A_____ is back in Colombia and is on date to be baptized Feb 9th!!!! Shout out to Elder Bates who is in Colombia near there! So cool to see our labors paying off, even though we will not be able to witness the baptism. He changed so much from when we met him, and now, he will be following the example of our Savior by entering in a covenant.  

 

I also had an incredible personal study today. I read Mosiah 22-24 which is the story of the people of Limhi and the people of Alma. They were both delivered, but the key difference was their trust in the Lord. Limhi's people trusted in their own strength and then were humbled because of their afflictions. Many lives were lost. Eventually, they came up with a way to escape. Alma's people, on the other hand, put their total trust in the Lord and the Lord himself preformed a miracle because of their patience and faith. I encourage you all to "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths." (Pro 3:5-6, I think one of my mom's favorite scriptures) If you trust in His almighty hand, I promise you that he might not deliver you from affliction immediately, (see Mosiah 24:14-15) but He will strengthen you to endure and He WILL deliver you from bondage, whether physical or spiritual, in His own time. I testify that we have a loving Heavenly Father, who looks after each of us and if we listen to His voice, he will direct our paths. I love all of you and I hope that you all have an awesome week!!!

 

Love,

Elder Spencer Coleman

 

 

Dear Friends and Family,

We had a great week this week! We had a great lesson with J____. We read 2 Nephi 2 with her and she really liked it. We bore our testimonies to her and we definitely felt the Spirit. Hopefully she reads and prays about it. 

We also taught A___, the last remaining Colombian. He had a dream that he attended church in a white shirt and tie so he took it as his answer to his prayer! It was awesome! Speaking of the Colombians, The rest of the family is already meeting with missionaries down there! 

Cool experience of the week though: We had a temple trip on Wednesday and someone told me that I should bring my patriarchal blessing to the temple and ponder it. So I did that in the Celestial room and had an incredible experience there. The Spirit was so strong and I can bear testimony that God does dwell in His holy temple and that he has restored the priesthood, so that the saving ordinances can be preformed there. I love you all and I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Coleman

Dear friends and family,

 

Elder Maughan and I had a great week this week! We had 6 people come to church! 4 of them though are heading back to Columbia, but I'm sure they will be baptized there. It was cool sharing the Restored Gospel with them, even if we won't necessarily be the ones to baptize them. We also met with J and R again. We read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon and helped them see how they can receive their answer. Unfortunately, they didn't come to church.

 

We had a lot of good lessons this week. However, none of the people who we would like to see progressing are keeping their commitments. I was thinking about why people won't do the things they are suppose to. I realized that if they don't keep their commitments, they will not be ready to make sacred covenants with God. I also realized that this is probably how God feels about us. He obviously has a lot more charity than I do, but I bet he is disappointed when any of us sin. I guess I'm experiencing a little of what God experiences dealing with each of us.

 

At church yesterday, I was wondering about this and the Stake President, President Grow, spoke about charity during ward conference. It was an incredible talk and helped me realize that we all need to have charity. He said that developing charity (or really any attribute for that matter) is done one decision at a time. Alma says that, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass" I really felt the Spirit during that and I am going to try to apply that into my life. I know that as we try to develop Christ's attributes, that we will have the Spirit more abundantly in our lives, and that will bring that which we all seek: happiness. I love you all and I hope that you will all strive to develop charity this week, one choice at a time.

 

Love,

Elder Spencer Coleman

Dear friends and family,

I hope everyone had a great holiday season! We certainly did! The days are starting to get longer. It is dark at 5:00 instead of 4:30 which is nice. Elder Maughan and I are getting along great, and we're doing what we do best, sharing the gospel.

 

We had a few great lessons this week. First, we taught Jessica and Ron, a couple that a member from the ward invited to meet with us. We asked them how they had felt about church, praying, etc. and they said they are not sure if this is the church they should join. So we re-taught them the Restoration, because they wanted to know even more. So, we showed the Restoration video (no its not because we are lazy) and the Spirit was very strong during the film. Afterwards, we asked her how she felt, and she said she felt "something." We testified to her that this was the Spirit, testifying to her that our message was true. We invited her to pray and read again and we are very excited to see her progress.

 

We also taught the McKinneys, the family from about a month ago. We taught the Plan of Salvation in the Godfrey's home and it was great! That is how missionary work should be. Technically, temple square missionaries referred them to us, but the Godfrey's set us this appointment in their home, and greatly contributed to the lesson. Hopefully, they will come to church next week and read the Book of Mormon and find out for themselves whether its true or not.

 

Serving a mission is the best experience of my life! It has been so wonderful to serve the Lord and be able to give all I have to Him. The thing I love most is the Spirit guiding us what to do, say, etc. I love in 3 Nephi chapter 11 where it talks about the Holy Ghost: "And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn." I have loved experiencing the Spirit and love how it uplifts me when I am depressed or tells me what I need to say, but most importantly, I love the feeling when I testify of Jesus Christ and the overwhelming feeling that I get. I have also loved speaking to my Father in Heaven, not just throwing some prayer up there and hoping something good happens, but listening and expecting that He will speak back. These experiences have really changed my life, and I hope that all of you will speak with God and tell Him your needs, and I can promise you that He will speak in return. I love you all and I hope that all of you will continue to serve the Lord!

 

Love,

Elder Spencer Coleman