Week 8

I'm not a huge fan of writing emails but apparently people want me to write more. Therefore I am going to default to bulletpoints

This was a super awesome awesome week and it had a lot of miracles

- I'm starting to really love Oregon. The weather is beautiful and the branch is amazing. I've never seen a more unified branch and I'm honored to be a part of it.

- We got to talk to a very drunk guy who had a really big Bible in Guatemala so that was sweet. We also talked to a guy smoking a cigar that says we should wear baby clothes to protect us so maybe I'll take that into consideration.

- We got to go to the Portland temple with two new converts and this was a super cool experience. Everyone in the branch that could go went and drove the hour to support their fellow members. It was super special.

- We had a mission tour and Elder Nash who is the president over all the missionary work in the world came and spoke to us. He taught us about the importance of the members and promised us that if we used the members to help the work we would see miracles. We did.

This is one of the most incredible miracles I've seen and it was an experience I'll never forget, we told our President in a text and this is what we wrote.

"Tonight we had a fiesta with the Rama, it was great. There was a member that we were hoping would come that didn't end up coming. We had called her and told her to come but she was alone at home and said she was just gonna relax. We were getting ready to leave la Fiesta at around 8 and we felt a pretty strong impression that we should go say hi. So we went and we talked with her for a while. Now a missionary who served here a couple years ago is visiting to go through the temple with some of the newer members, she's staying with this Hermana that we were visiting, and she's staying there with here sister Alexis as well. This Hermana very excitedly told us a story about how she had an awesome conversation about the gospel with her doctor. She said how she was able to speak English super clearly and how she was so happy to be able to share her testimony with him. Elder Greer following the spirit gave her a Book of Mormon and we invited her to give it to this doctor the next time she sees him. She was super excited. As we did this Alexis leaned over to her sister and asked if she could have one, her sister (Hailey) asks us if we had another book in English, we of course say yes because we're always strapped in both languages, and we hand Alexis the book that she starts reading. The spirit was extremely strong. Now, I would like to point out two very incredible things that happened, one of which we didn't even realize until after the whole ordeal. 1. Alexis doesn't speak any Spanish, Her sister Hailey was translating everything to her the whole time. And 2. Afterwards we were talking to the sisters, and it turns out that Alexis isn't a member. We had just assumed she was, but it turns out she's not. Of course if we had known that she wasn't, then we would've focused a bit more on her and spoken a little bit more English, but regardless, God knew. And through the translation of her sister, and more importantly through the spirit, Alexis felt of the joy that the gospel has given to this very humble Hermana, and she felt of the excitement and passion that she has to share it with the world and with anyone who will listen. Now, having a sister that served a mission, and being that she lives in Utah, I imagine she has heard a lot of the Church. Although I don't know her story, I would imagine that many opportunities have come and gone with her, and she probably hasn't ever shown much interest in the gospel. But tonight, that changed. The sprit testified despite the language barrier, and the touch of pure and true, eternal joy hit her heart harder then ever before. God wants to work miracles."

I've never been so touched by the spirit and I know that God was watching over us and the people we were teaching. I know that God is and will always be a God of miracles.

- I found the mystery machine from Scooby-Doo

- People finally started to show up to English class. We now teach Pedro and Raphael. It's super fun and I’m super glad I don't have to learn English.

- Anyways now for a spiritual thought. I really like sMoses chapter one which is an interaction between Moses and God and then after Moses and Satan. I love when God talks to Moses, the first thing He says is Moses my son. This teaches us 2 things. One, Heavenly Father knows our names. And two, the most important thing is our eternal identity. We are sons and daughters of God and this is of upmost importance. Satan then comes and tempts Moses. He says Moses son of man. The first thing Satan trys to take away from us is our eternal identity. He does this because it is the most important part of who we are. We are sons and daughters of God who loves and knows us. When we mourn he mourns with us. When we cheer, he cheers with us. He loves us more than words can comprehend. I testify that as we turn to him we will find comfort.

I hope you all have a great week and I'd love to hear from you. Adios!

Elder Greer

2231 Waverly Dr. SE #204, Albany, OR

jonah.greer@missionary.org

Companion study with Area Authority Elder Schmitt