"Ants out ma pants!" --- Dec 16, 2013

This week we have been doing lots of services for others. Ever since our new president got here he has been pushing the service aspect a lot. We are required to do at least one service project a week. We really have been growing our testimonies on it as well. This last week we did three and saw miracles from them. One day this week we saw an old man cutting a stump up in a field with an axe, we headed over and started to help him. It turns out that the stump and all around it was covered in ants, so my comp and I would take turns cutting it up then getting them off.... and out of our pants haha. As it was my turn to get "The ants out ma pants," I went over by where the road is, and was leaning over and heard. "Are you Elder Lloyd?" I looked up and didn't recognize a young boy and girl. I said yes and asked how I could help them, they said. "Well, we are from the family Gracian and we just moved into this area, we are a family of 8 and are looking for the church around here and what time we go." We got their information and visited them that night, turns out it is an inactive family of 8 that moved in a week before, and are looking to come back to church. I know that through the service we were doing we were in the place and time that the Lord needed us to be, I know that what it says in Mosiah is true that when we are in the service of our fellow men we are in the service of God. And he could not be more happy with us! 

Love you all

Elder Lloyd

Dec 9, 2013

Crazy week of running to the offices with marriage papers, running everywhere to get things done, but a great week none the less! We had the great opportunity to baptize an Awesome investigator named Elizabeth, she is about 24 and is the daughter of a member that just recently reactivated. 

She has definitely been one of those golden investigators that you always look for as a missionary. But along the way I have noticed something. Before, we would always go to the house of the Hermana to talk to her daughter, and sometimes we would show up and she wasn't there, so we would always tell her (the mom) to show us where the house is and come with us to visit her there, and she would always tell us. "NO! I'm not going she lives with here boyfriend and mother in law, and they don't like this sort of stuff and will be rude to you!" So we wouldn't go. Then one day we got the directions to where they lived and went by ourselves. We got there and she wasn't there either but her boyfriend was, we talked for a little bit and asked if he would like to talk to us he said yeah and we had a great lesson. From there we have talked with and taught his cousins mom, dad and lots from their REALLY big family, and they love it. His mother especially loves us and talking to us, you can really tell these are people that need the Gospel in  there lives. I have been really realizing in this past week that we need to share the Gospel with everyone, even if we don't think that they are going to accept it is worth a try, and if we don't try they might never have the chance to find what they don't even know they are looking for, and have this incredible light in their lives. The Holy Ghost will put into our minds who these people are and its our job to get over our fears, and doubts and do what our Father and Jesus Christ need to be done!

Thank you for all the love and prayers.

 Elder Lloyd

Dec 2, 2013- Having the spirit guide us in everything we do

  This week was a very good and special week. We had the baptism of Juan and it was incredible, I will never forget seeing him leave the water and then cover his face as he started to cry, and then share his testimony of how the whole week he had been thinking of how his sins would really be washed away, then when he came out of the water he KNEW that they were all forgiven.

(Baptism of Juan Elder Ceollo, Juan, Ward Mission leader, me)

This week we got the chance to have Elder Villalobos from the Quorum of the 70 come and talk to our zone in a conference. He talked a lot about something very big in our lives and VERY important as missionaries. He talked about us being worthy to have the Spirit guide us in everything that we do. We had an experience of this during the week. We were walking and a couple of our citas had fallen through, so we thought where does the Lord need us? Then a name of a lady who I had never met popped into my head. Someone that my other comp had talked to when I was on divisions. In an area where we heard that a house had burned down, but not thought anything of it. So we headed off, we got to the door and a middle aged man came to the door, we asked for the women and he went inside to see, a middle aged women came to the door and told us no she wasn't there. So we started talking to this women named Laurena. We asked her if she had talked to missionaries before, she said yes and we asked if we could share a message with her. She said, "Yes, but this isn't my house, my house burned down 3 days ago, and we are here until we can find out what to do, would you like to do it here or in the other house?" We said the other house, we got there and it was just walls, a humble family of 6 four kids under the age of 11-- that had not a lot to begin with; now have almost nothing.... We entered and shared our message and in the midst of all the disaster was such a sweet spirit. We then promised her that we would do everything in our power to get the house back into condition and better. This week we have put in every morning into rebuilding the house with other missionaries and soon the ward.

I know that the Spirit will guide us and tell us the things we need to do, like to arrive where that family was, but it is not our work it is the Lords and to have that happen we need to do it His way, and be 100% at the top of our game. The Holy Ghost is real, he is our companion and a friend when we need our guide and the way we know this IS the church of Jesus Christ and no one else's. But we need to be worthy to have him with us. 

Love you all

 Elder Lloyd

HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY ELDER LLOYD!!!!

We want to wish Elder Lloyd The Happiest 20th Birthday!! 

We are so proud of you and love you so much!!

Out takes:

Love,

 Your incredibly proud family / Your biggest fans

Nov 18, 2013 -- Miracles do happen, and angels do walk with us, but it is our choice if we are going to see them

This week was a great week, a week of hardships that came out to be a week of great lessons.
We are teaching a special friend of our ward mission leader. He is a 24 year old named Juan who has quite an interesting story. He is some what the adopted son of our ward mission leaders wife's family. They found him a couple years ago with absolutely nothing, and offered to have him work for them in their house doing little things, so he would get up and going then he would disappear every so often- then show back up in bad condition again. So they started to give him more and more work until he ended up staying there and ultimately living there. Even though he is 24 years old, he has the mind set of about a 16 year old. He is a great guy. WE heard about his story a little bit and he has a very hard past, of abuse, and neglect, from his family. The other night we were in a lesson with him and we had picked out a couple verses in the Book of Mormon to read to him about seeing miracles in our lives. The Spirit came over the room very strong, he looked at us with tears in his eyes and started to explain how this family; the family Piña, took him in. He then started to sob, and told us about when he sees the needy all over in the street, and how he always thinks, that should be me! But how these angels have come into his life and have given him a second chance, and even though he doesn't have a family that cares, he has them as his family. And now they have lead him to the church and he knows that is for a reason.
It was such a tender moment to me and caused me to think of two things. One of how important families are. They really are everything! We need to love and cherish it for everything that we have. It is definitely something that we take for granted. And two, Heavenly Father knows us perfectly. Knows us by name and knows what we need, and when we are true to Him, He WILL send angels our way to buoy us up in times of need, and make miracles happen. I know that is true and that Families are sacred to Him and if we have lost someone we WILL see them again and live with them, because He will make it happen. We just have to do our part. If we haven't had the blessing of a family in our lives, if we are faithful to Him we can have our own in some way or another. Miracles do happen, and angels do walk with us, but it is our choice if we are going to see them.
Love you all!

Oct 28, 2013

This week was a good one, one of those rough weeks- but you look back and realize all of the things that happened and what good you did. It is starting to get cold here, which is weird, I don't know Mexico as a cold place. It isn't like home cold, but it is for me because I'm so used to the warm now. And with nothing but cement and tile houses, the houses are like human refrigerators. Haha its crazy.

 We are super excited because we broke the highest attendance record in our Ward this last Sunday and we are just expecting it to keep climbing. The members are one of the reasons and the biggest thing is really starting to catch the vision, making visits and doing those little fundamental things.

 
This week we had the baptism of a guy named Horasio. He really has been an investigator of "gold" as you will. He has been to church for the five times and the thing that I love the most is that he is putting into practice the things that we have been teaching him. In one lesson with him we asked how things were going. He responded good, and that he was having some different problems with different things and he just prayed and read his Book of Mormon and everything eventually straightened out and it was all okay.

It was something that I have been thinking about a lot lately. A lot of times we go through trials, well we could probably say we always are in some form or another. But, when we pass through the big ones, for example, money, school, kids, work, etc.  As humans we do something funny, we feel that we need to focus everything on that problem or trial and do it ourselves and in the act we forget about the greatest help, and what we REALLY need, Our Heavenly Father. How many times have we all said, No I cant go to church I need to get my homework done. I cant go on that visit with you I am swamped with work. Or I need to get this done and go to bed there isn't time to read scriptures..... I have been really realizing how we do that as humans. It's times like these when we need to step back, take a breath and put Him first. Get back to the basics of things, prayer, scripture study, church, and the commandments. And exercise our faith in Him by In this way we are putting everything in His hands and knowing that everything will be okay. If we are good to Him, and we put Him first, He will be VERY, VERY  good to us. I know that following the example of this new member and putting all of our trials in His hands, by doing what he expects of us with our church duties, He WILL take care of what we need and more. He is there and knows how to help, but we have to do our part to receive the help.

Love you all so much!

Love Elder Lloyd

Oct 7, 2013

A great week of spiritual recharge, no?

I hope everyone loved conference as much as I did. It is always so incredible to be able to hear living Prophets. It feels like they are really talking right at you! So incredible!

This week we are so excited, we will be baptizing a young kid of 19 years during this week. His name is Adrian and is such a smart and ready kid! He is a special story, we have been working with him since I got here. But he is a young kid with a really troubled past. Due to that troubled past we have been working through a lot of things, and ultimately had to wait awhile to get permission from the First Presidency of the church for him to be baptized. One night about a week ago our President called us, and gave us the incredible news that he has been passed and given permission to be baptized from the First Presidency. It was such an amazing thing to hear! Then the next night we went to his house, and gathered his family around, who are already members, and we read him a scripture in D and C about forgiveness, then as we looked at him and told him that living Prophets of God have given him permission to be baptized... Wow, the spirit was burning SO strong and it was so incredible. Their father is always at work, and almost never there, as I think about it, I know that Adrian is going to be the worthy strong priesthood holder in that family and that household as it is, is so needed, and it was talked about in conference.

As we have been going through this processes with Adrian, I recently read a talk by Elder Holland given in the conference of May 2012 called the Laborers in the Vineyard; it is an incredible talk. It is based on and describes the parable in Matthew 20:1-15, he talks about it in many different ways. But one point that he makes I love so much, he says" His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there." I know that- that is SO true. It doesn't matter what we have done in life, It doesn't matter how late it is, He is ALWAYS there for us to take us back. He wants us, to return to Him more than anything! He loves us more than we could EVER comprehend, and we can feel the incredible healing power of the Atonement, but we need to look and turn to Him take his hand, and follow.

I love all so much

Hope all is well

Love Elder Lloyd