Personal Revelation is so Special

¿Cómo están?  

So, I went to the temple today and that is the reason for the title of my email. It was amazing to be in the temple. The feelings while in the temple are that of peace and love. It is just so special every time that I am able to go and do work for those on the other side. I also am so grateful for a Heavenly Father that answers prayers and does so on a very personal level. I can't describe it very well or with as much feeling as I would like to, but I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father and we also have Jesus Christ as our loving brother. I grasp that just little by little and each little realization is a testimony grower. So cool!

Miracle moment:  Right as we showed up to give a lesson with some progressing investigators they said "We didn't read. None of it – we  didn't read." We were a little caught off guard but proceeded to talk about it and then started the lesson. One of the investigators said,  "Today I was praying and I asked God if I should even keep meeting with you." And to that we were a little scared that she was about to tell us to stop coming over... we didn't really know where to go with it, but then our member that was with us said, "Let's go to Moroni 10: 4-5" and he then continued to explain the background and read it. After the scripture and hearing his testimony, the investigator was completely different. She said, "That scripture just touched me.. While you read that, I felt it. When you leave here I will read anything that you want me to and I will start to pray tonight. You will also come back tomorrow and we will talk about it."  Wow!  We went back the next day and had a wonderful lesson! They now have a baptismal date for June 11th and we are so excited for them!

Life is good.

I love choosing to be happy everyday. I testify that obedience to God’s commandments brings happiness! I love this gospel so much. I hope that you have a great week and that you may try to do something to show God that you are grateful for what he has done for you.

Love you!

Elder Mackintosh

PHOTOS:

1. Temple

2. Zone conference

3.  Conducting zone conference. jaja

           

Casi el día de la madre‏ (Almost Mother's Day)

Hello from Poughkeepsie,

So this week was fun of course! Every week is fun. On Sunday we had a man come to church that told us he’d only a been to church about 4 times in the last couple of years. Miracle! We had another member give him a ride and it was just so great to see him there.  Well, during Sacrament/testimony meeting I thought that I had gotten out of translating for the day but then he comes up and taps my shoulder to ask if I would go up with him and translate for the ward. So now two weeks in a row I have translated two full 15 minute talks for the whole ward. It is fun but also very hard! I can testify that the gift of tongues is real and that when we act on our faith, God supports us. I found that to be true as I translated this man’s story about how he ended up coming back to the church. The spirit was strong and I am so grateful for the times that God uses me to bless other people's lives.

Something that has been talked about by my mission president is the question,  "Why do YOU go to church?" And it is a good question to ask yourself. There are lots of great things at church that could be the answer. We go to learn, to support each other, to serve, to feel the spirit, to teach, to do a lot of things. But why do we go to church every week? To renew our covenants. We go because Christ suffered for us and we promised at baptism (those of us that have made this covenant) that we would remember him and his suffering. That we would keep his commandments. That we would repent continually. That we would follow him. The sacrament may all be taken in a sacrament meeting with a lot of people present but it is as personal as personal could get. We individually partake and renew our covenants. This has helped me so much to really think about why I go to church. I go to show Christ that I am grateful for what he did for me and to continually strive to repent and change. I would just invite you to ponder about the atonement and why you go to church. I know that it will strengthen your relationship with Christ.

Well everyone, I love you all and I hope that you know that I am genuinely happy. Being a missionary is the best thing in the world! I pray that you may be able to catch the vision of missionary work and help out our brothers and sisters in this world. Have a great week!

Con amor,

Elder Mackintosh

PHOTOS

1. Classic double thumbs up missionary picture over the Hudson

2. Mustaches for my companion, Elder Brasileiro's 20th birthday

3rd and 4th pictures are of my first day with my trainer Elder McBride and then when I saw him two days ago. I look different! I know... I have put on 15 pounds... Jaja