Boneless Bananas: Happy New Year!!!

Howdies to all!!

Happy New Year!! I hope that everyone had a wonderful (and safe) New Year's Eve and Day. Also, I hope that all is going well with any New Year's resolutions that have been made. Yay for new years!

I'm writing so late today because we're getting used to the part of Riobamba that we're now living in and we couldn't find a cyber for a bit. But hey, here I am! We moved into our new apartment this morning, and it is a wonderful apartment. It has three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and it's brand new. We got it at a really good price too, so Elder Sotomayor and I are happy about it. It'll take getting used to, but that'll happen fairly quickly.

Elder Sotomayor and I are getting along just fine. The language barrier is coming down brick by brick, but it's coming down. We have some investigators right now that we were really excited for, but this Sunday nobody came to church (none of our investigators), so all of their baptismal dates fell. That really made us sad because during the week they had all been excited about coming to church, and one even said that she'd come because it's a tradition of her's to go to church the first of every year. But, nobody showed up, even though we called and tried to remind as many people as possible. It's a bit rough getting people to go to church on Sunday, but I know that if we just work a little bit harder that they'll come.

One thing that I need to work on more (and it'll sound weird that I have to work on this) is trusting in God more. I've realized that I've had the attitude of "I can do this" for a long time, but I forgot some words in that statement: "with Heavenly Father's help." Many times we live life in such a way that we don't allow God to work. We might be reading the scriptures every day, saying our prayers, and going to church, but if we don't line our will up with God's will, we cannot help Him in His work. He has a lot of work to do, and He needs as many instruments as possible to do so. We can be His instruments, but we have to step aside and let Him take control of us. I'm realizing now that if I want to see more success here, then I need to be a lot more humble and I need to be the Craftsman tool in the hands of the Master Mechanic. I can do it, with a lot of His help. Any and all prayers for our investigators or me are more than welcome.

Yay driver's licenses!! That's pretty darn cool Jeffrey. I remember that I was way excited to get my driver's license, and when I took the test I got marked off points for not looking around enough. I don't know how the evaluator could tell though, because I was wearing sunglasses. Oh well, I got it! Good luck Jeffrey! You got this!

This Sunday, apart from not having any investigators, was pretty cool. In Sacrament Meeting we hardly had any members (EVERYBODY and their brothers travel on 1 January), so I was asked to help pass the sacrament. It was a really neat experience. Usually I help save people through making a baptismal covenant, but this time I was helping save people by helping them renew that covenant. I could really feel the Spirit, and I was very grateful for that opportunity. Also, at the last minute (well, before Sacrament Meeting started, but still last minute), I was asked to give the closing talk. I talked about obedience (1. because it's what I gave a lesson on in the district meeting that week and it was still fresh in my mind and 2. because we could all be more obedient), and I think it went really well. Several people came up to me afterwards and thanked me for my talk, so I think it was pretty good for being all improvised. It really is so important for all of us to be obedient. We could say that being obedient is the only commandment which we really have. All the rest of the commandments are built on the foundation of obedience. In fact, obedience is the first law of heaven. Without obedience, we cannot be saved to return to the presence of our Father in Heaven. Without obedience, we could not have even had the opportunity to return to Father's presence. Jesus Christ was perfectly obedient to the Father, and because of such He atoned for all of us and conquered physical death, giving all of us the opportunity to be free from sin and to live again and receive a judgement. Without obedience, Satan's plan would have won out over God's plan in the pre-mortal existence, and we would never have had any of the opportunities that we now enjoy. Obedience to commandments keeps us safe and keeps us free; free from the bonds of addiction, free from guilt, free from feelings of regret and sorrow, free from sadness. Obedience to the commandments and to the covenants that we have made with Father brings us salvation. As it says in Doctrine and Covenants 82:8-10, the Lord is obligated to bless us when we keep His commandments, but when we are disobedient He has no promise with us. He is obligated to save us if we follow Him and live His gospel, but is under no such obligation if we do not fulfill our part. It's a new year! Let us all strive to be more obedient to the will of the Father. Let us especially be obedient to the commandment to repent when we fall short of living all of the commandments. I testify that obedience to the commandments will bring us neverending joy, blessings in this life, and eternal life after death (Mosiah 2:41). I know that obedience is the only way to truly find happiness in this life and to live without worry or fear. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Well, I must now go attend to other matters, like saving the world and such. I love you all, and I am so grateful for all of you. I hope all of you enjoy your week, and that all of you who have gone or will be going back to school this week (Cougars?) have an exitoso year and accomplish all that is needed. I love you! Oh! I sent a letter package the 26th and I have two more letters to send next week, so keep yer eyes peeled! Have a wonderful time! (Scroll down for Christmas photos)

Love,
Elder Schomburg