Pensamiento Espiritual [A Spiritual Thought] (June 2, 2014)

So just a quick little something to send your way:

This week I read an awesome little scripture in the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon and I thought I would share it with you all.

In Alma 5:62, the prophet Alma ends his discourse to a group of people by saying, "I speak by way of command unto you that belong to the church; and unto those who do not belong to the church I speak by way of invitation, saying: Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life."

I thought that was an awesome way to sum everything up. Our purpose in life as children of God is to come unto Him and to have eternal life with our families. It doesn´t matter who we are, of what faith we are, or where we are in life: the invitation is for all to come unto God, be baptized by His authority, and enjoy the fruits of eternal life.

Hope you all have a great week! Love to all!

- Elder Dax Rich

See Scott Grow (May 26, 2014)

En serio, I think C. Scott Grow has the best name in the quorum of the 70 in the church. Anyways, he spoke to the whole mission and all of the leaders in Piura and Tumbes this past week. It was one of the best and one of the most different conferences of the church I have ever been to. I truly hope I can talk to an audience one day with the same spirit and ease that this elder in the church did. 

I will share with you all some of what he said. He talked about three things specifically: faith, personal revelation, and the power of the Atonement. I could not believe some of his stories and words on faith, but wow did it augment my faith. He talked to us about how we could and should set high goals on baptisms and seek the Lord´s help not only to make a goal, but to carry it out. He talked to us about how when he was a mission president, missionaries with real faith prayed and received the revelation to plan things like 23 baptisms in one month. What was crazier, is that all of those missionaries who faithfully prayed and trusted in God, accomplished those goals! I was blown away, but now I certainly will do my best to increase my faith and trust that this is the Lord´s work, not the work of Elder Rich.

He also gave us one piece of advice that he said would be the key to life after the mission and for the eternity. He said the secret to this life is to show your family you love them, specifically your wife (or husband). He said that we can say we love our families as much as we want, but when it comes right down to it, the true key is if our family can say that they feel our love. Certainly something I will remember and something I will remember to apply now and until the end.

Anyways, not much else to share in this short time so I will just wish you all the best and tell you all how excited I am to come home next year and eat BBQ. Seriously, I miss that more than my box collection of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

¡Cuídense mucho!

- Elder Dax Rich

Why Do I Need Jesus Christ? (May 19, 2014)

It is my line-catcher, "Why Do I Need Jesus Christ?" For various reasons, this week I decided to dive into chapter 1 of the guide, "Preach My Gospel" which talks about the purpose of missionary work. I thought nice and hard about that and read a little on the subject, and I thought the best thing I could do this week is just write about what I learned and felt.

And it all starts with a story in my favorite book, "The Book of Mormon."

A guy named Alma was pretty bad. Like...really bad. He went around beating up members of the church of God, was a delinquent, and did not really believe in God. What made the picture worse was that his dad was the prophet of the church. Awkward. 

To use his own words, I will tell you a bit of what happened to Alma...and in English, no worries. In Alma chapter 36, Alma writes his story and tells how an angel of God appeared to him. The angel explained that God sent him because his loved ones had been praying very hard for him and the angel was on the errand of the Lord to tell Alma to repent. Alma said that after this visitation, he was, (as he writes) "racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.

Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments."

It was a suffering like he couldn´t even write, but afterwards he writes, "And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!"

Thanks to Jesus Christ, and His atoning sacrifice for every single one of us, Alma received the freedom from the depressing chains of his sins and errors, and was brought into a state of joy and light that surpasses all understanding and explanation.

What I like about this story is that Alma didn´t realize he needed God...but boy, did he need God. He might have been happy living his life, but he could never have been TRULY happy, because he didn´t know who he truly was, why he was on the earth, and what he was meant to do. That is why I am a missionary. To help people who don´t even realize they need to be forgiven of their mistakes, to fill in the gap they cannot see in their lives, and to realize their divine potential.

I am very grateful to be here on the mission, and I pray that all can come unto Jesus Christ and be freed from the void of darkness that envelopes this sickened world. Gracias por leer el blog, y ojalá que todo sea bien con Uds. ¡Cuídense mucho!

- Elder Dax Rich

Mother's Day (May 12, 2014)

To be frank, the highlight was yesterday: calling home. It was great to see everyone and talk to friends and I am just blown away at how much everyone has grown! Almost at that one year mark!

So the week. Well...maybe just Saturday and Sunday. Those were full of the action. Saturday was an activity for the mothers in our area...all 4 of them. Since there aren´t many mothers in our area, the whole district from 40 minutes away came down with their branch of members and we made it a whole big event (with more like 10 moms haha). Anyways, remember how I said I was in a very, very, very different place than any before? Yeah, well I got to prove that during the activity when 5 minutes before the activity, the leader of the group called and said he wouldn´t be coming and that we were on our own for the program. So, in 5 minutes, I made a 2 hour program for the mothers to enjoy. It ended up silly, sweet, and well...special, but all in all, everyone left quite happy. Good times.

The next day furthered that proof when I was sitting with the 4 active members of the group waiting to start church, and a random man entered the house asking for money. We explained we were about to start a church service and when he found out we were "Mormons" he began his attack. He tried to trick up this clever Gringo, and he threw down the big "What do I need to do to be saved?" card. Luckily, in the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ has explained the answer to that question in 5 steps: faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I explained it to the man and referenced this scripture here:

(from the words of Jesus Christs to the inhabitants of Ancient America in 3 Nephi 27: 19-20) "Y nada impuro puede entrar en su reino; por tanto, nada entra en su reposo, sino aquellos que han lavado sus vestidos en mi sangre, mediante su fe, y el arrepentimiento de todos sus pecados y su fidelidad hasta el fin.

 Y éste es el mandamiento: Arrepentíos, todos vosotros, extremos de la tierra, y venid a mí y sed bautizados en mi nombre, para que seáis santificados por la recepción del Espíritu Santo, a fin de que en el postrer día os presentéis ante mí sin mancha."

It is just that easy. If we have faith in Christ, if we pray, read the scriptures, and cultivate our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, then well we can start down the path to repentance, baptism, and enduring to the end of our lives as dedicated servants of the Lord. You want to be saved? Come unto Christ.

That is one of the best parts of being a missionary: I get to see how coming unto Christ changes lives. I hope and pray it can do that for everyone back home as well. The world promises happiness, but Christ promises joy (an eternal form of happiness), and that is what I get to share with people every single day. I invite everyone, here in Perú and back home, to take the challenge and see what is it like to come unto Christ.

Gracias a todos y cuídense mucho,

- Elder Dax Rich

¡Bienvenidos a Pueblo Nuevo! (May 5, 2014)

I am now in my 3rd area in the mission: Pueblo Nuevo, in the beaches of Paita. It is very, very, very different.

For starters, it is green. 

But more, I am now in something called a grupo familiar which is basically when the church has so few members that it can´t be a ward nor a branch. So, we have church services in the house of the missionaries...our house. There are 16 members in all of the town, and well let´s just say it is very new for me. I am the District Leader here, but Pueblo Nuevo is 40 minutes from the heart of Paita, so I am 40 minutes away from my district. There are lots of new experiences, challenges, and lessons that I am going to face here, and it is sure to be an exciting story to share with you all!

The last few days in Capullanas were excellent, yet also sad. Saying goodbye to good friends was very tough, but I got some very neat gifts and pictures that I want to share with you all (but I forgot my camera in the house, so I will send the huge wave of pictures the next week!. Until then, I will just let you all know that I am here in my new area and that all looks good. Thanks for keeping up with the blog and being a part of my adventures!!

¡Cuídense muchísimo!

.Elder Dax Rich

Oops (April 28, 2014)

Lo siento, I apologize but this week I will not be sending an email. Like the first time in 9 months, I know! Oh well, at least you can all enjoy the photos. I hope all is well with everyone and I hope to share lots of good things with everyone next week.....when I will probably be in my 3rd area in my mission. 

#adiosCapullanas

Amor a todos,

Elder Dax Rich

Even Missionaries Get Vacations (April 21, 2014)

So, I am going to Ecuador tomorrow. Bacan. I will take lots of great photos and get lots of stuff to remember the experience. It is kind of a strange story, but to keep it short, I will be going for the day and will return to good ol´ Piura in the night. Just a cool little piece of my life to share with everyone.

Yesterday ended la Semana Santa as we all celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What made last week even cooler was that VICTOR WAS BAPTIZED. Yeah, Bacan. He was baptized last Friday night, the day we remember the death of our Savior. ¡Que simbolismo! As Victor ended his old life and began a new life as a disciple of Jesus Christ. As said in the New Testament, when we are baptized, we are baptized by immersion to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ: 

"Porque somos sepultados juntamente con él para muerte por medio del bautismo, a fin de que como Cristo resucitó de los muertos por la gloria del Padre, así también nosotros andemos en vida nueva." (Romans 6:4)

It was a powerful service and a wonderful reminder to me of the power I hold as an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood. It is the same power of Jesus Christ and it is given to all males of God´s church who strive to stay worthy of its immense power. I was humbled and touched by the baptismal service. I know this is the church of Jesus Christ, the same church as He established almost 2000 years ago. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God who saw God the Father and His son, Jesus Christ. I know the Priesthood is here on the earth and exclusively exists in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I hope you all had a great Easter and had time to remember Christ as well as your own families. Thank you all for your prayers and support. ¡Cuídense mucho!

- Elder Dax Rich

"I´m Still Here" (April 14, 2014)

The title is from a great song from the movie, "Treasure Planet" which I got to see a part of this past Sunday when we ate with members (the life of crazy missionaries in Piura). I tried to be obedient and not watch, but when I heard this song, and in SPANISH I just gave up. It is called "Estoy Aquí" in Spanish and it did give the English version a run for its money.

ANYWAYS, the real story of the week is how we met a lot of new investigators this week, but the one highlight especially was a 45 year-old man named "Juan." Juan came to church yesterday and came to my Gospel Doctrine class (I usually teach the class solo, so it has kind of changed from the class of the missionaries and ward mission leader to the class of Elder Rich). After the class, he came up to me and asked if I could visit him in his house later in the afternoon, to which I said yes and well yeah...we went to his house. As we talked with him, we learned of his past as an alcoholic, a partier, and well just not a good dad, and he told us that all of that changed when he heard about the "Mormon church." We talked for a while and he expressed to us his desires to be baptized to change his life and be a better father and example, and well we ended up giving him a Book of Mormon. He said "Nunca voy a olvidar este momento" (I am never going to forget this moment, something I have not ever heard on my mission, to be quite honest) and then told us how he wanted to make a deal with God that as he would read the Book of Mormon, God would help him in return to stop drinking, stop using drugs, and start being a real light to his family. The Spirit was indeed quite powerful and well, his story may end here for me because we will not be able to personally continue teaching him, but I can be very sure in saying that one day we will see this man as a greatly changed man: a good father, a good example, and a good follower of Jesus Christ. 

It is a moment like this one when I can just testify to the ends of the earth that this is the work of God. It doesn´t matter what people say or do against the work, because it will continue to spread to every tongue and every nation until it has penetrated in every ear of every person on earth. I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ and I know he wants all of us to return to live with him again. We just need to make the decision to exercise faith, repent of our sins, make covenants with him, and endure to the end of our lives continually abounding in good works.

Gracias a todos y ojala que todos vayan a sentir el amor de Dios en esta semana. ¡Cuídense mucho!

- Elder Dax Rich