You Are a Child of God

Andddd i felt bad cause there arent a lot of pics for this week
so i took a quick selfie right now and am sending it to you. #LIVE

 Wellll this week was fairly boring action wise haha i mean, theres a few little things, but for the most part it was a lot of walking and trying to find new investigators, so ill do my best to spice it up.

       Alright, my dad decided to play 20 questions this week soo lets dive into them. 

1) what do people live like?....ummmm idk, like humans? haha i dont think i understand the question.  But people normally have a one story home with about 2 bedrooms and a bathroom with a patio out back for washing. 

2) There are some homes that are nice and some that arent so nice, but there really arent any that are really beautiful or anything special to be honest. 

3) Yes, they have running water. 

4) Yes, they have electricity 

5) Yes they have warm showers, but a lot of people choose not to use a boiler cause it takes up gas they use for cooking so they just use buckets and shower with cold water. 

6) They do NOT have carpet. Anywhere. Forget about it. 

7) They have windows but they are usually made of steel and have bars over them. Some you can open, some you cant. 

8) They do NOT have screens on ANY windows, so whats comin ins comin in haha 

9) They have garbages....but usually its just a black trash bag at the back of the house. Its rare to take out the trash in anything but those bags. 

10) They do NOT have garbage disposals, EVER, so you have to scrape all the leftover garbage from the sink out by hand and throw it away cause it doesnt fit in the drain either. AND 

11) They dont have garages. Or at least its VERY rare. Most just park their car on the street or some build little chain link fence cages in front of their houses where they park their cars.

Happy New Year from those white kids in Mexico. We still up in this!

Us NOT blowing things up!!!

       Sooo like i said, not alot happened this week. We got to have the Elders of Obrero come over on New Years Eve. (It was early dont worry haha) and we did NOT buy fireworks, and we did NOT blow things up with them, and it was NOT a great time! So dont even think that we did any of that for one moment! We did however buy tacos and also pizza....and nachos. But THAT is another story haha but anyways, it was pretty good overall. Then the rest of the week was just working hard here in Metepec. The only updates that i have are that this weekend we are going to finally have the baptism for a 9 year old son of some recent converts. They have been saying for like 3 months now that they just arent gonna baptize him cause hes just too young and not ready. But we went over a few days ago and taught them. I shared the part in Moses where God tells Adam that his children will be born and have sin enter their hearts. But it says that they will taste of the bitter, so that they may know how to appreciate the sweet. And then it says that its a commandment that we teach those things to our children. We also shared about how repentance is not complete without baptism and then participating in the sacrament. So the best thing that they could do to help their son is to baptize him so that he can repent, and then give him the greatest gift we have, which is the spirit. So it was a good lesson, and he will be baptized by his father this weekend! Its gonna be great. And the only update with A is that we tried to visit him every day this week, but we couldnt find him at home. However, God has to be preparing us and his family cause we found his Mom, and then his younger brother on two different days that we went. They also accepted the invitation to hear us, so we will hopefully be able to get them all together and help them make covenants personally, and then as a family. So pretty great week!

       So to finish off, i wanted to share the spiritual thought that my Mom shared with me (sorry Mom) haha cause it was just too great to pass up. It talks about our true identity as children of God. Its from an article by Elder Tad Callister in BYU Magazine several years ago. In it, Elder Callister shares this beautiful teaching: “There is a sentiment among many in the world that we are the spirit creations of God, just as a building is the creation of its architect or a painting the creation of its painter.  The scriptures teach, however, a much different doctrine.  They teach that we are the literal spirit offspring, or children, of God our Father.  The difference is monumental in its consequence because our identity determines in large measure our destiny.  For example, can a mere creation ever become like its creator?  Can a building ever become an architect?  Or a painting, a painter?  …As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, we believe that we are the spirit offspring of God with inherited spiritual traits that give us the divine potential to become like our parent, God the Father.“ As to this identity, President Boyd K. Packer has written: “You are a child of God.  He is the father of your spirit.  Spiritually you are of noble birth, the offspring of the King of Heaven.  Fix that truth in your mind and hold to it.  However many generations in your mortal ancestry, no matter what race or people you represent, the pedigree of your spirit can be written on a single line.  You are a child of God.”  I add my personal testimony that we are children of God. You have a loving father in heaven who is your literal father. He knows you personally, he loves you personally, and he wants the best for you. When you feel you are alone, or when you feel that nobody cares about you, you are not alone. There is someone who loves you more than you could ever know - God. I know he does, and if you pray to him and ask him in sincere prayer to feel his love, you can know too. I so testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,

Elder Josh Hamm