Week 70

St. Paul Temple

A SUPER Busy Week!

Hola todos! This week was jam packed. Unfortunately, we didn't have as much time this week to be working in our area. But we still saw some miracles happen!

So, check out this crazy week… On Tuesday we had interviews and district meeting. Wednesday, we had an exchange with a missionary in training. Thursday was MLC (Missionary Leadership Conference) which was all day. There were some amazing trainings, and revelation from the Spirit! Great experience. Side note - at the conference they gave us all smartphones!! Our mission has been approved to start rolling them out, so we are the batch of guinea pigs to test them out. Loco! Then, on Saturday we had a ward temple trip. We brought all our recent converts and also the Spanish crew, and we even got to take our amigo José Rojas who we've been helping return to activity and it was his first time attending in 21 years! The sweet spirit there is always so strong. And to top it all off, it was super bowl Sunday here in Minneapolis!! Something like 60 different police departments from all over the state came to the cities for the weekend. President Barney texted and said all missionaries in areas in the twin cities were not to be outside proselyting unless we had set appointments. The two appointments we had that day cancelled on us, so it was kind of a bummer day. We enjoyed the warmth indoors and made tons of calls, typed lesson reports, and recorded numbers for the zone. Such a blast! Jk haha. It was cool though because on the drive home, we could see the lights on US Bank stadium changed to green, so we knew that the Eagles won! Lol 

Despite the busyness with all he meetings we've had, Elder Barrett and I have seen the Lord guide us in our efforts this week. One highlight and some good news is... we set a date for our investigator Alana to be baptized on March 10th! First off, on Friday while we were planning our day, we both felt like we needed to see her that day. Turns out when we went over there, she told us her friend wanted to take her out partying that night. Our lesson was so timely. We were able to help her remember the blessings of choosing the right. We shared with her Mosiah 2:41, and talked about the happiness that comes from keeping the commandments. It was really a sweet moment, when she made the realization, "Wow, so that's why since I've been coming to church things have been getting better and I've been happier!" The sweet spirit was so strong. She also told us she received an answer to her prayer to break up with her boyfriend who hasn't been a good influence on her. She's been taking some great steps in the right direction, and we are super excited to see her progress even more!

Another spiritual highlight of the week was a really powerful training that was given during MLC. They talked about our desire to find new people to teach. A quote that resonated with me was, "Our desire to share the gospel directly corresponds with the depth of our witness of Christ and his atonement." Being a missionary can be hard. Sharing the gospel with others can be hard. Being obedient can be hard. Whatever the case may be, if we strive to strengthen our conversion to the Savior and His gospel, our righteous desires will increase!

I love you all! Thank you again for all your love and support. Dios les bendiga.

-Elder Bolinder

Ward Temple Night

The Spanish Crew

Elder Buhler Returns to Visit (red hoodie)

New Smart Phone :)