Week 102 - Final Update!

With Ruben and Karla

El Último

Wow! The time has finally arrived. I never thought it would! The last update…

I just want to share one experience from this week to keep things brief. We were able to see Ruben and his girlfriend Karla from Texas again this week. One last time before I said goodbye. They fed us Mexican hot dogs!! They told us they were going through a very rough patch in their lives from all the financial stress, anxiety, and family troubles.

We shared with them some of my favorite verses from the scriptures: Mosiah 24:13-15

“And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.”

“And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.”

“And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.”

We asked them how they felt as they read some chapters of the Book of Mormon we asked them to read. Karla said, “it has just given me this soothing feeling. I feel more relaxed, and less worried about everything that’s going on in our lives. It really has given us comfort!” They bore testimony of how much the gospel we have shared with them has blessed their lives and given them peace! We were able to testify to them that what they feel isn’t from anything we do or say as missionaries, but it comes from the Spirit. We talked about how we can have that feeling and the blessings of the gospel in our families if we repent and are baptized. It was an amazing night. They are both so special and I’m going to miss them a lot! I’m glad I got to meet them, and the many other amazing people here in my last area! This just adds to my testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. The Book of Mormon is true and has power to bring us closer to Christ! I know His restored gospel is what brings true joy in our lives. I’ve developed a deeper gratitude for the gospel and my savior than I ever thought I would when I started my mission.

Well, words can’t express the range of emotions I have been feeling. It has been an amazing privilege to serve as a missionary for these past two years. It will sure be hard to say goodbye, but I thank my Heavenly Father for the experiences I’ve had and the many lessons I’ve learned. I’m so grateful for all of the support that I’ve received from you guys as well! I know your prayers have strengthened me so much. 

Gracias a todos ustedes, Dios les bendiga.

Nos vemos pronto!

Con amor, (y emociones mezcladas)

-Elder Bolinder

La Familia Preciado y Milo

La Familia Coon

Week 101

Elder Bolinder, Brandon, Elder Harris

Another Week in the Books

Hola Familia!

We are currently driving down to Morris for our Spanish FHE tonight. Should be a blast! Today we had a super chido zone p-day in St Cloud, so it’s gonna be a long drive. This week was another great one though!

We’re super pumped about our Spanish group that’s been growing. We’ve started to have our own Spanish Sunday school class and we’ve welcomed in yet another member living in Morris that we didn’t know about - Sister Hernandez’ brother Hector who was baptized in Texas about 2 years ago! Hoping to have our first independent sacrament meeting here pretty soon.

This week we met with Ruben again and he’s doing great! He started working night shifts which makes things difficult for his schedule, but we were also able to meet his girlfriend Karla. She asked us a TON of questions and just sincerely wanted to know what we teach as missionaries, who we worship, and what the Book of Mormon is. We taught them about the restoration of the Christ’s church, and it was super cool how the spirit guided the lesson to be centered on the healing power of Jesus Christ. As tears filled the room, I realized just how much gratitude I have for the Savior and the knowledge that I’ve gained through the gospel and serving a mission. A sweet moment I won’t forget. They are both really prepared to come closer to Christ and we’re excited to see them both progress!

Felicitas is still doing well, it’s been hard for her to get to church. But she is still absolutely loving the Book of Mormon! We also had a super huge African American guy named Brandon come to church and he’s hilarious – super happy and great sense of humor. All in all, it’s been a great week and I’m looking forward to one more amazing week in the service of the Lord!! I love all of you! Have a wonderful week(:

Con amor,

-Elder Bolinder

Idaho Avenue!

St. Cloud Zone Activity

Yes!

Lakeside Sunset

Week 100

Spanish FHE Group

Milagros!

Qué pasa amigos?

Man, what a miracle filled week!

Miracle #1

We started off the week with a bang! Monday evening we actually had to end our P-day a little early because we had some appointments down in Morris which is about an hour drive. So, the week before we visited on of the Hispanic families here - the Hernadez family. We asked them if they knew of anyone else who we could reach out to. They told us there was another Hispanic family living in Morris but their records were still in Minneapolis. We were like, WHAAAT there are more Spanish members here?! So, we went over the next week to invite them to the Spanish Family Home Evening we had on Monday. The wife answered and when we told her about the Spanish group we are trying to form in Morris, she was so astonished. She sat down on the step, and she started to tear up. She told us that she and her husband had been praying for this for 3 years! Just to see the joy on her face at that moment was absolutely priceless. They came to the FHE and we had a wonderful, spirit-filled night with 4 Hispanic families, 16 people in total!! So amazing.

Miracle #2

Remember that guy from Texas we brought to church last week, Ruben? We met with him again this week and we felt like we needed to talk about the Holy Ghost with him. In our lesson he opened up to us and explained that ever since going to church, he has felt this feeling he remembers as a kid - a warm feeling of peace inside. Everything in his life seems to just be falling into place ever since we knocked on his door! It's amazing to see how prepared he is to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ in his life!! He came to church again and we had a great testimony meeting. Ruben totally took us off guard too because he got up there and got up there to speak, just his second time coming!! It was so sweet. 

Miracle #3

Lastly, we got a referral from the Minneapolis Hermanas - a Hispanic lady named Felicitas who moved to our area. She had ordered a copy of the Book of Mormon online, and we delivered it to her, explained what is was and that it will help her to come closer to Christ and find peace in her life. We gave her a chapter to read, set up a return appointment and didn't think too much of it. When we went back to see her, she immediately just unloaded a bunch of questions on us. Turns out, she didn't just read 3 Nephi 11 (the chapter we assigned), but she read 17 more chapters after that! She said she couldn't put the book down! She explained that this feeling of peace in her heart overcame her, and all throughout that week she was so much more patient with her kids. It was funny because she said (pointing at me) "I think he put something in my book that made me cry! The last time I cried was 5 years ago when my mom died, and ever since then I haven't been able to cry, but when I read this I cried like never before.. And it's all his fault!" haha. Yet another witness that the Holy Ghost testifies of truth! We're super excited to see Felicitas read more and progress towards baptism.

We also had interviews with President Barney this week. We spent two full days in St Cloud, Minnesota - One for interviews and a zone meeting, and the next day we blitz the zone leader’s area. So now I can officially say I’ve served in Marshall’s home town from the show ‘How I Met Your Mother’ hahaha. 

I don’t think I’ve ever been happier as a missionary! To know that I am where the Lord needs me to be and seeing those around us find peace and joy in the gospel of Christ has such an incredible experience that I won’t soon forget. I love you all so much. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I know he lives!

Con amor,

-Elder Bolinder

Zone Conference

Week 99

Elder Bolinder, Reyes, Milo, Mariano, Elder Harris

This Week Was Just Electric!

Hola amigos!!!

It’s been another good week out here in Alex.

Unfortunately, Jordan has been out of town and a lot of the people we found a few weeks ago haven’t been able to meet. But we’ve still had some good successes this week! 

We found this awesome young Hispanic guy from Texas while tracting the other day. He came to church on Sunday to check it out! So, we had something super bizarre happen yesterday. Someone was up at the stand, speaking as normal when the microphone cut out all of a sudden. A few seconds later it started making this loud buzzing noise. All the counselors tried to fix it, but the noise just got louder! Then after about 4 minutes, it sounded like something was going to explode! Haha. So, everyone evacuated the room, and the bishop was trying to pull any plug he could find to the microphone. We stood out in the hall for about 10 minutes, and it finally stopped. Turns out, the electric organ short circuited!! Hahaha. Something was frying up inside, and when we got back inside you could smell it. Never had that happen before hahaha. Definitely an interesting first visit for Ruben! 

We had an amazing exchange on Tuesday. We had 4 lessons and gave away 6 copies of the Book of Mormon that day! 

We’ve been having some success with our Spanish group too. One of the highlights of the week was that we had the baptism of Milo’s boys, Reyes and Mariano!! It was so amazing to see the joy on Milo’s face being able to baptize his own sons. And he was baptized just two months ago! It was a sweet experience, and now our Spanish families are getting excited about sharing the gospel and inviting others too. So hopefully we can kindle some member missionary fire here to help the Spanish group!

It’s been such a privilege and blessing to be able to serve the people here - Spanish speaking or non-Spanish speaking. And above all, it has been a life-changing experience to serve my Savior Jesus Christ. I love Him so much!

Hope you all have a fantastic week! Love ya

-Elder Bolinder

Alexandria Spanish Group is Growing!