July 16

Hey Everyone!

It has been a good week this week!  We have just been working hard and seeing miracles.  We have been really trying to get people out to church, because that has been one of our struggles lately, and we were very grateful to have a lot of investigators come to church last Sunday.  We left the house early Sunday morning to drop by the people's homes and remind them about church, and bring them with us if they wanted.  By the time we made it to church there was already a couple of investigators there waiting for us.  It was a good church service.  The investigators all said that they enjoyed it, and hopefully they will be coming back next week.  The Medrano family is still doing good, but they didn't make it out to church.  Two of the daughters have been busy getting ready for a big program this week in school, and the other is on the morning shift right now, but they said that next week they will be able to come for sure.  The one daughter actually has a friend that is being taught by the other companionship of missionaries in Santa Ana right now, so that makes her want to come a little more.
The district president visited our branch yesterday, and he shared a great message in sacrament meeting about being willing to serve the Lord.  He talked about how greatly blessed were the people like Nephi who just trusted in the Lord and decided to 'go and do', and the blessings that were missed by those who chose to complain or doubt like Laman and Lemuel.  As he spoke one of my favorite quotes came to mind. It was, "God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability!" (Neal A Maxwell, Its Service, not Status that Counts).  I have felt that.  Sometimes in the mission I have been called to do things that I didn't really believe that I could do, but as I tried my best, I have felt God increase my ability. There are a lot of blessings that are missed by us when we choose to be afraid of failure instead of putting our faith in God.

I will get to spend my last full week here in Santa Ana.  We will go to Laoag on Sunday right after the services, and then fly to Manila on Tuesday afternoon. I'm sad to leave, but excited to see you all again.  Lots of mixed emotions (:

Just in case anyone wants to come see me, I will be giving a talk in sacrament meeting on July 30th.  The sacrament meeting will begin at 9:00 AM at the chapel located at 9626 North 6800 West HIGHLAND, Utah.

Have a wonderful week!

Elder Childs