Week 6- Get the Ice Picks

Hola todos!! Qué tal?

It is freezing this morning in Provo!! I am starting to get a little nervous about the winter in Iowa haha THanks mom and dad for the sweaters and shirts! They fit great and I am wearing them right now! We have gotten a lot done this week and have learned a lot. Last night, our devotional speaker was Elder Larry Echo Hawk (he spoke in General Conference) and he talked about his conversion story. What I learned most from it is that we must always remember that conversion is a process and baptism is just the beginning of it! I have learned the importance of gaining the members trust in the wards where I will serve, because it is absolutely essential that the new converts have spiritual mentors and FRIENDS in the wards which they live! It is so important that the ward members open their arms and hearts to new converts and help them become more converted to the Lord!

Also, Sunday night, we got to watch a talk by Elder Bednar about Recognizing the Spirit. It was such a powerful talk and has helped me a lot in understanding the Spirit and how it works. He related a story of when he was a 20 year old missionary in Germany. The junior member of the Quorum of the 12 was Boyd K. Packer and he needed to reach a connecting flight in Berlin from Munich. Elder Bednar was an Assistent to the President at the time and was responsible to picking up Elder Packer and his wife from the Munich Airport and getting them on a midnight train to Berlin. Elder Bednar gave Elder Packer 20 Marks (german money) at the train station in case Elder and Sister Packer got hungry on the train. Elder Bednar does not remember handing him this money at all. Elder Packer informed Elder Bednar 30 years later that as they were traveling on that train through communist East Germany to reach Berlin, East German guards boarded the train to check passports. Sister Packers passport was not accepted by the East German guards on the train and they were about to take her off the train in East German territory. That is when Elder Packer remembered the 20 marks in his pocket and pleaded with the East German guard to let them stay on the train to Berlin. It was allowed as the East German guard took the 20 mark note (lot of money in 1972) and let them continue on the train. The significance of this story is that Elder Bednar did not receive any kind of grand spiritual impression to give them a 20 mark note, and did not even remember doing so, but that 20 mark note saved Elder and Sister Packer a lot of trouble as they passed through dangerous, communist East Germany. Elder Bednar did not know about this story until 30 years after it happened, but obviously knew it was a spiritual impression that prompted him. Elder Bednar promises that if you are trying your best to be good, honor your covenants and keeping the commandments, you will be guided by the Holy Ghost without even knowing it. Very few times will we have a strong spiritual impression of something to do beforehand, but many times, after action has already be taken, we will look back and be able to see our works being guided by the Spirit of the Lord.

I know this Church is true. Jesus is the Christ. We are guided by His Holy Spirit as we strive to be more like him everyday. Joseph Smith restored the true Church of Christ to the Earth and as with many ancient prophets, has sealed his work with his own blood. I love you all and pray for you daily. Be Strong and of a Good Courage!

Les amo! (I love you all)

-Elder McGinn

ps The hymn is Praise to the Man!

--

Elder Seth McGinn

MTC Mailbox #216

IA-DMOIN 1114

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604

Week 5- Work is how we thrive!

Familia y Amigos!

Qué tal?

This week has been awesome like all the rest! First, of all, thanks for the letters! They are such a boost during the day.

So on Thursday night this past week, Elder Peña and I baptized our first investigator! Not really, but we have been teaching him (our teacher) for a month now and we had the opportunity to do the baptismal interview questions with him and once he can answer all of those, it counts as a baptism! His name is Silvio and he is from Argentina(where my teacher served his mission). I felt so much love for him during this whole month teaching him and preparing things to talk about with him, but never have I felt anything like I did when we were able to talk about the baptismal interview questions and what this means for him. I was full of love! Way more than I had capacity to feel. That's when I knew that I was feeling the love that Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, have for him. What an experience! I have since thought all about how that powerful, potent, pure love I felt for Silvio is the same way our Heavenly Father feels about all of His children. So we then talked to our teacher about the real Silvio. He said that he is doing great in Argentinaas a member of the Church and is a Gospel Doctrine teacher in Mendoza. The Fernandez's (Raul mainly) would be happy to know that I am slowly picking up a Castillano accent. Its sweet! And our new investigator from Argentinawho we just started teaching is named Raul!

Last night, our Tuesday night devotional speaker was Elder Shayne M. Bowen of the Seventy. He is the one who spoke about is young son who died when he was three in General Conference just a week ago. He talked about so many great things, but the takeaway for me was WORK. He talked about the formula for miracles (obedience + work=miracles) and how we must become expert planners and constantly be finding others to teach. I thought it was cool because it also has application with Spanish. Missionary work is like any other. It is a confusing mix of manual labor and spiritual wrestling. It takes so much more effort mentally, than mowing the lawn or pulling weeds. And it takes so much more effort physically, than simply writing a talk or preparing a lesson. It is awesome! But in Spanish their are two words for the word 'work' in English. 'Trabajo' is a sort of physically, job like work and 'obra' is a sort of spiritual, mental work. I like it a lot because it separates the work a missionary does as 'la obra de misionero', rather than 'trabajo de misionero'. This work is "laboring in the Lord's vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men." I am grateful to be a part of it and to be here in the MTC, learning just how to go about it effectively! This is the only Church on the Earth that is in the express likeness of the Church that Jesus Christ established during His mortal ministry. It is founded on prophets and apostles the same, who have the same keys and authority that was given by Christ to His original twelve apostles. This priesthood authority was restored through Joseph Smith, a true prophet who has sealed his work like many great prophets before him--in his blood. I love this gospel. I love my Savior. I love all of you for helping me develop this love over the years! Let us all press on!!!

-Elder McGinn

--

Elder Seth McGinn

MTC Mailbox #216

IA-DMOIN 1114

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604

Week 4- General Conference Galore!

Hola todos!

Well General Conference was absolutely amazing! I enjoyed it so much here in the MTC because I was more spiritually focused than ever before. When President Monson announced the lowering of age to serve missions, the MTC went crazy haha we were all clapping and screaming! What an exciting time to be a missionary! I think my favorite talk in the conference was the talk by Walter Gonzalez on Sunday morning. The Spirit, through his talk, taught me so many new things about how I can study more meaningfully and how I can become more like Christ, which is our ultimate goal. I also love Elder Eyring's in Priesthood about spiritual gifts and also his talk about the pavillion that WE put up that seperates us from God. God is near and He is aware. Also, Elder Holland was very powerful as always and made me reflect on my love and devotion to the Savior. Others I enjoyed were both of Pres Uchtdorfs, Elder Oaks"s, all of Pres Monson's, and Elder Bednar's about conversion. Speaking of him, Elder David A. Bednar came and talked to us last night in the MTC Devotional!!! When he entered the room, my chest was so filled with warmth and joy and we were singing and it was the first time I believe I have ever shed tears of sheer joy. I was just so comforted by the Spirit and absolutely knew that I was where my Heavenly Father wanted me to be. Elder Bednar spoke about conference and mentioned how it is funny to hear people discuss why the ages of missionary service changed when they werent in the council of the Twelve who made the decision. He called it "Apostolic Humor" to hear these people try to assume the reasons for the change. He told us one thing about this change. He said "All that is important to know is that the Lord hastens His work in His time and in His way." Pretty sweet that we get to be the vessels that He hastens His work through. Then, Elder Bednar discussed how important it is to study General Conference once it comes out and showed us the way he studies as an example. He breaks each talk down into 3 parts: the doctrine discussed, the invitation to act, and the promised blessing after that invitation. It was awesome!

So there are many things that go on within missionary work. Many things to remember and many ways to do things. It is very easy to get caught up in certain principles and things and very frustrating for me because I am trying to remember all these methods and things to do. Over this weekend, I was able to take a step back and simply remember what my ultimate goal is: to become like Christ. My motivating scripture for that is Matthew 16:25 which says "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." Like our beloved Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley's experience on his mission, all I really need to focus on doing is "forget yourself and go to work." It is so wonderful to see that many of the conference talks were based around service to others. I dont like the word service because it seems so impersonal and mechanical. I would like to call it love-in-action, because that is what service is by definition of King Benjamin. We must forget ourselves, love our fellow brothers and sisters around us, and show that love with action. This has reminded to follow the Savior in every way. The first thing I think about when I hear His sacred name, Jesus Christ, I think of selflessness. Not once did He ever do anything for Himself-NEVER. "Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done." He gave all glory to His Father and as we learn in a scripture that has changed my relationship with the Savior, He is even sharing His inheritance with us if we follow him faithfully to the end. This scripture is Doctrine and Covenants 93:45-46 which says "Verily, I say unto my servant Joseph Smith, Jun. (insert our name here), or in other words, I will call you friends, for you are my friends, and ye shall have an inhertance with me--I called you servants for the world's sake, and ye are their servants for my sake." We are all His servants, not to him, but to the world for Him. And to Him, we are His FRIENDS! That has drastically changed my relationship with my Savior and has drawn me closer to Him, thus encouraging my actions to be more like His. I love this gospel. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of Christ that he established in His time of mortality. It has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. and we now have the absolute blessing to live in an unprecedented age with 15 prophets and apostles on the Earth, guiding His sacred work forward. Only 1 man holds and has authority to exercise all priesthood keys, even our beloved Prophet Thomas S. Monson. I hope all of you can study these conference talks over and over again as I will to gain new insights and recieve more personal revelation through the Holy Ghost. I love you all and pray for you daily! "Let Us All Press On"

Elder Seth McGinn

--

Elder Seth McGinn

MTC Mailbox #216

IA-DMOIN 1114

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604

Week 3 in the MTC

Qué pasa calabaza! (Whats up pumpkin)
First off, thanks to all of you who sent me cards and packages for my birthday! They were awesome and I felt very loved, even though I have way too much food! I dont even know what to do with it. So two of the elders in my district left yesterday for Guatemala where they will spend 6 more weeks in the Missionary Training Center down there. That leaves us with only 8 people in our district: 4 Hermanas (Sisters) and 4 Elders, which is kind of unheard of b/c they are the only sisters in our whole zone (4 other districts). So we have been crusin' right along. My Spanish is coming so well! It really is amazing how the Lord blesses you when you are diligent and obedient. Something that has always been in my head is the quote "Obedience brings blessings. Exact obedience brings miracles." Thousands of missionaries have to learn to not only communicate, but teach people in their native tongue. They receive formal education in that language for only about 2 months, yet

many can go out to their respective countries after that time and teach people about the life and atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His Church to the Earth. That is a miracle. I need miracles and its so comforting to know that if I am exactly obedient, I can confidently ask my Heavenly Father, with true faith, and He will give unto me what I seek if it be for the building up of his Kingdom on this Earth!

We only have 30 minutes to write and that flies by so I'm sorry for the short one this week, but I want all of you to watch General Conference this weekend to hear from our Prophet on the Earth today! It will be on the BYUtv channel and I promise that you will grow closer to God from it.

Love you all!
--

Elder Seth McGinn

MTC Mailbox #216

IA-DMOIN 1114

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604