Hola todos!!! Comoestan?
The past couple weeks here in Iowa, it hasn't been amazingly freezing like everybody said it would be...that changed these last couple days! We have gotten some wet snow with some cold, fierce wind and those two things combined equals freezing everywhere haha its kinda crazy really. Last night it was 16 with a wind chill that made it feel like 0!!! And this morning its 14 with a clear sky and a bright sun! Its totally foreign to me, but its just what it is.
So this week has been another good one. Throughout life, you are always learning, but this is especially true when it comes to serving a mission. It is a constantly battle to learn and learn and learn some more. You hardly get time to apply what you learn! But its going exceptional so far! On Saturday we met with a man named Alexis who just "randomly" (guided by the Spirit) walked into our sacrament meeting a week ago. He is from Africaand speaks a bunch of different languages! He moved to Des Moines just 3 years ago and just recently moved to our small town of Perry. He has a wife also from Africa (Congo) who he met in Des Moines. They just had a little boy who is now 6 months old. We talked with him about the Book of Mormon and the skimmed the surface of the Restoration. He was sincerely interested about Joseph Smith and about our doctrine! We are now getting him a Book of Mormon in French (bc he cant read English) and one in Swahili for his wife. I think they are "honest seekers of the truth" whom the Lord has prepared and I cant wait to teach and meet with him more often!
Also, the update for this week is that we have 347 baptisms and confirmations for this year and need 53 more this month to reach the Lord's goal for us of 400! We have 3 weeks left to do it and I am confident in the Lord that we can reach it. Its important to note that these numbers are children of God. They are each individual souls! I hope not to confuse you by placing them as mere numbers b/c they are much, much more than that. We must set goals, though, to give us direction or something to aim for. The Church does not need more baptized members, but the Lord needs more of His children to be converted unto Him. This is the work that I and 60,000 other missionaries are fully engaged in with all of our hearts, mights, minds, and strengths. There are also almost 15 million other Saints across the globe who carry this honorable responsibility who put forth their efforts to invite others to come unto Christ while working jobs and spending time to support and build their families. This work cannot be completed without both these groups of Saints, members and full-time missionaries, working together in harmony with the Spirit of the Lord! That is something I have truly learned and come to understand here in Iowa.
I love you all! Joseph Smith restored the Church of Jesus Christ to the Earth and Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He performed a perfect Atonement to allow us to find peace and happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. All we must do is heed His invitation: "Come follow me." Then, we accept His atoning sacrifice for us and become worthy for the blessings He has in store for us! Mucho Amor y Feliz Navidad!
Elder McGinn
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The past couple weeks here in Iowa, it hasn't been amazingly freezing like everybody said it would be...that changed these last couple days! We have gotten some wet snow with some cold, fierce wind and those two things combined equals freezing everywhere haha its kinda crazy really. Last night it was 16 with a wind chill that made it feel like 0!!! And this morning its 14 with a clear sky and a bright sun! Its totally foreign to me, but its just what it is.
So this week has been another good one. Throughout life, you are always learning, but this is especially true when it comes to serving a mission. It is a constantly battle to learn and learn and learn some more. You hardly get time to apply what you learn! But its going exceptional so far! On Saturday we met with a man named Alexis who just "randomly" (guided by the Spirit) walked into our sacrament meeting a week ago. He is from Africaand speaks a bunch of different languages! He moved to Des Moines just 3 years ago and just recently moved to our small town of Perry. He has a wife also from Africa (Congo) who he met in Des Moines. They just had a little boy who is now 6 months old. We talked with him about the Book of Mormon and the skimmed the surface of the Restoration. He was sincerely interested about Joseph Smith and about our doctrine! We are now getting him a Book of Mormon in French (bc he cant read English) and one in Swahili for his wife. I think they are "honest seekers of the truth" whom the Lord has prepared and I cant wait to teach and meet with him more often!
Also, the update for this week is that we have 347 baptisms and confirmations for this year and need 53 more this month to reach the Lord's goal for us of 400! We have 3 weeks left to do it and I am confident in the Lord that we can reach it. Its important to note that these numbers are children of God. They are each individual souls! I hope not to confuse you by placing them as mere numbers b/c they are much, much more than that. We must set goals, though, to give us direction or something to aim for. The Church does not need more baptized members, but the Lord needs more of His children to be converted unto Him. This is the work that I and 60,000 other missionaries are fully engaged in with all of our hearts, mights, minds, and strengths. There are also almost 15 million other Saints across the globe who carry this honorable responsibility who put forth their efforts to invite others to come unto Christ while working jobs and spending time to support and build their families. This work cannot be completed without both these groups of Saints, members and full-time missionaries, working together in harmony with the Spirit of the Lord! That is something I have truly learned and come to understand here in Iowa.
I love you all! Joseph Smith restored the Church of Jesus Christ to the Earth and Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He performed a perfect Atonement to allow us to find peace and happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. All we must do is heed His invitation: "Come follow me." Then, we accept His atoning sacrifice for us and become worthy for the blessings He has in store for us! Mucho Amor y Feliz Navidad!
Elder McGinn
--
Elder Seth McGinn
8515 Douglas Ave. Ste. 19
Urbandale, IA 50322
The Picture is Elder McGinn in Brother Jaime’s basement apartment. He says the people in Perry are poor and most of them live in place like this. They work for Tyson in the Meat packing company. This is the Brother that feeds the missionaries most of the time.
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