Finishers Wanted

Hey everybody!

It has been a great week and probably the fastest one of my life thus far haha Time is flying out here!  Mom- It was just a cold and I am feeling much better. Don't worry about the agrespt b/c I will honestly never use that nasty stuff :) Make sure Dad is still using it though!  And I have never heard of dedicating a zone before but hey, we don't have any mountains to climb out here either haha Transfers is coming up next week but I think I will stay in Des Moines with Elder Andreasen. He is great and time is flying by b/c we get along so well.

The 5ta Rama (5th Branch) is growing so much! It has been such a blessing to see sacrament attendance go from the 80's in April to now in the 100's! Rosario and her family are still progressing and we are reading the Book of Mormon with her as we go over to teach her. Also, we pulled an Ammon with her and spent 3 hours vacuuming/deep cleaning her carpet on Saturday. She loved it and made us some great food for lunch! Service generated by Christ-like love opens even the hardest hearts :) President Jensen came out teaching with us last week and he is a boss!! He is so loving and humble. He is absolutely pure and carries the Spirit with him everywhere he goes. We taught Rosario with him and also Soraida and Kerlin. Soraida is still super flakey and didn't come to Church on Sunday :/ Kerlin wants to be baptized really bad but we need his mom to act on the testimony that she told us she has! It is a hard situation b/c her husband doesn't support her at all!

That brings me to share what I really internalized this week: the power of families! A husband and wife who are committed, dedicated, and respectful to each other is so important! It is so clear how vital those things are in order for them to raise a family and live together in peace and love. Unfortunately, families like this are becoming extinct!!! It is so hard to find this now-a-days and I honor my parents for being great examples! God's Plan for Happiness is centered on families like these and they are being attacked today. I have learned that the strength of a society or nation is in its families. So I hope that we can remember that success in family life is most likely to be achieved when the family is founded upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Living the gospel and the commandments of Heavenly Father is the key to living a happy, quality life :) I know this is true because I see it everyday. So evaluate your happiness and your life and envision your future. We are children of God, offspring of a perfectly loving Father in Heaven. Smile!

Love Elder McGinn

Families

Hey everybody!

It has been a great week and probably the fastest one of my life thus far haha Time is flying out here!  Mom- It was just a cold and I am feeling much better. Don't worry about the agrespt b/c I will honestly never use that nasty stuff :) Make sure Dad is still using it though!  And I have never heard of dedicating a zone before but hey, we don't have any mountains to climb out here either haha Transfers is coming up next week but I think I will stay in Des Moines with Elder Andreasen. He is great and time is flying by b/c we get along so well.

The 5ta Rama (5th Branch) is growing so much! It has been such a blessing to see sacrament attendance go from the 80's in April to now in the 100's! Rosario and her family are still progressing and we are reading the Book of Mormon with her as we go over to teach her. Also, we pulled an Ammon with her and spent 3 hours vacuuming/deep cleaning her carpet on Saturday. She loved it and made us some great food for lunch! Service generated by Christ-like love opens even the hardest hearts :) President Jensen came out teaching with us last week and he is a boss!! He is so loving and humble. He is absolutely pure and carries the Spirit with him everywhere he goes. We taught Rosario with him and also Soraida and Kerlin. Soraida is still super flakey and didn't come to Church on Sunday :/ Kerlin wants to be baptized really bad but we need his mom to act on the testimony that she told us she has! It is a hard situation b/c her husband doesn't support her at all!

That brings me to share what I really internalized this week: the power of families! A husband and wife who are committed, dedicated, and respectful to each other is so important! It is so clear how vital those things are in order for them to raise a family and live together in peace and love. Unfortunately, families like this are becoming extinct!!! It is so hard to find this now-a-days and I honor my parents for being great examples! God's Plan for Happiness is centered on families like these and they are being attacked today. I have learned that the strength of a society or nation is in its families. So I hope that we can remember that success in family life is most likely to be achieved when the family is founded upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Living the gospel and the commandments of Heavenly Father is the key to living a happy, quality life :) I know this is true because I see it everyday. So evaluate your happiness and your life and envision your future. We are children of God, offspring of a perfectly loving Father in Heaven. Smile!

Love Elder McGinn

Ups and Down

Que tal everybody?

Sounds like Lake Powell was everything it was supposed to be: fun, scary, & imperfect yet perfect all at the same time! I love that place!  Quite a crazy story but its great that nothing to bad happened haha hopefully the "Toothfairy" isn't done for good but it sounds like it might be :/

Well the work keeps going here! I was a little sick this last weekend but I am feeling much better this morning.  It is one of the worst feelings being sick as a missionary...you know that you only have a short time to teach others the gospel as a full time ambassador of Jesus Christ, so being sore & sick during the afternoon is not fun haha but it does help you express more gratitude for being healthy!

My companion, Elder Andreasen, is an amazing teacher and we are having a lot of fun together finding and teaching the Lord's elect. President & Sister Jensen are great and they want Mom to know that they see me and love me a lot. They love that you are housing a missionary that they knew from South Carolina. He has the keys to convert baptisms in our mission now and it is amazing to see how the Lord calls and qualifies us!

 

Today marks 11 months for me and its crazy to think that I have been gone from home that long. But time keeps flying by as we are already in August! Our goal as a mission for bringing souls unto Christ through baptism is 550 and we are currently at 285! We are little behind, but are so much further ahead than where we were last year at this time! Yesterday, we met with the Des Moines Stake President & the growth on the Stake level has been incredible. He said he got an email from Church headquarters asking him to write letter about how/why the growth has been so amazing. Along with things such as African refugees, great Ward Mission Leaders & full-time missionaries, he contributed all the success as a gift from the Lord and the attitude of gratitude! (cheesy right?)

Its true though! Gratitude for what we have and what we have been given will always lead us to be given more.  I am so grateful that we have a living prophet on the Earth today. Heavenly Father loves us and has given us prophets and apostles to remind us of God's eternal & stable truths in a world of shifting values. With Jesus Christ as our chief cornerstone, the scriptures, and living prophets and apostles provide us with a firm, solid foundation if we choose to listen and obey. The only true victory is a surrender; surrendering our will to Heavenly Father and being loyal to Him and His commandments. I love you all and God's truth is still marching on :)

Love Elder Seth McGinn

 

ps I love the song "Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd" and its one of my new favorites!!!

Gratitude!

Hey!

I didn't know mom & dad were going to Lake Powellthis year!!! That is super exciting and I do look forward to those trips when I return home. They're the best! Also, I got the package and loved everything in it! So many snacks that I don't even know where to start and the letters were the sweetest part. I love my parents and I'm so grateful for them! Special thanks to the Carter Family for hand delivering that package to the mission office haha Sister Simmons (our office receptionist) said they were so sweet and she loved talking to them for a little. Oh, and mom, thanks for reminding that I am coming up on my year mark...like you're keeping track or something! haha

Well we have had an amazing week here in the Des Moines 5th Branch. First off, we had 120 people come to sacrament meeting yesterday (the most ever) and it was a wonderful testimony meeting! As different members of the congregation bore their testimony(or their belief and conviction) of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel, the Spirit was very strong and you could really feel the love of our Father in Heaven. Rosario and her 3 kids came along with Jose and his kids! It was great to see them come and enjoy being with their families and learning about Jesus Christ and how families can be together forever through the Priesthood and by the atoning sacrifice of our Savior. We are being blessed with people who listen and ACT on the message of the Restoration of the Gospel. They love to learn that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that He has called a prophet to guide His children today as He has in the past with prophets like Moses and Abraham. They love learning that Heavenly Father has provided us with another testament (witness/evidence) that His Son is the Savior of the world. That testament is el Libro de Mormon (the Book of Mormon) and they dive into because they ACT on their faith in Jesus Christ. They test the promise that by living the teachings of the prophets in the Book of Mormon, they will bring themselves closer to God that by any other way. I know that is true! Jesus Christ is the light of the world and as we keep His commandments we receive that light and happiness! I have seen in the very eyes of the people I teach. They are truly happy and full of hope. I hope we can all be a little less stubborn and more humble so that we can give place to the message of the Restoration of the gospel in our hearts. As we experiment or simply try out this glorious message, we will feel our hearts swell within us as we are filled with the light and joy of Jesus Christ, who is the loving Son of God. These things I know and try to share with everyone because I know it will help us. I love you all and I am grateful for the miracles I see everyday! I invite everyone reading this to think of the things in your life that make you happy or give you peace. Be grateful for these things and Heavenly Father will bless you with more :) Love you!

Elder McGinn

pic: A few of my favorite missionaries in the zone!

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Elder Seth McGinn

IowaDes Moines Mission

8515 Douglas Ave. Ste. 19

Urbandale, IA 50322