3.3.2014

Hey everybody! Its still freezing cold here haha I hope you all had a good week! We had a good one here! We had exchanges and then a zone conference on Thursday where E. Richens and I trained on finding people to teach. It was a good experience b/c we connected it with Faith, Hope and Charity and how we need to make finding a way of life, not just a missionary activity. It was a great zone conference and we had a lot of great missionaries there so it was good to see them all again.

 

Friday, I learned a lot. It was just one of those really hard days, so I got to truly practice what I had just preached the day before, having faith, hope and charity. I thought a lot about faith and hope and how they always point toward the future. I prayed just to make it through the day with a positive attitude b/c nothing seemed to be going our way. We made it to the night and then Saturday came. It was one of the best days of my mission haha we taught 4 lessons in a row to our investigators and 3 of them came to an 8 year olds baptism our ward was having. It reminded me of the promise God gives in the scriptures where He tells us to "endure it well" when we have difficulties and He promises to bless us afterwards. It was a faith-building experience for sure!

 

Aide is doing great and she is still praying to know if she should commit to being baptized or not. Alma, her boyfriend Jesus, and her daughter Alejandra are doing the same. They are wonderful people and are coming to Church and reading from the scriptures so we are confident God will answer their prayers. We also fasted for them yesterday! Baptism is the gate to the strait and narrow path that leads to living forever with our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and our families. It is essential. Just how there is no way to come to the Earth and get a body except through child birth, Christ taught there is no other way to return to God's presence to live with Him forever except through being born into the kingdom of God (see John 3:5 and Moses 6:59). Christ suffered and died for us. He also rose from the dead for us too. I hope we all find the true, deep happiness in this life and hope for what lies ahead as we come to Christ and follow His example. Make it a great week and love one another! 

Love Elder Seth McGinn

 

 

ps a pic from zone conference...im kneeling near the middle and i think my eyes are closed haha it was 4 zones!

 

 

Love and Service

Hey family and friends!

Its good to be able to write you all every week. Things are going really well here in Iowa. There are many things that someone could be frustrated with but my parents taught me how to be grateful.  We are still teaching Aide, Diana, and Alma. Unfortunately, none of them made it to Church yesterday which was rough, but it was still a great day. Aide will be coming for sure next week as she was in Minnesota over the weekend. Diana has to work Sundays until March and Alma just flat didnt come because her 2 daughters were being rebellious...which is why they need to come to Church! haha Hopefully next Sunday, we will have a better turn out.

Well I have been feeling a little stressed out concerning my responsibilities as a zone leader. Its been a long time and sometimes it just weighs on you making all these decisions that affect the lives of others, especially when everybody turns to you for the answers to their problems lol Having prayed and talked to Heavenly Father about these things, I went to my favorite chapters in the scriptures to seek comfort and understanding. In the Book of Mormon, there is a righteous king named Benjamin and he gathers all the people to talk to them right before he is about to die. He talks about how he has done his best to serve the people as their king and to work with his own hands so that he didn't have to tax the people. Then he says this which powefully stuck out to me this morning, "Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God.And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn ^awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the ^bservice of your ^cfellowbeings ye are only in the service of your God."

Boy, it hit me pretty hard that I'm not just serving missionaries in my zone and trying to help them feel happy and successful, but I am really just serving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And thats what its all about!!! There is no better way to draw closer to Christ than to serve Him, through serving others. Why? Because you become like Him in the sense that you have increased capacities to have compassion on others and desiring their welfare puts you on your knees in humble prayer. I love serving a mission here in Iowa and I know that everyone can "lift where they stand" meaning serve wherever or whatever they're doing. My sister-in-law Lindsay wrote a note in the journal I took with me out here and I have really come to cherish her comments. The quote is from Martin Luther King Jr. I believe and it says something like,"Anybody can be great because anybody can serve." Thats very true and deep within each of us is a heart that is enticed to serve others because you love them. My love for Christ motivates me to serve my brothers and sisters. So even though its hard almost all the time, its what brings true joy :) Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He came not to be served, but to serve us because He loves us and laid down His life so we can rise again. I love you all and hope you look for opportunities to love and serve others like Christ would this week! 

Love, Elder Seth McGinn

 

ps picture of the Iowa City zone on P-day! They are all studs and we have a lot of fun serving together. (I hope I didn't already send this picture but I cant remember)

 

 

On We Go

Hey everybody!

We had another good week out here in Iowa City. We had a really snowy day on Monday and a mission leadership council meeting all day yesterday so we finally made it to the library today. On Sunday, Sister Chavez brought her sister to Church with her and we were able to teach her about the restoration right after Church! It was sweet! We have been teaching the members all about the Work of Salvation and helping them create family mission plans with goals and such. It has been cool to see them understand what missionary work really is and have enthusiasm to do it! We also show them how we as the full-time missionaries can help them :) its great! On a sidenote, at transfers we got a new elder from Las Vegas named Bailey Swainston. I couldnt find him afterwards to catch up with him but Im pretty sure thats Dr. Swainston's son/ Hannah Swainston's younger brother haha small world!

We are staying busy here, talking to all sorts of people everyday and searching out those that are ready to LIVE the gospel. I really feel Im coming to understand just how white the field is and that its already to harvest. Recently, I've studied a lot about how we must learn by faith. So many people have been taught the gospel of Jesus Christ but few live it. Learning by faith is when we learn something in such a way that we live it. It means feeling assured that God will bless you when you do what He asks, then acting in faith and then having evidence (Hebrews 11:1) that God did keep His promise, thus giving you more assurance that He is there. You cant force the Spirit into the heart of the learner. All I can do is do my best to be a pure instrument through which the Spirit can teach and testify, but ultimately, the learner decided whether or not they let that spirit or message enter into their hearts. I think about the lessons I have learned that mean the most to me and it is all because I learned it for myself. Usually answers that are given to me aren't remembered for too long haha I guess what am trying to say is that as a missionary or a teacher of any kind, we should follow the example of a perfect teacher aka Jesus Christ. He didnt give people fish, but He taught them how to fish for themselves. We need to work for our knowledge so that we can literally "own" it. Then it means something so much to us that we actually apply it in our lives! I know that Christ lives because I have tested His words and promises. I have sacrificed like He asks His disciples to do and have tasted the sweet joy of being redeemed from past mistakes, sins and weaknesses. Its true that happiness can be consistent in life and hope can be full for what lies ahead, after this life, but we each need to do what it takes to find that for ourselves. So thats what we are all focusing on doing out here in the Iowa Des Moines Mission. The Book of Mormon is a true account of an ancient civilization and it teaches us about God's love for all His children. I simply invite you to get a copy of it and read it for yourself. Seek learning by study and also by faith!

Love, Elder McGinn

 

ps a picture of me with Sister Stroud who I entered the MTC with. She just finished her mission and went home this last transfer...its crazy to me how fast time flies!

Simple Things

Hey everybody! I hope you all had a great week and that you are warmer than it is here :) We had a good week! Elder Richens and I will be staying together for another transfer so that puts me in Iowa City at least until March 27th, which is sweet! I love the people here and especially the members of the Church and our bishop here. Scott is still hard to get ahold of and Aide is doing great as she studies from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Keep praying for them please!

 

The work of helping people understand and grow closer to Jesus Christ is going great! I have really learned that Christ works simply. Its through the small things such as prayer and reading scriptures that make the biggest changes in our lives. I think sometimes, we want or expect big things to help us understand what is true or what is best and get caught up looking "beyond the mark" as the scriptures say. I mean thats what the Jews were looking for in their promised Messiah. They thought he would come in great power and free them from the Romans and lead them to victory in a very physical, tangible sense. They forgot that the scriptures are replete with the simple and first principle of the gospel, which is to have faith, something that is intangible and comes from within. Christ did lead them to victory over physical death with His resurrection and spiritual death (sin) as He suffered and taught repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost for a remission of our sins. I know that He lived, died for us, and lives again! One day we will be called to stand in His presence and account for our desires and our works with the time that He gave us here on Earth to live and learn. I know that true, deep, and lasting happiness comes when we keep the commandments He has given us. The first being to love God and the second to love those who surround us! I hope we can do this and continually strive to be better when we fall short. I love you all and make it a good week! 

Love, Elder McGinn

The Sun Always Rises

Hey everybody!

I'm still alive and kicking here in Iowa City. We had a great week and are really started to see the work hasten. Unfortunately, we cant get ahold of our investigator Scott, but we are meeting and starting to teaching a ton of Hispanics here! Thats what we like cause we get to use our Spanish and it actually feels like we are out of America for a little bit haha The Valdez family in our ward are ward missionaries and they are totally on board. They introduced us to their friend named Aide and we had a sweet lesson with her, applying this new teaching method we were trained on by the Director of Training at the MTC. It is basically that you dont focus on teaching the doctrine, but you focus on teaching them how they can learn the doctrine for themselves. So we give an overview of the lessons, invite them to study it, then come back and ask them what questions they have and it works out great because we help them help themselves. Teaching this way, they learn from the Holy Ghost on their own and the Spirit teaches them those things that they need most in their lives :)

 

So we did this with Aide and it is sweet! She has studied with almost every other Church except ours. She has a ton of questions and could never find all of the answers. Well we went over the Restoration with her and the Book of Mormon and she came to Church yesterday with the Valdez! I love teaching someone who is thirsty for more. Also, we are seeing great things come from helping the families in our ward to establish family mission plans with goals on how to share the gospel. It is fun to see them get excited as we help them reach their goals.

 

Some things I learned this week: 1) Faith in Jesus Christ inspires humility. When we are full of faith, then we realize our need to rely on Him and not on ourselves. I've seen this time and time again. 2) I learned that the moment we grow the most character or make the biggest decisions in our life in on our own or as Pres. McKay says "in the silent chambers of our hearts."  We are all individuals and have our own personality and beliefs. The way we influence others the most is when we give them tools and show them how to use them, then let them go with that and figure it out on their own. Truly, we cant expect them to reach their full potential of happiness without them working, learning, and sacrificing for it. So lets look for opportunities to teach people how to fish and not just give them a fish here and there. That way, they learn how to feed themselves and increase in ability, stature and happiness. Thats what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about! I know that He lived, died for us, and was raised again the third day. The gospel is the plan that allows us to make it back, but we must LIVE the plan for ourselves: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and remaining true to following Christ the rest of our lives :) Make it a great week and remember to love your friends and your enemies.

Love,

Elder McGinn

Act or Acted Upon

Hey everybody!

Que tal? Its still freezing here :) We had a great week this week. Last P-day we had a trizone P-day so missionaries from Cedar Rapids and Fairfield zones came to the Iowa City stakecenter and we had a lot of fun playing games. Elder Andreasen was there and he is probably one of my best friends I have made out here. We had a great time! This week, we had a couple exchanges and one was with the AP's. I went with Elder Anderson. Apparently, he came a played ultimate frisbee right by where I lived at BYU so we probably met and played together before but neither of us can remember it haha but we have lots of mutual friends. Well he is a stud missionary and we talked a lot as we worked that night about how to lead with love. I learned and realized that I need to praise and uplift the missionaries in our zone more and that as we simply love them and are examples for them, they will solve their little problems and the work will move forward :) I was grateful for that learning opportunity because it taught me more about Christ and His love. He doesnt solve our problems for us or force us to be happy and live the way He did, but He simply loves us and we can feel that as we pray, learn more about Him through the scriptures, and make covenants with Him like baptism. Also, as we serve Him by serving others, we become more intimate acquainted with Him and because we begin to understand His love for us, we choose to act by changing our lives so they align with His teachings.

 

This is what has happened with Scott this last week. He had a wake up call and ended up in the hopsital with some rapid breathing. They thought it might be a heart attack but it wasnt so he was released 24 hours later. This little scare gave him another push and strengthened his desire to change. So we taught about praying always, not just in the morning and at night, but saying little prayers throughout the day. He loved that and as he has done it, it has begun to really help him make the changes he wants to make, like exercising and such. Well, he was planning to come to Church for all 3 hours yesterday and had a horrible night on Saturday night with tons of negative thoughts and feelings. We went over about 45 minutes before Church started and prayed with him as he felt he couldnt come to Church because he felt mentally and physically exhausted. Well we read in 2nd Nephi chapter 2 in the Book of Mormon about how God created both things to act and things to be acted upon. We taught him how Satan desires him to be miserable like he is miserable and was acting on Scott all night with these negative thoughts pointed towards destroying Scott's self-esteem and resolve to get healthy and make changes in his lifestyle. It was so powerful as the Spirit filled the room and our minds were enlightened and it was so clear that Satan acts on us when we do not act for ourselves. We taught out of verse 27 where it says that we are free agents to choose for ourselves whether we want liberty and eternal life through Jesus Christ, our great mediator, or if we want captivity and death, according to the captivity and death that Satan, or the devil, wants us to be in. With this, Scott made the correct, but hard decision to act and he came to Church! He felt so much better and said that his negative feelings went away as he was in Sacrament meeting! I know for myself that we have control of our own happiness. Its natural to have feelings of unhappiness or self doubt, but those are times when we evaluate and decide the best course of ACTION! If we dont act now and take control of our fate and happiness, then outside influences and forces that arent focused on your happiness will take power in your life and lead you eventually to complete misery. So don't worry about the things you cant control, but take control of your own decisions, things you can control. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That once blind, we can see and once lost, we can find ourselves. But it takes work and footsteps on our part :) So dont pray for your circumstances may change, but pray so you understand God's will for you and so He can give you the strength to change yourself. Then, you'll be happy in whatever circumstances you're in! Christ lives and His power to heal our hearts is real. I have experienced it and seen others experience it as well. Make it a great week and love you all!

-Elder McGinn

 

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Elder Seth McGinn

Iowa Des Moines Mission

8515 Douglas Ave. Ste. 19

Urbandale, IA 50322

Great Week!

Hey everybody!

We had a great week out here in Iowa City. We were able to start teaching two hispanic couples and they loved the lessons we had with them. The Spirit was strong as we taught about God's love for us and how He has restored the true gospel of Jesus Christ in our times. The zone had a great week as well and everybody is happy and working hard :) Last week, I was pretty sick but I felt a lot better and am fully getting over my cough finally so its been nice to be out and about and feeling good! Scott came to church yesterday and he has really been praying more sincerely. He was very committed to come to Church and his reading in the Book of Mormon is going great. The week was capped off by him calling yesterday to tell me that the Broncos won and were going to the super bowl :) I told him that God must be a Bronco fan because sunsets are orange and blue hahah we got a good laugh out of that!

I have really come to appreciate the time I have each morning to study the scriptures! It is precious and I always feel so good during and after I read. I hope we are all finding or making the time to read the scriptures so we can feel and come to a more perfect knowledge of the love that God has for us. Sometimes I find myself thinking about home or what lies ahead and the gentle thought always comes that I just need to focus on what I can do today or right now to serve God and those around me. Then I have the Lord's promise that "all things will work together for my good". I love my Redeemer Jesus Christ. As I have served as a missionary, my purpose has been to do the things that He would do and say the things that He would say. Im been imperfect many times but I have come to love Him more because I find myself seeking to be like Him. So I think its the coolest thing that as we are Christlike, we become connected and bonded to Him, and I have become friends with someone I have never met face to face haha its crazy but its true because I feel it in my soul! I hope you make it a great week and that you find happiness in the simple things! 

Love, 

Elder McGinn

 

PS a picture of Elder Bates and I with the Black family! They are one of my favorites and are awesome people.

True Story

Hey!

So we have a lesson in like 30 minutes so we just dont have much time to write so sorry! To cover the important things, it was a good week :) We had our mission leadership council which was very fun and spiritually uplifting. We set our yearly goals as a mission and set our baptismal goals to match with the various ward and stake goals here in our mission...which is very smart and doctrinal-ly correct! The bishops and stake presidents are the ones who hold the keys for missionary work in their units. So that was awesome. I dont know if you all remember Elder Weiss whom I served around when I was in Muscatine. He is the one from Moapa Valley and we have become great friends, well now he is one of the assistants to President Jensen so I get to see him a lot more! He's a stud!

 

The work is really picking up as students are coming back into town and as people are returning to work and a normal schedule after the holiday break. Scott came to Church! He is doing better and is now working towards being baptized on Feb 14th! We are going to teach Wakweya (the Ethiopian guy) right now about the prophet Joseph Smith and the importance of the Book of Mormon and also try to set a baptismal date with him too! But life is good and time is moving fast haha Elder Dallas Teshima wrote me today and we are both starting to plan a bit for this coming fall which is crazy that its so close. But everyday counts in anything that we do and I really appreciate my mission because it has taught me that time is a precious resource and that we must use it wisely :) So, just like we do in sports, we do in the work of bringing souls to Christ- we "leave it all out on the field"! Make it a great week and love those around you..you'll be happier, I promise! 

Love,

Elder McGinn

 

picture of Elder Richens, Hermana Rosema, and I at Chili's. It was Hermana Rosema's last night in Iowa as she goes back to the temple square mission so we all went out to eat!!! Good times!

Hope for the New Year

Hey!!!

So its freezing today with a high of -12 not to mention the windchill :) talk about bitter cold haha but I am warm and happy so dont you worry mom! Real quick, a birthday shout out to Leesee who is now in Laguna Beach from what I hear. Thats sweet and Happy Birthday!!! So Elder Bates got transferred to Des Moines and my new companion is Elder Richens from South Jordan, UT. He is awesome, really easy going, and we get along great! He is a new zone leader and has been out for 10 months so it kinda feels like I'm training a little bit again, which I love. I've realized at this point that I will probably be a zone leader for over half of my mission haha I love it because we get to serve and help missionaries just as much as we serve and help those we are teaching. Also, we have a full-time car which is great this time of year! I love serving here in the Iowa City 4th ward too. We have a great bishop and ward council...that makes a huge difference!

 

Well Scott is still not doing so hot because he is in terrible shape physically and thats really affecting his shape spiritually. He didnt make it to Church yesterday, but we are going to meet with him tonight to see how we can help him. On another note, an Ethiopian man named Wakweya came to Church yesterday and we started teaching him. He ran into some sisters over a different ward and they helped him get to Church and then handed him over to us. He is sweet! He works crazy hours though so the hard part will be meeting with him, but other than that he is solid! 

 

Im really excited for school to start up again out here so that all of our members come back haha Things have been a little slow but they are starting to pick up again! We are grateful for all the many people who we teach who listen, act, and then come closer to Christ by being baptized. In 2013, our goal was 550 and our ending number of people who were helped and strengthened by Christ and His atoning sacrifice was 545!!! A little short, but overall an amazing year! I look forward to 2014 with HOPE that it will be even better than 2013. I have learned so much about myself serving as a missionary and especially, I have learned that progress is what makes me happy. I love learning and even though it takes trial and opposition to grow, there is no greater feeling than when you can look back and see how much you have grown only to look forward in anticipation to how much more I still have to learn. Our potential is so great and our opportunities are endless! I know that it is with faith in Jesus Christ and love for those around us that we make the most of who we our and strive toward our true potential. I love you all and wish you a happy 2014! Love, Elder Seth McGinn
 

 

 

Picture of an Iowa sunrise :)

 

 

 

Elder Bates & I and the Hungers! This is the family I live with! They are great and Brother Hunger reminds me a lot of Dad...i wonder why

 

 

This is the Iowa City zone! Right before transfer meeting

A Brand New Year

Hey family and friends!

I hope you all had a great Christmas filled with good memories with the family and friends. We had a great one here in Iowa! Our mission had 29 baptisms this week alone, which is the most ever in the history of our mission! I love how these 29 people all chose to be baptized during this Christmas week and that they really gave a great gift to their Savior by being baptized. They are giving of themselves and making promises to be better and to do better just as the new year approaches! 

Our investigator Scott is doing well! He wasnt fully prepared for baptism this week so we pushed it back to give him more time. Now he is working towards the 11th of January so that is sweet! Also, my companion Elder Bates just got called this morning and will be transferred this Thursday so I will have a new companion that day. I have loved serving with Elder Bates and we have had a lot of great experiences together! It is always difficult with transfers, but also exciting to see what will happen next. I know that I am doing what Heavenly Father wants me to do right now. That allows me to have full faith and confidence in the decisions I make and in the Spirit of the Holy Ghost which helps me make decisions as I pray and ponder on those decisions. It is so sweet and I know that God lives and loves us!

Im stoked with the anticipation that a new year brings! Its a great time to evaluate this past year, remember lessons we learned, and forget any grudges or hard feelings we might have. This change or new start is exactly the reason Jesus Christ came into the world: to give us hope for a brighter future! Faith always looks forward at what lies ahead. Hope is an "anchor to our souls" which motivates us to act now to receive future rewards, and Charity is the pure love of Christ that we feel and are filled with as we lift the hearts of those who surround us. Its great cause I get to spread this message each day with the people of Iowa and you can too, wherever you are. Its for everyone! I hope/invite all of you to set aside some time this week to pray, ponder, and write down the "desires of your heart and your vision of what you can accomplish". And THEN, set goals that will help you fulfill those desires and your vision :) I did that last year and it has helped me set great personal goals which have helped me stretch and grow and become happier. Make it a good week! All my love, Elder McGinn

 

 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=910930409001

ps This is a link to a good video for the NEW YEAR! Talk to you all next year :)

and the picture is of Christmas morning with the Hunger family (who we live with)

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Feliz Navidad!

Hey family and friends!

What a great time of the year! We had a huge ice/snow storm this weekend and it is currently 3 degrees outside and feels below zero with windchill :) I love Iowa haha it really is great though! Unfortunately, Church was cancelled yesterday but other than that we had a great week here in Iowa City. We had exchanges with President Jensen on Wednesday so we went to teach our investigator Scott with him. Scott had some of the great classic questions that we love to answer as missionaries. He asked about some strong things like homosexuality and plural marriage. I wont go into a lot of details, but it sufficeth me to say that we went into the scriptures a lot, especially the Bible and helped Scott find answers to his questions. It was an awesome lesson and it was really great to see our mission president right there teaching with us! Definitely a lesson I wont forget! 

Then on Friday morning, we woke up to an ice storm (freezing rain) and our cars were grounded. I wasnt a big deal because we had studies all morning, but then Scott called. He told us how he had some more questions and wanted to move the baptism back to Feb 14th. Well, we decided that was worthy of a 2 mile jog to his house. It was probably one of the most fun/nerve racking moments of my mission haha we ran on the snow-covered grass and slid across frozen over driveways for 2 miles in cold cold weather. What made it unforgettable is that we had another intense lesson with Scott and taught him the Doctrine of Christ and the importance of not procrastinating your repentance. As we taught, the Spirit brought understanding to Scott's mind and confirmation to his heart. Three hours later, he had his baptismal interview and felt ready to make the covenant of baptism on Dec 28th! Talk about some Christmas miracles.

I know that miracles really do happen. The miracles I'm talking about is that we can change, transform, and control our happiness. We have a Father who is in Heaven that is anxiously aware of us and engaged in our lives to the extent that we let Him be. He loves us and that love is eternal. He is merciful and His Son, Jesus Christ, is evidence of that. This is what we are celebrating! That God loves us so He sent His Only Begotten Son to the Earth to show us the way to be happy in this life and to make it back to our heavenly home with our families. Families are forever! Enjoy the tangible Spirit of Christmas and please recognize what the prophet has taught us, that what we are really feeling is the Spirit of Christ! (Just drop the last syllable) Merry Christmas and All My Love, 

Elder Seth McGinn

 

 

ps Picture of Elder Bates and I with Demetrio Rubio...the funniest man in the world haha He was baptized in May and is awesome!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

 

Hey!

Happy Birthday to my grandpa (Papa)! He is a young buck at the age of 74 now haha I will always remember watching tons of sports and faulty towers with him :) I love you Papa! Also, I hear that the gender for Ian&Lindsay's baby will be known on the 21st. My guess is that it will be a boy!!! and they will name him Seth....right? ;) haha but Im really excited to hear how that goes! Thank you for all of the Christmas cards and gifts too! I'll send thank you notes out and I really love coming home from the cold to some mail! 

Well, I had some neat experiences this week. On Friday, I did a baptismal interview for a lady named Khajidsurn Navaantanba who is from Mongolia.  She is here to get here doctorate in mathematics and speaks pretty good english for only having been here for one year! It was really neat because she shared with me her testimony of Jesus Christ. I realized in a new way that Christ really is the Savior of us all! 

Friday, we also had exchanges. I was on a bike with Elder Polatis in his area and it was a long night. We talked to EVERYONE we saw and tried some people who were potentially interested but nobody invited us in to teach. We were both freezing and a little sad but with a little bit of humor we lightened up and rode our bikes on the snow covered sidewalks to our dinner with some members. It was cool because although we didnt see any "success" that night, we felt the Spirit with us, assuring us that we were doing all that we could do...that is a satisfying feeling :)

Then Saturday, we taught a man named Kagulo who was baptized this summer. He is a little less active now so we are trying to help him come to Church every week. He is from the Congo, so hardly speaks English. We read 1 Nephi chapters 1-2 with him from the Book of Mormon. We read in English and he read in Swahili. His remark at the end of the lesson was something like this, "So we need to keep commandment or else it is not good and we be destroyed like Jerusalem." We laughed a bit at the harshness of it, but assured him that he was correct. We taught how the people in Jerusalem had "destroyed" themselves by not keeping the commandments. They had put themselves in a situation in which when Babylon came to conquer, they were exposed completely to them b/c they had not listened and prepared as the Lord had commanded them. It was sweet and again I learned that this gospel is for ALL children of our Heavenly Father, no matter what background or culture. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is pure truth and truth is eternal and unchangeable!

Each day this week, we met with a man named Scott who we started teaching this week. He had been taught before by some sister missionaries this summer but had taken a break from learning. Well, we have had some of the most powerful lessons with this man. He has received all sorts of spiritual confirmations that the Church is true and the Joseph Smith really was a prophet and man of God. Yesterday, we made a breakthrough and he opened up to us about how he had become depressed some years ago after he had to give his 3 sons up for adoption b/c he couldnt adequately provide for them. We taught him about the Atonement and read Alma 7 with him (from the Book of Mormon). The Spirit was strong and we all felt the truthfulness of the words of the prophet Alma as he talked about how Christ not only suffered for our sins, but for our pains (physical, spiritual, emotional), sicknesses, and afflictions too. It was intense. Afterwards, we gave him a priesthood blessing. He felt very good he told us and is working towards making the covenant (promise with God) of baptism on Dec 28! There is no greater feeling of joy than when you feel the love and power of God working through you to help another person. Thats missionary work for you :) I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas season. Enjoy the company of family and friends and those you love. Think about them first and you will feel that true Christmas spirit which warms your very core being with joy! Love you alll, Elder Seth McGinn

 

 

Picture of that freezing night we were biking!

 

Another "White" Christmas

Hey Family and Friends!

I love you all so much! I hope that you are enjoying the Christmas season as much as I am. It seems so easy to just smile and be happy this time of year, even when you are out and about in the falling snow all day. That was our day yesterday! We had a great Christmas program in Church yesterday. There were some great musical numbers and even Elder Bates and I with 4 other men from the ward sang a song called "Guard Him, Joseph". We sang with a harp and a flute playing behind us, so it didnt matter how good our singing sounded haha everyone was focused and delighted by the harp!!! It was a win-win situation ;)

 

Yesterday, we also finally met the family of Jose Hernandez! I forget how much I have written about him but he was a man who wasnt attending church but is a member and we found him outside his trailer one day! He is from El Salvador and was baptized there and we didnt even have his records here in Iowa City. Well that was 3 months ago when we found him. Since then, he talked to his family (wife and 3 kids) that were in Mexico and told them that he found the missionaries and the Church. None of them were members and his wife told him that she would never become a member of la iglesia mormona (the Mormon Church)! Well, the kids saw some missionaries in Mexico that very week he told them he had found us and they wanted to be taught about the gospel and our Church! Long story short, Jose's family, including his wife (haha) were all baptized in Chiapas, Mexico on Nov 16th this year!!!! Whats even crazier is that they went to Tiajuana, then San Francisco, and then flew into Cedar Rapids, Iowa and got to Iowa City this past Saturday! We met them all last night and it was one of the coolest feelings in the world. It wasnt just a family reunited after a long, long time (11 years) but it was now a family united in their faith in Jesus Christ, each with a testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, including the priesthood power to seal/bind families together forever!! That is their common, uniting goal :) how sweet it that?!

 

This is why being a full-time missionary is the best thing in the world, b/c now, its our privilege and responsibility to continue to teach them about the plan of happiness, how to study the scripures daily, and help them get to the temple so they can be sealed forever. Pretty sweet job description.

 

Well, I'm grateful for my family. I look forward to being with them next Christmas! Yet, I find true joy and happiness in leaving my family for 2 years so that other families can be together for eternity. (I stole that from a quote :)) Last night in the 2013 Christmas Devotional (found on the homepage of lds.org),  President Monson quoted President McKay when he said that "True happiness comes only from making others truly happy." I love that and I know that it is true! I'm going to look for more opportunities to give of myself to make others happy, b/c it makes me happy. That is the Christmas spirit :) Love you all, Elder Seth McGinn

 

 

ps The picture is Elder McKeon and I! He is a good friend I have made out here and he just finished his 2 years and went home to Santa Clarita, CA for the winter haha lucky guy ;)

December to Remember

Hey family!

So it was a great week! Sarah was baptized and confirmed this weekend! I attached a picture of her with us and Rocio Jones (the member who invited her over for dinner and introduced us). It is wonderful to see the Work of Salvation in action :) Sarah told us on Sunday how happy she feels and how praying and studying the scriptures have helped her solve problems and overcome challenges in her life. That makes a missionary pretty happy to hear that because that is our message!!!

Thanksgiving was great! We played some basketball and volleyball with a ton of members in the morning and played with some of their non-member friends! It was really fun. Then we ate with the Blacks, Neumanns, and the Hugies all at the Blacks home. It was one of the best tasting thanksgiving dinners I have ever had...i dont know why. Maybe because it was just like the ones we had at home haha the stuffing and mash potatoes were ridiculously good! Also, Ian would like to know that Brother Black, Brother Neumann, and Brother Hugie are all in law school right now so we talked a lot about law as a career haha maybe Ian's dream will come true and we can start a law firm together...who knows! At thanksgiving, I really appreciated how much a family models our relationship with Heavenly Father. It was awesome to watch parents interact with their children. Mainly, I caught hold of the love that parents have for their children. It is love that is patient, constant, and eternal...a lot like the love that God has for us. I can feel it most when I pray sincerely and pour out my heart in conversation with Him. I am learning more and more that prayer is so important when it comes to having true faith...so we are really helping everybody we teach pray! Helen is doing good and wants to be baptized, but she still wont set a date lol we love her and are praying for her! I hope you all enjoy the Christmas season, the music, lights, and the Spirit of Christ that fills the hearts of many! He, Christ, is the source of all truth and happiness. Enjoy it and love one another :) Love, Elder McGinn

Thanksgiving Miracles

Hey everybody! Hope you all had a great week! We sure had a good one here in Iowa City. First off, birthday shoutouts to Adam Fender (my favorite nephew ;)) and to Lindsay McGinn (my favorite sister-in-law ;)). haha I love you both so much and I miss you. Lindsay, thanks for your charity in marrying my brother haha he definitely married up and you two are perfect for each other! I'm super happy that you are going to start a family together too!!!! Also, a big thank you to Granny & Papa for the awesome sweater they got me for Christmas! I got it right in time because the snow is already falling.

 

This week was great, though! Sarah passed her baptismal interview so she is set to go for this Saturday :) Then, on Friday night, we were going over to teach Sarah about Thomas S. Monson, our prophet and president of the Church, when Helen (one of the Jones' other friends who we are teaching) got in a car accident. So we followed Rocio Jones and Sarah to the hospital and Helen was okay, just a little shooken up. So we went back to the Jones' to teach about the prophet. We taught both Sarah and Helen and we followed the promptings to watch President Monson's talk from the General Relief Society meeting in October. It was so good and the Spirit was very strong. We closed with a prayer and as we were about to leave, Helen stopped us and was like "I've got 2 things on my mind...First, I think I have received my answer to my prayers about if all this is true or not." We were stoked! Then before anybody could shout for joy she said "wait, dont say anything." She then reminded us of our last lesson in which we were trying to set a baptismal date with her. She was being really stubborn so Brother Aaron Jones said "Helen, what if something were to happen to you and when you got to God's presence, He asked you why you just didnt get baptized and kept pushing it off." Well, she told us that the second thing on her mind was that and how the car was totaled in the accident and that the airbags didnt go off. She said she could have easily had very bad injuries. So she recognized it as an obvious sign from Heavenly Father. We know God works in mysterious ways and as scary and frightening as this accident was for Helen, it was what she needed to realize that her priorities needed a little rearranging. So she is now preparing to be baptized and become a member of the Church she loves in December! I feel very humble to be here in Iowa teaching people about why they are here and who they are (children of God). Its something special and eternal, meaning we will take it with us no matter what happens here on Earth. Jesus Christ lives and He loves us. He has called and works through His prophet on the Earth, Thomas S. Monson! Its so sweet. I love you all and have a great Thanksgiving! -Love, Elder McGinn

 

 

 

ps picture of Elder Bates and I bowling on Pday!

 

 

Keep it Rollin'

Hey everybody :)

Its been a great week out here in Iowa City! We had the director of training from the MTC come and train us on how we can better HELP people pray, read from the scriptures (esp the Book of Mormon), and come to Church (esp Sacrament meeting). It was sweet and we are going to train on that tomorrow at our zone training meeting. The work is progressing!

So this week, we had a hard time getting in contact with Ricardo and he didnt make it to Church but we got a hold of him last night and have a lesson set up with him later this week. He works a ton and is never home haha classic. But on another note, we had dinner on Tuesday with some members, the Jones', and they brought two friends! We got to know them over dinner (we ate some fufu which is an African dish lol) and by the end of the night, Helen and Sarah had both agreed to let us teach them! We taught Sarah the next night and she loved the Restoration, accepted a baptismal date for Nov 30th, and wanted to come to Church. We also had a Church tour with her and the Jones' Saturday night which was sweet and she loved Church on Sunday :) We taught Helen on Friday at the salon she works at with Sister Jones. We watch mormon messages with her and taught her about prayer. It was great and she said she was coming to Church, but didnt come. But its all good cause the Church is still true :)

Im grateful for the Church in my life b/c it has helped me reach my goals and fulfill my deepest desires. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ really is the "fountain of living water" and when we turn from the other worldly fountains we can drink from to this fountain of the Atonement of Christ, we will never thirst and will be truly, profoundly satisfied! I wish all of you a happy veteran's day and a great week! Love you, Elder Seth McGinn

A Better Way

Hey everybody :)

Its been a great week out here in Iowa City! We had the director of training from the MTC come and train us on how we can better HELP people pray, read from the scriptures (esp the Book of Mormon), and come to Church (esp Sacrament meeting). It was sweet and we are going to train on that tomorrow at our zone training meeting. The work is progressing!

So this week, we had a hard time getting in contact with Ricardo and he didnt make it to Church but we got a hold of him last night and have a lesson set up with him later this week. He works a ton and is never home haha classic. But on another note, we had dinner on Tuesday with some members, the Jones', and they brought two friends! We got to know them over dinner (we ate some fufu which is an African dish lol) and by the end of the night, Helen and Sarah had both agreed to let us teach them! We taught Sarah the next night and she loved the Restoration, accepted a baptismal date for Nov 30th, and wanted to come to Church. We also had a Church tour with her and the Jones' Saturday night which was sweet and she loved Church on Sunday :) We taught Helen on Friday at the salon she works at with Sister Jones. We watch mormon messages with her and taught her about prayer. It was great and she said she was coming to Church, but didnt come. But its all good cause the Church is still true :)

Im grateful for the Church in my life b/c it has helped me reach my goals and fulfill my deepest desires. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ really is the "fountain of living water" and when we turn from the other worldly fountains we can drink from to this fountain of the Atonement of Christ, we will never thirst and will be truly, profoundly satisfied! I wish all of you a happy veteran's day and a great week! Love you, Elder Seth McGinn

After All We Can Do

Hola everybody!

I just want to let everybody know that I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. A good question to ask yourself is what that means and more specifically, what does that mean for you! If you dont know, don't be embarrassed to ask someone who does. I would suggest that you first ask God, your Heavenly Father, by praying to Him. Find a private, quiet place. Imagine picking up a telephone and talking to the individual who loves you more than anyone else you know and who knows everything about you and wants you to be happy :) In order to find peace and joy in the sometimes intimidating world we live in, we need to know who we are and what our purpose is. Those soul-searching spiritual questions can only be answered

through soul-stretching spiritual answers. They must come from a source that provides those kinds of answers, namely directly through God himself or through His words that He has given to worthy, honest men we call prophets. Those words are found in the scriptures: the Bible and the Book of Mormon, along with Doctrine & Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. The last thing I will say about this is that the more we learn about the nature and character of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, the more we learn about ourselves :)

 

With that said, we are seeing miracles here in Iowa City "after all we can do." (2 Nephi 25:23) We have been working hard to find people to teach in our area but we  have struggled. In the last two weeks, we have only found 0 new investigators in our own finding efforts (knocking doors). But, we've received 3 member referrals and of those 3, we are now teaching 2 of them!!! Ricardo is one of them and the first time we met him in person was at Church yesterday. He is from Veracruz, Mexico (near where Blake is serving right now) and has been in Iowa for over a year. He enjoyed testimony meeting as we translated it for him from English to Spanish and then we were able to teach him about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ afterwards. He loved everything we taught and really connected with Joseph Smith because he, too, has always wondered why are there so many churches and which one is the right one. He agreed to read the Book of Mormon and to prepare to be baptized as he comes to feel and know that it is true. So sweet!!! So remember that we are not justified by merely accepting Christ as our savior but we are redeemed from our mistakes, weaknesses, and struggles as we try to LIVE like Christ :) We tried our best all week and did everything the best way we could to no avail haha but in that labor, we qualified for the trust of our members and the Lord, so they blessed us with a prepared person like Ricardo! I hope you all have a bright hope for the future that lays ahead in your life :) Love you all!

-Elder McGinn

Halloween Party

Hey!

Yes, we are stoked to have a Halloween Party. Not so we can dress up, not so we can party, not so we can trick or treat, but so we can meet the family and friends that the members have invited to come!!! haha its my idea of a great Halloween celebration :)

 

I hope you all have great plans for this week and that you are all happy! That is important. We had stake conference this last weekend and it was all focused on the Work of Salvation. It was awesome!!! President Condie, the Nauvoo temple president was there and gave one of the best, most enjoyable talks I have ever heard. The man is hilarious and a spiritual giant. After his wife's talk, he gave her a kiss then said, "Yup, shes mine....forever" haha He talked about how after living in England, France, Germany, and other places, the hardest time he had helping a neighbor come unto the Church and be baptized was his neighbor in Provo, Utah haha It was an awesome story. I want to share the ending as my email today b/c I dont have much time. He said that after this man and his wife were sealed in the temple, the man said "Why didnt I do this sooner?" Then, there was a fast and testimony meeting in which many of the members shared how sorry they were for not sharing the gospel with him sooner. Many had been his neighbors for more than 20 years and had not once tried to share the gospel with him. It really impressed me how all these people felt so sorry and asked for his forgiveness. I'm sure that how it will be with those we interact with if we dont invite them, then later they will find out about the gospel and we will feel sad and sorry that we didnt share it sooner. I know the challenges and fears we have. I face them everyday haha its hard, but that is where our faith in Christ kicks in. Miracles are result of faith and action! So we are praying for missionary experiences here and those are miracles!!! I love all of you and know that we are children of a Father in Heaven. We lived with Him before and now we are here! Jesus Christ is His Son, our brother and Redeemer! I love you and hope you feel His love for you! -Elder McGinn

Here Comes the Snow

Hey fam & friends!

Hope you all had a great week. It is getting really cold here again. Its supposed to snow tomorrow haha Im really happy that this is my last Iowa winter for now! Sounds like the Chili Cook Off was a success and a blast! We have a ward halloween party coming up so we have talked to all the members and they are planning on inviting their friends and neighbors!!!! Its gonna be sweet and we signed up to be judges of the dessert contest...its great to be a missionary! Also, Blake, Jordan, Dallas, Chase, Trevor, James, and Dallin are all doing great. I love reading their letters! We were definitely all in the same "work of salvation" classes in the pre-earth life ;) STUDS!

 

So this week, we ran into some apts with a bunch of Congolese people. We met like 6 families and started teaching them a little bit. It is hard b/c all the men work all the time and most the older women speak only Swahili or French. But the kids love us and we will see what comes of that tricky situation!  We had a sweet experience the weekend before last. We hadnt been able to meet with Milord (our investigator with a date for Nov 2) all week and it was Saturday so we really wanted him to come to Church. We called and texted all day, but no response. Then, as we are saying our goodnight prayer, he texted at 10:32 and said he was sorry that he had been working all day. Well, it was tempting, to say the least, to text him back and make sure he knew about Church the next morning at 9am, but we are not supposed to use the phones after 10:30 (Lights out). Because we were raised by goodly parents who taught us to trust in the Lord, we stayed obedient and prayed that he would come. The next morning he called at 8:30am, told us that he had gotten off work at 2am that morning but still wanted to come to Church! He came and it was a great fast & testimony meeting. 

 

It is my testimony or knowledge that obedience to the Lord's commandments means everything!!! Like Joseph Smith said,"I make it my rule that when the Lord commands--do it!" And there is nothing that our Savior Jesus Christ didnt teach us when he uttered with the weight of the agonizing atonement on His shoulders, "Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done."  If we really are Christian and believe in God and His love then we obey. We understand that we are imperfect and tend to mess things up, so we might as well follow the promptings of the Spirit and leave the rest to our Heavenly Father. A lot of times, we think that we are powerful and great, so we can do things on our own. Like with Milord, we think that WE are the ones who can get him to Church. That is when we forget that only the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost has the power to change hearts and natures, not us. We need to always be putting ourselves in situation where we have to rely on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. That is the essence of humility, which leads to all other Christlike attributes, including faith and charity. Obedience is the first law of heaven so lets find ways to be more obedient. Nephi in the Book of Mormon is my favorite example! Read the scriptures and it will fuel your motivation to do more, believe more, and love more. Have a great week and I love you! Love, Elder Seth McGinn

 

 

ps Pic of the Tristan family from Des Moines! She is the one that was in Vegas and called dad :)