Week 66 Dangriga, Belize-October 24, 2016

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Hello everyone! This past week was great and really busy! It was the last week of the change so we were doing our last week business in getting things done and set up for the next transfer. In Belize we receive the changes earlier (because transfer day is tomorrow). My companion is going to Melchor, the area in Guatemala so he is super excited to be in his home country. I will be remaining here and receiving a new companion who is from Guatemala as well (in fact he is serving in Melchor and will just be trading places with Elder Arriaza). We have a lot of work to do though this next transfer. Yesterday in church we had the highest attendance we have seen all transfer, and it was even conference or anything! So now we are set on keeping attendance high like that and helping people be more faithful in the church. And our investigator Pamela came with her son! Overall it was a great day. Im excited for this next change and am grateful that I have the chance to keep working in Dangriga. I love you all a lot and hope you have a great week!

Elder Abilez

Week 65 Dangriga, Belize-October 17, 2016

Did you think to pray?

Hey! This last week flew by and it was a great one! On Thursday we had our zone conference in Belmopan. The entire conference was about the prayer with the focus on helping our investigators to pray but also to remind us how we ourselves need to pray and strengthen our testimonies always. We were invited to, of course, put that into practice and help our investigators really start praying so that they can gain testimonies of the restored gospel. Here is an experience we had: We are teaching a woman named Pamela. She was an investigator a while back who had suddenly disappeared and when i came to the area Elder Arriaza and I suddenly found her again in a new home while contacting. She is great. At the time she was pregnant and has since had her baby. It was a difficult pregnancy and she needed surgery so now she is bedridden to recover. Last Thursday (after the zone conference) we went and visited her to see how she has been doing and to share a specific message about prayer. Right when we began the lesson and talk about how important prayer is she interrupted us and explained how she really knows that prayer is important but hasnt been good about praying lately. She told us she had gone a couple of months without ever praying but knows that she has needed to just because of all the stress, worry, and troubles she is facing right now. At the end of the lesson we invited her to pray, which she gladly accepted. When she ended the prayer and we all opened our eyes she had a huge smile on her face and just simply said "I really needed that". The Spirit was so strong in this moment not only because we had helped her but also because i knew that she had felt something special. When she recovers we hope that she will begin coming to church with full force. I know that her prayers will be answered and that our prayers can be answered as well. I definitely felt that the other night. I know that the Lord was listening as Pamela was praying. And I know that He listens to us always. Pray. I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!
Elder Abilez

Week 64 Dangriga, Belize-October 10, 2016

Obedience is the key

Hey! This past week was busy and great! On Monday we took a last second trip to the Mayan ruins nearby called Mayflower. Due to time purposes we were only able to go see the waterfalls that are up there but it was still really awesome. We want to go back another day in the morning to see more and also to be able to see toucans and monkeys! Then we made a bonfire on the beach for family home evening, a tradition we are hoping to continue starting tonight. After, on Tuesday, we had our Multizone in Belize City where President Adams focused mainly on the importance of obedience, especially as missionaries. I learned a lot in the meeting and it helped me to really reflect on everything i am doing and how in changing even the small things to be more obedient i can really bless my area. in the mission there are a lot of rules. many of which appear trivial. however, outside of the mission, where the "rules" arent as strict how often are we pushing the limits because we think it really does no harm? on thursday we also had interviews with President. In my interview he mentioned something that I really enjoyed while we were talking about what we learned in the multizone. He told me that while we can have a lot of success in the mission, and in life in general in this case, disobedience doesnt cause us to receive cursings, condemnation, or punishments from God. Always. But, in most instances, disobedience rather causes God to withhold blessings from us that He wants to give us. That really struck me. How many more blessings could I have received in my life if i only were a little more obedient? How much more can i do for the Lord by His blessings in my mission if I strive to be just a little more obedient? Sometimes we see those who are very obedient and "strict" about the Lord's commandments as those who are hard-natured and stern, without real sense of enjoying life. But then we look to the prophets or even to Jesus Christ Himself. How obedient are they? How happy and blessed must they be? It is without question that Jesus is perfectly obedient and therefore perfectly happy. Im not the most obedient. I am not perfect. But i do wish to be happy and blessed. So let us all be just a little bit better and a little more obedient. I know that that can be a key to our happiness in this life. I love you all! I love Belize! I love this gospel. I hope you have a great week!

Elder Abilez

Week 63 Dangriga, Belize-October 3, 2016

conference and baptism!

This past weekend couldnt have been better! The week was great too of course. But i hope you all enjoyed conference as much as i did. and if you missed it then youll be glad to know that there were several talks on repentance you can enjoy as you go back and watch it. Haha okay but for real I really really enjoyed especially the talk by President Nelson. His way of expressing joy was just perfect. And how true is that? We are that we might have joy. That is something that has always been hard for me because always bad things are happening or trials come our way. But it is so true that we can decide to have joy. We can choose to focus on Christ and always find joy in our lives. If you havent watched that talk i suggest watching it. If you have, i believe it would be nice to watch it again. I want to watch it again as well. After sunday morning conference we had a baptism! There is one thing that i forgot to mention when i came in to dangriga. This area is the only area in the entire mission that can baptize in the ocean! Thats right, beach baptism! I was the witness of the baptism of the other missionaries and for our baptism for Jeyson. He is a young kid who has been coming to church for more than a year. A good part of his family has already been baptized and we are still working on helping out his aunt get baptized soon. It was a great experience and nearly all the members came. this coming week we will have interviews with president and a multizone. and i think i need to take the 3 hour bus trip to belize city again for more immigration business. its going to be a good, busy week. i love you all so much and hope you all find more reasons to have joy this next week!

elder abilez