June 13 in Orizaba

Well this was an incredible week. I'm glad, too, because I only have 2 weeks left. I didn't get trunky or "die" as we call it here in Mexico last week, and it won't happen this week either! 

So we found another family of gold! Their names are E. and H). They actually just kinda showed up to church and we started teaching them! E is 21 and H is 22 and they have one daughter. They were investigators of Elder Chamberlain almost 2 years ago! Actually H is a member and E is the investigator. They never got baptized because they needed to get married and they didn't want to, but now they do! They even gave themselves a date! I'm super grateful to Chamberlain. They already know everything they need to and have testimonies, now we're just working on changing their habits. Helping them begin to read and pray every day, have family home evening, do family history work, and keep their sights set on the temple!

R and his daughter A are doing fantastic. Doing good so far for the 3rd. 

So there have been some interesting occurrences here in Mexico lately. For those of you who have even half a mind to world news, same-gender marriage was legalized in the United States a while ago and for those who don't know, Mexico is now trying to legalize it too. (Sadly, many heterosexual couples here aren't married anyways). Now, I'd like to explain the standpoint of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on this.

We believe that marriage, between a man and a woman, is ordained of God. Not only ordained, but absolutely essential to the Great Plan of Happiness established by our loving Heavenly Father for us. We believe that those who strive to destroy the sacred fundamentals of the family will stand accountable to God himself at the day of judgement. Those sacred powers of procreation are given to us in order for us to be able to experience the joy of being a father or a mother, like our own Heavenly Parents, and NOT to be misused, mistreated or abused. Exercise of the power of procreation outside the bonds of matrimony between a man and a woman injures our divine potential, and our ability to truly love, and "GOD is love." Therefore by abuse of these things we CANNOT become like Him, we CANNOT receive the blessings of a happy family, and we cannot reach our divine destiny as joint heirs with Christ. 

When we have abused these powers, the only way out is to change, to repent through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Through him, we can "have mercy restored to (us) again", and our virtue as well. 

Strict adherence to the commandment known as the law of chastity is the ONLY way a family can be happy and blessed in this life, as well as the next. All other ways lead to lack of eternal progress, because we destroy our own seed of divinity that is within us. 

"Can man take fire into his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go up upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?"

All this stuff prolly sounds old fashioned. Outdated. Not quite the world's standard. That's because Gods standards don't change when the world's standards change. He is unchangeable, from eternity to eternity, and absolutley perfect. He has no beginning, and no end. I guess you could say that that makes Him rather old fashioned. But His way is the best, and only, way. 

These are the standards that we teach as missionaries, and that the church teaches, these are the words established by the prophets, and there will never be any exceptions.