Week 66, November 7, 2016

Area:

Companion:  Elder Lee

Date:  November 7, 2016


Ok so I just want to apologize right now for this email because this week was crazy busy with not the funniest things, but I will see what I can do to make it interesting. So our investigator Derrick is doing better, he is the one whose parents were feeding him anti stuff and telling him how awful we are, but he just told them that is all wrong! He is awesome he really wants to know if the Book of Mormon is true he said that is the only thing he needs to figure out and if he can know that then he will get baptized on the 26th of November! It was awesome though we had a lesson at a members house with him and he said the closing prayer and in it he asked if the Book of Mormon was true and he stopped praying for a a minute and just sat there ah man the spirit was super strong in that moment! So he is getting closer and closer to his answer! 

Cool little thing happened so I asked my mom to order me some new glasses and she did because she is he best, but the night before they came I was cleaning my old ones and as I was doing that they just snapped in half haha so weird! Luckily my new ones came the next day! 

I have been doing a lot of pondering about a lot of things but one thing I really thought about is the Atonement. One thing I struggled with a little bit is truly letting go of the past and letting the atonement cleanse me each day. I had a little analogy that I came up with that helped me realize what I was doing wrong. So when one sins it is like he adding a piece to the chain, slowly this chain starts to grow bigger and bigger and wrap around our hands and arms and body till we feel so weighed down and at the end of the chain there is a lock that preventing it from all falling off. The only way to unlock this to allow the chains to drop is by using the Atonement and once the lock is taken off the chains can fall off. Well even when the lock is off sometimes the chains stay not because the atonement didn't work but we refused to let them go. I have come to know now that when we usually the atonement we just need to drop all that is holding us down let the chains go and move forward. The atonement truly cleanse us from sins we don't have anything lingering well God holds nothing over our heads that we have repented of, the only ones who do that is ourselves! 

Isaiah 1"18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool".

Mosiah 14:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, hewas bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

The Atonement is REAL we can all become clean and white because of the blood he shed for us!

I love you all hope you have a good week! 

Love Elder DeSantis 

Week 65, October 31, 2016

Area:

Companion:

Date:  October 31, 2016

Well this week was a good one I think sorry I really can't remember much from this week but what I do remember is it rained a lot like almost everyday during the week! Our investigators are doing good but not as good as last week when I gave the run down on all of them. Kealey is now saying she is going to wait a year before she gets baptized because she talked more with her parents and they are just so against it. Pretty sad because right now she would have a lot of the missionaries who taught her if she got baptized right now, but hey peoples agency it is a gift from God so we are gonna now back off and let her make her own decisions with no pressure from us. Our other people we are working with are doing good we just have to re-set some dates with them and get in more with them. 

Week 64, October 24, 2016

Area:

Companion:  Elder Lee

Date:  October 24, 2016

Well things are going super good the work is really going let me update you on everyone with a baptismal date so. Kealey she finally talked to her parents about joining and it didn't go as bad as she thought it would, so after that we set a date of November 1st for her! Then we have a kid named jake he is doing good he is just lovin the book of mormon his date is for November 5th. Then we have Derrick ah man I love Derrick he is such a funny kid he is a freshman at marquette and really likes the church! His date is for November 12th. Then we have Nathan he is a grad student at UWM and he just needs to move out so he can get baptized he really wants to be baptized just need a miracle to happen for someone to take his lease! He has a date for November 19th. Then we have Jackson he is such a funny 14 year old kid he uses way to big of words haha he really wants to get baptized so he has a date for the 26th of November but we are hoping to add his family to that which would be three more people. 

  

So ya there is that for you all just a little update on them. For this week we had some really weird things happen like really weird haha so here is one that is so funny but so odd too. So we were having this lesson at this mall because that is where a less active worked at and this guy kept walking around us during the whole lesson and finally when we were done he came up to us and wanted our number and what not so we were pretty stoked about that but, little did we know he has met with missionaries in the past and he has this weird foot fetish. He called us and was like "ok when you come in make sure to take off your shoes" so we were like well this is really weird so we told him we couldn't come and got really mad. We call him terrance the toe tickler but ya that was really weird. Another thing this week was we met with these investigators who are super catholic like his sister is a nun and brother a priest so ya and to add on they are lawyers so they have some good questions! They really help me learn the doctrine and teach clearly they really keep me on my toes! They are super awesome though so we will let you know on them that would be quit the conversion story! You all remember that HUGE house I sent a picture of that we knocked well we went back and got in and sat down and had a lesson there how cool is that! There are 15 people that there because in their culture you all live together so it has a lot of people but, the house was soooo nice probably will be the nicest house I ever go into and also the lesson was super good so I will keep you updated on them! 

Also this week we had a general authority come to our Stake Conference it was elder Switchzer he was super funny. He pointed out things in the Book of Mormon I never even thought of he talked about how impossible it would have been for Joseph Smith to write the Book of Mormon because of things in it. One was how in it they talk about Checks and Balances with the government with King Noah and also all the war strategies that Captain Moroni did like how would Joseph Smith know about any of that at his age and with his education. So cool so ya little testimony builder. 

For a Spiritual thought it comes from Joshua 3:5 it says "And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves:for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you." When we Sanctify ourselves that means to purify us and get ride of any ungodliness or sins we may have and then he promises us that when we do that He can do all things through us! I can feel that in my own self when I truly give my all to the Lord he is able to do many wonders through me! I love you all hope you have a great week! 

Elder DeSantis 

Week 63, October 17, 2016

Area:

Companion:  Elder Lee

Date:  October 17, 2016

Man this week was great we saw so much success and miracles! Our area right now is doing so good. We have set 4 baptismal dates with our investigators and they are all super solid! Kealey is doing really good she has a lot of great things happen with her and she has had a lot of really powerful prayers! She is so awesome haha she is so funny she honestly is part of the ward already she was the MC for the Talent show we had for our YSA ward! The talent show was so fun elder Lee and I did a little skit haha sounds pretty dumb when I explain it but, I don't think it was that bad but we did like a role play thing and I rejected him saying he couldn't come in but then he started beat boxing and he is pretty good at it so ya like I said sounds really dumb but it wasn't too bad haha! So we also have dates with Derrick, Jake and Nathan and they are all doing really good we had 4 investigators show up to church which is always so nice! Haha real quick back to kealey we had dinner with her and a family after church and she was like "You guys had a lot of investigators at church today!" I was like "Ya Kealey and you are one of them haha" like I said she is already a member and just has to tell her parents still and then she will be baptized! She is just supper scared because her parents told her if she joins she will have no support from anyone in the family so pray for her! So I have such a crazy story to tell about so here it goes, Elder Lee and I were street contacting at Marquette campus and we had been there for awhile just talking to people and it was getting pretty late and so were gonna leave soon. I tried talking to these college kids walking and they just ignored me and so I turned around and there were a couple more guys tried talking to them and same thing happened they just kept on walking haha so ya pretty awkward at this point but oh well missionary work is always awkward. Then I turn around again and I saw these two kids and said " hey what about you guys can I give you this card?" They took it but started to walk away but I kept asking them questions so they stopped and kinda talked to me and I noticed he had a Marquette soccer shirt on and I asked if he plays for them and he does. Then I asked what club he played for which is weird cause I usually never do that but he said "Fire" so I asked the academy and he was like ya so then I for some reason said sweet I almost went to the Real Academy which is also weird cause I have never said that but, his friend looks at me and is like "really? I played there and I play goalie!" So we get to talking and man we knew so many of the same people it was so crazy haha we were both shocked. He looked super familiar I am pretty sure we may have trained together we talked about Nacho and some other kids we played so ya that was super crazy to connect with someone like that but, because of that he opened up a lot and he is willing to meet with us! So ya small small world! So ya things are going for us! 

So today my message comes from 1 John 3:2 it says "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."  Our purpose right now in this life is to become like him as much as possible so that when he comes we will be like him. Change is such an amazing thing I love progressing and becoming better everyday I hope I can do it in all aspects of my life I never want to just stay where I am at and I don't think anyone should! It takes a lot of sincere prayer and scripture reading to become better each day but, it is something we can all do! I am so grateful for the time I have to be a missionary and to meet such amazing people it is all worth it! I love this church I love this Gospel and I know it is all true I know this because I have felt God telling me it is true! I hope you are all doing good I would love to hear from you all! Have a good week!

Elder DeSantis 

Week 62, October 10, 2016

Area:

Companion:  Elder Lee

Date:  October 10. 2016

So this past week was amazing we saw so many miracles The work is really picking up! So a young woman in one of our wards saw a friend of hers post something about our church so she decided to act on that and talk to him at school about it! She found out he has been looking for a church to go to so she invited him and he came. He loved it so much he went home and told his mom that he "felt at home" when he came and that everybody was so welcoming! We were able to get his contact information and we went taught his whole family he has two brothers one is 9 and the other is 15 and then is Mom. It is so nice to be teaching families again and to help them come closer! His mom asked me such a heart felt question she asked "How does your church feel about broken families cause as you can see we are missing someone in this family." They are going through a divorce right now but the mom is very strong! It was so good to be able to say we love broken families in this church because it gives us a chance to come together and build it back up! When we come to the Lord with a broken heart that allows the Saviors Atonement to fill in the cracks and make us whole! This family is awesome and Jackson (the kid who came to church) is so awesome and really wants to get baptized! We are working with others as well Jake is a YSA kid who was dating a member and then came to church and liked it so we are teaching him now and he read all of 1 nehpi in a week so he has a date now for November 5th and Kealey is still working towards her date ah man just so many good things going on right now we are so excited to see all that comes from it! We have a lot of work to do which is nice! This week we also had MLC a meeting with all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders and President and during a training we were give the spirit was so strong it was so cool! We talked about having Joy in this work and making Christ the center of each companionship! So many amazing things were said! I also heard Olivia got baptized this last Saturday that is so amazing to hear ah those two missionaries have no idea what they did for our family! 

Well for this spiritual message it comes from C.S Lewis I heard this quote and thought it was amazing it says "Christ says, "Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good...Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked--the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours." I hope I can give my all to the Savior my everything! I know he wants us all do to that because when we do that he can make us into who he wants for us! I love you all I hope you are doing good keep close to the Lord all things become possible! 

Love Elder DeSantis

sorry I didn't take any pictures this week

Week 61, October 3, 2016

Area:

Companion:  Elder Lee

Date: October 2, 2016

This week I got my new companion Elder Lee he is from Modesto California he went to BYU for a year before coming out. He is super awesome and we get along great I am excited to see the success that will happen. Also another perk is that he was called Spanish speaking so we can have some conversations in Spanish so we don't lose it completely. Well the people we are working with are doing good! Kealey is awesome still and we had a good lesson with her pretty amazing how the spirit works through our studies because everything elder Lee and I studied that morning was needed for kealey to hear. I will share later on what it was. After leaving there she texted us and said "just so you know I am thinking of Nov. 5th for a baptismal date." how cool is that our investigator set her own date. Kealey watched all a lot of the conferences and she said 3 out of her 5 questions were answered so we are making great progress! Keep praying for her. Then we had a lesson with Derrick he is doing good sadly he couldn't make it to conference because he headed back home for the weekend and missed all the sessions. I truly loved conference it was such an spiritual experience. I am so glad we are lead by an amazing Prophet Thomas S. Monson,  The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. I know these men are called of God. 

One thing that really stood out to me at conference was something that we taught to our investigator the day before conference which was, putting what you know into your heart and believing them. It is hard to think that we know things but don't believe them but, it is true some things we know but don't do them so in other words we don't believe them. Until we can put all that we know in our hearts and allow God help us believe them that is when we will feel changed and the desire to do God's will for us. I know that our Savior lives and that His Atonement is real and that we are all invited to partake of the wonderful feeling of Repentance. I love you all so much and for the support I have felt!! Have a great week!

Love Elder DeSantis

Week 60, September 26, 2016

Area:

Companion: Elder Lee

Date:  September 26, 2016

Well this week is transfers and I will be staying in my same area but, my new companion is Elder Lee he is from California super awesome elder. I am excited to serve with him well Elder Christian is on to bigger and better things, which is Texas he is flying home on Thursday morning it will be fun I will be able to drop him off at the airport so that will be crazy to see him go home! This week was pretty good we had a lot of things to finish for transfers so it was kinda crazy but all went well! We had some sweet lessons with a new investigator named Derrick he is awesome. He was taught by some missionaries in a different part of Wisconsin but then moved to Milwaukee to go to Marquette. He called us to set up a time to meet how awesome is that, so our first lesson went great with him haha he is a funny kid he said " So I realized something today while reading the Introduction to the Book of Mormon and the Testimonies is that today is the exact day Joseph Smith first saw the plates and I am kinda freaking out!" Funny kid but ya then we met with him another time and set a baptismal date with him! So pray for Derrick! Sorry that is all I got right now I have to take off I love you all good luck this week!

Love Elder DeSantis