Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft...

Howdy from Texas! I am so very thankful for this opportunity to be on a mission. My mission thus far has been such a blessing and I am so very thankful for all the things I am learning both temporally and spiritually. I am so very thankful for the miracles that we see all around us. It is such a blessing to be able to help our Heavenly Father in his work. My ponderize scripture this week is Helaman 3:35 Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God. I love this scripture because as we continuously fast and pray oft, we will have the strength to overcome those trials and challenges that we have in our lives. Through our humility and our consecration to our Heavenly Father, we will grow stronger and stronger in our love and faith in our Savior and our Heavenly Father. We will become truly converted and our foundations upon the gospel will never waver. I am so very thankful for the sure foundation of the gospel and though the world is changing, our Savior's gospel never changes. Our Heavenly Father is the same yesterday, today, and forever and will always guide us and lead us on the right path.

This past week has been pretty good! Thanksgiving was really good! We were able to see a few families and we were able to go to the Hilario's for Thanksgiving dinner. Their son just barely got back from his mission and we were able to talk to him about his experiences. I love being in this area. There are so many great members of the church and I am very thankful to be able to serve along with them.

We have still been able to go by Brian's, who just got baptized a few weeks ago. He is doing really well and we have started to give him the laws and ordinances lessons and he is excited to continue on the gospel path! We have still been going by Stephanie Olivaries and Obed's and they both are extremely excited to be baptized this coming December! I am so very thankful for those who are ready to accept the gospel and to start on the path that leads to eternal life.

I am so excited for this Christmas season! I love the spirit of Christmas and being able to remember and celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love the spirit of remembering the gift that our Heavenly Father had given us. Through Jesus Christ, we can be cleansed from sin and ultimately return back home to our Heavenly Father. We have started sharing a video from lds.org called "A Savior Is Born." It's a great video talking about discovering why we need a Savior and why he was born for us. I can't wait for this next month!

Sorry this is a short email but I want you all to know how much I love you!! I love everyone's emails and being able to hear back from home. Hope you all have a great week! Love y'all!

Love,

Elder Munro

Mom on Christmas, instead of a call, I will be able to Skype home! I am so excited to be able to talk to and see you all! I think you can send the package to our apartment complex. We are here pretty often so I think it will be okay. Thanks for the package of clothes! It has been pretty chilly here recently so it has helped out a lot! Thanks for all that you do mom! You mean so much to me!

Peace I Leave With You

Howdy from Texas! This has been a very humbling week for me and I am so very thankful for the gospel in my life. I have had a lot of spiritual experiences this past week and my testimony of this gospel and my Savior’s love for me has been growing tremendously. I know as we continuously involve our Savior in every aspect of our lives, we will able to feel of His love more abundantly and more profoundly.

My ponderize scripture for this next week is John ‪14:27‬ : Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. I love this scripture because as we continue to seek the Savior through prayer and through our worship and devotion to Him, we will be able to have His peace with us. His peace cannot be counterfeited by anything from the world. He truly knows how to help us in times of need and I am so very thankful for prayer and the ability to have that constant connection to our Heavenly Father. Though the world is drifting further and further from the truth of the gospel, we have our Savior and our Heavenly Father to lead us and guide us through. He is always there to guide us through our trials and challenges.

We had the opportunity this past Wednesday to have our zone conference! Pres. Slaughter talked about how we can have a meaningful Sunday worship and how we can show our Heavenly Father that the Sabbath is a delight. I always loved the Sabbath day back home and even more here out on my mission. The ability to be spiritually refreshed and renewed from the sacrament helps us increase our love for our Savior and to continue strong throughout the next week. I am so very thankful for the Sabbath day to draw closer to my Savior and my Heavenly Father. The Sabbath is truly an amazing blessing in our lives.

We also had many different trainings on how we can improve our teaching through asking inspired questions in lessons and teaching for understanding. I am so very thankful for my Heavenly Father’s help in guiding me in learning and growing as a missionary.

We were able to have our Ward thanksgiving party on Saturday! We were able to see the Olivara family and they’re excited for Stephanie's baptism coming up in December! I am so very thankful for the great members of the 10th Ward. They are always willing to engage in missionary work and fellowship those who need the gospel in their lives.

Brian got confirmed yesterday! It was amazing being able to see him happy and excited to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We have still been going by and teaching him more and helping become familiar with the laws and ordinances of the church. He's an awesome convert!

I want you all to know that your Heavenly Father is always there. He knows the desires and intents of our hearts. He truly wants us to come to him and partake of his love. There is no trial or challenge that is too great for the Savior to help us through. He has felt all of our pains and sorrows and through Him, we can overcome anything. He truly is our Savior and Redeemer and He will always be by our side. The enabling power of His atonement is truly infinite and will always enlarge our souls to become better each day.

Thank you for the emails! I am so very thankful for my family, you all mean everything to me! Hope you all have a great week! Love y'all!!

Love,
Elder Munro

Mom: I got the package! Haha it did explode a little bit! :) That is so funny to hear about Indy haha he is a funny cat! I don't think I got the picture of the tree, it must have not come in right. I can't believe how fast the time is going! Soon it will be Christmas! It will be exciting to talk to you all! Hope you guys have an awesome Thanksgiving!!! Love you!!

For My Thoughts Are Not Your Thoughts...

Howdy from Texas! This has been an amazing week! It has been pretty busy with transfers but I will be staying in the SA South zone - 10th Ward for this next transfer! I am so very thankful to be in the Ward and area that I am in. I am so very thankful for this time in my life to be able to help others come unto Christ. I have felt and experienced so many blessings on my mission. I cannot begin to describe how much I have been changing and how much my testimony has grown since I came on my mission.

My ponderize scripture for this next week will be Isaiah 55: 8-9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." This scripture really made me think about where we are at with our priorities and how we can strengthen our desires and capabilities to make our thoughts and actions inline with His gospel. I know as we follow His gospel and center our thoughts and desires in building His kingdom on the earth, we will experience a mighty change of heart in our lives that increases our abilities to become better disciples of Jesus Christ.

This past Tuesday as we all found out whether we were staying in our areas or if we were going, it turned out that Elder Christensen got transferred to the border by Eagle Pass! He left that next day and I went with the other Elders in our district until transfers this last Thursday. It was awesome being able to teach some lessons with them and to see the investigators that they have. It was great as well to be trained by Elder Christensen, he has helped me gain so many teaching skills that I can use throughout my mission.

Thursday was the day of transfers! Me, Elder Hansen, and Elder Nielsen went to visit the temple just before the meeting, I can't wait to be able to do a session in the San Antonio temple. The spirit was very strong in transfer meeting. We were able to get 7 new missionaries in our mission! I got my new companion/trainer Elder Brough. He is an awesome missionary. He loves to do rock climbing and many other outdoor things. It has been great being able to teach a few lessons with him and do some contacting. I already know this will be a great transfer!

That night of transfers we had the chance to go by and see Joseph Mejia who we haven't been able to contact for the last month. Joseph has a very strong conviction of the gospel but it has been hard this last month to get a hold of him. That night I felt an impression to go see him, so we did and he was there. We had a good short lesson about how our Heavenly Father always answers our prayers and is always there to help us. He felt of the Spirit very strong and desired to meet with the missionaries more. I am so very thankful for the Spirit in that we can receive spiritual promptings and direction from our Heavenly Father so we can help further His work and help others come unto Christ and His gospel. I always want to be worthy to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost.

Yesterday was a very special day for us. We were able to have Brian's baptism and it turned out great. I cannot begin to express how thankful I am for the gospel. It was amazing to see Brian's desire to be baptized increase throughout these past weeks and to see him happy, joyful, and ready to enter the waters of baptism. It was kind of funny because we did the baptism right after church! We were scrambling like crazy but we were prepared. Through out the whole process in getting his baptism ready, I always felt like everything was going to work out and everything was put into place so that he would be baptized. I testify that this is the work of the Lord and that He is always in control. I am so very thankful for His guidance and love in helping me see the miracles all around us and feeling His enabling powers as we help in His work.

My testimony of our Savior and His atonement has grown in so many ways as well as my conviction and conversion to the gospel. Being able to envelop my life in the gospel has been an enormous blessing. The gospel is true and I know it with all my heart. I know that through the gospel, we can experience happiness and peace in this life and the greatest joy in the world to come. Even in the little miracles we see everyday testifies that our Heavenly Father is always there for us and knows the intents and desires of our hearts. As we truly develop and increase our love for our Heavenly Father and savior, we will feel of his enabling power and His grace in our lives. His love for us is truly endless and will always be there to lift us back up when we fall. He is our Savior and Redeemer and through Him, we can return to live with Him again someday.

Thank you for all the emails! I love being able to hear back from family. You all mean so much to me! Hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Munro.

Mom: Thanks for the care package! I love my popcorn! :) thanks for all that you do for me mom. I love you so very much. I hope you had an awesome birthday on Wednesday. Love you forever!!

 Elder Munro, Elder Brough, ??, Brian

 Elder Munro, Elder Hansen, Elder Nielsen at the San Antonio Temple

 Elder Munro

Elder Munro, Elder Brough, ??, Brian, Elder Nielsen

Elder Christensen and Elder Munro saying goodbye on transfer day.

And This is Life Eternal...

Howdy from Texas! This past week has been a really great week. I continue to see so many blessings and miracles every day and I am so very thankful for this opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ. 

My ponderize scripture is John 17:3 : "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." I love this scripture because as we continue to learn more about our Savior and our Heavenly Father, we are able to prepare for eternal life and to increase our relationships with them here on earth and for the eternities. It will be amazing when we return to live with our Father in Heaven again and realize how much our love and devotion to him has grown.

This past week has been pretty busy! Our district had the opportunity to have dinner with the Hilarios on Tuesday. Their son is serving his mission here in San Antonio too. It's fun being able to meet more and more great families in our area. We have seen so many miracles with contacting the less actives in the 10th Ward. Even though we haven't focused too much of our efforts on our current investigators, we have been blessed with those who are ready to be baptized! We had the chance to teach Obed who could be ready to be baptized tomorrow! We were able to teach him the restoration and the gospel in Spanish. Because we were able to trust in the Lord and work our hardest with our assignment with the less actives, we were able to find so much success. It's hard to express how much we have been blessed with and I know that this is truly the work of the Lord.

On Friday, I had the chance to go on our last companionship exchange for the transfer with Elder Hansen. He taught me so much about being diligent in speaking the Spanish language. It's amazing being able to learn from other missionaries and to see how others teach and practice speaking Spanish. There are so many amazing families that we visited and taught the restoration of the gospel and the plan of salvation. Teaching the gospel has been amazing!

We had the chance on Sunday to have our stake conference!  We were able to watch a live broadcast for many of the stakes in the Southwest. We were able to hear from Elder Dallin H. Oaks who talked about enduring in the last days and continuing faithfully in the church. The spirit was so strong and I am so very thankful for our leaders who guide and direct us in these latter days.

Brain is still looking forward to his baptismal date this next week! He is so prepared and is excited to come unto Christ through entering the waters of baptism. Obed also has a baptismal date for the 13th of December! After he is baptized, he wants to get sealed to his family as well! We have been blessed immensely and I'm hoping that I will be able to stay for this next transfer. I am so very thankful for this experience to be able to see others change and come unto Christ and receive of those blessings that are found in the gospel. I cannot express how many blessings I have received as I have been on my mission. This missionary experience is truly changing me in becoming the missionary and priesthood holder the Lord wants me to become. I have been striving to develop Christ like attributes and to continue to increase my love for the scriptures and the words of the prophets.

Thank you for all the emails. Hope you all have a great week! Love y'all!!

Love,

Elder Munro

Mom: Thanks for sending the pictures!! Looks like everybody had a fun time! It's starting to get a little colder but I have been doing fine, the black jacket that I have has been working out great. I still need to go by the mission office to get the package, I have been so busy! I love keeping busy though and being involved in the work as much as possible. I want so much for time to slow down and enjoy my mission as much as I can, time truly does fly!! I was wondering if I could get a list of birthdays in our family that I could send emails too as well. I bet that birthday surprise was awesome! I want you to know mom that I love you so very much! You have done so much for me and are a true disciple of Jesus Christ. I am eternally blessed to call you mom. I hope that you have an amazing birthday!!! 

Press Forward With a Steadfastness in Christ

Howdy from Texas! This past week has been a really great week! My testimony of my Savior and his work has been growing immensely and I know that the gospel is true. I am so very thankful for this amazing opportunity to be able to learn, grow, and help others be able to feel of the joys of the gospel. I have seen so many blessings in my life this past week. I can't even express how many blessings I have been receiving as I have been on my mission. It is such a blessings to be able to preach and learn more about the gospel everyday. I have felt an increased love and relationship with my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. Through giving your whole heart and will to the Lord in doing his work, He will bless you in enumerable ways. I have been striving to become the missionary that He wants me to become. I am humbled and excited to see how I will change throughout these next two years.

My ponderize scripture for his week is 2 Nephi 31:20 : Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. I love this scripture and we use it a lot in our lessons in teaching the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we enter the path leading to eternal life through baptism, we must continue in the path by enduring to the end. As we continue to read and study the scriptures, follow the prophet, and keep our covenants, we will be able to receive eternal life and be able to live with our Heavenly Father and our eternal families again someday. I know and I testify that these things are true. I know that only through our savior can we experience eternal joy and peace in this life and in the world to come. I love the scriptures!

This past Wednesday, I had the opportunity to go on an exchange with Elder Nielsen in our district. We were able to go by Sylvia Crabtree who is a less active. We invited her to church the past few weeks and we were able to see her every week! As we went over, we gave her the temple invitation from pres. Monson and she said she wants to do the temple and family history work for her mother and father as well as others in her family! I am so very thankful to be able to see others coming back to the gospel and experiencing joy, peace, and lasting happiness.

We have been doing a lot of work with the less active members this past week and we have been having a lot of success! We have been biking a lot too! It's fun being able to bike around our area and to see more of south San Antonio. Many of the missionaries say that this area is the "promised land" because of all the potential that this area has. The other Elders in our district referred us to the Olivares family this past week and we were able to teach them some really good lessons. They are an awesome family! They are a less active family but the father, Martin, was a member his whole life and his wife and their 10 year old daughter have been baptized a year ago but have become less active. Whenever we ask questions or involve them in the lesson they always give amazing answers and insights for others in the family. There are 3 others; two that aren't baptized so we are hoping to teach them some more and to be able to have Martin baptize his three other kids. We have also been keeping in touch with Brian too. His desire to be baptized has grown tremendously this past week. I hope I will be able to stay here in this area for this next transfer so that I can see him be baptized. I am so very thankful to be in this area!

It seems like each and every week as I go to church and partake of the sacrament, I am spiritually fed and rejuvenated for the upcoming week. I am so very thankful for my Savior's atonement and eternal sacrifice. The more and more I partake of the sacrament, the more sacred and meaningful the atonement is for me. My love for the Savior is strengthened and I want to deepen my desire to always follow him and to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Being able to have his spirit to be with us is truly an amazing blessing.

Thank you all for the emails! I hope every has a great week. Love you all!

Mom, thanks for sending the pictures! Haha Looked like Rev and Kassi had a good Halloween. :) I'm sorry to hear that bro. Carlson died, I know he is in a better place. I haven't gotten the package yet because I haven't been by the mission office this past week but I'll try and go by sometime soon. We're doing good with cooking. :) we have been cooking chicken and some of the easy and quick stuff like pasta and cereal. We get fed really well by the members. :) I hope dad is doing well, I think about him a lot and want him to know I love him so much! I continue to pray that he will be able to find a job closer to home. You all mean so much to me. Have an awesome week! All is well in the Lone Star State. :)