Here is some final pictures that his Mission President sent just before he came home:
Sunday, September 15, 2019
September 9, 2019 (Final Post)
HE IS HOME!
Here is some final pictures that his Mission President sent just before he came home:
Here is some final pictures that his Mission President sent just before he came home:
Sunday, September 1, 2019
August 26, 2019 (Week 99)
Out of the mists of darkness...
This week moisture has finally started to come back to the city! At night it has become very misty and makes it dark much earlier. But not complaining because it makes it a whole lot cooler! This last week as we taught Paola as we were verifying before we started the lessons she mentioned to us how she had been reading about the Prophet and the word of wisdom in the gospel library app, and those were the exact two things we were planning on teaching that day! And the same exact thing happened the next lesson! She is so prepared by the spirit.
We´ve also been able to find three families this last week that were all former investigators- very good stuff! Everyone has a different question of the soul. At the end of the day, it is just important to be in the place where the Lord wants you to be; and luckily he has allowed that to happen to us many times!
Anyways, a solid time, love you all, talk to you all very soon!
-Elder Varney
This week moisture has finally started to come back to the city! At night it has become very misty and makes it dark much earlier. But not complaining because it makes it a whole lot cooler! This last week as we taught Paola as we were verifying before we started the lessons she mentioned to us how she had been reading about the Prophet and the word of wisdom in the gospel library app, and those were the exact two things we were planning on teaching that day! And the same exact thing happened the next lesson! She is so prepared by the spirit.
We´ve also been able to find three families this last week that were all former investigators- very good stuff! Everyone has a different question of the soul. At the end of the day, it is just important to be in the place where the Lord wants you to be; and luckily he has allowed that to happen to us many times!
Anyways, a solid time, love you all, talk to you all very soon!
-Elder Varney
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| Elder Varney and the Chavez Family |
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| What Elder Varney sees every day... Traffic and Cathedrals |
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| Elder Varney and his Companion, the "Two tall White Gringos" in Mexico |
Sunday, August 25, 2019
August 19, 2019 (Week 98)
Trudgin along!
This week was a textbook missionary week. Had a good time with Paola, our new-ish investigator we found a week ago. She´s already halfway through first Nephi and has been reading a ton after we showed her the gospel library app, and she accepted a fecha bautismal for the 31st! A true tender mercy from the Lord.
In other news, it is still blistering hot down here, but at least we haven´t gotten dengue fever (like other missions...) so, can´t complain! We had another great experience with Martìn, another investigator; when he shared with us how for the past year or so he has had dreams with his parents and grandparents always in them. And recently as he´s started reading the Book of Mormon his parent´s have been very happy in his dreams! What a great opportunity to teach about family history! Anyway, we hope everything keeps on going well with him, we´re just sweating along down here.
Love you all, see y´all real soon!
-Elder Varney
This week was a textbook missionary week. Had a good time with Paola, our new-ish investigator we found a week ago. She´s already halfway through first Nephi and has been reading a ton after we showed her the gospel library app, and she accepted a fecha bautismal for the 31st! A true tender mercy from the Lord.
In other news, it is still blistering hot down here, but at least we haven´t gotten dengue fever (like other missions...) so, can´t complain! We had another great experience with Martìn, another investigator; when he shared with us how for the past year or so he has had dreams with his parents and grandparents always in them. And recently as he´s started reading the Book of Mormon his parent´s have been very happy in his dreams! What a great opportunity to teach about family history! Anyway, we hope everything keeps on going well with him, we´re just sweating along down here.
Love you all, see y´all real soon!
-Elder Varney
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| Elder Varney with some of his past Companions |
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| An early morning P-Day sunrise! |
Sunday, August 18, 2019
August 12, 2019 (Week 97)
Wow, what a powerhouse of a week!
This week started off with a bit of uncertainty of how the Lord was going to get more prepared people to us, but we decided to continue on in faith regardless. and on Wednesday the spirit directly guided us to a house that we had visited many times before, but this time we visited we found a young adult that was very happy to see us. Turns out she had been praying for an opportunity for the missionaries to teach her and on that day we found her! Anyways, she was able to come to church and is already in 1 Nephi 20, so we're very grateful to the Lord to have found her!
Anyways, this last Sunday was a blast, we had to teach the elders quorum class and were able to keep all the elderly people awake with our discussion on the gathering of Israel. Now they understand that it is their responsibility to gather the people of Israel.
Anyway, just a great week, nearly everyone we wanted to come was at church, a ton of less actives coming back and everyone very excited! Anyways, can't ask for more, we are definitely here on the Lord's errand, under his direction! Thanks for all of your prayers on our behalf, they sustain us!
Love you all!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, August 11, 2019
August 5, 2019 (Week 96)
Rollin with the punches!
This week we had lots of "punches" I guess, but it wasn't too much bad stuff. We ended up having to go to Aguascalientes for two days for some capacitaciones/trainings, but it ended up being a good time, since we were able to hang out with Presidente and Hermana Redd a whole lot; they are great examples of living the gospel and are really just there to help us out and to love us so much, it was a fun/hilarious time with them!
It was a good set to trainings, especially that they'll be my last trainings in the mission, hitting a lot more of those 'last' events, its getting pretty crazy! Speaking of firsts and lasts, yesterday we assisted at a funeral of the wife of a faithful elderly brother in the ward. She had been bedridden and suffering for lots of years, so it is nice for her to have some rest now. I remember how three days earlier me and my companion had been practicing the priesthood ordinances and got to the blessing of a grave and I remarked saying "I never have and probably will never perform this ordinance in my whole mission." Well two days later the Lord proved me wrong...
Oh well, anyways we are just chuggin along down here in Terrazas, lots of people making sacrifices for us and for the work in general; nothing I'd rather be doing than be in the Lord's work!
Love you all!
-Elder Varney
This week we had lots of "punches" I guess, but it wasn't too much bad stuff. We ended up having to go to Aguascalientes for two days for some capacitaciones/trainings, but it ended up being a good time, since we were able to hang out with Presidente and Hermana Redd a whole lot; they are great examples of living the gospel and are really just there to help us out and to love us so much, it was a fun/hilarious time with them!
It was a good set to trainings, especially that they'll be my last trainings in the mission, hitting a lot more of those 'last' events, its getting pretty crazy! Speaking of firsts and lasts, yesterday we assisted at a funeral of the wife of a faithful elderly brother in the ward. She had been bedridden and suffering for lots of years, so it is nice for her to have some rest now. I remember how three days earlier me and my companion had been practicing the priesthood ordinances and got to the blessing of a grave and I remarked saying "I never have and probably will never perform this ordinance in my whole mission." Well two days later the Lord proved me wrong...
Oh well, anyways we are just chuggin along down here in Terrazas, lots of people making sacrifices for us and for the work in general; nothing I'd rather be doing than be in the Lord's work!
Love you all!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, August 4, 2019
July 29, 2019 (Week 95)
The final chapter...
Or at least the final transfer. Almost the same thing. Breaking out a brand new daily planner for the last time... Feels strange. But enough with that trunky talk. This last week was a fightin´ one. We started off with a rad zone conference from President Redd. (the first one we´ve gotten from him) One cool thing we learned is that although the Lord will have us wait for answers on some questions, in some cases revelation can come almost immediately. For instance if every morning we ask for one thing we can improve on, he will give us something right away. Powerful stuff!
Right after the conference we were able to have a very enlightening lesson with Martín, we were able to get the whole restoration to him in less than fifteen minutes, and in the end he was very excited to have a Book of Mormon. He is a person who feels very lonely and is having his needs met by the gospel, one by one. Also this week we had the spirit literally guide us to knock on some doors and in both cases we found people who immediately received us; one a brand new investigator and another a before unknown less active. Good stuff!
Anyways of course I am staying here with Elder Clawson for my last transfer here in Terrazas. I sure am grateful to be here with so many great faithful disciples of the Lord! Anyways, love you all, talk to ya again soon!
-Elder Varney
Or at least the final transfer. Almost the same thing. Breaking out a brand new daily planner for the last time... Feels strange. But enough with that trunky talk. This last week was a fightin´ one. We started off with a rad zone conference from President Redd. (the first one we´ve gotten from him) One cool thing we learned is that although the Lord will have us wait for answers on some questions, in some cases revelation can come almost immediately. For instance if every morning we ask for one thing we can improve on, he will give us something right away. Powerful stuff!
Right after the conference we were able to have a very enlightening lesson with Martín, we were able to get the whole restoration to him in less than fifteen minutes, and in the end he was very excited to have a Book of Mormon. He is a person who feels very lonely and is having his needs met by the gospel, one by one. Also this week we had the spirit literally guide us to knock on some doors and in both cases we found people who immediately received us; one a brand new investigator and another a before unknown less active. Good stuff!
Anyways of course I am staying here with Elder Clawson for my last transfer here in Terrazas. I sure am grateful to be here with so many great faithful disciples of the Lord! Anyways, love you all, talk to ya again soon!
-Elder Varney
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| Elder Varney with two of his "greenie" missionaries he started out with |
Sunday, July 28, 2019
July 22, 2019 (Week 94)
Really nailed it this week!
Haha, just thought of that because a while ago another companion of mine stepped on a nail but didn´t realize it till we got back to the apartment. Somehow the nail went between his toes and didn´t do anything. A tender mercy of the Lord, I guess!
Well anyways this week was definitely a powerhouse. Able to get lots of stuff done off of our to do list from our weekly planning, and in return the Lord gave us even more people to replace the old ones! The highlight was definitely this Sunday. We had our investigating family and three less actives we´ve been visiting show up, and to top it all off at the end someone showed up out of nowhere and wanted to be taught by us! All by 11:30 in the morning!
Anyways, this new person is called Sergio and I think we had one of the most spiritual lessons so far in my mission with him. He probably listened with the most true intention I´ve ever seen, and is very prepared by the Lord. We´re hoping and praying that he can continue to use the gospel to light his life! Anyways, we´re just going on in the heat down here, great to hear from all of you, take care!
-Elder Varney
Haha, just thought of that because a while ago another companion of mine stepped on a nail but didn´t realize it till we got back to the apartment. Somehow the nail went between his toes and didn´t do anything. A tender mercy of the Lord, I guess!
Well anyways this week was definitely a powerhouse. Able to get lots of stuff done off of our to do list from our weekly planning, and in return the Lord gave us even more people to replace the old ones! The highlight was definitely this Sunday. We had our investigating family and three less actives we´ve been visiting show up, and to top it all off at the end someone showed up out of nowhere and wanted to be taught by us! All by 11:30 in the morning!
Anyways, this new person is called Sergio and I think we had one of the most spiritual lessons so far in my mission with him. He probably listened with the most true intention I´ve ever seen, and is very prepared by the Lord. We´re hoping and praying that he can continue to use the gospel to light his life! Anyways, we´re just going on in the heat down here, great to hear from all of you, take care!
-Elder Varney
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| Elder Varney's current District |
Sunday, July 21, 2019
July 15, 2019 (Week 93)
Howdy there!
Well this week was a god one, we were able to experience a little bit of all the aspects of missionary work this week! The sun is killer right now in San Luis; they say its supposed to be raining, but it seems every time someone says that it just gets hotter! Oh well, just slowly cultivating the skin cancer...
Anyways this Sunday was a powerhouse, we had the young family that we are teaching show up, they have such great faith, they don't have much but are still so willing to sacrifice every time we meet up with them and especially willing/devoted to come to church! They truly have their priorities straight!
We also had a very spiritual lesson with someone we found named Martín. He had heard from the missionaries a little bit before but on this occasion we saw a great need for him to hear the plan of salvation, since he has felt quite lonely these past few years. And it was amazing to see his face light up so much as we explained and as he read all of the truths of the plan, our eternal destiny, and that he is truly not alone! Quite a good experience for elder Clawson and me, and well anyways we´re still chuggin´ along down here in good´ ol Mexico!
Love you all, talk to you soon!
-Elder Varney
Well this week was a god one, we were able to experience a little bit of all the aspects of missionary work this week! The sun is killer right now in San Luis; they say its supposed to be raining, but it seems every time someone says that it just gets hotter! Oh well, just slowly cultivating the skin cancer...
Anyways this Sunday was a powerhouse, we had the young family that we are teaching show up, they have such great faith, they don't have much but are still so willing to sacrifice every time we meet up with them and especially willing/devoted to come to church! They truly have their priorities straight!
We also had a very spiritual lesson with someone we found named Martín. He had heard from the missionaries a little bit before but on this occasion we saw a great need for him to hear the plan of salvation, since he has felt quite lonely these past few years. And it was amazing to see his face light up so much as we explained and as he read all of the truths of the plan, our eternal destiny, and that he is truly not alone! Quite a good experience for elder Clawson and me, and well anyways we´re still chuggin´ along down here in good´ ol Mexico!
Love you all, talk to you soon!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, July 14, 2019
July 8, 2019 (Week 92)
Quite a bombshell week!
One big highlight we had was when we got to meet Presidente and Hermana Redd on Thursday, what an exciting meetup! Presidente and Hermana Redd are from California and presidente already spoke Spanish from his mission in Peru, so that's pretty cool. Anyways it was very great to see and hear all the insights that they brought from their weeklong training in the MTC with all the apostles and the prophet! It must be pretty sweet to be in a sacrament meeting with all the presiding authority on the earth!
Well, one of the things that president Redd promised specifically to me and my companion were that if we found out and followed the will of the Lord we could have one of the most spiritual experiences ever on our missions right there in that same day. And it happened! We found hermana Lula, someone who has really been prepared through rough experiences with her family to hear the word of God. Every lesson we've had with her is so spiritually invigorating; she told us that for years she had prayed and simply asked heavenly father to send messengers with the truth to her, and now her prayers are answered!
Well anyways, lots of amazing things happening down here in the middle of San Luis, Just feel so lucky to be in the middle of it all!
Anyways, love you all, talk to you soon!
-Elder Varney
One big highlight we had was when we got to meet Presidente and Hermana Redd on Thursday, what an exciting meetup! Presidente and Hermana Redd are from California and presidente already spoke Spanish from his mission in Peru, so that's pretty cool. Anyways it was very great to see and hear all the insights that they brought from their weeklong training in the MTC with all the apostles and the prophet! It must be pretty sweet to be in a sacrament meeting with all the presiding authority on the earth!
Well, one of the things that president Redd promised specifically to me and my companion were that if we found out and followed the will of the Lord we could have one of the most spiritual experiences ever on our missions right there in that same day. And it happened! We found hermana Lula, someone who has really been prepared through rough experiences with her family to hear the word of God. Every lesson we've had with her is so spiritually invigorating; she told us that for years she had prayed and simply asked heavenly father to send messengers with the truth to her, and now her prayers are answered!
Well anyways, lots of amazing things happening down here in the middle of San Luis, Just feel so lucky to be in the middle of it all!
Anyways, love you all, talk to you soon!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, July 7, 2019
July 1, 2019 (Week 91)
Well, it sure has been a week of tender mercies!
The first was that me and my companion were finally able to fix an annoying leak that has been in our apartment since the second day we got there, oh the joys of opening an area! But we were finally able to macgyver fix it, so no more wet floors in the bathroom, yay!
Also this week elder Clawson was able to extend his first baptismal invitation to Rodrigo, and he immediately said yes! It was a strong spiritual experience, and we've had lots more examples of revelation directing us where to go every day. For example, two times in a row we felt impressed to go to a different street that we had planned and visit someone other than who we had thought of. Well, as it turns out both times the appointments fell through, but also both times on the way we were able to find great people totally prepared to listen to the message!
Anyways, life's going well out here with elder Clawson, can't complain! Anyways, love you all, have a great fourth of July week! Talk to y'all soon!
-Elder Varney
The first was that me and my companion were finally able to fix an annoying leak that has been in our apartment since the second day we got there, oh the joys of opening an area! But we were finally able to macgyver fix it, so no more wet floors in the bathroom, yay!
Also this week elder Clawson was able to extend his first baptismal invitation to Rodrigo, and he immediately said yes! It was a strong spiritual experience, and we've had lots more examples of revelation directing us where to go every day. For example, two times in a row we felt impressed to go to a different street that we had planned and visit someone other than who we had thought of. Well, as it turns out both times the appointments fell through, but also both times on the way we were able to find great people totally prepared to listen to the message!
Anyways, life's going well out here with elder Clawson, can't complain! Anyways, love you all, have a great fourth of July week! Talk to y'all soon!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, June 30, 2019
June 24, 2019 (Week 90)
And the rains came a tumblin' down...
Well, the Lord has been showering us with blessings, and literally as well! Like clockwork every other day here at 6:00 it starts raining, which is fun especially when you get caught in the middle of a street that is now a one foot river! Haha, its all good, at least until the water enters your apartment...
Well anyways no permanent damage occurred, so no big deal! This week we've seen those typical blessings you have when opening an area, even though honestly most of our plans for finding people fell through, on literally every street that we've gone on we've found someone that has been prepared to accept us!
Particularly this week we had a very spiritual lesson with Rodrigo, who shared with us that after reading and praying about the Book of Mormon that a friend gave him he had the most spiritual experience of his life; and now says that he knows the book is true! The Lord truly is preparing the people here for us in the heart of San Luis! Anyways, thanks for all of your prayers, they really help the work along for all of us down here!
Hasta Luego!
-Elder Varney
PS - Elder Varney got a new Mission President this last week, and his former Mission President's Wife has posted a number of pictures on their mission Facebook page - we found the ones that had Elder Varney in them and posted them below.
June 17, 2019 (Week 89)
Leave things better than you found it!
Or at least that's my motto with areas in the mission, and its what we were able to do this last week in Zacatecas! We were able to find every person that we had fallen out of contact with that we were previously teaching, so that's a pretty great miracle considering that that occurrence almost never happens much! Had every day filled with appointments, so it was quite a blessing for us!
Had a great time with elder Loyola, he will be having a ball with elder Burton (my old CCM companion) out there in Zacatecas. In the meantime I'm back in the Centro de San Luis again in the Terrazas ward, with my new companion elder Clawson! The best part is that elder Clawson is 6'5" as well, so I'm finally not alone in Mexico!
Anyways, just getting things started down here opening the area again (for the last time!) And very grateful to be in the Lord's service! I love you all!
-Elder Varney
Or at least that's my motto with areas in the mission, and its what we were able to do this last week in Zacatecas! We were able to find every person that we had fallen out of contact with that we were previously teaching, so that's a pretty great miracle considering that that occurrence almost never happens much! Had every day filled with appointments, so it was quite a blessing for us!
Had a great time with elder Loyola, he will be having a ball with elder Burton (my old CCM companion) out there in Zacatecas. In the meantime I'm back in the Centro de San Luis again in the Terrazas ward, with my new companion elder Clawson! The best part is that elder Clawson is 6'5" as well, so I'm finally not alone in Mexico!
Anyways, just getting things started down here opening the area again (for the last time!) And very grateful to be in the Lord's service! I love you all!
-Elder Varney
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| Elder Varney with his new "Greenie" Elder Clawson (far left) |
Sunday, June 16, 2019
June 10, 2019 (Week 88)
Another wild run!
Well, this week was a spiritual roller coaster! It stared off with ending a run of bad luck we had with finding new people, not that we were lacking a ton of people to teach, just a bit of rejection. But this week started off with a very spiritual zone conference, the last that Presidente and Hermana Hernandez will be in! They left us with great impressions and specific instructions on how to follow the Lord´s will; one interesting note that we learned was that we are usually the ones who inhibit our own faith, even before we have left the house, or left for the mission field!
But with that great spiritual powerhouse day, our luck began to change! During exchanges I had three lessons in a row where people had read and all committed to baptism, and in another city my companion contacted a family that actually lives in our area! Great miracles! Anyways, just a few hours ago the assistants called to tell me that I´ll be training the next transfer, still don´t know where, but no matter what it´ll be an amazing way to finish the last two transfers of the mission!
Love you all, each and every one of you! Take care till next week!
-Elder Varney
Well, this week was a spiritual roller coaster! It stared off with ending a run of bad luck we had with finding new people, not that we were lacking a ton of people to teach, just a bit of rejection. But this week started off with a very spiritual zone conference, the last that Presidente and Hermana Hernandez will be in! They left us with great impressions and specific instructions on how to follow the Lord´s will; one interesting note that we learned was that we are usually the ones who inhibit our own faith, even before we have left the house, or left for the mission field!
But with that great spiritual powerhouse day, our luck began to change! During exchanges I had three lessons in a row where people had read and all committed to baptism, and in another city my companion contacted a family that actually lives in our area! Great miracles! Anyways, just a few hours ago the assistants called to tell me that I´ll be training the next transfer, still don´t know where, but no matter what it´ll be an amazing way to finish the last two transfers of the mission!
Love you all, each and every one of you! Take care till next week!
-Elder Varney
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| Elder Varney's last picture with his Mission President, Pres Hernandez |
Sunrise in his area
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June 3, 2019 (Week 87)
Wet´n´wild!
Well, this week was actually pretty dry up until today, when it rained all night long! Then exactly at 6:30 in the morning it stopped! Oh well, that´s pretty nice, except that now its very, very humid! Oh well, the climate here is quite similar to salt lake, high and dry, so I guess I just got used to that. This week we also had our stake conference and the visiting seventy is the best friend of my companion´s dad! He had a little meeting with us, explaining how the missionaries can have a tremendous effect on the energy of a ward, which is very true! We are following his councils and will surely see the blessings coming soon.
Another pretty good miracle was that the familia martinez came to the conference! They are an awesome less active family that has two teenagers that we want to baptize very soon! And they came to two sessions all on their own, we were able to get them set up with come, follow me and self-sufficiency classes, so the should be doing pretty well! I´m so grateful for all these great programs that the church has to help us magnify our abilities, but mostly I´m grateful for all the great people that all work together to get the Lord´s work done!
Anyways, love each and every one of you, take care!
-Elder Varney
Well, this week was actually pretty dry up until today, when it rained all night long! Then exactly at 6:30 in the morning it stopped! Oh well, that´s pretty nice, except that now its very, very humid! Oh well, the climate here is quite similar to salt lake, high and dry, so I guess I just got used to that. This week we also had our stake conference and the visiting seventy is the best friend of my companion´s dad! He had a little meeting with us, explaining how the missionaries can have a tremendous effect on the energy of a ward, which is very true! We are following his councils and will surely see the blessings coming soon.
Another pretty good miracle was that the familia martinez came to the conference! They are an awesome less active family that has two teenagers that we want to baptize very soon! And they came to two sessions all on their own, we were able to get them set up with come, follow me and self-sufficiency classes, so the should be doing pretty well! I´m so grateful for all these great programs that the church has to help us magnify our abilities, but mostly I´m grateful for all the great people that all work together to get the Lord´s work done!
Anyways, love each and every one of you, take care!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, June 2, 2019
May 27, 2019 (Week 86)
Up in the clouds!
All this week the clouds have been getting lower and lower, but it has only been getting hotter and hotter and no rain! But today finally rain and the temperature has dropped, so that is a blessing! Speaking of blessings, this last week was very nice, we´ve had a ton of super spiritual lessons!
Literally after almost every lesson we left feeling super hot, not from the heat but from the spirit!
Also we were walking up one hill (as usual) when we saw a lady cleaning up the trash and dirt from the street so we got a rare service opportunity and helped her. It was actually nice to be able to a little yardwork for once! But in the end we were able to have a great lesson with Silvia and her husband, they have an autistic son and have really learned of the tender mercies of the lord and how to really pray all on their own, we hope to be able to continue on having spiritual experiences with them!
Anyways, lots of fun stuff this week, thanks for all your prayers and help in so many ways, talk to y´all soon!
-Elder Varney
All this week the clouds have been getting lower and lower, but it has only been getting hotter and hotter and no rain! But today finally rain and the temperature has dropped, so that is a blessing! Speaking of blessings, this last week was very nice, we´ve had a ton of super spiritual lessons!
Literally after almost every lesson we left feeling super hot, not from the heat but from the spirit!
Also we were walking up one hill (as usual) when we saw a lady cleaning up the trash and dirt from the street so we got a rare service opportunity and helped her. It was actually nice to be able to a little yardwork for once! But in the end we were able to have a great lesson with Silvia and her husband, they have an autistic son and have really learned of the tender mercies of the lord and how to really pray all on their own, we hope to be able to continue on having spiritual experiences with them!
Anyways, lots of fun stuff this week, thanks for all your prayers and help in so many ways, talk to y´all soon!
-Elder Varney
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| Two Families that Ethan got to know in San Luis Potosi |
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| Dawn in Zacatecas |
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| View across Zacatecas |
Sunday, May 26, 2019
May 20, 2019 (Week 85)
Another blurry and windy week!
This last week was quite rewarding, in the beginning we were making very extensive plans to find people with potential and yet almost no one answered the door! After a few days we still felt we were doing the Lord´s will, but we just didn´t know what that was yet. Then we decided to climb the highest hill in our area and offer a prayer dedicating our work in this ward for this transfer.
Later that same day we found two new part member families that each have teenagers eager to learn more about baptism! It was such an immediately rewarding experience, a great testimony builder! This next week shouldn´t involve lots of traveling, just lots of meetings. But we are still excited to help the great people here in Zacatecas be able to consecrate themselves to the Lord, so many great people here!
Anyways, the adventure continues!
Love you all, have a great week!
-Elder Varney
This last week was quite rewarding, in the beginning we were making very extensive plans to find people with potential and yet almost no one answered the door! After a few days we still felt we were doing the Lord´s will, but we just didn´t know what that was yet. Then we decided to climb the highest hill in our area and offer a prayer dedicating our work in this ward for this transfer.
Later that same day we found two new part member families that each have teenagers eager to learn more about baptism! It was such an immediately rewarding experience, a great testimony builder! This next week shouldn´t involve lots of traveling, just lots of meetings. But we are still excited to help the great people here in Zacatecas be able to consecrate themselves to the Lord, so many great people here!
Anyways, the adventure continues!
Love you all, have a great week!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, May 19, 2019
May 13, 2019 (Week 84)
Is the air thinner up there?
Yep, no matter where you are in the world, the people will still always make the same tall jokes to you, no matter where you're at! But that still doesn't make them funny... Oh well anyways we are actually higher here in Zacatecas, its really mountainous and literally every building is built on a hill. Its a constant hike up or down streets, but it just reminds me of hiking out in Utah, so no complaints!
Anyways seeing lots of miracles that come when you open an area, I'm here with elder Loyola from my generation and we've seen lots of people that the Lord has given to us out of nowhere. One interesting thing is that most of our own efforts to find people didn't amount to much success, but at the last minute we received two references of people that had already gone to church (just in different wards) but who belong to our area and are very enthusiastic! Lots of blessings coming out here!
Anyways, love you all, talk to you soon!
-Elder Varney
Yep, no matter where you are in the world, the people will still always make the same tall jokes to you, no matter where you're at! But that still doesn't make them funny... Oh well anyways we are actually higher here in Zacatecas, its really mountainous and literally every building is built on a hill. Its a constant hike up or down streets, but it just reminds me of hiking out in Utah, so no complaints!
Anyways seeing lots of miracles that come when you open an area, I'm here with elder Loyola from my generation and we've seen lots of people that the Lord has given to us out of nowhere. One interesting thing is that most of our own efforts to find people didn't amount to much success, but at the last minute we received two references of people that had already gone to church (just in different wards) but who belong to our area and are very enthusiastic! Lots of blessings coming out here!
Anyways, love you all, talk to you soon!
-Elder Varney
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| Elder Varney and his new Comp in his new area of Zacatecas (wait, is that a statue of Joseph Smith in the background?) |
Sunday, May 12, 2019
May 6, 2019 (Week 83)
Changes and constants...
Well, this week was full of lots of strong witnesses of the Lord's hand in the lives of others and in our experiences. First off we had some previously unknown old investigators call us (which nearly never happens) and they are excited to learn and participate more in church! Also there was a huge ward primary activity this week, and we were invited to help in case any investigator children who were invited came. And as it turns out, we had two awesome families show up! Each one was unknown to us, but were references from the ward; one family has already read nearly half the Book of Mormon and say they need to come to church! What great miracle it is to have member-missionary work in our ward! It truly does bring about miracles in the lives of those who we share the gospel with, and in their lives as well!
Well, on that note we also received the transfers later that same day, and I cam finally leaving industrias. Its sad but good at the same time; sad because I will miss the converts and members in this ward a lot, but good because change is always necessary to improve. I'm heading to Zacatecas, to the capital city; which is basically built on the mountains and is full of super steep streets! Oh boy! My knees can't wait! Well anyways, thanks for sustaining me with all your prayers and faith, I love you all!
Talk to ya soon!
-Elder Varney
Well, this week was full of lots of strong witnesses of the Lord's hand in the lives of others and in our experiences. First off we had some previously unknown old investigators call us (which nearly never happens) and they are excited to learn and participate more in church! Also there was a huge ward primary activity this week, and we were invited to help in case any investigator children who were invited came. And as it turns out, we had two awesome families show up! Each one was unknown to us, but were references from the ward; one family has already read nearly half the Book of Mormon and say they need to come to church! What great miracle it is to have member-missionary work in our ward! It truly does bring about miracles in the lives of those who we share the gospel with, and in their lives as well!
Well, on that note we also received the transfers later that same day, and I cam finally leaving industrias. Its sad but good at the same time; sad because I will miss the converts and members in this ward a lot, but good because change is always necessary to improve. I'm heading to Zacatecas, to the capital city; which is basically built on the mountains and is full of super steep streets! Oh boy! My knees can't wait! Well anyways, thanks for sustaining me with all your prayers and faith, I love you all!
Talk to ya soon!
-Elder Varney
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| Elder Varney's companion getting tortured by a dentist in their Ward |
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| Ethan's former district (last week before transfers) |
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| The Familia Chavez (one of Elder Varney's first baptisms) |
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| Ruth's Baptism! |
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| Bro and Sis Rosalinda |
Sunday, May 5, 2019
April 29, 2019 (Week 82)
What a rambunctious week! (sorry now I'm just trying to come up with unique words to say basically the same thing over and over again...)
This week stared off pretty crazy with intercambios and the zone conference, and a missionary fireside that I had to run at the last minute... Lots of fun! Anyways after that great and tiring experience we were able to have the baptism of Ruth this week! She was someone who was super prepared form the beginning and made a ton of sacrifices to be able to come to church and now she is seeing so many blessings of working to follow the commandments!
What great blessings there are for those who are willing to follow the guidelines of the Lord! Lots of blessings, thanks for all of your love, I can feel it from each and every one of you!
Love,
Elder Varney
This week stared off pretty crazy with intercambios and the zone conference, and a missionary fireside that I had to run at the last minute... Lots of fun! Anyways after that great and tiring experience we were able to have the baptism of Ruth this week! She was someone who was super prepared form the beginning and made a ton of sacrifices to be able to come to church and now she is seeing so many blessings of working to follow the commandments!
What great blessings there are for those who are willing to follow the guidelines of the Lord! Lots of blessings, thanks for all of your love, I can feel it from each and every one of you!
Love,
Elder Varney
Sunday, April 28, 2019
April 22, 2019 (Week 81)
What another wonderous week!
Well, this week was one of lots of success spiritually with so many different types of people! We had hermano Sergio and his mom come to church this Sunday, which is a true miracle! He surprised us by telling how he reads the Book of Mormon every day whenever he has a break during work hours, and he is already halfway through Alma! It has really motivated a lot of changes in his life, and his whole family can definitely see it!
Also Hermana Ruth is doing great and told us she feels super excited to be baptized this week, so that is just such a great blessing! With so many different people, the thing they have in common is the blessings they receive from the lord through the Book of Mormon, it is just so great to be able to witness it!
Anyways, this week we will have the zone conference and a Mission President's fireside, so there are plenty more adventures along the way! Love you all!
-Elder Varney
Well, this week was one of lots of success spiritually with so many different types of people! We had hermano Sergio and his mom come to church this Sunday, which is a true miracle! He surprised us by telling how he reads the Book of Mormon every day whenever he has a break during work hours, and he is already halfway through Alma! It has really motivated a lot of changes in his life, and his whole family can definitely see it!
Also Hermana Ruth is doing great and told us she feels super excited to be baptized this week, so that is just such a great blessing! With so many different people, the thing they have in common is the blessings they receive from the lord through the Book of Mormon, it is just so great to be able to witness it!
Anyways, this week we will have the zone conference and a Mission President's fireside, so there are plenty more adventures along the way! Love you all!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, April 21, 2019
April 15, 2019 (Week 80)
This week we have learned what it means to be true Christians!
-Elder Varney
Or at least that is what one man said to us, he approached us outside of the chapel this Saturday after an activity and told us how he has been searching for a truly Christian church for quite a while, and has always waited for the bus next to our chapel. He said that by observing us and the members, he has decided that this is a truly Christian church, not only by word but also by action! That was a nice tender mercy, he belongs to another area, but we hope that he'll be able to get baptized soon!
Anyways this last week was jam packed with spiritual experiences for us! First off on a bus ride to Aguascalientes for exchanges with the assistants I sat next to a random person, who in the end was much, much more than random. Turns out I sat next to Rigo, who I had never me in this earth life before, but for the whole bus ride we talked of his and my spiritual experiences while I also shared the first three lessons with him, and by the end of the bus journey we left with a powerful spiritual connection. And perhaps the greatest miracle is that he lives in our area, pretty close to our house! He was able to come to church this last Sunday as well, and in the end it was just a great testimony to me that the Lord truly does know and love each of his sheep, and he will guide us to them!
There have been so many other little tender mercies happening this whole week, but it looks like this is all I can fit in this letter for now, but I love each and every one of you, hope you each have a grand week!
Sunday, April 14, 2019
April 8, 2019 (Week 79)
Well a super solid week! I say solid because a few hours ago it started hailing the hardest I´ve ever seen in my life, it was all fun and games until you see a car windshield get cracked! But its all good, the good part is that we stopped playing basketball outside just in time. Definitely one of the spiritual high points of this week (other than conference, of course) was Hermana Ruth. She told us she is nearly willing to give up her work to be able to come to church on Sundays, quite an amazing testimony to me of great sacrifice! And this coming from someone who is just barley getting to know the church!
Anyways, to top it all off of course there was general conference. I think that one of my favorite highlights was president Nelson's talk about second-best and the best things. I think it is perfect for some of our more stubborn investigators! And elder Stevenson's "game plan" counsels were just so great to help us plan in general for the future and get up and take action in the gospel! Anyways, I'm very thankful for this past week, hope the revelation of general conference can help each one of us continue on enduring! Love you all!
-Elder Varney
Anyways, to top it all off of course there was general conference. I think that one of my favorite highlights was president Nelson's talk about second-best and the best things. I think it is perfect for some of our more stubborn investigators! And elder Stevenson's "game plan" counsels were just so great to help us plan in general for the future and get up and take action in the gospel! Anyways, I'm very thankful for this past week, hope the revelation of general conference can help each one of us continue on enduring! Love you all!
-Elder Varney
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| Elder Varney and Elder Lemus too cool for school |
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| Another sleepy Elder after a lunch appointment |
Sunday, April 7, 2019
April 1, 2019 (Week 78)
This week was full of Karma! A karmalizing week!
We started off good with the new transfers coming without much of a hitch. Over eight sister missionaries arrived in the mission this transfer, and in order to accommodate/train all of them we've had to open up many new areas. Before our zone had three companionships of sister missionaries, but now nearly half of our zone are Hermana's! Pretty crazy change, but the other zone in the stake still doesn't have any sister missionaries, hehe, maybe on the next transfers they'll get lucky!
Anyways, the three teenagers we were teaching have had a bit of a rough time, it is hard when your family goes against you for wanting to join the church. But its alright, we hope that with some time they will be able to come through. Another investigator we had just put a baptismal date with is moving to Morelia, in another state! Oh well, she'll still get baptized on the same date out there, so in the end its all good. However we had a big miracle this week, when we received a reference out of nowhere for a sister who "really wants to get baptized.." Well it turns out that she is called Ruth and it was a self reference she did herself, and she does really, really want to get baptized! If you could all pray for her so we can help her find a different work so she can get to church on Sunday mornings.
Anyways, lots of ups and down this week, but the most beautiful part, as always, is that it is all part of the Lord's plan!
Love you all, have a great week!
-Elder Varney
We started off good with the new transfers coming without much of a hitch. Over eight sister missionaries arrived in the mission this transfer, and in order to accommodate/train all of them we've had to open up many new areas. Before our zone had three companionships of sister missionaries, but now nearly half of our zone are Hermana's! Pretty crazy change, but the other zone in the stake still doesn't have any sister missionaries, hehe, maybe on the next transfers they'll get lucky!
Anyways, the three teenagers we were teaching have had a bit of a rough time, it is hard when your family goes against you for wanting to join the church. But its alright, we hope that with some time they will be able to come through. Another investigator we had just put a baptismal date with is moving to Morelia, in another state! Oh well, she'll still get baptized on the same date out there, so in the end its all good. However we had a big miracle this week, when we received a reference out of nowhere for a sister who "really wants to get baptized.." Well it turns out that she is called Ruth and it was a self reference she did herself, and she does really, really want to get baptized! If you could all pray for her so we can help her find a different work so she can get to church on Sunday mornings.
Anyways, lots of ups and down this week, but the most beautiful part, as always, is that it is all part of the Lord's plan!
Love you all, have a great week!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, March 31, 2019
March 25, 2019 (Week 77)
Another week down!
This week was full of good times, one highlight was the lesson we had with hermano Sergio and his family. They were always really receptive to the spirit and to the Book of Mormon, but this week was truly amazing! We ended up teaching the whole plan of salvation to them, but after every principle we taught someone always had an insightful question that led directly to the next principle of the lesson! They practically teach themselves! In the end they all liked that heavenly father respects our agency so much we can choose to which degree of glory we really desire; and how the plan is not fear based, like so many other religions say how you will only go to heaven or hell. In the end they all said it was a testimony to them that the plan of salvation is real and true! What a blessing it is to have them!
Anyways, in other news the transfers arrived but nothing has changed for us, the four elders in our ward are all staying the same. However there are lots of sister missionaries arriving this transfer, so we're having to make room for them to open areas in our zones, should be exciting! Anyways, love you all so much, I truly do appreciate your prayers on our and especially our investigator's behalf.
Love you all, talk to ya next week!
-Elder Varney
This week was full of good times, one highlight was the lesson we had with hermano Sergio and his family. They were always really receptive to the spirit and to the Book of Mormon, but this week was truly amazing! We ended up teaching the whole plan of salvation to them, but after every principle we taught someone always had an insightful question that led directly to the next principle of the lesson! They practically teach themselves! In the end they all liked that heavenly father respects our agency so much we can choose to which degree of glory we really desire; and how the plan is not fear based, like so many other religions say how you will only go to heaven or hell. In the end they all said it was a testimony to them that the plan of salvation is real and true! What a blessing it is to have them!
Anyways, in other news the transfers arrived but nothing has changed for us, the four elders in our ward are all staying the same. However there are lots of sister missionaries arriving this transfer, so we're having to make room for them to open areas in our zones, should be exciting! Anyways, love you all so much, I truly do appreciate your prayers on our and especially our investigator's behalf.
Love you all, talk to ya next week!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, March 24, 2019
March 18,2019 (Week 76)
Well, its a smaller world than you think!
This week started off with our awesome zone conference, we focused on growing our testimony about the prophet Joseph Smith. We saw an awesome talk by president Oaks that talks about the legal history of all the allegations against Joseph Smith in his life. In over 100 legal actions against him in his life, he was never found guilty of one. And in the end the first attorney general of Utah said that "Joseph Smith was the best lawyer and the best man I have known in my whole life." Truly Joseph Smith was a great man, but most important he was chosen of God!
Anyways, we also had a super crazy good lesson with Sergio Eduardo, before we could even formally begin the lesson he already mentioned that he knows he needs to get married to truly live the law of chastity and also give up smoking and that he has already stopped drinking! And all this before we have ever been able to teach one commandment! Anyways this week finished up with Elder Vanezuela and Elder Bellez showing up out of nowhere to our sacrament meeting, and just for context Elder Vanezuela is the seventy and the acting president of all of the church in Mexico!!!
The best part is that Vanessa was asked to bear her testimony before the seventies spoke, and they were very impressed by her sincere, clear testimony! What great happiness comes through participating in the work of the lord!
Anyways, love you all, talk to y'all soon!
-Elder Varney
This week started off with our awesome zone conference, we focused on growing our testimony about the prophet Joseph Smith. We saw an awesome talk by president Oaks that talks about the legal history of all the allegations against Joseph Smith in his life. In over 100 legal actions against him in his life, he was never found guilty of one. And in the end the first attorney general of Utah said that "Joseph Smith was the best lawyer and the best man I have known in my whole life." Truly Joseph Smith was a great man, but most important he was chosen of God!
Anyways, we also had a super crazy good lesson with Sergio Eduardo, before we could even formally begin the lesson he already mentioned that he knows he needs to get married to truly live the law of chastity and also give up smoking and that he has already stopped drinking! And all this before we have ever been able to teach one commandment! Anyways this week finished up with Elder Vanezuela and Elder Bellez showing up out of nowhere to our sacrament meeting, and just for context Elder Vanezuela is the seventy and the acting president of all of the church in Mexico!!!
The best part is that Vanessa was asked to bear her testimony before the seventies spoke, and they were very impressed by her sincere, clear testimony! What great happiness comes through participating in the work of the lord!
Anyways, love you all, talk to y'all soon!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, March 17, 2019
March 11, 2019 (Week 75)
Well, another roller coaster week!
We had our interviews this week, and boy the time really does fly! You think that other people are taking a long time until you realize that your ten minute interview has slowly grown into 25 minutes! Oh well, time flies when you are having fun. But time is a thing that we don't have a lot of right now. We've got so many appointments that it is quite hard to be able to schedule them in order to be able to get to every one of them on time! But its alright, a good problem, I suppose. The definite highlight of this week was the baptism of Vanessa!
She has grown quite a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the church, and at her baptism nearly 30 youth from the whole stake came! It was quite a testimony to me how great and powerful a tool fellowshipping is! Another very nice highlight of this week was recognizing the true power of the Book of Mormon. We were able to teach two awesome families who had excellent very specific questions about the priesthood authority of the apostles. And with each of these great lessons we were able to present to them the Book of Mormon as the great defining evidence to be able to answer their questions, and they were each so grateful!
It is always funny to see the surprise on people's faces when they realize that we want to give them this book, for free! The Book of Mormon is such a great treasure we are so lucky to have, I'm so thankful to live in a time when we have it! Anyways, looks to be another packed week ahead with mission President fireside, exchanges, and the zone conference! Should be an adventure!
Love you all!
-Elder Varney
We had our interviews this week, and boy the time really does fly! You think that other people are taking a long time until you realize that your ten minute interview has slowly grown into 25 minutes! Oh well, time flies when you are having fun. But time is a thing that we don't have a lot of right now. We've got so many appointments that it is quite hard to be able to schedule them in order to be able to get to every one of them on time! But its alright, a good problem, I suppose. The definite highlight of this week was the baptism of Vanessa!
She has grown quite a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the church, and at her baptism nearly 30 youth from the whole stake came! It was quite a testimony to me how great and powerful a tool fellowshipping is! Another very nice highlight of this week was recognizing the true power of the Book of Mormon. We were able to teach two awesome families who had excellent very specific questions about the priesthood authority of the apostles. And with each of these great lessons we were able to present to them the Book of Mormon as the great defining evidence to be able to answer their questions, and they were each so grateful!
It is always funny to see the surprise on people's faces when they realize that we want to give them this book, for free! The Book of Mormon is such a great treasure we are so lucky to have, I'm so thankful to live in a time when we have it! Anyways, looks to be another packed week ahead with mission President fireside, exchanges, and the zone conference! Should be an adventure!
Love you all!
-Elder Varney
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| Baptism of Vanessa |
Sunday, March 10, 2019
March 4, 2019 (Week 74)
Calms and storms!!
Wow, well at the beginning of this week it seemed like we had everything under control, but just at the end the Lord shows us that he is in control! We started off being able to get a lot of people back to sticking to their commitments to read the Book of Mormon and to get to church! It sounds somewhat easy for us, but we've found that Satan really tries to stop people from just going to church, because if they don't keep that commitment they can't be able to keep a covenant!
But luckily this last week the Lord really blessed us and we were able to have so many sincere lessons! By far the highlight person of this last week is Vanessa; we've been teaching her for a few weeks now and she's wanted to get baptized ever since the beginning, just lots of stuff was getting in the way. But she and her dad (hermano Rafael, who was baptized a week ago) have really just fought against the adversary and are really great examples! The best part is that all the young women have gotten to know her and are all fully able to support her! Woo, the power of fellowshipping!!
Anyways, thanks for all of y'all's prayers, they sure are helping bring these miracles to us!!
-Elder Varney
Wow, well at the beginning of this week it seemed like we had everything under control, but just at the end the Lord shows us that he is in control! We started off being able to get a lot of people back to sticking to their commitments to read the Book of Mormon and to get to church! It sounds somewhat easy for us, but we've found that Satan really tries to stop people from just going to church, because if they don't keep that commitment they can't be able to keep a covenant!
But luckily this last week the Lord really blessed us and we were able to have so many sincere lessons! By far the highlight person of this last week is Vanessa; we've been teaching her for a few weeks now and she's wanted to get baptized ever since the beginning, just lots of stuff was getting in the way. But she and her dad (hermano Rafael, who was baptized a week ago) have really just fought against the adversary and are really great examples! The best part is that all the young women have gotten to know her and are all fully able to support her! Woo, the power of fellowshipping!!
Anyways, thanks for all of y'all's prayers, they sure are helping bring these miracles to us!!
-Elder Varney
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| The baptism of hermano Rafael! |
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| One of Elder Varney's new Districts... |
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| Service Activity |
February 25, 2019 (Week 73)
Rough roads, but great rewards!
This week the doctor told my companion not to walk on rough roads or his knee would fail. He didn't restrict anything else, exercise, walking, even running is fine, just not the rough rocky roads! They kill knees! (supposedly...) But it appears to be true, because his knee hasn't failed yet.
Anyways, the reward this week was the baptism of Rafael! He told us he twisted his ankle earlier that day, but that is wasn't any big deal, and that he was still coming to the baptism. But when he arrived it turned out that his ankle was hurt badly, and he could only walk really slowly. But he was determined to get baptized, so in the end after a lot of effort on his part, he was able to be baptized! Such a great feeling that has accompanied us.
We've been so blessed here, lots of people literally coming out of nowhere who want to learn more about the gospel! Our days are almost all full of appointments, hard to set apart time to find new people! But it is just such a great feeling we have right now!
Anyways, thanks for all of your love and prayers, see y'all soon!
-Elder Varney
This week the doctor told my companion not to walk on rough roads or his knee would fail. He didn't restrict anything else, exercise, walking, even running is fine, just not the rough rocky roads! They kill knees! (supposedly...) But it appears to be true, because his knee hasn't failed yet.
Anyways, the reward this week was the baptism of Rafael! He told us he twisted his ankle earlier that day, but that is wasn't any big deal, and that he was still coming to the baptism. But when he arrived it turned out that his ankle was hurt badly, and he could only walk really slowly. But he was determined to get baptized, so in the end after a lot of effort on his part, he was able to be baptized! Such a great feeling that has accompanied us.
We've been so blessed here, lots of people literally coming out of nowhere who want to learn more about the gospel! Our days are almost all full of appointments, hard to set apart time to find new people! But it is just such a great feeling we have right now!
Anyways, thanks for all of your love and prayers, see y'all soon!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, February 24, 2019
February 18, 2019 (Week 72)
Howdy there everyone!
Well, this week sure has been so friggin' tiring! It all started off with managing the transfers, bouncing back and forth with a total of three different elders as companions while they waited for their companions and buses. But in the end it was really great to be able to hear each of their short conversion stories and see why they are all here! And the real miracle is even during the whole mess we were able to get to all the appointments we had for the day!
That truly is amazing given the public transport here, but in the end we were almost falling asleep during the lessons just from being so worn out, but in the end it was the right sacrifice! It all worked out in the end because this week Rafael and Vanessa were able to go to church and they both now have baptismal dates! We will be able to baptize Rafael this next week, Vanessa the next, and with the familia de la cruz we will probably be able to have at least 3-4 weeks of back to back baptisms!
We are truly being blessed down here!
Thanks to all of our prayers on our behalf, please keep them up so these next brothers and sisters can get baptized!
Love you all!
-Elder Varney
Sunday, February 17, 2019
February 11, 2019 (Week 71)
The time flies when you're having fun!
And this week was full of it! (sorry for not writing last week, my bad.) These past weeks were great for our investigators, they are really getting into all the ward activities, especially the English classes and our new piano class! It is super awesome to have the ward helping with bringing in all the people learning about the church with great useful activities! This last week we were also able to progress a lot in particular with hermano Manuel. His dad is actually elder Taylor's convert from the other side of San Luis, and it was interesting to hear how when his dad was baptized he was totally atheist and against the church. But now just a month later he has changed completely and is very humble and listening for the impressions of the spirit.
He himself said from our first contact that he wasn't prepared at the time of his father's conversion, but now with sufficient time the lord has prepared him! How incredible! He needs help overcoming some confidence and addiction issues, so he could really use your prayers!
Anyways, this last Saturday we were able to go and preach with the young men and women in a pueblito named Cerritos, a place where the church has never been before! But in the end it was so rewarding, we felt as if we were missionaries of old, truly preaching the gospel to the people! But in the end so many great blessings came from the activity; in fact too many to tell here!
But I can witness that the Lord does truly prepare people, even if they have never even seen the church or a missionary before! Anyways, this next week I'll finally be getting my own companion, he's named Elder Aquino, from Oaxaca. He is a super cool dude, it's gonna be great!
Thanks for all your individual love!
-Elder Varney
And this week was full of it! (sorry for not writing last week, my bad.) These past weeks were great for our investigators, they are really getting into all the ward activities, especially the English classes and our new piano class! It is super awesome to have the ward helping with bringing in all the people learning about the church with great useful activities! This last week we were also able to progress a lot in particular with hermano Manuel. His dad is actually elder Taylor's convert from the other side of San Luis, and it was interesting to hear how when his dad was baptized he was totally atheist and against the church. But now just a month later he has changed completely and is very humble and listening for the impressions of the spirit.
He himself said from our first contact that he wasn't prepared at the time of his father's conversion, but now with sufficient time the lord has prepared him! How incredible! He needs help overcoming some confidence and addiction issues, so he could really use your prayers!
Anyways, this last Saturday we were able to go and preach with the young men and women in a pueblito named Cerritos, a place where the church has never been before! But in the end it was so rewarding, we felt as if we were missionaries of old, truly preaching the gospel to the people! But in the end so many great blessings came from the activity; in fact too many to tell here!
But I can witness that the Lord does truly prepare people, even if they have never even seen the church or a missionary before! Anyways, this next week I'll finally be getting my own companion, he's named Elder Aquino, from Oaxaca. He is a super cool dude, it's gonna be great!
Thanks for all your individual love!
-Elder Varney
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| Elder Tayler taking a break... |
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| Cute homemade birthday card that one of the primary children gave Elder Varney |
Sunday, February 10, 2019
February 4, 2019 (Week 70)
Quick update - Elder Varney got caught up in Zone meetings this last week, so he forgot to do a update for his blog, but he is still service with the other companionship in a "Tri" still in his Zone, and he just celebrated his 20th Birthday in Mexico, so we have attached a bunch of pictures he sent from this last week - More updates to come in next weeks update! Keep up the prayers!
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| This is a Mission tradition on their birthdays - to eat a Flan with no hands |
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| Elder Varney with a "really cool" DC-3 he found in a park on his P-Day |
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| Elder Varney with his "Tri" companionship in his Zone |
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| Elder Varney's current Zone and Mission President and Wife |
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| All of the February birthdays, from shortest to tallest (Yes, that is Ethan's Mission President on the shortest side) |
Sunday, February 3, 2019
January 28, 2019 (Week 69)
Lonely times...
Just kidding, you can never be lonely with a companion, especially with two, which is what I have now! Elder Dominguez had to go to aguas in some special transfers, but the really special part was for me when I was informed that they aren´t sending me another zone leader companion!!
So now its just a juggling act of keeping the whole zone stitched together, especially that we have two branches located far away and both of their phones stopped working this last week! Anyways, in the midst of all this commotion the lord has really blessed us with a ton of new people and with really strong testimonies for those who we are teaching.
We had stake conference this last week and Rafael and Vanessa were finally able to come and they both said the church is even better than they imagined, and are really looking forward to their baptisms now! We also had great times teaching Jesus; he always has practical doubts about what we are teaching during the lesson, but it always just comes back to personal prayer and personal revelation, and then he gets all happy and peaceful, because he knows that every time he asks, he receives his answers!
Anyways, it´ll be fun splitting the work between two areas for now, but I know that the Lord is watching over us every second of the work! Thanks so much for all your love!
-Elder Varney
Just kidding, you can never be lonely with a companion, especially with two, which is what I have now! Elder Dominguez had to go to aguas in some special transfers, but the really special part was for me when I was informed that they aren´t sending me another zone leader companion!!
So now its just a juggling act of keeping the whole zone stitched together, especially that we have two branches located far away and both of their phones stopped working this last week! Anyways, in the midst of all this commotion the lord has really blessed us with a ton of new people and with really strong testimonies for those who we are teaching.
We had stake conference this last week and Rafael and Vanessa were finally able to come and they both said the church is even better than they imagined, and are really looking forward to their baptisms now! We also had great times teaching Jesus; he always has practical doubts about what we are teaching during the lesson, but it always just comes back to personal prayer and personal revelation, and then he gets all happy and peaceful, because he knows that every time he asks, he receives his answers!
Anyways, it´ll be fun splitting the work between two areas for now, but I know that the Lord is watching over us every second of the work! Thanks so much for all your love!
-Elder Varney
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| Juggling both District call-ins at the same time! (Ignore his skin color - bad camera colors) |
Sunday, January 27, 2019
January 21, 2019 (Week 68)
The good times are rollin´ here in industrias!
We had just a great time this last week! Our mission president fixed the goal for every companionship to have ten families receiving the lessons, and so far we are getting pretty dang close to that goal. We had a huge stake missionary activity and nearly half of all the missionaries brought families and we were blessed to be able to bring two of ours with us! And even more interestingly we were able to bring three different families with us to the English classes our ward has. It was a fun time with so many mangled words and syllables flying around inside the chapel! But there was such a strong spirit there with us, there was a great feeling of learning and progression there!
Our biggest challenge for now is to get these families to church, one goes strong every week, but just little things get in the way of many more being able to come! I pray that we can get those other two families with us the next week and get them baptized! But regardless, its all in the Lord's time, but we feel so blessed down here!
Thanks for all of your individual prayers for us!
-Elder Varney
We had just a great time this last week! Our mission president fixed the goal for every companionship to have ten families receiving the lessons, and so far we are getting pretty dang close to that goal. We had a huge stake missionary activity and nearly half of all the missionaries brought families and we were blessed to be able to bring two of ours with us! And even more interestingly we were able to bring three different families with us to the English classes our ward has. It was a fun time with so many mangled words and syllables flying around inside the chapel! But there was such a strong spirit there with us, there was a great feeling of learning and progression there!
Our biggest challenge for now is to get these families to church, one goes strong every week, but just little things get in the way of many more being able to come! I pray that we can get those other two families with us the next week and get them baptized! But regardless, its all in the Lord's time, but we feel so blessed down here!
Thanks for all of your individual prayers for us!
-Elder Varney
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| Elder Varney at the Stake missionary activity |
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| Elder Varney with the Stake President |
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September 9, 2019 (Final Post)
HE IS HOME! Here is some final pictures that his Mission President sent just before he came home:
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Good times in the villa... This week was full of good stuff, we had a good lesson with Irving and the spirit was very strong, and it ended... -
Leave things better than you found it! Or at least that's my motto with areas in the mission, and its what we were able to do this las... -
What a crazy time! It was a whirl to get here so quickly and meet everyone so quickly! My companion is Elder Lingenbrink from Seattle Wa...