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

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

April 15, 2019 (Week 80)

This week we have learned what it means to be true Christians!

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!

-Elder Varney

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

The Familia Martinez Elder Varney was able to meet with last week in Retornos

Elder Varney and Elder Lemus too cool for school

Another sleepy Elder after a lunch appointment

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

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

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