Week 21

Things were a little crazy last Monday so I wasn't able to get an email out. Things are getting better with how much we are allowed to go out and things like that. I have 2 new companions now. Elder Rodriguez and Elder Blomquist. Elder Rodriguez is from Utah and Elder Blomquist is from Montana.

 Now that we can go visit people we are trying to get to know the members of our congregation a little better because my companions don't know anyone here yet. We are hoping that when church starts up again we can start having soccer night with our congregation.  

One thing I've been thinking about this week is that in the Book of Mormon there is a scripture that says 

"And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." (Mosiah 24: 15) 

I really like this scripture because it shows us that sometimes our trials and hardships aren't going to be taken away from us but that we can be strengthened so that our burdens are easier to manage. Just like when lifting weights, when you first start the weight you put on seems like its a lot to manage. However, over time we grow stronger and we are able to lift the weight with ease.

So my thought for you all is to remember that sometimes we have to ask Heavenly Father to help us get through our trials instead of asking him to take them away from us. 

Please water my plant mom

Elder Amata 

1) we are finally able to go out and do service again so we trimmed a bunch of trees for a guy. (Blomquist on the left) (Rodriguez on the Right)

Week 19

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY 

So for a little update on how things are going. We have been having lessons with our friend in Panama and he isn't afraid to ask us about all thing things that he has doubts about and it's been great because he's been able to experience for himself that faith means continuing to follow what he feels in his heart even when he doesn't have all the information yet. We are now able to go and visit people and have meals with them as long as we are social distancing. 

I just wanted to say thank you to all the mothers. For all that you do that doesn't always get recognized. Also to Rosario, Laura, Sister Baker and many more.Thank you for being like second mothers to me and for all that you do for your families. 

But, most importantly I want to share how grateful I am for my Mom. For those of you who don't know my mom, she is one of the most caring people ever. She loves to serve others and I will always remember her teaching me the importance of making the choice to help other people. She has been an example to me of how to look at everything with perspective. She has taught me that every single trial or problem that we have can be for our benefit if we choose to learn from it. She ingrained in me the knowledge that even in the hardest times there are always blessings that have been given to us. One thing that I will never forget is that my mom would always tell me before I left for school to find someone that looks like they need a friend or someone that seems down and make a difference to those people. I may not have always done that, but it was a great reminder to be kind and try to lift up others.

I love you mom. Thank you for everything you are and everything you do. 

Elder Amata 

Week 18

Hey everyone

This week has been very much like the last couple weeks. We have been pretty busy this week with teaching lessons and a lot of studying the Book of Mormon and the Bible. 

It's been hard to keep motivated but I learned in track that when you are in a rough patch that those are the times that it's most important to continue to work hard. Especially when we don't want to work hard, otherwise we are letting the competition continue to get better and stronger and get ahead of us. That's  kinda where my thoughts have been this week. 

Our "competition" or the "Other team" could be all of the things that stop us from coming closer to God. Something that I learned from Pole Vault is that the other team is constantly working, they are constantly getting better so we have to also be constantly working and constantly getting better too. The best thing for the "other team" would be for us to only work hard when it's easy to do so. When the sun is out , the weather is warm, and we have a tail wind at our backs pushing us along the runway. 

If we only remember our Heavenly Father when we attend church, when we have the time and when it's convenient, then we won't be prepared come meet day when it's cold and wet, when there is a headwind blowing in our faces making us feel like we can't do it. 

If we are constantly working through the days when our legs hurt, when we feel like we don't have the courage to take off the ground then we will be prepared for the hard days when they come. 

However, the biggest difference between pole vault and maintaining a relationship with our Heavenly father is that his son Jesus Christ knows exactly what it's like to feel like we are feeling when we feel like we want to give up, when we feel like we aren't enough, when we feel like no one could possibly know what we are going through. He felt all of our pain, all of our anguish, all of our shortcomings. 

When listening to a sermon given about Christ this week the question was asked "How many drops of blood did Christ drop for me individually? " What we call the atonement, when Jesus Christ felt all of the pain and sorrow of every person individually, is the thing that allows him to know exactly how to help us on those days when we just wanna "skip practice" when everything seems to be going wrong. 

He will help us through anything we are going through and He will give us strength to put on our shoes, pick up our pole and get on the runway to face anything that is being thrown at us. 

I hope that I can be better at facing my challenges this week by continuing to come closer to God and I hope that I continue to help other do the same. 

Please water my plan mom 

Elder Ethan Amata 

1)This week wasn't super eventful so I only have this picture of the pretzels I made from scratch lol 

Week 17

Hey everyone this week has actually been really interesting. We started teaching this 16 year old kid who lives in Panama. 

So far this is story. He somehow found the Facebook page of the missionaries in our city that speak swahili and texted them saying he was interested in our church. However, he only speaks spanish so the other missionaries gave him our number and we started teaching him and he has so many questions about the book of mormon and why we have it and how can it help him in his life.

Background info:

 Some missionaries in Panama had given him a Book of Mormon about a month ago and he had started to read it and he said he just felt peace and felt good when he was reading it so he decided to try to contact some missionaries here in Kentucky and that's how it all started.

 Now he says that he has felt for himself that the things we have shared with him about families being together forever and the plan of happiness are things that are true. The only thing is, his family isnt super supportive of our church :( so that's where we are with him right now and we are just trying our best to help him along the path,  because he wants to be baptized but there are a few obstacles in his way right now. 

Other than that not much has changed we are still doing video lessons and waiting for the time that we can go back out again. 

Please water my plant mom. 

Elder Amata.

2) The members here are awesome they take good care of us 

1) We tried making homemade tortillas and they weren't the worst thing in the world but they weren't the best hahah

Week 16

2 full weeks of quarantine have been.... interesting. Not a whole lot is new with us here in Kentucky. 

We've been trying to keep in contact with people as best we can but when everything happens over technology people sometimes forget that we have lessons scheduled with them. We actually had a few opportunities this week to get our of our apartments. We had to go to the church building so that my companion could do a video of him playing the piano to share online. We've been able to go out for bike rides and we found this really cool trail. 

Also, because all the barber shops are closed our mission president said that the missionaries who can cut hair are allowed to visit the missionaries who need hair cut and so I go to do that this week. 

Other than that its given me a lot of time to think and reflect about a lot of things. We believe that there is "an opposition" in everything (2Nephi 2:11). Meaning that when there is good in the world there will always be bad and when there is bad that there is always something you can gain or learn from it. So especially now with all the bad things that have been happening in the world it's good to be able to see that alot of good has come from all of this. Families have been spending more time together, people have been coming closer to God, we've all been learning to have more  patience lol. From personal experience I know that the times that were the hardest is when I learned the most about myself and those are the times I had the most personal growth. 

Please water my plant mom

Elder Amata 

I don't have a ton of pictures this week.

1) More food !

2) a little clip of one of the days we went on a bike ride 

Week 15 Cuarentena

Hey everyone,

I hope that everyone is doing good and staying healthy. This is our first whole week on quarantine and it honesty hasn't been too bad. We have been doing a lot of teaching over video call and sending people uplifting scriptures and things like that so we've actually managed to keep ourselves pretty busy.

 I hope everyone had a good Easter weekend even in quarantine. Besides being inside all the time not a whole lot is new. We found a pretty cool bike trail that overlooks some really beautiful Kentucky scenery but it's been cold and rainy the last couple days so we haven't gone on the trail a whole lot.

 Also since they are limiting the number of people who are allowed to go into Walmart here our mission president told us to go into the store 5 min behind the other and meet up once you get inside. It was kinda nice to be alone for a little bit after being with someone 24/7 for the last 3 months. 

The members have been really taking care of us when it comes to food. Our fridge is full. I also feel like they think that we haven't had anything sweet in ages because they always bring us treats so we have an abundance of those.

Also Thank you to those who have sent me letters in the mail!

The worldwide fast on friday was really cool to be a part of. We went the full 24 hours and I don't think I'd ever done that before. It definitely kept my mind focused on the reason that I was fasting. We are constantly praying that the families that have been affected by corona will make fast recoveries and that the doctors will have the strength and energy to keep helping people. 

This Easter we have been sharing with people the importance of the fact that Jesus Christ was resurrected and his spirit and body reunited when he arose on the third day. We believe that we must follow Christ and that he was the perfect example of how to live the way that Heavenly Father wants us to live. We believe that like Jesus Christ, one day after we die that we too will be reunited with our body but all of our mortal defects will be perfect. This helps me to know that God has a plan for everyone on earth and that there will be spiritual learning and growth even after death. 

Please water my plant mom 

Elder Amata

1) Doing some shopping by myself 

2)The bobadillas bringing us ice cream and hot cheetos 

3)Thank you to the ward for making us these mask!

4)We took a walk outside and I decided to get a new picture for my Facebook profile 

Week 14

Things have been pretty slow when it comes to missionary work this week. We officially got put on quarantine by the church yesterday.

 General conference was amazing. I really liked the focus on the importance of the Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith and when his prayer was answered. That this is the church that Jesus Christ established when he was on the earth and that it has been restored. That was probably the highlight of my week so far. 

Also the prophet of our church has invited everyone to fast this Friday. Even people who aren't of our faith are invited to join in this fast of not eating for 24 hours accompanied by a prayer for all of those who are being affected by the corona virus. 

This week I just want to say that I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us in every part of our lives. Over the last couple years I've really seen this especially in the times that have been the hardest for me. In times like that I've realized that I've learned lessons that I couldn't have learned otherwise. 

The best way I can explain this is using my pole vault experiences, so be prepared for a lot of pole vault or sports analogies over the next 20 months, lol but back to the point . 

If I had never been challenged by going on bigger poles and running from farther back on the runway

-I would've never gotten injured, 

-I would've never had back the back problems that I did,

-I would've never fallen back into the box

-or had the gut wrenching fear of being rejected by a pole and falling from 15 feet in the air back to the ground.

BUT, If I never challenged myself

-I would've never broken the records that I did

-I would've never made it to state,

-I would've  been able to help push my teammates

-I would've never learned to push things that challenge my state of mind. 

If we look at Heavenly Father as our coach in life then we start to see that he's not giving us bigger poles and making us run faster to punish us. He wants us to be able to push ourselves and trust him  through the times when we think that the trial in front of us is too hard. He knows our limits and He knows what we can handle but we have to trust that He knows what He's doing. Especially in times like these Heavenly Father is giving us a big pole right now with this virus and if He's telling us to take it and jump then we know that He knows we can handle this.

That's all I have for this week.

Please water my plant mom,

Elder Ethan Amata 

1) sorry I don't have more pictures for this week but this is how we watched general conference because we weren't allowed to go to members houses to watch it. 

2) I made a mask out of a scarf and a shoelace so that we could go get groceries today