I am so excited to share with you a few
really cool things that are going on here in downtown Albany. I am
engulfed in miracles each and every week.
On Wednesday,
Eileen Johnson will officially be a non-smoker! We will be celebrating
at their home with a large array of snacks, surprises, and even the
movie "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration," the film they play at
Temple Square. Eileen has been so dedicated. She deserves this
satisfaction from her father in heaven. We gave her the mission's stop
smoking program, which includes drinking Unsweetened Grapefruit Juice
after every meal and washing her mouth with strong cinnamon mouthwash,
as well as several other strange yet useful tactics to quit smoking. She
has really developed a close relationship with her father in heaven
through sincere prayer in the process. We are so excited for her new
life as a clean temple.
Christian Yarleque has chosen to be baptized on May 10th,
Maritza's Birthday. I cannot express how much excitement I have for him
and his progression. The missionaries have been teaching him for about 7
months, so the only thing he really needs between now and his date is a
strong testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. We have
been meeting with him twice a week, just feasting upon the words of
Christ with him. The more he reads the Book of Mormon, the more
excitement he has about it. I love love it!
Something cool you might enjoying is that a youth
from Elmira, New York will be joining the companionship of Elder
Hougaard and Elder Kunzler this Wednesday
for a week. President Wirthlin is encouraging mini-missions throughout
the mission to give the future missionaries of the church a glimpse of
what missionary life is like. While Elder Hougaard was in Elmira, his
companion had to be emergency transferred out and was replaced with this
same young man for a week. Elder Hougaard loves him with a fiery
passion, so I am excited to serve with him.
This week we met a man on the streets named David
Ventura who expressed gratitude in finally bumping into some
missionaries, and said he loves what our church teaches as opposed to
other churches. We met with him in a coffee shop later in the week and
talked about the restoration. He wanted us to convince him that the
church is true without him trying to find out for himself, it was very
weird. He really wanted to know deep things like the nature of God and
how we will one day become Gods. All we told him was that the answers to
our questions come through sincere desire, faith leading to action, and
diligence in studying the scriptures. We told him that the answers to
our difficult questions are much more simple than we think. He accepted
to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it to gain a testimony of it,
Joseph Smith, and that this church is true.
Then, Sunday
morning, when I was filling out a record of people we met with this
week, I perused through the branch directory and found the name "David
Cats Ventura." The branch had lost contact with this guy for like 8
years. In Branch council, we talked about our meeting with him, and
President McGreevy asked if he fit a certain description, and he fit it
perfectly, born in Miami, Florida and all. We were shocked. Either there
are two David Venturas meandering through the cold plains of New York,
or there is one who doesn't have any recollection of his baptism, with
the middle name of CATS. There is one way to find out, we have to ask
David if his middle name is Cats somehow this week. The story will
continue next week, I'm sure.
Something very valuable I learned about this week
through spiritual study is that we all have been blessed with spiritual
gifts. These gifts can be found in D&C 46, 1 Corinthians 12, or even
the hymn "More Holiness Give Me." Each of us has been given many or few
of these gifts for the use of edifying and lifting those around us,
bringing them and us closer to Christ. Jacob might be a scholar, able to
exceed any test far above the standards that top rated schools might
have set, or even be very sociable, being very friendly with everyone he
comes into contact with. Josh might have the ability to make any member
of the opposite sex fall in love with him without him even talking to
them, and have a remarkable Christlike love for those around him. I
might be very organized and able to remember things that happened deep
into the past. Jonah might be diligent in doing those things that are
most important and filling himself with good things that strengthen his
testimony. Jaden might be able to lighten the mood when others are
upset, and attract others around him to his kindness and firmness to
doing what's right.
The main tactic Satan uses to make us lose sight of
these things is the feeling of inadequacy. The adversary wants us to
lose our self-confidence by comparing ourselves to others who receive
plaudits or have different gifts, something destructive that can make us
lose sight that we are children of God. We have weaknesses too, which
are good to have. After all, we all need to have things to improve at on
this road to perfection we are all on.
I love you all so much, and I thank the lord every
single day for the Christlike examples I have been blessed with in my
life. Life is so much more enjoyable with all you in my life.
Com muito amor,
Elder Kunzler
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