I LOVE SPREADING THE GOSPEL OF REPENTANCE

Dated: November 25, 2013

I love West Charleston. This was a fun week with transfers. I had a hard time saying bye to a lot of people in Martin. Bryan, Brianna, Amber, and others. I have grown to love each of them very much. I hope the best for them and I am sad that I am not there to help them, but other missionaries that the Lord has sent there will help them. I am now serving in the west side of Charleston. We drive the Transfers Bus, a big 15 passenger van. Fun right! I live in the "Homestead." It's a nice house. I live with the Zone Leaders, Elder Brandt and Elder Stout (My old DL)It has 3 stories. It is just really nice. O man, I just love living there.  I am serving in Charleston 2nd ward. On Sunday Bruce Vest came up to me and I got to talk to him for a minute. It is neat to see him out here.

Elder Udy and I were tracting the other night, and we saw this house at the top of the hill, we decided to walk up their long, steep driveway and knock on it. We got to the door and there was a little pug dog nipping at our feet and barking at us. We  knocked on the door and the guy came to the door, harshly said "I'm cookin'!" and then slammed the door. Well, when the dog saw the door open, he decided to run in, and the guy slammed the door right on his dog! It was so funny. The door just bounced back open and there was just an awkward pause, then the guy yelled for his dog to come in. We just walked away and busted up laughing. It was sooo funny! Poor dog! It was worth the long walk up there.

So I started reading the New Testament this transfer so that I can more fully understand Jesus Christ’s life. I noticed that the 50th verse in the NT talks about repentance. Then Jesus Christ goes and talks about Repentance. Repentance is like the first major thing taught in the NT. It talks about Christ's birth and everything, but then John the Baptist says "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at had" or in other words "Be converted to Jesus Christ for the kingdom of Heaven has come!" His Church has been restored to the earth in our day. The kingdom of Heaven is here! The Savior’s call and the call of the prophets is the same today as it was in OT and NT times and BOM Times. Come unto the Savior and be converted so that He may heal us.

I love spreading the Gospel of Repentance.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Spencer

Elder Josh with Uncle Bruce


FINALLY GOING TO WEST VIRGINIA!!!

Dated:  November 20, 2013

Transfers are this week. I am getting transferred to Charleston WV. I am going to be in Charleston West. I am excited but very sad. I don’t feel ready to leave this area. There are so many people here that I really love and care about. (i.e Bryan, Brianna, and Amber, and Granny) But the Lord needs me elsewhere. My companion is going to be Elder Udy. I dont know him. I am also sad to leave some of the missionaries I serve around. I am excited for change though.

So last week we had the primary program. I LOVED IT! Amber came with her 2 kids who are 3 and 4 years old. They came to church last week and practiced with the primary for the program. I wasn't expecting them to come up to the front for the program but they did! They even got up to the pulpit and had lines to say. They got very nervous and just froze and ended up just sitting back down on the stand but still, it was cool.

Weird story, so a few nights ago, before I found out I was transferring, I had a dream that Elder Sitati of the 70 came to me and told me I was leaving. Weird.

Well that was the highlight of my week. I love serving the Lord. I love being out here on a mission. I love the Church that Christ Restored though Joseph Smith. It is true. I know IT!

Keep your heads up and remember who is on your 'team'.

Love,

Elder Spencer



BEING A MISSIONARY IS AN AMAZING THING

Dated:  November 12, 2013

So Elder Sitati of the 70 came to our mission for a mission tour this week. It was sweet! He taught us some great things. It was very simple but powerful. He taught us a lot, both in example and in doctrine. It was great! The spirit was strong and I was happy.

This week hasn't been to eventful other than Elder Sitati coming to the mission. It snowed today! UGG IT IS SO COLD!

Being a missionary is an amazing thing. It is wonderful and I love it. I was sitting in church on Sunday up at the sacrament table, and I watched as less-active members and investigators we have been working with and recent converts, were walking into the chapel. One of the most joyous feelings I have ever felt is seeing those people walk into the chapel! I LOVE IT!

Thank you everyone who sent me packages and letters. They were great! It was exciting to get those.

Cool story, so we were driving back from Charleston in WV after Elder Sitati (a member was driving us) and we decided to stop and eat at Olive Garden, so we go in and eat our food, and the waitress brings us our check. The member goes to pay for it but the waitress says, "it has already been paid for. Someone paid for your meal." Someone paid for our food! It was a huge blessing. I am so grateful for it. Being a missionary is humbling. I love this service. My purpose is to come unto Christ and invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism and other saving ordinances, Receiving and being worthy of the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end. That Should be all of our purpose. If that is our purpose, then we are aligned with God and we will do God’s will. What a blessing he lets us know what he wants us to do. Jesus Christ changes lives though the Gospel. I have seen it. It works, and it is true and I know it!

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Spencer

WE HAVE LIKE 5 POTENTIALS!

Dated:  November 4, 2013

WASUP!

This was an alright week. It was a little slow. We are going to start volunteering in the family history center here at our Ward. I was looking in there and I found a book on the Spencer Name. I was flipping though it trying to see if any of the names were familiar. They were not. But who knows, it may be connected to our line.

We had a neat morning on Saturday. We had a referral for a house at the top of a mountain by our house, so we walked on the road to the top, all the way up there and guess what?! They weren't home.... thanks!  It was ok though because on our way down there were like 5 or 6 houses. We knocked on all of them. 3 of them took a book of Mormon and said they were interested in learning more and the other 2 said we can come back another time. It was sweet. So we have like 5 potentials that we can try that live right next to us.

A less-active we have been working with a lot had been drinking for most of his life. We have been weaning him off of it. He was in the hospital with a blood clot.  After that he stopped drinking, but he picked it up again. We went over and found out, and we asked him to give us his beer. HE DID! We took it home and dumped it out on the grass, uggg that stuff smells horrible! But we took his beer. We are really trying to help him quit.

One thing that I have been thinking about this week is the importance of "eliminating all self-defeating, faith-destroying, and atonement-denying, thoughts, words, and actions." That is something we recite every time before we leave the house. We have people out here that, when we tell them who we have been working with, or investigators we have found, they say "They will never change, they are stuck in their ways." O man that gets my blood boiling. Saying that is DENYING THE ATONEMENT! Because of the atonement, WE CAN CHANGE! It makes me sad when people don't support others because they don't think they can or will change. I wouldn't be where I was if I didn't have the support I have. I am so grateful for all my friends, family, leaders, ward members, that never gave up hope on me. People that said "yes he can change." Because people looked at me and knew I could change, I learned and felt that I could change. Change is what the gospel is all about. CHANGE is REPENTANCE. When you see people who seem so far gone, look at them the way God does. He see's they can change. He knows they can change. He is helping them change. Will you be on God’s side and support them? Never deny the atonement for anyone because without it we would all be lost. Never look at someone’s past and say because of that they will stay the same. That is the lesson I learned this week. Because of the atonement, we can all change, we don't have to be the same people we are now. We can change to become better. We can go from bad to good and from good to better. Lets help and reach out to others who are wanting to change, but don't know how and don't feel like they can. Hope is the attitude that takes you from where you are to where you can be.

I love you all very much!

Love,

Elder Spencer




GOT ONE DUNKED!

Dated:  October 28, 2013

The Baptism for Morgan was really good. We had great ward support. We had a bunch of people there. The spirit was there and I was pleased with it. Most importantly, Morgan was happy with it. She was Confirmed yesterday by her brother-in-law named... Morgan Salisbury. So Morgan confirmed Morgan.

We had a good week. I went on Exchanges down to Hazard, which was fun. We went to an Applebee's while we were there and we walked in and it smelled like smoke. UGH! It was nasty. It made the food not taste as good. They allowed smoking in there, and it was nasty. But the people in there are still children of God and they need the Gospel.

My studies this week have really led me to the Doctrine of the Resurrection and the Atonement. I have been deeply studying the Plan of Salvation. I realize the blessing it will be to have a perfect body and the reason why we need one. We need to have a resurrected body to be in God’s presence again. Christ overcame the obstacle of physical death with his resurrection. He had power over death, he didn't die when he suffered in Gethsemane because he was able to call upon his Godliness and preserve his life. A normal man would have died from the pain, but Christ, being the Only Begotten of the Father, did not die. Therefore death had no power over him, but he laid down his life voluntary, no one took it from him. He then took up his life again. Because he did this, he has overcome physical death, and we all will be reunited, body and spirit. What a blessing! He also overcame the obstacle of spiritual death. He paid the price of our sins. He took the punishment, and all he asks us to do is to be clean, and follow him by living the gospel and we will live with God again. Here are some scriptures I like.
Helaman 14:
15 For behold, he surely must die that salvation may come; yea, it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord.
 16 Yea, behold, this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death—that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual.
 17 But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.
 18 Yea, and it bringeth to pass the condition of repentance, that whosoever repenteth the same is not hewn down and cast into the fire; but whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and cast into the fire; and there cometh upon them again a spiritual death, yea, a second death, for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness.
 19 Therefore repent ye, repent ye, lest by knowing these things and not doing them ye shall suffer yourselves to come under condemnation, and ye are brought down unto this second death.

And this scripture

Alma 11:
42 Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death.
 43 The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.
 44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is cone Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.
 45 Now, behold, I have spoken unto you concerning the death of the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body, that is from death, even from the first death unto life, that they can die no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to be divided; thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that they can no more see corruption.

Ya, that is a lot of scripture, but I like it. All will be resurrected. We can know that death is NOT the end for anyone. So many people in the world need to know this.

Another thing I thought about this week is how in the spirit world the gospel is preached to the dead.

1 Peter 4:6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. (there is a JST on this verse.)

I realized more fully why there can only be ONE gospel and one way to live with God. There are so many churches that teach good things and they have part of the truth, but they don't have everything. They each teach little differences in how to be "saved." There can only be one way because God is going to judge us one way, and by one law. If he judged each of us different ways it wouldn't be Just. Everyone needs to have the opportunity to hear the Gospel. It wouldn't make sense nor would it be just if the spirits in prison didn't have that opportunity. It wouldn't be just to us or to them. There is only one way we are judged and God gives everyone an opportunity to know the law. And the way we will be judged was restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith. It is the Law, and the Gospel that we learn from in the Book of Mormon and the other scriptures. I want to know how I am going to be judged so when I get to the judgement bar I don't just say "OOPS!"

I don't know why I just shared all this stuff with you all.   I hope it made sense.  It is just what I am excited about right now, so I hope you learn something from it. It has really made feel like I understand things a little more and it has helped me see how much God loves me and how much this gospel just makes sense. I love you all. Have a great week!.

Love,

Elder Spencer


This is Morgan after the baptism interview.  Elder Stavely, Elder Spencer,
Ben, Morgan, Elder MacPherson and Elder Fielding




















Elder Spencer and Elder MacPherson in the Halloween Costumes

Elder Spencer, Richard, Ben, Morgan and Elder MacPherson