MY BRO IS BACK!!!

One of my best buds just came home...


Man, he is awesome.
This, this is Miles "Danger" Manwaring.


He just got back from serving a two year mission in Brazil. How cool is that?

This is a picture of me playing a show while wearing Miles on my shirt.
In the ensuing weeks of him being home, a couple of events/facts will follow:

  • Many of the ladies of the greater St.George area will once again get their hearts broken. Miles is a heart breaker and a dream maker!
  • Southern Utah will become cool again.
  • I will be playing more video games. 
  • Dance offs EVERYWHERE!!! Burn it up!!

But the most important of them all...

Miles-Jeremy-Colten
The three amigos will once again eat some burritos!
The Alkaline Trio will be touring again!
The three stooges will once again be doing there slap stick comedy act!
The Triforce is back in Zelda!
The triad can now be formed to make some sweet, sweet music.

What my point is, Miles, Colt and I are reunited to chill agaaaaaiiiin!

This is how cool its going to be!





Yuck! That's my chair he's sittin' on!!

NEVER AGAIN!!!

AARRRGGGGGGGG-

-GGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!







Don't act like your not impressed.

This video sums up my feelings for the whole situation. 




Serve God, love me and mend.

Coming home from my mission has been quite the experience.




















I can't sit still, I need to be busy constantly. I've lost my appetite. Staying true to my missionary schedule, I wake up early every morning (even when I'm incredibly tired). T.V. is unbearable and boring. I've seen one movie since being back, Inception.


After the first scene, I thought I was watching "Titanic 2: Jacks Recovery"

My brain has run rampant with excitement towards my future, then on the opposite spectrum, it has been filled with the worse disappointments I had yet to experience. Amidst all these things, I remain resolved to do my very best.


15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
-1 John 2:15-17


Because anything less would just pass away.

What's up.

Ahhh..It's good to be back.


Well, I'm back and its weird. Now that I'm off my mission, I will be posting a lot more diverse stough on my blog. So you have been warned! I took off most of my missionary blog posts, except for my favorite ones. If you want to read any of the others, you can find them here (Jeremys Missionary Blog).

Montana: I'm going home.

My mission has been amazing.


I cant describe the effect it has had on me. I cant begin to fathom the influence of the many people that I have met here. I will be eternally grateful for this experience of a mission.

I want to share with you a portion of these experiences that I hold so dear to my heart. I've had 5 areas since I've been out, each one special to my heart. I hope you too will feel the spirit that comes from the lessons I learned, sometimes the hard way.

Great Falls:
I started my mission here in 3rd and 7th ward. Boy, was I scared. President Gardner decided to put me with Elder Sims, who had only been in the field for 4 1/2 months! Two Greenies together!

Here we are! I look like a kid!


I learned so much from Elder Sims and this area. I learned that the Lord helps us do hard things. I can do hard things, you can do hard things! 

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
         
I was terrified of trying to help others to come unto Christ, But I'm a living testament that the Lord makes weak things strong.
Shep, from Fort Benton!


Poplar:
  Poplar was my refiners fire. 

Refiner-A man who separates the precious metals from the dross with which in nature they are usually found mixed. Part of the process consists in the application of great heat, in order to bring the mass into a fluid state, hence the term “refiner’s fire.” Christ is the great Refiner


Adelle! "Book of Mormen"
I have never so intensely loved a people and then seen so little progress come from it. Its from this area that I learned that the challenges I've been given in my life are very much for my own good. 

7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he 
whom the father chasteneth not?


I am so very grateful for those I met up there and the experiences I had. These people will have a special place in my heart forever.

My amazing little branch!


Butte
Good ole Butte, America!! I was doubled into this area, which is when two missionaries who haven't been in the area before are thrown into it without knowing anyone. It was quite an experience learning the streets, meeting so many people and just tracting like crazy!




I will never forget the day we ran into a very anti-Mormon. Well, I think he was mainly anti-organized religion. At his door step he was very cordial, but after being in his home for a short time, his demeanor changed drastically. He wanted us to argue with him, so we just left.


 Walking home from that I remember feeling drained of energy and discouraged. I thought,"Why couldn't we just find someone who would sincerely listen?". An amazing family in our ward housed us, so they were there to greet us when we got back home. The Spirit flooded over me when I entered the house. Their home had a "warm" feeling about it and was very different from the house we just left. It was at this time that the Spirit testified to me of just what kind of future home/family I wanted in my life.

8 Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, 
a house of order, a house of God;

I want my home to be a refuge from the world and its craziness. I want the Spirit to be so strong in it that anyone could feel his influence just as they walked in.


 Worland


Bro. Ramos!


12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, 
in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.


I only spent a short time here in Worland (6 weeks). Its my shortest area, but I am grateful for the time I did spend their. This scripture from Paul perfectly describes the great members of Wyoming. They are quite examples of true Christians. Have you ever heard of  the saying "All hat, no cattle."? It means that someone is all show but they have nothing to show for it. Well, Spiritually speaking, Wyoming has no hat and all cattle.


 Billings
Greenie breakfast at the start of the transfer!


This is my office.
This was my last area. I sure do love it! I was blessed to see alot of amazing things and work with some amazing people. Billings is the biggest city in my mission, so I was excited when I found out that I would serve there.

6.....for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.




Thank you Montana for everything you have blessed me with. I love each one of you that I've had the opportunity to meet and grow in the Gospel with. This is not good-bye, but see you later!
Much Love, 
Elder Garcia

Cancer and Priesthood Blessings

My Dad is my hero. He is an amazing example to me. He was baptized a little over a year ago and I want to share with you one of the things that lead him to being baptized.  It's an experience that testifies of Priesthood blessings and how the Lord leads us through trials.


This is a picture of my family back in 1996.  Garett, my twin brother is on the far left and I'm on the far right. What you can't see by this picture is what we were truly going through at the time. This picture was taken right after my Dads first chemotherapy treatment.

The back of the picture

It was June 15, 1996 when my Dad was diagnosed with "Gastric Lymphoma" or stomach cancer.  My Mom happened to be a nurse in the Cancer Center at the hospital and had worked with cancer patients for years. She knew the depth of the risk of my Dads cancer.
My Dad told me about the experience of finding this out:
"It was the weirdest thing. Mom was working in the Cancer Center at the time and a lot of time I would pick her up for lunch. When picking her up, I would go in there and see the people being treated for cancer. There were two lines of recliners that patients would sit in and get infused with chemo therapy. I remember thinking how thankful I was that I wasn't in one of the recliners.....I went in and got my stomach scoped. I was out of it but I remember hearing the doctor say "It doesn't look good. Two days later, I was in one of those recliners....I remember praying and asking the Lord to please let me be able to be here to watch my boys grow up."

He had a tumor the size of a grapefruit on the wall of his stomach.


14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up;



  Priesthood authority, the authority to act in Gods name, has been restored through a modern day prophet.  It's the same Priesthood that Christ held and his Apostles. As a result, blessings of healing have been restored.
  It was that very same day when my Dad had his first chemo treatment that he called over two worthy Priesthood holders to come and give him a Priesthood blessing. Even though he wasn't a member, he had the faith that it would help. 

My Moms' testimony on the blessing that my Dad received:
   "The Spirit was so strong you could feel it in the room.  Brother Cooper gave the blessing and he was so overcome with the Spirit he was somewhat weak after giving it and had to stand in one place for a minute to gain his strength and composure.  He later said that during and after that blessing was the strongest he had ever felt the Spirit. After that blessing I had peace in my heart and knew that everything would be okay. After that I really didn't worry about Dad dying, I felt that the Lord would heal him along with the chemotherapy and everything would be alright."

  My Dad was healed and has been cancer free ever since. Not only that, but this was a trial in my Dads' life that helped him to have a softer heart towards the restored gospel. He has since been baptized and would attribute this experience of getting cancer as a big turning point towards accepting the gospel into his life.

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.....
  11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

   The Lord puts trials in our lives to help us to grow, to learn and to become more like Him. He chastens us because he loves us. When we look at the situations we are in as "learning experiences", we will grow and reach that full potential that the Lord sees in us.

I am so grateful that the church of Jesus Christ has been restored on the Earth along with the Priesthood. It's that Priesthood that saved my Dad. Because of this trial, my family is even closer to becoming a forever family. The Lord is very aware of each of us.

Hanging by a Thread.


 Have you ever felt like you are just hanging by a thread? That you are almost used up, done, and can't go on?
I know I have.
We all have.


Its alot of the time, when we are think we are at our limit even more weight is put on us. Its times like this we might think "How can I do this?" or "These trials are too hard".


 But know, the Lord is there. He love you. He knows your trials, he knows how much you are taking on and he WILL help you.

 Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.
 We at times can't see the full picture of what the Lord intends for us. We don't see the Hope that is their, because our "natural eyes" are closed. 

 Never let go of your hope that our Father knows you.

Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

He wants to hear from you through prayer.

 And behold, these things which we have desired concerning our brethren, yea, even their restoration to the knowledge of Christ, are according to the prayers of all the saints who have dwelt in the land.
And he will answer you back.

 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

This I know is true. I've seen it in my life many times that I have received guidance using these principles. I dare you to try it. Sincerely pray to our Father in Heaven and ask him how to help you with a personal trial, then open the scriptures. I promise you, you will find guidance in this. 
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.


Never let go of your hope and your faith in the our Father and his Son. They know you and love you.


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...