4/01/2013

Happy Easter too! Kat told me that the Easter egg hunt wasn´t nearly as fun with these two youngsters. They lack the "fire" so to speak. I´ll whup them into shape when I get home, don´t worry. I have a reputation to keep as the reigning Easter egg champion!

The work here is going great! As a zone we achieved 11 confirmations this month and our goal was 10, so we are very proud of ourselves and are gearing up to do even better in April! I love my zone! The elders are great and work hard. My companion and I had four confirmations yesterday so we are doing great work as well. He is excellent. We have lots of fun together. President Heyman congratulated me during the interviews this week for how well the zone is doing. He says he´s grateful for the work we do and complimented me on doing such a great job with the zone. There isn´t much time left so I want to keep doing better to leave a good legacy! It´s a fantastic area with great members and lots of prepared people to hear and accept the message of the restored gospel!
On a fun note, today we went to LA CRUZ DE SANTA ANA (look it up on google, it is called Parque tematico de la cruz Santa Ana) and enjoyed ourselves. Just my companion and I. I honestly can´t believe that we are already in April! I don´t know what we´ll do for my birthday. Members will probably make me a cake and we´ll have a little party. (don´t want to use too much time to break because time is getting short) :)

I finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish today. I read it all the way through, cover to cover. It is interesting to see the differences in the translation and the words that are used. It is an added blessing to know two languages because if I don't understand a word or phrase in English I can look it up in Spanish, and vice versa. The Book of Mormon is true. There is no way a man could have written it. It was revelation given to prophets on this continent anciently and was translated by Joseph Smith. Anyone who follows the invitation given at the beginning of the book that invites us to read, ponder, and ask God if it is true will gain a testimony. I know it! I have tried it many times. I´ve read the Book of Mormon over 5 times on my mission. I love it! It doesn´t matter what others may do to try and defame it or tear it apart -- it won´t work!

So you got the travel plans! Could you forward me the message so that I, too, can see? I will have exactly two years of mission time, almost to the hour! Exactly two years from the time that I left home I will get there again! Cool! They can´t steal any time from me! If I am correct, the five of us that get to salt lake together are Elders Evanson, Dallimore, Staker, Biggs, and Christensen. Is that right?

Have a fantastic week! I love you so much mom! I am very healthy and am tearing it up! "Ain´t nothin gonna break my stride, I´m runnin and I wont slow down, oh no, I´ve got to keep on moving!" ;) BIGGS hugs and kisses!

your sunshiney son,

Elder M. Biggs

8/21/2012

My awesome parents!

Well, my accent is really good they say, but considering the way I walk, and the sunshine hair, no one believes me when I tell them that I am a native. They believe Brazil, but they always think that I am from the states at first sight (hard not to blame them.) I gave up on the native thing and just keep improving my accent! I love speaking in Spanish. Mom, learn Spanish so we can talk when I get home because it is getting really hard to speak English. You might laugh, but I am serious! When you speak one language 24/7 it is difficult to switch quickly. I am slowly losing my English vocabulary. Oh well.

 

I love my companion.  He is so awesome! He has so much experience and I learn from him every day! I like having Latin companions. I get along with them very well.  We keep baptizing. NO complaints there! The work always progresses and we are trying to get this district made into a stake, so there is a lot of work to do in every branch. I learn patience and charity for these people. The faithful members have great hearts; they lack the learning and leadership that would turn them into a stake, so we are doing the best that we can to develop their leadership talents and to make them leaders, which is not the easiest task! However, it proves to be very satisfying and I love seeing the progress of some of these men of the priesthood. I feel deep gratitude for the priesthood in my life and for all of the powerful men that we have in our ward and stake back at home! There is a real power in the priesthood. The Lord blesses and protects His people. That is something that I never understood until I came here. We are so blessed to live where we do with our neighbors who are faithful members. I thank my Heavenly Father constantly and pray that we can develop the leadership here  so that they can receive the blessings that we have back at home.

And I am glad that everything went relatively smooth this week in Cali! A little scary to hear that the power steering went out, but at least you were able to steer it OK and that it was fixed quickly! Another blessing with the temple recommend! God is taking good care of my family :)

I, my sunshiny self, am doing very well :) you might say FANTASTIC (nacho libre voice) haha. I thoroughly enjoy myself and have a strong testimony of this work. The Lord is preparing people here every day and I have the privilege of finding, teaching, and baptizing them so that they can start to receive the blessings of the Restored Gospel. Never take those blessings for granted, especially the blessings of the temple. Take advantage of the opportunities to go as much as you can! I love you all! BIGGS hugs and kisses! 

your son,

Elder Biggs

6/25/2012

This week was fabulous! As a district, we had 4 baptisms this month and the goal was 3! I was really proud of the 4 of us for working so hard and turning this district around! We have already begun to focus on July and are looking at a very successful month to come! This past weekend my companion and I had 3 baptisms! We were really happy and excited! A mom with her two kids got baptized and were all smiles :) I feel very grateful for this area and for the Elders that I am working with! They work really hard and are super obedient and we get along very well!

A spiritually uplifting experience I had this week was a blessing and a lesson to me! I have been praying all month for help and guidance from God to help me magnify my calling as a district leader. I have especially been praying for the help to baptize and the faith to achieve my goals. I was thinking quite a bit about the different levels of faith that missionaries have. Some have faith to fulfill while others have faith to achieve! There is a huge difference! I feel like God has blessed me with more faith to achieve this last month and He gave me what I was asking! There really is truth in the promise ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE! I know that the Lord wants us to have success here, so if we do everything that we possibly can and ask for his help, he will give it to us if it is right! I really love the little testimony builders like that :)

My companion and I are doing fantastic and as of yet have not even had an argument haha. I attribute that to two facts. The first is that he is really relaxed and just chills. He is like an iceberg --  he hides all of the big emotions inside! Second is that I have become a much easier person to live with! I don't complain (as much) and I listen to everything that he has to say. The communication that we have is great and we are looking forward to this next transfer! There are transfers this Wednesday, but I don't think anything is going to happen. However, the Lord has a sense of humor so you never know! But, we have a lot of plans and are excited to work together for another 6 weeks!

I, myself, feel like a champ! I can't lie haha. My district achieved and even overshot the goal for June, which is the first time that it has happened in this district in over a year! I feel very grateful for the help of the Lord and the awesome work that my elders do here! I am very happy and know that the Lord will continue to bless us and make us prosper if we keep working hard and trusting in Him!

Stay safe and enjoy the little moments of every day! Never underestimate the power of prayer, and don't be afraid to get down on your knees to ask for help and guidance so that you can achieve your goals! He wants us to be happy so he will help us! Simple :) I love you all and wish you a successful week! BIGGS hugs and kisses!

6/16/2012

I was reading this week about the fall of Adam. There is so much controversy and there are so many confused people in this world who don't understand the true doctrine behind the fall. Almost all of the people in the world think that it was a bad thing. As I was reading in Preach My Gospel and searching for scriptures, I found some very important things. Firstly, it was a part of God's plan! Without the fall, the plan would have failed. Second, before partaking of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve were not able to have children. As they partook of the fruit, a few things happened. 1. Sin entered into the world. 2. Death became a part of life.(physical death) 3. Blood formed in the bodies of Adam and Eve. 4. They were cast out of the presence of God. (spiritual death) There are more facts, but I will leave it at that for now. As we understand the true doctrine, we realize how important Adam and Eve were (and are) in Gods plan! I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have and for the scriptures and everything that I have which aids me in my search for truth! I know that God really has a plan for us and that we all have our agency -- the freedom to choose for ourselves! Let us choose the right at all times and bless the lives of others! I love you all! Mom, thanks for being so amazing! BIGGS hugs and kisses!

5/28/2012

1 YEAR IN THE MISSION BABY! Yes! Sadly, I am now on the downward spiral in terms of time on the mission! I already crested the hill and am now going down. Everyone says that the time really starts to fly now, and I testify to that! This week passed by in the blink of an eye!

 

My favorite part of the mission so far is seeing the people progress, get baptized, confirmed, and stay faithful! Sadly, that does not happen very often, so when it does, I am a very happy camper! There are a lot of things that I love about the mission, but that would have to be the best part, the most sweet. Obviously the most bitter part would be seeing them progress and then completely deny everything when they know it is true! For the fears of the world and the people in it, they deny an answer from God. Sad, I know!

This week we had a zone conference, and we learned a lot about the Holy Ghost! Most of it was a good review for me, but I want to share what we spent a lot of time talking about. First, the power of the Holy Ghost is the influence that He has. He is about to influence people because of His power. The light of Christ, which is the influence of the Holy Ghost, is completely different from the gift of the Holy Ghost! Only baptized members of the true church have the gift of the Holy Ghost, which means that we have a right to his CONSTANT companionship if we are worthy and ready to listen! He is a personage of spirit, which means that he can only physically be in one place at a time! Just like Heavenly Father and Jesus, the Holy Ghost is a God. The reason that we can feel his influence is by his power.

Cool, right? I liked what I heard and we learned how to put into practice what we learned. I was also reading a little bit in Doctrine and Covenants 82 about those who have received a lot of knowledge. As members of the church, we have the great responsibility and opportunity to share the gospel to the world! It is our duty! We have been given much, and too must give. One of the best ways to share the gospel is through our actions (example) and through inviting our family members to hear what we have to say! We must not lose hope if they reject, because God has His own time frame for every person. We just need to open our mouths and He promises to fill them! I know that this promise is true because I have felt it many times in the mission! I had no idea what to say or do, and I just opened my mouth with faith and it was filled! I know that God is ready and willing to help us out when we are in His service!

I love you very much and hope that you have a great week! Remember to invite the Holy Ghost to be your constant companion! You have the right :) Biggs hugs and kisses!

5/7/2012

Spiritual thought this week is to think about our covenants that we have made in the temple! I want to share with you two quotes from Elder Jensen from the presidency of the seventy, and Elder Christofferson when they were here in November. I was reading through what they said and I want to share it with you. Elder Jensen said ¨I govern my life by the covenants I have made.¨ And Elder Christofferson said ¨commandments are for those who cannot make and keep temple covenants.¨ WOW. I would like to live my life like those two men! I have a long road ahead to develop that kind of obedience, but I can start now! God gave us commandments for the people who cannot keep and make the covenants in the temple. If we keep our covenants that we made as we took out our endowment, we have no need to focus on keeping the base commandments: we will live at such a higher level! It is hard to imagine how great spirits those two men have, but there is no reason that we cannot achieve the same self control and understanding that they have! As a family, we should start working on that! Chris will be taking out his endowment by the end of this year, and we will have great responsibilities as a family! I know that the Lord has great things in store for us and we have the wonderful privilege of helping others come unto Christ!

4/24/12

I really like your thought on Christ, Dad! It is true!  Sometimes we think that we have to be ¨MACHO¨ and do everything on our own, even when we have the help of others! I was thinking along similar lines yesterday. As it happens every once in a while, the members who are assigned talks failed to show up (weird, right?) and immediately we, as missionaries, we get gobbled up and assigned talks as the meeting starts. I went to the scriptures in search of guidance, and found the scripture in Alma 7: 11 and 12. Christ suffered for so much more than just our sins!! If we go to Isaiah as well we read something similar! He suffered for our sicknesses, our infirmities, our temptations, etc! He PERFECTLY understands what a person with cancer feels like; he knows what is going on inside of a drug addict trying to overcome his addiction. It gives me comfort and joy to know that He understands me! In whatever I need, He can succor me! I challenged all of the ward members to think about that this week and focus more on the Savior!
I know that this work is the work of our Savior! I am His Representative here in Argentina! I love it! Thanks for being so awesome Dad! Enjoy this week with Grandma and Grandpa, and let Chris know that I love him and am proud of his hard work! Give my love to everyone!