Always a great week! I love yall so much.

 

I got the privilege of speaking in sacrament meeting this last week. I think it’s interesting that I have had to speak twice on my mission and both times I have had to speak my topic has been repentance..... Is god speaking to me ... ha-ha?

It went really well though. I felt so good about it.

We had a zone conference this week as well. It was a great one too. We have been focusing on simplifying our teaching and intensifying our teaching as well. It was great to get ideas to learn to do just that.  By sharing a simple principle that we want to share then share a personal story which bring the spirit in so dang fast and then back it up with a scripture and then end with a testimony. And it is so simple but so powerful. It was cool to learn this and then as I was reading some conference talks I realized that most of the prophets fallow this format with all their talks. It was pretty sweet. I like it a lot.

 

We had this sweet miracle we mapped out all the former people that have ever been taught by the missionaries and we decided that we were going to go and see how they were doing and if they were interested at all yet. We decided that if they don't answer we would knock 3 to 5 doors around their house. And so we went to see the first one on our list and they didn't answer and so we knocked a few doors around their house. The second door that we knocked on was this nice lady named ann. she was so sweet to us. We were able to share the book of Mormon with her she had been struggling trying to find peace and happiness at her house due to some circumstances she has really been through so much. We shared the book of Mormon and gave our own witness of the peace and happiness that it has given us as we read it and she was so happy to take one.

We went back a few days later and she had read it and had felt the peace. She noticed the difference. The lord does keep his promises and he does provide happiness for all his children. He wants us all to be happy. I know that is true. The lord does love us and want the best for us.

 "It will always be sweet happiness in the end, and if it’s not then it’s not the end."

 

I love yall so much.

Love Elder Ross

This last week we tried this cool tracting method that elder Aubrey and I used to do every night. where we pray as a companionship and then say individual prayers and then we come together and one person will look at the map and name off 15 street names that stand out to them and the other person writes them down on a piece of paper. then from that list of 15 street names each of us make a list of 5 of those names that stand out to each of us and then we compare our lists and go and tract the ones that are the same. And in a sense it’s like getting a referral from god if you follow all the spiritual promptings you receive. So we did it and there was only on street name that was the same so we went and knocked on that street and two doors in we met this girl named Amy and she was so ready. We ended up teaching her the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and she loved it. She loved the thought of the book of Mormon being another testament of Jesus Christ she took one and agreed to read and pray. We are going back this week. The cool part though was while we were talking to her I got this insane confirmation that she was the reason we were supposed to tract that road. She was why were there. It was so cool to me. It was a clear and straightforward confirmation that I don't think I have felt before. It was extremely cool.

 

We are teaching this family now as well. The parents are members but the kids are not so this last week we went over and began teaching them. And it was a total blast. There are 5 kids there and they are all just full of energy. There are two twins that just turned 8 years old who love Teenage mutant ninja turtles and they love to reenact the fights from the movies while we are there. They do it just to show off. But it is so entertaining. We had a way powerful lesson with them on prayer and the kids were so nervous to pray because they said they didn't know how to. So we taught them that and one of the 8 year old twins said a prayer at the end of the lesson and it was so great. Really sincere and heartfelt. And he was so happy with himself.

 

We have to go down to Roswell for a meeting today and we are going to go to costa Vida!!! The only one in Georgia. Oh my goodness I am so excited. My mouth has been watering since I got up this morning. Ha-ha

 

I love yall so much.

Love Elder Trevor Ross

holy cow it has been a crazy last few days. I am up I jasper now and I am loving it. its has been super stressful getting to know the area and remember the people. since we are both new it has been starting from ground zero and so we are doing all we can to get things up and running. so we are busy and stressed but we are having so much fun.

we have already met some pretty interesting people. haha I now am a living witness the word redneck.... haha I love it though.

elder cleverly and I have gotten lost only about ten times. our GPS has taken us and our Toyota corolla off roading at least once every single day. needless to say we wake up in the morning with a plan but we never know the adventure we are about to be taken on. I love it

it is so dang beautiful everywhere we go. we are literally in the north Georgia mountains. they are so beautiful and honestly I cant remember what mountains look like anymore so even though these may bee just big hills they are now mountains to me. its great. its like I am out camping every day ahahah.

love yall so much. hope to hear from yall soon. te amo.

Love Elder Trevor Ross

This was a great week. We had the baptism of Chino Zapata and it went so freaking good. The spirit was so strong honestly you could cut it with a knife. He had so much support as well. There was so many people there that every seat was filled and there were people standing around and you couldn’t fit any more people in the room. The room was defiantly maxed out. It was great. Every person that came brought some sort of food too so after the baptism turned into a huge party pretty much. The Hispanics go big or go home no other option. And they defiantly chose to go big for this one. There was probably 50% nonmembers in attendance. It was so good. I decided that I get way too stressed out with big groups to ever become a caterer or someone who organizes big social events. Ha-ha too much for me to handle on a regular basis. Totally worth it though for this instance. 

 

We had a cool experience out tracting this week. We have been blessed to have many miracles lately while tracting. First things first do you know where Burma is??

We were out tracting and knocked on this door and the only thing we said was “we are sharing a message about Jesus Christ" and this family who’s door we knocked on let us right in. they pulled the door open and almost pulled us in to their home. They then called all three of their children and then the whole family sat on the ground in front of us as we taught them the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were so involved in the lesson and each of them sat and listened. We gave their family two books of Mormon and they were really excited to read it. But they didn’t just sit and watch us they would ask us questions and then they would bare their testimonies to us at certain points for example the Holy Ghost they knew that the lord speaks through his spirit and that they could know the truth of what we said through the spirit and prayer. It was a different experience for me but so great. Defiantly a miracle. 

 

We got transfer calls today and I found out that I am getting transferred to a new area. My new area is much bigger and the most country you can get in this mission. I am going to be opening this new area. So I am way excited. It will be a fresh start from ground zero. I am getting transferred to the Ellijay branch it is the branch right above where I am serving right now. I have always wanted to get country and I got my wish I guess. It sure will be an adventure.my new address is:

 

Elder Trevor Ross

211 Mineral Springs Rd North Unit C

Jasper, GA 30143

 

I expect many letters. por favor. 

 

I love you all so much. Thanks for the love and support. 

Hey family. 

 

Well after over 40 days of fasting from zaxbys I will be reunited with the wonderful place once again. Today I eat lunch at zaxbys and it will be amazing. 

 What a wonderful week. Specifically conference. It was such a great weekend to hear the prophets and apostles speak and teach us. I absolutely loved every second of it. It was so great. I feel completely spiritually fed. Some of my favorite speakers and talks would be Elder Hollands and President Uchtdorfs on Sunday morning session and I also loved Dale G Renlunds talk in the Saturday afternoon session. There were so many great ones, these are just a few that I really enjoyed. What are some of your favorite ones, ones that really spoke to you?

This week is going to be a great one. Little Chino is getting baptized on Saturday so we are doing all we can to get ready for that. It is so exciting. He has been waiting a long time for this day and now it is finally here. He is so excited for it. Every time we talk about it he gets the biggest smile on his face. He has so much support as well. There are a lot of family members that are not members of the church that are just as excited for him and his baptism. It will be a very great day! 

I was on exchange this last week with and elder in my district. It was really. We had to go pick something up that took up a lot of our day and the way it was looking we were only going to get about an hour to tract and to find new people. So we said a prayer to find out where we needed to be at. we both felt good about this street so we went there and said a prayer when we got there as well asking for the lord to help us be led to the people that we were sent to find, we let him know we did not have a lot of time and we wanted to use the little bit of time the best we could. So we got out of the car walked up to this house on the corner. And this man answered the door and him and his wife let us right in. the first door we knocked on let us right in! It was the bates family. The bates have a 2 year old daughter and a 6 week old boy. They sat and we were able to teach them about the book of Mormon. They haven’t been raised in church but what we taught they said it seemed familiar and they could feel themselves being drawn to it. It was such a good experience. We did not have much time but we went after the lord’s guidance and he used us as instruments in his hands. Prayer is real. It is a two way conversation with our heavenly father. We can pray and speak to our heavenly father and he will communicate back to us. We are not alone and we need not ever think or believe we are. Take some time each day and have a conversation with your heavenly father who loves and cares about you so dearly. You will feel his love and know he is there. 

 I love yall so much have a great week. Remember who you are. Children of god with divine potential. 

 

Love Elder Trevor Ross

 

hey family.

I hope this makes sense because I have so much that I want to share with yall but since there is so much on my mind I doubt it will come out how I want it.

what a great week. we had the priviledge to have elder Zwick of the seventy some out and speak to the mission. I was able to hear him speak twice. once he spoke to the ward councils in the the stake I am serving in and he said some great things. he gave us all many different ways in which we can all work together to help bring others unto Christ. using the strengths of the missionaries and the strengeths of the ward councils to get the very best outcome. it was so so good. but my favorite was on Friday we had a zone conference and he came and spoke t just the missionaries. and wow I felt like he was up there talking to me directly. everything he said seemed to hit me right to the heart and I swear was said just for me personally. he shared some very inspirational stories that have never been shared before. some when he was working with president Hinckley, right after he lost his wife. he told us of how president Hinckley was really struggling with the loss and he was traveling through England were he served his mission and he decided that he needed to restart. so he went to the apartment that he lived in on his mission where he had a very inspiring moment as he read a letter from his dad. there he just sat and pondered. leder zwick said that he doesn't know what went on but when president Hinckley came out, he said "I am all better". and he told us that everyone at some point needs a restart, even the president of the church sometimes.  I didn't think that I needed a restart but the rest of the week I tried to imagine myself and do all I could to gain a revamp of missionary work and spirituality. and I have I done so I have gained so much more excitement and energy for all that I do. I didn't realize that I needed it but it has blessed me so much.

honestly elder zwick shared so many things. my mind was and still is running a hundred miles an hour trying to take everything in. I wish yall could have been there. one other thing his wife actually shared. is she talked about the individual in each person. they are who they are for a reason and each person is special. I loved that. then she talked about becoming purified and sanctified. and how if we work on the inside then the outside will follow. meaning as we purify ourselves spiriutually and sanctify our thoughts and intents then our  words, and actions will also become sanctified. starting from the inside and purifying the inside will do miracles in purifying the things that can be seen and noticed from the outside.  

little chino Zapata is doing great. he is loving and progressing towards baptism. we were able to teach him the plan of salvation this week and it went great. we used little pictures and it was great because we would pull out a picture that showed a part of the plan of salvation andthen he would tell us all about it. in essence he taught us the plan of salvation. he is such a smart kid. he amazes me so dang much. he is such a great example to all of his family.

the sun was out and shingin bright and you can tell that summer is right around the corner. haha I am actually looking forward to the humid summer heat. even though I will probably deny saying that in a couple weeks when I am complaining about the humid heat. but we were able to break the bikes out this week which was so nice. its the best. if it was my choice I would be  on bike al the time. I love it.

here are some quotes from Elder Zwick

"don't worry, when you think you cant do it, heavenly father will help you do it."

"when you get close to jesus then jesus gets close to you!"

"I may not have a lot to give, but for my savior I will give my all."

I love you all so dang much. I pray for you. hope you have a blessed day.

Love Elder Trevor Ross

What’s up everybody!?

 

This week we were truly blessed. But we are blessed every week.

 

Anyway this week we did a lot of tracting. As we were tracting we came across this lady miss Luper and at first she came out to talk to us and she was a little confrontational with us. But as we just talked to her and didn't argue back she started to get interested. So we told her about a prophet on the earth today and that's when she stepped out on her front porch and with great interest asked, "how do you know that he is a prophet?" what a great question to ask. We taught her about prayer and the Holy Ghost. And then her husband came home and usually that is when we get shut down but her husband came out on the porch and was such a nice guy. As we continued to answer her question we were able to teach her, her husband, and their son the entire restoration and they really wanted to know for themselves. They understood so well and wanted to know. They took a book of Mormon and we are going back tomorrow to teach them again.

 

While I was on exchange with one of the zone leaders my comp, Elder Jensen, and the other zone leader were able to find another family along the same lines who is so ready and prepared to hear the gospel. Things are picking up so quickly!

 

Little chino Zapata is preparing to get baptized as well. So we have been going through the lessons with him and helping him and his family plan the baptism for him. They are all so excited. His dad is a member but his mother and brother are not and it is cool to see how excited they are for him to get baptized as well. They have invited a lot of non-members to come to the baptism. He is such a cool kid with such strong faith. April 11th will be a great day when he is baptized.

 

Elder Jensen and I have decided that we are going to open up a harmonica band. We have some sheet music for the harmonica and they are primary hymns and so we are going to learn the primary hymns pretty good on the harmonica and then put on a concert at dinners with the members. Ha-ha I know what you are thinking," they are so cool", but hey we are just doing what we can.

 

This next week, Elder Zwick of the seventy is coming to the mission and we have like 3 days of long meeting with him. I am not looking forward to being inside that long. But I am way excited to hear what he is going to teach us. I am looking forward to things we are all going to learn.

 

Well I love you all. I love to hear from all as well. Let me know how things are going.

 

Elder Trevor Ross

3032 Harbor Creek Pkwy

Canton, GA 30115