As I Complete My Training

"Today, I leave the CCM in Mexico City to go to my mission in Ecuador. The CCM has been a wonderful experience for me, and I would like to share with you one of the biggest lessons that I have learned here. 

I would like to center my message around the scripture Matthew 11:28-30. It reads, 

28 ¶Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  

 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

The first thing I learned from reading this scripture is that Christ is always there, and that he wants to help us. He has suffered for us that we might not have to suffer. Alma, a prophet in the Book of Mormon, taught this about this about our Savior,  " And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people." (Alma 7:11) Because of Him, we can overcome the trials that face us in this life. I have felt this power in my own life. I know that every struggle I have ever had, whether it was at school or on the track, it has been He that has helped me to get through it. And I know that He can help you too if you are willing to come unto Him.

This leads to my second observation... to receive His help, we must also act. We cannot sit idly by and expect for him to do everything. He is willing to help, but He does not come to us, rather, we must come unto Him. This requires that we come before him being "meek and lowly of heart". This process is called repentance. Repentance is when we show sorrow to God for the things that we have done, and the opportunity to repent is one of God´s greatest´s gifts. 

If you don´t believe me, consider this. Without repentance, we could not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Isaiah taught us this about what happens when we apply the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." But, just like our bodies can´t be clean without actually using the soap, our souls can´t be clean without actually repenting. And if we are not clean, we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. (See 1 Ne. 10:21, 15:34, Alma 7:21, 11:37, 40:26, Hel. 8:25, 3 Ne. 27:19) 

I would that all men would partake of the joy that comes from repentance. Alma explains the change repentance brought to his life in the chapter 36 of Alma in the Book of Mormon. A little background. As a young man, he "went about... seeking to destroy the church of God" (verse 6). He was visited by an angel, who boldly commanded him to "seek no more to destroy the church of God" (11). He was struck with "such fear and amazement" that he completely lost the ability to move (11). He says, "And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.

And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!" (16-20).

I know that we all can feel the same joy and peace that Alma was able to feel. I know that we can each become clean as we humble ourselves before the Lord. I know that through His help our weaknesses can become strengths. I have seen this in my own life, and I know that it is true. I would that you all would follow the advice of the Book of Mormon prophet Moroni and "come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." (Moroni 10:32). 

I love you all, and I hope that you each can feel the truthfulness of my message. And I testify that as you kneel before God in prayer, humbling yourself before him, asking with faith, he will show the truth of these things unto you."
Love,
Elder Bahr

Fun & Learning

This week has been really fun. On Friday night, the power turned out as we were getting ready for bed. My companion, who was showering at the time, thought we had just flipped the breaker in our room, and wasn´t very happy. We had a little district party in our room until the power came back on. The funniest part was when Elder C thought he heard something outside, so he went to go check it, and Elder V snuck up behind him and scared him. Elder C chased him back to the room and threw his water bottle at him. We were all laughing so hard. 

On Sunday, we heard an old devotional from President Scott about prayer. He talked about how we can have a personal interview with our Father in Heaven any time we want, and we should treat it as such. I´ve really been focusing on making my prayers more personal, and I can definitely see the benefits in my life. I feel the Spirit more, and I am able to see the things that I need to work on. 

I leave the CCM really early Tuesday morning, and then it´s off to the real work.  It's a little scary, but I´m really excited for it at the same time. 

I love you and miss you, and I hope all is going well,

Elder Bahr

About a Month

It´s great to hear how everyone is doing and I´m glad to hear everything is going normally.  I still haven´t gotten any "regular" mail yet. I think MyDearElder or email would be the best way for everyone to contact me if they wish. 

My companion is such a great guy. He´s a great example of charity and humility, probably the two Christlike attributes that I need to work on the most. Especially this week, I´ve learned alot about how being united as a companionship is such an important part of teaching with the Spirit. We had a couple of lessons where our unity wasn´t very strong, and the lessons went poorly and it was difficult to feel the Spirit. When we (mostly me) focused on teaching in a united way; however, the Spirit has always been present and we have been able to give our best lessons. 

It´s been cool to have Elder Page (a friend from home) here. I´ll see him occasionally during meals or devotionals, and we´ll talk for a few minutes. It seems like he´s enjoying himself, and even though he wouldn´t admit it, his companion says he´s doing really well on his Spanish. 

There´s been a cold virus that´s been going around this week. I caught it starting Sunday, and Monday it got bad enough that I had to leave our night class a couple of hours early, but it´s been getting better since. 

Other than that though, I´m doing great. It´s crazy to think that I´ve been our for almost a month. I´m really enjoying Tuesdays and Sundays because, instead of class, we get to go to devotionals. The best are the recordings of the ones given by the apostles. I love the Spirit that they can bring into our hearts. Last night we watched the Bible Video entitled For God So Loved the World. Watching that, a  feeling of gratitude washed over me. I know that He lives and that He loves us with all of His heart. He cares for us as individuals, and He suffered for us as individuals. And I know that as we come unto Him, we will be perfected through Him. 

I love you all, and I hope all continues to go well at home!

Con amor,

Elder Bahr

Visited the Mexico City Temple

Updated Contact Info

On the right hand side of the blog a list of the most accurate and update methods of reaching Elder Bahr.      Regular mail is definitely going at a snail's pace.  By far, the best way of sending messages is the DearElder.com website.  Scroll down to the Ecuador Quito North Mission and enter Elder Stephen Bahr.  This no cost method will have the letter to him in approximately 1-2 weeks - a significant improvement over the costly and terribly slow regular post.

Hey guys,

I´m doing great here in Mexico City. I love being here and learning how to teach what I know to be true in Spanish. It´s not easy, but I know through the Lord´s help I will be able to learn what I need to learn and say what I need to say. 

This week, I read a book called Our Search for Happiness by M. Russell Ballard. It´s a great book that describes what we believe and why we believe it. I would encourage all who seek to understand more about my church and what I will be teaching as a missionary to read it for themselves. The author is a brillant writer and has served several of his own missions for the church, as well as currently serving as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I hope you all take the time to read this wonderful book.

Hope all is going well back home,

Elder Bahr

First Week

I have had so much fun (and have even learned some Spanish).

It`s been great being able to fit right in with the rest of the group, and we really are enjoying the Spirit and work we are able to experience here.

Last Friday night, my companion and I had our first opportunity to teach an "investigator", in SPANISH!! (I say "investigator" because he is actually one of the teachers that we are going to have in the next week or so.) It was really difficult, but we were actually able to speak for the entire 30 minutes on the Restoration. It made me hopeful that I could actually learn the language. 

Yo sè que yo necisito estar aqui. Yo sè que por medio la Expiaciòn de Jesucristo, yo poderìa todas cosas. Yo sè que tenemos un Padre Celestial, y que nos ama. Yo quiero con todo mi corazòn servir mi Señor y el pueblo de Ecuador. Lo digo en el nombre de Jesucristo, Amèn.

Con amor,

Elder Bahr