Lessons Learned

Family and Friends,

Elder Ayala and Elder Remington

Today we had transfers. I said goodbye to Elder Dzul and said hello to my new companion Elder Ayala. I can't lie and say that I will miss Elder Dzul but I can honestly say that we have both grown, learned together, and improved together. Through my experiences with Elder Dzul I learned how to be relaxed yet focused, I learned how to be patient and positive, I learned how to be more calm when the investigators aren't progressing, I learned how to not try and force your companion to be obedient, I learned how to positively be an example and gently encourage/motivate/invite your companion to be obedient while still understanding that he has his agency (that works much better trust me always remember to be a light not a judge), I learned how to make some delicious burritos and other great Mexican food, and I learned many other valuable lessons from him. It doesn't matter who your companion is you can always learn something from them and find the good in them. Most of all he taught me how to have balance in how we react to things. Many times in the mission I'm like a roller coaster because when the investigators are progressing and things are going well I'm floating on cloud nine and super stoked about life but then if some investigators out of nowhere don't want us to visit them anymore, don't go to church, or suddenly say they won't get baptized then I get way sad and frustrated because I want to help them so bad and we've been working so hard but they have their agency and there's nothing I can do about it. Elder Dzul was a good example of just working hard with his head up and a smile one his face regardless of what happened. That's definitely something I'm trying to do as well and I'm grateful for all the great things I learned from Elder Dzul. I know that the Elder Remington who dropped him off at the bus terminal is a better man than the Elder Remington who picked him up at the terminal.

My new companion Elder Ayala is very happy and from what I can tell very humble and willing to work hard so we should get along GREAT :)

Be happy, be calm, and remember you can learn something from everyone you meet :)

Love,

Elder Remington

Confident and Humble

Family and Friends,

Recently I've been having a lot of personal revelations and realizations. Based on many recent experiences in the mission and personal reflection of other life experiences, I've drawn some conclusions about what one must do to lead a happy, peaceful, productive, and successful life. It is my strong belief that the ability to have a balance between being both confident and humble is the key to being happy and living a good life :) I'd like to share my thoughts with you all. 

The word confidence in Spanish is confianza. But in Spanish the word confianza means both confidence (as in self-esteem or self-worth) and trust ( as in belief and hope) depending on the context. In nearly all languages the words confidence and trust have a close relationship. In English as well sometimes to express that someone shared a secret with someone that he trusted we say that what he told him was said "in confidence." Pondering this analysis of words lead me to have an interesting revelation while reading Alma 36:3. It says that "whosoever shall put their trust (or confidence) in God shall be supported in their trials, and troubles, and shall be lifted up at the last day." On the surface level we see that the God wants us to trust in Him and then if we trust in God we will be blessed, protected, and saved :) okay basic but important. Now lets go a little deeper to a more profound level of analysis of this scripture (PS if anyone reading this thinks that I'm teaching false doctrine please correct me and let me know in what part I am in the wrong :) I am completely open to suggestions or corrections or comments) 

On a more profound level, God wants us to put our trust in Him and we also need to put our confidence in Him in the sense that our self-esteem, self-worth, and self assurance should be completely based in the Lord. Meaning that our opinion of ourselves is based upon God's love for us and not based upon anything else. True reliable self-esteem only comes from building your foundation on Christ (Heleman 5:12). Everyone has a foundation of self-worth. It's what motivates us, its what drives us, and its what we wake up for in the morning. I'm convinced that the only way to be truly happy is by putting God as your foundation of your self-worth, by putting your confidence in Him and thus being truly confident. The knowledge that you are a child of God with the sense that our self-esteem, self-worth, and divine talents, divine worth, and divine potential is essential to being confident. When you have that sure conviction and confidence in God then you always are validated by His love for you and you know without a doubt that you are important and valuable to God and therefore you don't feel the need to be validated by other people and you don't have to depend upon and rely upon other people making you feel important because you already know that you are important and nothing that any imperfect mortal thinks, says, or does can alter your sure knowledge and confidence in God. That is true confidence and that brings true happiness.

Unfortunately, we see far too many people that greatly lack that confidence and assurance of self and truly deeply crave, long for, and need to be validated by others in order to feel important and feel valuable. They need to feel wanted and they need others to tell them their important because they don’t have that solid foundation of confidence in God. Many people put the fact that they’re talented at sports, get good grades, have good looks, or have a good looking boyfriend/girlfriend the foundation of their confidence or center of their lives where they base their self-worth. That’s why some people are absolutely devastated if they get a bad grade or their boyfriend/ girlfriend breaks up with them. It’s because they put their boyfriend or girlfriend as the source of their self worth, thus its no surprise that when the boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with them… they feel worthless. These types of things are what lead to depression and suicide if we aren’t careful about what we put as the source of our self-worth. In a world with so many changes and uncertainty the only reliable source of self-worth is our Savior Jesus Christ. His love and power are unending and unchangeable. Simply, Christ will never fail and thus if He is the center of our lives we will never fail. True confidence comes from Him.

Therefore, anytime someone gets offended it is due to a lack of confidence because if we are truly confident we won’t let what others do, say, or think effect us in the slightest. For me a great example of this type of confidence is my dad. I can honestly say that I can’t remember ever seeing my dad get offended. Never. My dad knows he’s a smart, good, successful, and righteous man thus he doesn’t let anything bother him and he never gets offended. He keeps the commandments and trusts in the Lord J thanks for the example dad.

Now overconfidence or namely pride is just as severe if not worse than a lack of confidence so lets look at what it takes to keep that balance in being confident and humble. Humility is a willingness to submit to the Lord and to give the Lord the honor for what is accomplished. A great example for missionaries is the classic found in Alma 26:12 and that really epitomizes the essences of humility that we acknowledge our need and dependence upon the Lord. It is the recognition of our weaknesses and the desire and willingness to learn and improve. Only through being humble can we repent, purify, and perfect ourselves through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

A practical example in the mission is that every day after teaching a lesson my companion and I will give each other feedback on how we did in teaching; what we did well and how we can improve. When receiving suggestions on how to improve if I lack confidence I will get offended and argue and cause contention. But likewise if I lack humility then I will disagree with whatever he tells me and I will argue and cause contention. Either way there is contention and discord instead of learning and improvement. Therefore it is essential that I be both confident enough to know that I’m a good missionary so that I don’t get offended and at the same time I must be humble enough to accept the suggestion and apply it rather than rejecting it because I’m prideful.

There are hundreds of examples I could use to illustrate the point that a lack of confidence (insecurity) or lack of humility (pride) will always cause cause contention, problems, and misery while confidence and humility will always bring peace, solutions, and happiness. WWI was a huge bloodbath in which millions of lives were lost for very trivial reasons and the result of WWI was a foolish treaty that set up horrid conditions in Germany which eventually lead to WWII. What were some of the causes of WWI? Lack of confidence and lack of humility. Tsar Nicolas II had recently lost a war to Japan and this caused extreme embarrassment for Russia because in this time period Asian nations were looked down upon. Thus Tsar Nicolas was seriously lacking self-esteem and although it didn’t benefit his country and wasn’t worth the losses he entered Russia into the war to try and save face and prove that Russia wasn’t weak. On the other hand, the leader of Germany Kaiser Wilhelm was extremely arrogant and did all sorts of foolish things in an effort to prove German’s strength as a nation. Also every single argument that I’ve had in my life with family members or companions has been due to a lack of confidence or lack of humility. Take a good look at any argument or disagreement that you see and you will find that the source of the problem is low self-esteem or pride. Or anytime in your life that you have failed or been sad you will find that the source is the same. Likewise you will find that whenever you have succeeded greatly or been truly happy it is likely due to a proper balance of confidence and humility. Whether it be sports, school, family relationships, companionships, work, or any other aspect of life; confidence and humility bring success.

Jesus Christ was the perfect example of being both confident and humble. He was very confident and sure of who He was and what his purpose was as the son of God. He didn’t hesitate in testifying that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). When others mocked and ridiculed him, he never doubted or feared because he was confident in what he was doing and he did his duty perfectly. Yet at the same time he never forgot where his strength came from and he always gave the glory to the Father. In his greatest moment of trial in Gethsemane while suffering for our sins, he humbly submitted to the will of God the Father (Luke 22:42). He was and is the perfect example of confidence and humility.

Wow okay I wrote a lot more than I had planned but this has been on my mind for a while now and I wanted to share it with you all. I invite all of you to put God as the center of your lives and submit to His will giving all the glory to Him. I promise that if we all are confident and humble that we will be happy and successful in life.

I hope this knowledge helps all of you as much as it has helped me :)

Love,

Elder Remington 

1 Crazy and 2 Cakes

Elder Remington's Zone

Family and Friends,

Last Thursday was definitely the most unique birthday I've ever had. I'll start with the weird and finish with the good. We had a great investigator named Ricardo who was going to church regularly, reading the Book of Mormon regularly, really progressing spiritually, and was going to be baptized this week. We were way excited for him and he was really making some great changes in his life and he was happy. Sadly, he suffers from a mental condition similar to schizophrenia but less severe (can't remember what the exact name is) in which if he takes his medicines he is completely normal and a great guy... but if he doesn't take his medicines he is susceptible to mental breakdowns where he starts having hallucinations and becomes extremely paranoid. On Thursday, November 1st (my birthday) he had a HUGE attack and his mom had to call us in the middle of a lesson asking for help because Ricardo's grandmother who lives with him was scared because he can get aggressive and was yelling at her.... we ran as fast as we could to his house to help. Normally, as Jake Remington, going to a house with a big crazy guy with aggressive tendencies would be scary to me. But honestly as Elder Remington I wasn't scared at all because I knew that the Lord would protect us :) one of the great blessings of being on the Lord's errand. Anyway long story short, we got there and calmed him down and stayed with him for about 3 hours until the police finally arrived to take him to the mental institution... it was a very sad situation. 

On the bright side we were able to help him and now that he's receiving treatment and taking his medication he has greatly improved :) When he gets out of treatment we will do everything we can to help him recognize the problem and always take his medicine. 

And the happy news is that we have a great ward here and I've really grown close to a lot of the members and made some great friends (it'll be hard leaving Albonor but I'm really enjoying it while I'm here) the Saldaña family always gives us lunch on Thursdays and then at the end of the meal they surprised me with a cake and they all sang to me :) The cake was delicious! Then the Medina family invited us over for dinner to make burritos (my companion is Mexican and knows how to cook great food!) and they surprised me with a cake too haha :) After singing to me they all started chanting that I had to take a bite first but I knew that my companion was going to shove my face in the cake so I pushed him away and then hurried and took a bite before he could touch me but out then out of no where grandma Medina comes from behind and she pushes my face in the cake! I couldn't believe that an old lady could do such a thing but it was pretty hilarious!! All and all it was a good birthday :) definitely one that I won't forget.

Love you all and hope you are all enjoying life and making everyday the best day of your life :) 

Elder Remington

Be Humble

Dear family and friends,

A simple revelation came to me this morning that I wanted to share; Humility brings the Spirit. Simple but profound because when we show God that we are humble and willing to do His will and not our own then He will bless us with spiritual promptings so that we can go forth and do His will in His way and in His timetable :) Thus becoming very effective instruments in His hands to build the Kingdom of God.

I've found in the mission that whenever I act in a prideful way the Spirit departs but whenever I am humble and submissive and really strive to do what the Lord wants me to do :) I have the Spirit with me very strongly and the Holy Ghost guides me and helps me know what to do. 

Also the other day my companion was sick and the doctor said he had to rest for a day :( Wow it sure stinks having to stay at home in the mission because you want to be out working, serving, helping people, and getting things done. Honestly that was one of my least favorite days of the mission because I felt useless just sitting around in the house. This caused me to reflect and I realized that some of the absolute worst days of my life have been days that I get up late, just sit around, stay in the house, and don't do anything productive. Some of my absolute best days of my life where I'm super happy and just feel wonderful are days that I get up early, work out, go outside, work hard, study hard, accomplish many great things, help people, communicate with people, and contribute to society. As human beings we all want to be and feel important. We want to feel that the world is a better place because we're in it and thus we're much happier when we get out and do productive things. 

That's why being a missionary is such a blessing because we're always serving, having a positive influence on others, lightening the loads of others, and contributing to making the world a better place to live in. If you want to be happy, have the inner peace of knowing the Lord is pleased with you, and look forward to waking up every morning... go on a mission! That goes for all the young men, young women, and the older people who can serve couple missions too :) There is nothing in the world more important than missionary works for it brings forth the salvation of souls :) 

Love you all and wish you the best :)

Elder Remington 

Fun Week :)

Family and Friends,

This has been a very eventful and exciting week :) We had a great baptism! His name is Aureliano and he's from Cuba (with white hair in the picture) very very smart and lots of money yet very very humble and receptive :) A rare and wonderful combination. His best friend Marcos Mora helped us teach him and baptized him. It was a very special day and those are the converts that you know for sure are going to stay active and strong in the gospel because they have that support. 

Today earlier this afternoon we went all over different parts of Guayaquil with Brother Mora and some of his friends :) It was a great time because I love learning about the history and culture of the city and we took lots of sweet pictures especially in the Iguana park. This iguana here escaped so we hurried and took some pictures before it ran back behind the fence haha after we had taken one picture it tried to leave but my companion grabbed it by the tail and held it there so we could take more pictures and as soon as he did that like 5 other iguanas started hissing and came towards my companion hahaha it was the first time I've seen him scared but it was hilarious and the iguanas didn't do anything they were just letting him know not to mess with their buddy. 

Also one day while we were walking to an appointment there was an old lady trying to pull down some guava from her her tree but she wasn't tall enough so we helped her out and then she gave us lots of guava and agreed to let us teach her :) Woohoo two birds with one stone cause we were super hungry! 

Elder Dzul and I have really come a long way its great :) For all you future missionaries out there (and I hope that there's a lot more young women who are included in that category now) remember that no matter who your companion is if you do your part you can always have a good relationship with them and you can always learn something from each and every one of them :)

Remember to always do the three basics of praying everyday, studying the scriptures everyday, and going to church every week without fail. As one of my converts wisely said, when we do those three things its like forming a protective shield around us so that temptation won't be able to hurt us :) We'll be safe, at peace, and happy :) So let's all do those three things always! 

Con amor, (totally copying Elder Burnham there)

Elder Remington

Good Stuff

Family and Friends,

Elder Dzul's Birthday

Here are some fun pictures from the week. It was Elder Dzul's birthday so I made some plans with some of the members and we all surprised him with cake and sang to him after Ward council. I could tell he was happy and that made me feel good :) We've come a long way in our companionship. I won't go into detail but lets just say that we're very different and both had to make some adjustments to make this companionship work but we now have much more love, trust, and good feelings between us. Haha that sounds a little weird I know, but hey its true! I have learned to be more humble and patient and he has learned to be more obedient and diligent :) Little acts of service for you companion like ironing his shirt, sharing goodies from home (thanks so much for the package family), or shining his shoes goes a long way. 

Elder Dzul and Elder Remington must be hungry!

The other picture is from the baptism of Yolanda (the one with the sunglasses) she doesn't look too thrilled in that particular picture haha but she's a very sweet and humble lady. She was a gift from Heaven because she had already attended church several times and one day her daughter just came up to us and said that her mom wanted to get baptized. So we went and taught her and then baptized her in that same week because she was already way prepared :) It's pretty great when the Lord puts the elect of God in your path and you get to help them be baptized. 

Before my mission my mom, dad, uncle Matt, and several other wise people gave me some very good advice; don't get discouraged. Never let hard times or disappointing things get you down. Although we had a baptism, this week was very tough because Miriam and several other investigadores told us that they don't want us to visit them anymore... it was really tough to take because many of them had been making so much progress and then almost out of nowhere BAM!! When you've been working so hard with these people for so long and you really love them, it hurts to see them turning away from something that you KNOW will bless them and completely change their lives for the better.... but despite any trials or challenges as a missionary you need to always stay positive, always stay smiling, and always have great faith and hope for the future. It's easy to be excited and work hard when things are going great but it takes a real top-notch missionary that is completely dedicated to the Lord to stay smiling, positive, and working hard even when faced with lots of disappointments. That is the key to success really. My parents and uncle Matt couldn't have given me better advice and I repeat their advice to anyone preparing for a mission... never get discouraged. Always stay positive. Always smile. Always be obedient. Always work hard. And always learn from challenging situations. If you do that then you will always enjoy your mission :) The work will be satisfying and fulfilling :)

Oh also quick update, our mission president has now limited our email time significantly because of some disobedient elders :/ Therefore I don't have time to write emails to other family members for right now sorry!! But hopefully he will put the time back to normal soon, if everyone is obedient :) Obedience brings blessings and disobedience brings consequences. 

I absolutely LOVED conference :) Although I watched it in another language I had the most amazing experience this conference that I've ever had in my life. There are 3 reasons I'd like to share that this conference was so great for me. These are great ways to really get the most out of conference.

1. Get plenty of sleep. As a teenager especially we often stay up late Friday and Saturday night and then although we want to be alert and pay attention its no wonder that we sometimes struggle to stay awake during all the talks. This conference I was alert and learned something important and received revelation personal from every single talk.
2. Have personal questions before conference. Write down 3-5 questions or problems that you're having (for example one of mine was how to encourage your companion to be obedient without causing contention) something specific and then during conference be thinking of that and you will receive personal revelation of what you need to do. The Holy Ghost will communicate to your heart and mind the specific solution that you need for that specific problem.
3. Don't write down word for word what they say. Write down the spiritual impressions that you receive while listening with your heart, and having a prayer in your heart to receive inspiration and revelation.

These worked great for me and I encourage all of you to put them into practice for future conferences. 

Holy smokes great news about lowering the age for missionaries! Wow I'm already out of time sorry for the mistakes in this email I was speed writing!

Love you all very much! :) Support your missionaries in your ward :) -  Elder Remington

Learning and Growing :)

Family and friends,  

Here are the pictures from the baptism two weeks ago :) I forgot to send them but here they are better late than never... this was a truly special baptismal service because we got to see Roberto (who just barely was baptized and received the Priesthood) baptize his son Roberto Junior :) they are a wonderful family and they are so excited about living the gospel its inspiring every time that we visit them to see that they've been studying the scriptures together, praying together, learning new hymns together in the car and often times when we walk by their house we can hear them playing church music and we can hear their little son Jordy singing at the top of his lungs very off key but with great enthusiasm, much like the way my father sings :) love ya dad!  

Roberto's wife Miriam is great and we've really made great progress with her and gained her trust but she is one tough cookie. She's a psychologist, has lots of doubts, and says that she won't believe something if she can't see it... that makes developing her faith in Christ a bit tricky as I'm sure you can imagine. We've been applying Alma 32 and trying to help her understand that she has to give the gospel a chance. She has to go to church, read the scriptures, and pray sincerely (nourish the seed) so that she can gain a testimony of this gospel (the seed will grow and bring forth fruit). It's not going to be easy but I know as we keep working hard and having patience and having faith that she will be converted and baptized. To be honest this was a tough week with lots of frustrating challenges and investigators that aren't progressing but I'm learning and growing from these trials :) my good friend Jamie Smith wrote me a letter a while back and she shared a great quote that I still remember and think about often. She shared with me a trial that she had been having and shared these powerful words, ¨I've experienced a completely different side of the Atonement, and I appreciate my life and having the gospel in it so much more. I know that the Refiner's fire will always burn brightly, and it is the way we handle our trials that allow it to create or consume us.¨ Wow! I especially love that last part because it is so true! All of us will have tough times and we get to decide whether we will turn toward Christ or turn away from him, whether we will redouble our efforts and work harder or get overwhelmed and slack off, whether we will endure or give up :) we get to decide if the trial will create or consume us. I know that when we maintain an eternal perspective in confronting our trials that we will be able to overcome our trials and learn from them. Part of enduring to the end is never getting discouraged and always facing adversity positively with a determined smile :) Thanks Jamie for your words of encouragement and thanks to everyone who has written me and supports me :)  

Keep enduring joyfully to the end! Have patience and have hope. Life is good. Remember that God wants us to have joy :) 

Love,

Elder Remington