What Matters Most (8 July 2015)

Hello family and friends!

This week has been fantastic, trying, difficult, satisfying and ultimately humbling. So, Harlem is a lot different than the Bronx. There are a lot more druggies here. They are all over the streets. There are so many people who are plain nuts! It is a "hood jungle" out here. You walk outside on the packed streets of Harlem and you just never know what you are going to get. Harlem is packed full of project buildings. They are everywhere and with projects, there are always cops! In fact, there is this place called the "polo grounds" (a series of projects up on 155th street in Harlem) and they have their own police force (for those of you who know who A$AP Rocky is, that is where he is from). It was cool because we went up there this week and right across the street is Rucker park (world famous street ball court), and they were having a large tournament there. They brought out the wood floors, there were tons of people and DJ's, and it was absolutely insane to see that in person. We were the only white people in sight. haha. 

Harlem basketball - Every Friday morning, a bunch of people from Harlem come and play basketball with the missionaries. THEY ARE SO GOOD! The basketball skill level here is incredible. It is very fun. 

Contacting in Central Park - So our area covers from 125th down to 59th street on the Manhattan Island (but we never go below 110th because there are no Hispanics down that low). So that includes half of Central Park (because we cover the east side of Harlem). We went down to Central Park and talked with as many people as we could. It was a very cool experience. We actually ran into (mom you will like this) two people from the orchestra from temple square (the orchestra that plays with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) (a violinist and a cellist). They were there because the Choir was touring and we stopped and talked to them for a while. It was a pretty cool experience. 

Yankees game - Our whole mission got to go to the Yankees game this last week. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was performing which was pretty awesome! They sang a few songs and it was just great. It was interesting seeing 200 plus missionaries there -- a sea of white in the stands. 

Yesterday - So yesterday we got a call from a lady (she wasn't in our church boundaries so we didn't know who she was). She told us about a friend of hers who needed a blessing. We agreed and really did not think much of it. She gave us the number of her friend’s wife so we could figure out how to contact the husband. Well, turns out, they were Spanish speakers and the guy who needed the blessing was all the way down on 16th street in Manhattan. So we called our Zone leaders to get permission to go down there. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into as we walked into that hospital building. We went up to the 7th floor and out walks this lady. She runs up to us and says, "Are you guys the Elders?!?! We have been waiting for you!" She began to tell us that her husband has been fighting leukemia for quite some time. He recently got pneumonia along with the cancer. And then they found an ulcer that exploded within him, which caused internal bleeding – he was bleeding into his lungs. They put him in an artificial coma for two weeks so that his body could try to heal. She was telling us all of this and then she told us that a few "episodes happened today." She said his heart stopped twice and they had to revive him twice. They flushed his body out both times after they revived him. She told us that he was only 36 and that she got married to him two weeks ago in the hospital.  

We met the guy’s mom, the guy’s brother and the guy’s aunt, and they looked like they were in so much pain. The family had not seen him all day, and apparently his condition had worsened and he looked a lot different after his heart stopped. Later when we were in the room, they walked in and started crying and screaming, and the brother was extremely frustrated and couldn't even look at his brother like that. 

We explained a little about who we were and what we did, and asked if there was any way we could give the man a blessing. She went and checked with the doctors and they said it was ok. So, we entered this highly sanctified part of the hospital (no other way to describe it) where, all of a sudden, as we walked in, it was extremely quiet. We heard the ambient sound of the respirators mixed with the sound of heart beat monitors, tracking the patients’ hearts. There were doctors all in a circle discussing the plans of Sebastian, the guy we were going to give a blessing to. As we walked through this door, there were about 6 patients in separate rooms who looked like they had died and come back to life. We continued to walk around the corner and then walked into Sebastian’s room. When I saw him, my stomach dropped, and a deep feeling of endless uneasiness entered my stomach – he was hooked up to countless amounts of tubes and needles. His face was extremely swollen and he looked like he had aged 50 years. I never have seen someone in such bad shape before. His whole body would move as the respirator forced the air into his lungs and suck it back out. I felt so little in that moment. Here I am a 20 year old kid, walking in on about 10 highly trained doctors with all of this man’s family next to us, and they were looking to us to save their son, their brother, and their husband. It was in that moment that I felt peace because I realized it had nothing to do with me. It was God's priesthood, his power that we were bringing that has infinite capabilities to compose miracles. We gave him a blessing and the longer I was there, the more peace I felt for him and the more of a desire I felt for the family.

As I was standing in that hospital room, the entire reason we exist shot strait to my heart and pierced my spirit. The plan that God has for us (his plan of salvation, was confirmed to me through the spirit in that moment)....It became real. Real in a different way than it ever has. The sorrow turned from me feeling for the guy and everything he was going through, to how it must have felt for his family who knew nothing about God’s plan. We were able to share and testify of the plan of salvation right next to him and his family and amongst the 10 doctors. Who more needed the knowledge of the plan of salvation than they did in that moment? We shared it with them, and left them with more info about it. They were eternally grateful, and as we left, we felt very grateful and humbled. There are no words to explain how we felt leaving, but it was such a testimony to me to see and to feel, and in that moment, to know in life what really matters -- to know why we are here and where we are going. No matter how bad life gets, God and his plan for us, is permanently in His hands. The peace and deep love I felt for those people yesterday, and the deep infinite gratitude I felt towards God and his son Jesus Christ, will be something I will never forget. I love my Heavenly Father. I love him so much.

I am so grateful to have this mission as an opportunity to separate from the world and to be exposed to what really eternally matters. 

With much love and gratitude,

- Elder Austin Celaya

My Zone in Harlem

Going to the Yankee's Game

The Mormon Tab Choir!!

President Smith and his son

Found Elder Segura (my 2nd NY companion)

Throwback to the Bronx

The land of the Morenos (24 June 2015)

Transfers! I am getting transferred and leaving The Bronx and I will be going to.............HARLEM!  Went from one hood to another :)  Apparently there are these shirts in Harlem with pictures of Mr. Rogers from "the neighborhood" with his face on the shirt with a grill (girl) and earrings and a chain and it says "it's all good in the hood.” Hahaha. I'm going to try to find one of those shirts. I'm excited. Harlem is crazy in the summer. The adventures ahead will be very interesting. 

I really am going to miss Elder Richards! He was great and I really learned how to let go and be myself even more with him! It was a great time and we did a lot of cool things together! 

I don't know a whole lot about my area yet, but you will all be filled in the next week. 

I had to say goodbye to everyone here in this area this week which was super hard to do. I've come to be so close to these people, words don't describe it. I've been here in this area since the beginning of January and they have come to be my family. 

- Church. So we brought "John Carlos" (an 18-year-old we found while knocking doors), to church with us.  We picked him up, went in the bus, and then he sat next to us at church. 10 minutes in he asked me where the bathroom was because he said he had to go. So, he went, and time and more time went by and nothing! He didn't come back. So Elder Richards and I went to go and try to find him and he wasn't there. We checked every room in the church twice and he wasn't there! He just randomly left! It was so weird. Elder Richards and I were completely confused the rest of the day. Well, yesterday we ran into him and apparently his trip to the bathroom didn't go so well and he had some irregular bowl movement so he ran to a friend’s house. Haha. It was a funny and very weird experience. 

Lots and lots has happened this week, but I don't have time to write about it.

Saying goodbye to President Morgan - wow was that weird. This man has helped me come closer to God more than anyone I know, and for that, I will be forever be grateful to him. His testimony has been such an inspiration to me. He is powerful. I will love him and Sister Morgan forever. God has saved me by putting them in my path in this life. 

Learning to love - I was thinking this week about all the energy and work we have put into loving the people here. I didn't know them at first, I didn't feel for them in the beginning like I do now. They were all just random people to me at first. I have realized that love - the noun, is followed by love - the verb. When we act as if we love them and serve them, we will come to love them. I have come to love these people with all my heart. They are my family. They are my friends. I had to come here to find them. They have taught me how to love. I thought I knew before the mission, but I didn't. God has placed a TINY, TINY, TINY amount (so tiny compared to His love I feel wrong even saying this) of His love for them in my heart for them. I've never felt that so deeply before. I can't even imagine how much more I could truly love my family if I apply the things I've learned here. Love is so much, and God's for us is infinite. 

I love you all. 

Here are some pictures of me saying goodbye to the people here. Enjoy!

With love, 

- Elder Celaya

I'm only going to send half of the pictures from saying goodbye to everyone this week. The rest will come next week :)

Goodbye President & Sister Morgan!

Last selfie with President Morgan

(I'm at the very right of this picture.)

My Zone - The Bronx June 2015

My new mission president and his wife, President & Sister Smith

Elder Longo and me

Me with Elder Duvall (was the AP - Assistant to the President)

Me with Elder Burr (my district leader since January)...(Boss)

Me with Elder Schnieder

The Cuevas Family (some of my faves!)

The Arias Family

The Aguilar Family

The light within the darkness (17 June 2015)

What. A. Week. 

Everyone here thinks Jesus is black. That's always a fun one to deal with. I won't say any more about this one :)

I'm having a hard time writing these emails now, because most of the things we are experiencing here we cannot write about. So, I am trying to find some things that are good and uplifting. So here it goes. 

We were visiting the family who has a daughter who's 14 and pregnant. They are crazy! But we went over and were teaching them and talking with them, and then we gave the boyfriend (14-year-old) the chance to say the prayer. Up to this point he didn't seem really interested and it felt as if he didn't really want us to be there. As he said the prayer, my whole feeling about him changed. He said, "Thank you for sending me these two brothers who have shown more love to me than my own family. More love than I knew existed." That right there made it all worth it. His life is not easy and there's some choices that he has made that's made his life extremely difficult right now. He's a thug. Haha, but it was wild to see how love broke down everything and pierced him to the heart. 

Victor Ramos - So we found this guy who just moved here with his family from    La República. Turns out he used to be a professional pianist in the D.R. We told him we both played piano and he got all excited and brought us into this room where he had a piano. He started jamming out and then we played songs as well, and after that, it was as if we'd known each other forever. It was so awesome to see how that broke down every barrier. Very fun experience. It became spiritual. 

Humidity - the humidity here has been insane! This is a foreign mission for sure. Every day you are soaked from head to toe in sweat and water from the humidity. Then you go into these hot tiny apartments which are even hotter inside and you sweat even more. It feels like you are in a rainforest. 

Random rainstorm - Yesterday it started to rain for 30 minutes suddenly super hard. The streets were starting to flood and we decided to go outside during this time, of course. Well we got soaked from head to toe. We tried to go and continue on with working for the rest of the day, but it was super uncomfortable so we eventually changed. 

Indians - there are tons of people here from India! The other Sunday they blocked off the street and had an Indian festival. It was the craziest thing. Our area is like the Dominican Republic and India mixed into one. Then you have the few Albanians.  Nobody here really even speaks English (except the kids).

Contacting and tracting - we have been contacting people in the streets and tracting apartment buildings for most of our days. It's long and tiring, but we have seen results! 

Detonation cleanse - So, Elder Richards loves to eat healthy. We decided to go on a detox cleanse and completely stop eating bad things. We told all the members, and we have been on this cleanse for a week and a half now. It's a two week cleanse. We can only eat vegetables and certain fruits and some grains. We can only drink when we eat and we have to drink four glasses of water every meal, and we can't eat past five. It's been so extremely difficult, but it's been good. I have definitely felt a lot different and have lost some weight:) We finish the cleanse this Sunday. 

Army - we have this less active family that we visit every week. One of the guy’s girlfriend finally was able to meet with us. The guy’s name is Roger. Well, Roger’s girlfriend’s brother just got back to NY from serving in the Army in Germany, Korea, Italy, and Afghanistan. We met him earlier last week, but yesterday we talked to him outside for about an hour about his experiences in Afghanistan. He's 21 but enlisted in the army at 17. He shared some of the experiences he had, and some of them were experiences that we as normal human beings, living in a normal society, can't even dream of. He was a helicopter sniper in Afghanistan. We talked a lot about post-traumatic stress and how real it is for those soldiers who experience dark things in war and then come home and are haunted by those experiences. 

It was very interesting because we were outside when we were talking to him. He constantly was scanning the whole environment, checking out every detail about everyone who walked by. He then started telling us about every single person who walked by within that hour (what they were doing as they walked by, what size they were, race, what they were wearing down to a T, etc...). He said that is what you are paid for in the military. It is engraved in him to be completely 100% aware of his surroundings. He's even cautious of children walking by because he said in Afghanistan, many of the children have bombs strapped to them so he even is aware of them.

I had just watched this video that the church put out last week of these two men who fought in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and it talked a lot about their post-traumatic stress. But I didn't know why I needed to watch it. As we were talking to this guy, I then came to know why. We were able to show him the video, and he opened up a lot more about the things now he's going through with the stress. We were able to testify and tell him that we have no idea the things he's been through in war and nobody does or really ever will, except Jesus Christ. Christ stooped below everything anyone would feel, and took on exactly what he (the guy we were talking to) was feeling so he (the guy) doesn't have to. The dark gloomy pain he feels every day causes him to wake up in the night screaming because of the memories coming back to life, haunting him from war. But we were able to talk to him about how the knowledge of Christ frees you. He's always there. Christ felt exactly what you feel like nobody even knows about. He knows us better than we know our own selves. It's amazing to see how Christ can cover everything from the littlest mistake to the darkest, suppressing experiences we can't even imagine going through on this earth. His hand is always open. Why not take the perfect help? 

Here is the video we shared with him. These two guys would jump from planes and start shooting at anyone they saw. The guy we talked to yesterday said these guys are nobody to mess with. He said they are really high up in the army and are as crazy as it gets. Watch how even their wounds....their deep, dark and unwavering wounds were able to be healed when they turned to Christ and gave Him their burdens. If even they can be healed, imagine how much we can be changed through Him?

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/his-grace/life-after-war-and-overcoming-post-traumatic-stress

Many people ask why God doesn't reveal himself in such a dark world. I myself have asked that question many times. The reason is simple. It is because He loves us. He is holding back, so we can choose to find him, discover him, and choose with all our souls to follow him. When Jesus does come again, it will be too late to choose which side you are on. As C.S. Lewis basically put it: "It is no good saying you choose to lay down, when it has become impossible to stand up." The time is now. Now is the time to change. It will be too late then if we procrastinate our own progression. He is giving us this time to change and take up our cross and follow Him, but time is fleeting. Let us plant the tree we should have planted twenty years ago, today. I love you all so much. Let's work together to be truly happy. 

As the scriptures put it: "I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness."

Just keep swimming!

Elder Austin Celaya 

10 June 2015

My new companion, Elder Richards

At church

Teaching

Good to see Elder Hausenfluk again

Elder Hausenfluk came back to NY to show his mom the mission.

Third World Country (27 May 2015)

Hello my family and friends!

This week has been absolutely CRAZY in SO many ways! It has been the most crazy, interesting, and fun week of my mission by far! It has completely been an adventure that I could not get anywhere else! I can honestly say I’d rather not be anywhere else in the world! This is just absolutely great! For our P-Day today we are going to go ride bikes through Central Park. Then go to Whole Foods. Haha. It's nice. We get in a train and it takes us out of our third world country and an hour later we are in one of the most beautiful and most expensive places to live in the world (Manhattan). Sometimes I have to pinch myself. Haha. 

This letter will be long, but it's because there were so many funny and spiritual things that happened this week. 

This week I have realized that The Bronx is basically a third world country. The main language is Spanish and the only real place to buy groceries is in little bodegas or side shops or mini-marts. People here treat the value of human life differently.  Everyone is packed in to these very old rundown apartments and there are drugs everywhere! And there were two more shootings this week. 

-THE BRONX in the summer. So it's really interesting because when the summer hits here, everyone is outside and they set up chairs on the sidewalk, bring out BBQ's and dominos boards and everyone has these little street parties. The whole street in the afternoon is covered with all these street parties. So, since nobody is inside their houses anymore, we have been street contacting people like crazy (basically just talking to people that are on the street). It has been super fun. Elder Richards is great and loves to do it, and I do too, so it works out perfectly! 

-Elder Richards is such a great guy! We have a lot of fun and he really is such an introspective person. He is so positive and kind and never judges anyone. You can completely be yourself around him and yet feel inspired to become better. I love serving with him.

-We met this guy over the last week and I can't say a whole lot about the situation, but I can say that he ended up loving what we do as missionaries. He was in the Special Forces so he knows his tactics. He told us if anyone were to ever mess with us he would be the first to hunt them down and end their life. Haha....He told us this so many times this week. That's kind of scary. But hey, I'm glad he's on our side. We know where to go if anyone is trying to hurt us ;) haha.

-Drunk lady. Elder Richards and I were walking back home one night, and as we were walking we saw this young woman (20's) with her friend and a few other people hanging out outside of a bodega and she looked like she was really drunk. Well, we wanted to see what would happen (because something always does seem to happen...I mean two white guys...in the Bronx...it's a little strange).  She saw us coming and starting screaming "WHAT'S YOUR NAMES??" Her friend was sober and told us "just please keep walking, for your sake. She's crazy right now." Well, Elder Richards told her his name as we continued to walk by as her friend was holding her back from us. As we were walking away -- until we finally got to the end of the street -- she was yelling in a very dramatic voice, "RICHARDS, CONFIRM ME CONFIRM ME!" It was downright hilarious. 

-DJ'n in the BRONX. So, there is this house we always pass by. There are always about 5 African American people just sitting out on the porch and one of them is always DJing. He has his whole mixing board out there and has these massive speakers and is just blasting the music so incredibly loud amongst all the apartment buildings. It is super funny because whenever we walk by, he is just so into it, and nobody is even there to listen. Well, after an appointment on Saturday, we walked past him and he was playing "Play That Funky Music.”  As we walked by, I was nodding my head and gave him a thumbs up, and he got super happy and turned the music up even louder. Everyone on the street that saw me do that got angry.  One lady was like "NOOOOO!!! Don't encourage him! He's been doing this everyday all day long! We are all just waiting for him to stop!!!" It was pretty funny. So now, I'm loved and hated on that street! :) 

-Dominican Woman (Crazy).  So, on Monday, one of our appointments canceled and we were just walking around trying to street contact people. As we were walking, we saw one of our members. We sat down with him in the park and talked to him for a while and we made a goal to contact everyone sitting down on all the benches. Well, right next to us on the following bench were four Dominican women. They were crazy just from what we saw. They kept looking at us the whole time we were talking to the guy from our church, and saying all sorts of things. Then all of a sudden they started smoking hookah and as we stood up, they were saying "Ven Pa Qa" which in actual Spanish is "Venga para aquí," which means "Come here!" We stood up and I looked at Elder Richards and was like "alright shall we go talk to them?" He said "no way, they are smoking and are crazy!" But, we went anyways and we walked up and said "¿Que Lo que?¿Dímelo?" --which means what's up or what's happening but in a very Dominican way. We started talking and we already knew where they were from, but of course they said the La República.  Something we say when we meet people from the DR (Dominican Republic) is "Hasta la Tambora" which means "to the beat of my drum," which is a complete dominant phrase that basically means you are "cool" with the Dominican culture. It doesn't matter how rude people are when you talk to them. If you say that, their complete attitude changes and they crack a smile and start laughing and then will talk to you.

Anyways, so we said the phrase to the girls and they busted up laughing. It was so great. They offered us hookah and then one of the girls said "come on don't you know they don't do that or drink any of that stuff?! Respect their religion!" Haha it was pretty funny but pretty cool to see them stick up for us. My companion was still in shock so he didn't say much and finally one of them asked him if he knew how to speak. Then another one of them was like "ohhhh boy, I know he already knows how to speak! I see him talking to people all day, knocking all crazy on my door, waking up all the neighbors....don't you fall for his lies. He's a silent liar! Haha." It was just great. We asked them after some time if they were ever religious and they said yes. But one said she doesn't feel right going to church anymore while she's been drinking or smoking so she has stopped. We talked a little bit about why she feels that way, and then we gave her something that talks about the point of life. It was a really cool, unexpected experience. We have been trying to talk to everyone we see on the streets and it's so much fun!  So now we are cool with all the street Dominican people in our area. It's nice. :)

-Two Irish ladies in the park.  We found these really aged women in the park. We decided to go up and talk to them. They were both from Ireland (not a surprise here). Every white person here is either from Ireland, Russia or Albania. We tracked into someone from Bulgaria the other day and that was pretty awesome. Anyways, we were talking to them, and it was obvious that their lives were coming to a close. We asked them if they have ever thought about what happens to us right after we die, and they said they have, especially now in their lives. We talked with them and were able to talk about where we go after this life and what happens. We really had a great discussion about how you really never know when God is going to take us home and retake back the breath he's given us. It could be at any moment and we know that now is the time to change, to become better people, to do the absolute best we can do, and to prepare to meet God.  I think what we testified to them really comforted them. At least when they do go, they won't be surprised about what actually will happen. It was a fun conversation. 

-Home attendant.  One of the families we visit has a home attendant for one of their kids. Well, come to find out, sometimes people take the message the wrong way when we missionaries try to talk to everyone and are interested in their lives. Haha. So one day I decided to talk a little bit to the home attendant. She is 21, straight from the DR and lives in the Bronx. Apparently after that day, she told the family she was attracted to me and I guess they had a whole conversation about it. Somehow it slipped and they told me. I asked what happened to her, and the mother told us. It was a little uncomfortable as a missionary. She could tell as well and finally she said, "to be honest, if I could, I'd freeze you and keep you for my daughter when she grew up!" Ahhh wow, was that awkward!!! Haha. But it's all good. We both played it off and forgot it, but it was something we definitely laughed about after. 

-Ismael. He is a young man (18) who we found tracting about 2 cycles ago. We have met with him 3 times and have been trying to meet with him ever since. We knocked on his door one day this week and his uncle answered. We started talking to his uncle and he eventually let us in. We were able to teach him a lesson and that went really well. So, we decided to try Ismael the next day. We went back and he was there. We talked with him about the Plan of Salvation, and it was amazing because he soaks it all in and truly is prepared -- he doesn't let his opinion get in the way of what he learns in the future to be true. Half way through the lesson, I received an idea to sing the hymn "I Am a Child of God." So, at the end of the lesson, Elder Richards and I both sang the hymn together and asked him to focus on the words of the song (because it talks about our purpose here on earth), and at the end, he was in tears. Now I know that wasn't our singing, but rather the spirit testifying of the words and the message. We asked him what he was feeling and he said it was a joy he's never experienced before and he started thanking us for bringing that to him. He said he feels something different around us that makes him so happy. We were able to testify to him that that feeling was not from us but from the spirit. It was God communicating to him the path he should take that would lead him to be his happiest self. It was such an amazing thing to see the spirit change him, and also to see him accept it and not be afraid to follow after what he knew to be true. There's nothing like seeing people change to God. The spirit was piercingly strong and I am so thankful for that moment in my mission. 

Well, basically that was only half of what I wanted to share with you all this week, but part two will come next week. Follow truth. Don't run from it. 

I love you all so extremely much!

- Elder Austin Celaya

Selfie with cookie (my favorite dog here) haha.

Contacting at a Hip-Hop Concert (20 May 2015)

Wow, what adventures I’ve had these past weeks! I have been so extremely busy, that is the reason I did not write last week. Where do I start? 

Well, I guess I will talk about transfers. My companion Elder Hausenfluck finished his mission last week and went home. I am so happy to have been able to serve with him. He taught me so much and I will use that knowledge the rest of my mission and even my life. 

I now have a new companion named Elder Richards. He is just awesome! We have a great time together. He is from Utah and has only been out for five months, but he is a stud! He's not afraid to talk to anyone and he's so good at doing it. He's very patient and loving and virtuous and is always looking for ways to show how much he cares. It's amazing how much you learn from your companions. 

- Elder Cook from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came and visited our mission. That was just unbelievable. I got to sing before he talked and it was such a good and crazy experience. It was incredible how much love he had for us. You could really feel it and I have never felt it like I did then.

- We have been trying to talk to everyone in the streets here that we can. Elder Richards is so willing to talk with anyone and so we have been coming up with good ways to contact people. Sometimes it can be scary, but then after you do it, it's no big deal! I think I enjoy it a little more than tracting, but tracting is great too!

- Contacting at a hip-hop concert in the park.

So there are these crossroads that we always walk across every day. We were walking to a family’s house that we usually teach, and all of a sudden we saw tons of people and heard this loud music. As we got closer we saw they closed off all the roads, set up tons of pop-up tents, and they had a huge stage in the middle of the road. It was absolutely wild! We went to the family’s house and after we had the appointment with them, we had planned to go look up a person before our next appointment. Well, we then asked ourselves, "How often in our area are there thousands of people all gathered together at one spot?" Really it's not that often. So we decided to go contact people and try to talk to them. We spotted this family on a bench and we went up to them and asked them if they knew who was performing. They told us, and they started talking and it was great. The man had been in an accident and the bone in his leg broke sideways, so they cut out the bone and put in a metal rod. He then started talking about how real God was to him in that moment. He is from Brooklyn and turns out he is a music producer. Since I love to do the same thing, we connected well on that level. He told us how he's seen everything worldly in his life, and has realized that family is what he really wants. So, we were able to talk about the plan that God has for us on the earth and they really loved it! We took their information down and we will keep in contact with them. This is just one of the amazing experiences we have had this week by talking to people on the street. It is amazing what happens when you simply open your mouth. 

- I have learned this week a little bit more about how God works with us. We must first do our part (to show Him our desire and our faith), and then He will do the rest. For example, the hardest part about contacting people is convincing yourself to go talk to that person, but after you do that, you feel the spirit speaking through you to them, and it becomes a beautiful thing. It really is true how they say faith always precedes the miracle. 

I have been thinking about really how simple life can be if we allow it to be. We are all here on this earth. As far as we know, we sometimes feel as if we have no direction. It really is simple. There was a man who came to the earth and lived a perfect life, and showed us the way to happiness here in this life, and eternal bliss in the world to come. That man is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Sometimes I ask myself why we don't just give our full hearts to Him and follow His example when we know it will lead us to happiness that in our human state we aren't able to comprehend. Do we not want happiness? Haha, at least that's the question I ask myself when I don't fully give my heart to Him and trust Him. I sometimes ask myself why I don't fully do that. But it's rather simple. God's given us the way to happiness in every area we could possibly think of, want, or envision and far beyond that. All we have to do is give our hearts to Him and exercise our free agency and choose to follow Him, because that's the one thing he doesn't have - our hearts. How can we simply give Him our hearts, and start ourselves on the path to infinite eternal bliss? I guess a good question to ask is what would we change if we knew we were to meet God today? I have been thinking a lot about that. And the answer that comes into my mind is I would give him my full heart. What would you change?

I love you all!

- Elder Celaya