Post on 14-Jul-2016
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One of the great joys of my calling as Mission President is the privilege I have to interview
all 174 missionaries in this wonderful mission—El Faro. These one-on-one visits help me understand where
the missionary is emotionally, physically, spiritually, and linguistically. Every interview cycle I have left
feeling inspired, lifted, motivated and thrilled by the strength, capacity, dedication and determination
of our missionaries—you! I have a kneeling prayer in Spanish with every missionary to invite the Spirit
and can ascertain quite a bit about his/her progress in our mission language. I also have the
opportunity to teach missionary discussions in Spanish and I have to say, in general, that the Castellano
I hear is quite good. However, I believe it can be even better. D&C 90:11 states that ,”Every man shall
hear the fullness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are
ordained unto this power.” PMG encourages us to strengthen our personal testimony to bring
converting power to our words by 1) learning the gospel thoroughly and 2) then learn to express our
testimony powerfully in the language of Castellano. Learning high quality Spanish does not come
easily or casually. It comes with the help of the Lord and a lot of hard work.
The first thing we should all seek is the gift of tongues by which our capacity to speak
Spanish is augmented by the power of the Holy Ghost. Part of seeking the gift of tongues is to labor
and struggle and to do all we can to learn the language. PMG invites us to study, practice and use the
mission language each day. My favorite quote on language by Elder Holland states that, “We would
hope that every missionary learning a new proselyting language would master it in every way
possible… And as you do so, your proselyting and testifying skills will improve. You will be better
received by and more spiritually impressive to your investigators. Don’t be satisfied with what we call a
missionary vocabulary only. Stretch yourself in the language, and you will gain greater access to the
hearts of the people.”
The principles of learning a new language include being dedicated and diligent. PMG
encourages us to take personal responsibility for pushing ourselves to learn as much as we can—never
be satisfied with where we are. Our study must be meaningful. Study the parts of the language which
will help you say what you want and need to say. Studying new words and new verbs is not enough.
We need to study grammar to understand word placement. After learning a new concept, it must be
practiced over and over before it will be retained. I would admonish you not to be casual and
haphazard about your language study. Be diligent about using that hour the way it should be used.
Create the language plan suggested by PMG. Set goals, decide on which learning tools help you the
most and stick to them. You should all have a quality Spanish grammar book, an English/Spanish
dictionary, and a pocket notebook to write new words as you hear them. In addition take advantage
of reading regularly and consistently from the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel. Especially the
lessons you teach must be mastered and delivered without stumbling or searching for the right word.
Memorize vocabulary and commonly-used phrases.
Message From Presidente Dayton
Mastering Our Mission Language in Every Way Possible
7 de Febrero de 2016El Clarín de El Faro
Listening carefully to natives speak and trying to reproduce exactly the way they
pronounce words will help a lot. Avoid the tendency to “Americanize” the common cognates
(oportunidad) or other Spanish words which are used commonly. Don’t hesitate to ask some to “hable
más despacio, por favor” (speak more slowly, please). Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. Be bold in
trying out your new words and phrases. Learn the common idioms (e.g. antemano=beforehand,
mientras tanto=in the mean time) and ways in which phrases are spoken differently in Spanish (e.g. for
“make a decision” in Spanish you don’t say “hacer una decision” you say “tomar una decision”). Ask
your companion or a native how something is said (Como se dice _______?). All of the lesson practicas
should, of course be done in Spanish, with the senior companion helping out with pronunciation. Set a
personal goal to learn a certain number of new words each week (for example, learning 30 new words
a week will increase your vocabulary by over 3,000 words in 2 years). Push yourself to learn new verbs
and their conjugations. Whenever you try to say something and can’t say it smoothly in Spanish, do
something about it so it never happens again.
My dear fellow missionaries, I love this beautiful language of Castellano! I have made
some progress in learning how to speak it, but I want to do much better. I believe the Lord will bless us
with more success as we strive to speak our mission language correctly. May the Lord bless you that
you will try to master the mission language in every way possible.
Con deseos de hablar como nativo,
Presidente Merril T Dayton
Message From Presidente Dayton
7 de Febrero de 2016El Clarín de El Faro
Sincerity vs. Hypocrisy
Message From Hermana Dayton
7 de Febrero de 2016El Clarín de El Faro
Sincerity is being as genuine on the inside as we appear on the outside. It is eagerly doing what is right with transparent motives. I once saw a demonstration illustrating sincerity that I will always remember. The person showed a pitcher of water and asked us to look at it and try to see through to the other side. Of course, we could do this. The lesson was then taught... if someone could see right through us, would they see what we speak and what we do in harmony with our thoughts and feelings? We were encouraged to always check our motives for why we did what we did by asking "why am I doing this?" We were warned to be aware of selfish motives, such as getting attention, winning approval, gaining power, or controlling others. We were taught that relationships were not opportunities to get what we want... it is always important to invest in others and serve others and meet their needs. We were also taught that we should only communicate what we really think and feel. That we should not try to manage perceptions by telling half truths, giving false impressions or exaggerating.
One of my favorite stories is of a nine years old boy named Bob who was in many foster homes growing up. He tells of a new social worker who sat him down, looked him directly in the eyes, and said, “Bobby, I want you to always remember these words: YOU ARE WORTHWHILE!” Each time they
met, she repeated those words. They became an affirmation of appreciation that he heard over and over again in his head. At age 16 he took a job at the Albany New York Times as a copy boy, and his
very first boss was a woman named Margaret. After he had worked there about six months, Margaret called him into her office one day and asked him to sit down. She looked him right in the eyes and said to him, “I have been the office manager for 15 years—I have been observing you—and I believe YOU ARE FULL OF PROMISE.” Those words, on that day, gave him permission to aspire. Those two positive SINCERE messages of appreciation played over and over again in his head and ultimately gave him the courage to be the very best he could be. Sixteen years later he became the Publisher of the Albany New York Times, and seven years after that, he became CEO of Hearst Newspapers, one of the largest newspaper companies in the world—and he credits it all to those simple SINCERE words of appreciation and love. What a wonderful example of how little WORDS OF SINCERE appreciation can make such a difference in a life!
Message From Hermana Dayton
7 de Febrero de 2016El Clarín de El Faro
In Helaman 3:27 we read, "the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the SINCERITY of their hearts, call upon His holy name." and in Moroni 10:4 it says, "if ye shall ask with a SINCERE heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you." The Lord desires for each of us to be sincere.
We can apply sincerity to missionary work by:
--Being sincere as we bear our testimonies
--Being sincere and genuine as we compliment our companions, investigators, ward members and others
--Being sincere as we pray to Heavenly Father expressing our deepest thoughts and desires
--Being sincere in honoring and obeying mission rules
--Being sincere as we express our love for investigators, even when they do not join the church
President Dayton and I sincerely love each one of you. We are grateful for the opportunity to know you and serve with you in this special mission. We feel such gratitude to the Lord for giving us this unique opportunity to serve, grow closer to you and to the Savior. We love you and we pray sincerely each day that you will be watched over and feel happiness as you faithfully serve the Lord.
Much love--
Hermana Dayton
Christlike Attributes- Faith, Charity, Love, Virtue, Hope, and Humility, Knowledge & Wisdom, Patience, Diligence, Creativity, Enthusiasm, Generosity, Forgiveness, Dependability, Availability, Orderliness, Gratitude, Endurance, Persuasiveness, Compassion, Alerness, Character, Decisiveness, Determination, Truthfulness, Benevolence, Honor, Sincerity
Percentage of Missionaries with Baptism
7 de Febrero de 2016El Clarín de El Faro
February
Comps.
Remaini
ng
66
Comps.
w/
Baptism
26
26
66
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Baptizing
companionships
Up to this point of the year, 28% of
all companionships have been
blessed with baptism!!!
Bautismos/Confirmaciones/Misioneros
7 de Febrero de 2016
“Eran contados … y se
inscribían sus nombres”
15
nov
22
nov
29
nov
6
dic
13
dic
20
dic
27
dic
3
ene
10
ene
17
ene
24
ene
31
ene
7
feb
Bautismos 6 8 9 12 5 8 12 7 7 3 5 10 3
Confirmaciones 6 9 9 12 5 7 10 10 7 3 5 10 3
Fechas bautismales 113 121 95 103 87 92 72 91 88 115 102 87 94
Inv reunion sacramental 222 164 211 166 215 162 173 170 192 204 197 191 190
Lecciones con un
miembro653 696 734 692 645 729 572 635 598 683 675 690 633
Lecciones con un m. p. 42% 45% 45% 46% 44% 45% 50% 47% 43% 42% 40% 46% 41%
Nuevos Investigadores 533 567 620 469 525 507 340 539 529 659 588 466 518
Bautismos/Confirmaciones esta semana 3
Bautismos/Confirmaciones este mes 3
Bautismos/Confirmaciones hasta la fecha
este año38
El Clarín de El Faro
Beatriz Mochon Avalos Mataró B Élderes Ross y Lightfoot
Ioan Feldrichan Logroño B Hermanas Lieberum y Martinez
Ulrich Anton Nussli Ibiza A Élderes Tonks y Saunders
And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith.Doctrine & Covenants 42:14
CINCO:
CUATRO: Hermanas Stilson y Jones
TRES: Hermanas Rathfon y Arauco
Élderes Jones e Ipsen
Élderes Gonzalez y Mallette
Élderes Alder y Christensen
Élderes McArthur y Carter
Juan Barcelona 3B
Roxana Barcelona 3C
Rocio, Miguel Angel Badalona 1B
Aurora Badalona 2B
Rocio Mataró A
Manuel Zaragoza 2C
Antoni Bilbao A
Andres Santander A
Mario Las Arenas A
Ferran Tarragona A
Andrea, Oscar, Maria Valencia 3A
Vitoria, Salvador
Phillip Valencia 1A
Luis Gandía A
Eduardo Gandía B
Oliver Palma 2A
Gonzalo Inca
7 de Febrero de 2016
Compañerismos que lograron las pautas de excelencia:
Oremos por estos investigadores con fechas bautismales para esta semana:
El Clarín de El Faro
The Zone
Hospitalet is in the Zone!-With an average of 7.2 new investigators per
companionship!
This week we saw the
baptism of Camela!! It was so
special her dad and uncle and
aunt came down from
Barcelona to see it! It was so
special. Afterwards, she bore
her testimony on eternal
families and how that is her
biggest desire. It was incredibly
powerful. There was not a dry
eye in the room. And she's only
ten years old! She's amazing.
She is going to contribute to
her family and siblings in an
incredible way.
Trina's baptism was
amazing!!!!!! She did it. She
took the step of faith and she
did it. It was stressful, and there
were so many things leaning
against it happening, but she
fought the devil and she
trusted in how she felt, and she
did it. She was so scared. We
helped her get all dressed up
in her whites, and then she saw
the font and Hermano Cesar
waiting for her. And she turned
to me and looked at me with
absolute fear in her eyes, and I
took her hand and told her it
would be okay, and then she
stepped into the font. She was
shaking so much and sweating
a little from her fear, but then
she got into the water. Right
before she went down, while
Cesar was saying the prayer,
she locked her eyes on mine,
and I smiled at her and
nodded my head. She
wouldn't take her eyes off
mine. And then she was
BAPTIZED!!!!!! It was amazing!
She did it! And afterwards we
could see a big difference in
her.
Well this week was great,
you remember how we
brought Glenda to church this
past Sunday? Well we
stopped by on Tuesday to try
to get her parents to let her get
baptized. They said, no but it
wasn't like a NO type of no! So
on Wednesday we passed by
and asked them all to pray
about it. So on Thursday we
stopped by again, after a
rough one hour visit we were
almost ready to give up when
we just decided to do practice
baptism were Elder ________
baptized me in their house,
Glenda wanted to try so we
did it to her too, she then
asked her parents to let her get
baptized this Saturday and
well it happened!!! Glenda
was baptized on Saturday and
confirmed on Sunday. That is
like not even one fourth of the
story but it was just incredible
that it happened.
This week was amazing
because we saw lots of
miracles and we also had 4
baptisms! I so glad to be a
missionary. All the bitter and
bad parts of missionary life can
be changed with a miracle of
a baptism. Ramón is a huge
miracle because he was
brought to church by a friend,
felt the spirit and had the
desires to change his life and
start anew. We set a fecha
with him and was progressing
for his date really well. The
family of three was a family
who have been taught by
missionaries for a long time. I
learned from them that
everyone has their moment
and for some it is fast and
others long. They were truly
prepared by the Lord.
13 de abril de 2014
The Miracle of Baptism
7 de Febrero de 2016El Clarín de El Faro
First off, Martha was
baptized!! What a great
weekend it was to celebrate
it with her. We sang a special
musical hymn called "Te
Hallaré mi amigo" and
Martha was in tears a
quarter through the song.
Our stake president Ferran
Sylvestre performed the
baptismal ordinance and it
ran very smoothly. It was a
sureal moment for Martha.
She was overwhelmed with
the spirit the whole service
and she looked like she was
just floating in heaven. She
decided to fast the day
before her baptism believing
that her faith in Christ would
help cure her nephew who
was very sick in ecuador. She
received a call from her
daughter the day of her
baptism letting her know
that her nephew was
recovering. She testified that
her experience with her fast,
baptism and receiving of the
gift of the holy ghost showed
her again that this is the true
church of Christ and that
God loves each one of us.
She´s going to be a stellar
member and we are excited
to continue to work with her
and watch her testimony
grow. This was a weekend I
will always remember.
The Miracle of Baptism
7 de Febrero de 2016El Clarín de El Faro
the miracle of this week
was the BAPTISM OF ERIKA!!!!!
president my heart is so full! I
am just so happy about it!!
Erika had been meeting for
the missionaries on and off for
the past year. We, meaning
my companion and I, had
personally been meeting with
her for the past three months.
It was a long process, but little
by little we watched as she
grew, and saw how the spirit
and the power of the Book of
Mormon truly did strengthen
her testimony and help her
be truly converted. She was
baptized Saturday and there
were so many people that
came to support her. The spirit
was so strong, and she just
radiated happiness. Honestly
one of the best moments of
my life. Even better is that she
has the goal to be sealed to
her fiance in the temple in a
year. And you can bet I will
come back in a year for her
temple sealing! :)
Drum roll please..
BAAPPTTTIIISSMM!!!!! Augusto
made it!!! We had the biggest
miracle baptism. I'm still in
shock. So this man is so
prepared to be baptized but
always had some fear or
something holding him back.
He had fechas but rejected
them. But Friday night we
brought Elder______ with us to
say goodbye to him cause he
loved him. And Elder ____ just
gave him a surprise baptismal
interview and he passed! But
didn't want to get baptized.
So we were like ok well at
least just come to the baptism
that we are having tomorrow
to see it. So me and Hermana
_____ head over to the
baptism and boom he is
sitting there with a cute little
backpack and is like
hermanas! I'm getting
baptized today! So we
dropped everything and
planned a baptism in less
than an hour. It was so good
president! The spirit was so
strong and he loved every
second of it! He kept saying
he just wants the light that
everyone at church has. It
was so amazing! It was also so
great to see how me and
Hermana ______ didn't do
anything for this baptism. How
it was all Heavenly Father and
we just were a little part in
getting him there. Suuuch a
miracle!!
7 de Febrero de 2016El Clarín de El FaroMission News
El Faro Welcomes New Missionaries
Elder Clifford
North Pole, AK
Hermana Humbert
Frankfurt, Germany
Elder Keen
Westoning, UK
Elder Cutrer
Herriman, UT
Elder Jensen
Idaho Falls, ID
Hermana Larson
Highland, UT
Hermana Lofgran
Orem, UT
Elder Thompson
Clearfield, UT