I've uploaded more photos to Jacob's Snapfish account. Click here to view.
Elder Jake to Dad:
We had interviews this week with President rasmussen and I told them that you guys were moving to Boise and they got excited and wanted to know where you guys were going and get your phone number. Oh well i guess!
We have not placed a single book this week and not one of our return appointments last week went through! We have a few that we can try by again, Chris in particular is still promising. President threw us a pretty big curveball this week! In our district meeting before interviews he talked about finding by the spirit. My attitude towards finding up until now has been all about dilligence and thoroughness: talk to as many people as possible as often as possible. However, President wants us to move to a more faith based approach. One of slowing down (a lot) and discerning and listening and following the spirit. Its kind of turned my approach on its head. It was really uncomfortable at first thinking about it and I felt really overwhelmed by it and a lot of the other counsel weve been given over the last few months. I really stuggled with it over the weekend but I want to do it! Its scary because it means we need to talk to far fewer people with a much higher success rate. Our new standards of excellence are to find 4 potential investigators a day and 3 new investigators a week!
There are other changes as well!! Along with all the new missionaries comiong in our transfer meetings will be discontinued and we will be going straight to our new areas at transfers!
Weve taught our investigators twice this week! Debbie is still very stubborn (I wont change!) but she reads what we leave her and prays so well see about that! Helen, her daughter, is very receptive! We taught the plan last night and she listened very well and felt that her questions were answered! We really only have one more chance to sink the hook with our next lesson! Hopefully the Gospel of Jesus Christ will answer their questions and concerns! I think it will really help Debbie see why we believe that going to church is important and that one true church is necessary! She has a really big issue with the necessity of church attendance shes always saying she doesnt need a church to pray. She has a lot of preconceived ideas that keep her from really listening to us and considering what we say. Pray for her heart to be softened and for her to listen! At the very least we need her to be ok with us teaching and focusing on Helen.
The last big thing from this week goes back to District Meeting, just after the massive changes and interviews started Elder Ockey gave a great district meeting about sustaining our leaders and following their counsel! (very appropriate!) Ive known Elder Ockey for 7 months now and in the last 6 weeks hes completely changed! He promised us all that if we would follow the many things weve been given over the last few months that we would all have an investigator on a date before transfers! And every time ive talked to him since its obvious how much more faith hes got; you can feel the spirit! Its pretty cool and it really helped me out when i was struggling with the changes the other day.
Pray for us to be in tune with the spirit! We need more faith here!
I love you! I will pray for you guys!
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Monday, January 14, 2013
November to January
So we (Eric and I) were able to spend about 45 minutes talking to Jacob on Christmas. He looks really good and is really enjoying his new companion, Elder Watt, who we got to meet very briefly. He's from Scotland, and has a pretty mild accent from what Jacob says. Sounded pretty thick to me, but Jacob also had a touch of an accent to me! Elder Watt has been teaching him some pretty confusing Scottish slang. There's an email all in it, and he had to explain it to me when we talked on Christmas.
He's finally out of Swindon, but hasn't given me his current address to update, so for now, stick with the mission home. He's been moved to a suburb of Birmingham, called Cannock. He's fairly close to the mission home now.
Here are the emails I've been hoarding :)
He's finally out of Swindon, but hasn't given me his current address to update, so for now, stick with the mission home. He's been moved to a suburb of Birmingham, called Cannock. He's fairly close to the mission home now.
Here are the emails I've been hoarding :)
1/07
Elder Jake to Dad:
We had a really good week this week!!
Over the past 2 weeks in Cannock weve only placed a total of 4 Books of Mormon but this week we placed 7!!! We have 5 return appointments scheduled for this week!
On Wednesday we were off to a good start and talking to everyone. We had a really good discussion and although he wasnt interested, he said that Bridgetown had a lot of people who might need some upliftment. So after setting up a return appointmnet with a potential from a week or so ago we headed down there and did some tracting. We met a pregnant lady named Stacy and she took a book and a return appoinment! Later in the day we were tracting a pretty posh area and eveyrone seemed too comfortable with their money to listen to us. Elder Watt was starting to get discouraged and we decided we would move on to another street we had planned for but as we were walking I remembered the words from Alma 26: 27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to aturn back, behold, the Lord bcomforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the [Cannockites], and bear with cpatience thine dafflictions, and I will give unto you success.
So we turned back and I spent a minute looking down the street. Finally i decided on a door and walked right up to it. We talked to a nice Catholic lady named Anne for a bit and told her about the Book of Mormon. She aid "Well, are you going to leave me something to read?" Miracle! We left her 3 Nephi 11.
On Thursday we had an appointment in the evening that cancelled and we hadnt made back up plans so i looked at my map and picked a near by street. We started tracting and we really had the help of the Spirit as we were talking to people! Along the way we met a young guy named Chris. Hes 24 and he has a young son. His partner is an inactive member and her whole family are mormon. We talked to him a bit and left him Moroni 10 and made a return appointment.
On Saturday we had planned to give out 6 books as we were going to have several hours and our vision was high but in the morning I had a nasty flat and we only ended up having an hour to tract in Great Wyrley before we had top head to a ward activity. We prayed and started to walk down the street and we both turned to a specific door at the same time and met Diane. She wasnt sure who we were at first but she could tell instantly we werent Jehovahs witnesses! We talked a bit and she expressed some interest and believes in the afterlife! We left her alma 40 and well be calling her this evening or tomorrow to set up an appointment!
On Sunday we didnt have much time because we had a dinner/lesson in the evening. We got there 15 minutes early though and left our backpacks at the members house and knocked a few doors. We picked one on our way back and met Jonathan! He already had a Book of Mormon form a year ago when he lived in Birmingham and we left him 3 Nephi 11. Well go back same time next week! Afterwards we had a dinner with some members and Debbie and her daughter Helen, two possible investigators that the meber, Sister McCall reffered to us months ago. Elder Watt and Elder Patten spent a while building a relationship with them and we finally ahd a chance to sit down. We watched the Restoration DVD and then talked a bit. It was a bit chaotic! The members first instinct was to try to thoroughly answer ever concern that came up! I do not recommend it! But we gave them both the Book of Mormon and we will be teaching them over the next 3 weeks starting on Tuesday! 2 New Investigators! First ones in cannock!
Another highlight of the week was knocking on a Jw's door. He was one of the most condescending people I have ever met in my entire life! It was very entertaining though and we may go to one of their services in the near future! (Elder Watt is super curious, and neither of us have been to another Church yet)
It was a good week! Things are starting to happen! We are very excited and our successes this week really help us to keep going! The area is ready! The Ward likes us, they are willing to come teaching and to share the Gospel with others! Its awesome! And its all mine! Finally im not in a 4 man area >:D Granted, President asked us if Cannock can handle 2 more and we may get sisters in here in the next several months! Lame!
Im sure ill find out more at Presidents interviews this week!!
12/17
Elder Jake to LoraLynn:
(I told him his Christmas package was on the way, and that he was not allowed to open it until Christmas. This was his response) Oh no ya' pap! Ill set yer face on fire! Ill thor frosen haggis at ya'! Ill be on that package like a dog on rhubarb!..... Im scranned oot my nut! I just took a massive jobbie!
:P
Ok, ill wait, but there better be SOMETHING I can open.
12/11
Elder Jake to Dad:
I dont have much time to type today, hopefully ill get some time after transfers. The word is in, Im going Sr. with an Elder Watt in Cannock (its not far north from Birmingham) which just so happens to be one of Elder Hutchings previous areas! But the best news of all is Elder Watt is Scottish!! Im super excited! Im gonna be all over that wee jabbie like a dog on rhubarb! I will find out more about Christmas likely after I get there so ill be able to tell you more then but im super excited!!! I hear the Chapel in Cannock is one of the nicest in England and can be converted into a temple if needed so Ill make sure to find out more about that! Also its snowing out, barely, here in swindon. Everything is white with frost!
12/03
Elder Jake to Dad:
Bhesh is no longer getting baptized this week! we have to push it back again because he couldnt make it to church this week and we werent able to teach him, and wont be able to until saturday. Hes a tough one but we dont want to baptize him before hes ready and we have several things we need to teach him.
This week we had the worst numbers of my entire mission! We taught one lesson to a possible investigator, one to a recent convert, Catherine (we have to reteach her some things as well because she hasnt been to church in a few weeks and doesnt seem to understand the principle of the sabbath as well as some other things), and one to the Phelps who are my pride and joy! The whole family came to church again this week, save brother phelps who was home sick. He snuck in for sacrament however because he couldnt miss it and because he didnt want to let us down. What a trooper!
We finally managed to place some books this week! After two solid weeks of not placing a single one! We put out 7 this week. 3 to good possible new investigator (we have return appointments for tomorrow, friday, and in two weeks!) one to a lady who rushed off before we could get her details (but shell read it!) one to an unbelievably prepared woman!!... whos going to australia for 3 months! (she cried teared up on the doorstep when we told her she could see her husband again! she will cherish that book of mormon!) one to a turkish guy in Swindon B's area, and one top a very nice recently converted Christian who said we could follow up in a month! Woohoo! The return appointments are obviously what were most excited about. One is Dale a pretty gruff guy without a whole lot of beliefs but he was interested to read the book of mormon, one to a really cool kid named Dex and his brother tyrone; he was really eager to learn more! And one to a skeptical old man named Ian Wardrop who really liked the idea of finding out for himself, he said prove to him we were right and we gave him the book of mormon and invited him to prove to us it was wrong! (He chuckled at that and accepted)
Next week is transfers so I dont know when ill get to email. I figure im most likely moving out of swindon! I will tell you the news as soon as i can!
I love you!
This week we had the worst numbers of my entire mission! We taught one lesson to a possible investigator, one to a recent convert, Catherine (we have to reteach her some things as well because she hasnt been to church in a few weeks and doesnt seem to understand the principle of the sabbath as well as some other things), and one to the Phelps who are my pride and joy! The whole family came to church again this week, save brother phelps who was home sick. He snuck in for sacrament however because he couldnt miss it and because he didnt want to let us down. What a trooper!
We finally managed to place some books this week! After two solid weeks of not placing a single one! We put out 7 this week. 3 to good possible new investigator (we have return appointments for tomorrow, friday, and in two weeks!) one to a lady who rushed off before we could get her details (but shell read it!) one to an unbelievably prepared woman!!... whos going to australia for 3 months! (she cried teared up on the doorstep when we told her she could see her husband again! she will cherish that book of mormon!) one to a turkish guy in Swindon B's area, and one top a very nice recently converted Christian who said we could follow up in a month! Woohoo! The return appointments are obviously what were most excited about. One is Dale a pretty gruff guy without a whole lot of beliefs but he was interested to read the book of mormon, one to a really cool kid named Dex and his brother tyrone; he was really eager to learn more! And one to a skeptical old man named Ian Wardrop who really liked the idea of finding out for himself, he said prove to him we were right and we gave him the book of mormon and invited him to prove to us it was wrong! (He chuckled at that and accepted)
Next week is transfers so I dont know when ill get to email. I figure im most likely moving out of swindon! I will tell you the news as soon as i can!
I love you!
Elder Jake to LoraLynn:
The scarf got some attention on Sunday! Some 14 year old girls asked if i was from Gryffindor, theyre were very impressed, i was very uncomfortable! Attention from 14 year olds is something i dont need! I certainly hope that you are doing well! I will have something small but special for you and others very soon! I may ask you to deliver some for me (thats a definite)
I love you!
11/26
Elder Jake to Dad:
Mixed review this week!
Our finding has still produced no fruit (visibly anyways) as we havent been able to place a book or secure a return appointment in almost 2 weeks now. Lots of conversations, lost of people quite "comfortable" with where theyre at. Its quite frustrating and I have to try really hard to not bash. I can think of so many rational ways of pointing out that thats not good enough (I am picking up a lot of Bible knowledge that I must not use for evil purposes) but that never helps! An intellectual testimony is useless as anything but an expansion on a spiritual testimony! And i cant give people a testimony! Speaking of an intellectual testimony! Ive been listening to loads of talks as of late (we have a member in our ward who gave each of us loads and loads of talks he accumulated on his mission) and there are two interesting ones called "The 17 Points of the True Church" and "Little Known Evidences of the Book of Mormon" Both very interesting and worth looking up! Still many more to peruse through but theyve been really giving me a boost this week!
We had a bit of a miracle this week concerning our assignment to seek out unbaptized children! Elder Barker and I biked out to Purton (a few miles outside of Swindon) for a return appointment with a woman Elder Brewer and I met, and then planned to bike to Cricklade (even further outside of Swindon) to contact the mother of one of the children in the ward. The appointment flogged and we did some finding in the area before setting off for Cricklade. When we arrived we found that my tire was leaking air pretty quickly. We walked to where the girls mother lived and found she wasnt in so we contacted the other Swindon Elders and they told us there was a less active family nearby. We went to this family and met the husband who isnt a member (nor is he particularly interested) and he helped us to patch the tire. As he was helping us, his wife and step-daughter came home. His step-daughter is the woman we were trying to contact! We did not make an appointment at that time but we learned a bit about the situation and will hopefully be finding her daughter a ride to Church in the near future. The daughter loves Church and would supposedly come every week if her Mother was more willing! We also spoke to the mother of another unbaptized girl in our ward and have dinner with them tomorrow! Melody has a lot of phobias and is really shy but is not opposed to baptism beyond any of her anxieties! Her mother said it would help if we came around for dinner more often! Score! Hopefully we can help her with some of her fears!
Probably the biggest surprise of this week is Bes, our Nepalese guy who has been coming to Church but didnt want to be taught, is now completely committed to Baptism at the soonest opportunity! Weve been trying to teach him things but his schedule has been crazy due to a number of temporary jobs hes been talking on. But he accepts everything that we teach and passively believes everything he reads in the leaflets we give him ("Do you believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet?" "Yes, I read the book.") Its a little off putting! But he will be baptized either this Saturday or next depending on how many times we can see him this week! Crazy! other than him our teaching pool is nil and as much as I want to move on at the end of the transfer, I also really want to leave this area better than I found it (empty). The next transfer day will be the 12th of December I believe.
I am not pasty white!... I think! I was actually doing alright in the summer but it is winter now and its very cold and wet! Emphasis on wet! Nothing is waterproof enough for this kind of wet and it doesnt dry quickly indoors. Good stuff!
Not much else to report this week, Ive gained a renewed enthusiasm for the Book of Mormon through a couple of talks Ive been listening to, namely that one about little known evidences, very very interesting!
I love you!
Our finding has still produced no fruit (visibly anyways) as we havent been able to place a book or secure a return appointment in almost 2 weeks now. Lots of conversations, lost of people quite "comfortable" with where theyre at. Its quite frustrating and I have to try really hard to not bash. I can think of so many rational ways of pointing out that thats not good enough (I am picking up a lot of Bible knowledge that I must not use for evil purposes) but that never helps! An intellectual testimony is useless as anything but an expansion on a spiritual testimony! And i cant give people a testimony! Speaking of an intellectual testimony! Ive been listening to loads of talks as of late (we have a member in our ward who gave each of us loads and loads of talks he accumulated on his mission) and there are two interesting ones called "The 17 Points of the True Church" and "Little Known Evidences of the Book of Mormon" Both very interesting and worth looking up! Still many more to peruse through but theyve been really giving me a boost this week!
We had a bit of a miracle this week concerning our assignment to seek out unbaptized children! Elder Barker and I biked out to Purton (a few miles outside of Swindon) for a return appointment with a woman Elder Brewer and I met, and then planned to bike to Cricklade (even further outside of Swindon) to contact the mother of one of the children in the ward. The appointment flogged and we did some finding in the area before setting off for Cricklade. When we arrived we found that my tire was leaking air pretty quickly. We walked to where the girls mother lived and found she wasnt in so we contacted the other Swindon Elders and they told us there was a less active family nearby. We went to this family and met the husband who isnt a member (nor is he particularly interested) and he helped us to patch the tire. As he was helping us, his wife and step-daughter came home. His step-daughter is the woman we were trying to contact! We did not make an appointment at that time but we learned a bit about the situation and will hopefully be finding her daughter a ride to Church in the near future. The daughter loves Church and would supposedly come every week if her Mother was more willing! We also spoke to the mother of another unbaptized girl in our ward and have dinner with them tomorrow! Melody has a lot of phobias and is really shy but is not opposed to baptism beyond any of her anxieties! Her mother said it would help if we came around for dinner more often! Score! Hopefully we can help her with some of her fears!
Probably the biggest surprise of this week is Bes, our Nepalese guy who has been coming to Church but didnt want to be taught, is now completely committed to Baptism at the soonest opportunity! Weve been trying to teach him things but his schedule has been crazy due to a number of temporary jobs hes been talking on. But he accepts everything that we teach and passively believes everything he reads in the leaflets we give him ("Do you believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet?" "Yes, I read the book.") Its a little off putting! But he will be baptized either this Saturday or next depending on how many times we can see him this week! Crazy! other than him our teaching pool is nil and as much as I want to move on at the end of the transfer, I also really want to leave this area better than I found it (empty). The next transfer day will be the 12th of December I believe.
I am not pasty white!... I think! I was actually doing alright in the summer but it is winter now and its very cold and wet! Emphasis on wet! Nothing is waterproof enough for this kind of wet and it doesnt dry quickly indoors. Good stuff!
Not much else to report this week, Ive gained a renewed enthusiasm for the Book of Mormon through a couple of talks Ive been listening to, namely that one about little known evidences, very very interesting!
I love you!
11/19
Elder Jake to Dad:
This week has been really tough!
We lost all our investigators this week (except Bhesh, but he was in London). Darren finally got out of the hospital but he suffered some brain damage and essentially has a degree of memory loss. We sat with him and talked and gave him a blessing but he was forgetting things as we were sitting with him. Sandra is just too busy at the moment and doesnt want to waste our time. We have tried and tried to meet with Sue but here health simply hasnt allowed it. Debbie looked like she was coming back this week but ultimately cancelled. Bhesh is in London! We have been finding a lot and met with little success. We only managed to place 1 book this week.
So there hasnt been too much going on! but we had our less active family at Church again yesterday! It was asweome! The Phelps are way cool (theyre the ones that took us to Stonehenge) and Ive been dropping by ever since I came to Swindon and theyve finally made the step back to Church! We taught them this week and had lunch with them and you could just see how much they enjoyed coming last week. We saw them at a ward activity on Saturday and it was really awesome how they just fit in. The ward knows who they are very well and was just as excited as us to see them back!
We also had a workover with the Zone Leaders yesterday and it was really good! Elder Brewer and Elder Rogers (my former DL) are really some of my best friends. They are inspiring examples to me and theyre just really good guys! Elder Brewer served here in Swindon for over 7 months and he could really relate to how I was feeling about things and we are very like-minded in our attitudes about missionary work. Plus hes best friends from back home with Elder Hutchings! Which I dont know if Ive mentioned it but Elder Hutchings is training again at the moment! I have a mission Brother! Hes from Georgia and he never read the Book of Mormon before his mission (they dont have it in Georgian and his Russian isnt great, nor is his English!) I cant spell or pronounce his name so i wont type it here. Cool stuff though!
Also! Skype time is drawing near! Just over a month from now it will be that time again!
I love you!
We lost all our investigators this week (except Bhesh, but he was in London). Darren finally got out of the hospital but he suffered some brain damage and essentially has a degree of memory loss. We sat with him and talked and gave him a blessing but he was forgetting things as we were sitting with him. Sandra is just too busy at the moment and doesnt want to waste our time. We have tried and tried to meet with Sue but here health simply hasnt allowed it. Debbie looked like she was coming back this week but ultimately cancelled. Bhesh is in London! We have been finding a lot and met with little success. We only managed to place 1 book this week.
So there hasnt been too much going on! but we had our less active family at Church again yesterday! It was asweome! The Phelps are way cool (theyre the ones that took us to Stonehenge) and Ive been dropping by ever since I came to Swindon and theyve finally made the step back to Church! We taught them this week and had lunch with them and you could just see how much they enjoyed coming last week. We saw them at a ward activity on Saturday and it was really awesome how they just fit in. The ward knows who they are very well and was just as excited as us to see them back!
We also had a workover with the Zone Leaders yesterday and it was really good! Elder Brewer and Elder Rogers (my former DL) are really some of my best friends. They are inspiring examples to me and theyre just really good guys! Elder Brewer served here in Swindon for over 7 months and he could really relate to how I was feeling about things and we are very like-minded in our attitudes about missionary work. Plus hes best friends from back home with Elder Hutchings! Which I dont know if Ive mentioned it but Elder Hutchings is training again at the moment! I have a mission Brother! Hes from Georgia and he never read the Book of Mormon before his mission (they dont have it in Georgian and his Russian isnt great, nor is his English!) I cant spell or pronounce his name so i wont type it here. Cool stuff though!
Also! Skype time is drawing near! Just over a month from now it will be that time again!
I love you!
Elder Jake to LoraLynn:
Its really cold!!! Saw a thermometer the other day and its about 8 celsius, which comes close to about 40 degrees I believe. Not to mention the air is wet! Theres been a lot of mist lately and going out in the morning and finding frost on everything is not uncommon! Awesome! Luckily I have my cozy scarf! Which many poeple are attributing to Dr. Who lately... interesting!
Bulldogs are ugly!! (Eric and I found a lost bulldog and took care of it for a night)
Its so cool how many people are going on missions! Ive heard of several already; Elder Barker has multiple girls back home going on missions! :O
We lost pretty much all of our investigators this week and our finding efforts have been unusually ineffective as well! Woohoo! But its ok, weve got things to try and well see how this week goes!
Much love!
11/5
Elder Jake to Dad:
This has been a mighty interesting week!
On Monday last week we committed Darren to baptism on the 8th of December!! He wants to do it and he knows he has to quit the drugs and alcohol! The kicker is by Wednesday night he OD'd and hes still in the hospital, in and out of consciousness, having occasional seizures..... so we didnt count him as "1 with a date" this week. We spoke to his Dad and hopefully this experience finally puts him off his habits and if he recovers soon than he should hopefully be even more prepared to live the gospel; thats what we hope anyways.
Once again we did a LOT of finding this week. Lots of door knocking. Unfortunately I feel ive completely fallen out of the habit of stopping poeple on the street between places and I cant seem to just get back into it. I need some prayers to get me back into proselyting shape!
As of this week my 5th transfer is finally over and were starting my 6th which means I have been out 7.5 months. I added up the totals for the transfer and we gave out 34 books! A new record for both Elder Barker and I but still 26 below the "standard" we are striving to achieve. Still, its a great improvement, i can only account for 5 given out in the previous transfer (though im sure there was a handful more i just didnt take note of)
But Elder Barker and I have established our vision for this upcoming transfer.
4 Baptisms, 2 With a Date, and 2 Returning Families. This is what we might consider optimistic. But were gonna do it! And the Glory be to the Father! Were excited to get to work and we have a handful of appointments set up this week already that were really crossing our fingers for.
Some interesting experiences worth noting this week:
-We were tracting and a woman invited us to strip her wallpaper. (She was being cheeky) We quite readily accepted and then entered a room full of girls between ages 12 and probably about 20 and stripped half the wallpaper while they teased us and commented on our butts. I dont think there was a male in the house and were definitely not going back.... but we gave them a Mormon.org card!
-I was invited to teach Gospel Principles just before we left for Church on Sunday. I prepared about a third of the lesson in Priesthood and then had to wing it from there. The subject: Eternal Marriage! And the other elders had an investigator there that is unmarried and living with her partner! Supposedly I did a good job but it was incredibly stressful.
-I bore my testimony in Church on Sunday, i somehow timed it so I was the last one, but it went really well and for once I didnt cry! I was close though, it was like weird crying without tears
-We had dinner on Halloween with an American family that recently moved into the ward, it was awesome!!! Soft tacos, American Style! I had 3 overstuffed wraps! Followed by brownies mmmmmmm. 3 days later we had dinner with the chinese family in the ward. It was really good but afterwards they brought out dessert. I could have sworn it was fish eggs and fish chunks in dirty brown water... turns out it was just tapioca!! Still looks gross though! Were actually pretty lucky when it comes to food, I have yet to have something really weird and man I love roast dinners. Meat and gravy and yorkshire puddings, roasties are good too but i still dont particularly fancy mashed potatoes.
-Andrew is back and we taught him again! he still likes the Book of Mormon, thinks Joseph Smith was probably a prophet, but isnt sure he agrees with the things we believe ( the deep dodgy secret stuff!). Interestingly he experimented with living the word of wisdom while he was in Scotland and abstained from tea and coffee for 3 weeks! Interesting fellow! We have come to the conclusion that there is some deeper concern feeding his continued insistence that he disagrees with some of the things we believe in. We believe that he has thought very seriously about joining the Church (likes the Book of Mormon, liked the Church environment, experimented with the WoW, and still wants to hear us out) but were trying to figure out what is REALLY holding him back, it seems like hes just trying to find excuses not to go through with it.
-It was Elder Hutchings Birthday on the 1st!! Hes 21 now! its nuts hes only got about 4 or 5 months left!
Nashville! There are guitars in Nashville!! I want to say that Fender has a factory there that you can tour or something like that, maybe Gibson as well... I want to see pictures!! (Mom and Dad went on a trip back East and visited Nashville)
Man everything will be so different when I get home. OH! I almost forgot! Will I be getting an absentee ballot for the election?? I want to vote darn it! I cant complain about it if i dont!
I Love you!
On Monday last week we committed Darren to baptism on the 8th of December!! He wants to do it and he knows he has to quit the drugs and alcohol! The kicker is by Wednesday night he OD'd and hes still in the hospital, in and out of consciousness, having occasional seizures..... so we didnt count him as "1 with a date" this week. We spoke to his Dad and hopefully this experience finally puts him off his habits and if he recovers soon than he should hopefully be even more prepared to live the gospel; thats what we hope anyways.
Once again we did a LOT of finding this week. Lots of door knocking. Unfortunately I feel ive completely fallen out of the habit of stopping poeple on the street between places and I cant seem to just get back into it. I need some prayers to get me back into proselyting shape!
As of this week my 5th transfer is finally over and were starting my 6th which means I have been out 7.5 months. I added up the totals for the transfer and we gave out 34 books! A new record for both Elder Barker and I but still 26 below the "standard" we are striving to achieve. Still, its a great improvement, i can only account for 5 given out in the previous transfer (though im sure there was a handful more i just didnt take note of)
But Elder Barker and I have established our vision for this upcoming transfer.
4 Baptisms, 2 With a Date, and 2 Returning Families. This is what we might consider optimistic. But were gonna do it! And the Glory be to the Father! Were excited to get to work and we have a handful of appointments set up this week already that were really crossing our fingers for.
Some interesting experiences worth noting this week:
-We were tracting and a woman invited us to strip her wallpaper. (She was being cheeky) We quite readily accepted and then entered a room full of girls between ages 12 and probably about 20 and stripped half the wallpaper while they teased us and commented on our butts. I dont think there was a male in the house and were definitely not going back.... but we gave them a Mormon.org card!
-I was invited to teach Gospel Principles just before we left for Church on Sunday. I prepared about a third of the lesson in Priesthood and then had to wing it from there. The subject: Eternal Marriage! And the other elders had an investigator there that is unmarried and living with her partner! Supposedly I did a good job but it was incredibly stressful.
-I bore my testimony in Church on Sunday, i somehow timed it so I was the last one, but it went really well and for once I didnt cry! I was close though, it was like weird crying without tears
-We had dinner on Halloween with an American family that recently moved into the ward, it was awesome!!! Soft tacos, American Style! I had 3 overstuffed wraps! Followed by brownies mmmmmmm. 3 days later we had dinner with the chinese family in the ward. It was really good but afterwards they brought out dessert. I could have sworn it was fish eggs and fish chunks in dirty brown water... turns out it was just tapioca!! Still looks gross though! Were actually pretty lucky when it comes to food, I have yet to have something really weird and man I love roast dinners. Meat and gravy and yorkshire puddings, roasties are good too but i still dont particularly fancy mashed potatoes.
-Andrew is back and we taught him again! he still likes the Book of Mormon, thinks Joseph Smith was probably a prophet, but isnt sure he agrees with the things we believe ( the deep dodgy secret stuff!). Interestingly he experimented with living the word of wisdom while he was in Scotland and abstained from tea and coffee for 3 weeks! Interesting fellow! We have come to the conclusion that there is some deeper concern feeding his continued insistence that he disagrees with some of the things we believe in. We believe that he has thought very seriously about joining the Church (likes the Book of Mormon, liked the Church environment, experimented with the WoW, and still wants to hear us out) but were trying to figure out what is REALLY holding him back, it seems like hes just trying to find excuses not to go through with it.
-It was Elder Hutchings Birthday on the 1st!! Hes 21 now! its nuts hes only got about 4 or 5 months left!
Nashville! There are guitars in Nashville!! I want to say that Fender has a factory there that you can tour or something like that, maybe Gibson as well... I want to see pictures!! (Mom and Dad went on a trip back East and visited Nashville)
Man everything will be so different when I get home. OH! I almost forgot! Will I be getting an absentee ballot for the election?? I want to vote darn it! I cant complain about it if i dont!
I Love you!
Elder Jake to Mom and John:
John- What did you get??? Is it fun?? (a video game John earned the money for) Dont spoil the ending for me just yet! How tall are you now. Its getting really cold over here, close to 0 degrees (Celsius) It snowed during Church yesterday! Dont remind me how much time I have left! I love you bud!
Mom,
Its been an alright week! A bit weird at times! An investigator missed an appointment because hes in the hospital and ANOTHER one missed an appointment because she had a stroke! Were killing everyone we meet! Other than that we continue to find, find, find, find, find! Not doing a whole lot of teaching, nor have we been for a while but were really optimistic for the next several weeks! We have several appointments set up this week, not sure how solid all of them are, but weve also got lots of ideas in mind for how to get things moving. Our leaders are always supportive and always have suggestions and we have Zone Conference this week to hopefully give us some ideas.
So good things ahead!!
It sounds like things are going well at home too! Make sure to have fun while you guys are taking a break! I love you!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Two Months Worth All at Once...
Time to play catch up!
I love you and I hope things are going well this week!
10/29
Jake to Dad
This week has been a lot better!
The first several days were pretty empty and we didnt seem to find any success
but regardless I felt a lot better about things! Your email really helped a lot.
Though the first half of the week didnt yield much, the latter half contained a few gems! We met a woman named Maria from Italy that was being taught by missionaries there before she came to visit family in Swindon for a few months. We also met a nice African woman named Gladys who has 3 children and accepted the Book of Mormon.
The greatest miracle of the week however has been a woman named Sue. She is INCREDIBLE. She has been searching her whole life for the truth. Ever since she was a child and read John 3:16 she has known that there was something out there and has been looking for it. Her family went through many religions while she was young, finally settling with the Jehovah's Witnesses but she knew that that wasnt right to her. She has investigated all different churches, Christian, Hindu, Muslim and believes ours comes closest to her understanding of the truth as shes found in her studies of science, history, and the Bible. She has also endured a lot of pain at the hands of an abusive husband in the past, to the extent that she hasnt been able to use her legs in years because of the damage he did to her spine.
Elder Callen and I found her almost 2 months ago but she was in too much pain at the time to sit with us so she gave us her number and asked us to call if we were ever nearby. Elder Barker and I finally met her this week and for 2 hours we listened to her story and spoke with her. As she told us all that she had experienced and about her search I just couldnt think of what to say to her. I felt that my knowledge and experience was far too limited to giver her any sort of comfort or to answer her questions. I flipped to many different scriptures from The Book of Mormon to Doctrine and Covenants to the Pearl of Great Price and finally decided I would read to her Joseph Smith History. I began a few verses in and as I started to read the most powerful Spirit Ive ever felt settled into the room. It filled me up and my body trembled as I read to her. When I read the part where Joseph Smith says "What is to be done?" She stopped me and said "Thats exactly how i feel". I kept reading through the first vision and then I bore my testimony of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was so thick you could cut it! We talked some more and after 2 hours had passes we told her we needed to go and we left her the Book of Mormon which she accepted graciously. We havent been able to see her since as she hasnt been feeling well but I spoke to her on the phone and shes enjoying what shes reading!
She needs prayers!
In other news Debbie has yet to ever contact us, Charlie dropped us, her family is really putting on the pressure at the moment and she needs some time. Andrew is coming back from scotland, and Bhesh has so far enjoyed Church. He didnt come to Stake Conference this week (which was really good) but thats alright.
Elder Kearon gave a really great talk at Conference ( I got to shake his hand afterward!) It was on a variety of things but the part that really stood out was about the Atonement. He related an analogy another Seventy shared to describe the Atonement. He told of a beautiful park in Idaho, with rolling green hills and trees and a sparkling clear river with the Idaho Falls Temple at one corner. The Park was built on top of a landfill! He said that if you were to go to this park and try to dig out all of your rubbish and waste that went into it it would be an outrage, they would say why are you trying to go back and pull out all this trash? Look around you and see all the beauty that has come from it. The message was that we shouldnt go back and dwell on our mistakes our on our bad memories, rather we should accept them as something that makes the Atonement even more beautiful and wonderful for us because with it we can have something better.
I guess thats something that kind of defines my week this week. Just letting go. Letting things happen the way theyre supposed to and not worrying so much about it. Its a tough lesson and I cant say ive really "learned it" but im working on it!
I almost forgot! We got transfer news on Friday as transfers are Today this week.
Elder Barker and I are staying in Swindon for another 6 weeks! Though im quite certain that Im leaving after this one! Unfortunately that will be just before Christmas so I wont get to Skype home with Elder Barker! This last 6 weeks went by so quick, i realized the other day im 1/3 of the way through the mission! And Im coming up on 9 months at the end of this next transfer! It goes by way too quick!
My thoughts are pretty jumbled at the moment, I wish i had more to say but I love you and I pray for you guys every day.
Though the first half of the week didnt yield much, the latter half contained a few gems! We met a woman named Maria from Italy that was being taught by missionaries there before she came to visit family in Swindon for a few months. We also met a nice African woman named Gladys who has 3 children and accepted the Book of Mormon.
The greatest miracle of the week however has been a woman named Sue. She is INCREDIBLE. She has been searching her whole life for the truth. Ever since she was a child and read John 3:16 she has known that there was something out there and has been looking for it. Her family went through many religions while she was young, finally settling with the Jehovah's Witnesses but she knew that that wasnt right to her. She has investigated all different churches, Christian, Hindu, Muslim and believes ours comes closest to her understanding of the truth as shes found in her studies of science, history, and the Bible. She has also endured a lot of pain at the hands of an abusive husband in the past, to the extent that she hasnt been able to use her legs in years because of the damage he did to her spine.
Elder Callen and I found her almost 2 months ago but she was in too much pain at the time to sit with us so she gave us her number and asked us to call if we were ever nearby. Elder Barker and I finally met her this week and for 2 hours we listened to her story and spoke with her. As she told us all that she had experienced and about her search I just couldnt think of what to say to her. I felt that my knowledge and experience was far too limited to giver her any sort of comfort or to answer her questions. I flipped to many different scriptures from The Book of Mormon to Doctrine and Covenants to the Pearl of Great Price and finally decided I would read to her Joseph Smith History. I began a few verses in and as I started to read the most powerful Spirit Ive ever felt settled into the room. It filled me up and my body trembled as I read to her. When I read the part where Joseph Smith says "What is to be done?" She stopped me and said "Thats exactly how i feel". I kept reading through the first vision and then I bore my testimony of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was so thick you could cut it! We talked some more and after 2 hours had passes we told her we needed to go and we left her the Book of Mormon which she accepted graciously. We havent been able to see her since as she hasnt been feeling well but I spoke to her on the phone and shes enjoying what shes reading!
She needs prayers!
In other news Debbie has yet to ever contact us, Charlie dropped us, her family is really putting on the pressure at the moment and she needs some time. Andrew is coming back from scotland, and Bhesh has so far enjoyed Church. He didnt come to Stake Conference this week (which was really good) but thats alright.
Elder Kearon gave a really great talk at Conference ( I got to shake his hand afterward!) It was on a variety of things but the part that really stood out was about the Atonement. He related an analogy another Seventy shared to describe the Atonement. He told of a beautiful park in Idaho, with rolling green hills and trees and a sparkling clear river with the Idaho Falls Temple at one corner. The Park was built on top of a landfill! He said that if you were to go to this park and try to dig out all of your rubbish and waste that went into it it would be an outrage, they would say why are you trying to go back and pull out all this trash? Look around you and see all the beauty that has come from it. The message was that we shouldnt go back and dwell on our mistakes our on our bad memories, rather we should accept them as something that makes the Atonement even more beautiful and wonderful for us because with it we can have something better.
I guess thats something that kind of defines my week this week. Just letting go. Letting things happen the way theyre supposed to and not worrying so much about it. Its a tough lesson and I cant say ive really "learned it" but im working on it!
I almost forgot! We got transfer news on Friday as transfers are Today this week.
Elder Barker and I are staying in Swindon for another 6 weeks! Though im quite certain that Im leaving after this one! Unfortunately that will be just before Christmas so I wont get to Skype home with Elder Barker! This last 6 weeks went by so quick, i realized the other day im 1/3 of the way through the mission! And Im coming up on 9 months at the end of this next transfer! It goes by way too quick!
My thoughts are pretty jumbled at the moment, I wish i had more to say but I love you and I pray for you guys every day.
Jake to LoraLynn
President Rasmussen said the same
thing to me on the phone. Sometimes we sow and sometimes we reap. Supposedly
the mission as a whole is doing really well and there are some areas seeing
tremendous success at the moment and he insisted to me that what I was doing
here had a large impact on that. In any case things are coming along, hopefully
ill be mailing you the flash drive again soon and Elder Barker and I are
staying another 6 weeks in Swindon! woot woot! Have you ever heard of drop box?
or something like that? I guess its basically an online folder where you can
put stuff like pictures and access from anywhere else, another missionary
suggested we could set up an account and i could just upload all my pictures to
there and you could access them as you please, also what is the address to my
blog page I want to see it!
I like reeses! Other than that its hard to remember things that i used to love... hmmm... sour patch watermelons? I do need more thick black missionary socks! as well as black shoe polish, somehow it never made it into my suitcase if you recall, and ive been borrowing since then, i have a kit now but im out of polish.
love you!
I like reeses! Other than that its hard to remember things that i used to love... hmmm... sour patch watermelons? I do need more thick black missionary socks! as well as black shoe polish, somehow it never made it into my suitcase if you recall, and ive been borrowing since then, i have a kit now but im out of polish.
love you!
10/22
Jake to Dad
Its been a pretty up and
down week here in Swindon as well.
-On Monday we had an appointment with Charlie but she had to cancel and reschedule. Later in the day we biked out to Wooton Basset for a DA but they had forgotten so they cooked us some burgers quickly. The interesting part of the evening was on the way back. We went through a small community that isnt within the bounds of our maps and then from there passed by the large manor house and grounds. We decided to try to cut through the grounds but found the way was blocked. We also had a very bizarre experience with a floating green light! Elder Barker was very freaked out, it grunted at us! Probably just a groundskeeper of some kind but at the time Elder BArker was convinced it was an evil spirit. (Were going by again this evening! We have a DA with the same family again!)
-On Tuesday night around 10:20 a former investigator from about a month ago who is a recovering alcoholic called us. She had relapsed pretty badly so she was really drunk and super depressed. I tried to comfort her for 45 minutes on the phone until the Relief Society President could show up to help her. She was hysterical and thinking about suicide. It was the most stressful evening of my life!
-On Wednesday we went to visit the woman who called, Debbie, and tried to help her out. We sang her some hymns and recommitted her to be taught and read the Book of Mormon and it went really well. We set an appointment for Friday and committed her to Church
-On Thursday we had a really great District Meeting but something about it knocked a bit off balance. Im not sure what it was exactly, the spirit was strong, and Elder Paynter and a few other missionaries bore powerful Testimony about the Book of Mormon and about recent converts. I suppose it just made me feel really weak, or drew out the insignificance i was feeling last week. In any case it put me off a bit though I recovered.
-On Friday Debbie AND Charlie cancelled their appointments and now it seems like theyre both in the same boat again of us not being able to contact them top set things up. They were going to be amazing lessons, we knew what we would teach, we had members involved and it was going to be amazing! And they cancelled!
-On Saturday morning I called President Rasmussen and told him about how I was feeling. We had a long conversation. He reminded me that the Lord doesnt always bless our efforts right away and that it always hits rock bottom before something great happens. I felt a lot better afterwards anyways and I feel alright now. I spoke to him again that evening to tell him how my day went. He encouraged me a lot and let me know that he wants me to go Senior Companion soon and suggested he may want me to train or lead in the near future. He also asked if I wanted to stay in Swindon or if i needed a change of environment. i told him i wanted to stay. He also suggested that Elder Barker and I were only meant to be together for a short time to help me get back on my feet. He will be calling me later this week to check up on me.
So We had some good moments but this week has been very stressful and disappointing at many stages. There is only a week left before we find out about next transfer! Its a very strange moment. Im afraid to leave Swindon, and lose my opportunity to help Charlie and Debbie. Im afraid to leave or lose Elder Barker. Im out 7 months today and this last 4 weeks have been the fastest on my mission. I feel like im running out of time, theres never enough of it and I just wish I could do more. Im confident that things will look up in the future but I hope it doesnt take too long.
This must sound like a negative email but Im ok. I still love being a missionary and we are so blessed. I am surrounded by some of the best friends Ive ever had and some of the nicest people ive ever met. Its just frustrating that we cant seem to do more for them at the moment. I suppose its like the calm before the storm or something. Silence in the heavans before the blessings are poured out! I just hope when it comes its awesome!
One of the things I talked about with President Rasmussen was gratitude. He asked me what I was grateful for and the first thing on the list was my Dad. I am so grateful for your example to me of patience in adversity, integrity, and hard work. 4 weeks without much success is a small thing and it probably wont be the only time it ever happens on my mission. My mission Scripture comes to mind yet again. Trust in the Lord, with ALL thine heart. He will direct my paths! I know that at the end of the day I will try my best to do what the LORD wants. Everything will be better!
-On Monday we had an appointment with Charlie but she had to cancel and reschedule. Later in the day we biked out to Wooton Basset for a DA but they had forgotten so they cooked us some burgers quickly. The interesting part of the evening was on the way back. We went through a small community that isnt within the bounds of our maps and then from there passed by the large manor house and grounds. We decided to try to cut through the grounds but found the way was blocked. We also had a very bizarre experience with a floating green light! Elder Barker was very freaked out, it grunted at us! Probably just a groundskeeper of some kind but at the time Elder BArker was convinced it was an evil spirit. (Were going by again this evening! We have a DA with the same family again!)
-On Tuesday night around 10:20 a former investigator from about a month ago who is a recovering alcoholic called us. She had relapsed pretty badly so she was really drunk and super depressed. I tried to comfort her for 45 minutes on the phone until the Relief Society President could show up to help her. She was hysterical and thinking about suicide. It was the most stressful evening of my life!
-On Wednesday we went to visit the woman who called, Debbie, and tried to help her out. We sang her some hymns and recommitted her to be taught and read the Book of Mormon and it went really well. We set an appointment for Friday and committed her to Church
-On Thursday we had a really great District Meeting but something about it knocked a bit off balance. Im not sure what it was exactly, the spirit was strong, and Elder Paynter and a few other missionaries bore powerful Testimony about the Book of Mormon and about recent converts. I suppose it just made me feel really weak, or drew out the insignificance i was feeling last week. In any case it put me off a bit though I recovered.
-On Friday Debbie AND Charlie cancelled their appointments and now it seems like theyre both in the same boat again of us not being able to contact them top set things up. They were going to be amazing lessons, we knew what we would teach, we had members involved and it was going to be amazing! And they cancelled!
-On Saturday morning I called President Rasmussen and told him about how I was feeling. We had a long conversation. He reminded me that the Lord doesnt always bless our efforts right away and that it always hits rock bottom before something great happens. I felt a lot better afterwards anyways and I feel alright now. I spoke to him again that evening to tell him how my day went. He encouraged me a lot and let me know that he wants me to go Senior Companion soon and suggested he may want me to train or lead in the near future. He also asked if I wanted to stay in Swindon or if i needed a change of environment. i told him i wanted to stay. He also suggested that Elder Barker and I were only meant to be together for a short time to help me get back on my feet. He will be calling me later this week to check up on me.
So We had some good moments but this week has been very stressful and disappointing at many stages. There is only a week left before we find out about next transfer! Its a very strange moment. Im afraid to leave Swindon, and lose my opportunity to help Charlie and Debbie. Im afraid to leave or lose Elder Barker. Im out 7 months today and this last 4 weeks have been the fastest on my mission. I feel like im running out of time, theres never enough of it and I just wish I could do more. Im confident that things will look up in the future but I hope it doesnt take too long.
This must sound like a negative email but Im ok. I still love being a missionary and we are so blessed. I am surrounded by some of the best friends Ive ever had and some of the nicest people ive ever met. Its just frustrating that we cant seem to do more for them at the moment. I suppose its like the calm before the storm or something. Silence in the heavans before the blessings are poured out! I just hope when it comes its awesome!
One of the things I talked about with President Rasmussen was gratitude. He asked me what I was grateful for and the first thing on the list was my Dad. I am so grateful for your example to me of patience in adversity, integrity, and hard work. 4 weeks without much success is a small thing and it probably wont be the only time it ever happens on my mission. My mission Scripture comes to mind yet again. Trust in the Lord, with ALL thine heart. He will direct my paths! I know that at the end of the day I will try my best to do what the LORD wants. Everything will be better!
10/15
Jake to LoraLynn
So missionary work is hunky dory. I
told Mom I havent gained any weight yet, nor lost any, im maintaing my girlish
figure quite nicely. (Bikes, morning exersice and fasting weekly ;O) Meanwhile
my companion has got significantly chubbier since he came out HAHA! But thats
cuz he doesnt want to wake up at 6:30! I made him breakfast in bed today. But
hes my best pal as well so its cool.
I love you!!
I love you!!
(Jacob also shared another song this email: Lex De Azevedo’s If You Could Hie to Kolob http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Jake to Dad
Elder Barker is really
good at reminding me to be positive! He always calls me out if I start to beat
myself up! Im really lucky to get to serve with him. I really hope we get at
least one more transfer together. This transfer has gone by so fast! I suppose
it must be because Ive passed the 6 month mark and everything is accelerating
from here on out. Elder Barker reckons either hell leave and Ill train next
transfer or well stay together another transfer than Ill go District Leader
somewhere. He sure is encouraging! Id be perfectly content to stick around with
him for 2 more transfers.
The work this week has been good, its always improving. The two miracles of the week are Charlie and Bhesh. We met Charlie a few weeks ago and she was totally golden... then we couldnt get a hold of her. We were praying for her every day to be able to get in contact with her again, but she was never around when we went by and she never answered our calls. Well on Friday, we met her again after we got flogged for an appointment. She was walking her dogs in a park we regularly pass through. At first we were kind of scared to approach her but we did and she was glad to see us and we learned that her family made a pretty solid attempt to anti her and she was kind of scared to call us back, but she was really glad we got to meet her again! She took her dogs home and we met her 15 minutes later outside a nearby church to teach her (she doesnt want to be taught in her home because of her family). She is really interested and wants to be religious and she even accepted a soft baptismal commitment (is she feels right about it and without a date yet) She also asked for a Book of Mormon for her boyfriend and wants us to meet him, at least to put him at ease about us. We taught her the restoration and she committed to read and pray and even said our closing pray. She closed "in the name of Heavenly Father" Well work on that. Were seeing her again today and were thinking we might invite her to prepare for the 17 of November! Fingers crossed!
Bhesh is a Nepalese man we met while he was jogging. We talked a bit and gave him the Restoration leaflet and got to come by his home later that day to give him a Book of Mormon and talk about the Restoration. He doesnt want to get deeply involved with anything at the moment but he was receptive and agreed to read the Book of Mormon and let us bring him one in Hindi. And he came to Church! He stayed the full 3 hours and seemed to really enjoy it and even said hed come next week! Hes still hesitant to be taught more but well go by this week to chat and maybe after he comes again hell be ready to look into it with more depth!
We have another gut weve been teaching, Darren, who struggles with a lot of addictions. So far he flogs every other appointment and he cant work up the resolve to just decide hes going to quit but well keep trying with him and see where it goes.
Andrew has yet to return from Scotland as far as we know.
We saw Catherine and Hannah this week and both are still solid as ever! Catherine is even introducing us to her friend Abigail on Wednesday!
Things are going otherwise. Im feeling a lot better this week and really looking forward to working harder! Weve been pretty slack the last several weeks as far as handing out the Book of Mormon. The standard of excellence is 10 but we have yet to pass 6. Just means we need to talk to more people! Something I struggle with a lot is how to approach people more individually. Its really easy to adopt a standard approach at which point people aren't people anymore. Our DL elder Paynter and Elder Callen are both pretty good at it but I cant seem to figure it out. I always blank when I try to mix it up. We should be discussing it in District Meeting this week so well see what happens.
Thank you for the advice. i think about it alot that I just cant quit. I wish there was a more clear correlation between the work we put in and what we get out of it but it wouldnt be much of a trial if it were so easy. We will just persevere!
It sounds like things are alright at home! Let me know whats happening. How tall is John? How far along is the Temple in Phoenix?
I love you!!
The work this week has been good, its always improving. The two miracles of the week are Charlie and Bhesh. We met Charlie a few weeks ago and she was totally golden... then we couldnt get a hold of her. We were praying for her every day to be able to get in contact with her again, but she was never around when we went by and she never answered our calls. Well on Friday, we met her again after we got flogged for an appointment. She was walking her dogs in a park we regularly pass through. At first we were kind of scared to approach her but we did and she was glad to see us and we learned that her family made a pretty solid attempt to anti her and she was kind of scared to call us back, but she was really glad we got to meet her again! She took her dogs home and we met her 15 minutes later outside a nearby church to teach her (she doesnt want to be taught in her home because of her family). She is really interested and wants to be religious and she even accepted a soft baptismal commitment (is she feels right about it and without a date yet) She also asked for a Book of Mormon for her boyfriend and wants us to meet him, at least to put him at ease about us. We taught her the restoration and she committed to read and pray and even said our closing pray. She closed "in the name of Heavenly Father" Well work on that. Were seeing her again today and were thinking we might invite her to prepare for the 17 of November! Fingers crossed!
Bhesh is a Nepalese man we met while he was jogging. We talked a bit and gave him the Restoration leaflet and got to come by his home later that day to give him a Book of Mormon and talk about the Restoration. He doesnt want to get deeply involved with anything at the moment but he was receptive and agreed to read the Book of Mormon and let us bring him one in Hindi. And he came to Church! He stayed the full 3 hours and seemed to really enjoy it and even said hed come next week! Hes still hesitant to be taught more but well go by this week to chat and maybe after he comes again hell be ready to look into it with more depth!
We have another gut weve been teaching, Darren, who struggles with a lot of addictions. So far he flogs every other appointment and he cant work up the resolve to just decide hes going to quit but well keep trying with him and see where it goes.
Andrew has yet to return from Scotland as far as we know.
We saw Catherine and Hannah this week and both are still solid as ever! Catherine is even introducing us to her friend Abigail on Wednesday!
Things are going otherwise. Im feeling a lot better this week and really looking forward to working harder! Weve been pretty slack the last several weeks as far as handing out the Book of Mormon. The standard of excellence is 10 but we have yet to pass 6. Just means we need to talk to more people! Something I struggle with a lot is how to approach people more individually. Its really easy to adopt a standard approach at which point people aren't people anymore. Our DL elder Paynter and Elder Callen are both pretty good at it but I cant seem to figure it out. I always blank when I try to mix it up. We should be discussing it in District Meeting this week so well see what happens.
Thank you for the advice. i think about it alot that I just cant quit. I wish there was a more clear correlation between the work we put in and what we get out of it but it wouldnt be much of a trial if it were so easy. We will just persevere!
It sounds like things are alright at home! Let me know whats happening. How tall is John? How far along is the Temple in Phoenix?
I love you!!
10/9
Jake to Dad
Dad,
Being a
missionary is the best! But it can be frustrating and frequently
discouraging. This is not Brazil (As President Ogden would say: This is a real
mission) We have been working hard this last few weeks but as always seems to
happen when my desire to work is highest, things come up to sap our time: Zone
Meetings, President Interviews and the like take us away from our area for
extended periods. In the time left over we work our hardest but so far very
little has come. I fully expected that as soon as Elder Barker and I got
started we would talk to everyone, find lots of people and be teaching all the
time. As opposed to certain unnamed missionaries who dont work because they
figure its the Lords Will that they wopnt baptize, I figure you just have to
put th work in and youll find the people and teach the people and on down the
line. But the Lord has his own way! I dont know exactly what the lesson hes
trying to teach me is, probably more patience and gratitude and testing my
faith. (patience is defenitely my weakest attribute according to the survey we
took in the MTC) Its frustrating because when we work our hardest so many people
wont een turn to speak to us and its discouraging because I constantly feel
like im hindering the work when i dont talk to certain people or i dont
confidently follow the thoughts that come to my mind. Elder Barker thinks im
crazy when i get discouraged and thinks i expect too much from myself but whats
wrong with expecting my best? I know what I can do and I rarely do it and I
feel like i put myself in the Lords way. Im trying as best as I can but theres
always something. I just want to do whats expected of me and help the people
waiting for me. But I cant help the people if I cant get in contact with them
or they wont call me back! This transfer has me anxious because were doing a
special "Thomas S. Monson" Transfer and each companionship is
supposed to be trying to baptize at least one person within the transfer. We
enthusiastically felt we could find 3! But the time we have to find those people
is extremely limited, more every day and it gets me antsy! We have 2 weve been
able to teach, but neither of them seems ready to fill that goal. On top of
that the hours of the day we have to work is getting shorter all the time. I
feel like talking to President about the things im struggling with but I feel
like I ought to be able to resolve it myself, epecially after we just had
conference and we had interviews last week.
I just want to do the
best I can!
I will do better this
week. It all starts with waking up on time and doing what im supposed to.
I
love you
Jake to Mom and John
Man! General Conference
was crazy! I still havent gotten to see the Sunday Afternoon session or the
priesthood session (Its not so simple to watch conference here) but the rest
was awesome! Just Ask the Missionaries! They can help you! The announcement
concerning the age of missionary service was probably the most shocking. I mean
thats practically a new section on Doctrine and Covenants right there! The
implications are quite interesting as well, when I complete my mission I will
be an "older missionary" One of the last to come out at 19 (at my
first opportunity that is) And Ill be 3 years older than the new missionaries
coming in! I also felt a little gyped like I could have come out sooner! I didnt
have to wait around at home so long! Alas! The craziest announcement was about
the girls though, the Elders were in quite a tizzy about that for many reasons.
The first being the potential for many of the elders to be serving alongside
ex-girlfriends in the field. Now that would be awkward!
My highlights from
conference had to be Jeffrey R. Holland and Dieter F. Uchtdorf however. Its
interesting that Jeffrey Hollands talk was very similar to an MTC devotional he
gave a few years ago that was shown in the MTC in Preston. Very similar in its
climax! Great talk! And Russell M. Nelsons talk will be heavily quoted among
the Elders at least until next General Conference! Quite an interesting
weekend!
The work is slow at the
moment here in Swindon. Weve been working our butts off and talking to everyone
but at the moment not much is coming from it, at least not as much as I
expected given the significant increase in work we are doing. We have 2
investigators weve taught more than once at the moment, Andrew and Darrin.
Andrew is still in Scotland today as far as I know and has been gone for a
week. Last we saw him he was still clinging to some anti-material he dug up on
the internet. Darrin is a former investigator from a few years ago who
struggles with a lot of addictions and consequentially some mental problems. He
smokes, drinks, may do other drugs as well and suffers from some paranoia he
takes medication for. Weve seen him twice and he takes time to pick up on
things but he has a sincere desire to change his life and enjoys having us
around. Right now he really struggles to understand the Book of Mormon on his
own so in our last visit we read Alma 22 with him and explained it to him 1
verse at a time. Well see what happens but he will probably need some time to
progress and overcome his problems. Prayin for miracles to help him along
faster! Other than that we have some potentials who are taking some time to
develop for various reason and its getting a little frustrating at times!
But the work goes well!
Im enjoying it even though its getting really cold outside and the people are
as well! Another difficulty is that its getting darker earlier and earlier so
unless we have lessons scheduled in the evening we cant really do much work the
later it gets.
We will just have to get
more lessons!
I love you!
John- 8 years just
became 7 kiddo; read your scriptures! It comes quicker than you think! Enjoy
yourself but dont forget what counts! Modern day England isnt up to much, buts
its getting cold! Very cold!
10/9
Jake to LoraLynn
I wish we were seeing
lots of results! But things dont always develop as fast as youd like! We just
have to be patient and grateful for the things we are blessed with!
Conference was BANANAS!
We only got to see a few sessions but we heard the crazy announcements! Lots of
feelings swirling around that. My initial impressions were I wish I could have
come out sooner. Man there are going to be SO many Sisters now and much to our
relief here in England. Its crazy to think that girls I know from back home
could pop up in the mission within 6 months! And Im going to be an older
missionary now! Ill finish at 3 years older than the new missionaries coming
in! Weird! I didnt even realize that Zach can come out early now! I was just
thinking of all the guys back in Phoenix! Nuts!
Praying har for Charlie
at the moment, since we met her we havent been able to see her again and have
started to worry that she has forgotten us. Im on exchange today and Elder
Barker and Elder Paynter are planning on going by so fingers crossed. She seems
absolutely golden and it was definitely no mistake that we found her! So im not
giving up till shes in the temple! We found another interesting girl named
Jennifer (19) who readily accepted a Book of Mormon and has been
wondering about life after this. She seemed miraculously golden as well, but
theres only one problem, she said her parents wouldnt like it if she gave out
her details so were praying shell give us a call. Pray with us! We want to
teach her!! She said her father was struggling with some of the same worries
and also said shed show the BoM to her Sister! It could be cool! The work is
progressing slowly, Id hoped wed be teaching more people by now but we have to
be patient and press forward! Its always darkest before the dawn! The source of
my anxiety however is that were doing a Thomas S. Monson Transfer. Basically a
rededication to our purpose and to mission standards in honor of Thomas S
Monson and the goal is for every companionship to find and baptize at least 1
person within the transfer. Were rapdly running out of time to find the people
who can be baptized within this transfer.... and we set a goal for 3! We
certainly cannot accomplish this on our own, we need miracles! Whatever happens
will be for the best though..... but me and Elder Barker want to baptize
dangit!
Hannah is st ill solid
as ever, trying to find a new job, Catherine is good so far but has a super
atheist boyfriend now who we worry about, but shes is wonderful and were
watching out for her! Shes smart! Hugh is really struggling with his depression
and ther difficulties but he agreed to meet with the missionaries again the
other say an agreed to go to conference, still dont know whats happened there,
I will have to call someone. Elder Barker and I will be going back to Cardiff
on the 19th and the 27th for 2 of his investigators who are getting baptized
and we have permission to go early so I can see Hugh. Jaz is also finally going
to get her endowments on the 27th!!! After she goes through the temple she will
know everything there possibly is to know about the Gospel! :O If anyone comes
to pick me up from the mission they arent leaving without meeting Jaz!!
My luck with bikes is
terrible, but my new wheel and derailer are sweet! Now i just need to replace
the springs in my brakes! So close to a perfect bike.... then ill probably
crash it '-_-
Much love!
P.S. This weekend was
MISSION FOOTBALL!!!! Oh ya!!! It was intense but it was super wet and muddy and
i didnt have cleats until the last round (borrowed some) The Cheltenham Zone
won over all, we have an Australian who owns it up at Football. Pictures soon!
10/1
Jake to LoraLynn
Man you
never email me anywhere! Luckily I havent had much to write back
for a while but this week was awesome! Elder Barker and I have talked to
so many people this week! Most people wont stop to talk anymore, some wont even
turn to look at you! And this is what weve been up to! At our last Zone
Meeting we were promised that if we would make sure to speak to at least
10 people outside of planned finding activities everyday our baptisms would
double and weve been trying our best. But our efforts have not
been entirely without fruits! Weve found some good potentials this week and set up lots of return appointments.... none of which worked out this week but the good ones have been rescheduled so there is still hope! The best story is probably from Saturday however. On Saturday morning we had 2 hours of going by potentials, a new investigator, and gqing (street contacting) planned and for that entire 2 hours
absolutely no one would speak to us. Our new investigator dropped us and another appointment we scheduled turned out to be a dud. So at this point we were starting to feel a bit discouraged! But right
around 12 we talked to one more person, a 20 year old girl named Charlie. I asked her how her morning was and she said it was terrible because she drinks (she was hungover). We started to talk more and she
told us it felt like fate that she was meeting us and she had just been thinking that she needed a religion in her life. She said she needed to get on the straight and narrow. So we talked a bit and gave her the Book of Mormon and scheduled a return appointment later in the day. She ended up sleeping through it and not answering the door (again, she was hungover) but she was very apologetic on the phone and
still golden! She wants to sit down with us with her boyfriend sometime this week! We have another nice lady who accepted a Book of Mormon named Natalie that we had to reschedule to wednesday, and last
night we met a girl named Becky that was very nice and open minded and readily accepted the Book of Mormon. We have found so far that women are much more receptive than men! However we do have one guy weve been teaching, Andrew. This week has been a bit rough though because he looked up a site on the internet "For those investigating The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". There is much truth on it but there are so many falsehoods mixed in that its a pain and a hassle addressing the concerns hes come up with. Hell be out of town this week in Scotland but he will be solid in the near future! He loves the Book of Mormon and the Resto DVD and Church at least but hes cautious about jumping on board at the moment because God lives on a planet near a star called Kolob with his many goddess wives! Its been a good week, were a bit anxious to start teaching people and helping them
progress though!
In other news my bike broke down in numerous ways this last week and I just got it back from the shop for £130 its running beatifully again and I hope this is the last time I ever have to drop any significant
amount of money on it!
Cant wait to tell you how many people want to get baptized next week! Love you!
been entirely without fruits! Weve found some good potentials this week and set up lots of return appointments.... none of which worked out this week but the good ones have been rescheduled so there is still hope! The best story is probably from Saturday however. On Saturday morning we had 2 hours of going by potentials, a new investigator, and gqing (street contacting) planned and for that entire 2 hours
absolutely no one would speak to us. Our new investigator dropped us and another appointment we scheduled turned out to be a dud. So at this point we were starting to feel a bit discouraged! But right
around 12 we talked to one more person, a 20 year old girl named Charlie. I asked her how her morning was and she said it was terrible because she drinks (she was hungover). We started to talk more and she
told us it felt like fate that she was meeting us and she had just been thinking that she needed a religion in her life. She said she needed to get on the straight and narrow. So we talked a bit and gave her the Book of Mormon and scheduled a return appointment later in the day. She ended up sleeping through it and not answering the door (again, she was hungover) but she was very apologetic on the phone and
still golden! She wants to sit down with us with her boyfriend sometime this week! We have another nice lady who accepted a Book of Mormon named Natalie that we had to reschedule to wednesday, and last
night we met a girl named Becky that was very nice and open minded and readily accepted the Book of Mormon. We have found so far that women are much more receptive than men! However we do have one guy weve been teaching, Andrew. This week has been a bit rough though because he looked up a site on the internet "For those investigating The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". There is much truth on it but there are so many falsehoods mixed in that its a pain and a hassle addressing the concerns hes come up with. Hell be out of town this week in Scotland but he will be solid in the near future! He loves the Book of Mormon and the Resto DVD and Church at least but hes cautious about jumping on board at the moment because God lives on a planet near a star called Kolob with his many goddess wives! Its been a good week, were a bit anxious to start teaching people and helping them
progress though!
In other news my bike broke down in numerous ways this last week and I just got it back from the shop for £130 its running beatifully again and I hope this is the last time I ever have to drop any significant
amount of money on it!
Cant wait to tell you how many people want to get baptized next week! Love you!
9/24
Jake to Dad:
Catherines Baptism went
really well! It was really stressful leading up to it and trying to get a hold
of people to take part in the program but at the last minute it all pulled
together! I forgot spare garments however and had to take some extra time to
wring them out before going back to the chapel! Oops!
Me and Elder Barker are really excited to get to work in Swindon! He loves the area and the ward already and things are starting to move forward again. We have a good handful of appointments this week and plenty of time on the side to FIND!
Yesterday we planned for the week and we set our vision for this transfer. Our vision is 3 more baptisms in Swindon and 2 more with a date for next transfer. Its a lofty goal and we dont have much to work with but Im confident that its possible if we put in the effort and the faith. In my studies in Preach My Gospel and in our various meetings it is reinforced in my mind that if we get out of the Lords way, follow the Spirit, and WORK that anything is possible! There are many things to keep in mind but the way I see it its a formula! If we have enough faith and humility and our hearts are in the right place
and we put in the time and effort the baptisms will come and the Kingdom in Swindon will grow! There are over 200,000 people here in our neck of the woods and the way I see it there must been tons of people ready to be taught and a good handful ready to be baptized! We are setting our sights high and it will take plenty of work and
prayers to accomplish it so pray for us!!!
I have had a few impression and ideas about my studies recently; first, in my reading of the New Testament I read Matthew 11 this morning, and the chapter closes with Christs invitaton to "Come Unto Him". It reminds me of a conversation I had about not just Believing IN Christ but BELIEVING Christ. If we truly believe in him we will believe in his promises. He has invited us to Come Unto Him and promised that he will make our burdens light and give us rest. He never promised to take our burdens away, just to make them light. Ive been impressed this week that I dont believe in God because he makes my life better and gets rid of my problems, I believe in God because he strengthens me to persevere through my problems and supports me through my trials and finally, consecrates them for my good. Sometimes he makes things better as well! But we have to wait for those kind of blessings! I would refer you to an excellent BYU Devotional By Henry B. Eyring in 1982 called "The Law of Increasing Returns"!
Another thing I have been thinking about is that I want to study more from the scriptures than I am now. Right now Im reading bits from the Old and New Testament each day and studying Preach My Gospel, but its not enough! Ive decided to rededicate my spare time during lunch to the suggested additional study, and I want to use that time primarily
for reading the Book of Mormon. Ive been trying to read the entire Standard Works but since I finished the Triple Combination i haven’t read much from the book of mormon and ive been missing it! So ill be starting that this week!
Good things are happening and about to happen in Swindon! Pray for us as we try to kick ourselves back into shape and get the ball rolling!
Me and Elder Barker are really excited to get to work in Swindon! He loves the area and the ward already and things are starting to move forward again. We have a good handful of appointments this week and plenty of time on the side to FIND!
Yesterday we planned for the week and we set our vision for this transfer. Our vision is 3 more baptisms in Swindon and 2 more with a date for next transfer. Its a lofty goal and we dont have much to work with but Im confident that its possible if we put in the effort and the faith. In my studies in Preach My Gospel and in our various meetings it is reinforced in my mind that if we get out of the Lords way, follow the Spirit, and WORK that anything is possible! There are many things to keep in mind but the way I see it its a formula! If we have enough faith and humility and our hearts are in the right place
and we put in the time and effort the baptisms will come and the Kingdom in Swindon will grow! There are over 200,000 people here in our neck of the woods and the way I see it there must been tons of people ready to be taught and a good handful ready to be baptized! We are setting our sights high and it will take plenty of work and
prayers to accomplish it so pray for us!!!
I have had a few impression and ideas about my studies recently; first, in my reading of the New Testament I read Matthew 11 this morning, and the chapter closes with Christs invitaton to "Come Unto Him". It reminds me of a conversation I had about not just Believing IN Christ but BELIEVING Christ. If we truly believe in him we will believe in his promises. He has invited us to Come Unto Him and promised that he will make our burdens light and give us rest. He never promised to take our burdens away, just to make them light. Ive been impressed this week that I dont believe in God because he makes my life better and gets rid of my problems, I believe in God because he strengthens me to persevere through my problems and supports me through my trials and finally, consecrates them for my good. Sometimes he makes things better as well! But we have to wait for those kind of blessings! I would refer you to an excellent BYU Devotional By Henry B. Eyring in 1982 called "The Law of Increasing Returns"!
Another thing I have been thinking about is that I want to study more from the scriptures than I am now. Right now Im reading bits from the Old and New Testament each day and studying Preach My Gospel, but its not enough! Ive decided to rededicate my spare time during lunch to the suggested additional study, and I want to use that time primarily
for reading the Book of Mormon. Ive been trying to read the entire Standard Works but since I finished the Triple Combination i haven’t read much from the book of mormon and ive been missing it! So ill be starting that this week!
Good things are happening and about to happen in Swindon! Pray for us as we try to kick ourselves back into shape and get the ball rolling!
I love you and I hope things are going well this week!
9/20
Jake to LoraLynn:
Dear Sister,
I have disowned you and will no longer be reading your emails...
Is that what you thought I might say? Haha! I love you!
But my nerw companion is Elder Barker!!! Trained by Elder Leavitt! We served together in Cardiff! He got to stay a little longer than I did (7.5 months) and now were COMPANIONS! Apparently hes had a pretty rough 3 months as well. But we are ready to absolutley work our butts off, we both will need a few days to learn how to do missionary work again and get ourselves situated but its going to be amazing! Im freakin excited!
I love you!
I have disowned you and will no longer be reading your emails...
Is that what you thought I might say? Haha! I love you!
But my nerw companion is Elder Barker!!! Trained by Elder Leavitt! We served together in Cardiff! He got to stay a little longer than I did (7.5 months) and now were COMPANIONS! Apparently hes had a pretty rough 3 months as well. But we are ready to absolutley work our butts off, we both will need a few days to learn how to do missionary work again and get ourselves situated but its going to be amazing! Im freakin excited!
I love you!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Catching Up
Can you tell school's back in session here in Thatcher? I'm about 3 weeks behind on Jake's emails:
Here's the latest from Jake to Dad:
9/11
Here's the latest from Jake to Dad:
9/11
Dad,
This week has been a big improvement in several ways!
Hannah was happily and successfuly baptized this weekend! And I had the privilege of confirming her in Sacrament meeting on Sunday! My hands were shaking so much and I felt insecure that the things I said didnt seem to me to be particulalry inspired but Hannah later let me know how good she felt and how much she appreciated it and her Mom talked to me about it as well telling me she was in tears and so touched by it so Im glad it was at least good enough for them. Catherine is currently scheduled for the 22nd. Her date has moved around a lot but ultimately after talking with the Zone Leaders a bit we settled on the 22nd to be sure that whatever happens she can be baptized and on the records of the Church if she has to go back to China. So far she is happy and willing and we will be teaching her a LOT in the next two weeks to get her ready! We have also started teaching some new poeple finally with hope for more! I think I told you about Andrew, interesting guy who really likes the Book of Mormon. He came to Chuch this week and seemed to enjoy it and is now willing for us to come by and teach him some more! By going by tons and tons of old potential investigators in our area book we found Taneyha. Shes pretty opinionated and likes to ask questions just for the sake of argument but she has potential! I told her at one point in our lesson with her that my beliefs dont come from my own reasoning but from the things ive received from God and she had nothing to say and asked us where the Church was so she could come sometime this month. Ha! We also had a cool experience with a referral this week! His Name was Dragan, from Romania. We biked an hour and a half out to Faringdon (amazing views from the numerous hills on the way there!) and he wasnt home! He left us a not about how he tried to contact us to let us know he wouldnt be in and that hes going back to Romania so we wont get to teach him. We wrote our testimonies in a Book of Mormon and left it on his doorstep with some other materials. The next day he called us to thank us and let us know that our effort wasnt wasted and that he would definitely read the book and study further. I got to go on exchange with one of my Zone Leaders this week just for a few hours and that was a great experience as well. Elder Brewer is really really close frineds with Elder Hutchings from back home and it was awesome to work with him for a few hours. We GQ'd more than I ever have on my mission and managed to schedule two return appointments! We already had one of them (Debbie) and it went pretty well! Debbie is a recovering alcoholic and seems like shes ready for the Gospel in her life. Well see! We also met a cool Norwegian lady who already has a copy of the Book of Mormon! Were supposed to see her tomorrow.
Zone Meeting... interesting things are a foot. Weve talked a bit in the last few weeks about the new Vision for the Mission, which is, for us within our Zones to baptize every week. Or in other words for each Zone to have a Baptism every week (on average). Now, most of us are very supportive of this goal and were excited and ready to move forward with renewed focus and zeal for teaching and baptizing. But there are seeds of dissension! A few missionaries in our District felt a bit uneasy with the Zone Vision. Its a bit dramatic actually! We had a long discussion today in our Meeting about having the faith to find poeple. It was almost a bit heated at times but at the end of the day we just need to believe that its possible to baptize! Were actually doing really well as a mission right now but there are those who are discouraged about their areas.
Other than that, I love Zone Meetings and Zone Conferences because I really feel a strong brotherhood here. Its good to see other missionaries! I feel like Ive made a lot of friends and gotten to know a lot of poeple in the last 6 months. You just dont find such a high concentration of quality poeple anywhere else! For once I feel like I fit in here! And I felt like I learned things today! I shared the biggest thing in Moms email but something else I learned today was about persistence. Miracles come AFTER the trial of our faith and sometimes we just have to wait and wait and wait for the blessings. I related it to running and getting faster. When you exercise, you cant just work till you get tired then stop or you wont grow. Success and growth come after you persevere until you cant anymore and then take one more step forward. Such it is with missionary work and with life! The Lord wants to know that we trust him and that we will do our best. And when we reach our limit we have only to push ourselves a little bit further to see the hand of the Lord.
Coming up on the last full week of the transfer and on my 6 month mark!
I love you!
9/4
Hello!
This week has gone by quickly. Again probably because not much has happened. However, yesterday Hannah had her Baptism interview and passed! She was really nervous leading up to it but as expected it was a lot easier and less
formal than she thought it might be.
Church on Sunday was interesting. We had several poeple there but at the same time several poeple who committed to be there didnt show. Andrew Dixon was a no show so well probably go by sometime this week to see whats up. The other two we were expecting are less active members and at least one of them let us know before hand that he probably wouldnt be there. Hes been recovering from a serious accident for about 3 years and the damage to is more than physical. He has a wound on his head and at the base of his neck. We have a lesson scheduled with him today so well see how hes doing. But tonight is going to be pretty rushed as we have a DA and then their appointment and then we have to be at Ward Council to prepare for Hannahs Baptism.
Our evenings this week are pretty full.
Aside from that Hannah, her family, Catherine, and Tracey were at Church and all seemed to enjoy it. Catherine is an interesting case because she really doesnt have a solid fellowshipper yet but shes so nice and personable that
shes already met and made friends with many of the members. We had a kind of awkward FHE last night with us, Catherine, a recent convert named Paul, and 3 old single/widowed women. We got there late so it was just them for 30
minutes but Catherine and Paul seemed fine.
Elder Callen and I established in our Comanionship Inventory this week. [And] I have an exchange with Elder Rogers next week and the Zone Leaders are doing splits with us on Wednesday after District Meeting.
Aparrently theyre also going to talk about it in Zone Leader Council so something will probably change next transfer, if that means I have to leave Swindon so be it. Elder Callen absolutley loves Swindon so I would be happy to let him stay. Whatever happens I still dont want to split on bad terms or sore feelings. I just cant do another 6 weeks.
I sympathize with your difficulty making calls! Its always a little uncomfortable to call poeple you dont know well to figure out appointments and I often feel as if I dont know everything thats going on well enough to handle any obstacles that arise. Its was especially difficult when I first came out and difficult again when I got to Swindon. Practice! Especially for that mission! Youve never said you guys want to serve a mission! Supposedly Senior Couple Missions are waaaay different as well. The Pinkertons in our District work in Stroud with the Sister Missionaries and as far as I know they only really work with Less-Actives. Other Senior Couples in the mission all seem to have somewhat specialized roles working with Wards or in mission offices. Ive even heard that there are places where Senior Couples can hold callings in Branches! Very interesting!
I got my bike fixed (broken spoke) a few weeks ago and what do you know another one broke yesterday. The day before Elder Callen broke a spoke and bent up his wheel pretty badly. We have to run by a bike shop after this to see how soon we can get repairs done!
Talk to you next week! I love you!
This week has gone by quickly. Again probably because not much has happened. However, yesterday Hannah had her Baptism interview and passed! She was really nervous leading up to it but as expected it was a lot easier and less
formal than she thought it might be.
Church on Sunday was interesting. We had several poeple there but at the same time several poeple who committed to be there didnt show. Andrew Dixon was a no show so well probably go by sometime this week to see whats up. The other two we were expecting are less active members and at least one of them let us know before hand that he probably wouldnt be there. Hes been recovering from a serious accident for about 3 years and the damage to is more than physical. He has a wound on his head and at the base of his neck. We have a lesson scheduled with him today so well see how hes doing. But tonight is going to be pretty rushed as we have a DA and then their appointment and then we have to be at Ward Council to prepare for Hannahs Baptism.
Our evenings this week are pretty full.
Aside from that Hannah, her family, Catherine, and Tracey were at Church and all seemed to enjoy it. Catherine is an interesting case because she really doesnt have a solid fellowshipper yet but shes so nice and personable that
shes already met and made friends with many of the members. We had a kind of awkward FHE last night with us, Catherine, a recent convert named Paul, and 3 old single/widowed women. We got there late so it was just them for 30
minutes but Catherine and Paul seemed fine.
Elder Callen and I established in our Comanionship Inventory this week. [And] I have an exchange with Elder Rogers next week and the Zone Leaders are doing splits with us on Wednesday after District Meeting.
Aparrently theyre also going to talk about it in Zone Leader Council so something will probably change next transfer, if that means I have to leave Swindon so be it. Elder Callen absolutley loves Swindon so I would be happy to let him stay. Whatever happens I still dont want to split on bad terms or sore feelings. I just cant do another 6 weeks.
I sympathize with your difficulty making calls! Its always a little uncomfortable to call poeple you dont know well to figure out appointments and I often feel as if I dont know everything thats going on well enough to handle any obstacles that arise. Its was especially difficult when I first came out and difficult again when I got to Swindon. Practice! Especially for that mission! Youve never said you guys want to serve a mission! Supposedly Senior Couple Missions are waaaay different as well. The Pinkertons in our District work in Stroud with the Sister Missionaries and as far as I know they only really work with Less-Actives. Other Senior Couples in the mission all seem to have somewhat specialized roles working with Wards or in mission offices. Ive even heard that there are places where Senior Couples can hold callings in Branches! Very interesting!
I got my bike fixed (broken spoke) a few weeks ago and what do you know another one broke yesterday. The day before Elder Callen broke a spoke and bent up his wheel pretty badly. We have to run by a bike shop after this to see how soon we can get repairs done!
Talk to you next week! I love you!
8/29
Dad,
This week has been really tough. The things that have been bugging me have come to a bit of a head this week. Early in the week we got an invitation from some members to go go-karting and meet one members girlfriend who has started to read the book of mormon. I was a bit uncomfortable with the idea but we got permission from President Rasmussen and he told us it was a golden opportunity and we needed to be on our A-game. So on Friday we went and had a good time and we all got back to the members house at 9. I wanted to go home then but I was scared to really put my foot down, there were so many poeple and my companion and they were intent on hanging out and eating pizza for a while and socializing and I just gave in, I wanted to avoid a scene or an argument later (which has been my habit over the last several weeks; just go with it) I called my DL for the night and gave him a small idea of what was happening and as a result the Zone Leaders called and found out what was happening. We got in at 10:45 and had to call President. He was really disappointed in us. I felt pretty terrible, but I was the only one.
This week has been really tough. The things that have been bugging me have come to a bit of a head this week. Early in the week we got an invitation from some members to go go-karting and meet one members girlfriend who has started to read the book of mormon. I was a bit uncomfortable with the idea but we got permission from President Rasmussen and he told us it was a golden opportunity and we needed to be on our A-game. So on Friday we went and had a good time and we all got back to the members house at 9. I wanted to go home then but I was scared to really put my foot down, there were so many poeple and my companion and they were intent on hanging out and eating pizza for a while and socializing and I just gave in, I wanted to avoid a scene or an argument later (which has been my habit over the last several weeks; just go with it) I called my DL for the night and gave him a small idea of what was happening and as a result the Zone Leaders called and found out what was happening. We got in at 10:45 and had to call President. He was really disappointed in us. I felt pretty terrible, but I was the only one.
When we went to Zone Conference yesterday a bunch of poeple had found out we got in trouble and asked about it. The Zone Leaders pulled me aside to talk to me and let me know that they didnt blame me and I got my first chance to actually talk to someone about the things that Ive been struggling with. Im trying my best. But Ive been in a bit of a downward spiral and Friday night was a wake up call. Im trying to make sure Im doing everything I can but I feel close to a breaking point.
There have been some high points this week though. We followed up with a potential Elder Querubin and I found and discovered that not only had he read the Book of Mormon but he seems to believe it as well! His name is
Andrew Dixon, hes 41, and hes had an interesting past; He a little weird (definitely not crazy, but weird) and we dont quite know what to think as he seemed to turn down receiving lessons but hes committed to Church this
upcoming Sunday and well see where it goes from there. He said the Book of Mormon was a "book full of wisdom" and that it couldnt have been written by one man. Apparently the first thing he read in it answered a sincere question he had which he couldnt seem to answer with the Bible. I dont remember the exact verse he read to us but it was something about if you keep the commandments God will keep all his promises and maybe something about judging, not sure! Hes been out of work for a while because of a leg injury, but he plays classical guitar! Has been for 10 years! I really hope we get to teach him some more! The girl we met go-karting came to Church on Sunday with her Boyfriend and she agreed to let us come and talk to her as well. Shell only be here for two weeks but we can hopefully spark her interest for the missionaries back in Durham.
Zone Conference was pretty interesting! It was simultaneously inspiring and a little scary. This was President Rasmussens first real Zone Conference and was kind of his chance to set his vision for the mission. Basically they told us we need to baptize more and that if were obedient and hard working we can do it. He said weve been focusing too much on retention (not sure what he means by that; working with Less-Actives?) and need to do more effective finding everywhere we go. I agreed with a lot of it but there were a few moments that seemed a little cold. I just hope this doesnt become a Moffet-Mission again (the President before President Ogden; the stories are pretty scary, missionaries baptizing everyone in 3 weeks whether they understand it or not, leaving them completely in the hands of the ward after baptism, they baptized 720 poeple but only about 10% remained active) So well see what happens but i figure if I just keep working hard and trying to do whats best for poeple it will work out.
Im glad John is staying busy with righteous activities!
At Zone Conference I got to talk to the Cardiff Elders and about Hugh a little. Hes apparently in limbo a bit with doctors getting medication for Manic Depression but the Elders there are continuing to reach out to him and
the Bishop in Cardiff is extremely mindful of him. The work is moving forward there as well, last transfer they had another baptism and received 3 referals from it!
There have been some high points this week though. We followed up with a potential Elder Querubin and I found and discovered that not only had he read the Book of Mormon but he seems to believe it as well! His name is
Andrew Dixon, hes 41, and hes had an interesting past; He a little weird (definitely not crazy, but weird) and we dont quite know what to think as he seemed to turn down receiving lessons but hes committed to Church this
upcoming Sunday and well see where it goes from there. He said the Book of Mormon was a "book full of wisdom" and that it couldnt have been written by one man. Apparently the first thing he read in it answered a sincere question he had which he couldnt seem to answer with the Bible. I dont remember the exact verse he read to us but it was something about if you keep the commandments God will keep all his promises and maybe something about judging, not sure! Hes been out of work for a while because of a leg injury, but he plays classical guitar! Has been for 10 years! I really hope we get to teach him some more! The girl we met go-karting came to Church on Sunday with her Boyfriend and she agreed to let us come and talk to her as well. Shell only be here for two weeks but we can hopefully spark her interest for the missionaries back in Durham.
Zone Conference was pretty interesting! It was simultaneously inspiring and a little scary. This was President Rasmussens first real Zone Conference and was kind of his chance to set his vision for the mission. Basically they told us we need to baptize more and that if were obedient and hard working we can do it. He said weve been focusing too much on retention (not sure what he means by that; working with Less-Actives?) and need to do more effective finding everywhere we go. I agreed with a lot of it but there were a few moments that seemed a little cold. I just hope this doesnt become a Moffet-Mission again (the President before President Ogden; the stories are pretty scary, missionaries baptizing everyone in 3 weeks whether they understand it or not, leaving them completely in the hands of the ward after baptism, they baptized 720 poeple but only about 10% remained active) So well see what happens but i figure if I just keep working hard and trying to do whats best for poeple it will work out.
Im glad John is staying busy with righteous activities!
At Zone Conference I got to talk to the Cardiff Elders and about Hugh a little. Hes apparently in limbo a bit with doctors getting medication for Manic Depression but the Elders there are continuing to reach out to him and
the Bishop in Cardiff is extremely mindful of him. The work is moving forward there as well, last transfer they had another baptism and received 3 referals from it!
One last thing! I spoke on Sunday about "Testimony" Bishop stood up right before my talk and told the entire ward you guys served together and that Im better looking than you were :P Anyways, it was probably the first talk Ive ever given that was mostly improvised of of some incomplete notes I put together and I felt really good about it. There werent any really awkward breaks and I felt like I knew what I was talking about. I got a lot of
compliments afterwards so i figure it must have been alright!
I will be alright. Just have to get back to work and do my best. Pray like it all depends on the Lord and work like it all depends on me! I got my retainers and they hurt like crazy but they should work, well see! Thanks
for the gummy bears!
I love you!
compliments afterwards so i figure it must have been alright!
I will be alright. Just have to get back to work and do my best. Pray like it all depends on the Lord and work like it all depends on me! I got my retainers and they hurt like crazy but they should work, well see! Thanks
for the gummy bears!
I love you!
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