March 31, 2014

Things are good and time is flying by.  We had interchanges this week with the assistants and in my old area again!  The assistant's area is right by the temple and we had a lesson with an investigator family in the house of some temple workers; it made me realize the power there is in the temple.  I loved entering into their house and it felt so much like home because the spirit was there so strong.  Then this Saturday when we were on interchanges in my old area it was a lot of fun.  The Sisters had called me earlier in the week and had asked me if I could go baptize a little girl that I had been teaching over a year ago; it was awesome to be able to do it.  I was talking with the little girls mom who can't get baptized yet for some problems with the commandments and it really made me realize that the people really do feel the truth of our message.  Sometime they don't accept it in the moment but they really do feel the truth of it and even if years pass that feeling doesn't go away.  It's true that when the Holy Ghost speaks to someone it is something eternal.  I love this gospel and I know it is true.  It is the true source of happiness in this life.  This week is going to be great with General Conference!  We are seeing lots of differences in the branch and in the zone but this week determines everything.  Pray for us so that we can take a couple of families to General Conference this week!

March 24, 2014

Another week has come and gone and there aren't many left ahead of me.  It was transfer week - I stayed in my area with my companion; it will be a good transfer.  We have been really frustrated for the lack of success in the zone and in our own area.  We sat down to talk about it the day after the changes and finally we feel good about being together and the zone.  We have a lot of work to do but we made the plans necessary to be able to have success next month.  I have been reading the Book of Mormon a lot lately; I set the goal to finish it before I come home and it has really been awesome.  Right now in the mission we have had a focus on the atonement in our studies.  I have noticed as I have been reading the Book of Mormon that it talks so much about Christ and his atonement.  I am so grateful to have the Book of Mormon because it really is the key to our knowledge of the Savior.  Without the Book of Mormon we wouldn't really understand the sacrifice that the Savior has done for us.  We really are so blessed as members of the church to have it.  I love this gospel and I love sharing it with the world.  Pray for us - we need it this week!  We are going to burn ourselves out this week inviting everyone to be baptized and to go to church.  It is going to be a lot of fun.

March 17, 2014

This week has come and gone.  I am going into my last transfer this week!!!  Crazy how fast time flies.  Time is just gone.  That's alright we are here to work until the end.  This week was a good week.  I got to do interchanges this week with one of my old areas; it was awesome.  We went to teach a family that I found and was teaching about a year ago.  It was so awesome to talk to them.  When I was teaching them a year ago the lady had a dream that the Church was true and when we gave her husband a blessing he was completely healed within a few days.  It was such a miracle being able to be with them again and being able to share with them the gospel.  We taught them the restoration and it was basically just a reminder for what I had taught them a year ago.  This week was also a multi-stake conference and it was really sweet because I got to see a lot of the people from my old area.  It made me realize without a doubt that no effort is wasted and that everything we do as missionaries is for a reason.  We also put a baptismal date with Brayan for this week.  It's going to be a lot of fun.

March 10, 2014

This week was awesome; I had some awesome experiences.  We had interchanges this week.  In the area where I stayed it was crazy because it started raining and it was a down pour; it was a lot of fun.  We were soaked within minutes so we just took advantage of it walking in the middle of the streets that were like rivers; it was so crazy!  As we were going to an appointment with the Branch President he got a call that the roof of a members business had fallen through and needed help taking all the clothes and shoes out of the building so we went to do that and in the process the power went out - it was such a disaster but so much fun at the same time.  There were like three missionaries there from the states and we all just started talking to each other in English and it was so much fun.  We had a good week.  We have a lot to do to get better this coming week.  I love the mission.  We are having fun and this is going to be a super busy week.

Pictures

 Jackson with his gecko friend (and NO he is not bringing it home)

 Jackson with his Mission President and his wife

 Jackson and Nelson (baptism 3-1-14)

Nelson's baptism 

Companion, Nelson and Jackson

March 3, 2014

This week was a good week!  We spent a lot of time traveling; we went to the city twice and that is always really tiring.  We visited Nelson everyday this week up until his baptism Saturday.  It was awesome to see all the changes that he has made in his life.  It has been a real rough road for him to take and he has made a lot of really hard changes in his life but he is happy now.  He told me that he feels different now; he feels like a new person and he is super excited for it.  He is excited that the people are going to see him as a different person.  President invited all of us that starting last week we all started to study the atonement for the next four weeks; it has been a really awesome experience.  I have learned so much about the atonement.  It makes me realize it is the center of our message.  Everything depends on the atonement.  I loved one thing I read - the atonement is the greatest and most important act ever done in human history.  There isn't anything more important that it.  I kn ow it is true.  I am so grateful for the atonement.  Just studying it makes me want to become more and more like my Savior.  Without it we are lost.  We should thank God daily for the gift of the atonement and as we do it we will see the changes that it makes in our lives.