Dear Family,
This
week was great! We had our mission Christmas Party!!! So fun! President
and Sister Ahlander talked for a little while then we had a Christmas
program. Then one of the assistants, Elder Torgersen, read us his
version of 'twas the night before Christmas'. Then we had lunch provided
by the Red Rock Stake. It was so good!!! Finally we got to watch
'Ephraim's Rescue'! Great Movie!!! and yes I did tear up a bit!
So in the mission there is a tradition of calling the person you
train your son. So according to tradition I have one son. Who trained 3
other missionaries (My grandchildren) and this last transfer one of my
grandsons trained! So I'm a great-grandfather! I'll attach a pic of all
of us sitting on Santas lap!
This past week has been very slow! No one can meet because of the
holidays and its been tough. However we have had some rays of light. We
have been tractng a lot and we have to walk a lot more becuase we are
over our mileage allotment on our car. So we tract this one street and
this guy answers the door and he says that he used to be a member a few
years ago. He also said that a friend of his was over at his house just a
few hours ago and told him that he would send missionaries to his
house. So we happen to show up! The Man has an 18 year old son he wants
us to teach and he said that "Gods phone calls travel a lot faster than
mans phone calls. My friend 'called' God and God 'called' you to knock
on my door". So great!
A Family in the ward is having their son visit from Washington.
THey want him to get baptized while he is here for the holidays! He is
getting baptized on the 26th of December and we are going to interview
him for baptism today at 12 we are going to interview him. It should be
fun!
This past Saturday my first 'new investigator' my first week in
the mission was baptized! We've worked with him for a while and
missionaries have been teaching him since I left my first area. I was so
excited to hear that he is going to be baptized! Elder Wong (my
trainer) came down from Utah to baptize him. I was also in the water to
help because of his bad knees. Immediatly after he was baptized he
started clapping. He then lifted Elder Wong and I up in the air. It was
so great to see him so excited! The Bishop, as he was welcoming him to
the ward, shared this scripture Isaiah 55:12. He said that 'you showed
your joy though clapping' and the bishop made it a great experience for
him!
So a few weeks ago we set Savanna for the 4th of January. She was a
little hesitant but was willing to make it a goal. Spencer, her
husband, sent us a text midway through this past week and said that
'Savanna is definitely getting baptized on the 4th. We were reading and I
felt inspired to show her Alma 32. We had a great spiritual experience
and she is excited to be baptized.'
Oh its so great! So exciting!!!
Finally, We went
Caroling! We got permission from Wal-mart and our whole zone (19
missionaries) caroled for a few hours. People were taking pictures of us
and they were so excited to see people singing at Wal-mart!
Well I better go!
I love you all!
Love,
Elder John
"Yes,
we still wish Christmas were more deeply felt and lasted longer, but
the visibly increased goodwill nevertheless reminds us, if only briefly,
of what could be everlasting. For a few days, the first and second
commandments are more pondered and observed."
- Neal A. Maxwell
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