Monday, February 10, 2014

Transfer 15, Week 2, Lakes Zone, Desert Breeze Ward‏

Dear Family,
Wow! Its been a great week! This week was one of those weeks that really just tests you! It was so slow! Not much seemed to be going on and it seemed like we didn't have very much success... HOWEVER, it turned out very well! 
A part member family came to Stake Conference and they were very immpressed with Elder Holland. The family, the Langstons, are great! The non-member husband is very upfront and very straightforward. He just tells it like it is. Well, Elder Hollands talk really impressed him because Elder Holland just said it like it is! We had a lesson with the Langstons on Tuesday evening. Brother Jolley, our WML, came with us and it was one of the coolest lessons I've been in! We sit down and talk about some stuff and we discuss Elder Hollands talks. Then, Bro Langston says, "So do you want to hear my story? Do you want to know where I'm at?" To which we tried not to jump out of our seats as we said, 'Uh... ya that would be fine'. So he told us that we was a Jehovah's Witness and that throughout his life he has had some great LDS friends and some good experiences with missionaries. He said that he has put it off for a long time and after hearing Elder Hollands talk he is ready to listen and accept the truth. He said that he's had this good feeling these past few days.  He also talked about how much he loves his family and that he wants to be sealed to them. (Bro Langston is a very serious guy and he is taking this very seriously) He then said, "Whats next?".  We told him how he can have that 'good feeling' forever, as long as he lives worthy of it. We invited him to pray whether of not he should be baptized on the 22nd of February or the 1st of March. He accepted to read from the Book of Mormon and to read the Restoration pamphlet before we come back. (our next appointment is for tomorrow the 11th of February). 
They didn't come to church this week but we hope that they will continue to grow in the gospel! 

Also, Sunday afternoon (yesterday) we were able to meet with Steve and Kristi. Kristi did not have a chance to read the stuff we asked her to because they were on a vacation in Layton Utah, but she said she still has it and will read it. She is very nice and is asking a lot of questions about life! The only bad thing is that we cant meet with them too often because of their work schedules. We have another lesson/dinner set up or next Thursday. 

We met with Sister Worku this week. We are trying to get a feel for how she is coming along with he commitment to be baptized because she is pretty flaky and hasn't come to church in a while! So we asked her how she feels about baptism and we asked her some other questions. I was looking at elder Till while he asked a quesiton and then I look over and she is crying (not the good kind of crying). It took her a while to get composed again and she said that she's having a really hard time because she just stays home all of the time, she's homesick for Africa, and she never does anything for herself. So Sunday, when the Worku's didnt come to church, we gave our relief society president, Sister Stevens, the green light to go and make a surprise visit to take her out with some of the other women in the ward. We hope she is doing well. 
 
This week we have been having some fun drama with missionaries and housing... so that is fun to deal with :)

So at Stake Conference, President Teshima (the Stake President) set a goal to baptize 100 people this year! People are very excited about it and President Teshima asked us to come to the Stake Council Meeting (including High Council, Stake Relief Society, Stake Young Womens, and the Stake Presidency) and present a plan on what the missionaries are going to do to achieve the goal and what we need members to do. Everyone is super energized and we have a bunch of ideas! For the missionary aspect we made sure that it was general enough for the new missionaries that come in, so they know that 'In the Lakes Zone we do this...'. Everyone loved the presentation and we are working hard to get things going!
President Teshima has told us that we are going to do our baptisms on Saturdays at 1pm. So when we set someone for baptism there is no question as to when it will be. This will also allow the members to always know that there is a baptism at 1pm at the Stake Center. 
So this past weekend we had 5 baptisms in the Stake and this upcoming weekend we have 5 baptisms set! We are super excited! When we told President Teshima about 10 baptisms this month in the Stake he said, 'That's what we need to do!" 
So far this year, after February, we'll have 13 baptisms! We are excited! 

Well I think that's all for this week! I love you all! 
Love, 
Elder John 
"Ultimately, it may be more important how we are persuaded rather than how we persuade. For, whole changing our mind is important in learning, the opening of our hearts is critical to our salvation." -Cory W. Leonard 
"A quality person will not compromise his principles regardless of the size or intensity of the foe or the situation"- Marvin J. Ashton

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