February 25, 2013

Dear Family,

This week was great! we were able to have a lesson with our new investigator, April. And guess what!!! She's set with a date for baptism! 23rd of March! We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the importance of baptism, on saturday... and we had stake conference on sunday and guess what Elder Ballard talked about?? the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  So that was pretty great!

Well transfers are this week and Elder Golden and I are gonig to be staying together for another 6 weeks! so we have some more chances to baptize that investigator that our president told us to lol. I think it will go well! We both will hopefully be able to continue to work together well and be able to continue to be patient haha.

Well we've had a pretty fun week! We went tracting for a few hours this last friday and we found some cool people that might actually want us to stop by sometime again!!! that never happens! I think I may have told you but in case I havent... We found an investigator off of tracting! This guy, after we told him about lessons and stuff like that, said 'you know I think my wife and I ... Will' so they werent home the last time we went over there but we have their number and we hope everything pans out!

Well we have an appointment with Miranda, our other investigator that is set for March 23rd for baptism so hopefully that will go well!!!

Sorry its so short this week but we've got souls to save lol

Love you all and thanks for your letters and support!

Love,

Elder John

2 Tim 4:7 - Keep the Faith, Lose the doubt

explanation of pictures:

Elder Lee pulling out my ingrown hairs

Me with a sickle ready to harvest

Us after running outside

The one of the poker chips I like to call "Tithing: is it really that difficult to pay in Vegas?"

February 19, 2013

Dear Family,

Wow! this week and this last transfer have flown by!!! this is the last week of the transfer! This transfer has also only been 5 weeks long instead of the regular 6 weeks, becuase of the new missionaries coming in... so I will come home a week earlier than I was going to previously. So I wont even be 21 when I return!!!

Anyway... We have had some crazy experiences this last week! so Wednesday we went to this less active guys house and decided to visit him before going to lunch... and we came in and he said that his day wasnt going very well so we asked him why and he broke down and said that some things had been happening.  I am very thankful that we went to his house instead of going to lunch!

So ya pretty crazystuff! Sunday we were able to have a lot of people at church!!! we got 3 less active people to come to church and we got Miranda Springer, our investogator who is set with a date, to come! She said that she was having the worst week ever and then when we went to sacrament meeting she said that it was soooo worth it to come to church! We had a high council member speak and he said 'I dont want to come to churhc either but we need to make the decision to come because it will bless us'. great things for our less actives to hear!

We picked up a new investigator from the sister missionaries this week! her name is April and she has already commited to baptism and she is legit! We just finished teaching her the Plan of Salvation and she is so excited for it! She will be coming to our Stake Conference this week so that will be great!

Thank you so much for your support and letters!

I love you all!

Love,

Elder John

2 Timothy 4:7- Keep the Faith, Lose the doubt

Pictures:

the Highland Hills Zone!!!

Me hugging the biggest cactus I've ever seen!!!

February 11, 2013

Dear Family,

So I guess everybody has heard about Jon coming to the Best in the WEST!!! Thats so cool! I hope I get to be companions with him!!! all of the LVW will be under water haha. well thats pretty cool! I got that news while I was sick on saturday when Elder Golden and Elder Lee were at dinner, we went on exchanges, and they were at the Mechams house so she got on facebook and found out that Jon was going to my mission!

Well since it was a short week not much has gone on since wednesday.  We were able to get a few new investigators... one of them is a part member family and the husband hasnt taken the lessons since he was 20 and they are in their 70s so he said he would try out the new way of the lessons so ya!

the bulmers, our investigators that are kinda close to baptism are out of town for 6 weeks so thats a bummer!!! but hopefully we will stay in this area and be able to baptize them!

well sunday rolls around finally! (saturday I was sick) so then we were able to teach Donna, one of our new investigators from last week... and then we went to dinner with the Edgels. Well After dinner we take Jayden Edgel out will us and we go over to some less active members n the ward and had a good spiritual experience with Finding Faith in Christ... usually we just watch it and talk about it a bit but this time we answered a lot of their questions and talked about it a lot so its pretty cool! After that we see a car on the side of the road and turns out that she is out of gas... so we push her a half mile down the road and when we finally get there she tells us to wait there... and she goes in and gets 20 dollar bills for each of us... after we refuse she says 'well i have to give you something' so we said here is what you can do for us... I pull out a copy of the Book of Mormon that I placed on the trunk of her cdar while we pushed it.. and she said she would read it! I like to think of it as ammon teaching king lamoni.... 'thus he was caught with guile'... haha so she kinda felt that she owed us one so I think she will read and give us a call!!

Well sorry its kinda been a boring week but things are going well in the Las Vegas West Mission!!!

Love,

Elder John

Keep the Faith!

February 6, 2013

Dear Family,
This past week has been great! So tuesday we were able to go over to this
less active ladies house and she was not doing well. we have been meeting
with her for a while and been able to gain her trust. she has been trying
to stop smoking and so we asked if she was done. she said she bought
cigarettes so we asked her if we could take them. so we did! then she said
"since you took them you do the blessing" (referring to me, we give her
blessings all the time) so I gave her a blessing. This last friday we met
with a less active lady who has a non member husband and she knows she
needs to come to church but she doesnt feel the urge to change certain
things, even though she knows they are wrong. So I said "well if you give
up one hour then you will take the sacrament and fell the spirit again,
then you will get the urge to stop the other things'. Then she said "I had
a home teacher when I lived in Belgium as a young girl and my parents were
very less active and they smoke and drank and he said those same words and
my parents sacrificed that hour to go to church and then they went to eh
temple and got fully active in the church. so its funny that you say that,
maybe I will'. That was awesome!!!
This last week we also clipped horses hooves! to help out a less active
family that needs to come to church! I have pictures! it was really fun!
This last Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and President and sister
black were supposed to come to church but they went to our other ward.
Well John and Melinda Bulmer went because we promised them we would be
'speaking'. So after church they texted and said "can elders baptize into
the lds" so we said yes. which is ironic because we fasted for baptisms!
well it turns out that she had a great experience during a surgery she had
last week and felt that God was with her! so Hopefully they will be able to
get baptized soon! the only problem is that they want both elder Golden and
I to baptize them. haha.
Well this last Tuesday we had zone meeting and it was great! we talked
about bearing testimony frequently. so our apointment with the bulmers
cancelled for 2:00 so we were pretty bumbed. We went to see Beverly (a
potential investigator who we go try to see every tuesday and she is never
there) and as we are waling to her house we decide to go help some people
with a u-haul trailer across the street. As we are walking we see a wallet
on the ground so we get ahold of the owner of the wallet and while we were
waiting to meet up with him at his house we talked to the people with the
u-haul. His name is David from San Jose, moved here a year ago. he
accepted to come to church and to read the book of mormon. So we walked
down to the wallet guys house and he was so grateful and tried to give us
money but we said no, we just wanted to help. As we talked with him we
found out that he knew Mormons and lds people worked for him previously.
well he said we ould come meet with him and he couldnt remember his number
so we went into his house. we talked for a while and he is so proud of his
family and his children. he talke dbaout his wife who died a year ago and
he gets really emotional when he talkes about any of his family members. So
we told him that families are forever and he said "I'm here alone. that
doesnt seem like forever. I keep thinking my wife is going to walk through
that door any day, but she is gone" So we explained that even after death
we can be with them. We then gave him 'together forever' ( a cheesy movie
that we have been challenged to pass out by our zone leaders) and its
awesome that we have that challenge because it was able to help him and
otherwise we wouldnt of had it with us but I feel that that challenge was
given for us to be able to help this guy. Its cool to see how everything
works out cause we knew that Beverly, the place we were originally going to
see, wasnt going to meet with us, but there was a reason to go see her and
there was also a reason for the zone leaders to issue that challenge with
the 'together forever' dvds.
Well today we were able to go to the temple!!! awesome!
Thanks so much from your support and your love!
I love you all!
Love,
Elder John

January 28, 2013

Dear Family,
This week has been great! We got a new investigator in our ysa ward and she accepted to be baptized so tonight we are going to try to set her with a date to be baptized.
I have really strengthened my knowledge of how prayer works, this week. I bought a small note book that I keep in my pocket and I write down things that I need to pray for. It has helped my see the things I need and has helped me see the blessings that come from obeying the commandments. Often the blessings we receive would have happened anyway but the thing about praying for them is that we can recognize that is is a blessing and we can learn a lesson from it. I am so grateful for prayer, not aligning Gods will to us, but aligning our will to Gods.
So we had a funny experience when we were visiting less active members. We have heard that this guy is a cowboy and has a drinking problem and that he is hostile. so we go and drive a couple of neighbors houses away from him. we knock on his door, expecting to get yelled at. he answers the door and says hey come on in! you guys hungry? so ya it was pretty funny. turns out he is going to another ward and some rumors have started, but he is awesome!
oh and another hilarious story! So we went to mission prep class this last Tuesday and the teacher had a student cover their eyes and hold out their hand. the teacher asked, "will you pray everyday?". -yes. so the teacher gave the student a piece of candy. then the teacher continued to ask questions and if the response was yes they got a piece of candy. so this object lesson demonstrated faith and when we get blessings its easier to keep more commandments... ok so the next day we were teaching this lady we have been meeting with for a while. we are talking about faith and I say hold out your hand and cover your eyes... she was reluctant but she proceeded to do so. Then I asked her if she would pray daily, she said she already does... so I gave her a piece of candy. she looked at it and was very confused. then I had her shut her eyes again and asked her if she would read her scriptures.. then she yells at me and says, "No, this is not how God works. he is not in this candy. I'll keep my piece of candy but don't give me anymore. thats not how it works." so i try and say 'no we didn't mean it like that we are just trying to demonstrate how faith works, God isn't really going to give us candy." then she yells at me some more and says that I need to be more patient. but i was just trying to explain that God really didn't work that way... but the good news is she is still meeting with us and things are going well haha its hilarious. I prayed for patience that night :)
sorry not a lot has happened this week but things are going really well and hopefully our investigators will continue to progress!
Love you all!
Love,
Elder John

January 22, 2013

Dear Family,
This week has been Great! We had transfers yesterday and Elder Golden and I are staying for another 6 weeks! The members really trust us and it shows! lol the work is going great! oh and I almost forgot... In the past the San Miguel Ward would do the Triple King Challenge at Fat Burger, every Martin Luther King day. So we told everyone they have to come... the bishop announced it, that the missionaries are resurrecting the triple king challenge. so yesterday we bring our Zone leaders with us to Fat Burger and like half the ward is there! so we do the challenge and this time it wasn't as bad as the first time I did it lol. But it was great to see how many members support us!
On a more spiritual note, last night we taught a girl, Miranda, in the young single adult ward. She is so interested and wants to learn so much! we read the intro to the Book of Mormon with her and she said "man I love reading and now that I know what its all about I will love to read it! She also said that she will be baptized once she knows its true! awesome!
Things in this are are going well and I cant wait to spend another 6 weeks in heaven!
sorry its so short this week!
I love you all!
Love,
Elder John
"our present blessings come from past sacrifices and obedience"

January 14, 2013

This week has been great! we have had some great experiences and have been able to teach SO many people! I am so grateful for the success that we are recieving in this area! We are here to work and we are worthy for the people we are teaching. Our studies have been going great and I am grateful for a companion who is willing to be obedient and who is willing to work hard. This week has been also a struggle. I have had to humble myself and not worry about what others may think of me. We had an experience Saturday night. We go in, a second lesson, and in our previous lesson they just wanted someone to hang out with and just bible study. We told them that we don't do that and we are here to teach what we believe. Well we come in to this next lesson and we figured that we could just answer some of their questions about the church and share some more about the Restoraiton. well one of their questions was about the temple and I told them that we dont talk about those things becuase they are sacred. well after them prying and prying and finally they bought something up and I just stood up and said well thanks for letting us meet with you but if you cant respect our wishes then we will have to leave. 'we asked you multiple times not to talk about it and you kept going'. we we talked for a little longer about what we are here to teach... but I feel bad, not for standing up and saying we arent going to talk about these things anymore but just how I felt inside and how I felt toward them. I understand that they dont have the same connection that I do with sacred things but it was still tough. I'm working on humbling myself. It was a great experience because it will help me be more bold in the future ('The truth of God will go forth Boldly..."). They asked why people talk about sacred things and I said "well some people like to trample under their feet the things of God, and if you do so be it, but God will be the judge of both you and me."
So ya it was pretty great! haha
Well we've tauht the most lessons this week than I have in my mission! 11 lessons with a member present, 3 other lessons, and 11 Less active or recent convert. So we have been pretty busy! I dont know how it is in other missions but here that is pretty good!
I Love you all!
Love,
Elder John

p.s. any mail that you may send please send to Devin T. John. there's another Elder John in the mission. not that I'm asking fo mail but you know what I mean :)

January 7, 2013

Wow! this week has been awesome! Its a new year and everything is going great! so We got a new investigator! I think i may have already talked about this but it won't hurt to hear it agian :) So we were walking around this apartment complex to try to find these less active [people. and we were walking for like 30 minutes cause we couldnt find it. then we see this family and we say hi. then this lady is just standing in a parking space and she says 'hi boys' and I didnt realize she wasnt talking to us until midway through my sentance, as I said ,'Hi, we're the misisonaries! have you ever met with us before?' and she said no but she has been meaning to. so we gave her a copy of The Book of Mormon and she said she would read the introduction. we met with her this last thursday and she said 'amen' to everything we said! even the great apostasy! Elder Golden: "so gospel truths were lost" This lady: "Amen" haha so thats great!
So saturday we have our studies and do the 12 week program with my companion (the training process for new misisonaries and their trainers) and by this time its about 11ish... so I look out our window and I'm like 'where is our car' so we go outside and of course this is the first time I've ever left my backpack in the car (with my camera) and I was flippin out! so we call Elder Danda the Vehicle coordinator and say 'hey our car isnt where we parked it' so we find out after a lot of drama that it was towed... and a few weeks ago we had to change cars with some elders from another zone out in the sticks... and we didnt think to change the sticker... so apparently they thought I should pay for the tow... so mom and dad if you see 300 bucks missing from my bank account, thats why. but after me calling the president I got it worked out and I got the money back (drinks on me! jk). So ya it was a great way to spend our saturday!
Well that was all for this week... pretty eventful! I love you all and things are going great here in the Las Vegas West!!!

December 31, 2012

Dear Family,
This week was awesome!!! well I guess these past few weeks! so Christmas was totally the best day ever!
So christmas eve we played basketball, cause its pday. and then we had diner at the Singletons, awesome family! then we went with our Zone Leaders over to one of their members, a Samoan family! it was really fun and very spiritual! they respect the missionaries like kings, its really cool to see. Then we went back to our appartment and did a white elephant gift exchange and then we dreamed of sugarplums and all of that jazz. Christmas day we woke up and Santa had come!!! at last at last we were able to open our long awaited presents! then we went to dennys and ate breakfast!! So good! then we finally got to talk to our families! it was funny with elder Golden cause he had just talked to his family like a month ago lol. then we went to dinner. oh and before dinner we got to meet a member of Neon Trees! the bassist! he's a member and was visiting his in-laws that live in our ward. I'll send a pic. so christmas was amazing!
This last sunday we got to speak and it was aweosme cause our investigators came to church to hear us speak! It seems like we've gained a lot of member trust and things are going to continue to pick up! I love these wards!!!
Well theres not much to write about... but the Bullmers, our investigators are doing well! I think I mentioned that we sang to them... or maybe I havent. so we went caroling sunday night, before Christmas, and we went to the Bullmers first... they were very touched and wanted to give us hugs... so we told them to hug the sister missionaries that were with us! she hugged them for like 5 minutes each! it was really cool... then we went to some other people... and this one guy we go to and after we sing he says 'I've seen this happen on tv but I never thought it would happen to me'. it turns our that we just went up to a random appartment and sang! so ya it was really cool to see peoples hearts soften.
Christmas was awesome and the members made it feel like we were with family. I love you all and have a great new year! talk to you in 2013!
Love,
Elder John
p.s. there is another Elder John in the mission so if you send me mail please address it to Elder Devin T. John

December 25, 2012

This family is a family that we were able to go to with the Zone Leaders after our dinner with the Singletons! the Singletons are awesome! and this family in the picture is a Samoan family! so cool!

Merry Christmas!!!