Good morning!
That looks like a crazy hail storm!!! I keep telling the elders in my zone about the crazy weather back home and I show them the pictures and they are just in awe at the crazy weather you guys are having!
I'll have to try some of those addicting chocolates you make dad. I'm glad Oma enjoys my bed so much! I needed someone to keep it worn in for me anyways! I'm also glad that you got a wedding invite to Marshall's wedding! The idea of him getting married is still blowing my mind! Haha! I miss that kid! Thank you so much for the update on everything! I have the best family ever!
This past week was interesting! It was full of adventure, road trips, reunions, and miracles! Last Monday wasn't that exciting... Just hiked that one hill again with my companion. But the week was powerful! Our area is doing incredible! This area is so powerful! We teach teach teach teach teach! Any free time I have is absorbed by the work and my Zone members. I love it!
Actually working bring me so much joy! Whenever I waste any time I just feel sick inside and want to work harder! I feed off of the Joy I see in the people who I am able to share the Gospel with! I've seen so many miracles in the work as well since I have been here! The Lord is just preparing the people and he's trusted me enough to be the one to teach them. I just rejoice every day in the mercies of the Lord!
Our teaching pool is very big! We are swamped with work. Whenever we have free time we are filling it with super productive things to do! On Wednesday out of the 7 set appointments, 6 of them held and we had powerful lessons!
Our teaching pool is very big! We are swamped with work. Whenever we have free time we are filling it with super productive things to do! On Wednesday out of the 7 set appointments, 6 of them held and we had powerful lessons!
One lesson, we were teaching an investigator. We were going over the Restoration again with him. The lesson was going well and the spirit was there, but all of a sudden, halfway through the lesson, our fellowshipper just walked in. He had seen our car outside the house on his way home from school and decided to join us! Well that was a blessing because we had him share some of the lesson and at the end he testified and the spirit was so strong that we committed our investigator to baptism right there and he said he would!
The only problem now is getting to church... We have a lot of people who have great desires to be baptized and to live the gospel, but the chapel is super far away that getting them to attend church is a big issue... I have such high hopes every sunday for so many people to come... but each week my hope come crumbling down when nobody shows up... it's frustrating and hard, but I've come to realize that I am helping to lay the foundation right now and to plant the seeds, then when a branch starts here at the end of the year, there will be an explosion in the work!
The only problem now is getting to church... We have a lot of people who have great desires to be baptized and to live the gospel, but the chapel is super far away that getting them to attend church is a big issue... I have such high hopes every sunday for so many people to come... but each week my hope come crumbling down when nobody shows up... it's frustrating and hard, but I've come to realize that I am helping to lay the foundation right now and to plant the seeds, then when a branch starts here at the end of the year, there will be an explosion in the work!
Reminds me of when I served in Knysna! 2 weeks after I left 3 of the people I was teaching were baptized, then within the next month 3 more were baptized, and over the following 6 months, 13 were baptized there. After I left Mthatha 2 were baptized, the following 6 months 6 were baptized and this Sunday 3 more were baptized that I was teaching... I feel like I'm a seed planter... haha! But I love it! I am seeing great miracles and great changes in people's lives every day!
We also went to Mthatha this week and I was able to see some of the families that I was visiting there! It was awesome! I miss those people! It was a hit to our area though because we have so much work there and we were out of the area for 2 days straight, but oh well... I love this work! TOO MUCH!!!
Just one last cool experience from the week. Last night we had a lesson with a father led family that we are teaching. At the end of the lesson we committed them to read, ponder, and pray about a chapter of the Book of Mormon together. So I was looking for a chapter for them to read. I opened to Alma 34 and thought, "no not this one." Then I thought, "somewhere in 3 Nephi..." so I flipped to 3 Nephi 11. I thought, "No, not this one either." So I flipped to chapter 18 and again thought it wasn't right. Then I turned back one page to chapter 17 and read the chapter heading and thought, "This is perfect!!!" While I was searching for a scripture, He was staring at an open page in his Book of Mormon. I asked him If I could mark the page for him and he said yes so he handed his open Book of Mormon to me and lo and behold, he had it open to 3 Nephi 17 and he was reading the chapter heading. I said, "Wow! This is open to the chapter I wanted to give you!" and he said, "I knew that you were going to give me that chapter to read, I had a feeling." I was just blown away! The Lord works in funny but awesome ways!!! Well I'm out of time! But I love you all! TOO MUCH!!! Take care!
Just one last cool experience from the week. Last night we had a lesson with a father led family that we are teaching. At the end of the lesson we committed them to read, ponder, and pray about a chapter of the Book of Mormon together. So I was looking for a chapter for them to read. I opened to Alma 34 and thought, "no not this one." Then I thought, "somewhere in 3 Nephi..." so I flipped to 3 Nephi 11. I thought, "No, not this one either." So I flipped to chapter 18 and again thought it wasn't right. Then I turned back one page to chapter 17 and read the chapter heading and thought, "This is perfect!!!" While I was searching for a scripture, He was staring at an open page in his Book of Mormon. I asked him If I could mark the page for him and he said yes so he handed his open Book of Mormon to me and lo and behold, he had it open to 3 Nephi 17 and he was reading the chapter heading. I said, "Wow! This is open to the chapter I wanted to give you!" and he said, "I knew that you were going to give me that chapter to read, I had a feeling." I was just blown away! The Lord works in funny but awesome ways!!! Well I'm out of time! But I love you all! TOO MUCH!!! Take care!
-Elder Jones
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