Dear Mom,
I did watch that world wide training. And yes, I did recognize Jessie Beck. I thought that was pretty cool. I wonder if Josh would recognize any of those members maybe from one of his areas he served in.. I absolutely loved that whole broadcast!! I loved how Elder Nelson said that we should not have time to knock on doors. Knocking on doors is about the least effective thing that we can do, besides just sitting at home. That makes missionary work so much better if have that much member involvement. We have so many members out here now that they should be so involved in missionary work all the time. I really liked that video of that missionary family. Does Dad still know where his missionary tags are? I'm going to do what the dad did in that video. I'm going to put my tag on my scriptures after my mission. I really want to be able to watch that whole broadcast over again. Unfortunately, I don't know how many of our members saw the broadcast. Another thing a lot of members say out here is that their family and friends aren't ready. That they've already tried and they just need more time. I can't remember exactly who said in in that conference, but somebody said that we can't say if they're ready or not. I loved that broadcast because it felt like a mini-general conference with the focus of missionary work; missionary work for members and full-time missionaries. I'm really worried about missionary work back at home. I don't know how much I can really do. I'm sure I'll figure out something.
That's awesome that Kelsie is in Greece now. I didn't even realize that was coming up so soon! I hope she sends me some cool pictures of Greece! Do you know if she's going to church there? That would be awesome to spend three hours of church all in Greek. I think that there would be some an authentic feel to it. To be able to be over there where the ancient Apostles preached the Gospel in the Meridian of Time.
Good to hear that Nicole went on her mission. Cool to hear about Kendra! Do you know that Mason guy at all?
So, I forgot to mention that we were going to go to the temple last week. We went on Tuesday! Way cool experience. I know I've only been to Manhattan a few times, but now it feels like I've spent so much time there. I only took a few pictures this time. The temple was amazing! After our session, I was able to talk to one of the counselors in the temple presidency to ask a few questions. I didn't really know that you could ask them just about anything in the temple. He answered a few questions, but before he had to get going to something else he had to do, he left me with a few questions as well!! Aaaahhhh!! Now I have to wait until December to ask those ones! I hope that I can stay actively participating in the temple when I get back. Also, New York City was way cool as always. This time, we took the New Jersey Transit train from Elizabeth, New Jersey to Penn Station. If we go to NYC, we have to visit Penn Station; it's crazy there! It's like a mall mixed with a giant train station. It's huge! There are so many things to do in NYC. Times Square was way cool as always. There are a few really cool stores that would be amazing to go into. Mission first!
Then on Wednesday, we visited with a part-member family. They have two kids who are 18 and 17 that speak only Spanish that aren't members. They don't really have much interest in religion at all, but we asked them if we could share with them why we do what we do. They had a LOT of questions. Some good questions. Some bad. The girl asked why we can't dance. We gave her a weird look, then she answered for us. She said that we (referring to everyone) shouldn't dance because when we do so, we are dancing for Satan. Then she asked us if our church prohibits dancing. It was a really weird question, and I'm sure she was just trying to prove to us that our church wasn't true. His big question was why we have the Book of Mormon. There seems to be a lot of people in this area that know us as having the "Mormon Bible". It's super annoying because they think that we don't use nor believe in the Bible. We wouldn't have our Church if it weren't for the Bible! Of course it's important. This guy in particular was trying to accuse us of never using the Bible in church services. He said that he's been to our Church before and we didn't ever use the Bible and that the Book of Mormon is way different than the Bible. I get so tired of people like that. We finished up the whole Restoration lesson, but then we figured out that he isn't willing to work for an answer. We made sure to tell him that he will never receive an answer if he isn't willing to work towards it. Most of the questions that these two kids had were all formed in a way that they were just questioning the church. We were talking about the lesson after we had left the home and it came to me that there is a difference between questioning and asking questions. They were questioning, not asking questions. Important difference, even for us as members.
Good week! This week should be pretty fun as well! This coming Wednesday, we have an All-Mission Conference. We're going to get new mission t-shirts!
Q of the W:
1. Has anybody asked you 'why they changed the missionary age?' If so, what do you tell them?
Actually, no one has asked me that.. If somebody did ask me that, I would just say that God is hastening his work by making it possible for more missionaries to go out
2. What is the hardest thing for you about a transfer?
If I'm leaving, I don't like saying goodbye to people, and I don't like packing. If I'm staying and my companion is leaving, I don't like to be the only one that knows the area and the people. Usually it takes about 3-4 weeks for the new missionary in the area to start to get the area down. I'm still learning New Brunswick.
3. Aren't you supposed to go to NYC this month?
Yes, I went last week :)
Love you mom! Miss you lots!
-Justin
Monday, June 24, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Mom,
10 Commercial Ave. Apt.# ULC
New Brunswick, NJ (I don't know the ZIP code)
It was a sad goodbye from Union City. I really started to love that place a lot. I miss it. We had some great members there. My area was really doing good as well. The area I'm in right now in New Brunswick is still a walking area! Except it's like three times as big as my area in Union City. Unfortunately, I think I might be getting shin splints... We'll see. New Brunswick is a pretty good area. It's a lot different than Union City. In Union City, the chapel was five blocks away from our apartment. Here in New Brunswick, the chapel is a 15 minute drive away in the next town over called East Brunswick. Since it's a walking area, we don't have a car. We had to call a member to pick us up on Sunday morning. I think that there are actually quite a few of members that have to call and ask for rides from other people to get to church every Sunday. Pretty crazy. I guess there are some members every week that don't go to church because they can't find a ride.
So the goodbye from Union City, we had a family home evening in the chapel on Monday night and we invited a lot of the members to come and say goodbye to us. I had made some pretty good friends in Union City. It kind of feels like my home in New Jersey. I'm definitely going to have to visit there after my mission. Many of the members told us that we're more than welcome to come back and visit. The Bishop told us that we always have a friend at his house and that we can come back and visit any time we want. Great ward!
This last week just consisted of walking around the New Brunswick area and trying to get to know the area. My companion is Elder Drewes. His family is living in Provo, but he has moved around a lot because his dad worked in the Air Force. He's an OBGYN now. I think he might know Brother Allen! My comp has only been in the mission for four months. So he's still trying to get a hold on the area. We're trying to figure out the best way to work in this area right now. It's fun, but it's a lot of walking.
There's some pretty cool members in this ward. There's a family by the name of Allongo. The dad just finished serving in our mission presidency. Just as he was finishing his service in the mission presidency, he got called to serve in the East Brunswick stake presidency. He's a pretty good guy. He does something with banks and his wife is a nationally certified Spanish-English translator. She translates things in courts. She knows English better than I do! They have two sons. One of them is named Michael. He served his mission in Germany. He is a prosecutor. He went to BYU law school. I asked him if he knew Wesley Harward. He said the name sounds familiar, so he looked up the name on Facebook. Turns out he's Facebook friends with him! He still didn't know him. But I guess they were in the law program at the same time. Also, Michael serves as the Elders Quorum President in our ward. He helps us out a lot in our missionary work. The Bishop is supportive of missionary work, but he doesn't go out of his way to help us out. So Brother Michael Allongo goes out of his way to help us out the best possible. It's pretty nice. He expects a lot from us, but that's good, because he's going to be helping us out a lot. He really has a determination to make sure this work goes as well as possible.
This family invited us over to dinner yesterday for Father's Day. They have nice house. It reminded me of home! She cooked very well and it didn't really seem like a very Hispanic dish. It was delicious!
It's going to take some getting used to here, but I think I'll be able to do it! It sounds like a fun ward!
Q of the W:
1. What is your opinion on what is the great and abominable church? Just wondering if anybody questions that scripture and what you tell them?
Well, Bruce R. McConkie said that the great and abominable church was the Catholic Church, but I don't think that that was ever accepted as doctrine. I think that he has a good point. I think that that it is very possible. I don't know if Nehpi was trying to describe one particular church group or many churches in one group under the category of destroying the ''plain and precious'' truths. I don't think that he specifies on that. Nehpi describes the great and abominable church as a church taking the ''plain and precious things'' away from the Church of the Lamb of God. So that includes pretty much every other church besides our church. I think that it's safe to say that any church that takes away the ''plain and precious'' truths from the Gospel would be included in the great and abominable church. I would think that it's safe to say that the Catholic Church was one of the very first churches to do exactly that. So that is my opinion.
2. Do you know how many missionaries are in your mission?
I can't remember exactly how many there are. President Jeppson told us that it is now up to over 200.
3. When you teach the less- actives or in-actives and they have already been baptized....what is their goal? Just to go back to church and read the scriptures?
It depends on what they feel is important. A goal that I always tell them would be for them to get to the temple. President Jeppson told us that recent converts that go to the temple within six weeks of their baptism to do proxy baptisms have a 98% chance of staying active. Pretty high!
I liked the number 1 question of the Q of the W! Ask another good one like that!
Love you mom!
-Justin
10 Commercial Ave. Apt.# ULC
New Brunswick, NJ (I don't know the ZIP code)
It was a sad goodbye from Union City. I really started to love that place a lot. I miss it. We had some great members there. My area was really doing good as well. The area I'm in right now in New Brunswick is still a walking area! Except it's like three times as big as my area in Union City. Unfortunately, I think I might be getting shin splints... We'll see. New Brunswick is a pretty good area. It's a lot different than Union City. In Union City, the chapel was five blocks away from our apartment. Here in New Brunswick, the chapel is a 15 minute drive away in the next town over called East Brunswick. Since it's a walking area, we don't have a car. We had to call a member to pick us up on Sunday morning. I think that there are actually quite a few of members that have to call and ask for rides from other people to get to church every Sunday. Pretty crazy. I guess there are some members every week that don't go to church because they can't find a ride.
So the goodbye from Union City, we had a family home evening in the chapel on Monday night and we invited a lot of the members to come and say goodbye to us. I had made some pretty good friends in Union City. It kind of feels like my home in New Jersey. I'm definitely going to have to visit there after my mission. Many of the members told us that we're more than welcome to come back and visit. The Bishop told us that we always have a friend at his house and that we can come back and visit any time we want. Great ward!
This last week just consisted of walking around the New Brunswick area and trying to get to know the area. My companion is Elder Drewes. His family is living in Provo, but he has moved around a lot because his dad worked in the Air Force. He's an OBGYN now. I think he might know Brother Allen! My comp has only been in the mission for four months. So he's still trying to get a hold on the area. We're trying to figure out the best way to work in this area right now. It's fun, but it's a lot of walking.
There's some pretty cool members in this ward. There's a family by the name of Allongo. The dad just finished serving in our mission presidency. Just as he was finishing his service in the mission presidency, he got called to serve in the East Brunswick stake presidency. He's a pretty good guy. He does something with banks and his wife is a nationally certified Spanish-English translator. She translates things in courts. She knows English better than I do! They have two sons. One of them is named Michael. He served his mission in Germany. He is a prosecutor. He went to BYU law school. I asked him if he knew Wesley Harward. He said the name sounds familiar, so he looked up the name on Facebook. Turns out he's Facebook friends with him! He still didn't know him. But I guess they were in the law program at the same time. Also, Michael serves as the Elders Quorum President in our ward. He helps us out a lot in our missionary work. The Bishop is supportive of missionary work, but he doesn't go out of his way to help us out. So Brother Michael Allongo goes out of his way to help us out the best possible. It's pretty nice. He expects a lot from us, but that's good, because he's going to be helping us out a lot. He really has a determination to make sure this work goes as well as possible.
This family invited us over to dinner yesterday for Father's Day. They have nice house. It reminded me of home! She cooked very well and it didn't really seem like a very Hispanic dish. It was delicious!
It's going to take some getting used to here, but I think I'll be able to do it! It sounds like a fun ward!
Q of the W:
1. What is your opinion on what is the great and abominable church? Just wondering if anybody questions that scripture and what you tell them?
Well, Bruce R. McConkie said that the great and abominable church was the Catholic Church, but I don't think that that was ever accepted as doctrine. I think that he has a good point. I think that that it is very possible. I don't know if Nehpi was trying to describe one particular church group or many churches in one group under the category of destroying the ''plain and precious'' truths. I don't think that he specifies on that. Nehpi describes the great and abominable church as a church taking the ''plain and precious things'' away from the Church of the Lamb of God. So that includes pretty much every other church besides our church. I think that it's safe to say that any church that takes away the ''plain and precious'' truths from the Gospel would be included in the great and abominable church. I would think that it's safe to say that the Catholic Church was one of the very first churches to do exactly that. So that is my opinion.
2. Do you know how many missionaries are in your mission?
I can't remember exactly how many there are. President Jeppson told us that it is now up to over 200.
3. When you teach the less- actives or in-actives and they have already been baptized....what is their goal? Just to go back to church and read the scriptures?
It depends on what they feel is important. A goal that I always tell them would be for them to get to the temple. President Jeppson told us that recent converts that go to the temple within six weeks of their baptism to do proxy baptisms have a 98% chance of staying active. Pretty high!
I liked the number 1 question of the Q of the W! Ask another good one like that!
Love you mom!
-Justin
Monday, June 10, 2013
Dear Mom,
I have been transferred. I don't know where I'm going or who I'm going to be with, but I just know that I'm leaving Union City. I'm kind of sad about that. I'm going to miss Union City a lot. I kind of hope that I'm in a driving area for the rest of the hot summer. I guess we'll see. I've been District Leader now for two transfers. I thought for sure that I wasn't going to be a District Leader anymore. I'm still a District Leader. I'm happy about that. I love helping out the other missionaries. However, since I was so sure about me not being District Leader anymore, I haven't prepared a District Meeting at all. So I'm going to have to quickly come up with something for Wednesday. At the same time, I'm going to have to pack up and unpack in my new area. STRESS.. I'm excited though.
Last Monday, one of the members, Brother De Leon, in our area went to the hospital for a surgery to take out his tonsils. Apparently, he hadn't told the doctors at the hospital that he had taken Motrin before he went in. He started to hemorrhage during the surgery and came close to death. But they fixed him up and put all sorts of tubes and things down his throat to keep him from swallowing any more blood. We were told that when he woke up he felt like he was choking or suffocating. They had to keep him asleep. On Wednesday, we took Bishop Chavez to the hospital in Paterson to go visit Brother De Leon. It was pretty crazy to see him hooked up to so many machines. He had already received a Priesthood Blessing, so we just wanted to see him and maybe share a spiritual message with him to make him feel a little better. He was sleeping when we got there. Then his wife woke him up, but he could barely wake up. He was really weak, so he just moved his hand to show us that he wanted us to shake his hand. It was sad to see him in that condition. His wife, who isn't a member because of some legal stuff and can't get baptized, asked us to give her a blessing. So Bishop Chavez gave a pretty cool blessing. I think we helped her a lot. We talked to her about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Later that day, we visited with a member named Sister Galicia. She's been in and out of activity. It's because of her relationship with the members in Union City though. I haven't been here for a while, but apparently, something was happening with her husband and a lot of the members starting talking bad about her and were saying things that really offended her. Sister Galicia has a super strong testimony and hasn't stopped reading or praying. She goes to church in Union City about once a month, but she travels to other wards to go to church weekly. When we visited with her on Wednesday, we read out of 3 Nephi 11, the chapter in which Jesus Christ descends from heaven to the Nephites. Later during that chapter, Jesus Christ teaches that contention is of the devil. She started crying and telling us how she doesn't have anything against any member, but she just doesn't like going to the Union City ward because of what was happening with her husband a few years ago. We helped her feel better and told her to talk to the Stake President about trying to get her records moved to another ward. She said that she would want to do that and told us that she will talk to the Stake President soon. Another reason why she had wanted us to come over that day was to bless her house. She said that for years now, she has been seeing and hearing abnormal things for years. She said that they had started out with things that weren't so scary. Then they started turning into things a little more scary. She said that one scary thing happened when she woke up in the middle of the night and saw a dark man standing over her husband. She told the man that she wasn't scared because they had the authority of Jesus Christ. She said that when she mentioned 'Jesus Christ' the man flinched back. She said that when those things happened she has never been scared of those things happening, but she wants them to stop. So I blessed the house by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood. We told her that it's by her faith in Jesus Christ and His Priesthood authority that those things would stop. I've always wanted to bless a haunted house!!
So this last week, we've been finding a couple new investigators, and less-actives. We've also been able get a couple more investigators going really strongly towards baptism. It's been a good week and those lessons have been fun. Well, time to move on. That's what I don't like about transfers; many times you leave when your area is doing really good and starting to see a bunch of fruits of your labor.
There is that Ikea here in New Jersey that I haven't been to in a while. Maybe I can go sometime again soon. That Brother De Leon that I was talking about earlier, he actually works at Ikea! He doesn't do anything on the main floor. He doesn't hardly speak any English, so he can't really do anything with costumers. Pretty cool though.
Awesome story from Spencer! Thanks for sharing.
Q of the W:
1. Currently, how many ties do you own?
That's a great question, and I honestly don't know. There are many though. I'll have to count.
2. Have you ever had a confrontation with another person about their church?
Several times. Usually people don't really fight in behalf of their church, but they fight that their church is sufficient for them and that no one can say which is a true church or not. There are also many Jehovah Witnesses that tell everyone why everyone else's church is wrong. They think that Jehovah is God the Father and that everyone worships Jesus Christ too much. They've changed the Bible and thus cannot call it the Bible, but call it the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. They also think that the Book of Mormon comes from the devil. Boy are they wrong. I've had a couple of them tell me that we focus on the Son too much and not enough on the Father. They're just weird. It actually proves them wrong in the Bible. If you look closely, it refers to Lord Jehovah in the Old Testament as the Judge, Savior, and Mediator. It also refers to Jesus Christ as those things. They believe that God the Father is those three. They contradict themselves, that's why this long explanation was confusing. Sorry...
3. What is the first thing you challenge people to do if they are interested in the Church? Do you have them pray or read the Book of Mormon first? Do you tell them about the Holy Ghost right away?
Read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it's true. In Preach My Gospel, President Kimball teaches that the Book of Mormon is the key of our religion. That if anyone has any problem with something in the church, they should refer back to the Book of Mormon, to know of its truthfulness.
Love you mom! Miss you lots!
-Justin
I have been transferred. I don't know where I'm going or who I'm going to be with, but I just know that I'm leaving Union City. I'm kind of sad about that. I'm going to miss Union City a lot. I kind of hope that I'm in a driving area for the rest of the hot summer. I guess we'll see. I've been District Leader now for two transfers. I thought for sure that I wasn't going to be a District Leader anymore. I'm still a District Leader. I'm happy about that. I love helping out the other missionaries. However, since I was so sure about me not being District Leader anymore, I haven't prepared a District Meeting at all. So I'm going to have to quickly come up with something for Wednesday. At the same time, I'm going to have to pack up and unpack in my new area. STRESS.. I'm excited though.
Last Monday, one of the members, Brother De Leon, in our area went to the hospital for a surgery to take out his tonsils. Apparently, he hadn't told the doctors at the hospital that he had taken Motrin before he went in. He started to hemorrhage during the surgery and came close to death. But they fixed him up and put all sorts of tubes and things down his throat to keep him from swallowing any more blood. We were told that when he woke up he felt like he was choking or suffocating. They had to keep him asleep. On Wednesday, we took Bishop Chavez to the hospital in Paterson to go visit Brother De Leon. It was pretty crazy to see him hooked up to so many machines. He had already received a Priesthood Blessing, so we just wanted to see him and maybe share a spiritual message with him to make him feel a little better. He was sleeping when we got there. Then his wife woke him up, but he could barely wake up. He was really weak, so he just moved his hand to show us that he wanted us to shake his hand. It was sad to see him in that condition. His wife, who isn't a member because of some legal stuff and can't get baptized, asked us to give her a blessing. So Bishop Chavez gave a pretty cool blessing. I think we helped her a lot. We talked to her about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Later that day, we visited with a member named Sister Galicia. She's been in and out of activity. It's because of her relationship with the members in Union City though. I haven't been here for a while, but apparently, something was happening with her husband and a lot of the members starting talking bad about her and were saying things that really offended her. Sister Galicia has a super strong testimony and hasn't stopped reading or praying. She goes to church in Union City about once a month, but she travels to other wards to go to church weekly. When we visited with her on Wednesday, we read out of 3 Nephi 11, the chapter in which Jesus Christ descends from heaven to the Nephites. Later during that chapter, Jesus Christ teaches that contention is of the devil. She started crying and telling us how she doesn't have anything against any member, but she just doesn't like going to the Union City ward because of what was happening with her husband a few years ago. We helped her feel better and told her to talk to the Stake President about trying to get her records moved to another ward. She said that she would want to do that and told us that she will talk to the Stake President soon. Another reason why she had wanted us to come over that day was to bless her house. She said that for years now, she has been seeing and hearing abnormal things for years. She said that they had started out with things that weren't so scary. Then they started turning into things a little more scary. She said that one scary thing happened when she woke up in the middle of the night and saw a dark man standing over her husband. She told the man that she wasn't scared because they had the authority of Jesus Christ. She said that when she mentioned 'Jesus Christ' the man flinched back. She said that when those things happened she has never been scared of those things happening, but she wants them to stop. So I blessed the house by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood. We told her that it's by her faith in Jesus Christ and His Priesthood authority that those things would stop. I've always wanted to bless a haunted house!!
So this last week, we've been finding a couple new investigators, and less-actives. We've also been able get a couple more investigators going really strongly towards baptism. It's been a good week and those lessons have been fun. Well, time to move on. That's what I don't like about transfers; many times you leave when your area is doing really good and starting to see a bunch of fruits of your labor.
There is that Ikea here in New Jersey that I haven't been to in a while. Maybe I can go sometime again soon. That Brother De Leon that I was talking about earlier, he actually works at Ikea! He doesn't do anything on the main floor. He doesn't hardly speak any English, so he can't really do anything with costumers. Pretty cool though.
Awesome story from Spencer! Thanks for sharing.
Q of the W:
1. Currently, how many ties do you own?
That's a great question, and I honestly don't know. There are many though. I'll have to count.
2. Have you ever had a confrontation with another person about their church?
Several times. Usually people don't really fight in behalf of their church, but they fight that their church is sufficient for them and that no one can say which is a true church or not. There are also many Jehovah Witnesses that tell everyone why everyone else's church is wrong. They think that Jehovah is God the Father and that everyone worships Jesus Christ too much. They've changed the Bible and thus cannot call it the Bible, but call it the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. They also think that the Book of Mormon comes from the devil. Boy are they wrong. I've had a couple of them tell me that we focus on the Son too much and not enough on the Father. They're just weird. It actually proves them wrong in the Bible. If you look closely, it refers to Lord Jehovah in the Old Testament as the Judge, Savior, and Mediator. It also refers to Jesus Christ as those things. They believe that God the Father is those three. They contradict themselves, that's why this long explanation was confusing. Sorry...
3. What is the first thing you challenge people to do if they are interested in the Church? Do you have them pray or read the Book of Mormon first? Do you tell them about the Holy Ghost right away?
Read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it's true. In Preach My Gospel, President Kimball teaches that the Book of Mormon is the key of our religion. That if anyone has any problem with something in the church, they should refer back to the Book of Mormon, to know of its truthfulness.
Love you mom! Miss you lots!
-Justin
Monday, June 3, 2013
Dear Mom,
I was hoping they were free! Haha! I was getting pretty tired of those Rockports. I'm going to try and walk better and hopefully these pair of shoes will last longer! Thank you so much mom! Those shoes feel a lot better. I still feel a little ankle pain when I step on something wrong, but I do feel it a lot less with good shoes. That's cool that they had my information on what I bought. Hopefully I won't have to replace any more missionary shoes. However, I have had a problem with running shoes for a while. Remember those puma shoes I came out with on my mission. Well, last fall they became pretty worn. Well, I found some other shoes in the apartment that some other missionary had left a while ago. So I've been using those shoes I found for a while, and I threw away those pumas a while back. I'm getting tired of these shoes, because they just aren't very good quality. I'm going to start looking for new running/athletic shoes soon. I might be able to buy some today. Just so you know that I'll be using some personal money pretty soon. Thanks for all the other goodies in the package too!
We'll definitely have to visit here someday. I just don't think that it would be a very good vacation for the two little girls. I don't think that they would enjoy it.
Just let me know as soon as you can about my credit card. I'll remember to run it as credit.
Update on Antonio, he left the hospital yesterday. Aparently the doctors told him to take it easy and he can't work for a month, at least. Sad, but he wasn't enjoying the hospital at all. So I'm sure he's glad to be home.
We've been visiting with a lot more very less-active families this past week. We found a less-active member that hasn't been to church for many years. He said something like 10 years, so I don't know. His name is Giovanny. He's from Ecuador. He's pretty receptive to us. I think I talked a little about him last week. We saw him again on Saturday. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He liked it. He said that he for sure was going to come to church the next day. He never showed up. Sometimes, I just don't know how to get people to come to church.
On Tuesday, we saw two more less-active families. One of them is the Galicia family. Sister Galicia has a very strong testimony. She comes to church every once in a while, but she mainly goes to the ward down in Jersey City. Something happened to her and brother Galicia a few years back, and now they don't want anything to do with the members here in Union City. I don't really know what's going on with them, but she asked us to tell the Bishop that she doesn't want any member from Union City to even try to visit her. Kind of weird, but when I asked her if we can still come by, she said, "of course, we really want you two to come by." Interesting situation. I have no idea what to do with them. They've been to the temple and everything. Brother Galicia has a testimony too, but he hasn't acted upon it for the past couple years. He told us that it's been years since he's even prayed. When Elder Koellicker was here a couple weeks back, he promised us that if we read the Book of Mormon for at least 30 minutes every day, we will never go less-active. I'm taking that promise! Becoming less-active is very sad. I always feel bad for those members we meet that have gone less-active. They lose so many blessings and comfort from the Holy Ghost.
We also met with a very less-active member on Wednesday named Mario. I honestly think that he never really even had a testimony in the first place. It doesn't really feel like he has lost anything. He enjoys it when we come over. We started showing him those Mormon Messages on LDS.org in Spanish. He really likes those. We keep inviting him to church, but he has work at 11. But he could still make it to 30 minutes of Sacrament Meeting. He takes very small baby steps. Right now, we're just trying to get him praying and watching more Mormon Messages on his own. He's progressing, but very, very slowly. He's a nice guy and fun to work with.
On Sunday, we finally had the baptism of Brian Montes. We've been working with him for about two months. Brian is 15 years old. He's been a pretty good investigator. He was always reading. He's really good at doing his homework, so naturally he starting reading the Book of Mormon and kept reading it. He said that he believes that the Book of Mormon is true and he wanted to be baptized. It was a great baptism. We had it right after church. All the missionaries in Union City (six of us) sang Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy in Spanish with two of the missionaries playing guitar. It all went pretty well!
After the baptism, we drove two other elders back to their apartment, because they live a little further away. After we dropped them off, we drove by a small little Islam booth by the side of the road. My companion and I wanted to get a Qu-ran, but I won't ever buy one. They had a banner that said 'free books'. So we stopped by and I got out to quickly go see if I could get a free Qu'ran. They were pretty nice! They shared with me a little bit about their beliefs. They said that they believe in one God; that Adam and Eve were the first people on earth; that God has sent prophets or messengers to tell us God's will; and that Jesus Christ was a good person who stood for righteousness; and that this earth is just a temporal state. They didn't even budge the foundation of my testimony of the Church. They didn't speak any Spanish, so they asked me what my tag was. I told them that I'm a Spanish missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then I told them that we believe that God has sent a prophet to us in these days to continue to lead us and guide us. It was a pretty interesting encounter. Men don't touch women in their culture. But hey, I got a free Qu-ran to read after my mission! I felt bad afterward because I didn't invite them to read the Book of Mormon. FAIL! I'll know better next time. You live, you learn. Now I know better when I meet another Muslim; I'm going to invite them to read the Book of Mormon!
So that's about it for this week! Remember that next week is transfers. It's very likely that I'll be transferred from Union City. SAD! I'll let you know for sure next week, and the following week I'll tell you where I've been transferred to if I end up being transferred.
Love you lots mom!
1. (question from Kelsie) How many companions have you had so far, not including the MTC? Make sure you keep the numbers to the cute ones for Kelsie.
I've had six companions on my mission so far. Haha! I actually had a missionary from California ask if he could write to Kelsie. His name is Elder House. He's black.
2. (question from Julia) How many baptisms have you been a part of?
I've been part of seven baptisms now.
3. (question from Kelsie..again) What is your response to people when they ask "how do you know the church is true?"
It really depends on the situation. Usually I'll tell them that I just know. My Heavenly Father has helped me understand and I've felt the Holy Ghost tell me that it's true.
-Justin
I was hoping they were free! Haha! I was getting pretty tired of those Rockports. I'm going to try and walk better and hopefully these pair of shoes will last longer! Thank you so much mom! Those shoes feel a lot better. I still feel a little ankle pain when I step on something wrong, but I do feel it a lot less with good shoes. That's cool that they had my information on what I bought. Hopefully I won't have to replace any more missionary shoes. However, I have had a problem with running shoes for a while. Remember those puma shoes I came out with on my mission. Well, last fall they became pretty worn. Well, I found some other shoes in the apartment that some other missionary had left a while ago. So I've been using those shoes I found for a while, and I threw away those pumas a while back. I'm getting tired of these shoes, because they just aren't very good quality. I'm going to start looking for new running/athletic shoes soon. I might be able to buy some today. Just so you know that I'll be using some personal money pretty soon. Thanks for all the other goodies in the package too!
We'll definitely have to visit here someday. I just don't think that it would be a very good vacation for the two little girls. I don't think that they would enjoy it.
Just let me know as soon as you can about my credit card. I'll remember to run it as credit.
Update on Antonio, he left the hospital yesterday. Aparently the doctors told him to take it easy and he can't work for a month, at least. Sad, but he wasn't enjoying the hospital at all. So I'm sure he's glad to be home.
We've been visiting with a lot more very less-active families this past week. We found a less-active member that hasn't been to church for many years. He said something like 10 years, so I don't know. His name is Giovanny. He's from Ecuador. He's pretty receptive to us. I think I talked a little about him last week. We saw him again on Saturday. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He liked it. He said that he for sure was going to come to church the next day. He never showed up. Sometimes, I just don't know how to get people to come to church.
On Tuesday, we saw two more less-active families. One of them is the Galicia family. Sister Galicia has a very strong testimony. She comes to church every once in a while, but she mainly goes to the ward down in Jersey City. Something happened to her and brother Galicia a few years back, and now they don't want anything to do with the members here in Union City. I don't really know what's going on with them, but she asked us to tell the Bishop that she doesn't want any member from Union City to even try to visit her. Kind of weird, but when I asked her if we can still come by, she said, "of course, we really want you two to come by." Interesting situation. I have no idea what to do with them. They've been to the temple and everything. Brother Galicia has a testimony too, but he hasn't acted upon it for the past couple years. He told us that it's been years since he's even prayed. When Elder Koellicker was here a couple weeks back, he promised us that if we read the Book of Mormon for at least 30 minutes every day, we will never go less-active. I'm taking that promise! Becoming less-active is very sad. I always feel bad for those members we meet that have gone less-active. They lose so many blessings and comfort from the Holy Ghost.
We also met with a very less-active member on Wednesday named Mario. I honestly think that he never really even had a testimony in the first place. It doesn't really feel like he has lost anything. He enjoys it when we come over. We started showing him those Mormon Messages on LDS.org in Spanish. He really likes those. We keep inviting him to church, but he has work at 11. But he could still make it to 30 minutes of Sacrament Meeting. He takes very small baby steps. Right now, we're just trying to get him praying and watching more Mormon Messages on his own. He's progressing, but very, very slowly. He's a nice guy and fun to work with.
On Sunday, we finally had the baptism of Brian Montes. We've been working with him for about two months. Brian is 15 years old. He's been a pretty good investigator. He was always reading. He's really good at doing his homework, so naturally he starting reading the Book of Mormon and kept reading it. He said that he believes that the Book of Mormon is true and he wanted to be baptized. It was a great baptism. We had it right after church. All the missionaries in Union City (six of us) sang Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy in Spanish with two of the missionaries playing guitar. It all went pretty well!
After the baptism, we drove two other elders back to their apartment, because they live a little further away. After we dropped them off, we drove by a small little Islam booth by the side of the road. My companion and I wanted to get a Qu-ran, but I won't ever buy one. They had a banner that said 'free books'. So we stopped by and I got out to quickly go see if I could get a free Qu'ran. They were pretty nice! They shared with me a little bit about their beliefs. They said that they believe in one God; that Adam and Eve were the first people on earth; that God has sent prophets or messengers to tell us God's will; and that Jesus Christ was a good person who stood for righteousness; and that this earth is just a temporal state. They didn't even budge the foundation of my testimony of the Church. They didn't speak any Spanish, so they asked me what my tag was. I told them that I'm a Spanish missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then I told them that we believe that God has sent a prophet to us in these days to continue to lead us and guide us. It was a pretty interesting encounter. Men don't touch women in their culture. But hey, I got a free Qu-ran to read after my mission! I felt bad afterward because I didn't invite them to read the Book of Mormon. FAIL! I'll know better next time. You live, you learn. Now I know better when I meet another Muslim; I'm going to invite them to read the Book of Mormon!
So that's about it for this week! Remember that next week is transfers. It's very likely that I'll be transferred from Union City. SAD! I'll let you know for sure next week, and the following week I'll tell you where I've been transferred to if I end up being transferred.
Love you lots mom!
1. (question from Kelsie) How many companions have you had so far, not including the MTC? Make sure you keep the numbers to the cute ones for Kelsie.
I've had six companions on my mission so far. Haha! I actually had a missionary from California ask if he could write to Kelsie. His name is Elder House. He's black.
2. (question from Julia) How many baptisms have you been a part of?
I've been part of seven baptisms now.
3. (question from Kelsie..again) What is your response to people when they ask "how do you know the church is true?"
It really depends on the situation. Usually I'll tell them that I just know. My Heavenly Father has helped me understand and I've felt the Holy Ghost tell me that it's true.
-Justin
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