July 29, 2013
Mom,
I'm glad that helped out. My companion and I were talking about those protesters that go to those Church pageants and how dumb they are. We were talking about how we would handle them if they started to talk to us. I think the best thing to do would be to smile at them and tell them that they're wasting their time and keep moving on. Because really, that's what they're doing. Haha, dumb people!
Faith is such a great topic. Some people have such a hard time with faith though. They can't accept the fact that they need to walk by faith sometimes. I've met a few people that think that it's just a basic human need that we need religion to answer the questions that we can't answer. So we create religion and God to settle our minds. It's crazy how Satan has a hold on some people. He twists the smallest things to confuse people. Yes there are questions that we can't answer. But our attitude towards that is what makes the difference. The adversary would have us believe that it's ridiculous that we leave certain questions unanswered just because somebody says that 'God' tells us to. However, with our great light and understanding, we know that having faith brings power. (Jacob 4:6) Those people don't understand the convincing power of the Holy Ghost and since they already have a belief that they're not willing to give up, the Holy Ghost cannot let them know of the truthfulness. (2 Nephi 33:2) But that's there choice!
I haven't studied too much on the three Nephites, but that's because there's not a lot to study. I found out something the other day about their Priesthood authority. My question was, if during the Great Apostasy the Priesthood authority was lost from the earth, what happened to their Priesthood? Well, they never lost the Priesthood, but they were not allowed to exercise the Apostolic Keys during the Apostasy. They still hold the Melchizedek Priesthood to this day, but they are on inactive status. For example, President Jeppson was a stake Patriarch before his time as Mission President. He still holds those Patriarchal Keys, but he can't exercise them during his ministry as Mission President. That's what the three Nephites and John the Beloved are right now! But during the Millennium they will eventually have to die, because that's an essential part of mortal existence. That's all I can think of right now.
How could I not watch that movie with Kaylee?? Haha! How sweet.
Q of the W:
1. How often do you work with your Ward Mission Leader? Does he go with you to appointments?
Quite a bit. He works a graveyard shift all the time, so he doesn't come out too often. But if we specifically ask him to come with us, he'll make time and wake up for us. Every Thursday we have a coordination meeting with him, the ward missionaries, and any other ward leaders that decide to make time to come coordinate with us.
2. So, you have stayed in 5 different cities in NJ. Which one is your favorite?
I would have to say Union City. That place is pure Central America! It's a lot of fun. I don't think I could live there though.
3. For in-actives, what is it that makes them most likely to come back to church? A friend? Reading the Book of Mormon again?
Usually by reminding them about the Spirit they felt. That can be through many ways: Church, friends and family in the Gospel, the Book of Mormon. But it all comes back to how they feel the Spirit.
This last Friday was a pretty good day. We had a total of five lessons for the whole day, which is pretty good. Our last appointment we had was with the Munoz family (who by the way did not come to church yesterday). We had a really good lesson with them though. When we showed up, they drove up in their truck with some sandwiches they had just bought along with Lays and Hawaiian Punch. I felt kind of bad because I thought they had just bought dinner for the family, but it turns out that they had remembered our appointment and wanted to feed us! They're awesome! We watched the short movie "Finding Faith in Christ" with them. I don't know if you've ever seen that movie, but it's way good. It should be available to buy for just a couple bucks on LDS.org if you want to watch it for FHE or something. If you don't know what it is, remember all the scenes from The Testaments about Jesus Christ in Israel? Finding Faith in Christ is all about His life in Israel. It's way good. I'd recommend it! It was a good lesson with them, and the Spirit was strong. That's why I was surprised that they didn't come to church...
On Saturday, we ended up doing some service for a family in the ward. They needed some help with yard work, so we went to go help out Saturday morning. During that time, I was wondering why I complained so much at home when we had to do yard work. It was such a great stress reliever this last Saturday! I don't think I'll ever complain about yard work again. I guess as well, I'll be a little more grateful for a big house and a huge yard when I get back that I'll feel obligated to take care of it. That Saturday morning was the first time I've been on a well kept lawn for months! It was great!
It was a cooler week last week. It's so much better when you don't show up to appointments wet from sweat. I can't wait for fall!!
Love you mom!
-Justin
Monday, July 29, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
July 22, 2013
Mom,
So first thing about blacks and the Priesthood. It's kind of a weird part of our history. However, I have full confidence that Jesus Christ Himself is totally and completely in charge of His Church, and although we may never fully comprehend the 'why' behind some things in His Church, we must know that He personally guides the Church through His authorized servants: the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. There can be many reasons behind that: As King Benjamin states in Mosiah 4:9 "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." We simply cannot understand all things. Isaiah also understood that in Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." We simply will never be able to understand all things. That's where faith comes into play. First principle of the Gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Two other things, Alex Boye talked to us a while ago and touched a little bit on this topic. He said that every single other church somewhere in their history has had discrimination against black people. He said that if we can find any other church that has not had any discrimination against black people in their history, he will join that church. Kind of a joke, but he got across his point. I thought that was pretty interesting. Another thing is that there are so many faithful members of the Church in Africa. Just this last General Conference, Elder John B. Dickson talked about the all-African Stake and Temple Presidencies in Africa. They should understand better than any of us the truthfulness of that Official Declaration in 1978.
Here's what Preach My Gospel says:
"But all of this goes back to the Book of Mormon. “… The only problem the objector has to resolve for himself is whether the Book of Mormon is true. For if the Book of Mormon is true, then Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was his prophet, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and it is being led today by a prophet receiving revelation.
“Our main task is to declare the gospel and do it effectively. We are not obligated to answer every objection. Every man eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there he must make his stand” (A Witness and a Warning, 4–5).
For example, sincere investigators might object to what you have taught about the Word of Wisdom. Help them see that their real question is whether Joseph Smith was speaking as God’s prophet when this commandment was renewed in this dispensation. You might say: “Having the faith to accept this teaching will require the assurance that this commandment came to us through revelation from God to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The way to know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God is to read and pray about the Book of Mormon.”"
Aside from that, I found a really cool article about physical evidence of the Book of Mormon: http://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/01/mounting-evidence-for-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng
So that's my refute on that topic. Hope it helped. I could go on a little more even.. :)
That's way cool to hear about the St. George trip. I hope we can go next year. It's so weird that I don't have to refer to very far away to refer to being 'back home'. I'm coming up on 5 months left. I have a couple friends in the mission that are leaving this Wednesday and a couple more that are leaving the beginning of September. I'm going to miss teaching a lot. Walking around in the heat, not so much.. haha.
I can't believe that William and Luke Thompson are going out already! If they give out William's email address, could you send it to me? I think that Tanner hits his year mark this week and Luke will hit his year mark the beginning of this next month. We're so old!
Q of the W:
1. Do you ever/or have you ever just given a stranger a Book of Mormon?
Yes. Usually we bring up the Book of Mormon with whoever we talk to. Some people will ask if we have a copy. Sometimes they even ask how much it costs :) They're happy when we tell them it's free. So I've given out the Book of Mormon to many strangers.
2. What have you noticed the one thing people ask most about our church?
A lot of people ask about the "Mormon's book" or the "Mormon Bible". That's a big one. We get all sorts of responses to that. Some people are automatically bitter about it and they said that they've read it and it comes from the devil. Our response to that is "obviously you've never read it." Lots of people are pretty open to it and are willing to learn more about it. Few dumb people ask about polygamy or blacks and the priesthood.
3. Do complete strangers ever just stop you on the streets to ask you who you are?
They do. They almost always ask, "What you guys sellin'?" or "Y'all Mormons?" or "Where y'all from?"
Well, this last week was a little rough. We had many people not show up for our appointments. We ended up calling them on their front door asking where they were. They always say, "Oh... We forgot." It's starting to frustrate me more. I was talking to Michael Allongo, our Elders Quorum President. He told me that most of the members here have only been members for a few years. He told me about the Church of Jesus Christ of ancient-day Saints was run by 12 recent converts of three years after the death of Jesus Christ. The 12 Apostles had only been disciples for three years. Imagine a recent convert of three years already serving as Bishop or Stake President. Crazy! Well the original 12 Apostles didn't always know exactly what they were doing. Same with us. The New Brunswick ward has many, many recent converts serving in leadership positions. Sometimes it can be overwhelming for them, especially as converts. It was only a few years ago that two kids knocked on their door to tell them that they've been living their life wrong. It'll take some time for them to fully get adjusted to the culture in the Church, more than just a few years. It's still frustrating! Haha. But I guess that's the furnace of the mission. It refines you and molds you to the person Heavenly Father wants you to be. Sometimes it can be painful.
We had a lesson last Tuesday with a guy that's a Seven Day Adventist. Their basic belief is that Sabbath Day observance was never changed from Saturday to Sunday. It was a difficult lesson. He didn't want to really change his ideas, and for that reason he didn't want to read the Book of Mormon. This guy has been taught for a while on and off. It was hard, but eventually we got him back onto the Book of Mormon. It's so amazing. The Book of Mormon is the key. It's the keystone of our religion as President Benson explained. Everything revolves around it. The Sabbath Day observance is a solid doubt that many people have and that I understand. But the Book of Mormon makes it so clear. If you know that the Book of Mormon is true, there's absolutely no doubt about it. It's just a little hard for this guy to understand that.
Other than that, this week was just another hot week. I'm looking forward to August. Hopefully it'll cool down a little. I'm looking forward to September even more. I think that I would prefer the cold over the heat in missionary work. I'll be spending my last fall in New Jersey coming up pretty soon.
I have to say, that the mission has taught me so much so far. I understand the Gospel so much more. I also understand that I still don't understand it completely! I have lots to learn! I love it.
Love you mom! Ask me any gospel questions you'd like!
-Justin
Mom,
So first thing about blacks and the Priesthood. It's kind of a weird part of our history. However, I have full confidence that Jesus Christ Himself is totally and completely in charge of His Church, and although we may never fully comprehend the 'why' behind some things in His Church, we must know that He personally guides the Church through His authorized servants: the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. There can be many reasons behind that: As King Benjamin states in Mosiah 4:9 "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." We simply cannot understand all things. Isaiah also understood that in Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." We simply will never be able to understand all things. That's where faith comes into play. First principle of the Gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Two other things, Alex Boye talked to us a while ago and touched a little bit on this topic. He said that every single other church somewhere in their history has had discrimination against black people. He said that if we can find any other church that has not had any discrimination against black people in their history, he will join that church. Kind of a joke, but he got across his point. I thought that was pretty interesting. Another thing is that there are so many faithful members of the Church in Africa. Just this last General Conference, Elder John B. Dickson talked about the all-African Stake and Temple Presidencies in Africa. They should understand better than any of us the truthfulness of that Official Declaration in 1978.
Here's what Preach My Gospel says:
"But all of this goes back to the Book of Mormon. “… The only problem the objector has to resolve for himself is whether the Book of Mormon is true. For if the Book of Mormon is true, then Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was his prophet, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and it is being led today by a prophet receiving revelation.
“Our main task is to declare the gospel and do it effectively. We are not obligated to answer every objection. Every man eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there he must make his stand” (A Witness and a Warning, 4–5).
For example, sincere investigators might object to what you have taught about the Word of Wisdom. Help them see that their real question is whether Joseph Smith was speaking as God’s prophet when this commandment was renewed in this dispensation. You might say: “Having the faith to accept this teaching will require the assurance that this commandment came to us through revelation from God to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The way to know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God is to read and pray about the Book of Mormon.”"
Aside from that, I found a really cool article about physical evidence of the Book of Mormon: http://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/01/mounting-evidence-for-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng
So that's my refute on that topic. Hope it helped. I could go on a little more even.. :)
That's way cool to hear about the St. George trip. I hope we can go next year. It's so weird that I don't have to refer to very far away to refer to being 'back home'. I'm coming up on 5 months left. I have a couple friends in the mission that are leaving this Wednesday and a couple more that are leaving the beginning of September. I'm going to miss teaching a lot. Walking around in the heat, not so much.. haha.
I can't believe that William and Luke Thompson are going out already! If they give out William's email address, could you send it to me? I think that Tanner hits his year mark this week and Luke will hit his year mark the beginning of this next month. We're so old!
Q of the W:
1. Do you ever/or have you ever just given a stranger a Book of Mormon?
Yes. Usually we bring up the Book of Mormon with whoever we talk to. Some people will ask if we have a copy. Sometimes they even ask how much it costs :) They're happy when we tell them it's free. So I've given out the Book of Mormon to many strangers.
2. What have you noticed the one thing people ask most about our church?
A lot of people ask about the "Mormon's book" or the "Mormon Bible". That's a big one. We get all sorts of responses to that. Some people are automatically bitter about it and they said that they've read it and it comes from the devil. Our response to that is "obviously you've never read it." Lots of people are pretty open to it and are willing to learn more about it. Few dumb people ask about polygamy or blacks and the priesthood.
3. Do complete strangers ever just stop you on the streets to ask you who you are?
They do. They almost always ask, "What you guys sellin'?" or "Y'all Mormons?" or "Where y'all from?"
Well, this last week was a little rough. We had many people not show up for our appointments. We ended up calling them on their front door asking where they were. They always say, "Oh... We forgot." It's starting to frustrate me more. I was talking to Michael Allongo, our Elders Quorum President. He told me that most of the members here have only been members for a few years. He told me about the Church of Jesus Christ of ancient-day Saints was run by 12 recent converts of three years after the death of Jesus Christ. The 12 Apostles had only been disciples for three years. Imagine a recent convert of three years already serving as Bishop or Stake President. Crazy! Well the original 12 Apostles didn't always know exactly what they were doing. Same with us. The New Brunswick ward has many, many recent converts serving in leadership positions. Sometimes it can be overwhelming for them, especially as converts. It was only a few years ago that two kids knocked on their door to tell them that they've been living their life wrong. It'll take some time for them to fully get adjusted to the culture in the Church, more than just a few years. It's still frustrating! Haha. But I guess that's the furnace of the mission. It refines you and molds you to the person Heavenly Father wants you to be. Sometimes it can be painful.
We had a lesson last Tuesday with a guy that's a Seven Day Adventist. Their basic belief is that Sabbath Day observance was never changed from Saturday to Sunday. It was a difficult lesson. He didn't want to really change his ideas, and for that reason he didn't want to read the Book of Mormon. This guy has been taught for a while on and off. It was hard, but eventually we got him back onto the Book of Mormon. It's so amazing. The Book of Mormon is the key. It's the keystone of our religion as President Benson explained. Everything revolves around it. The Sabbath Day observance is a solid doubt that many people have and that I understand. But the Book of Mormon makes it so clear. If you know that the Book of Mormon is true, there's absolutely no doubt about it. It's just a little hard for this guy to understand that.
Other than that, this week was just another hot week. I'm looking forward to August. Hopefully it'll cool down a little. I'm looking forward to September even more. I think that I would prefer the cold over the heat in missionary work. I'll be spending my last fall in New Jersey coming up pretty soon.
I have to say, that the mission has taught me so much so far. I understand the Gospel so much more. I also understand that I still don't understand it completely! I have lots to learn! I love it.
Love you mom! Ask me any gospel questions you'd like!
-Justin
Monday, July 15, 2013
July 15, 2013
Mom,
It's okay. I'm sure that next year will be a lot better.
That's super cool to hear about the Bishop wanting teachers. I'll take that Mission-Prep class for sure!!! That would be awesome. I think that I'm forever going to enjoy teaching. I don't think that I want it to be my profession, but as far as teaching in Church, I'll always love it. I do the same thing! When I'm preparing a lesson for something, I'll learn new things. That's one of my favorite parts about preparing for a lesson.
It's in the 90's here constantly. Actually, I was pretty glad to find out that it's in the 90's. That means that it probably won't get much hotter. We're coming up on the hottest part of the year. I think that in about a month it should start cooling down. Yay! It's just so humid here. That is what I really don't like about it. I hate the humidity. Last week was kind of nice because some light storms came in and it rained. We just carry an umbrella with us and we don't get too wet. Most people do have air conditioners. Some people don't and visits with them are hard. It's kind of hard to have a really good focused lesson when it's super hot.
I was super excited to get emails from them! Thanks!
I think that I've heard of those series before. I don't know if I've heard of them on my mission or if it was before my mission. I do have it written down on my books to read.
This last Friday, we had a zone conference. President Jeppson told us that he was praying hard to know what he should teach us about during this zone conference. He said that it came very clear to him that he needs to train us on the Great Apostasy and the Restoration. He showed us many scriptures in the New Testament that explain clearly of the coming Apostasy in that time. It was really cool that way President Jeppson likened it to our day. Many of the books in the New Testament are letters written by the Apostle Paul to members of the Church in a certain part of the world in that area. President Jeppson said that when Paul wrote the epistle to the Galatians, he was writing to the Galatia 1st ward. When he wrote the epistle to the Ephesians, he was writing the the Ephesian 1st ward. When he wrote the epistles to the Thessalonians, he was writing to the Thessaloniki 1st ward. It was a pretty cool analogy. I didn't bring my notes with me, but I could share with you many of the scriptures that clearly depict that an Apostasy was eminent. I've never really asked anybody not of our faith what they think about those particular scriptures. I should. He also spoke more on the Restoration. He said that in his opinion, there are three major things that were restored through Joseph Smith that he thinks are three of the most important things: 1) That God the Father and Jesus Christ are separate individuals, 2) That they both have physical bodies of flesh and blood, and 3) That the Church of Jesus Christ was not on the earth at that time. He also shared with us a quote from Joseph Smith. When Joseph Smith went to talk to the President of the United States, the President asked Joseph Smith what the biggest difference was between Mormons and the rest of the Christian world. Joseph Smith's response was, "We have the Holy Ghost." I liked that quote!
So it was a pretty hot week. We're trying to set as many appointments as possible so we're not outside so much in the heat. It's kind of hard at times because during the early hours of the day between 12 and 3, there aren't very many people that can see us. But, it's okay. We just have to find those people that can see us.
Q of the W:
1. Do you have hard times understanding Spanish still, or are you an expert now?
I do sometimes. I think that it's because of all the different accents. I'm still not very used to all these accents. There are still some words that I don't know sometimes. Also, sometimes I still don't know exactly how to express myself. I guess learning a language is a lifelong battle. I think it would help if I were constantly emerged in Spanish too. Especially on P-Days, I don't use Spanish too much.
2. I was reading Sister Jeppsons blog and she talked about two missionaries getting into a car accident. Did you know them?
I do know one of them. He was an English missionary that came out to New Jersey the same time I did. They're doing a lot better though!
3. There is an 'on-line chat with a missionary thing' online. Have you done this or have your heard about this?
I think I have heard of it. I've never looked into it though. I don't know anything about it.
Love you mom!
-Justin
Mom,
It's okay. I'm sure that next year will be a lot better.
That's super cool to hear about the Bishop wanting teachers. I'll take that Mission-Prep class for sure!!! That would be awesome. I think that I'm forever going to enjoy teaching. I don't think that I want it to be my profession, but as far as teaching in Church, I'll always love it. I do the same thing! When I'm preparing a lesson for something, I'll learn new things. That's one of my favorite parts about preparing for a lesson.
It's in the 90's here constantly. Actually, I was pretty glad to find out that it's in the 90's. That means that it probably won't get much hotter. We're coming up on the hottest part of the year. I think that in about a month it should start cooling down. Yay! It's just so humid here. That is what I really don't like about it. I hate the humidity. Last week was kind of nice because some light storms came in and it rained. We just carry an umbrella with us and we don't get too wet. Most people do have air conditioners. Some people don't and visits with them are hard. It's kind of hard to have a really good focused lesson when it's super hot.
I was super excited to get emails from them! Thanks!
I think that I've heard of those series before. I don't know if I've heard of them on my mission or if it was before my mission. I do have it written down on my books to read.
This last Friday, we had a zone conference. President Jeppson told us that he was praying hard to know what he should teach us about during this zone conference. He said that it came very clear to him that he needs to train us on the Great Apostasy and the Restoration. He showed us many scriptures in the New Testament that explain clearly of the coming Apostasy in that time. It was really cool that way President Jeppson likened it to our day. Many of the books in the New Testament are letters written by the Apostle Paul to members of the Church in a certain part of the world in that area. President Jeppson said that when Paul wrote the epistle to the Galatians, he was writing to the Galatia 1st ward. When he wrote the epistle to the Ephesians, he was writing the the Ephesian 1st ward. When he wrote the epistles to the Thessalonians, he was writing to the Thessaloniki 1st ward. It was a pretty cool analogy. I didn't bring my notes with me, but I could share with you many of the scriptures that clearly depict that an Apostasy was eminent. I've never really asked anybody not of our faith what they think about those particular scriptures. I should. He also spoke more on the Restoration. He said that in his opinion, there are three major things that were restored through Joseph Smith that he thinks are three of the most important things: 1) That God the Father and Jesus Christ are separate individuals, 2) That they both have physical bodies of flesh and blood, and 3) That the Church of Jesus Christ was not on the earth at that time. He also shared with us a quote from Joseph Smith. When Joseph Smith went to talk to the President of the United States, the President asked Joseph Smith what the biggest difference was between Mormons and the rest of the Christian world. Joseph Smith's response was, "We have the Holy Ghost." I liked that quote!
So it was a pretty hot week. We're trying to set as many appointments as possible so we're not outside so much in the heat. It's kind of hard at times because during the early hours of the day between 12 and 3, there aren't very many people that can see us. But, it's okay. We just have to find those people that can see us.
Q of the W:
1. Do you have hard times understanding Spanish still, or are you an expert now?
I do sometimes. I think that it's because of all the different accents. I'm still not very used to all these accents. There are still some words that I don't know sometimes. Also, sometimes I still don't know exactly how to express myself. I guess learning a language is a lifelong battle. I think it would help if I were constantly emerged in Spanish too. Especially on P-Days, I don't use Spanish too much.
2. I was reading Sister Jeppsons blog and she talked about two missionaries getting into a car accident. Did you know them?
I do know one of them. He was an English missionary that came out to New Jersey the same time I did. They're doing a lot better though!
3. There is an 'on-line chat with a missionary thing' online. Have you done this or have your heard about this?
I think I have heard of it. I've never looked into it though. I don't know anything about it.
Love you mom!
-Justin
Monday, July 8, 2013
July 8, 2013
Dear Mom,
Our 4th of July was kind of boring. We didn't do much. I was really hoping to still be in Union City at this time so I could see the fireworks over the Hudson River. President Jeppson advised us that we were not to leave our zones to watch fireworks. I'm about 45 minutes away from Union City. So we got together with some other missionaries and went to a small town called Milltown to watch some local fireworks. It was pretty good. Out of all the fireworks that I've seen, those were definitely one of them. Haha, nothing too special. Then last night, when I was calling some the missionaries in my district to follow up on how their week went, a bunch of fireworks started going off over the highway right next to us. The thing was, these fireworks were better than the ones on the Fourth of July. They were super loud because they were pretty close and pretty distracting. I watched some of them during calls from our window.
That's funny about Kelsie. That would happen to her.
I honestly didn't pay too much attention in Seminary unfortunately. I think they definitely taught me things about the scriptures. I remember one seminary teacher who directed us to page 119 in the Doctrine and Covenants and showed us verses 9-11 about forgiveness and then pointed out how both those numbers are 9-1-1. He was relating it to the 9/11 incident. Afterwards, he told us to take that as we will. I also just remember the examples from my seminary teachers. I don't necessarily remember exactly what they taught me, but their excitement towards the Gospel and the Scriptures made an impact on me. I never really saw the personal importance the scriptures had to me, so I never paid too much attention. I'm excited to go to institute after my mission and hopefully eventually those classes at BYU to learn more about the scriptures. I'm studying in depth the New Testament right now. It would be great to go through it in a classroom setting at the same time, but I'm on my own right now.
Good news about the Munoz family: They came to church yesterday! All four of them! And they said that they really enjoyed it. Brother Munoz was smiling most of the time, and the 17 year old girl, Yaxiri, said that she felt the Spirit. I was very excited to see them there. We had a lesson with them this last week and we talked to them a little more about the temple and the blessings they may have if Brother Munoz receives the Melchizedek Priesthood and they all go to the temple. They said that they wanted to do it. I'm excited for that family!
My six month left mark has been pretty normal. Just like I said before, when people find out they always tell me how little I have left. There are many other missionaries in the mission right now that I've known for quite a while. They were pretty new missionaries when I first came in. They're all starting to finish up here pretty soon. Some finish the end of this month. Most of them end their missions the end of September. So I just think that they have to finish before I do. It feels like I still have a while to go, and I kind of do. I still have the possibility in serving in two other areas after here in New Brunswick. We'll see, maybe my next area will be the last. I've heard that sometimes Mission Presidents will send missionaries home if their departure date is close enough to Christmas. At first, my departure date was several weeks after Christmas, so I didn't put any thought into it, but now it's exactly two weeks after Christmas. In my opinion, that's pretty close to Christmas. What would you think if President Jeppson gave me the option to come home a few days before Christmas? I'm not saying that I will, because he hasn't talked to me about it, so as far as we know, I'm still coming home beginning of January. I just want to know what you think. :)
This last Friday we had a special training in Morristown. It was a meeting for all District Leaders, Zone Leaders, and Sister Training Leaders. It was all about how to be a great leader in the mission. They talked about all sorts of things that have to do with leadership in the mission. It was pretty good, I liked it a lot. They talked about how to make our District Meetings and Zone Meetings better. President Jeppson talked about how he has many meetings and many times, he'll come out of a meeting and say, "Out of all the meetings that I've been to, that was definitely one of them!" He said that he doesn't want missionaries to come out of our meetings and say that that was just another meeting that they've been to. He said that he wants missionaries to come out of our meetings filled with the Spirit and a desire to fill the world with the Book of Mormon! I'm really learning on my mission how to make meetings better. Well, at least make a good District Meeting. I don't know how well I'll be able to put together other meetings, but I guess we'll see. I plan on telling Bishop Jensen and President Trent that I want to keep teaching. Maybe they can get me a calling that I can continue teaching.
Then on Sunday, we had a great Elders Quorum Meeting. The Elders Quorum President, Michael Allongo, taught the class on the Priesthood. It was a really good class. I actually learned quite a bit. For a while now, I haven't really ever learned anything new at church. Usually it's all refreshing my memory. I don't know if that's bad or not, but I still love going to church. I think that reminders are very important. We can't always remember things forever. However, in Elders Quorum, he talked about why we initially received the Aaronic Priesthood in Moses' time. He broke down the experience with Moses and his people and why they didn't deserve to have the higher Priesthood. I had a basic understand of that but I didn't know it nearly as well as Brother Allongo. He also talked about what we mean when we say that we know that the Church is true. Basically it boils down to two things: 1) We know that we have the, and 2) We know that the Prophets and Apostles are receiving revelation. All in all, it was a really good lesson. That's where I hope I can be in teaching a class after my mission. But Brother Allongo is really smart and already graduated college and is a criminal prosecutor, so he has a lot of experience under his belt.
So that was my week! It's really hot here. I get to some lessons after 25 minutes of walking across town and my shirt is wet from sweat. Fun experiences on the mission.
Q of the W:
1. When you are teaching families the gospel, do you tell the father that it is his responsibility to lead the family in prayer?
We usually just have him pick on somebody for the prayer. We just respect him as the head of the home. Usually they understand that concept. We'll invite him many times to say the closing prayer. It just depends on how we feel.
2. Do the in-actives or less-actives ever talk about their Home Teacher or Visiting Teachers? What is your opinion on Home Teachers?
They sometimes talk about them. Usually they'll either tell us how they've been coming by lately. Sometimes they tell us that they haven't had them in years. Haha! I've thought a lot about home teaching. It's just going to be a continuation of a part of missionary work when I get home. I'm excited to do it. I think that it's very important to do.
3. How is your supply of Diovan and contacts? I feel the need to get you more Diovan?
I may need more contacts soon. I should be good on Diovan.
Love you mom!!
-Justin
Dear Mom,
Our 4th of July was kind of boring. We didn't do much. I was really hoping to still be in Union City at this time so I could see the fireworks over the Hudson River. President Jeppson advised us that we were not to leave our zones to watch fireworks. I'm about 45 minutes away from Union City. So we got together with some other missionaries and went to a small town called Milltown to watch some local fireworks. It was pretty good. Out of all the fireworks that I've seen, those were definitely one of them. Haha, nothing too special. Then last night, when I was calling some the missionaries in my district to follow up on how their week went, a bunch of fireworks started going off over the highway right next to us. The thing was, these fireworks were better than the ones on the Fourth of July. They were super loud because they were pretty close and pretty distracting. I watched some of them during calls from our window.
That's funny about Kelsie. That would happen to her.
I honestly didn't pay too much attention in Seminary unfortunately. I think they definitely taught me things about the scriptures. I remember one seminary teacher who directed us to page 119 in the Doctrine and Covenants and showed us verses 9-11 about forgiveness and then pointed out how both those numbers are 9-1-1. He was relating it to the 9/11 incident. Afterwards, he told us to take that as we will. I also just remember the examples from my seminary teachers. I don't necessarily remember exactly what they taught me, but their excitement towards the Gospel and the Scriptures made an impact on me. I never really saw the personal importance the scriptures had to me, so I never paid too much attention. I'm excited to go to institute after my mission and hopefully eventually those classes at BYU to learn more about the scriptures. I'm studying in depth the New Testament right now. It would be great to go through it in a classroom setting at the same time, but I'm on my own right now.
Good news about the Munoz family: They came to church yesterday! All four of them! And they said that they really enjoyed it. Brother Munoz was smiling most of the time, and the 17 year old girl, Yaxiri, said that she felt the Spirit. I was very excited to see them there. We had a lesson with them this last week and we talked to them a little more about the temple and the blessings they may have if Brother Munoz receives the Melchizedek Priesthood and they all go to the temple. They said that they wanted to do it. I'm excited for that family!
My six month left mark has been pretty normal. Just like I said before, when people find out they always tell me how little I have left. There are many other missionaries in the mission right now that I've known for quite a while. They were pretty new missionaries when I first came in. They're all starting to finish up here pretty soon. Some finish the end of this month. Most of them end their missions the end of September. So I just think that they have to finish before I do. It feels like I still have a while to go, and I kind of do. I still have the possibility in serving in two other areas after here in New Brunswick. We'll see, maybe my next area will be the last. I've heard that sometimes Mission Presidents will send missionaries home if their departure date is close enough to Christmas. At first, my departure date was several weeks after Christmas, so I didn't put any thought into it, but now it's exactly two weeks after Christmas. In my opinion, that's pretty close to Christmas. What would you think if President Jeppson gave me the option to come home a few days before Christmas? I'm not saying that I will, because he hasn't talked to me about it, so as far as we know, I'm still coming home beginning of January. I just want to know what you think. :)
This last Friday we had a special training in Morristown. It was a meeting for all District Leaders, Zone Leaders, and Sister Training Leaders. It was all about how to be a great leader in the mission. They talked about all sorts of things that have to do with leadership in the mission. It was pretty good, I liked it a lot. They talked about how to make our District Meetings and Zone Meetings better. President Jeppson talked about how he has many meetings and many times, he'll come out of a meeting and say, "Out of all the meetings that I've been to, that was definitely one of them!" He said that he doesn't want missionaries to come out of our meetings and say that that was just another meeting that they've been to. He said that he wants missionaries to come out of our meetings filled with the Spirit and a desire to fill the world with the Book of Mormon! I'm really learning on my mission how to make meetings better. Well, at least make a good District Meeting. I don't know how well I'll be able to put together other meetings, but I guess we'll see. I plan on telling Bishop Jensen and President Trent that I want to keep teaching. Maybe they can get me a calling that I can continue teaching.
Then on Sunday, we had a great Elders Quorum Meeting. The Elders Quorum President, Michael Allongo, taught the class on the Priesthood. It was a really good class. I actually learned quite a bit. For a while now, I haven't really ever learned anything new at church. Usually it's all refreshing my memory. I don't know if that's bad or not, but I still love going to church. I think that reminders are very important. We can't always remember things forever. However, in Elders Quorum, he talked about why we initially received the Aaronic Priesthood in Moses' time. He broke down the experience with Moses and his people and why they didn't deserve to have the higher Priesthood. I had a basic understand of that but I didn't know it nearly as well as Brother Allongo. He also talked about what we mean when we say that we know that the Church is true. Basically it boils down to two things: 1) We know that we have the, and 2) We know that the Prophets and Apostles are receiving revelation. All in all, it was a really good lesson. That's where I hope I can be in teaching a class after my mission. But Brother Allongo is really smart and already graduated college and is a criminal prosecutor, so he has a lot of experience under his belt.
So that was my week! It's really hot here. I get to some lessons after 25 minutes of walking across town and my shirt is wet from sweat. Fun experiences on the mission.
Q of the W:
1. When you are teaching families the gospel, do you tell the father that it is his responsibility to lead the family in prayer?
We usually just have him pick on somebody for the prayer. We just respect him as the head of the home. Usually they understand that concept. We'll invite him many times to say the closing prayer. It just depends on how we feel.
2. Do the in-actives or less-actives ever talk about their Home Teacher or Visiting Teachers? What is your opinion on Home Teachers?
They sometimes talk about them. Usually they'll either tell us how they've been coming by lately. Sometimes they tell us that they haven't had them in years. Haha! I've thought a lot about home teaching. It's just going to be a continuation of a part of missionary work when I get home. I'm excited to do it. I think that it's very important to do.
3. How is your supply of Diovan and contacts? I feel the need to get you more Diovan?
I may need more contacts soon. I should be good on Diovan.
Love you mom!!
-Justin
Monday, July 1, 2013
July 1, 2013
Dear Mom,
I was thinking the same thing. I think that every member should know about what they talked about in that training. It definitely makes me want to work harder!
The All-Mission Conference was great! We were told to wear t-shirts and jeans. No shorts. They warned us that if we brought shorts we would be sent back to the apartment to change into jeans. I don't know exactly the reason behind that, but I think it was that they didn't want anyone to get ticks. We weren't anywhere much more than just grass though.. But, everyone obeyed. It was really hot though. We went to a park in Morristown and played some sports. The park that we went to had stuff permanently set up for sports. They had a street hockey rink that we used for dodgeball, then we had a small soccer field that we used to play beach soccer. We just used a giant beach ball for the soccer ball. We also had kickball and volleyball. It was pretty fun. It was so just hot in those jeans! After that we all went over to the Morristown chapel where we had skits. Each zone the previous week made up a skit that had to do with the mission. Ours was about zombies and sister missionaries taking over the mission field. It was pretty funny, but I didn't record it. The other skits were pretty funny as well. Then we got to hear from the Temple President from the Manhattan Temple. He taught us a little bit about the temples. One thing that he said that stuck out to me was that the biggest difference between a temple and a chapel is that a chapel is where we go to worship and learn together. The temple is where we go to worship and learn individually. Pretty cool. I love the temple! After that we went home. No Apostles. And the mission t-shirts this year aren't nearly as cool as the ones last year. Sadly, I don't think there were very many people that were impressed with them this year.
That's kind of understandable that Kelsie wasn't able to attend church in Greece. I looked on LDS.org and there are only three Greek Branches and one English Branch in the whole country. There isn't even a stake in Greece. Kelsie's trip may have largely increased the total number of members of the Church in Greece, haha! I can't wait to see some pictures of Greece!
That's pretty gross to hear about the E.coli problem. I'm glad it didn't last very long. Do you know if anyone was affected by it? Here in New Jersey, I don't think that there are very many people that drink the tap water. It tastes kind of funky. I usually brush my teeth with it and everything but to drink it usually everyone has a filter, or they buy those large 10 gallon things of water, or just bottled water. Could you not even shower during that time?
Sounds good about the NYC trip. I'm down!
This last Saturday, we had a meeting with the other leaders of our zone. It was the zone leaders and the other two district leaders. Like I've told you before, every month we have a certain focus to help us improve our missionary work. The zone leaders all meet up with President Jeppson on Friday, and then on Saturday, the zone leaders meet with the district leaders to discuss how we're going to apply the monthly focus to all the missionaries in the zone. So this month the focus is on the Book of Mormon. President Jeppson challenged all of us to read the Book of Mormon in three months, by the end of September with a certain focus. We just recently did this same focus back in November/December, but since then we have received over 100 new missionaries in our mission, so President Jeppson wanted to do another focus on it. I'm excited for the challenge! I don't know what I want to do it on yet. We were also talking about one of the more important purposes of the Book of Mormon is in the gathering of scattered Israel. As missionaries we are fulfilling ancient Old Testament prophesies in the gathering the lost tribes and many other prophesies. It's cool, the Book of Mormon is so important in these last days. The Book of Mormon is actually full of stuff pertaining to the gathering of Israel.
Yesterday, we had a pretty cool lesson with a very less-active family. It's the Munoz family. They haven't been to church in a long time, but they always tell us how they love when we come over because we bring a good spirit with us. This less-active family is a little different than many other less-active members. Usually other less-active members call us 'the brothers'. It's really weird sounding in English, but in Spanish 'los hermanos' sounds very, very normal. Usually the members that have been in the Church for a while and understand the doctrine better will call us by our proper titles, 'elders'. Like the Bishop and many other ward leaders will call us 'elders'. Well, the Munoz family is different because they call us 'elders'. When we visited with them yesterday, we followed up on the commitment we had left them the previous lesson which was to say a kneeling prayer everyday as a family. They didn't do it, at all. Brother Munoz said that he just hasn't had the desire to get the family together for a prayer. He also said that he simply just didn't have the desire to come to church on Sunday. It's kind of hard to help people that don't have a desire. We ended up reading Mosiah 4 with them as a family. Sister Munoz was a little sick so she didn't come out. After we read we talked a little bit about the chapter we read. We asked the two kids to share the scripture that they liked the most out of that chapter and then we asked what Brother Munoz had liked from that chapter. They all gave very good answers. Our team up, Javier (who is 27 years old and is a convert), shared his testimony. After that, I felt impressed to share with them a little bit about my experience as a youth in the Church. I told them that I never really understood the Gospel as a youth, but that when I went to activities in the Ward and camps, the leaders would always share their testimonies and we would always have little firesides that was strengthening my testimony without me really knowing about it. All my leaders were always very good examples and that was one of the reasons why I'm on a mission. Then the girl, 17 years old, said that she has always liked those activities and that she felt the Spirit when going to them. I saw that Brother Munoz got a little excited and happy about that. I then asked Brother Munoz if he felt desires now. He said yes. Amazing lesson! Pray that they'll come to church! They're a really good family and they need to be more involved in the Gospel.
Love you mom! Miss you a lot!
-Justin
1. Do you think Scouts and going to camps prepared you to be a great missionary?
Maybe a little bit. I'm sure that it had some influence, but I can't really think of anything specifically with which it has helped me.
2. What apostle do you think would be the best for you to meet in person?
I don't really know. I really want to meet them all. I think that it would be a fun opportunity to meet Elder Bednar.
3. If you could ask one question for our Prophet, what would it be?
What has been the most spiritual experience that you have ever had?
I was thinking the same thing. I think that every member should know about what they talked about in that training. It definitely makes me want to work harder!
The All-Mission Conference was great! We were told to wear t-shirts and jeans. No shorts. They warned us that if we brought shorts we would be sent back to the apartment to change into jeans. I don't know exactly the reason behind that, but I think it was that they didn't want anyone to get ticks. We weren't anywhere much more than just grass though.. But, everyone obeyed. It was really hot though. We went to a park in Morristown and played some sports. The park that we went to had stuff permanently set up for sports. They had a street hockey rink that we used for dodgeball, then we had a small soccer field that we used to play beach soccer. We just used a giant beach ball for the soccer ball. We also had kickball and volleyball. It was pretty fun. It was so just hot in those jeans! After that we all went over to the Morristown chapel where we had skits. Each zone the previous week made up a skit that had to do with the mission. Ours was about zombies and sister missionaries taking over the mission field. It was pretty funny, but I didn't record it. The other skits were pretty funny as well. Then we got to hear from the Temple President from the Manhattan Temple. He taught us a little bit about the temples. One thing that he said that stuck out to me was that the biggest difference between a temple and a chapel is that a chapel is where we go to worship and learn together. The temple is where we go to worship and learn individually. Pretty cool. I love the temple! After that we went home. No Apostles. And the mission t-shirts this year aren't nearly as cool as the ones last year. Sadly, I don't think there were very many people that were impressed with them this year.
That's kind of understandable that Kelsie wasn't able to attend church in Greece. I looked on LDS.org and there are only three Greek Branches and one English Branch in the whole country. There isn't even a stake in Greece. Kelsie's trip may have largely increased the total number of members of the Church in Greece, haha! I can't wait to see some pictures of Greece!
That's pretty gross to hear about the E.coli problem. I'm glad it didn't last very long. Do you know if anyone was affected by it? Here in New Jersey, I don't think that there are very many people that drink the tap water. It tastes kind of funky. I usually brush my teeth with it and everything but to drink it usually everyone has a filter, or they buy those large 10 gallon things of water, or just bottled water. Could you not even shower during that time?
Sounds good about the NYC trip. I'm down!
This last Saturday, we had a meeting with the other leaders of our zone. It was the zone leaders and the other two district leaders. Like I've told you before, every month we have a certain focus to help us improve our missionary work. The zone leaders all meet up with President Jeppson on Friday, and then on Saturday, the zone leaders meet with the district leaders to discuss how we're going to apply the monthly focus to all the missionaries in the zone. So this month the focus is on the Book of Mormon. President Jeppson challenged all of us to read the Book of Mormon in three months, by the end of September with a certain focus. We just recently did this same focus back in November/December, but since then we have received over 100 new missionaries in our mission, so President Jeppson wanted to do another focus on it. I'm excited for the challenge! I don't know what I want to do it on yet. We were also talking about one of the more important purposes of the Book of Mormon is in the gathering of scattered Israel. As missionaries we are fulfilling ancient Old Testament prophesies in the gathering the lost tribes and many other prophesies. It's cool, the Book of Mormon is so important in these last days. The Book of Mormon is actually full of stuff pertaining to the gathering of Israel.
Yesterday, we had a pretty cool lesson with a very less-active family. It's the Munoz family. They haven't been to church in a long time, but they always tell us how they love when we come over because we bring a good spirit with us. This less-active family is a little different than many other less-active members. Usually other less-active members call us 'the brothers'. It's really weird sounding in English, but in Spanish 'los hermanos' sounds very, very normal. Usually the members that have been in the Church for a while and understand the doctrine better will call us by our proper titles, 'elders'. Like the Bishop and many other ward leaders will call us 'elders'. Well, the Munoz family is different because they call us 'elders'. When we visited with them yesterday, we followed up on the commitment we had left them the previous lesson which was to say a kneeling prayer everyday as a family. They didn't do it, at all. Brother Munoz said that he just hasn't had the desire to get the family together for a prayer. He also said that he simply just didn't have the desire to come to church on Sunday. It's kind of hard to help people that don't have a desire. We ended up reading Mosiah 4 with them as a family. Sister Munoz was a little sick so she didn't come out. After we read we talked a little bit about the chapter we read. We asked the two kids to share the scripture that they liked the most out of that chapter and then we asked what Brother Munoz had liked from that chapter. They all gave very good answers. Our team up, Javier (who is 27 years old and is a convert), shared his testimony. After that, I felt impressed to share with them a little bit about my experience as a youth in the Church. I told them that I never really understood the Gospel as a youth, but that when I went to activities in the Ward and camps, the leaders would always share their testimonies and we would always have little firesides that was strengthening my testimony without me really knowing about it. All my leaders were always very good examples and that was one of the reasons why I'm on a mission. Then the girl, 17 years old, said that she has always liked those activities and that she felt the Spirit when going to them. I saw that Brother Munoz got a little excited and happy about that. I then asked Brother Munoz if he felt desires now. He said yes. Amazing lesson! Pray that they'll come to church! They're a really good family and they need to be more involved in the Gospel.
Love you mom! Miss you a lot!
-Justin
1. Do you think Scouts and going to camps prepared you to be a great missionary?
Maybe a little bit. I'm sure that it had some influence, but I can't really think of anything specifically with which it has helped me.
2. What apostle do you think would be the best for you to meet in person?
I don't really know. I really want to meet them all. I think that it would be a fun opportunity to meet Elder Bednar.
3. If you could ask one question for our Prophet, what would it be?
What has been the most spiritual experience that you have ever had?
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