September 30, 2013
Dear Mom,
I sent it through media mail, so I'm guessing that it might take a little longer to get there. The package weighed a lot, but they shipped it for only $9! I'm guessing that they don't put a whole lot of urgency into getting that package where it needs to go if they charge so little to ship it.
That's so funny about the babysitters and riding on the bike. I don't remember that at all.
I honestly had no idea that Ronnie came to my apartment until I read your email. I don't know if I just didn't notice the note or what. I'm going to check better when we get back to the apartment today. Maybe it fell off or something, but I'll for sure check well! It would have been an awesome surprise to see Uncle Ronnie! I would have loved it!
I'll be watching General Conference at the East Brunswick chapel. I'm super excited about it! I'm sure that it's going to be amazing as always.
Q of the W:
1. How many times have you given a talk in your branch/ward's sacrament meeting?
I haven't given a talk in Sacrament meeting in the New Brunswick ward yet. I did give my testimony the Sunday after I was transferred here. The Bishop here likes to have the new missionaries transferred to his ward introduce themselves and share their testimony at the beginning of Sacrament Meeting.
2. Those referral cards you talked about at that fireside, did you guys make them or are they available to anyone?
They were specially made by one of our members specifically for this fireside.
3. What's one of the best things you have learned from your mission so far?
Responsibility.
This last Friday we had a really good lunch. He is a recent convert from Peru. He was baptized almost a year ago. We have been talking to him for a while about coming over for lunch. Usually they have forgotten, but this last Friday they remembered! He made a typical Peruvian dish that is famous among all missionaries called Lomo Saltado. I'm sure that I've told you about it before. It is french fries, beef, onion, green pepper and tomato, with white rice on the side. It was super good. Even though we're living in the US, many houses are still dirty and just plain not good houses. We were eating and a few cockroaches were climbing up and down the walls. At least they weren't in the food. I've become immune to that type of thing. I don't get grossed out by bugs climbing up and down the walls unless it's in my apartment. I'm wondering if it's the special mantle as a missionary or if I've really just seen it enough that it doesn't bug me anymore.. Haha, get it?? Bug?? Nevertheless, great food!
Later on that night, we visited with our 17-year old Dominican investigator. He really has interest in learning more, visiting with us and coming to church, but he's just pretty busy with work and school. We were only able to visit him for about 30 minutes and we taught him the Plan of Salvation with a prospective elder named Roger. Our investigator, Luis, was especially intrigued about the idea of a Pre-Mortal life and the Celestial Kingdom. He really liked it and he told us a few times. It was a great lesson. He even had to go in the middle of the lesson, but he told his ride to wait outside for a few more minutes! Awesome! I'm pretty sure that he's going to get baptized. I don't know when though. It might be a little while longer. After the lesson, we were talking with our team up, Roger. He's at that stage right now, where the Stake President told him just a few days ago that he sent his mission papers to Salt Lake and he's been assigned! He's just waiting for the call to come. I remember those days! It doesn't really seem that they were that long ago, but they were. I was very excited for Roger. He's very excited about his mission. He's already read the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants and now he's reading Preach My Gospel. I think he was more prepared than I was. Good for him! He's going to be an excellent missionary.
On Saturday, we visited with our couple Jorge and Stephanie. Jorge is the member and Stephanie is our investigator. Stephanie had had some questions about the temple, so we had a lesson on what the temple is and what we do there. She liked the part about vicarious work. Afterward, we talked for a minute on baptism. She expressed that she wants to be baptized! So told her that she could be baptized between session during General Conference. She agreed! There's a lot to the story, but our Bishop told us that he would prefer that Jorge and Stephanie wait to get married to be baptized even if they are living separately. He told us though that we should talk to our mission president about that because he is the one who is in charge of convert baptisms. I called President Jeppson and told him about the situation with Stephanie. He told me that if they intend to keep the commandments and wait to be married to move in together and that she feels like she has been repenting and has received a testimony that we should go ahead and proceed with the baptism. We had another lesson with Stephanie last night as well to talk about conversion. It's so interesting how the Spirit will work in a lesson. Even though we taught the lesson and were trying to teach Stephanie, I was taught many important aspects on conversion by the Holy Ghost as I taught! I love that! It was so interesting to see how as I was teaching, that I was being taught. One very powerful scripture that came to my mind was Mosiah 3:19. When we become converted to the Lord, we become disciples of Christ.
Another interesting thought about the correlation between vicarious work and the Atonement of Christ. Many people criticize us for doing work in the temple for the dead. It's a weird and foreign concept to them and they think that vicarious work is false doctrine and not possible. However, when we look at the Atonement of Christ, it was completely and totally a vicarious work. We, because of the fall of Adam, are spiritually dead. We will also all die physically. Because of the Atonement of Christ, we will return to the presence of God. We will also be resurrected. We will live again spiritually and physically. Christ did something that we cannot do for ourselves. He did something for those that are dead, whether physically or spiritually. One of the many reasons we feel so close to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the temple is because we are doing things for others that they cannot do for themselves, which is exactly what He did for us. We could not and cannot return to the presence of God by ourselves. We need a Savior. Those that reject the idea of vicarious work, reject the principle behind the saving and enabling power of the Atonement of Christ. Luckily, we have the fullness of the Gospel and understand even more the doctrine of the Atonement of Christ through the Book of Mormon. I LOVE the Book of Mormon!
Anyway. Love you mom! I miss you a lot. I miss the whole family. Good to hear that everyone is doing well.
-Justin
Monday, September 30, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
September 23, 2013
Mom,
Thanks so much! I did get the package! Thanks so much. I'm so excited to listen to those talks from Truman G. Madsen. He's such a good speaker. Thanks for everything else. By the way, I sent a package home today. It's full of accumulated books that I can't read right now. Got to focus on the Standard Works! There are also two books with... well, not correct doctrine. You'll see ;) Other books though that anyone can feel free to read! Just be careful with the older ones.
I don't really feel much different now. I think I feel like I'm more 18 years old right now.
What a dumb dog. You'd think that he would have learned by now... I guess there's just so much that can fit into a small brain like his. It's probably been full for a while, haha.
Kelsie did tell me about William. That is sad. I hope that he can go out again soon. That's so rough to have to go home and then have to come out again. Maybe I'll be here before he goes back out and I can help be a positive influence on him returning to the field. I didn't know that about Brandon Halverson.
So many temples in Utah. I love it! There aren't too many temples out here and now I see how blessed we are to have so many temples close by in Utah. I'll definitely remember that blessing when I come back. I hope that I can always remember that.
I'm pretty sure that I'll be home for your birthday. With a weird week change back in the beginning of this year to accommodate the major increase in numbers of missionaries entering the MTC, they shaved off a week of my mission and that of almost all missionaries that were in the field at that time. I'm pretty sure that I'll be home the 8th of January!
Q of the W:
1. Are you guys allowed to be on facebook? Our Ward Mission Leader told us that our local missionaries are allowed 1 hour a week - for missionary purposes only - of course.
Not yet. Since the change in internet use was announced a few months ago, they've been slowly introducing it into one area at a time. They say that we should start seeing the change of internet uses in our area the beginning of 2014. That goes for Q of the W #3 as well...
2. Does the Primary in your branch do a Sacrament Meeting Presentation each year?
So far in the New Brunswick Spanish ward, I haven't heard anything yet. So I don't know the answer to that question.
3. Have you heard about missionaries carrying ipads instead of scriptures?
Just in time for me receiving the right to use those toys for my own use again... :(
This last week was a really tough one. We didn't get very many lessons at all. We had many appointments bail on us when we showed up at their house or cancel on us at the last second. It's super frustrating when that happens, and this last week it happened a lot. We woke up on Saturday with seven set appointments throughout our day. We were planning on it being a busy day. By the end of the day, only one of those appointments actually let us in. It was crazy frustrating. I have to be honest; I was very tempted to go home early that day. However, the Lord blessed us for our obedience. We ended up showing up randomly at a part-member's house. Our purpose was to get in contact with those of the house-hold that aren't members. The husband is not a member of the Church. He's met with the missionaries in the past, but nothing has ever happened. It came to my mind to simply teach the steps of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. At the end of teaching and explaining those steps, I asked the husband, Carlos, why he never chose to be baptized in the past when the missionaries were visiting with him. He didn't really give a clear answer. It seemed as those he was avoiding the answer. I asked him if he wants to get baptized soon. Again, he didn't really give a straight answer. I can't remember too much of what happened during the rest of lesson. It didn't last very much longer though. However, I do remember one thing that Carlos said during the closing prayer that he offered. He asked the Lord to bless the Elders as they preach thy gospel. Afterward, he gave me a firm handshake a wonderful smile. I've known him since I first came to this area back in the end of June, but this handshake and smile was different from the past. Something told me that he knows it's true. I was happy the rest of the way home. It just kept going through my mind that he knows that it's true! He didn't come to church yesterday, but he did come to our fireside that we put on and he seemed to love it.
So the fireside is another story. We had been planning this fireside for a couple months now. We finally got it to happen yesterday afternoon. Our plan for this fireside was to teach members how to do missionary work. We had the Bishop talk for a little bit about missionary work and he talked about his conversion story when he was 17. We also had a member from the Stake Presidency talk as well. It all went very well and we feel like the members are going to feel more comfortable doing missionary work now. We're super excited to see how the missionary work goes now in our ward. We also had some special referral cards made for us to hand out to the members to get them started thinking about with whom they could share the Gospel. I have a good feeling about it! That non-member, Carlos that I was talking about came as well. Even though the fireside was directed towards members, we had two of our investigators there including Carlos. Before the fireside started, I went over to greet him and his wife, who is a member. He gave me the same firm handshake and wonderful smile as the previous night. I know that he knows it's true! Now just to get him to act on it!
Love you mom! I miss you too!
-Justin
Mom,
Thanks so much! I did get the package! Thanks so much. I'm so excited to listen to those talks from Truman G. Madsen. He's such a good speaker. Thanks for everything else. By the way, I sent a package home today. It's full of accumulated books that I can't read right now. Got to focus on the Standard Works! There are also two books with... well, not correct doctrine. You'll see ;) Other books though that anyone can feel free to read! Just be careful with the older ones.
I don't really feel much different now. I think I feel like I'm more 18 years old right now.
What a dumb dog. You'd think that he would have learned by now... I guess there's just so much that can fit into a small brain like his. It's probably been full for a while, haha.
Kelsie did tell me about William. That is sad. I hope that he can go out again soon. That's so rough to have to go home and then have to come out again. Maybe I'll be here before he goes back out and I can help be a positive influence on him returning to the field. I didn't know that about Brandon Halverson.
So many temples in Utah. I love it! There aren't too many temples out here and now I see how blessed we are to have so many temples close by in Utah. I'll definitely remember that blessing when I come back. I hope that I can always remember that.
I'm pretty sure that I'll be home for your birthday. With a weird week change back in the beginning of this year to accommodate the major increase in numbers of missionaries entering the MTC, they shaved off a week of my mission and that of almost all missionaries that were in the field at that time. I'm pretty sure that I'll be home the 8th of January!
Q of the W:
1. Are you guys allowed to be on facebook? Our Ward Mission Leader told us that our local missionaries are allowed 1 hour a week - for missionary purposes only - of course.
Not yet. Since the change in internet use was announced a few months ago, they've been slowly introducing it into one area at a time. They say that we should start seeing the change of internet uses in our area the beginning of 2014. That goes for Q of the W #3 as well...
2. Does the Primary in your branch do a Sacrament Meeting Presentation each year?
So far in the New Brunswick Spanish ward, I haven't heard anything yet. So I don't know the answer to that question.
3. Have you heard about missionaries carrying ipads instead of scriptures?
Just in time for me receiving the right to use those toys for my own use again... :(
This last week was a really tough one. We didn't get very many lessons at all. We had many appointments bail on us when we showed up at their house or cancel on us at the last second. It's super frustrating when that happens, and this last week it happened a lot. We woke up on Saturday with seven set appointments throughout our day. We were planning on it being a busy day. By the end of the day, only one of those appointments actually let us in. It was crazy frustrating. I have to be honest; I was very tempted to go home early that day. However, the Lord blessed us for our obedience. We ended up showing up randomly at a part-member's house. Our purpose was to get in contact with those of the house-hold that aren't members. The husband is not a member of the Church. He's met with the missionaries in the past, but nothing has ever happened. It came to my mind to simply teach the steps of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. At the end of teaching and explaining those steps, I asked the husband, Carlos, why he never chose to be baptized in the past when the missionaries were visiting with him. He didn't really give a clear answer. It seemed as those he was avoiding the answer. I asked him if he wants to get baptized soon. Again, he didn't really give a straight answer. I can't remember too much of what happened during the rest of lesson. It didn't last very much longer though. However, I do remember one thing that Carlos said during the closing prayer that he offered. He asked the Lord to bless the Elders as they preach thy gospel. Afterward, he gave me a firm handshake a wonderful smile. I've known him since I first came to this area back in the end of June, but this handshake and smile was different from the past. Something told me that he knows it's true. I was happy the rest of the way home. It just kept going through my mind that he knows that it's true! He didn't come to church yesterday, but he did come to our fireside that we put on and he seemed to love it.
So the fireside is another story. We had been planning this fireside for a couple months now. We finally got it to happen yesterday afternoon. Our plan for this fireside was to teach members how to do missionary work. We had the Bishop talk for a little bit about missionary work and he talked about his conversion story when he was 17. We also had a member from the Stake Presidency talk as well. It all went very well and we feel like the members are going to feel more comfortable doing missionary work now. We're super excited to see how the missionary work goes now in our ward. We also had some special referral cards made for us to hand out to the members to get them started thinking about with whom they could share the Gospel. I have a good feeling about it! That non-member, Carlos that I was talking about came as well. Even though the fireside was directed towards members, we had two of our investigators there including Carlos. Before the fireside started, I went over to greet him and his wife, who is a member. He gave me the same firm handshake and wonderful smile as the previous night. I know that he knows it's true! Now just to get him to act on it!
Love you mom! I miss you too!
-Justin
Monday, September 16, 2013
September 16, 2013
Dear Mom,
That's so cool. We're becoming a Dr. Pepper/Costa Vida family. I'll definitely want to hit up Costa Vida the day after I get home.
I'll definitely have to check out those stores on State Street!
That article about those missionaries in Newark was my companion. They did just spell his name wrong. Also, the Elder Smith was the one that started his mission when I did. We were in the MTC together.
Grandpa sent me a story of when he decided to start pay his tithing. It's a pretty cool story. It's so cool to hear about the amount of faith that goes into paying tithing. It's great to be in the Restored Church, knowing that your tithing money goes to actually building up the kingdom of God, and not just paying the pastor for his sermons. I think that's why so many people have such a hard time believing tithing in our church. They automatically think that it's going to the Bishop or someone because of all the experience they've had in other churches.
Q of the W:
1. Your birthday is soon!!! Is there anything you need? or want? I have ordered more contacts for you and will send them to you...
It'd be cool to get some talks on CD. There are cool ones by Truman G. Madsen. He always gives really good talks. There's one called "What's on the other Side?" It talks a lot about the Spirit World. Maybe something like that. I don't really need any books or anything. I can get books when I come home, plus they would just be more weight to carry around.
2. Besides English and Spanish, what other language missions are there in NJ?
Portuguese and Korean
3. Do you ever suggest the Ensign to those less-actives or non members? Is it a missionary tool?
I've only tried a couple times. I haven't seen too many members out here with them. Even active members don't really get it. I think usually they just have stuff on their smart phones so they don't see the point in ordering a magazine. I would much prefer a magazine though. You can mark it up and stuff. But it's for sure a great missionary tool! Modern prophets speak!
This Friday turned out to be not such a good day. It seems like you always have to have a terrible day so that you will always be grateful for the good days. We had two set appointments during the day-time hours. One at 11:30 with a member, and then one at 2:30 with some investigators. They both weren't there. We showed up at the members home on time at 11:30 and a different lady answered the door. She said that they hadn't arrived yet. She called them up and then she told us to wait for about 20 minutes for them to get home. Well, they called back 25 minutes later and told us that they weren't going to be able to make it, that they were actually pretty far from home. The investigators that we had at 2:30 had forgotten that we were coming and didn't make the effort to be home on time to be able to be there when we showed up. We called them and they said that we're going to have to come by another day. By that time, I was kind of upset. I really don't like it when people don't show up for our appointments. It makes me feel like the missionaries are on the bottom of their priority list. It's sad, but every time that happens, I realize how much more I will understand how important it is to always be on time and ready for appointments that I agree to. I'll just be that much better because of the mistakes of others. Like I said before, it helps me to realize how great good days are! Later on that night, we had an appointment with that guy I contacted last week as well as the less-active Munoz family. The Munoz family was scheduled for 7 o'clock and Alberto was scheduled for 8 o'clock. Brother Munoz called about an hour before our appointment and asked us to come by a little bit past 8:00 pm because he wasn't going to get home until later. We tried going by Alberto's house and calling him to try and see if we could come by earlier, but we had no luck. We went to Alberto's house at 7, but nothing still. We decided that we would have a better chance at teaching the Munoz family than risk finding someone at home that's not even answering their phone. We've lost contact for now with Alberto, and we've been passing by and calling, but nothing yet. I still have my hopes up. We ended the night on a good note. The Munoz family brought some really good Mexican tacos and some Coca-Cola for dinner. I was really hungry by the end of Friday and those fantastic Mexican tacos hit the spot!
Then on Saturday, we met with Jorge and Stephanie again. He picked us up in his car and told us that we're going out to eat at his house. Well, he said in Spanish, "Voy a llevarles a comer en Mi Casa." We showed up at a restaurant called Mi Casa, or My House. He thought it was a pretty funny joke, haha. It was great food! Again, I had Mexican tacos. Super delicious! I also had a drink called Jarritos. I bet they'll sell them in those little Mexican stores in Provo. They have different flavors. They're sodas made in Mexico. They have flavors like pineapple, mango, fruit punch, strawberry, lime, and some others. They're all really good. My favorites are pineapple and strawberry. If you find them somewhere, you should think about buying one and trying it. They're not really ''foreign'' tasting, if you know what I mean. They're pretty sweet. I'm sure all the kids would love it. If not, I'll drink it by myself when I get home.
On Sunday, we had Stake Conference for the East Brunswick Stake. Way good! President Jeppson was there and gave a quick talk on missionary work. He was talking about how in tuned and alerted by the drastic change in the number of missionaries. He said that everyone, with the large increase in missionaries worldwide, should have their ears perked up and wondering what in the world is the Lord trying to do right now. We should be involved more than ever in the work. He also talked about the Doctrine of Christ using 2 Nephi 31:10-12, 21. It was such a good talk. The last speaker was the Stake President, President Stokes. He talked about when he and other stake presidents had a meeting with the area seventy. The area seventy said that Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy were only to prepare the people of this area of the world for what's to come. President Stokes said that he doesn't know if it will be this year or next year or the years to come or even if it'll be a hurricane, but that something is coming, and we need to be prepared for it. Crazy! I'm scared to NOT have food storage and all that. Overall, it was an amazing Stake Conference.
Love you mom! Thanks for everything!
-Justin
Dear Mom,
That's so cool. We're becoming a Dr. Pepper/Costa Vida family. I'll definitely want to hit up Costa Vida the day after I get home.
I'll definitely have to check out those stores on State Street!
That article about those missionaries in Newark was my companion. They did just spell his name wrong. Also, the Elder Smith was the one that started his mission when I did. We were in the MTC together.
Grandpa sent me a story of when he decided to start pay his tithing. It's a pretty cool story. It's so cool to hear about the amount of faith that goes into paying tithing. It's great to be in the Restored Church, knowing that your tithing money goes to actually building up the kingdom of God, and not just paying the pastor for his sermons. I think that's why so many people have such a hard time believing tithing in our church. They automatically think that it's going to the Bishop or someone because of all the experience they've had in other churches.
Q of the W:
1. Your birthday is soon!!! Is there anything you need? or want? I have ordered more contacts for you and will send them to you...
It'd be cool to get some talks on CD. There are cool ones by Truman G. Madsen. He always gives really good talks. There's one called "What's on the other Side?" It talks a lot about the Spirit World. Maybe something like that. I don't really need any books or anything. I can get books when I come home, plus they would just be more weight to carry around.
2. Besides English and Spanish, what other language missions are there in NJ?
Portuguese and Korean
3. Do you ever suggest the Ensign to those less-actives or non members? Is it a missionary tool?
I've only tried a couple times. I haven't seen too many members out here with them. Even active members don't really get it. I think usually they just have stuff on their smart phones so they don't see the point in ordering a magazine. I would much prefer a magazine though. You can mark it up and stuff. But it's for sure a great missionary tool! Modern prophets speak!
This Friday turned out to be not such a good day. It seems like you always have to have a terrible day so that you will always be grateful for the good days. We had two set appointments during the day-time hours. One at 11:30 with a member, and then one at 2:30 with some investigators. They both weren't there. We showed up at the members home on time at 11:30 and a different lady answered the door. She said that they hadn't arrived yet. She called them up and then she told us to wait for about 20 minutes for them to get home. Well, they called back 25 minutes later and told us that they weren't going to be able to make it, that they were actually pretty far from home. The investigators that we had at 2:30 had forgotten that we were coming and didn't make the effort to be home on time to be able to be there when we showed up. We called them and they said that we're going to have to come by another day. By that time, I was kind of upset. I really don't like it when people don't show up for our appointments. It makes me feel like the missionaries are on the bottom of their priority list. It's sad, but every time that happens, I realize how much more I will understand how important it is to always be on time and ready for appointments that I agree to. I'll just be that much better because of the mistakes of others. Like I said before, it helps me to realize how great good days are! Later on that night, we had an appointment with that guy I contacted last week as well as the less-active Munoz family. The Munoz family was scheduled for 7 o'clock and Alberto was scheduled for 8 o'clock. Brother Munoz called about an hour before our appointment and asked us to come by a little bit past 8:00 pm because he wasn't going to get home until later. We tried going by Alberto's house and calling him to try and see if we could come by earlier, but we had no luck. We went to Alberto's house at 7, but nothing still. We decided that we would have a better chance at teaching the Munoz family than risk finding someone at home that's not even answering their phone. We've lost contact for now with Alberto, and we've been passing by and calling, but nothing yet. I still have my hopes up. We ended the night on a good note. The Munoz family brought some really good Mexican tacos and some Coca-Cola for dinner. I was really hungry by the end of Friday and those fantastic Mexican tacos hit the spot!
Then on Saturday, we met with Jorge and Stephanie again. He picked us up in his car and told us that we're going out to eat at his house. Well, he said in Spanish, "Voy a llevarles a comer en Mi Casa." We showed up at a restaurant called Mi Casa, or My House. He thought it was a pretty funny joke, haha. It was great food! Again, I had Mexican tacos. Super delicious! I also had a drink called Jarritos. I bet they'll sell them in those little Mexican stores in Provo. They have different flavors. They're sodas made in Mexico. They have flavors like pineapple, mango, fruit punch, strawberry, lime, and some others. They're all really good. My favorites are pineapple and strawberry. If you find them somewhere, you should think about buying one and trying it. They're not really ''foreign'' tasting, if you know what I mean. They're pretty sweet. I'm sure all the kids would love it. If not, I'll drink it by myself when I get home.
On Sunday, we had Stake Conference for the East Brunswick Stake. Way good! President Jeppson was there and gave a quick talk on missionary work. He was talking about how in tuned and alerted by the drastic change in the number of missionaries. He said that everyone, with the large increase in missionaries worldwide, should have their ears perked up and wondering what in the world is the Lord trying to do right now. We should be involved more than ever in the work. He also talked about the Doctrine of Christ using 2 Nephi 31:10-12, 21. It was such a good talk. The last speaker was the Stake President, President Stokes. He talked about when he and other stake presidents had a meeting with the area seventy. The area seventy said that Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy were only to prepare the people of this area of the world for what's to come. President Stokes said that he doesn't know if it will be this year or next year or the years to come or even if it'll be a hurricane, but that something is coming, and we need to be prepared for it. Crazy! I'm scared to NOT have food storage and all that. Overall, it was an amazing Stake Conference.
Love you mom! Thanks for everything!
-Justin
Monday, September 9, 2013
September 9, 2013
Dear Mom,
My new companion is Elder Nuckolls. His family is living in Provo right now, but he lived in Alabama until he was like 12. He and his parents are actually all converts. His dad was baptized a few months before his was, and his mom followed a few months after. Both his parents teach at BYU now. His dad teaches anthropology and his mom teaches linguistics. He's pretty cool. He just started his mission about four months ago.
I've actually had some frequent thoughts about Costa Vida lately. I'm definitely craving that and a Dr. Pepper right now!
That's sad that it hasn't cooled down in Utah yet. For me, I've been very grateful the last few weeks. It's been cooling down quite a bit. When we leave the apartment at noon, it's about 65 degrees. It's generally around the high 70's and low 80's for the rest of the day. So it's getting to be really nice. I'm super excited for fall.
You should totally try to send me that video that someone got. I'd love to see those nasty clouds. That's so scary to see clouds like that. I just remember that the craziest clouds I have ever seen were when Hurricane Sandy hit.
I would have loved to get out of the car and start talking with a bunch of Mexicans in Spanish. I'm definitely looking forward to just randomly talking to Mexicans in Spanish when I get home. I'm going to try and go to the little Hispanic corner stores in Provo. I'm going to buy some of the little Hispanic drinks and stuff that I've come to know out here. I really hope that they have them over in Utah.
Thanks for all the stories this week. It was a lot of fun to read them all. I don't know who President Jones is either.
Q of the W:
1. What would you tell someone who has a hard time believing in God because they wonder why would He allow so many bad things to happen to people all the time?
There is a part in the book of Alma where it touches this topic. Alma 14:8-11. I can also tell them that we all have our free agency. Lots of people use it poorly and it affects the lives of other people negatively. God will hold them accountable for the damage they have caused to the lives of other people. But God cannot take away the agency of anyone of us.
2. Do you ever see that the people have a hard time with the Word of Wisdom - especially the coffee drinking?
Usually we can explain it pretty well. They think that it's pretty weird, but they just have to get used to it. Some people will hold that against the church and impede their own personal progression by holding that as evidence against the church, that it's not true. They're just hurting themselves. Those that are sincerely looking for the truth don't have a hard time giving up coffee unless it's a physical addiction.
3. Have you ever met/talked to Jehovah's Witnesses yet? I remember you talked to one once but ever see them walking around on the streets?
It depends on the area you're in. I saw them a lot in Union City and West New York. I haven't seen too many of them here in New Brunswick. They're not usually nice about how they do their missionary work. I hear people talking about how they come back to houses even after they have been told not to return. They also will only try telling you why you're wrong. They can never prove that they're right. There are some nice ones sometimes.
We met another less-active member this last week named Brother Morales. Some of the other missionaries in a different area here in New Brunswick found his phone number and gave him a call. It turned out that he had moved to our area so we went over to his house on Thursday night. He offered us beer. I'm pretty sure he was kidding, but he definitely had it available in his apartment. He was baptized about three years ago, and went less-active about two years. It's always interesting meeting less-active members for the first time. I always have a hard time planning for lessons with those members that we meet for the first time, because there are always so many different reasons as to why they stopped going to church. With Brother Morales, it was just because he had to get another job because his wife got pregnant. Now they're getting a divorce. Now he's not going to have to work so hard so he says that he'll be able to start coming back to church. It's going to be a rough road for him getting back on track, but the Atonement covers everything. I really hope he can use it fully. It's hard not to judge people sometimes. I've definitely learned that a LOT on my mission.
On Saturday, we had another appointment with Stephanie and Jorge. She's doing great. She's forgotten to read in the Book of Mormon, but they haven't missed a Sunday yet! They picked us up and took us to a park and we had a lesson in the park about tithing and fasting. It was probably one of the best lessons I had on it. I always tell that experience about when grandpa had a heart attack and we all fasted for him and he got better. I actually don't have any cool experiences on tithing. Have you or dad had any cool experiences with tithing that I could start to share? But as for the lesson, I just felt that we shared and used the scriptures very well and explained the doctrine very simply. Stephanie liked the lesson a lot and she said that it makes sense to her. We're probably going to fast with her in the next few weeks to help her experience it.
Sunday night we also had a really cool miracle happen to us. It started out when my companion was on a mini companion exchange on Saturday. He had met somebody in the street named Alberto. My companion told me that Alberto said that it would be okay if we came over to his house on Sunday. We just put him as a backup plan because people will usually tell us that we can come over but they end up being out of the house. So I didn't think too much about this guy. Then when we were on our way to our appointment around 7:30, I saw a family walking towards us on the sidewalk. I thought to myself that they would be a cool family to teach. We were late to our appointment as it was so I wasn't planning on contacting them. However, right when I passed the dad, I felt a huge necessity to talk to him, so I stopped and said, 'Hey! Can I give you a card?' He turned around, smiled and told us that some of us were already going to come over. I was surprised, and I knew that I had never met him, so I asked if they live in Somerset, a different area with some other elders. He said no, that he only lives a few streets down. I asked him his name and he said it was Alberto! We set up another time for this Tuesday night. He seemed pretty happy to have us come over. It was such a miracle contact! So we're going to start teaching a family this Tuesday. I'm super excited! I'm glad I followed the Spirit!
Love you! Miss you! See you soon!
-Justin
If you could, try and find the recipe to funfetti cookies. A few of us missionaries really want to make them, but none of us know the recipe for the cookies. If you could send that to me next week! Thanks! Love you!
Dear Mom,
My new companion is Elder Nuckolls. His family is living in Provo right now, but he lived in Alabama until he was like 12. He and his parents are actually all converts. His dad was baptized a few months before his was, and his mom followed a few months after. Both his parents teach at BYU now. His dad teaches anthropology and his mom teaches linguistics. He's pretty cool. He just started his mission about four months ago.
I've actually had some frequent thoughts about Costa Vida lately. I'm definitely craving that and a Dr. Pepper right now!
That's sad that it hasn't cooled down in Utah yet. For me, I've been very grateful the last few weeks. It's been cooling down quite a bit. When we leave the apartment at noon, it's about 65 degrees. It's generally around the high 70's and low 80's for the rest of the day. So it's getting to be really nice. I'm super excited for fall.
You should totally try to send me that video that someone got. I'd love to see those nasty clouds. That's so scary to see clouds like that. I just remember that the craziest clouds I have ever seen were when Hurricane Sandy hit.
I would have loved to get out of the car and start talking with a bunch of Mexicans in Spanish. I'm definitely looking forward to just randomly talking to Mexicans in Spanish when I get home. I'm going to try and go to the little Hispanic corner stores in Provo. I'm going to buy some of the little Hispanic drinks and stuff that I've come to know out here. I really hope that they have them over in Utah.
Thanks for all the stories this week. It was a lot of fun to read them all. I don't know who President Jones is either.
Q of the W:
1. What would you tell someone who has a hard time believing in God because they wonder why would He allow so many bad things to happen to people all the time?
There is a part in the book of Alma where it touches this topic. Alma 14:8-11. I can also tell them that we all have our free agency. Lots of people use it poorly and it affects the lives of other people negatively. God will hold them accountable for the damage they have caused to the lives of other people. But God cannot take away the agency of anyone of us.
2. Do you ever see that the people have a hard time with the Word of Wisdom - especially the coffee drinking?
Usually we can explain it pretty well. They think that it's pretty weird, but they just have to get used to it. Some people will hold that against the church and impede their own personal progression by holding that as evidence against the church, that it's not true. They're just hurting themselves. Those that are sincerely looking for the truth don't have a hard time giving up coffee unless it's a physical addiction.
3. Have you ever met/talked to Jehovah's Witnesses yet? I remember you talked to one once but ever see them walking around on the streets?
It depends on the area you're in. I saw them a lot in Union City and West New York. I haven't seen too many of them here in New Brunswick. They're not usually nice about how they do their missionary work. I hear people talking about how they come back to houses even after they have been told not to return. They also will only try telling you why you're wrong. They can never prove that they're right. There are some nice ones sometimes.
We met another less-active member this last week named Brother Morales. Some of the other missionaries in a different area here in New Brunswick found his phone number and gave him a call. It turned out that he had moved to our area so we went over to his house on Thursday night. He offered us beer. I'm pretty sure he was kidding, but he definitely had it available in his apartment. He was baptized about three years ago, and went less-active about two years. It's always interesting meeting less-active members for the first time. I always have a hard time planning for lessons with those members that we meet for the first time, because there are always so many different reasons as to why they stopped going to church. With Brother Morales, it was just because he had to get another job because his wife got pregnant. Now they're getting a divorce. Now he's not going to have to work so hard so he says that he'll be able to start coming back to church. It's going to be a rough road for him getting back on track, but the Atonement covers everything. I really hope he can use it fully. It's hard not to judge people sometimes. I've definitely learned that a LOT on my mission.
On Saturday, we had another appointment with Stephanie and Jorge. She's doing great. She's forgotten to read in the Book of Mormon, but they haven't missed a Sunday yet! They picked us up and took us to a park and we had a lesson in the park about tithing and fasting. It was probably one of the best lessons I had on it. I always tell that experience about when grandpa had a heart attack and we all fasted for him and he got better. I actually don't have any cool experiences on tithing. Have you or dad had any cool experiences with tithing that I could start to share? But as for the lesson, I just felt that we shared and used the scriptures very well and explained the doctrine very simply. Stephanie liked the lesson a lot and she said that it makes sense to her. We're probably going to fast with her in the next few weeks to help her experience it.
Sunday night we also had a really cool miracle happen to us. It started out when my companion was on a mini companion exchange on Saturday. He had met somebody in the street named Alberto. My companion told me that Alberto said that it would be okay if we came over to his house on Sunday. We just put him as a backup plan because people will usually tell us that we can come over but they end up being out of the house. So I didn't think too much about this guy. Then when we were on our way to our appointment around 7:30, I saw a family walking towards us on the sidewalk. I thought to myself that they would be a cool family to teach. We were late to our appointment as it was so I wasn't planning on contacting them. However, right when I passed the dad, I felt a huge necessity to talk to him, so I stopped and said, 'Hey! Can I give you a card?' He turned around, smiled and told us that some of us were already going to come over. I was surprised, and I knew that I had never met him, so I asked if they live in Somerset, a different area with some other elders. He said no, that he only lives a few streets down. I asked him his name and he said it was Alberto! We set up another time for this Tuesday night. He seemed pretty happy to have us come over. It was such a miracle contact! So we're going to start teaching a family this Tuesday. I'm super excited! I'm glad I followed the Spirit!
Love you! Miss you! See you soon!
-Justin
If you could, try and find the recipe to funfetti cookies. A few of us missionaries really want to make them, but none of us know the recipe for the cookies. If you could send that to me next week! Thanks! Love you!
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
September 3, 2013
Dear Mom,
I have not been transferred. I'm staying here in New Brunswick for another. My companion Elder Drewes is being transferred. We don't know where yet and I don't know who my new companion is either. I'll let you know next week.
If Mr. Mac can't give me another pair, I'm pretty sure that I can survive another few months on the ones that I have. My Rockports are holding out pretty well. I probably won't bring them home. I think that in the next few months, they'll start wearing down pretty bad again. I'll probably just wear the Florsheims home. The outside of that pair of shoes has lasted pretty good, but it's just the inside that's falling apart.
I feel like August went by super fast. It's been cooling down here in New Jersey a little bit. We still have hot days, but nothing near like June or July. It's not too humid on those hot days either. I'm excited for fall to come.
1. Are they preparing you in any way for hurricane season?
Nothing so far. President Jeppson mentioned in his weekly letter to us today that hurricane season is here. He said that it was two years ago that hurricane Irene hit and about 11 months since hurricane Sandy. He also said that there are no hurricanes in sight right now. I'm kind of hoping for another hurricane... I want to do that service stuff again, but it was just so sad to see how many lives were affected by that.
2. Do you hear about Eddy de Leon? I see on facebook that him and his family went to the temple.
I haven't heard anything about it. That's cool to hear about that though!
We taught the Munoz family again this last week. I've been growing tired of trying to help them out. They are plenty able to come to church. They have a car, so transportation is not an issue. They know when church starts and they have alarms on their phones. They don't have any excuses. They haven't come to church for the past little while. We talked a little bit about the roles of each member in the family with them this last Wednesday. We read parts from the Family: A Proclamation to the World with them. It was a really good lesson with them. They knew we were coming over so they ordered pizza for us. It was a good lesson with them. Brother Munoz said that he learned that he has to set the example in leading the family in righteousness. I'm glad he knows that now! Now I hope that he does it! I do really like that family a lot. They're all amazing.
This next month and transfer is going to be really exciting. These past few months we've been working hard on just finding people that are ready. This last week or so, we've found several people who we think are getting baptized really soon. The first one we found is the son of a less-active member. He's almost nine years old, so it's going to be up to us soon to teach him everything and prepare him for baptism. He's only been to church a few times in his life (which goes to show how long the mom has been a less-active member). She says that she has always had a testimony of the church, but things of life just get in the way and we choose not to follow the path anymore. She told us that she wants to get back on the path now that her first son is old enough to be baptized. Unfortunately he doesn't speak too much Spanish. His dad is from Puerto Rico and doesn't speak much Spanish at home. (The dad, by the way, isn't a member but has talked with the missionaries in the past and is also a potential baptism.) We just visited this less-active sister this past Sunday and we'll be visiting them again this Sunday.
Another kid that we found is named Luis. He's a 17 year old boy from the Dominican Republic. He speaks both languages just fine, but he speaks Spanish with us. He visited with the missionaries a month before he moved to the United States with his returned missionary cousin and his other active cousin. I think I talked about him a little bit last week. We visited him yesterday to check up on him and set up another time when we could come by. Luis is really into music. He has played this Dominican type drum since he was eight. He plays another couple types of little Dominican instruments. He's also been playing the piano for the last couple years and has a guitar that he wants to learn to play. I told him that I play some piano and he's excited to hear what I can play this Thursday. We also gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon yesterday and he said that he's excited to read it. We're pretty sure that he's going to get baptized soon! He's a cool kid!
On Saturday, we helped a member family move. It was Jorge Bastidas and his girlfriend. Because of some financial difficulty and Jorge's desire to get completely back on to the straight and narrow, they have decided to split up for some time. He moved across town. He still lives in our area so we are going to continue to visit him. Stephanie, the girl friend, moved to Perth Amboy to live with her parents for a while, which is out of our area. They want to get married and back on their feet before they move in back together. I'm excited for them. They actually asked me to bless their one year old baby this Sunday during Sacrament Meeting. I'm pretty sure that that was the first time I've ever blessed a baby. Afterwards I was thinking that that's going to be the last baby I probably bless until I have one of my own. It was a cool experience. They asked me to do it Saturday right before we started moving their stuff out. We're still working with Stephanie. She's not a member, but she likes learning what we teach her. She still hasn't made the decision to be baptized. We'll continue working with that, but she's reading the Book of Mormon like crazy and she comes to church every week.
The monthly focus for this month in our mission is love and teaching people, not lessons. One of the more interesting points that we've talked about are the three levels of why we obey the Lord. They are, from the lowest to highest: Fear, Duty, and Love. Obviously the fear part will bring the smallest amount of power. If we look at the why behind everything that Christ did, nothing he did was out of fear nor duty. It was completely out of love. Read Moroni 7:45-46. After you have read that, read it again replacing the word 'charity' for Christ. It gives another perspective to Christ's perfect attributes. So the purpose of looking at those three levels of obedience is to gauge our progress to obeying and serving the Lord out of obedience. Especially as missionaries, we can generate the most amount of power and bring the Spirit stronger as we work, serve, and teach out of Love for the Savior and all of Heavenly Father's children around us. Also see John 13:34-35 and John 14:15, 21. Something that we taught to a member family this last weekend that struggles with obedience with the Sabbath Day is that if we really have love towards the Savior we will do everything we can to make sure that we obey His commandments. Usually there is quite a bit we can do to make sure commandments are kept, especially concerning the Sabbath Day. I'm excited to learn more this month. I'm still a district leader and I'll be giving three district meetings on love and teaching people, not lessons. The part about teaching people, not lessons is to make sure that we focus on the needs of people and not just reciting a rote lesson, exactly like what the missionary discussions used to be.. As we focus on teaching people and not lessons, our investigators will progress towards baptism and those we teach will learn more and know how to apply it better in their lives. Missionary work is improving in EVERY aspect! I love it!!
It's going to be a great month! I'm super excited for it. I'm excited for it to cool down. It'll make walking around not so bad. I think the best time to be in a walking area is when it's cool enough to wear a sweater outside.
Love you mom!
-Justin
PS: I'm going to try and send a package or two home. I'm trying to lighten my load. I've realized that I'm trying to carry too much stuff around. So I'm leaving stuff that I've picked up or I'm sending it home. Either way, I don't need it!
Dear Mom,
I have not been transferred. I'm staying here in New Brunswick for another. My companion Elder Drewes is being transferred. We don't know where yet and I don't know who my new companion is either. I'll let you know next week.
If Mr. Mac can't give me another pair, I'm pretty sure that I can survive another few months on the ones that I have. My Rockports are holding out pretty well. I probably won't bring them home. I think that in the next few months, they'll start wearing down pretty bad again. I'll probably just wear the Florsheims home. The outside of that pair of shoes has lasted pretty good, but it's just the inside that's falling apart.
I feel like August went by super fast. It's been cooling down here in New Jersey a little bit. We still have hot days, but nothing near like June or July. It's not too humid on those hot days either. I'm excited for fall to come.
1. Are they preparing you in any way for hurricane season?
Nothing so far. President Jeppson mentioned in his weekly letter to us today that hurricane season is here. He said that it was two years ago that hurricane Irene hit and about 11 months since hurricane Sandy. He also said that there are no hurricanes in sight right now. I'm kind of hoping for another hurricane... I want to do that service stuff again, but it was just so sad to see how many lives were affected by that.
2. Do you hear about Eddy de Leon? I see on facebook that him and his family went to the temple.
I haven't heard anything about it. That's cool to hear about that though!
We taught the Munoz family again this last week. I've been growing tired of trying to help them out. They are plenty able to come to church. They have a car, so transportation is not an issue. They know when church starts and they have alarms on their phones. They don't have any excuses. They haven't come to church for the past little while. We talked a little bit about the roles of each member in the family with them this last Wednesday. We read parts from the Family: A Proclamation to the World with them. It was a really good lesson with them. They knew we were coming over so they ordered pizza for us. It was a good lesson with them. Brother Munoz said that he learned that he has to set the example in leading the family in righteousness. I'm glad he knows that now! Now I hope that he does it! I do really like that family a lot. They're all amazing.
This next month and transfer is going to be really exciting. These past few months we've been working hard on just finding people that are ready. This last week or so, we've found several people who we think are getting baptized really soon. The first one we found is the son of a less-active member. He's almost nine years old, so it's going to be up to us soon to teach him everything and prepare him for baptism. He's only been to church a few times in his life (which goes to show how long the mom has been a less-active member). She says that she has always had a testimony of the church, but things of life just get in the way and we choose not to follow the path anymore. She told us that she wants to get back on the path now that her first son is old enough to be baptized. Unfortunately he doesn't speak too much Spanish. His dad is from Puerto Rico and doesn't speak much Spanish at home. (The dad, by the way, isn't a member but has talked with the missionaries in the past and is also a potential baptism.) We just visited this less-active sister this past Sunday and we'll be visiting them again this Sunday.
Another kid that we found is named Luis. He's a 17 year old boy from the Dominican Republic. He speaks both languages just fine, but he speaks Spanish with us. He visited with the missionaries a month before he moved to the United States with his returned missionary cousin and his other active cousin. I think I talked about him a little bit last week. We visited him yesterday to check up on him and set up another time when we could come by. Luis is really into music. He has played this Dominican type drum since he was eight. He plays another couple types of little Dominican instruments. He's also been playing the piano for the last couple years and has a guitar that he wants to learn to play. I told him that I play some piano and he's excited to hear what I can play this Thursday. We also gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon yesterday and he said that he's excited to read it. We're pretty sure that he's going to get baptized soon! He's a cool kid!
On Saturday, we helped a member family move. It was Jorge Bastidas and his girlfriend. Because of some financial difficulty and Jorge's desire to get completely back on to the straight and narrow, they have decided to split up for some time. He moved across town. He still lives in our area so we are going to continue to visit him. Stephanie, the girl friend, moved to Perth Amboy to live with her parents for a while, which is out of our area. They want to get married and back on their feet before they move in back together. I'm excited for them. They actually asked me to bless their one year old baby this Sunday during Sacrament Meeting. I'm pretty sure that that was the first time I've ever blessed a baby. Afterwards I was thinking that that's going to be the last baby I probably bless until I have one of my own. It was a cool experience. They asked me to do it Saturday right before we started moving their stuff out. We're still working with Stephanie. She's not a member, but she likes learning what we teach her. She still hasn't made the decision to be baptized. We'll continue working with that, but she's reading the Book of Mormon like crazy and she comes to church every week.
The monthly focus for this month in our mission is love and teaching people, not lessons. One of the more interesting points that we've talked about are the three levels of why we obey the Lord. They are, from the lowest to highest: Fear, Duty, and Love. Obviously the fear part will bring the smallest amount of power. If we look at the why behind everything that Christ did, nothing he did was out of fear nor duty. It was completely out of love. Read Moroni 7:45-46. After you have read that, read it again replacing the word 'charity' for Christ. It gives another perspective to Christ's perfect attributes. So the purpose of looking at those three levels of obedience is to gauge our progress to obeying and serving the Lord out of obedience. Especially as missionaries, we can generate the most amount of power and bring the Spirit stronger as we work, serve, and teach out of Love for the Savior and all of Heavenly Father's children around us. Also see John 13:34-35 and John 14:15, 21. Something that we taught to a member family this last weekend that struggles with obedience with the Sabbath Day is that if we really have love towards the Savior we will do everything we can to make sure that we obey His commandments. Usually there is quite a bit we can do to make sure commandments are kept, especially concerning the Sabbath Day. I'm excited to learn more this month. I'm still a district leader and I'll be giving three district meetings on love and teaching people, not lessons. The part about teaching people, not lessons is to make sure that we focus on the needs of people and not just reciting a rote lesson, exactly like what the missionary discussions used to be.. As we focus on teaching people and not lessons, our investigators will progress towards baptism and those we teach will learn more and know how to apply it better in their lives. Missionary work is improving in EVERY aspect! I love it!!
It's going to be a great month! I'm super excited for it. I'm excited for it to cool down. It'll make walking around not so bad. I think the best time to be in a walking area is when it's cool enough to wear a sweater outside.
Love you mom!
-Justin
PS: I'm going to try and send a package or two home. I'm trying to lighten my load. I've realized that I'm trying to carry too much stuff around. So I'm leaving stuff that I've picked up or I'm sending it home. Either way, I don't need it!
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