This week was another fantastic one! Man, it is so great to be a missionary. I love every minute of it. We are so beyond blessed. We have seen so much success! We had 4 wonderful non-members come to church this week!
Madison is progressing so well. She is easily one of the most prepared people I've ever seen in my life. We have been teaching her a tad over a week and meet with her about every other day. She has already almost finished 2 Nephi and loves it. She already considers herself a "Mormon" and stood up to someone who was Pentecostal who was telling her that the Plan of Salvation was false. She is loving all of the members and even says that we are an answer to our prayers (even though she is really an answer to our prayers!). She has already made so many changes in her life and said that she simply has no desire to do anything wrong anymore! Whenever she hears a bad song come on, she changes it; whenever she gets invited to hang out with old friends, she says no; whenever she is tempted to say something mean, she refrains. It is so cool! I'm so lucky and glad to be able to teach her! She is going to be baptized on the 26th of February.
Andrew, the Freemason we are teaching is also doing spectacularly well! He is loving church and was so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. He says it has changed his whole outlook on life. He is almost done with 1 Nephi and says he is really liking it now. He listens to it whenever he drives as well. He told us how much he felt rejuvenated after honoring the whole Sabbath day with his girlfriend's family. He's getting baptized on Feb. 19th.
Roman is doing great too! He's an awesome 11 year old. He loves church and loves us. He is so smart and really absorbs so much of what we are talking about. His mom (a returning member) seems to really like coming to church too! He's getting baptized on Feb. 19th!
Myrna and Denman are doing well too. They are loving how they feel as they are keeping the Sabbath day holy, reading their scriptures, and praying twice daily. They both indicated how much they love having the missionaries come over because of the Spirit that comes as well. That tickles me inside to hear!
I really came to know the Savior through reading D&C 19:15-20. I think I've probably read these verses 100 times, but they really sunk in this time. There really is "no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ (Helaman 5:9)". If we want to live with God again, we must repent; otherwise we must suffer- even as Christ suffered. There is no excuses we can make. Alma 42:22-24, 30 teaches us that without repentance we are fully left to the demands of justice. We cannot receive mercy without repentance and we cannot try to cover our sins. I feel so much more grateful for the mercy that is available to us through Christ's Atonement, who was willing to face and pay for the demands of justice simply out of love for us and the Father. I am grateful that we don't have to pay for our sins and that we can receive complete mercy if we allow the Savior to cleanse us, which is what He is begging us to do. We must simply humble ourselves and submit to His will so that we fully become changed.
We also had a stoned teenager tell us that God had told him that we should take a hit of his weed. We replied, "He most definitely did not". He asked us why God would put weed on the earth if He didn't want us to smoke it. Elder Drebot replied, "God put arsenic on the earth, did He want us to smoke that too?" Touche.
We also walked up to a guy who was working on his yard and blowing the leaves out of the grass. He said, "Me first: the world is flat." We at first thought he was joking and was going to just say something anit-Mormon to us and say it was just as preposterous as believing in our church. But no, he proceeded to talk for the next 15 minutes about a YouTube video he'd watched that proved that the earth was actually flat and the center of the Universe. He said the video uses "physics" to prove that gravity is a conspiracy and that everything we think is gravity is actually density (which is only a factor when gravity is in effect...?). He asked if a plane ever dips when flying around the world and he said that if you were flying around the world you'd be flying upside down if the world was a sphere (again...false). He said all the water would run off the ocean floor it the world was not flat (again...gravity accounts for that). All in all, this guy was bonkers but looked completely normal. It was so sad that he full-heartedly believed that the government had spent so much time and money to cover up the fact that the world is really flat. People are crazy!
I am so beyond excited! It was such a relief to hear that I made it in to the ASU ID program.
I still have my rain gear you sent me last year. I haven't really used it because it takes so long to put on. I just wish the shoes I had didn't soak up water like a sponge (the hole in the bottom probably doesn't help). I just don't want to buy new shoes with only 6 months left to go, ya know?
Wow, your adventure to Antalope Valley sounds crazy! That is so cold! I think I would have something go wrong with me in those temperatures. I haven't been in anything under 40 in close to 3 years, I think. I'm glad you survived. I agree, I think you need to take a warm vacay to get into some heat! Sorry to hear about your car giving you troubles though! That is really the pits. Do you think they did that just to wait until the warranty was up so that you'd have to pay for it? What kind of car are you thinking of getting? Are the Renegades those smaller ones? What about a Grand Cherokee? That is a little bigger. Did you like the Highlander? You should get a 4Runner if you want something bigger. They're nice. The Tacoma is like the best car out there, in my opinion :) haha But whatever car you get, make sure that get something sleek! After all, you are the coolest mom on the block! haha. So if you got a new car, I'd get the Highlander. Does dad just like the Pilot that much? haha. I was just planning on using that when I get home, but I'm fine with whatever. I'm just grateful that I've been able to use a car! Thank you!
Thank you so much for being the best mom ever! Love you tons! Have a great week!
Love,
Your Elder Jackson :)
