Hey everyone! It has been a great week! I don't have a ton
to report this week, but Nikki and Pamela were baptized this last Saturday. It
was a great little service! We had a harder time getting in with them to get
things planned, but we were able to get it all figured out! And it was great!
They had the majority of there family was able to attend which was great! Elder
DeLuca Baptized Niki and then I was asked to baptized Pamela.
It was so awesome
to see how excited they were for there baptism. We went by this week like I
said to plan the baptism but as well as that we taught them the last few
principles of Lesson 5 which talks about missionary work and temples and family
history. And when we talked about missionary with them they were about as
excited as they could be! We asked them who they wanted to invite to their
baptism and they just started listing off members of there family and extended
family that were less active members or even not members of the church. They
also talked about inviting different friends to attend. It was very neat!
We
sadly weren't able to see them confirmed on Sunday though because we had
meetings the Stake presidency that morning. But they said it was so amazing.
And then even brought some family members to church. Their older Brothers name
is Orian and he said he wanted to start learning more. He is about 14 years
old, and had a great time at church being with the teachers quorum.
Other than that the only other thing to report on is
specialized training and interviews. It felt quite different not being apart of
the training with President and the Assistants. While I missed that for the
first part it was still very nice to be able to listen to the meeting and help
give feedback and training more one on one with the zone. We also had members
of the stake their to discuss how to work more effectively with ward councils
and with the members.
So during the stakes training I went back with
President Mortensen and had my first interview with him. I walked in and he
looked at me and said, "Wait a minute is this our first official
interview together since I have been here?" We kinda joked about it, but
he said he was with me so much with training and we had contact almost daily he
didn't need to interview me! But I had a great interview with him.
We discussed
more about the zone and potentially some changes that may take place with the
zone. And then also he talked to me about where we are at in terms of getting
on the Tomball lone star campus. He then helped me to think about some personal
goals that I want to set between now and the end of my mission. So It was a
great discussion and a great week!
After my interview I just went back in and
we helped train the missionaries on finding more effectively and we actually
did role play door approaches with them. So we had 4 different doors they would
knock on in the church building, and then they would practice talking to the
person who answers the door and how to make it a conversation that is focused
on the person and their families. And I think it did a lot to help the
missionaries feel more comfortable.
And looking at the key indicators this week
again almost all of our areas have found new investigators each week in the
zone! We know that along the way we are hear to plant seeds, but our main
purpose as missionaries is to harvest. That is what all of our responsibilities
are.
I love how in the Doctrine and Covenants section for it says, if ye have a
desire to serve God, you are called the work. The Lord needs every single one
of us to accomplish his work as it hastens! I would invite you to think about
if you have the desire to serve God, and if you don't how can you get it? Also
what can you do to show God that you have a desire to bless his Children?
I
love how in Enos it talks about the great change that took place in Enos after
he had received forgiveness of his sins. He then began to pray for his brethren
the Lamanites. Once we experience this change we want to bless the lives of
others just as Enos did! But it doesn't just take prayer, it takes mighty
prayer.
I just have such a strong testimony that this is the Lords work, and he
is preparing his children to receive the gospel. WE are seeing so many great
things happening!
Well I hope y'all have a wonderful week! And I would please
just ask you to pray as a family each day for missionary opportunities. Be specific.
I promise you that the Lord will bless you to see opportunities as you do this!
I know that to be true!
Elder Joshua V. Christensen
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