Week 33 - Transfers... Will Miss Elder Crabb!

Hey everyone!

Since today is transfers, I thought I would update you all on what's happening. Elder Crabb is getting transferred and will become a zone leader. I'm staying in Logandale as a trainer (and District Leader)! I'm getting a new missionary! To think that I was in his place 7 months ago is mind boggling to me a bit, but it is certainly exciting to be able to be a good influence on my new companion, whoever he is (I won't find out till later today). I am sad that Elder Crabb is leaving, but I'm sure that training will be a lot of fun!

One funny thing that happened was we hit a rabbit with our car. If you were wondering, it's dead. Elder Crabb told me to go back so we could look at it. Some Elders in our district have been setting traps to catch some rabbits, but haven't had any luck. We called them and asked if they wanted it. They said yes so Elder Crabb picked it up with a piece of paper, put it in a plastic bag, and took it home. We gave it to those Elders, who skinned it and plan on eating it today.

We had several cool things happen. We set another investigator with baptism in April. We also had a couple lessons with two of the people we set a few weeks ago (Dan & Pat). In that lesson, they were pretty much teaching us the Plan of Salvation. Dan even knew that the Fall of Adam & Eve was part of God's plan, and most people don't know that unless we tell them. They talked about all things being part of God's plan the entire lesson, but when taught them about the three degrees of glory, Dan didn't believe it. He said he wasn't sure that he could believe it, but then Pat cut in and said, "It's His plan, not your's Dan!" We busted out laughing. It was awesome! Pat offered to say the prayer, and she got so emotional. She thanked God for having us come into their lives. She started to cry, and Dan had to comfort her. These people are so prepared; I'm just glad to teach them!

I love this place. Since the training program is 12 weeks, I'll be here for two more transfers. I'm excited to see what happens with all of our investigators since 6 out of the 8 we have are set for baptism.

I love missionary work. I love Heavenly Father who is definitely helping us with our missionary work. I know that Christ lives! I know that His Atonement is real. I need to use it (the Atonement) everyday, but as I use it, I feel more and more satisfied with the work I'm doing. Sometimes, I really do feel like I'm changing a little bit. I actually love these people, and that's because I've gotten to know them. Because of that, I really want to see these people come to the Savior. Missionary work makes me happy 

Love you all, keep in touch!

Elder Jones

Week 32 - The Church is True!

Hey everyone!

Our week was pretty intense. We taught a bunch of lessons and were able to see one of our investigators progress a ton!

In one of our lessons, we taught the church sponsored Stop Smoking program to the couple we had set for baptism. Part of that lesson involved having them crush their cigarettes to get the program started on the right foot. Then after that, we told them that they'd need things like unsweetened grapefruit juice, cinnamon flavored mouthwash, and some healthy snacks so that they can avoid smoking for a week. The boyfriend accepted no problem, but the girlfriend said she isn't ready to quit smoking yet. We'll see how that goes this week. We gave him a picture that a missionary in our district drew. The picture is of a "fat, unpleasant man". Above the picture, the missionary wrote that the fat, unpleasant man will "lick the inside of his ears" if he smokes. Our investigator thought it was hilarious. I'm attaching a picture of it.

Our 19 year-old investigator came to church and had an awesome experience. He wanted to bear his testimony (since it was fast & testimony meeting), but was a little nervous. The lady sitting in front of us told him that one of us could go up with him to make him more comfortable. The row included me, Elder Crabb, a friend of his in our ward, and the investigator. When the person speaking sat down, our whole row stood up and walked onto the stand. He then bore his testimony of how he had a bit of a troubled past, but when he moved here 4 or 5 years ago and began meeting with the missionaries, his life has gradually gotten better (considering that I extended the baptismal commitment, and have taught him all the lessons so far, I felt pretty good). He also talked about Christ and how he was excited to be a part of the church. After that, his friend bore his testimony, then me, then Elder Crabb. After that, we all sat down and the ward went into missionary mode. Almost every testimony after that was about missionary work, and how they were excited that this young man has chosen to be baptized. It was an awesome sacrament meeting. It's really amazing to see the Lord's hand in this guy's life. He is a smoker and has been struggling with quitting, but he told us that his desire to be baptized is greater than his desire to smoke. We're pretty dang excited.

Other than that, we have transfers coming up. Elder Crabb is pretty sure he's leaving but I'm pretty nervous as well. You never know with transfers...

Anyway, love you all! Make sure to keep in touch! And look for missionary opportunities as much as you can!

Elder Jones