Week 56: Pioneer Day and Other Stuff

Hey everyone!

We had some interesting miracles happen this past week. We have seen some major progress from our investigator families that we have found. The family that  our bishop referred us to came to our Pioneer Day celebration, came to church and then loved it! They are all super excited to join in the Gospel and it is really fun to see! The funniest thing is that the 7 year old daughter gives elder Sutton and me hugs everything we walk in the door. It is kind of adorable, even though we have explained that she shouldn't do that.  They also have a 4 year old daughter that almost seems kind of like Shirley temple.

Pioneer Day was funny. They had a pie tasting contest to which none of the judges showed up. So to compensate, they asked the missionaries to taste test all thirty pies. I thought it would be fun, but after a while, they all tasted the same, and I didn't feel too good. Not Bueno.

Other than that, we are doing great and having tons and bucket loads of fun! I am really happy with my mission to this point. I feel like I am really making a difference in my life and the lives of those around me. I feel almost like the sons of mosiah in that I am becoming more and more selfless. Time is going by way fast too. I only have 11 months left to do this. It makes me sad, but  oh well.

We had a lesson today with a guy who joined one of the off-shoots of the church. He had a lot of questions about baptism for the dead, polygamy, the resurrection, and many other deep topics. In his church they use the Book of Mormon, but the reason why you this particular church was started was because a guy who joined Sidney Rigdon and his followers broke off from Sidney Rigdon and started his own church. This makes this particular church an off-shoot of an off-shoot, which
I thought was pretty interesting. We are going to teach him the missionary lessons and see how we can reconcile his beliefs with the doctrines of Christ's gospel. Teaching him will be a neat experience.

One thing that I would encourage all of you to do is to try to go out with the missionaries as much as possible. Sometimes as members, we don't always know how to do missionary work, but going out with the Elders or Sisters as much as you can will at least help you get excited about the work. If you all share in the little miracles that we see on a regular basis, and then ask God how you can see those kinds of miracles in your own work, He will most definitely help you to fulfill our responsibilities to take the Gospel to the whole world.

Elder Sutton and I are staying in the area for another transfer, and our zone is shrinking from 2 districts to 1. I will still be district leader here. Elder Sutton and I are also being given a new ward to work in, so that should be fun.

Hope y'all are doing well! Make sure to write if you can and let me know how you're doing,

Have a great week!
 

Elder Jones