Hey Family,
Not really a whole ton has happen in the last few days. The baptism on Christmas was 100% incredible. I felt the spirit so strongly as did everyone in the room. It turned out to be probably my favorite Christmas I have ever had. I felt love all day and I really became a lot more grateful for all of the many things I have in my life.
I would also like to say that last week was by far our best week we have had in our area. We had members at all lessons except for 4 and our investigators progressed a lot. We found like 14 new investigators which was EPIC! We taught many great lessons filled with the Spirit.
We got a new Ward Mission Leader who is just awesome. He stood up on Sunday and got men to committ to coming to to lessons with us this week! He also is getting English classes starting up. That should help us change things for the better. We should have a lot more people coming to this and getting us some more new investigators.
This next sunday Church starts at 2pm. This should get a lot more investigators there because they will not be able to sleep through church. This is the #1 problem that we face besides men not wanting to marry their baby's mother.
My favorite story of the week was yesterday actually. We have an investigator, Jocabed. She has not quite gotten the answer she is looking for yet. Well, I think we can say she had not gotten it. BUT! Yesterday we went to teach her and one of her friends, Perla, was there. We taught a spur of the moment lesson 1 (restoration) and Jocabed actually assisted us in teaching the restoration. I think it all finally made sense in her head once she was testifying of how the Book of Mormon has blessed her and her family. I love stories such as this because we can so readily view the power of the words in the Book of Mormon. It changes peoples lives.
I would just say that the mission is fantastic. Every day is different, new, and amazing. I love being here so much. Just as the power of the Gospel is changing other people's lives, it is changing mine! The Gospel is true and I know that from the effect it has had on me!
One thing that I think could help you all as a familt that I wish we would have done is read just a chapter or so a day as a family. There is a power in that I have seen here that I think would have helped me a lot had I been doing that when I was younger. Can you all do that for me? Just like 10 minutes a day? If you do, I promise things will get better in every aspect. You will worry less, be less stressed, feel closer in love and the Spirit will be of an even greater strenth in the home! It is something I am going to try and do with my family when I have one...not any time soon!
This saturday we have another full p-day because hispanics party like rockstars on new years. I am going to take my first and probably only nap of 2011! I am healthy and losing weight. I am eating well, but I am always tired because we ride bike 24/7/365. I love it though! I feel happier and more outgoing than ever before in my life. I am finally starting to kind of break out of that shell I had around me for such a long time. I am starting to enjoy talking to everyone. A mission is a good thing!
My new years goals are to finish the Book of Mormon 4 times throughout the course of the year, and to real the old and new testments once, at least! The scriptures are coming to life for me and I love them! Maybe more than I love you all, nah.
But really, I love you all! It was great talking to you and Keegan. He really has changed. He is going to serve a mission, I know it. It is the best thing he could ever do and it will change his life like it is changing mine! I am glad to have a mom and dad who set examples for me and serving a mission!
And mom, HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY! At least you are not going to be going over the hill while I am on my mission like dad! He is going to be 51 when I get back! Maddy will be 17! and Will will be 12! Wow! But really mom, I love you. I am so grateful for you and I hope you have the best birthday. Eat some cake, and just do whatever you please! I love you all, especially mom!
I gotta run!
Con amor,
Elder Jonathan Pearson
P.S. - Tell grandpa John I am trying to find a mexican license plate for him. Thanks!
Posted By Maddy
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Christmas week!
Buenos Dias Familia Mia!
Como estan? Espero que esten bien y que esten listos para hablar me en el sabado. Estoy animado para llamarles!
But seriously, we are going over to the Black Family's home on Saturday morning. We will be going there around 9am in the morning. There are 4 of us elders going so I am going to let the other 3 call first because they all live further east than you all. Elder Hernandez has to call his family in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico right at 9am. Elder Williams is going to call his family in Montgomery, Alabama at 10am, Elder Biddle is calling his family at 11am (Billings, Montana), and I am going last around noon to call you all. So, at around 11am your time I should be calling. You should all be done with presents and such by then and be ready to chat. I sure hope so! I have a ton to tell you all and it will be great to hear your voices. I too want to save some for the call, but I will write enough to keep your minds turned on while you read!
Saturday night at 7pm Anthony Cruz is getting baptized. He is the boy in the picture that was sent to you by Hna. Cruz. He is 12 and the only remaining member of his family that needs baptism. His dad was going to baptize him, but he does not feel quite prepared so Anthony asked me to do it instead. It was my goal to never get my baptismal clothes wet, but hey, I guess I have to do it sometime, so why not on Christmas?!?! I think a ton of people should be there at the baptism. The ward is finally catching on to the missionary spirit. It is getting exciting. The Liahona 4th ward once was the center of missionary work in Arizona. It kind of died off due to a number of somewhat lazy and apostate missionaries. They used to have 70+ baptisms a year, but right now it is at less than 20 this year. However, with Anthony we will have had a baptism every weekend in the ward for 6 weeks! I really want to be a part of turning this ward around and making it the powerhouse it once was. I want to get this area EXPLODING with so many investigators that they have to split the area. With the pace we are going, it is not too far off.
Yesterday is a prime example of how awesome things are going in our ward now. We are expected to teach 20 lessons every 7 days. This works out to roughly 3 a day. Yesterday we taught 5 lessons. The mission average is 7 out of 20 lessons a week with a member present at the lesson. Yesterday all 5 were with a member. Today we have another 4 investigator lessons planned, all with member presents. By 2 days into the week we will have half of all of our lessons for the week with members at all of them!! WOOOO-HOOOO! I seriously love teaching with members. Many believe they have weak and inadequate testimonies. IT shocks them when in lesson they begin to bear testimony and realize just how strong their testimony really is. It has helped a lot of less actives to come out and teach with us. They are now way active and have even more powerful testimonies. I hope to have out area to 30 lessons a week by the time I leave here, which I sure hope is not soon. I want to stay here as long as possible. I love it.
Maddy and Will! With your two weeks off, you should all have a ton of time to help mom out in the house! Just kidding, kind of. I hope you all get to go snowboarding a few times during break. I talked to a few people here at the temple from Flagstaff and they said it is a great winter up there. Who is faster now? Maddy or Will? I think it would be Maddy. She was really getting good by the end of last year. You should all convince dad to take my board out and strap it on for a day! I think you could all have a lot of fun with that! OH! And you all never told me what you wanted for Christmas!
I mailed off a priority mail package last Friday so it should be getting there soon! When you get it, you can open it. I have presents in there for all of you (They are wrapped). DON'T OPEN THEM (the separate gifts) UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!! There is also a present for Grandma and Grandpa John in it. I think Grandpa John is going to get a few giggles out of it. I found it in a dried up canal. There are a few things that are not really presents. You can look through my old planners and dad can use the bike tubes I had from my stolen bike. The presents I all got you are pretty neat I think. The ones for you, Will and Maddy, are pretty relevant to yourselves and stuff that will happen kind of soon in life. I got one big present for all of the family. I hope you love it. It is for FHE and such and I love the stuff in it! Mom, the one wrapped in red construction paper is kind of a birthday/christmas present! I should be getting you a card though before your birthday, the tough part is that we do not have P-day again until new years after Christmas. Yeah, a long time.
Other than that, I am reading the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time on my mission now. I love the Story of the Tree of Life so much more now. When I read it I could not stop and so many thoughts and ideas came to mind. I could easily apply it all to myself and to each of my investigators. When you read the Book of Mormon with a true desire to gain inspiration, it is 20x more exciting. Every page is great, even the Isaiah chapters. I am in the middle of those right now. Chapter 18 I think of 2nd Nefi --- err Nephi. Those really are quite the brain twister. I really am trying hard to glean something from all of it. It is tough, but I am learning a ton of new things about the Gospel.
We set two baptismal dates last week in one day. One with Jocabed, and one with Maria Aragon. Jocabed has come to Church for the last two consecutive weeks and she is really growing to love it. She is getting swarmed by the women every week which is AWESOME! I really think she will be way ready by the date we set of January the 8th. She was pentecostal and for a while we were going to drop her. She believed in the gift of tongues....but the crazy one where you speak nonexistant languages. Now, she really understands what the Holy Ghost is. It is great.
With Maria, she set an Hastaqui with her boyfriend. He has until Feb. 5th to marry her or she is moving out and getting baptized.
Moises and Graciela are STILL waiting on her birth certificate. They are more than ready to be baptized. They read the Book of Mormon as a couple and pray as a couple every night. I doubt many lifelong members do that. I want their papers to show up this week sooooooooooooo badly! Then, we could have a wedding and all on Christmas, too!
Well, I need to be going. I love you all so much. I am going to be calling you all around 11am YOUR TIME on Saturday. Give or take half an hour. I am way pumped to have all of those toy cars to give the little spanish kids. They are going to love Hermano Pearson. Hahahhahaha. I love you all and I hope this week is 100% excellent for you all. Matta's is in fact in my district! So, I should be able to go there. I will need to get President Ellsworth's permission to go! But I will try!
Con mi Amor,
Elder Pearson
(posted by Maddy)
Como estan? Espero que esten bien y que esten listos para hablar me en el sabado. Estoy animado para llamarles!
But seriously, we are going over to the Black Family's home on Saturday morning. We will be going there around 9am in the morning. There are 4 of us elders going so I am going to let the other 3 call first because they all live further east than you all. Elder Hernandez has to call his family in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico right at 9am. Elder Williams is going to call his family in Montgomery, Alabama at 10am, Elder Biddle is calling his family at 11am (Billings, Montana), and I am going last around noon to call you all. So, at around 11am your time I should be calling. You should all be done with presents and such by then and be ready to chat. I sure hope so! I have a ton to tell you all and it will be great to hear your voices. I too want to save some for the call, but I will write enough to keep your minds turned on while you read!
Saturday night at 7pm Anthony Cruz is getting baptized. He is the boy in the picture that was sent to you by Hna. Cruz. He is 12 and the only remaining member of his family that needs baptism. His dad was going to baptize him, but he does not feel quite prepared so Anthony asked me to do it instead. It was my goal to never get my baptismal clothes wet, but hey, I guess I have to do it sometime, so why not on Christmas?!?! I think a ton of people should be there at the baptism. The ward is finally catching on to the missionary spirit. It is getting exciting. The Liahona 4th ward once was the center of missionary work in Arizona. It kind of died off due to a number of somewhat lazy and apostate missionaries. They used to have 70+ baptisms a year, but right now it is at less than 20 this year. However, with Anthony we will have had a baptism every weekend in the ward for 6 weeks! I really want to be a part of turning this ward around and making it the powerhouse it once was. I want to get this area EXPLODING with so many investigators that they have to split the area. With the pace we are going, it is not too far off.
Yesterday is a prime example of how awesome things are going in our ward now. We are expected to teach 20 lessons every 7 days. This works out to roughly 3 a day. Yesterday we taught 5 lessons. The mission average is 7 out of 20 lessons a week with a member present at the lesson. Yesterday all 5 were with a member. Today we have another 4 investigator lessons planned, all with member presents. By 2 days into the week we will have half of all of our lessons for the week with members at all of them!! WOOOO-HOOOO! I seriously love teaching with members. Many believe they have weak and inadequate testimonies. IT shocks them when in lesson they begin to bear testimony and realize just how strong their testimony really is. It has helped a lot of less actives to come out and teach with us. They are now way active and have even more powerful testimonies. I hope to have out area to 30 lessons a week by the time I leave here, which I sure hope is not soon. I want to stay here as long as possible. I love it.
Maddy and Will! With your two weeks off, you should all have a ton of time to help mom out in the house! Just kidding, kind of. I hope you all get to go snowboarding a few times during break. I talked to a few people here at the temple from Flagstaff and they said it is a great winter up there. Who is faster now? Maddy or Will? I think it would be Maddy. She was really getting good by the end of last year. You should all convince dad to take my board out and strap it on for a day! I think you could all have a lot of fun with that! OH! And you all never told me what you wanted for Christmas!
I mailed off a priority mail package last Friday so it should be getting there soon! When you get it, you can open it. I have presents in there for all of you (They are wrapped). DON'T OPEN THEM (the separate gifts) UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!! There is also a present for Grandma and Grandpa John in it. I think Grandpa John is going to get a few giggles out of it. I found it in a dried up canal. There are a few things that are not really presents. You can look through my old planners and dad can use the bike tubes I had from my stolen bike. The presents I all got you are pretty neat I think. The ones for you, Will and Maddy, are pretty relevant to yourselves and stuff that will happen kind of soon in life. I got one big present for all of the family. I hope you love it. It is for FHE and such and I love the stuff in it! Mom, the one wrapped in red construction paper is kind of a birthday/christmas present! I should be getting you a card though before your birthday, the tough part is that we do not have P-day again until new years after Christmas. Yeah, a long time.
Other than that, I am reading the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time on my mission now. I love the Story of the Tree of Life so much more now. When I read it I could not stop and so many thoughts and ideas came to mind. I could easily apply it all to myself and to each of my investigators. When you read the Book of Mormon with a true desire to gain inspiration, it is 20x more exciting. Every page is great, even the Isaiah chapters. I am in the middle of those right now. Chapter 18 I think of 2nd Nefi --- err Nephi. Those really are quite the brain twister. I really am trying hard to glean something from all of it. It is tough, but I am learning a ton of new things about the Gospel.
We set two baptismal dates last week in one day. One with Jocabed, and one with Maria Aragon. Jocabed has come to Church for the last two consecutive weeks and she is really growing to love it. She is getting swarmed by the women every week which is AWESOME! I really think she will be way ready by the date we set of January the 8th. She was pentecostal and for a while we were going to drop her. She believed in the gift of tongues....but the crazy one where you speak nonexistant languages. Now, she really understands what the Holy Ghost is. It is great.
With Maria, she set an Hastaqui with her boyfriend. He has until Feb. 5th to marry her or she is moving out and getting baptized.
Moises and Graciela are STILL waiting on her birth certificate. They are more than ready to be baptized. They read the Book of Mormon as a couple and pray as a couple every night. I doubt many lifelong members do that. I want their papers to show up this week sooooooooooooo badly! Then, we could have a wedding and all on Christmas, too!
Well, I need to be going. I love you all so much. I am going to be calling you all around 11am YOUR TIME on Saturday. Give or take half an hour. I am way pumped to have all of those toy cars to give the little spanish kids. They are going to love Hermano Pearson. Hahahhahaha. I love you all and I hope this week is 100% excellent for you all. Matta's is in fact in my district! So, I should be able to go there. I will need to get President Ellsworth's permission to go! But I will try!
Con mi Amor,
Elder Pearson
(posted by Maddy)
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Family of Mine!
Dearest Family,
Thanks for all of the warm and loving emails. Especially the one with the picture of Maddy and Will up at the mountain. The mailman accidentally put a ski magazine in our mailbox and wow, was that a temptation or what! It makes me happy that you are all able to be enjoying yourselves during this time of year. While I miss you all, I know I need to be here and I really am happier here than I ever have been before in my life. Every day is good. Even the worst of days on the mission have really bright, shiny moments.
I got your package last thursday and it is sitting under our "Chrsitmas Tree". It is just a little electronic fiber optic doo-dad that looks like a little pine tree that lights up. It is pretty cool. It is enough to make me feel like it is Christmas time. I found some wrapping paper in a closet so I wrapped up the package and it is under the tree. Elder Williams got a stocking full of snacks. It was meant to be a christmas package but he did not know. So we are eating it all.
I will indeed be busy on Christmas. We are eating at an American Family in our ward's house. Brother and Sister Black. They are pretty old, like in their 80's. BUT! They love missionaries and they said we could use their phones to call home. We are headed there at 9am on Christmas morning, so I will probably call late morning to early afternoon. I will let you know more specifically as it gets closer. We still have like two more weeks! It sounds like we should have about an hour of talk time on Christmas. I figure that should be plenty. You should invite Mel and Grandma, and Grandpa, and everyone else over. It will be almost like I am there.
Plans are still in place for the three baptisms on Christmas Day! I am way excited. We will probably do them later in the evening. It will pretty much be the most incredible Christmas I have ever had. I am way, way, way more excited for Christmas this year than I ever have been before.
This past Sunday, we had a baptism! It was the little girl named Estrella. She turns 10 this week. She has been ready forever, it has just been a matter of getting permission from her mom. Her mom finally signed and Estrella is now a member! Her dad, Emilio, was so jealous of her he started to cry. He really wants to be baptized. But, he is in the process of dropping smoking and his wife, Luz, is married to another man in Mexico. They need to get that fixed before he can get baptized. He wants it so bad though. It breaks my heart to see him being held back by legalities, but hey, it is the Lord's Commandment. The Mom Luz is going to start coming to Church again, the Women of the ward really fellowshipped her well at the baptism. I pray she makes a turn in Faith.
I worked Christmas lights again last week. It was fun, but there was almost no one there. It was kind of like a desert. The nice part was is that I had a lot of peacful time in which I could think and really focus on the Spirit there at the temple. It was great. Christmas lights really is nuts. We have recieved 20 or so refferals because of lights and we get 1-2 more every day.
Will asked how many people I am teaching. People we teach frequently is about 10 families. People we teach overall is about 35-40. It keeps us really busy on our bikes. Just to name them all, to see if I can. We have Emilio, Moises, Graciela, Santo, Emilio, Jocabed, Guadalupe, Isabel, Martin, Angel, Dina, Diana, Fernando, Benjamin, Bernancio, Katy, Grabriel, Alejandra, Rick, Juan, Miguel, Jose, Rosario, Maria, Alvaro, Anthony...and many, many more. The named ones are just the primary bunch we see a few times every week.
A lot of miracles happened in the last week. We have a lot of investigators who read and pray, but can't seem to get to Church. One of such is Jocabed. She is the Sister-in-law of one of our members. She is in her 30's and has one little girl, Leilani. She was raised pentecostal, speaking in tongues and all. Well, she came to Church on Sunday and though it was different, she really loved it. She really, really like Relief Society and it made a huge difference. She decided to finally pray about the Book of Mormon and she said she knows it is ture because god keeps making her want to read it. She said now she is looking for her answer about Joseph Smith. I am sure that will come quickly. Then, it will just be a matter of a paper and an interview and she is the newest member of the Liahona 4th ward.
Last week we had a lot of success in having members come out and help up. Every lesson with a member is like 5 without. They can put a name and a face to the Church who does not wear a nametag such as myself. We taught 24 lessons which is the most I have ever taught in a week thus far. Even though my bikes was stolen and other chaos, it was an awesome week! I have tons more I could tell you all, but I have ton to do today.
We have cleaning inspections tomorrow and the cleaning inspection missionary couple are CRAZY! My apartment has had missionaries in it for 12 years. You can imagine how dirty it is.
I love you all so much and I thank you for supporting me every step of the way. I am loving every minute of my mission and I am blessing the lives of others with the help of you, and most importantly, the help of out Heavenly Father. I know you are all being blessed back home and I am excited to talk to you all relatively soon. Let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you all from afar. I will do whatever is possible!
Also, Maddy, congrats on Personal Progress. Duty to God is one of the many opportunities I looked over. You are a hard worker that I am proud to call my sister. The scariest thing to me right now is that in 6 months you will be driving....BY YOURSELF! You are growing up way, way too quick.
I love you and you are in my thoughts and prayers!
Your Son/Bro
Elder Jonathan Pearson
(posted by Maddy)
Thanks for all of the warm and loving emails. Especially the one with the picture of Maddy and Will up at the mountain. The mailman accidentally put a ski magazine in our mailbox and wow, was that a temptation or what! It makes me happy that you are all able to be enjoying yourselves during this time of year. While I miss you all, I know I need to be here and I really am happier here than I ever have been before in my life. Every day is good. Even the worst of days on the mission have really bright, shiny moments.
I got your package last thursday and it is sitting under our "Chrsitmas Tree". It is just a little electronic fiber optic doo-dad that looks like a little pine tree that lights up. It is pretty cool. It is enough to make me feel like it is Christmas time. I found some wrapping paper in a closet so I wrapped up the package and it is under the tree. Elder Williams got a stocking full of snacks. It was meant to be a christmas package but he did not know. So we are eating it all.
I will indeed be busy on Christmas. We are eating at an American Family in our ward's house. Brother and Sister Black. They are pretty old, like in their 80's. BUT! They love missionaries and they said we could use their phones to call home. We are headed there at 9am on Christmas morning, so I will probably call late morning to early afternoon. I will let you know more specifically as it gets closer. We still have like two more weeks! It sounds like we should have about an hour of talk time on Christmas. I figure that should be plenty. You should invite Mel and Grandma, and Grandpa, and everyone else over. It will be almost like I am there.
Plans are still in place for the three baptisms on Christmas Day! I am way excited. We will probably do them later in the evening. It will pretty much be the most incredible Christmas I have ever had. I am way, way, way more excited for Christmas this year than I ever have been before.
This past Sunday, we had a baptism! It was the little girl named Estrella. She turns 10 this week. She has been ready forever, it has just been a matter of getting permission from her mom. Her mom finally signed and Estrella is now a member! Her dad, Emilio, was so jealous of her he started to cry. He really wants to be baptized. But, he is in the process of dropping smoking and his wife, Luz, is married to another man in Mexico. They need to get that fixed before he can get baptized. He wants it so bad though. It breaks my heart to see him being held back by legalities, but hey, it is the Lord's Commandment. The Mom Luz is going to start coming to Church again, the Women of the ward really fellowshipped her well at the baptism. I pray she makes a turn in Faith.
I worked Christmas lights again last week. It was fun, but there was almost no one there. It was kind of like a desert. The nice part was is that I had a lot of peacful time in which I could think and really focus on the Spirit there at the temple. It was great. Christmas lights really is nuts. We have recieved 20 or so refferals because of lights and we get 1-2 more every day.
Will asked how many people I am teaching. People we teach frequently is about 10 families. People we teach overall is about 35-40. It keeps us really busy on our bikes. Just to name them all, to see if I can. We have Emilio, Moises, Graciela, Santo, Emilio, Jocabed, Guadalupe, Isabel, Martin, Angel, Dina, Diana, Fernando, Benjamin, Bernancio, Katy, Grabriel, Alejandra, Rick, Juan, Miguel, Jose, Rosario, Maria, Alvaro, Anthony...and many, many more. The named ones are just the primary bunch we see a few times every week.
A lot of miracles happened in the last week. We have a lot of investigators who read and pray, but can't seem to get to Church. One of such is Jocabed. She is the Sister-in-law of one of our members. She is in her 30's and has one little girl, Leilani. She was raised pentecostal, speaking in tongues and all. Well, she came to Church on Sunday and though it was different, she really loved it. She really, really like Relief Society and it made a huge difference. She decided to finally pray about the Book of Mormon and she said she knows it is ture because god keeps making her want to read it. She said now she is looking for her answer about Joseph Smith. I am sure that will come quickly. Then, it will just be a matter of a paper and an interview and she is the newest member of the Liahona 4th ward.
Last week we had a lot of success in having members come out and help up. Every lesson with a member is like 5 without. They can put a name and a face to the Church who does not wear a nametag such as myself. We taught 24 lessons which is the most I have ever taught in a week thus far. Even though my bikes was stolen and other chaos, it was an awesome week! I have tons more I could tell you all, but I have ton to do today.
We have cleaning inspections tomorrow and the cleaning inspection missionary couple are CRAZY! My apartment has had missionaries in it for 12 years. You can imagine how dirty it is.
I love you all so much and I thank you for supporting me every step of the way. I am loving every minute of my mission and I am blessing the lives of others with the help of you, and most importantly, the help of out Heavenly Father. I know you are all being blessed back home and I am excited to talk to you all relatively soon. Let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you all from afar. I will do whatever is possible!
Also, Maddy, congrats on Personal Progress. Duty to God is one of the many opportunities I looked over. You are a hard worker that I am proud to call my sister. The scariest thing to me right now is that in 6 months you will be driving....BY YOURSELF! You are growing up way, way too quick.
I love you and you are in my thoughts and prayers!
Your Son/Bro
Elder Jonathan Pearson
(posted by Maddy)
News of the week!
Hey Fam!
I am indeed quite jealous of you all and your snowy adventures. It has been really cold and dark here. Some days it almost feels like I am in Oregon. It is alright though, I know the mountains will still be there two winters from now. As for the hot wax, I do it about every 5-6th time that I go to the mountain. It also depends on which wax you are using on the skis/boards. The higher quality, flourinated wax holds up longer and is faster.
We have a baptism coming up this Sunday. It is a little girl named Estrella (Star) who has been ready for a long time, her mom would just not sign the sheet until she was behaving a little better. She did such and now we have a baptism this week! WOOOOT! It has been a long time coming. Her dad is progressing and I believe that soon he will be entering the waters of baptism, too.
Moises and Graciela still have not recieved Graciela's birth certificate. They are awaiting that and we are planning on doing the wedding/baptism on Christmas day. So, we should have a total of three baptisms on Christmas. With talking to you, a wedding, and a 3 baptisms, this will assuredly be the best Christmas I have ever had. Nothing makes me happier than seeing lives change. Something sad did happen yesterday with Moises and Graciela. She was 2.5 months pregnant, but she lost the baby yesterday. She fasted on Sunday and I really hope that that did not have anything to do with the misscarriage.
The Mesa Temple pageant is indeed at easter time. This time is year is just all of the lights, and then every night a choir performs for about an hour on a stage right in front of the temple. It is a pretty powerful performance most of the time. We spent 3-4 nights there in the last week.
Thanks for keeping me up to date with all of the other missionaries. Any idea how Sawyer is doing in the Carribean? I would love to hear an update on him. I am really glad to be here in Mesa. There is an incredible member support system here that I doubt is in any other mission outside of Utah. In fact, I am 100% sure of that. Why you may be asking? Well, do I have a story for you all.
Satuday night we went to teach two brothers, Angel and Martin. They are 19 and 25 respectively and work as axmen at a tree cutting company. There boss is a member in an english ward, but he served in Chile 40 years ago. We met Hno. King (boss) over at there house on Ingram Street. This is by far the roughest part of Mesa. There are shootings and robberies that happen there nightly. I hate being on this street at night. Well, out appointment was at 8pm, well after dark. We show up, lock up our bikes to the chain link fence pole, and head on in to teach. We teach and INCREDIBLE lesson. They really grasped why we needed a Restoration and why they needed to read the Book of Mormon. They committed to reading and praying. Next step is getting them to Church. We were so excited after the lesson. We left the house laughing and smiling. Then, Brother King chatted with us for a while. Then he asked, "So, where's you put your bikes?"...............yeah. Well, I turned around and looked at the pole where we had locked the bikes. They were gone. The had yanked to fence pole out of the ground and clipped the chain link fence. Both of our bikes were stolen. Gone. I was furious. I still am a little furious. I had no idea what we were going to do. That was like $500 worth of my stuff, GONE!
Well, the miracle of mesa is that the next day at Church Bro. King asked around about getting us some bikes to use in the meantime. The Elders Quorum President of his ward said he had a bike he never used sitting in his garage. Brand new, never ridden. He gave it to me. A Trek 820 ST. I mean, it is nothing incredible fancy, but it is a Trek so it is of pretty admirable quality. I have a bike. The issue is that it has awful tires. I popped both already in one day. I am going to a bike store later today to buy a set of higher quality tires and thicker tubes. A terrible situation was covered by a miracle. I could have been set back $100's of dollars. But, a member pulled through and Elder Williams and I once again have bikes. It does amaze me how desperate those thieves were that they essentially took down a fence for the bikes. Angel and Martin said people have often stolen their washer and dryer out of their DEADBOLTED shed in the back of their house. Ingram is just the worst street in Mesa. It would take a steel cage to not have a bike taken I guess...but all is well now!
I am in the process of trying to catch up on writing everyone that has written me.
My greatest joy of the last week comes in the form of that we had members in 14 of 21 lessons! 67% with members present is so good! It helps our investigators out so much. One thing you could do is ask the elders when you could go out and teach with them. It really does not hurt your image in the community, it helps it. It also helps to accomplish the three needs of every recent convert. A friend, and assignment, and the nourishment of the good word of God. Do those things and be a part of those things as much as you can! The best members that come out to teach with us are all of those who have kids on missions. They rock!
Overall this last week was incredibly humbling. I prayed daily that the Lord would bless me with patience and humility. As my bike was stolen, I can honestly say that the Lord blessed me with that trial. I could have just given up and called it quits when a ton of my money just went missing. I could have just quit trying. But, every time those thoughts crossed my mind, the Spirit inspired me of how to cope with my challenge. Right when I noticed the bike was stolen, I felt a really strange sense of peace and comfort. I knew everything was going to be ok. Sure enough, the Holy Ghost was bearing wittness to me that I was going to be taken care of. My testimony of the Gospel has quadrupled while I have been here in the field. I know that when we try out absolute best every day to keep the commandments, the Lord watches over us just as you (Mom & Dad) did to me as I grew up. As I have been here on the mission, I have seen a few of my bad habits simply disappear as my desire to serve the Lord has grown. I guess you figure I am 25% done with the mission by now (Maddy said that...) and I think I am finally starting to understand the purpose to all of this. I am more easily recognizing the guidance of the Holy Ghost in my life. Some things that I merely once believe, I now know with a firmness of mind. I love my mission more than anything else. I know that regardless of where one is sent on their mission, they are going to enjoy it.
I love you all so much. I pray for you. I fast for you. You are always in my heart and mind, but you are only on my mind when it is breakfast, lunch, or bedtime. All the other time is for the Lord and for God's children. You are in my prayers!
With all my love,
Elder Jonathan Pearson
PS - I do not have any idea how the phone call home works. None at all! I will let you all know as soon as I do! Oh, and I met an RM in my ward who just got home from the Portland Mission, Spanish Speaking. He said the TV Hwy Spanish branch is huge and that I need to attend that ward after my mission. I will for sure!
(Posted By Maddy)
I am indeed quite jealous of you all and your snowy adventures. It has been really cold and dark here. Some days it almost feels like I am in Oregon. It is alright though, I know the mountains will still be there two winters from now. As for the hot wax, I do it about every 5-6th time that I go to the mountain. It also depends on which wax you are using on the skis/boards. The higher quality, flourinated wax holds up longer and is faster.
We have a baptism coming up this Sunday. It is a little girl named Estrella (Star) who has been ready for a long time, her mom would just not sign the sheet until she was behaving a little better. She did such and now we have a baptism this week! WOOOOT! It has been a long time coming. Her dad is progressing and I believe that soon he will be entering the waters of baptism, too.
Moises and Graciela still have not recieved Graciela's birth certificate. They are awaiting that and we are planning on doing the wedding/baptism on Christmas day. So, we should have a total of three baptisms on Christmas. With talking to you, a wedding, and a 3 baptisms, this will assuredly be the best Christmas I have ever had. Nothing makes me happier than seeing lives change. Something sad did happen yesterday with Moises and Graciela. She was 2.5 months pregnant, but she lost the baby yesterday. She fasted on Sunday and I really hope that that did not have anything to do with the misscarriage.
The Mesa Temple pageant is indeed at easter time. This time is year is just all of the lights, and then every night a choir performs for about an hour on a stage right in front of the temple. It is a pretty powerful performance most of the time. We spent 3-4 nights there in the last week.
Thanks for keeping me up to date with all of the other missionaries. Any idea how Sawyer is doing in the Carribean? I would love to hear an update on him. I am really glad to be here in Mesa. There is an incredible member support system here that I doubt is in any other mission outside of Utah. In fact, I am 100% sure of that. Why you may be asking? Well, do I have a story for you all.
Satuday night we went to teach two brothers, Angel and Martin. They are 19 and 25 respectively and work as axmen at a tree cutting company. There boss is a member in an english ward, but he served in Chile 40 years ago. We met Hno. King (boss) over at there house on Ingram Street. This is by far the roughest part of Mesa. There are shootings and robberies that happen there nightly. I hate being on this street at night. Well, out appointment was at 8pm, well after dark. We show up, lock up our bikes to the chain link fence pole, and head on in to teach. We teach and INCREDIBLE lesson. They really grasped why we needed a Restoration and why they needed to read the Book of Mormon. They committed to reading and praying. Next step is getting them to Church. We were so excited after the lesson. We left the house laughing and smiling. Then, Brother King chatted with us for a while. Then he asked, "So, where's you put your bikes?"...............yeah. Well, I turned around and looked at the pole where we had locked the bikes. They were gone. The had yanked to fence pole out of the ground and clipped the chain link fence. Both of our bikes were stolen. Gone. I was furious. I still am a little furious. I had no idea what we were going to do. That was like $500 worth of my stuff, GONE!
Well, the miracle of mesa is that the next day at Church Bro. King asked around about getting us some bikes to use in the meantime. The Elders Quorum President of his ward said he had a bike he never used sitting in his garage. Brand new, never ridden. He gave it to me. A Trek 820 ST. I mean, it is nothing incredible fancy, but it is a Trek so it is of pretty admirable quality. I have a bike. The issue is that it has awful tires. I popped both already in one day. I am going to a bike store later today to buy a set of higher quality tires and thicker tubes. A terrible situation was covered by a miracle. I could have been set back $100's of dollars. But, a member pulled through and Elder Williams and I once again have bikes. It does amaze me how desperate those thieves were that they essentially took down a fence for the bikes. Angel and Martin said people have often stolen their washer and dryer out of their DEADBOLTED shed in the back of their house. Ingram is just the worst street in Mesa. It would take a steel cage to not have a bike taken I guess...but all is well now!
I am in the process of trying to catch up on writing everyone that has written me.
My greatest joy of the last week comes in the form of that we had members in 14 of 21 lessons! 67% with members present is so good! It helps our investigators out so much. One thing you could do is ask the elders when you could go out and teach with them. It really does not hurt your image in the community, it helps it. It also helps to accomplish the three needs of every recent convert. A friend, and assignment, and the nourishment of the good word of God. Do those things and be a part of those things as much as you can! The best members that come out to teach with us are all of those who have kids on missions. They rock!
Overall this last week was incredibly humbling. I prayed daily that the Lord would bless me with patience and humility. As my bike was stolen, I can honestly say that the Lord blessed me with that trial. I could have just given up and called it quits when a ton of my money just went missing. I could have just quit trying. But, every time those thoughts crossed my mind, the Spirit inspired me of how to cope with my challenge. Right when I noticed the bike was stolen, I felt a really strange sense of peace and comfort. I knew everything was going to be ok. Sure enough, the Holy Ghost was bearing wittness to me that I was going to be taken care of. My testimony of the Gospel has quadrupled while I have been here in the field. I know that when we try out absolute best every day to keep the commandments, the Lord watches over us just as you (Mom & Dad) did to me as I grew up. As I have been here on the mission, I have seen a few of my bad habits simply disappear as my desire to serve the Lord has grown. I guess you figure I am 25% done with the mission by now (Maddy said that...) and I think I am finally starting to understand the purpose to all of this. I am more easily recognizing the guidance of the Holy Ghost in my life. Some things that I merely once believe, I now know with a firmness of mind. I love my mission more than anything else. I know that regardless of where one is sent on their mission, they are going to enjoy it.
I love you all so much. I pray for you. I fast for you. You are always in my heart and mind, but you are only on my mind when it is breakfast, lunch, or bedtime. All the other time is for the Lord and for God's children. You are in my prayers!
With all my love,
Elder Jonathan Pearson
PS - I do not have any idea how the phone call home works. None at all! I will let you all know as soon as I do! Oh, and I met an RM in my ward who just got home from the Portland Mission, Spanish Speaking. He said the TV Hwy Spanish branch is huge and that I need to attend that ward after my mission. I will for sure!
(Posted By Maddy)
RE: 2
Hey Mom!
Now, don't be hassling too many people to write me. I really don't have time to write back so it is tough when people write because I feel bad for not writing back.
Moises and Graciela are still waiting...but in the meantime they are helping us to fellowship and begin teaching Graciela's brother, Santo. He is very intelligent and taught himself how to speak english. He is currently out of working and just looking for some light in a time of darkness. I am excited to help him out and get him feeling God's love.
My experience of the week would definitely have to be last night! I worked Christmas lights at the temple for the very first time and it was INCREDIBLE!!!!!! It is like playing on the home court. Almost all of the hispanics I talked to were kind, accepting, and willing to have missionaries over! I talked to one family at the end who is having a hard time in life. Mom, Dad, and Daughter all just lost their jobs and 4 other kids live at home. The mother was really open with me and told me about all the stresses of life and how she loved the lights because she felt a peace there at the temple she had never felt for a very long time. I did my very best to help her understand that she can have that peace all of the time by doing just a few simple things and making just a few changes. Her countanance changed immediately and what was a rather blank face, decided to crack a smile for a moment. I felt so much love for this lady that I do not know. I am starting to know what charity feels like. I am starting to be able to love people I do not even know and it feels INCREDIBLE! The worst part is loving some of these people, and then having them get anti-ed and tell us to never come back. It is kind of heart breaking.
Also, the Despain's were at the Christmas Light's last night! They snuck up on me and said hello. We chatted for a while and it was just really cool to see some familiar faces.
I also met an RM who served in Antofogasta Chile and was companions with Elder Nielsen. I think it was Cam, not Casey. I am not sure though. You can tell them that one of their sons companions said he is doing well and having a lot of success!
Thanksgiving was great. I like Mexican Stuffing way better than American Stuffing. I have no idea what is in it, but I like it, a lot. A mission is expanding my food horizons. I even get excited to eat salads now. I hate dressing though. I like oil and vinegar! Hahaha.
I love being here and this is for 100% sure the best thing I have ever done. Don't every worry about me. I am healthy, strong, and I have plenty to do/eat.
Well, I gotta go!
(Posted By Maddy)
Now, don't be hassling too many people to write me. I really don't have time to write back so it is tough when people write because I feel bad for not writing back.
Moises and Graciela are still waiting...but in the meantime they are helping us to fellowship and begin teaching Graciela's brother, Santo. He is very intelligent and taught himself how to speak english. He is currently out of working and just looking for some light in a time of darkness. I am excited to help him out and get him feeling God's love.
My experience of the week would definitely have to be last night! I worked Christmas lights at the temple for the very first time and it was INCREDIBLE!!!!!! It is like playing on the home court. Almost all of the hispanics I talked to were kind, accepting, and willing to have missionaries over! I talked to one family at the end who is having a hard time in life. Mom, Dad, and Daughter all just lost their jobs and 4 other kids live at home. The mother was really open with me and told me about all the stresses of life and how she loved the lights because she felt a peace there at the temple she had never felt for a very long time. I did my very best to help her understand that she can have that peace all of the time by doing just a few simple things and making just a few changes. Her countanance changed immediately and what was a rather blank face, decided to crack a smile for a moment. I felt so much love for this lady that I do not know. I am starting to know what charity feels like. I am starting to be able to love people I do not even know and it feels INCREDIBLE! The worst part is loving some of these people, and then having them get anti-ed and tell us to never come back. It is kind of heart breaking.
Also, the Despain's were at the Christmas Light's last night! They snuck up on me and said hello. We chatted for a while and it was just really cool to see some familiar faces.
I also met an RM who served in Antofogasta Chile and was companions with Elder Nielsen. I think it was Cam, not Casey. I am not sure though. You can tell them that one of their sons companions said he is doing well and having a lot of success!
Thanksgiving was great. I like Mexican Stuffing way better than American Stuffing. I have no idea what is in it, but I like it, a lot. A mission is expanding my food horizons. I even get excited to eat salads now. I hate dressing though. I like oil and vinegar! Hahaha.
I love being here and this is for 100% sure the best thing I have ever done. Don't every worry about me. I am healthy, strong, and I have plenty to do/eat.
Well, I gotta go!
(Posted By Maddy)
RE:
Hey!
Interesting story about the Wedding and Baptisms...they did not happen. Moises, the husband, is a citizen of the states, but his wife, Graciela, is an illegal. In order to purchase the license she needs her birth certificate. She is having it mailed up here from Vera Cruz, Mexico so that could be taking a couple more weeks! We may just end up having the baptism and wedding on Christmas...everything there has been put on hold for the time being. The best thing of all is that they are not down on themselves and their testimonies have not been too shaken. Moises said he thinks this stumbling block is just a test God has put in his way to make him even stronger for when he gets baptized. That has got to be the best attitude of a person I have ever heard of.
Apart from that, I really do not have any interesting stories from the last week. My companion and I kind of hit a rough spot because of my interpertations of the rules and such. My take is a lot more rigid than is his own. This created some sense of disunity between us and overall it just made me a lot more tensed up about teaching with him. We had a great week with nearly 20 lessons, he just gets to a point every now and than where he gets lazy and sick and does not really want to push forward in faith. I have gained multiple witnesses of working through the hard times with faith and a smile always puts miracles in your path.
Perhaps the best example of this comes from a lesson Sunday Night. We ate dinner with some members down near the temple. The wife had cooked enchiladas and at first appearance they looked, smelled, and tasted fresh as could be. However, when I asked for one more enchilada, I saw that they had been reheated in a microwave. I got a really nervous feeling that I was about to get sick. Well, we finished up, sang them a song, and said a prayer. We hopped on our bikes and turned north to go to an appointment that we really did not expect to go through. Well, as we rode past my apartment, I felt really awful. Satan was trying all that he could to get me to just give up. Well, I also felt this feeling that I just kept on trucking and working hard through the pain, I would be fine. I told this to Elder Williams and he said we should go in, but I insisted on pedaling all the way to our appointment, no matter how slow I had to go. We got there about 10 minutes late, but we got there. To our surprise, Javier was there but asked if we could come back in about 10 minutes. We agreed of course. We were riding around the trailer park just talking to a lot of people and then one of our members came outside! She is the YW President, Hna. Castillo. Well, we just felt so inclined and asked her to come to the lesson with us. She came with us and Javier was ready to learn, along with 5 of his 6 kids!!! We taught them all in their humble little trailer in a real rough part of town, but the spirit was there. Though I wanted to give up and take a break, I knew that Javier needed us to be there. If I would have given in to the desires of my body, we probably would never have another chance to teach him again. However, I pushed through and the Lord blessed us because of it. We taught a great lesson and we have a HUGE family that is progressing now and I really think they will get baptized! The Lord blesses us when we drop our shoulders and push through the nitty and the gritty.
Apart from this, another highlight of the week was yesterday. I went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I was with Elder Morgan and Elder Williams was with Elder Hawkins. I went over into the Zone Leader's Area. I had a lot of questions on the rules and such and there is no one better to ask than a leader. He gave me one simple piece of advice. "If you would not do it with President Ellsworth there, you should just not do it." This piece of advice was simple but profound. It has already changed my language of conversation, train of though, and diligence in working. My biggest fear I am going to have to overcome is sprouting from having to correct Elder Williams. He is a great guy, but he likes to find loop-holes.
I too will miss you all over the next couple of weeks, but if you really think about it, less than 5 weeks from today we will have an hour to talk over the phone. That will be the sweetest present we all can recieve, love and kind words. I will continue to fast and pray for you mom, so that you can be happier, healthier, and just all around better. I really reccommend that you read all of the conference talks. They are FANTASTIC. I have felt the spirit so strongly while reading them. Richard G. Scott's Talk on Character really helped me. The same goes for President Uchtdorf on the Basics.
Elder Jonathan Pearson
(posted by Maddy)
Interesting story about the Wedding and Baptisms...they did not happen. Moises, the husband, is a citizen of the states, but his wife, Graciela, is an illegal. In order to purchase the license she needs her birth certificate. She is having it mailed up here from Vera Cruz, Mexico so that could be taking a couple more weeks! We may just end up having the baptism and wedding on Christmas...everything there has been put on hold for the time being. The best thing of all is that they are not down on themselves and their testimonies have not been too shaken. Moises said he thinks this stumbling block is just a test God has put in his way to make him even stronger for when he gets baptized. That has got to be the best attitude of a person I have ever heard of.
Apart from that, I really do not have any interesting stories from the last week. My companion and I kind of hit a rough spot because of my interpertations of the rules and such. My take is a lot more rigid than is his own. This created some sense of disunity between us and overall it just made me a lot more tensed up about teaching with him. We had a great week with nearly 20 lessons, he just gets to a point every now and than where he gets lazy and sick and does not really want to push forward in faith. I have gained multiple witnesses of working through the hard times with faith and a smile always puts miracles in your path.
Perhaps the best example of this comes from a lesson Sunday Night. We ate dinner with some members down near the temple. The wife had cooked enchiladas and at first appearance they looked, smelled, and tasted fresh as could be. However, when I asked for one more enchilada, I saw that they had been reheated in a microwave. I got a really nervous feeling that I was about to get sick. Well, we finished up, sang them a song, and said a prayer. We hopped on our bikes and turned north to go to an appointment that we really did not expect to go through. Well, as we rode past my apartment, I felt really awful. Satan was trying all that he could to get me to just give up. Well, I also felt this feeling that I just kept on trucking and working hard through the pain, I would be fine. I told this to Elder Williams and he said we should go in, but I insisted on pedaling all the way to our appointment, no matter how slow I had to go. We got there about 10 minutes late, but we got there. To our surprise, Javier was there but asked if we could come back in about 10 minutes. We agreed of course. We were riding around the trailer park just talking to a lot of people and then one of our members came outside! She is the YW President, Hna. Castillo. Well, we just felt so inclined and asked her to come to the lesson with us. She came with us and Javier was ready to learn, along with 5 of his 6 kids!!! We taught them all in their humble little trailer in a real rough part of town, but the spirit was there. Though I wanted to give up and take a break, I knew that Javier needed us to be there. If I would have given in to the desires of my body, we probably would never have another chance to teach him again. However, I pushed through and the Lord blessed us because of it. We taught a great lesson and we have a HUGE family that is progressing now and I really think they will get baptized! The Lord blesses us when we drop our shoulders and push through the nitty and the gritty.
Apart from this, another highlight of the week was yesterday. I went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I was with Elder Morgan and Elder Williams was with Elder Hawkins. I went over into the Zone Leader's Area. I had a lot of questions on the rules and such and there is no one better to ask than a leader. He gave me one simple piece of advice. "If you would not do it with President Ellsworth there, you should just not do it." This piece of advice was simple but profound. It has already changed my language of conversation, train of though, and diligence in working. My biggest fear I am going to have to overcome is sprouting from having to correct Elder Williams. He is a great guy, but he likes to find loop-holes.
I too will miss you all over the next couple of weeks, but if you really think about it, less than 5 weeks from today we will have an hour to talk over the phone. That will be the sweetest present we all can recieve, love and kind words. I will continue to fast and pray for you mom, so that you can be happier, healthier, and just all around better. I really reccommend that you read all of the conference talks. They are FANTASTIC. I have felt the spirit so strongly while reading them. Richard G. Scott's Talk on Character really helped me. The same goes for President Uchtdorf on the Basics.
Elder Jonathan Pearson
(posted by Maddy)
Mesa is Awsome!
Hola Familia Mia!
Today is November 16th and it is 80 degrees out at 10am. Where am I at in the world? Clearly the desert because I froze last night. Haha, well, I am loving the weather. It has not even settled in that I am nearing the Christmas Season. I am used to cold and wet and snowboarding signifying the approach of the holidays. Here, the only clue I have is that slowly the temple grounds are being laced with lights of many colors. I am getting WAY excited for temple lights because on New Years Eve, the missionaries of the Phoenix and Mesa missions all get together to sing in a missionary choir. I know this next transfer is probably the last for Blake Davis so I am hoping to see him there at the temple lights sometime. I also hope to see Tyler Oliver and I think Derek Wood should be out in the field now, no? It would be so awesome to have a bethany ward/cedar mill stake missionary reunion at the temple! My companion and I are going to try and be at the temple every night with an investigator. The spirit on the temple grounds is so strong. I wuss up and usually end up crying by the time I leave every time.
As for the Family that sent you the email with the picture, they are the Cruz Family. Mom, Alizia, goes by Dora. Then you have dad, who is a truck driver looking for more steady work, and three kids named Samira, Alondra, and Anthony. Every one is a member in the family except for Anthony, the 12 year old boy. Elder Williams and I are in the process of teaching and preparing him to be baptized so that his family can be sealed. During weekly planning last week, Elder Williams and I felt inspired to set a date with Anthony for December the 25th. He was hesitant when we told him, but we know he will be ready by then. He knows everything is true and all, but he can not grasp that sin is sin whether you are baptized or not. We are planning on teaching him about how once you are baptized you recieve the Holy Ghost, which can be a help and a guide to keep you from falling into sin. His hold back is that when he turns 21, he wants to be able to drink...he thinks it is cool. It ultimately comes down to a matter of he has terribly awful friends as his influences.
Apart from this, this saturday two of our investigators are being married and baptized! They are so ready it is nuts. We went to the temple with them one last time as investigators sunday night and it was so exciting to tell them that in one year, they could be inside as an entire family and sealed for all eternity. The Husband, Moises, really grasped this and he wants nothing more. He is going to be a powerful member of the Church. The wife is still learning, but her entire countanance has changed since we began teaching her. She is happy, she talks, she reads, and best of all she makes us tamales! She has cooked us tons of food and she is good at it. The only issue is that she LOOOOOOVES spice. I always suffer in the bathroom the day after eating her food. I love it though!
For turkey day, a single lady (wealthy as all get out) has offered to feed all of the missionaries in our zone. So, it sounds like I should be getting a fairly traditional thanksgiving here. Probably just mass production style. This will be good because mexican thanksgiving is pretty rediculous from what I hear. They don't eat turkey, they don't eat pie. They have some drink that is baiscally like a bean smoothie. I hope I can avoid that one. I have not grown to like beans quite that much yet! You can all rest assured, I will be well fed and quite comfortable on thanksgiving day! Also, we start Christmas lights that day! YEAH! (If you can not tell, I am way excited...)
Stake conference was EXCELLENT! The Presiding Bishop, Sister Thompson (Gen. Relief Society), Elder Cook, and President Monson spoke. All of our investigators, recent converts, and life long members loved President Monson's talk. He spoke on serving others regardless of economic status, race, belief, habits, etc. I think this message was well needed for the members of my ward. Member retention in the Liahona 4th ward is pretty poor. Of 38 baptized last year, 17 are still active. 7 of those just moved to New Mexico. Home Teaching is below 25% and yeah, I could go on. I think that this was a sincere kick in the pants to our members and I have faith that things are about to change!
Sister Thompson's talk was fantastic, too! She spoke on the need of the Book of Mormon and how one is able to gain their own personal testimony of it's truthfulness. For our investigators, this was pure GOLD! One investigator, Guadalupe was really effected by this I think.
We taught a lesson with her last night and we read from Moroni Chapter(s) 7 and 10. Essentially, we are guiding her along the path to know that the Book of Mormon is from God. She loves the Book, but she just needs an answer before being baptized. She also will need to marry her husband or leave him. I would kind of hope for the latter because he is abusive and a drunk. There is a divorced, single man in our ward who is a recent convert to the Church. Armando Lopez. Elder Williams and I think they should pair up, but that is not our job as missionaries so we will allow Guadalupe to make her own decisions in that respect!
Dad! That one investigator I wanted to drop, Rick, came to Stake Conference and he love, love, loved it! We taught him also yesterday and he is actually progressing now! He said he loves the feeling of our church and he has an earnest desire to know if the Book of Mormon is true. He says, "The hardest thing for me to swallow right now is the story of Mr. Smith (Joseph Smith). Before I make any promises I need to gain a belief in what happened with him." When he said this, I just smiled. He is finally realizing what he needs to do to be able to find more happiness in life and more faith in Christ. We re-taught him the restoration and it actually made sense to him this time. He is a man of details so to explain the apostasy we had to teach him the whole history of the Catholic Church coming to power thtough constantine and such and then the reformation breaking ground for the restoration. Teaching in such depth really strengthened my testimony of the restoration. It is so clear that the world was being prepared for it. It is SO CLEAR!
All I heard from was my loyal and dear mother this week! Also from Grandma Sharon. I hope the rest of you are all doing well and enjoying yourselves. Know that I miss you and love you. Also, know that my mission is changing me as a person. Daily I find new faults and weaknesses that I am forced to improve. This mission is the greatest blessing ever to me, and I know that it is blessing you all as well! I love you and pray for you. Be happy, be safe, have fun, and go snowboarding for me! I miss you, but I don't want this to end! I NEED to be here!
With all my love,
Elder Jonathan Alma Pearson
(posted By Maddy)
Today is November 16th and it is 80 degrees out at 10am. Where am I at in the world? Clearly the desert because I froze last night. Haha, well, I am loving the weather. It has not even settled in that I am nearing the Christmas Season. I am used to cold and wet and snowboarding signifying the approach of the holidays. Here, the only clue I have is that slowly the temple grounds are being laced with lights of many colors. I am getting WAY excited for temple lights because on New Years Eve, the missionaries of the Phoenix and Mesa missions all get together to sing in a missionary choir. I know this next transfer is probably the last for Blake Davis so I am hoping to see him there at the temple lights sometime. I also hope to see Tyler Oliver and I think Derek Wood should be out in the field now, no? It would be so awesome to have a bethany ward/cedar mill stake missionary reunion at the temple! My companion and I are going to try and be at the temple every night with an investigator. The spirit on the temple grounds is so strong. I wuss up and usually end up crying by the time I leave every time.
As for the Family that sent you the email with the picture, they are the Cruz Family. Mom, Alizia, goes by Dora. Then you have dad, who is a truck driver looking for more steady work, and three kids named Samira, Alondra, and Anthony. Every one is a member in the family except for Anthony, the 12 year old boy. Elder Williams and I are in the process of teaching and preparing him to be baptized so that his family can be sealed. During weekly planning last week, Elder Williams and I felt inspired to set a date with Anthony for December the 25th. He was hesitant when we told him, but we know he will be ready by then. He knows everything is true and all, but he can not grasp that sin is sin whether you are baptized or not. We are planning on teaching him about how once you are baptized you recieve the Holy Ghost, which can be a help and a guide to keep you from falling into sin. His hold back is that when he turns 21, he wants to be able to drink...he thinks it is cool. It ultimately comes down to a matter of he has terribly awful friends as his influences.
Apart from this, this saturday two of our investigators are being married and baptized! They are so ready it is nuts. We went to the temple with them one last time as investigators sunday night and it was so exciting to tell them that in one year, they could be inside as an entire family and sealed for all eternity. The Husband, Moises, really grasped this and he wants nothing more. He is going to be a powerful member of the Church. The wife is still learning, but her entire countanance has changed since we began teaching her. She is happy, she talks, she reads, and best of all she makes us tamales! She has cooked us tons of food and she is good at it. The only issue is that she LOOOOOOVES spice. I always suffer in the bathroom the day after eating her food. I love it though!
For turkey day, a single lady (wealthy as all get out) has offered to feed all of the missionaries in our zone. So, it sounds like I should be getting a fairly traditional thanksgiving here. Probably just mass production style. This will be good because mexican thanksgiving is pretty rediculous from what I hear. They don't eat turkey, they don't eat pie. They have some drink that is baiscally like a bean smoothie. I hope I can avoid that one. I have not grown to like beans quite that much yet! You can all rest assured, I will be well fed and quite comfortable on thanksgiving day! Also, we start Christmas lights that day! YEAH! (If you can not tell, I am way excited...)
Stake conference was EXCELLENT! The Presiding Bishop, Sister Thompson (Gen. Relief Society), Elder Cook, and President Monson spoke. All of our investigators, recent converts, and life long members loved President Monson's talk. He spoke on serving others regardless of economic status, race, belief, habits, etc. I think this message was well needed for the members of my ward. Member retention in the Liahona 4th ward is pretty poor. Of 38 baptized last year, 17 are still active. 7 of those just moved to New Mexico. Home Teaching is below 25% and yeah, I could go on. I think that this was a sincere kick in the pants to our members and I have faith that things are about to change!
Sister Thompson's talk was fantastic, too! She spoke on the need of the Book of Mormon and how one is able to gain their own personal testimony of it's truthfulness. For our investigators, this was pure GOLD! One investigator, Guadalupe was really effected by this I think.
We taught a lesson with her last night and we read from Moroni Chapter(s) 7 and 10. Essentially, we are guiding her along the path to know that the Book of Mormon is from God. She loves the Book, but she just needs an answer before being baptized. She also will need to marry her husband or leave him. I would kind of hope for the latter because he is abusive and a drunk. There is a divorced, single man in our ward who is a recent convert to the Church. Armando Lopez. Elder Williams and I think they should pair up, but that is not our job as missionaries so we will allow Guadalupe to make her own decisions in that respect!
Dad! That one investigator I wanted to drop, Rick, came to Stake Conference and he love, love, loved it! We taught him also yesterday and he is actually progressing now! He said he loves the feeling of our church and he has an earnest desire to know if the Book of Mormon is true. He says, "The hardest thing for me to swallow right now is the story of Mr. Smith (Joseph Smith). Before I make any promises I need to gain a belief in what happened with him." When he said this, I just smiled. He is finally realizing what he needs to do to be able to find more happiness in life and more faith in Christ. We re-taught him the restoration and it actually made sense to him this time. He is a man of details so to explain the apostasy we had to teach him the whole history of the Catholic Church coming to power thtough constantine and such and then the reformation breaking ground for the restoration. Teaching in such depth really strengthened my testimony of the restoration. It is so clear that the world was being prepared for it. It is SO CLEAR!
All I heard from was my loyal and dear mother this week! Also from Grandma Sharon. I hope the rest of you are all doing well and enjoying yourselves. Know that I miss you and love you. Also, know that my mission is changing me as a person. Daily I find new faults and weaknesses that I am forced to improve. This mission is the greatest blessing ever to me, and I know that it is blessing you all as well! I love you and pray for you. Be happy, be safe, have fun, and go snowboarding for me! I miss you, but I don't want this to end! I NEED to be here!
With all my love,
Elder Jonathan Alma Pearson
(posted By Maddy)
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