Dearest Family!
It is indeed HOT as all get out here in Phoenix. 109 was the high yesterday and it was brutal seeing as it was a fast sunday. We spend most of the day at the church in Branch Council and such, but the three hours we spent out proselyting before dinner were tough. Normally we would just walk around the area when an appointment falls through, but seeing as we were fasting, the idea of walking around without water was just and awful thought to fathom. So, we drove a good bit, and it turned out to be a very great, spiritual sunday.
This morning we hiked Camelback as the Phoenix Zone. 20 missionaries, President Ellsworth, and his son, who actually served with Kessler Garrity in the Albequerque mission. He said the entire mission knew Elder Garrity from the day of his arrival and he left a legendary mark on the mission. He said the mission really missed him when he was taken to farmington. President Ellsworth and us elders had a bit of a zone meeting on top of the mountain and it was great. From the top of camelback you can nearly see our entire mission, except for the parts in Payson and Snowflake. Our stake was the highest baptizing stake in Arizona last year with just over 130 baptisms stake wide. He says that we need to exceed that this year, and the keystone to that is member involvement. Members are so important. Thought you might not realize it, taking Bev and Hnery to these events and such does really help them. Fellowship and example are two incredible missionary tools. If you are not always on your best behavior, you can scar the Church's and the Lord's name. If you live the Gospel as it is taught to us, you can convert someone without hardly every talking about God. We just had a great man move into the branch who just went through a divorce. He left his wife because she picked up drinking after marriage and he just did not want that for his two sons. One turns nine this month, the other turns eight in august. They are going out of town, so techincially we are going to have to teach the 9 year-old so that he can get baptized. I think teaching a young child will really help my teaching skills. I need to teach simply and with the spirit, that's about the sum of it.
Number wise, this week was...mehh. Nothing remarkable. But, I have learned that numbers do not show a whole lot about what happened. Anyone could teach 40 terrible, quick, spiritless lessons in Phoenix. It is a city of 2.2 million people with 400,000 or so being hispanic. We did not teach 40 lessons. But, the lessons we did teach were awesome. We made some great progress with a number of people and have some members getting excited about missionary work. I am learning to relax and just do my best, and accept the result. A lot of my life I have be disappointed even after doing my best. The Lord is teaching me and helping me to change that. I am doing my best out here. I am growing in testimony and knowledge. Yeah, I am not super ripped in the upper body because I have baptized so many people, but I think my spiritual arms are pretty strong. Obviously, I still have a lot of growing to do as a missionary. I am not anywhere near where the Lord wants me to be. As a read the scriptures and pray sincerely I get some strong impressions about how much I need to improve. Nevertheless, I am loving my time here.
I won't go day by day, sharing every nitty, gritty detail, but I will share some strong spiritual experience with you.
The first came in the form of the Martinez family, the mormon.org referral we recieved about 2 months ago. For a long time, things were just moving really slow and I was worried we were going to lose that family. Elder Howard and I spent most of weekly planning with our thoughts on them. They are the family that the Lord has blessed us with. They are the ones who need the most of our time. As a result, something in Preach My Gospel caught our eyes. In the back there is this BIG page that says, "Remember This...". Well, we read those every morning in companionship study and one that really stood out was, "Contact all investigators daily". I will be honest. This is something I have never done. I have a great fear of offending people or harassing them or what not. But this time when I read it, it hit me. We are knocking on people's doors to give them the only thing that can truly make them happy. Why would we not talk to them every day? As a result, we made it a goal to contact them daily. We did and we saw great blessings due to that. We only taught Ivan Friday and Saturday. Our goal was his attendance at Church. We taught with that in mind. He LOVED the plan of salvation. For a 17-year old kid, Ivan is incredible. He reads the book of mormon, prays so sincerely, and loves when we come visit him. He has a great fellowshipper, Nefi Barajas. (Yes, his name is Nephi) Ivan did indeed come to Church. HE walked in and looked down the hall and saw one of his best friend who is a member of the English Ward, Osborn. He was like, "I didn't know he is mormon!" and many things in the like. It worked out perfect. He went to sunday school, priesthood, and sacrament. He sang, and just did great. He found out that his 5 best friends are members. He is going to go hike humphrey's peak this saturday with the YM. This is too good to be true. He is progressing. Loves church. And the best part, we taught him after Church and his DAD joined in. This is a man that is "catolico de hueso colorado" (catholic through and through). We just talked and let Ivan explain how the Gospel has already helped him. As a result, his father, Marco, expressed a lot more interest in learning. We are going to teach the whole family together this week! They will bless our branch so greatly, and our members are already there to support them! We are planning on a baptism in July for this family.
The other great experience, I told you about last week. The Carmona's. They too are someone we are focusing on and will continue to contact daily in some form. I love this little revelation and I think it will make all of the difference in helping us to help our investigators and friends here in Phoenix find the way to our Savior. The Carmona's are awesome. They read, they pray as a family now, and we are pretty sure they will be coming to Church this next week. They should have baptismal dates soon, 4 of them. I will keep you posted. We missed an appointment with them, which was tough, but we will be sure to visit them or contact them daily, somehow. I love these two families so much. Charity might actually be possible for me to attain in this life.
As for my birthday, I need some garment tops and bottoms. I will check. I have far too many ties right now, so do not feel like you need to send me any. I have 30-40 I think that I have got at Goodwill. I am into old, vintage polyester ties. They are better for the heat, the sun, and my style. My silk ties bleed and stain my shirts sometimes. I may send those home for dad to enjoy. The Donald Trump tie is pretty shnazzy. It is baby blue paisley. Very dad's style.
I do not need any excuse to eat more fast food. Some nights we do not have dinner, so we go out ocassionally. A back up supply of money in the bank would be best in case I need to buy extra food, clothes. Stuff like that. I am starting a diet this week that they say is good for missionaries in the summer. I will let you know. I am down about 15-20 pounds from where I started the mission at. Things are good. Health is good. tomorrow is 11 months. That is terrifying. My next month mark is a year! Time goes way, way too fast.
I love you all and do remember you in my prayers. I pray for mel. I do all that I can so that the Lord can spill out some more blessings on you all. Be good member missionaries. Read Preach My Gospel. Real Chapter 9 about finding, and read the section on the importance of members. You are better at finding prepared people than us missionaries! Refferrals, Referrals, Refferrals, Referrals! That is how the Lord's work moves on. I know that with 100% of my heart.
I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week! It sounds like the last one was good. This one should be better! Will! Do your homework. Maddy, I am terrified, yet proud of the fact that you can drive yourself to them gym now! You are all growing up so quickly. I love you so much!
Elder Pearson
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