Monday, November 24, 2014
Another crazy week. Weather is still so dark and rainy.
We have a weird thing here... sometimes the clouds decide to tease us and
instead of rain just blanket the city with mist. It gets everywhere and you
cant see, especially when driving. But yesterday and today have been warm and
sunny so it’s good to have both.
Monday, I went out
with a member while my companion helped at our FHE activity which was
basketball. We went to visit people and the first stop we made was at an old folks
home. I met an old lady named Alma Laurie and she has paintings in the Vatican!
She’s a renowned painter! She has Parkinson disease and cant talk or remember
much but she was an angel. That’s what I kept thinking. She was so happy to
have visitors. I gave her a blessing before we left and it was a very spiritual
experience.
We also visited
other families and i lead out the night. it was good to have responsibility and
show that i can be a leader. Tuesday, we did an
exchange and I had another major leader opportunity. Elder Walker, my MTC
companion, came to my area for the day. So, obviously we’re gaining trust
because were just young hooligans. But, we had a super day! We taught 5
lessons! A few weeks ago, Elder Ve'e and I said hi to a guy as we walked around
this one apartment complex and just talked to him for a minute. I decided with
Elder Walker to go check on that guy because we hadn’t seen him. He had
potential and I knew by the Spirit that he could become Christlike. So, we went
to his place. He wasn’t home, but his wife answered and said we could come back
that night. So later, we called a member to come with us and we taught this
family. Their names are Dave and Kasey and they have a 4 year old boy, Levi.
The first lesson went really well. Left them with a Book of Mormon and
Restoration pamphlet. This family is great. During the lesson, they were so
curious and willing to hear everything we had to share. Elder Ve'e and I
stopped by again a few days later and they were about to head out to see some
family. But, we quickly followed up on the Book of Mormon and what they were
thinking. Kasey read the Book of Mormon chapter we gave them, Dave didn’t have
time to read, but just knows it can
change his life and loves The Lord. We extended a baptismal invite and they
accepted. They”re gonna be baptized Dec 20! They’re doing
really good. We told them about church on Sunday and
they came! We had 6 investigators at church. Gotta love these people. This
family is golden. It’s what they've been waiting for. They have the faith they
just needed to know how to act with that faith.
Thursday, I
had another exchange because of MLC for my companion and elder i went on
exchanges with companion. We were in his area. That day was a toughy. It was
rainy rainy rainy. and we had to bike it all. We made brownies for some
families and delivered them in the midst of the storm. I got bugged because i
was getting so wet at first. But, then I realized that’s just how it’s going to
be and I got so wet it looked like i was swimming is my dress clothes. At that
point, we were just having fun with it and kept looking at each other and
laughing. The Lord showed me that i can do hard things. I kept thinking how
much stronger I would be and how much more love it showed when we arrived at
those houses.
Ashley will be
baptized in 5 days!! Way exciting. We still haven't got the details for the
time, program or who's baptizing. We'll figure it out tomorrow. She’s
doing so good. She’s living the word of wisdom, quick cigarettes and coffee
cold turkey. Usually, it’s coffee every morning and a few cigs a day. But,
she’s doing it, through the Atonement. I text her every morning to check on
her. I want to baptize her, just barely decided. My companion is good at
blessings, so I want to be in all white with her and do the outward ordinance.
She came to church yesterday even though she had a migraine. We gave her a
blessing that the pain would go and that she would continue to prepare for the
baptism on
Saturday.
I was at the
hospital last night and this morning. We went to see our neighboring ward
mission leader. We see all the time and
drive him around, go to dinner with, he even teaches with us and he runs our
FHE activities. But, he had a mini stroke yesterday at church and went to the
ER. We didn’t hear about it until nighttime, so we went to see him after our
dinner at a member’s. He’s okay. He has lots of pain and his left side and left
eye are a little messed up, but it might come back. He looked a lot better
today than yesterday. The hospital is doing their best. But that’s my crazy
week.
Things are fun. We got dinner at a member’s for
Thanksgiving this week. It should be splendid,
time to gain weight while everyone else worries about working it off. I
got the package, yes. Thank you for the card reader. I’ll send lots of pics
next week, baptism pics included. Way to go Jordan, That’s way fun! I’d love to
go to something like that. I’ll be at the Velascos for Thanksgiving. They live
close to the church and I know the dad pretty well. So, I’ll have a good week.
I miss you too. Holidays are better with family, but whatever, love knows no
bounds
Love ya
Elder Janz
