Monday, February 16,
2015
My first week
training has been suhhhweeet. It’s been awesome having a new kid to take under
my wing. His name is Elder Christensen. He’s 18 and from Pleasant View, UT. We
are completely different as far as interests and personalities, but
surprisingly get along quite well! I also like him because he cleans too. We
love each other and work hard. We saw tons of people this week because we both
showed faith and dedication so our numbers are going up. One
thing we’re working on is to get him to talk more. He is very quiet and hasn’t
spoken up in lessons. I give him the chances during the lesson and then after
tell him that he could’ve said something. But he says he just never knows what
to say. I know that having him role-play more with me and study effectively,
he'll be more comfortable speaking. I can tell he’s just one of those kids that
never really learned how to speak to people he doesn’t know. So its silly, but
I’m patient with it and we'll keep trying. But we had a great week this week.
Our numbers more than doubled and we saw lots of different types of people,
less actives, members, investigators, recent converts.
So, as far as who’s
progressing and who we’re working with... Eva is still the same. Not ready to
be baptized, just isn’t quite sure and wants to talk to family. But we had a
great lesson on
Tuesday and finished all
her missionary lessons. Now my goal is to read the Book of Mormon with her and
address any concerns and to build her confidence in following Christ. She just
doesn’t like change it seems. I think her husband has been pushing her,
so the ward mission leader and I talked to him to let him know to not force it
upon her. It really is about her conversion and her life that she can live, not
just a statistic or another step along the way. I think he'll let her think
more. She says. Maybe we'll get a date this week. Eva
and her husband were at church this week! It’s always important having them
there. And, apparently, this time went
better than last time. Eva was more used to
the three hours and got more out of the lessons. That’s what she didn’t like
last time, too long and lessons didn’t make sense
We also got a new
investigator this week. It was a referral from Bishop! He always gives us good
stuff and things to do. Her name is Sannah (sen ah) and she is from Liberia.
She’s been in the US for a long time and speaks great English. We actually
taught our first lesson to her at a park. She forgot about the appointment and
said she was heading to the park to play with the kids but we could meet her
there and talk. So we did. We even had a kind member come with us. He shared a
lot of great insight and offered testimony often. It was way cool. The lesson
went well but it was super cold and that made my cough come in like crazy. I
felt bad that I was saying all these things and then I would have a coughing
fit. So, that’s been happening lately, just a ridiculous cough. I finally feel
that I’m not sick anymore today though. Before I was achy, runny nose and sinus
pressure. Now, its just a cough. But, she was at church Sunday, so that’s good.
But, it was awesome
last night. I was feeling super poopy, could hardly talk, hurt all over and no
one was answering. So I was thinking maybe we should go in early since I’ve
been sick for two weeks and haven’t taken any time off for it. My cold has been
a real butt kicker. We decided to try one more house and pray about it before
we went in. It was amazing to see that right after the prayer, both my
companion and I decided we needed to stay out the whole night. We really
thought about it and didn’t know what to do for a good 10 mins. I’m very glad
the Lord gave us an answer quickly. It turns out the person we tried wasn’t
home so we went to drop off some plates that a member gave dinner to us on. We
just expected to drop those off and go on with the night. But the member’s
sister was really sick and wanted a priesthood blessing and asked us if we’d
come over. So that’s why the Lord told us to stay out. She asked if we could
come in and we said unfortunately no, but she was willing to do a blessing on
the porch. Elder Christensen got to anoint for the second time and I gave the
blessing. It was a sweet experience, he
got to learn more and be more familiar and this sister probably had no one else
that would’ve come over that night. So we had a powerful blessing and we all
felt more at peace. I’m very grateful for that opportunity. It was super cool
too because The Lord told me I would make it if I stayed
out and now he healed me as I slept. So, I learned to just stick with him and
do my part first, then he'll do his.
So things out here in
this blessed land are great. I’m very happy, happier than usual. It’s always
interesting to see the times when I am happy and when I’m down. I’ve realized
happiness just comes through more obedience and faith. So, that’s what I’ve
juggled and now I recognize and try very hard to just let the Lord work through
me and give me the happiness he wants to give me. We
truly feel happier and more on top of things when we are obedient and we put
The Lord first and his children.
Love you tons,
Elder Janz
