Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Alvin Texas, Week 39: June15, 2015 - June 21, 2015

Monday, June 22, 2015

So, this week was not expected!!! There was no new missionary that came in. President told us that the elder we were going to train went home. Made me sad because I wanted him to come. And, made me even more sad that he stopped serving. Also, the Astros game that we planned on having a good ol time at didnt happen as well.. That was rough. It was raining, blowing and thundering so hard that President told us it would be best to not go. It actually wasn't bad here in Alvin, just rained a little bit. But every surrounding city was nuts. It was kinda cool though because instead we got to camp out at the stake center because President didn't want us out. We all brought up our stuff and had lunch and played sports and watched movies.

Bill did not end up being baptized this week unfortunately. He's been out of contact. We think he might be nervous to talk to us since he's been out of contact and knew he had a baptismal goal for last weekend. So, maybe he'll talk to us more now that he knows our first goal won't work but that we can give it another and better try.

One really cool thing that did change about our companionship is that Elder Havea became my district leader! It's way fun because we can do all our leadershippy stuff together now. We get reports from the missionaries together so we can talk about plans and how to help the district. We actually had the chance to do our first baptismal interviews together! I forgot that that was another one of our leadership responsibilities until the sisters called us and asked if we could interview one of their investigators. I was pretty nervous. I realize I basically take the place of a bishop and become a judge in Israel! So, I had my interview, it went really well. The investigator is super ready. He had a long journey and was taught forever. He just struggled with the word of widsom and finally got that taken care of. It was good to hear about how he finally gave everything up. He was super talktive too. It was funny because I had to keep him on track of the baptismal interview questions because he was just so excited to tell me his whole life story. So, the next day Elder Havea had his first interview too. It was awesome because I got to go with him and help him understand they aren't as scary as they seem. He interviewed a young kid that has autism. it was such a neat experience. The spirit was so strong because the kid still knew the gospel so well and Elder Havea was so good with him and asking the questions more simple and helping him feel excited.

We met with Eric a couple times this week. It's gonna be hard but he can possibly still make his baptism this week. If not, next week. He needs to be married too. He's been talking to his girlfriend about it. We told him Bishop could do it for free and it would be quite easy and he was happy to hear. Karen is doing way well. We are going to see her tonight. She still hasn't accepted a baptism date but were going for that tonight. She is reading tons still and is just so curious it makes it so easy to teach. A lot times she asks questions that lead into the lesson right as we get there and it works out perfectly.

Im super excited because President Ashton is about to go home and we're having a final zone conference tomorrow! It's sad he's leaving, but he's gonna rock our socks with some amazing training and stories he's never told us yet, save the best for last. But things are going really well out here. Elder Havea and I are super determined to get a lot done. We also met some new investigators. One is way solid as his name is Asa. He's got tattoos from head to toe. He is super nice and really smart too. He already learned a ton about the church from friends and so when we taught him the Restoration he kept saying " I believe that for sure, that just makes sense!" I also got a new bed today. Our apartment got inspected by the office missionaries a while ago and they said they'll come back soon and get us a whole new bed set, box spring, mattress and bed frame because ours were kinda lame. So, that's what went down this morning and I'm excited to see how much of a diffrence it makes.

Love and miss you,

Elder Janz

Monday, July 20, 2015

Alvin Texas, Week 38: June 8, 2015 - June 14, 2015

Monday, June 15, 2015

Had a pretty fun week! A lot has happened and about to happen! So for starters, Marjorie from my last area got baptized!!! I actually got to go. We had a good talk and she was way happy I came and kept hugging me. Was way fun seeing the last ward too. Such an amazing experience seeing her make that covenant. I got to be in the circle when confirming her. She also bore her testimony right after that! She did so well. The church is true. Experiences like that are just even more witness.

Also, this week is transfers. No one in my companionship is leaving, but Elder Pantz and Havea are going to be dads together. We're getting a newbie and we're going to be a trio!!! I'm so excited. Never been in one, but theres a lot of them in the mission now and they look fun. So we're going to co-train this new elder. I only meet new missionaries if I'm going to train them. We don't pick them up, we just meet them at the mission office transfer day.

This week was pretty good for us. Again we did the service on and off. I thought last week was the final trip, but there's just always someone or something to help with. We got to pass out flyers made by the city this week saying they can help some houses with damage and restoration. My district leader and I were put together with a bunch of sisters in a group and we had a blast racing to see who could put a flyer on each door on each street. We also helped a lady who is hoarder take out some trash to the curb. She isn't in good shape, least her house isn't. She's got sooooo much stuff, all wet and waiting to be sorted.

The work is going really well. I've been really happy and positive. People are really respecting me as a leader and the investigators are gems. We are seeing some real growth in the area with investigators. Hopefully we get a baptism or two at the end of the month. We have Bill and Eric that should be ready on the 28th. Also a couple in July. Still finding new people.

This week we had an awesome awesome lesson with Eric. We talked about the word of wisdom. I wasnt planning on teaching it but it was cool because the spirit just lead me that way because Eric started talking about not liking smoking but hes trying to quit and we also had a member with us who had to quit smoking years ago and they got along great. So I changed the lesson from temples and family history to word of wisdom. But, I've never had such a spiritual experience talking about that. It went way well. He understands and is willing to start quitting. He also was surprised about coffee and tea. But, he came to church this week agian. And, it's funny because we had stake conference Saturday and Sunday. and we went to the stake center and he went to the regular ward building. So, we didnt get to see him but he probably learned tons from watching the broadcast. It was a great conference. The Elder from the Seventy called up all the missionaries in the stake and asked us in front of everyone what members can do to be more part of the missionary work. He almost called on me but called on the elder next to me. I got to meet him after. He was funny, great speaker too. Oh, and Charles decided he's not interested in the gospel anymore. Not a shocker. He has been leaning that way for two weeks. We're a little sad, but saw it coming.

But, we did a blitz this week as a zone. What that is, is where we as a zone all go to one companionships area and OYM and tract to be able to help them find new people to teach. Turns out that some of the people found were English speakers and it was in the Spanish elder's area, which is our area too. So, we got a couple referrals from that. We went to an appointment, other missionaries set for us a couple days after the blitz, with an investigator named Karen.She's a really neat lady. She is very prepared to hear our message. We taught about the Book of Mormon and she was just fascinated. She is a historian and she said it all just makes sense. She is also a big reader and told us that she wants to finish the Book of Mormon this week. She's fun to teach. She is just soaking everything up so well and way excited when we come over. We went over earlier today and taught the full restoration. the spirit made her cry when my comp shared about Joseph Smiths story and first vision. She also had some good questions from her reading. She accepted to be baptized but didn't want a date quite yet. So that was our miracle this week. It was way fun.

We still have Bill set to be baptized this weekend but that might not happen. He needs a lot more lessons and he is hard to get in touch with. We'll see, have faith I guess. And, Eric is still committed to June 28. But this week was pretty fun. We had a good time. We're actually going to an Astros ball game, so stay tuned. Gonna be legit.

The storm we're getting is a pretty big deal I guess. We'll be alright. Some places are evacuating, but were staying. All the stores today ran out of water. We had to go to League City to get our groceries because Alvin was a mad house. Things are solid though. Going to be a crazy week this week. Got an Astros game tomorrow and then transfers on Wednesday.

Love you,

Elder Janz



Marjorie

The District



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