Saturday, July 30, 2016

Pearland Texas, Week 91: June 13, 2016 - June 19, 2016

June 20, 2016

We had a solid week this week!! I loved our highlights that we had this time. One that I forgot to mention last week was that Brandon from Shadow Creek was married yesterday!! His wife is a non member so they did the marriage at the ward building  by the bishop. It was so awesome to see him again. His life is just becoming ultimately better and he's so much happier and more confident. There is definitely power in choosing the right and letting a relationship with God be our constant priority. He's also about to have his new baby in October. His wife is now looking into the church and coming on Sundays and hearing some lessons. Its amazing what can happen when you light one gospel spark in Houston and see what else it can light. Hear stories all the time about the radiance of converts and how others cling to it.

Austin is doing really good!  We had a little speed bump this week which scared me silly for like 20 minutes. So, she had called us one day and wanted to ask us about stake conference and one of the talks she had heard there. She felt offended and belittled by Elder Fosters talk at the end of Sunday. He was sharing how he is in the committee of restoration of blessings when people leave the church and come back. He, in essence,  taught that choosing to leave the church will lead to your life crumbling and that he will be the one in 20 years to be able to reestablish the membership again. She felt like he taught it in a fear seeking way. She also had concerns for her children and said she would not want her children to come to church if that was the type of warning  they would hear. She was pretty flustered but a lot of it comes from her having an ex boyfriend who left the church and they're still friends and I think she just saw that first hand so its a touchy situation. We just explained to her that Elder Foster would never purposefully implement fear through a talk. He still is a servant of the Lord, even if he's not perfect and that everyone in life has a different degree of living the gospel and a lot of times that changes how we respond to teachings like that.We ended up showing her that wasn't typical and that she wouldnt see much of that and she eventually felt better and was able to come to terms. She was fine the next day. We checked up on her to see and she was A okay and even gave her Presidents phone number which he recommended we do if she has big questions again. On a better note we just put together her baptismal program this weekend! She even had some hymns that she picked out "Joseph Smiths First Prayer" and "Be Still My Soul". We were impressed. She'll make it this Saturday and we'll have a jolly time!! Ward is all set to help out and attend as well.

 We got  new investigator this week too! Her name is Sarah and we taught her the Plan of Salvation as a first lesson even though it is number 2 normally because I felt prompted after hearing about how she had got slowly distanced more and more from God after her Gparents had passed away. I realized that knowledge of families being together forever in the Lords kingdom and helping her understand how God sees her as his daughter would be most important. Turns out it went great! she loved the lesson and we will be back soon.

I had some way cool district leader experiences this week too. So I heard that one of my zone leaders would be joining our district meeting in advance. Then a day before the meeting, President Hall shoots me a text "Hey where is your district meeting this week?" I was like, ohhh man. Then it got even better once I got there and setting up. Turns out that the zone leaders were on exchange with the APs that day, so in my meeting I had literally all leadership above me seeing how I do things. I didn't worry too much. Slight nervousness, but went away quickly. The best part is that I got compliments from all of them. They all sincerely enjoyed the meeting and the way I put things together and taught everybody. Made me feel pretty bomb.

I also got to go on exchange with an elder that I had never even spoken to until a couple weeks ago. He's now in the district and he came to my area for the day. We had an awesome time and we got to play street b ball with some kids our age and school them together! That was so cliche mormon missionary, but we had a good time and the dudes will have a better idea of the church and elders now, even though they didn't accept to hear us share a message after. We were able to go way out to the boonies again this week too! We had two appointments set up and they went pretty dang well. I've learned the more specific we plan things in life and ask the Lord, the more specific he will bless us and amplify the experience. Things are quite fun and exciting lately.

Thats sweet that Cleveland was able to get the big W. Lebron didn't really need it much but the team itself will be a boost and help them out. Most peeps in my mission cheer for everyone. Lots of kids still hold on to their favorite schools, NFL, NBA teams and what not. But, the longer they're out, the more Houston pride and the teams get cooler and cooler. Thats how i've been too.

Summer has definitely made its mark in both our homes right now it seems. We have been getting roasted lately. I swear, one day we were biking, I almost got pruny from the sweat that never seemed to dry out. My garments were dunzo haha\. Had to change when I got home because i would've felt bad for my bed to take those while sleeping. But we we're good about sunscreen this week. I got burned one day and just learned I can't even go out unless I spray up because it doesn't take long at all to get red.

Love you tons,                                                                                                                                             Janz

Brandon's Wedding

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