Alvin Texas, Week 37: June 1, 2015 - June 7, 2015

Monday, June 8, 2015

What a week! I wish i could just email every day to ya’ll so that i woudln’t forget things and that you could hear everything. But, this week was fun fun. On Tuesday, Elder Havea stayed back in the area and ran things while I went with others to do service in H town. I received the prompting that that was how we needed to do things. There’s a lot to be done,not just in Houston with flood clean up, but that we also need to be staying in our area taking care of the people every day as well. So, we took turns going up and the other stayed. worked out really well actually. This week was the last week that we will be helping up in Houston

Wednesday morning, I had my first MLC! That’s the mission leadership council. Elder Ve'e and I went together. It was funny because even though it was my first time, I could still tell things were not as good as they should be there. President was only able to stay for about 30 minutes then go to Houston and do interviews with the press. Plus they decided to do the meeting last minute. It wasn’t horrible though.

We found some new investigators this week. We got some referrals and talked to lots of people. On Friday, we had our zone meeting. My first being a leader. Elder Ve'e and I put it all together and planned what would happen. I gave a training on the importance of church and the sacrament and prayer. It was crazy too because one of the assistants to the president called me the night before and said he wanted to come down to be in our zone meeting and that he wanted to spend the day there and work the area with me after. So, he was there and he said it was a great meeting! He loved the way we addressed zone goals and concerns. That made me feel good. He said he wants me to lead out setting goals at the next MLC because of what he saw! We had a good day together after the meeting. He taught me more about what I can be doing as a zone leader at lunch. We went out and taught people after that and worked way well together. Felt like I had to be perfect around him, ha ha.

On Saturday we had an awesome opportunity to go have dinner with Bishop. He invited his friend Bill, who is actually one of our investigators, over as well. We had a great lesson and bishop taught him a lot too. It was amazing because we hadn’t been able to see Bill in ages and all of sudden we get this ideal situation to help him come unto Christ. Because of that he also came to church the next day. This week we had 5 investigators at church! We had Bill, Eric and his family, and an investigator that the elders used to teach a while ago show up and show interest again. Her name is Daverine, and we jumped right on that. I introduced myself and got to know her more. We actually spent the whole third hour in church getting to know her and then teaching about the same things I did the training on in zone meeting, Sacrament and prayer. Must be a big deal to the Lord. She wants to be baptized. We’re going to see her more this week and set a date and help her progress.

Met with Charles more as well. We’re going to have him get interviewed this week by one of the mission presidency to see if he is accountable enough to be baptized because he’s got some autism we think and his comprehension and maturity aren’t too high. But we'll see! I’m excited for this week. We should be done with Houston service. and we got baptisms right around the corner. We got Charles, Bill, and Eric. Eric is pretty awesome. He comes to church quite a bit and we can see him consistently. He’s a 40 year old rocker dude. We get along because he loves rock and fishing, so after lessons we talk about all that,  haha. But this week was a blast.

Love you,

Elder Janz

Elder Deans with fellow missionaries who volunteered after the flood

Alvin Texas: Weel 36: May 25, 2015 - May 31, 2015

Monday, June 1, 2015 - Pictures Coming

Twas a weird week... But it was good! We just didn’t get to teach or stay in our area much. We had the mission temple trip on Thursday. We left Wednesday night so we wouldn’t have to leave way early the next morning. We stayed in Floodville (Houston). That place got messed up by the tornado and rain. But the temple was super cool. Did an endowment session and had a long training and discussion with the mission president and temple president right after. We also had a super cool chance to go back to the celestial room even after the training. So we came in the back way and were just wearing our whites. It was a way spiritual day. I learned so much more about the pre earth life and the amount of faith that we had in order to come here and serve. The spirit was strong throughout and it made it easy to learn and be so uplifted.

Then on Friday we got called into Houston to work with the city and clean up all day. We didn’t have much rain in Alvin We worked from 9 to 6. It was a long day but we did everything from bringing out wet furniture and appliances to the curb and cut out carpet and mop. We also got called in again on Saturday and did more cleaning. That day I got to pull out floor tacs and move more things around peoples houses and yards. It looks like a hurricane came through some neighborhoods because of the mountains of trash. President said this is all an answer to our prayers and fasts for mission work, because we’re meeting so many people and some of them want to be taught and others just have lots more respect for the church.

We had no investigators at church yesterday!!! It was sad. We could’ve had more if we were actually in the area and had more time. But we found a miracle investigator. He’s from Utah as well! His name is Brendan and he met the Spanish elders out eating and recognized them as missionaries and talked to them. Then they referred us to him. He’s really friendly, and he gets way into the lessons. He even fed us both times we saw him. We had a great restoration lesson and answered some crazy questions he had. He accepted to be baptized early July! We unfortunately haven’t heard back from the Vera family, pretty sad because they were golden and now who knows. Charles isn’t doing so good. We can meet with him but we doesn’t understand much and we don’t know if he actually wants to be baptized. He’s also autistic so we gotta be careful. President told me to just have him interviewed by his counselors to see if he could even be baptized. Hopefully! I’ll keep faith in him. Josh, i did hear about though, he’s not doing good either. He isn’t in touch and always unavailable to the missionaries.

But things are going swell! My companion is doing great. He is learning so much. His English gets better every week and we get along awesome. We have so many good people that were teaching. We’re also working with a few less actives and recent converts that are doing better. It’s been fun to be a zone leader during all this craziness of the temple and storms up the wazoo. Had to do a lot for my lovely fellow missionaries. Everyone’s okay though. 

Love ya,

Elder Pantz 

Elder Deans in his volunteer Shirt

Aftermath of Flooding

More belongings trashed from flooding

Tree carved into space shuttle!

Elder Deans Feeding a baby kitten



Elder Havea & Elder Deans at the Houston Temple

Alvin Texas, Week 35: May 18, 2015 - May 25. 2015

Tuesday, May 26, 2015 

Had a splendid week! Sorry I didn’t talk yesterday. We didn’t have the day off since it was a big holiday. There was so much that happened and it wore me out. I actually got to do lots of lawn care service yesterday. I mowed a lawn for the first time yesterday. It was way fun. It was for an older lady in the ward and I got sunburned on my neck,  ha ha. I miss real lawns and grass. Out here grass is crabgrass and weeds and morning glory.

The work is going so well out here. The investigators are doing wonderful. We had tons of investigators at church. . We had 8 investigators in church just from our companionship and the other companionship had two. So, it was fun. Seriously, we actually had 10 between us and the other missionaries  It was awesome because Eric, one investigator has been telling us he will come and come and he wasn’t showing up to church. This week, we didn’t call him before, but invited him a few days ahead and wasn’t sure if he would come. He ended up coming and totally shocked us. He was invited to be baptized a while ago and said he would make that decision when he comes to church. He ended up coming and low and behold he actually talked about baptism! We were in priesthood opening exercises and this other investigator, who is mentally handicapped, got introduced and said he wanted to be baptized on June 28 to everyone. Eric was right by him and said, “that’s my birthday! I should probably get baptized then too!" So bishop just looks at me from the pulpit and laughs and then we knew that Eric was kind of serious. It was amazing. After church we went over to see what he thought of church and talk about baptism and he said he would commit to June 28.

So, now we have 3 baptismal dates. Charles won’t make the 30th. He’s also handicapped, but not severely and isn’t understanding much. So, we have Bill and Mario on June 20th and Eric on the 28th. Bill is doing awesome. He came to church for the first time in a while. He’s a good friend of bishop so we work together to help him and I think he can make his date. Mario is doing good but we went to go see him and his wife yesterday and they weren’t home. They cancelled their appointment. We actually watched the movie Joseph Smith with them and taught about the Book of Mormon last week.

So Josh was supposed to get baptized last week. I didn’t hear anything. I’ll ask Elder Christensen, but who knows. Josh has good missionaries helping him. Here we don’t do a basketball night but we do a volleyball night every Tuesday. We invite less actives, investigators and members and do family history and play lots of volleyball and get dinner. It’s been way fun.

I got to do my first zone leader exchange yesterday. It was awesome. Had a good friend in the Spanish ward come to my area and he’s the District Leader. Stayed up late all night talking. Felt so good to have another bud to relate to. We biked like crazy all week. really didn’t get wet though. Farmer tan is nuts. I’ve even got a collar shirt tan. and a really nice watch tan too, that one is my favorite. I will be at the temple on Thursday so I’ll send lots of pictures next week. We’re going as a mission.

 I have only had to speak once in church. Just in my first area. All the other times I’ve done stuff in church is just bearing testimony in sacrament meeting.  We have had tons of storm warnings, but things are fine out here. But, we have lots of missionaries stuck in Houston due to horrible floods. As we are in the middle of our mission temple sessions, only half of the sisters made it to the temple that were supposed to today. We’re prepared for everything, yes.

This week was really fun. I have had so many good experiences with the companion, gettin along great. Investigators are doing swell. Met some new ones this week too. Passed out a few Books of Mormon. Didn’t get to play the guitar, but maybe tonight. 

               

Love you!

Elder Pantz   

Alvin Texas, Week 34: May 11, 2015 - May 17, 2015

Monday, May 18, 2015

This week was a blast! The zone leader things are going really well. I’m figuring it out and loving it. It’s fun to be able to get to know and offer so much help to the fellow missionaries in the zone each night. I now know what’s going on, got my head on straight. Don’t worry about me and the challenges. I’ve been humbling myself, asking for more help and praying a lot harder. I know I can do all that I need to for my area and for the zone. 

Had a good week! It was good to be able to have things back to normal and to dig my heels in. And, things are heating up as far as the work goes. Companion and I are doing awesome! I love him. We can be so goofy together. I’m also teaching him English and he’s learning a ton. He is already conversational and has good English, we’re just working on pronunciation and vocab

One miracle we saw this week was that we met with Charles, an investigator who’s only a couple years older than me. We taught him about repentance and baptism. He was supposed to be baptized this week, but due to not coming to church last week, he wasn’t able to make it. But, we had a super lesson and extended a new date and he was willing to give more effort to come closer to Christ. He  accepted a baptismal date for May 30^th. He also committed to come to church. It was way funny how that worked out. We told him he would have a ride and we would be there Sunday morning. We show up and he is asleep, so we had to wake him up and wait for him to get ready. But, it was sweet because he was still willing to come and we even made it on time. That was the first time that I had gone to an investigators house to help them get to church. It totally works! We gotta do all we can to help them act and it paid off.

We also met some new investigators by talking to everyone on the streets. We also got a really solid referral from the Spanish missionaries. It was to a part member family. We’re meeting with them tonight and they’re excited to have us over since the wife is a member and the husband is not. But, he is ready to learn more. We are also working with another part member family named the Herrings. Same thing, the wife is a member and the husband is not. But he’s been motivated to be baptized because his son was a couple weeks ago.

I haven’t heard anything from Memorial. Hopefully next week since Josh has his baptism next weekend. But things are awesome. Lots of good people out here and my companion is doing good and learning lots of English.

The weather actually hasn’t been that bad. It was supposed to dump this past week. It only really rained hard on Tuesday and we got soaked to point of pruney. It was ridiculous. It looked like it would rain all week, but thankfully never came down. I am definitely laughing and playing guitar more. That was perfect advice. It’s what makes me me and I’m loving life. 

Love,

Elder Janz

Saying goodbye to all my favorite people in Memorial City.   Top: Two awesome members   Below:  Josh on the right and his brother Montoi on the left.

                                                  Twin Banditos, ha ha :)

A long day biking in the rain, sopping, sopping wet! Plus, the fantastic Kermit Chia

Alvin Texas, Week 33: May 4, 2015 - May 10, 2015

Monday, May 11, 2015

So this was quite the week. It was so good to be able to leave my last area in good shape. I hope and pray that my training with Elder Christensen will pay off and he can do alright. I got to give two blessing back to back right before I left. That was great! 

My new area is Alvin Texas. It’s close to League City and is a whole lot more country than anything I’ve seen. It’s a way cool change, very quiet here and more rednecks. My new companion is Elder Havea and he is from Tonga. He’s been awesome. We have so much fun together. We have a few investigators. Lots of part member families. We have one baptismal date for June. Hopefully we’ll get some new ones this week. None of the investigators came to church unfortunately. We tried. But, this week will be good since there aren’t so many big events going on, just a zone conference tomorrow. This new area we just strictly bike. It’s a smaller area though, so we have stores and church close. Just not too much in the town. 

The craziest part about transfers was that President called me a little bit before and told me about my new area. He also told me that the Lord has called me to be a zone leader in my new zone. That was wacky. But its been quite fun and I’m pickin it up. Last night, I had to do numbers and I’ll be doing some more later, but its been a good calling. The zone is solid. I like them all. Not really many issues or big problems in companionships and stuff. It was a weird week last week. So much happened. It was nice to just think and then sleep last night. Much needed rest. I’m excited to work all week this week and then report to ya’ll next time.

Love,

Elder Janz

Memorial City, Week 32: April 27, 2015 - May 3, 2015

Monday, May 4, 2015

So, here’s the hot poop... I’m gettin the boot. I’ll be transferred on Wednesday. I won’t know where until then. But,I can still assure you that we will talk on Sunday! Its pretty tough knowing I’m off to a new adventure. Elder Christensen is nervous and I have to help him feel confident in taking over the area. He can do it. He’s had the practice and has been learning from my example for a long time. I totally saw this coming though, I could just tell it was my time. But, I’m grateful. It’s always great to be able to see more of the mission and work with another elder. I wont be training again! At least know that much.

Some other cool news, I ate some weird exotic food this week for the first time. We had dinner with a Peruvian family from the ward last night and they told me to try this meat that they had. They asked if I wanted to know what it was before I ate it or after. I told them to tell me after, I had already finished it, ha ha. Turns out, it was kinda gross. It didn’t have much flavor and it was pretty chewy. It was eticocha, cow heart. I don’t think I’d be able to eat it again knowing what it was. But, I’m super happy to see I’ve had something way out there! And that I was able to eat it and neither gag or make me feel sick.

Things with Josh are good and bad. Bad news... he didn’t make it to church. He also can’t make the 16th for baptism. But, on the bright side, we had a cool lesson and taught him about temples and family history this week. President Ashton wants us to teach about it right after they decide to be baptized to help them get excited and also feel responsibility to work and be baptized for their ancestors. It helps them a lot. Josh thought it was amazing and would love to go to the temple with us. He also almost made up for the not showing at church by sending me a text yesterday asking what he should be reading in the Book of Mormon. I reminded him of the chapter we left with him and he read it that night. So that shows he still likes reading. There was just a huge championship fight this weekend on tv. It was like the super bowl out here. Talk of the town. Josh stayed up late doing that and was too tired for church. I tried to plead with him Sunday morning, but he didn’t answer. So, I just had to leave a message.

Saturday night and Sunday were way fun though. We had stake conference. Elder Hallstrom from the Presidency of the Seventy came to visit with another brand new authority named Elder Haney. They were so inspired. Stake Conference is awesome. Things are taught in such a great way. We didn’t ride the bikes quite 18 miles this week, ha ha, no. We rode a lot because it was the end of the month but then we purged on the car when May started. We still work out every day. Yeah I couldn’t go without it. Even in the next area I’ll make sure it happens. We just had a gym here at this place. I hope I get one in the next area. I’ve had plenty to eat. We’re getting fed more and more and also lots of good food at the apartment when we don’t.

Things are pretty good. We saw lots of members and less active members this week. A family that’s recently gone inactive recently and that we've been working with, let us come over on Tuesday. They also had no idea about stake conference, so we gave them the low down and they actually came! It was sweet to be able to see them acting and making commitment for the Lord again. Glad we were part of it.

Love,

Elder Janz

Memorial City, Week 31: April 20, 2015 - April 26, 2015

Monday, April 27,2015

Had a sweet week! Miracles were popping up because I think we’ve been working harder than ever before. Plus, we’ve been a lot more obedient and patient with the Lord. Had a good week this week! Josh got to come to a baptism in our ward, someone that the sister missionaries taught. We also know the family way well and the girl who got baptized I even taught a little too.  But Josh liked it. He learned what they’re like and got excited for his in a few weeks. We weren’t able to teach him this week though, so that stunk. But,  I’ve never brought an investigator to a baptism, so i know that’s a big accomplishment.

We also found new investigators this week, 3 to be exact. They’re all kind of neat stories and miracles. So, the first two were found by us talking to some guy on the street a little bit ago. He said we could come by and share more with him. So, we went to meet back up with him and he wasn’t home. Tried again another day and same thing. Then, finally his roommates answered. But, again he’s not home, But this time the spirit told to keep talking to the roommate. We got to know him a little and explained who we are and i asked if we could share our message with him. He let us in and we had a way good lesson. His name is Mike. Turns out,  he’s been looking for a church. He was way curious and eager to learn. And he accepted to be baptized but doesn’t want to set a date yet. Then, as we are leaving, the other roommate who was listening in from another room, said that he would take a Book of Mormon as well. We felt way cool after that. Those miracles are just so fun. We went back a couple days later and Mike wasn’t home, but the guy that wanted a Book of Mormon was and he let us in. He wants to hear the lesson we had with Mike. His name is Larry. We had a great lesson with him too, and he even accepted to be baptized May 30! So, its been nuts with this house and whats turned out from just talking to one guy on the street. It just shows that some people really are waiting to hear from us and ready to move on

We got in touch with Marjorie this week. Weren’t able to teach but we talked for a little bit and  set up to go see her tomorrow. So we will invite her to be baptized in a couple weeks. She is really close. She just keeps losing contact and getting busy. She only needs a few more lessons.

The other new investigator that we found was a neat story too. We actually met him two months ago and again was just an OYM (Open Your Mouth) or quick conversation on the streets. We gave him our card with info and tried meeting with him, but it never worked out and we lost contact. But, he held on to that card and this week he looked at it and called us because he got kicked out of his house. His family is crazy and he’s on the streets for a little while. He wanted to go to church and hear more about our message. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find him a ride. But, we met him last night. I brought him some food and water too. He’s a way cool kid. He’s 29 and his name is Gene. We had a good talk and then taught the first lesson. We actually taught it in front of the local high school on a bench because it was closest and most comfy I suppose. We also saw some less actives come to church again this week. It’s awesome because we keep working with them and they’re getting back into the swing of things.

We biked a lot this week. We biked over 18 miles on Friday. We went into the sisters area during the day. They’re in the ward,  but the other half. We decided to try some less active families over there. The families the sisters haven’t tried. It was fun to see a newer part of Houston. We even biked along a busy highway at one point, haha.

But things are pretty good. Elder Christensen is doing better and better. He’s still a little reserved on teaching powerfully and being able to elaborate and teach more than a small idea. But we talked about it a lot last night and he said he is still nervous and feels weird teaching. So, we needa help him get some social skills we decided. He needs to be less shy and more confident in himself. Plus transfers are coming up next week, so we might get split up. I’ll let you know next time. I actually think I will get transferred, who knows though. 

Love,

Elder Pantz 

When I told the restaurant my name was Lehi for my order

Looks like I'm almost home!

Here's the wreckage after rain storms!

Memorial City, Week 30: April 13, 2015 - April 19, 2015

Monday, April 20, 2015

Had a pretty good week this week! Definitely saw the miracles come down. So, the first was that we were able to meet with Tami. It had been just over a month. She’s been so busy and she also got sick somewhere in that gap. We were just about to give her a break because every time we set an appointment she would cancel the day before. Buuuutttt, this week we had an idea to find out what we can do to hold on to her. We just showed up and surprised her on Wednesday. We didn’t call like before, just wanted to come by and hope for the best. It was funny because as we walk in the complex, I was like "man someone is really rocking out!” There was some 80s pop being blasted from around her area. Then we get closer and find out it was her apartment! She had the door open. I went upstairs and poked my head in and said, "excuse me?" over the loud music. She was just cleaning the place like crazy. Then she heard me and was really happy to see us. It was a good reunion. She let us in and we had a solid lesson. This is only the second time we have seen her. So, we just went over and asked what she remembered from the first time and clarified and reminded of the importance of the restoration. But the best part about it was that she remembered the major points we talked about the first time! She remembered exactly what revelation was and why Joseph Smith was so important. She even said she wants to come to church not even being asked. She didn’t make it yesterday, but she will be there next week. And, she accepted to be baptized She just didn’t want to set a date. We'll try again on Wednesday.

Another miracle is that we were able to meet with Josh again and had a great second lesson. It was awesome following up about what he thought about the Book of Mormon and our first visit. He read the Book of Mormon like we asked and he received an answer that it is true, way cool!! By the time we left he accepted to be baptized on May 16^th. We addressed his concern of not being ready by telling him he’s already making huge steps and that if he continues to meet with us and comes to church, he'll naturally feel more worthy like he wants to and be ready for baptism. It’s weird teaching him too because he’s my age and we could just be friends and hang out if i wasn’t serving.

Another cool miracle was that we were able to have a first lesson with a dude that lives in our complex and we've known for a while. He’s said he wants us to come over but we've tried and tried for months and have just missed him. We keep seeing him and saying hi and setting something up and repeat. But, we saw him last night and ended up teaching him in a bad rainstorm in the middle of the parking lot in his garage. It was so cool that we finally had a sit down lesson, and quite a unique one as well. But that went really well and he wants to be baptized, just doesn’t want to set a date because he’s always so busy. His name is Dante.

Marjorie was not baptized this week. We haven’t been able to get in contact with her. She does this every once in a while and its lame, but we keep trying and she finally gets in touch. The good part is that she isn’t bugged by our persistence and appreciates our concern. We’ve been talking to the Mayberry’s. They haven’t sent us their address, we’ve tried. I’m just glad they’re doing okay and they’ve got a place. Things are quite nice out here though. Elder Christensen is teaching more. It’s finally not just Elder Deans teaching and a few words from his companion. It’s becoming more equal. 

Man, we have been getting so dang wet on the bikes lately. I went through every shirt and all my pants this week in laundry. Every day the mud gets me. It was ridiculous on Thursday night. We biked home from basketball and it was raining pretty good. We get going and I think man... we’re pretty wet and we’re not even half way. Then a few minutes later, since the streets were so full of water, I got 'tidal waved', as we call it. A car flung all the water gathered around the curb up at me, just like in the movies. I literally screamed right after because it was so much water and it was like the ocean fell on my lap. That’s when I realized, noowwww  I’m wet. Before, that was nothing. So we made it home safe, but everything was absolutely soaked, like swimming. Our scriptures and phone were okay because we kept them in baggies within our carry bags. That was a fun night. It was classic missionary struggle on the bike. But, this week was a good week. We did tons of service.at Goodwill, it’s like Texas DI. We helped some members move and got lunch money from it. Also helped a non-member lady with the sister missionaries reorganize and clean her house after having a 'Night in Paris' party. She was awesome. The sisters are going to start teaching her now because we all had a lesson before we left. 

Love you,

Elder Janz

Memorial City, Week 29: April 6, 2015 - April 12, 2015

Monday, April 13, 2015

Had a pretty fun week! A lot of things happened actually. Some highlights being that we went to the temple this Tuesday! It was so fun. We did initiatory and endowment! It was awesome to be able to do initiatory again, been since home. We went as all the elders in the zone. It’s so fun going with people you know and having that bond you wont get anywhere else.

We also did two exchanges this week, so Elder Christensen was out of the area on Wednesday and Saturday. I got to host one of the new zone leaders on the first one. We clicked a ton. I like him. Then my district leader came to my area for the second exchange. They went well and I think they helped Elder Christensen.

We also got a new investigator out of our basketball night! It was amazing because last week one of my favorite kids that comes all the time said that he wanted to be baptized. So we talked to him and found out he lives close and we can start teaching him! He agreed to have us come over and we actually had a first lesson with him, went really well. He accepted to be baptized but said he wants to get his life in order first, feels like he needs to start hanging out with better friends, making better choices and just becoming more spiritual. But, that’s great because it shows he understands the importance of baptism. We also were thinking that those concerns would go away as he starts having more lessons and coming to church. He'll see that you don’t need to be perfect for baptism and he'll naturally stay away from the things that make him feel less spiritual.

Another crazy thing.. the Mayberry family got kicked out of their apartment and had to move unexpectedly. So that was quite disappointing. But we will track down the missionaries that work where they live now and go with them and have a nice introduction and trade off. Hopefully they get baptized over there and I get word and I’ll go over and be there for it.

We haven’t been able to meet with any other investigators this week. Marjorie is the only one eligible for baptism this month. The others needed to come to church this week to make their date but they weren’t able to. But it was awesome because two less active sisters we visited right before conference came to church this week! it just shows, a little reminder can bring about change and then people realize what they were missing and want it back. They hadn’t been to church in a long time.

The bike is working great. I just need to wash it off. It’s super dirty and has mud build up all over. I’m gonna ask some people from the ward about a hose, it’s hard to find them out here. But, those that have a house should let us use them. Getting tons of miles on the saddle, we also have a car too. Last night there was a fireside where they were teaching more about family history at the church and it was way fun because Elder Christensen and I biked to it. It was looking rainy and we thought we could beat the rain there. We got just past half way and then it started pouring. We were soaked as we walked in. Then we got all cold because of the a/c.  Elder Christensen is still growing. He is teaching a little bit more and he’s loving it out here. We get along great. I think one of us is getting transferred though. We'll see in a few weeks.

Love you,

Elder Janz

Memorial City, Week 28: March 30, 2015 - April 5, 2015

Monday, April 6, 2015

Had a solid, solid week. Much better than last week. Just shows... life isn’t fair, but when things are good, the Lord is blessing us so things are more than fair. Conference was just amazing. Much anticipated for me. I was like a kid about to get a new toy on Saturday morning when it started up …so stoked. We watched conference at the church chapel. We also went over to some wardies and watched the Saturday afternoon session and had yummy dinner. We also got fed last night too. So we liked that a lot.  Even with lots of time devoted to watching conference, we got a lot done. Feels good to go from a rough week, last week, to a hard working, successful and even really spiritual week this week. Makes me happy. I even cried as the MoTab sang the last song at conference because I was just so grateful for everything i have  ...great parents and investigators, awesome prophet and church leaders, cool companion!  And, I’ve been out on my mission for a while and have learned a thing or two.

Investigators are definitely moving forward. We saw the Mayberrys this Tuesday. Had a good lesson with them and invited them to conference. They came to the Sunday morning session. We got nervous because they said they would come and then conference started and no sign of them. We were just waiting by the door. They eventually came like 15 mins in. Still got to see the first talk by Pres Monson. It was way funny. They started clapping after one of the songs the MoTab sang. It was way embarrassing, but no one did anything. I just kind of gave them 'the look'. Also, anytime they heard something really powerful, they would say ‘amen’ aloud. They’re just interesting women.

We also got to see Marjorie this week. That was a miracle. She’s been so flaky. We had a lesson at the church right before basketball night and had a member my age come with us to teach her and play ball. He’s taught her before and she really likes him. The lesson went great. We found out her concern, She has a friend destroying her faith, might be her mom, just didn’t specify, and she’s just been so busy. So, she broke down and we didn’t teach the whole lesson. We just comforted her and shared scripture and testified of things that helped her out. Sometimes you just gotta teach them, and not the lesson. We actually invited her to be baptized again and explained this is maybe what she needs to be able to strengthen her faith and trust God more. She accepted for the 18th. We'll see. So, that’s the family and her that day now.

Basket lessons have been getting more serious. We aren’t just doing thoughts or simple lessons. Now we’re giving them challenges. We spent the past two weeks talking about the Book of Mormon, what it is, why, and all that. We had them take some to read and report the next time. It’s going well. We also told them if this is something you feel is true or want in your life, think about baptism. We and a member taught about having proper priesthood authority too.

One way cool experience we had was that a sister from the ward called us after Sunday morning session and asked if we could come over and give her husband a blessing. He has a bad cold right now and he’s goin in for cataract surgery this Thursday. We said yes right away and she said she was very grateful because she’s never seen the ward or missionaries say yes to something so fast. I love giving blessings. I don’t get nervous anymore. It’s such a good feeling to know I can do that, that people rely on me for that chance to send God’s power down. I don’t know, just hit me and made me think how cool it is to be able to bless people, way!

Love you tons,

Elder Janz 

Memorial City, Week 27: March 23, 2015 - March 29, 2015

Monday, March 30, 2015

So, we had a slower week, not nearly as exciting and able to do as much as the last two. We thought we were the only ones who struggled, but turns out the sister missionaries in the ward struggled too, and the whole district struggled as well. Then I read the report from President and in fact the whole mission had a rough week. So, that was interesting and, in a way, made me feel better. But, one thing I forgot to mention, people here have been swimming in the pools for two weeks now. So summer has begun here. It’s quite weird. But things with the investigators... The way i see it is that we had a rough week and not much worked out, 3but the few things that did happen were quite awesome and gave us hope.

The crazy sister family did accept to be baptized. We had a sweet lesson with them this week. We were worried about it because we had to teach outside since we didn’t have another man around the house. One of the mission rules, have to have 16 year old or older guys around to enter rooms with females. We planned to teach about temples and family history and even word of wisdom. We were just worried they wouldn’t understand or the word of wisdom wouldn’t be received well. But, we went out and taught by the apartment pool and just went for it. We just told ourselves the odds are against us, things aren’t ideal but it actually went really well. I felt like Christ teaching in Jerusalem and also on the shore of Galilee because they gathered around us and also had a few friends come over and we had a great lesson with them outside. They understood the need for temples and they accepted to live the word of wisdom! The Spirit really helped us teach these things to their understanding. The mom, Beverly, has a problem with smoking cigarettes, but we just promised her that the atonement and her strength will be enough to stop. She is very committed to it.

So we plan to see Marjorie tonight. The FHE is tonight and we also invited a less active brother to come as well since he doesn’t have any family to do it with. We weren’t able to see Marjorie or Sara this week. We called and called and eft messages and we’re just waiting to hear back. That’s the status with a lot of investigators. But, we also got another baptismal date with an investigator named Julie. She’s a young single mom probably around 20 or so. We have seen her twice now and she is solid. Very willing to read, pray and come to church. Unfortunately no investigators came to church. They had intention to, but things came up I guess. I just want to share testimony that sometimes the Lord humbles us and shows us that we need to still be happy and have tons of faith in him even if nothing is working out. He wants us to have the same drive as when things are great in the mission even if nothing is working out. And, I know that challenges are only temporary and that they come to help us be stronger and reminded that God is the one who plans everything out. Maybe that’s why this week was so rough, because the past two weeks were really good the Lord wants to show us that He is the one who made those things happen and not let the success get to our head.

We also had interviews with President this week. Elder Christensen was nervous for them. It was my first time too. He makes you teach him before the interview and then he gives feedback. Turns out Elder Christensen didn’t do so well. Probably because of nervousness. But he learned a lot from President right after and then the next day we studied what he wasn’t able to explain and he knows it well now. My interview went really well. I taught about repentance and President said I did a great job. But it was an interesting week. There were small little miracles and things to be excited about a midst lots of things to be sad and worried about. But we’re A Okay and glad that it wasn’t completely awful and we’re ready to begin a new week!

Love ya,

Elder Janz

Memorial City, Week 26: March 16, 2015 - March 22, 2015

Monday, March 23, 2015

Tomorrow is a big day. 6 months a missionary. Maybe I’ll take the day off ;) Had a very fun week! Tons of work being done here. We got like 6 new investigators now! Found a family! We actually found them just threw saying hi as we walked through the apartment complex. Its a mom and two daughters in their twenties. They are just silly heads. The mom and one daughter are very unexpected and eccentric. The other sister is very calm and helps us keep things on track. They are very very talkative and got that southern attitude. They’re quite funny. We taught them two lessons and are loving them. They tried to come to church but just couldn’t find it. I plan to draw a simple map, it’s worked before. They accepted to be baptized and we’re going to extend a date of April 18 tomorrow. The other new investigators we have are from referrals and we got an investigator from knocking on a less actives door. We found out the guy who answered wasn’t who we were looking for, he had moved. But we got to explain who we are and what we do and even taught about prophets for a second at the door and he let us come back! So we came back a couple days later and had a great first lesson with him.

So the investigators are pretty good. Margerie came to church for the first time in ages. She’s tough though because she only can meet with us once a week and we still need to teach a few lessons. But we found a way around it. Some members she likes are having us all over for FHE and we can all teach her the next lesson she needs then. We’re going to extend a new date to her this Thursday. Hopefully she’ll be baptized in a couple weeks.

Sara was out of touch and they actually cancelled two appointments this week :/  So it seems like whenever we get our best investigators, they have hiccups and then we find other investigators to make up for that. But, we plan to see her tonight and we will go over temples again and move on. She can’t make April 4^th either since she hasn’t come to church. You have to come to church 2 times before baptism.

Seeing David tomorrow and Tami on Wednesday. David, when we invited him, just told us that he already had been baptized as a baby. We explained, as nice as we could, that he needed agency and the priesthood to perform that baptism. He actually understood right then, but called the day after and was complaining about it, so it was tough. But he’s still willing to meet with us, so he was a little offended but apparently not enough to stop seeing us.

The Sutters are doing awesome. We went over there on Friday. They just got back from vacation since its spring break so they didn’t have time for a lesson. So we just said hi and asked how things were and set up to go see them this upcoming Friday.

Elder Christensen actually taught the basketball guys the lesson this week. He said it was scary at first but we decided if you can teach a bunch of ballers from all sorts of backgrounds, you can teach anyone. It built his confidence a ton.

Love you,

Elder Janz

Memorial City, Week 25: March 9, 2015 - March 15, 2015

Monday, March 16, 2015

Had a stupendous week! We set a new record this week for key indicators, which are lessons and investigator progress! It’s like your stats. They were the highest in this area yet. We had a super week, lots of up and down, but we had miracles that completely weigh out the bad. That’s what I always think about when nothing is going well or people are just lame around us. God always sends more to do or great experiences, but it’s just on his time. We'll gain faith if we show what we have first and then be patient with him. I just wish things never went up and down and just stayed up, ha ha. Can’t be though, makes me tough and more grateful.

Unfortunately, Margerie won’t be able to be baptized this weekend because she didn’t see us all week and she didn’t come to church, kinda lame. But, we can increase in faith and shoot for the next weekend if we see her more, hopefully three times, and get her to church.

Monday we saw Sara, has a baptismal date for April 4, and taught plan of salvation. It went well. But, Wednesday we taught her about temples and family history and she did not get it. It was sad because we thought we explained it well. We'll try again tonight and then move on if she understands.

We have a new investigator, well two, named Tami and David. We saw both this week. Had a good first lesson with Tami and we'll see her again on Wednesday. We've known David for a while. He was a referral and we finally started teaching him two weeks ago. One time, he saw us outside and told us we had to stay off that street because it was unsafe and that we would never ever convert any of the black people around there.  That was silly because we have to be on that street all the time, its right by the apartment.  And, he doesn’t know who will convert. We’ve had two good lessons with him. He’s kinda funny sometimes. He called us a day after seeing him and told us we invite people to be baptized all wrong. He keeps trying to correct us and teach us all these things. We invited him to be baptized and his concern, and why he called us, was that he doesn’t see why we invite people to be baptized when they haven’t even come to church yet. I told him its that we like to set future goals so that when you come to church, pray and read you get closer to Christ and want to be baptized.

We had two miracles this week. First, Friday we’d had a rough morning/afternoon. Then at dinner we got a call from the Spanish ward bishop. He told us he needed our help to go see a family he knew in our area. They needed a blessing and they are non-members. He called us because they speak good English and we could teach and bless in English. We get there and they are awesome. They’re the Sutters (Sooters). They have a lot of hard things they’re dealing with in their family and also have a lot going on with other family and just need help. We told them we would give them a blessing, but first we taught the restoration and about priesthood. Then we proceeded to bless every member of the family, Then I got asked to dedicate the home! It was ridiculously cool. The day went from dark to celestial just like that. We also left a Book of Mormon and we’re going back over in a couple of days. Hopefully they become investigators. Next miracle. So we have had a prompting to visit this active family for a week or more. Finally we got in and had dinner. We heard that they were wavering in faith a little bit. They’re very open I guess, ha ha. They told us it was an answer to their prayers that we met with them. The wife has been invited to other churches by friends and was tempted and decided to pray about it. She said she received her answer when we kept calling and stopping by to see them. So she’s glad that Heavenly Father showed her the importance of staying at our church. We felt way good knowing that we received the prompting for a reason and that they now are stronger.

 I also got to go Vietnamese this week. It was great because Elder Christensen got to run the area with our zone leader. He did good being in charge, I’m proud. Vietnamese was fun, got to see china town. Good times. Those dudes are my buds. Things are fun and I’m really happy here.  Companion agrees too. Things are turning up. The work is great.

Love you tons,

Elder Janz