Memorial City, Week 22: February 16, 2015 - Feb 22, 2015

Monday, February 23, 2015 

Things are still great with my new companion. Elder Christensen is coming right along. Role-playing is actually awesome. It really helps, I think. We role-played how to invite people to church, read and other things and how we need to show that it’s Christ really inviting, not us. Elder Christensen said he hates to role-play. I did too until now. But he obviously grew from it because he invited a family we had dinner with last night to read and did it the right way. Elder Christensen is also bearing good testimony in lessons. We just need him to talk a little more. One thing that could help is if he asks questions to the people we’re teaching. Then, you get to know them more, know what you can say in response and so on.

Had a solid week this week! We got a new investigator named Margerie. We had a super first lesson and she came to church too! She accepted to be baptized in the first lesson. Tonight were going to extend a date to be baptized. She’s really funny. She’s from Cameroon and very eccentric and emotional.

So it’s just us in the apartment, my comp and I. That’s how its always been. It’s just a one bedroom. We biked a tooonnnn this week. We’re trying to save miles because they only give us a certain amount to drive each month. I now get my haircut at a member’s house (he used to cut his own with clippers). He’s way cool. I got my haircut this Friday actually. He’s cut Dwight Howard’s hair before (he plays center for the Houston Rockets) and other NBA stars because he used to be a popular barber in LA and San Fran. So, my go to for breakfast has got to be eggs. I love the eggs and plus I need that protein after a big workout! Then next is oatmeal. Those two are perfect in the morning. Lunch is whatever, usually leftovers or sandwiches. Dinner, I’d say, is Mac‘n Cheese or Rice-a-Roni. That is insane that Matt is following his brother and dad, three in a row to the same place. Wow. those people in Dallas must love Christensen’s. I’m glad Conner is meeting with the stake president, that’s good. His papers are all done and just needa get them to SLC. We'll know where he’s headed soon! 

Love you!

Elder Janz

Memorial City, Week 21: February 9, 2015 - February 15, 2015

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

Memorial City, Week 20: February 2, 2015 - February 8, 2015

Monday, February 9, 2015

Man... I have been dang sick. I’ve got a cough, chest congestion and nose congestion. But, I’ve been taking medicine and haven’t let it stop me at all. Some people stay in for that, but I’m glad I’ve been able to stay out. Got more cold meds today and feeling better, don’t worry.

But howdy hey! Did you get a letter from pres about me training? I’m about to be a 'dad'! President called on Thursday and told me the Lord has asked me to be a trainer for a brand new missionary and was wondering if i was up for it. It was kinda funny. I responded " oh!... yeah i guess! IIt was just nuts and I couldn’t believe it. It’s really neat though because this is what I wanted. Usually things like this come when you aren’t expecting or don’t want them. I wanted something to stretch myself. I wanted to get close to a companion, feel more responsible, be looked up to.  It’s amazing that the Lord has trusted me with this and believes I can do it. We had a training on Friday that got me so pumped. I have been and will be praying a lot more, ha ha.  I pray for this new kid that he can be ready to work and that I can show him all the love that I have for him.

And this week was awesome. Things were good. Had more fun with the companion. Had a chance to work my area with my zone leaders and show them what I got. I met some new peeps on the street, just need to get lessons in now, and taught less actives. But, Eva... so, we met with her this week. No she hasn’t been baptized. She still isn’t committing to it yet. Tomorrow,  I’ll see if she can accept a date so we have something specific to go for. But this week she actually looked up some anti material, yikes! It was bad news. We were just eating dinner there and she told us she had done some research. She pulled out some negative stuff that crazy people wrote and wanted answers from us. She was mostly worried about polygamy. We explained why that came about, that we don’t have it today and that when we want to do research, we need to consult the Lord and not with the internet. But, we helped resolve concerns, I hope. Her husband said we handled it well. We also taught about temples, family history and eternal marriage. That went great. She thought it was very interesting. She’s the only investigator we’re working with. Johnny is who knows where, Brian is too busy and all the other people we met, we only had a short talk with and are waiting to get a sit down lesson with. But, we had a miracle yesterday. Some lady came up to us and was way interested in the church and started asking questions. Turns out she already has a Book of Mormon and watches BYU tv, go figure. So,  I’ll get goin on that.

But, it was just a good week. Basketball went awesome. Taught a sweet lesson on priesthood and missionary work. The guys enjoyed it and kind of got an eye opener of what the gospel can turn men into. Then, I actually played ball with them again!  I haven’t played with them for a while. But, this time, I did way good. Scored a handful of times. It’s probably because the Spirit and the lesson got me all riled up! So,the guys were way impressed with how I played and I gained more respect in that sense. 

My companion left today! Ya, he needed to go. He got trunky. He worked hard though. He wasn’t a pain, but he just was so excited and stressed about it. I’m very excited about training the new missionary from the <MTC!  It was a great week, had lots to do and had positive experiences. 

Love you,

Elder Janz

Memorial City, Week 19: January 26, 2015 - February 1, 2015

Monday, February 2, 2015

So there was no baptism this week, unfortunately. She wasn’t quite ready. She just felt overwhelmed and that things are moving too fast. Its probably because we started teaching her the big lessons and then she went out of town and came back and had to jump into the smaller and more lifestyle changing lessons, like commandments. Plus, the language barrier probably doesn’t help. She has decent English, but her husband doesn’t speak her native Spanish. But, we talked to her about it last week for a few mins. She actually could’ve been baptized we think if we had more time to speak with her. We told her its normal to have doubts and be overwhelmed. So we've been trying to reassure her and tonight we'll meet with her and hopefully get a date set for this Saturday. Feb 7. We told her to pray about it. She can do it.

So we actually lost contact with Johnny all week this week. It was sad. We knocked every day since he lives in our complex and even when he was home, he wouldn’t answer. We found out today that he has the sky falling on him. He’s gettin kicked out of his apartment, he isn’t gettin paid at work, he has no money. So, that’s why he hasn’t been able to meet with us, makes sense. So when I texted him this morning, I found all that out and tried to comfort him. Told him that the Lord will test those that he loves because he knows they will show faith and become stronger for upcoming trials. He said he feels a little better. He quit smoking cold turkey, yeah, it helped that he was so busy with work and trying to find a new place to live too. Brian, same kind of thing. His life is too crazy right now and we weren’t able to see him this week either.

But, this week was slow and things were rough. Weren’t able to meet with investigators, baptism got postponed and even met some anti people on the streets that hurt my feelings and brought me down. I know it shouldn’t have, but i guess it all kind of hit me, after those mean people, that the week was a bummer. But we didn’t give up. We worked as hard as we could. We found some great people riding around and we might have new investigators this week. But, it would be nice to regroup with the ones we currently have. Eva will probably be baptized this weekend. I’ll know by tonight since were seeing her. I’ll let you know next week!  It could be a great report! Second baptism for me!  But I’m doing good. I’m happy now. Sunday is always a nice fall back. plus today is P day and we might go hit the golf range. We borrowed clubs for our ward mission leader. Then we got a zone activity

We had a great night last night at a fantastic family’s place for dinner. They love the missionaries so much. And, we got to do shut ins for older people who couldn’t leave the house.  So that was a good Sunday to end the week. This week will rock since its my companions last week.  Plus the investigators will be ready to meet with us since we gave them time to figure stuff out and we'll get goin again.

So the first picture I sent is of a kid that we work with at a day care center. The mission expects us to do 10 hours of service a week now and we found this place where we can help kids with school work, play games, sports, read and its a perfect way to fill that. So they accepted us and we've already worked there 3 times! We didn’t get our 10 hours in but were working on gettin into the community library because they said they need volunteers. The second picture I sent is of my crazy watch situation. So the one on the left is the one that i got right before i left. I lost it my first week in this area after basketball! I tried to find it in lost and found and asking around and never could. Finally, last week some elders found it in the cleaning closet here at church! Kinda weird, I didn’t put it there. But since I lost the watch, I decided to buy a clone to replace him and now I have two. Im gonna wear Mark 1 as long as i can. I told myself as i was coming out that I would have it my whole mission. Then, if it gets lost or broken, I’ll still have somewhat of that goal with Mark 2.

Love you tons,

Elder Janz

Memorial City, Week 18: January 20, 2015 - January 25, 2015

Monday, January 26, 2015

So, this week wasn’t stellar. Johnny didn’t come to church so he can’t make February 7 now. Neither did Brian, but he’s on hold because he’s got family drama. But, Eva came to church and is good for this Saturday. We had a great time yesterday. She and her husband made friends as well. That’s a huge part of converts commitment, gotta have friends and fun at church. Johnny has stopped smoking this week. He just needs to come to church, get married and see us more often. He’s been working a lot and we’ve only had one lesson with him. The Bible to the office situation is done. He never called back or anything. So, all we did was drop off the Book of Mormon and Bible last week

We don’t knock doors, no, but we knock on neighbors doors of those that we work with and aren’t home. Bike riding is okay. It’s been warm this week, only rained once I believe. But, now its usually in the 70s. Bike works like a bike, esta bien. My companion isn’t too trunky. Yeah, a little, but its a good kind and its understandable. He’s sad he’s leaving this ward. So, we had interviews with president on Tuesday. Went great. He likes me and made me feel cool by talking about all the good I do. He just told me i need to fill out my indicator tracker more, a sheet that shows your goals week by week, so he and I can see trends.

 We got fed on Thursday!  That hasn’t been happening, but that went swell. I am close to that family. They’re the ones that moved in from San Fran a couple weeks ago. We’ve been over and they give us rides frequently. I got to give Krista, the wife, a blessing! And, it was even more exciting because I taught her husband, Rob, how to do it. He’s a recent convert and has never done a blessing, so he did the anointing and I did sealing and blessing.

Basketball went good. I was out training people with another good friend, Chase. Elder Davis did the lesson and I came back later and hung while everyone played. Friday, we went to an old folks home and visited an old sister named Maria. I love doing that. I even got to wheel her around! Saturday, again we hung with the old sisters. Three of them met us at Dimassi’s, a Mediterranean grill, and they paid for dinner. That was cool. But things are sweet. We also got fed last night and went to priesthood stake conference.

Love ya,

Elder Janz  

A family I worked with in League City baptized their son

Memorial City, Week 17: January 12, 2015 - January 19, 2015

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Today is P Day. Since yesterday was a holiday, they wanted us to work and move P Day to today. Sorry about the confusion, I didn’t know. But this week was amazing, seriously. Wednesday we went to go see a guy who was pretty promising from an OYM. He actually called us over since he recognized us as servants of the Lord. So, that’s a prayer answered and then we met him talked for a few mins. We found out he has tons of faith already, just wants to learn how he can show it. So, on Wednesday, we went over for our first lesson and things went off the wall. Lesson went great and he told us he wanted to be baptized!! I invited him to be baptized on Jan 31 and his response was that he could do it even sooner. What is this? haha  So then we set the date for Jan 25. We've been working with him almost every day now. But turns out he didn’t come to church this week. One of the baptismal requirements is attending church two times. His girlfriend was sick, so he stayed with her. But I have never met anyone who is so excited to come to church. We found out he also needs to marry his girlfriend since they live together and he needs to stop smoking and coffee. So with all this against him, unfortunately he won’t make Jan 25 but he decided he can make it by Feb 7^th.

Business bldg where we dropped off scriptures

 On Thursday, it was pretty funny. We got a referral text from church head quarters saying we needed to drop off a bible to some dude. We looked up the address and It’s actually a massive business, sweet!  So, we figured we would just be Mormon infiltrators and go up to the top of the business, where he’s at, and drop off a Bible. Buuuttt, we looked and didn’t have one on us. I decided just to leave a Book of Mormon instead with a note saying I’d bring the bible tomorrow and that both are true and help us learn about Christ. Sneaky huh? So, that was a first. Going up 8 floors into a nice office building doing missionary work.

Another view

We did not get any new investigators handed off and we still gotta hand ours off. So the street ballers... they’re non members and they come from rough backgrounds. Basketball is their life. The ward just met a few of them and then started the program to help them feel more peace in life but still do what they like. We play every Thursday. I meet new guys every time and grow closer to the ones i see weekly. We taught basketball again that night. That’s goin great. The guys are really warming up and they don’t mind doin the lesson before they hit the court. We actually did one lesson and went to go play and then some guys came in late and bishop told us to teach another lesson to those that came late! So, we went and taught the same lesson again. It was cool.

Friday was slow. We biked all day and nothing was working out. Took a lot of thinking and seeking revelation. But, it finally came. I thought to go see a less active couple that wasn’t home last time we tried. We went over and they answered! Turns out they’ve been living in Columbia for a while so that’s why they haven’t been at church and answering. But we got to know them. They fed us a little and we taught about prayer. They had the nicest house. They have a giant metal horse in their living room.

Saturday, we got in with a guy we OYM'd on New Years Eve. He’s been busy and we’ve been missing him since then. But we finally taught the first lesson and it went super. His name is Brian and he accepted to be baptized as well. The Lord is so merciful and proving his power to all of us. Were just glad we can tag along with his work. People really are prepared out here. So now we have 3 dates. Eva Jensen- she was out of town this week but will be ready Jan 31. Johnny- Saw him a ton. We found out we gotta work through quite a bit, but he can make Feb 7. Brian accepted Feb 7 as well and we need to get to know him through a follow up visit.

It was nuts on Saturday night I got into my first confrontation and sketchy situation. We were about to head in when a drunk old man started talking to us. He told us we needed to dress warmer and he’s been watching us. Turns out Elder Davis has talked to him before, long ago and he did the same thing. Tells us we’re dumb about not dressing warm and then rips on the church. Things got heated as he threatened us and interrogated us about our belief. My companion was gettin all mad and i was just thinking, this is so unnecessary. So when things were bad and he wasn’t letting us go, I just said "we’re going. We got other things to do Sir, have a good night" and then we walked way. It was stupid. I just told Elder Davis let him be. It’s his problem. I know that you, Dad, and the Savior have taught me a valuable lesson. Fighting is ridiculous. Real men walk away. So thank you.

But on another note, twas a good week, good good week. We’re working as hard as we can. We biked a ton yesterday. Gets painful sometimes haha., but its worth it as we've seen. But things are swell out here. Plenty of work to do since the Lord throws it in our lap. I love it. Plus yeah, we get a little service vacation on the side ;)

Love you,
Elder Janz

Houston Space Center Photos

Information about Janz' visit to the space center  is posted in Week 15.

View from shuttle of sunrise

Mission Control

Flight Directer Deans

Houston, we have a problem!

Saturn V - Rocket at space center

Memorial City, Week 16: January 5, 2015 - January 11, 2015

Monday, January 12, 2015

The galleria was bomb. It’s not as big as I thought but its large. Its three levels and its a stretch in distance. I got tired just walking around it all. But, i didn’t buy anything …was tempted, but no. I wanted some new fancy socks but resisted. We just looked. We went with Chase who we see all the time and teach with. He’s such a good friend now. We haven’t been able to see a lot of our investigators.  They’ve been busy or not home.  Saw a couple investigators and worked with members a lot this week. The ward is amazing. Finally met the ward mission leader. He’s a funny and cool dude. He’s young and we click. Things are still good in Memorial.

Downtown Houston

Inside The Galleria

Outside The Galleria

Had a wacky week. So, Tuesday was district meeting. I like all these missionaries. All the companionships are working hard. They’re goofy too. That night I went Vietnamese. It was fun. I wasn’t left out at all. I bonded well with the elder. He’s half Vietnamese and is from Arizona. He didn’t speak Vietnamese until his mission. What a day... So my morning Vietnamese started out with a good workout. Then we got ready and had an early appointment with an investigator real close to baptism. He would get baptized, knows its true and is worthy, but he’s on parole so he’s gotta wait it out. He fed us breakfast sandwiches, like what i would eat at home, hot chocolate and cheesecake. Pretty nice of him, made my morning. He didn’t speak much English so my companion taught in Vietnamese the whole time. Then, at the end, I just had him translate my testimony of what we read in the Book of Mormon. I’m glad i was able to still be part of the lesson. Later, we went to the church and got to teach citizenship. Elder Vu, my comp for the day, was going to teach English and I, citizenship. But only one guy came so I taught him citizenship! We went over this packet of questions about American history and government. This guy spoke no English, but he knew this stuff in English, so we figured it out. I had a blast doing it. I even drew stuff on the board and discussed with him and he did well. Later we went to an old folks home and visited a one hundred year old Vietnamese lady. She kept making fun of me and i would just smile and she would hold my hand and what not while Elder Vu read the Book of Mormon in Viet to her. I said a few funny things back to her and my companion translated. That day we also helped an investigator. He was out at a restaurant and came back and his car wouldn’t start. We never got it to start because it wasn’t the battery. We think it was the starter or ignition. So we tried to tell him it’s gotta be fixed. He didn’t really get that and unfortunately replaced the battery.

We got a referral and things are sweet with her, she’s golden. She’s read the Book of Mormon after only one lesson somewhere else. She has a baptismal date for Jan 31. We went and taught the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement with a solid member. He clicked with the husband of the investigator because they’re both post military. Her name is Eva and she speaks decent English and is from Mexico. The lesson went perfect and the spirit was strong so there were many great testimonies from all of us. We decided to set a baptismal date for Jan 31 only because they’ll be out of town for a while. If not, she’s ready to be baptized now. She knows everything is true and is worthy. So that’s an exciting and blessed situation.

Then later we had our weekly lesson and basketball games with the street ballers at the church. We've had two way good lessons. My companion and I teach and it really lets us connect with the guys. A lot of them can recognize the Spirit, and we definitely can too because things come out of our mouths that we wouldn’t even think of. This Thursday one kid even came up to us after the lesson as everyone went to go hoop and asked us some questions. I believe that if we didn’t bear our testimonies so often and sincerely and relate with these guys, who come from not so good situations, he wouldn’t have come up after to talk to us. They need to hear that were not perfect either

Friday, we had a sad day. No investigators were in touch with us. Buuutttt we visited members and had a crazy spiritual experience with an older member named Bro Dopson who lives alone. He went to teach with us and when we discovered that no one was home and not answering the phone we just went back to his place to get to know him better and discuss the gospel. We learned a lot from him. We ended up teaching three members total that day. So, not bad at all. We just thought we would see some investigators, but we taught none the less.

Saturday we had a move first thing in the morning. Some members were moving out and needed lots of hands to load up the trucks. They had a huge house and it was filled with things that were going with them. We had like 15 members, old and young, to help them. It was necessary. It was the largest but yet easiest move I’ve seen. We had another one that we went to at 12. This one was smaller but we stayed a long time because we put together a new dresser for the family moving in.

Sunday was nuts. We had multi stake conference. It was a special one because there were some changes being made in four stakes. Elder Dan Jones from the second quorum of the seventy came and spoke at another building but everyone had the video feed and watched at their own stake center. The big news was that they have changed the stakes and ward boundaries. The first part of the conference was super boring, honestly, because he was describing the process of the new boundaries and stake make up. So I just drew in my handbook for a little. Then, an hour later, they showed the new maps. So now we have Spanish wards in our stake and our ward shrunk. Our area got cut 1/3. We lost two really cool members, the elders quorum president and the guy who ran the Thursday night basketball. He'll probably still do it though. We lost two investigators as well. We'll have to hand them off soon. So, it was boring then sad and then overwhelming. We'll live with it though, It’s the Lord’s call and new opportunities will come forth, even new people to find.

Today we had a district activity at the church. My comp and I told everyone last week and took charge of this shindig. We brought pizza, drinks and cookies. We also brought and played Uno and Telestrations. It was a good time. Never had a district activity before. Brings unity for sure. I’ll send some pictures in a sec. I also wanted to report on my scripture reading... so I finished the Book of Mormon in early December and now I’m in the New Testament, all the way to Acts. Soon I’ll be able to say I’ve read the whole Bible since i knocked out the Old Testament last year. I bear testimony that the scriptures are true. They truly show us how loving God is. They give us strength to believe in him at all times throughout the day. They increase our testimonies substantially if we diligently study. We come to know these things are true personally. But life is good. 

The District - Companion is the one in the hoodie

Love you tons,

Elder Janz

Memorial City, Week 15: December 29, 2015 - January 4, 2015

Monday, January 5, 2015

I live in Memorial City!! It’s by Sugar Land and is a lot more city-like than old League City. This area is pretty close to what I predicted a while ago. It’s so much more city-like. Plus there are so many black people here. It’s at least 80% of the population. I’m lovin it. So, things are different to say the least. I like my companion. His name is Elder Davis. He is 20 years old and about to die in February (end of transfer). He is from Centerville UT. Things are good. Him too. It’s a lot more relaxed and I feel more comfortable around this companion. The apartment is decent. Dirty, but that’s only due to poor missionary maintenance. I had to clean a ton. They kept it a mess. I’ve done all the chores so far. I clean it every day, dishes, vacuum, wipe down, pick up. We bike here. Have a car but we only use it for traveling long distances. We bike every day. The area is big. It’s a big square and its at the top ofthe mission.

It’s been nasty cold. Thanks again for the gloves. I use them every day. It’ll feel weird to bike without them.

NASA was fun. We got to see a space sunrise from a live camera feed looking out the space shuttle in Mission Control, made my day. President Anderson works in the Landing Team and showed us all about his projects and parachutes. We also saw and walked around the old mission control where they ran all the early moon trips. We also went to the rocket park, which just has a few major rockets, one huge one in a hangar, Saturn V, and then smaller ones outside and around it. Great time.

New Years Eve was pretty cool. We froze though. We biked around all night and met some new potential investigators. We also talked to a couple less actives. We had to be in by 8:00pm and then I just unpacked. We fell asleep after a long talk about life, at like 11:00pm.

I bore my testimony in church yesterday. We've met and been fed by some great members. The ward is just a little smaller than ours. And, it’s a lot larger than the last.

We've got two investigators out here. One that’s been off and on for a month or so and the other we just picked up as a media referral. The rest are still potential because we are waiting for a return appointment. But, that’s how it is with lots of them because we OYM them biking and things go well. One we even taught the restoration as we walked out of our apartment complex. Two of these people are from Africa, Congo and the Ivory Coast. They moved here this year. They’ve got good English though. I’m loving life!

In an hour, I’ll be at the Galleria. It’s a huge mall downtown, one of the largest in the US. We’re going with a member named Chase. We’re good friends with him. He's in his twenties. We hang with him quite a bit. He teaches with us. He was baptized this summer. I’ll take some good pictures. 

Tomorrow we have district meeting. Should be interesting. I know one elder in my district since he came out with me. After that we’re doing exchanges and I’ll be going with a Vietnamese elder into his area!! He’s the DL (District Leader) and I’ll be in China Town trying my best to help. He just wants to be with me on exchange. Should be crazy. I’ll letyou know.

Love ya,

Elder Deans 

League City, Week 14: December 22, 2015 - December 28, 2014

Monday, December 29, 2014

Skype was way cool! I thought I would only get a call. That's funny we both cried. I told people and we weren't the only ones. Oh ,I’m way glad you didn't work on Christmas!! I’ve got some serious news though... I’m getting transferred on Wednesday. And, today I’ll be at NASA with a stake president counselor. He’s showing us everything, not just the tour, but like where they actually work and such. I’m excited. But, I’ll let you know next week where I’ll be transferred.

Christmas was good. I told you about some stuff that day but later we had dinner at the Velasco’s and I got to play guitar for them and their extended family. It was kinda scary, but it was good. We ate there for thanksgiving too and we love that family. Garza’s came to church again, that was super cool. I didn't get to see too many investigators this week because they've been busy and we have as well. Hopefully my companion gets on it this weekend.

It was funny last night cause I was in a bad mood, ha ha. It was because President called Elder Ve'e and told him he was training again and that meant I got the boot. I was watching bible videos and seeing Christ go through the atonement, so I guess I was emotional. Plus it shows that I care and have a love for both the atonement and for my area. I’ll get to say goodbye to a few people tonight and the rest tomorrow. But, things are good. I’m happy today and now we'll see what’s ahead of me.

Love you,

Elder Janz

Mini Fussball Table

Christmas Sweater Vest

Brother Knabel

The Garza's

Gifts under the tree

Christmas Lights

Christmas Luncheon

Gas is cheap here!

Posing with the Olsen's

Leage City, Week 13: December 15, 2014 - December 21, 2014

Monday, December 21, 2014

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Hope it's a jolly one!

That’s so fun ya'll went downtown! I miss that, especially this time of year. It’s pretty and lively. That’s awesome Jordan sang as well. Yeah, I get to converse with ya real soon! I can call, Skype or Facetime, its up to you. I’ll have all available I believe. We'll be at Elder Ve'e's aunt’s, who lives down the street. I’ll call around afternoon to evening.  Excited to hear from you or possibly see you on Christmas! I’ve got 40 minutes. I’ll probably be different! So, on Christmas, we have breakfast at some wardies, then lunch with Bro. Knabel at the church and dinner with another ward family. I get to open presents and have a Christmas tomorrow too. We have a mission conference and then a party basically. We'll be there all day. Utah Utes for the bowl win, heck ya!!  Seems early for bowl games. 

This week was exciting! Tuesday we had district meeting! I didn’t have to do anything this time, but I enjoyed it. We lost our dinner calendar last Sunday because the relief society president ran off with it. So on Tuesday, we knew we had dinner, but couldn’t remember who and she had the calendar at her house. I went to pick it up and she wasn’t home. I called her after and no answer. So that was lame and stressful. But we lucked out because each family we ate with this week would call or text us first. It’s funny because they were like "Do we have dinner tonight? Are we doing that?” And we were like ohhhhhh, yep. So, we got fed a lot and just hoped that they would keep letting us know.

We went to Jason’s Deli with some newly weds on Tuesday. They were cool, but too lovey-dovey. It was weird. Also picked up a new investigator who was working with the spanish sisters and now got passed to us. She’s 9 years old and her family is less active in our ward. We taught about baptism and I invited her to be baptized! My first invitation! She accepted and her family wants us to work with all them. Plus we can’t baptize unless the family will help her live the gospel and get her to church. 

Wednesday, we moved in the Janson dude into the ward! He came from Atlanta and has a family of four. He had tons of stuff and the elder’s quorum was supposed to help, but it ended up just being us and them. That family is way sweet. 

Thursday we had an awesome day. We met with Kasey and talked about the plan of salvation. She had some great questions. She told us the family situation. It turns out she  and Dave aren’t married. Dave doesn’t believe in the restoration either. He’s friendly, he just doesn’t believe everything we say and then talks and fights with Kasey after. But, we got to understand more of her life and past. We just listened and then I bore my testimony after her telling about everything she’s been through and putting up with at the house. I told her the gospel just makes life easier and that Christ will make us stronger and make good things happen if we let him. The Spirit was strong and then the baptism invite just rolled off my tongue. She accepted. We just need to figure out the marriage situation, help Dave see that some of  the things he has heard aren’t true and help him understand the restoration. Hopefully Kasey, and maybe even Dave, are baptized by January 31.

We went to see the Albrights on Wednesday too. They are some investigators that were referred to us by bishop. Things haven’t gone too well with them until recently and we've seen them for a month. We have had some more serious lessons and we invited them to be baptized as well! There is a mom, Brittany whos 11 and Loretta whos 12. The daughters accepted. The mom, ever since we met them, said that she could feel the Spirit. Its too bad though because she has that feeling but she could feel it more if she just read the Book of Mormon or came to church. But, they’re starting too. They also get super nervous to pray before we leave and they finally prayed this week! It took a month to get them to pray. It was hard but it was emotional once they did.

I went on an exchange on Friday to Bacliff, which is right by the gulf shore. The elder I was with was a little rowdy and I had to step up and tell him we don’t do certain things. I also lead out the studies in the morning because I could tell he wouldn’t talk about anything spiritual. It’s funny because he’s 24 and been out for 6 months. We had a good day though. We saw lots of people and taught well together. We played guitar for a family too. But, that day was terrible with the weather, it rained and flooded everywhere. It rained for 13 hours straight. I haven’t seen anything like it before. It was like a monsoon.

Sunday, I got to sing in sacrament meeting. We had a group of ten members. I did not know what I was doing because they wanted me to sing the alto line and an octave below. We only had one practice last week and that didn’t help. It was scary but I finally felt comfortable on the third verse. We sang Far Far Away on Judea’s Plains. All of sacrament meeting was music. It was instruments and singing, way neat. Ashely has been out of town for the past two weeks. She’s missed church, but we will try and see her tomorrow. The Garza’s came to church though! They came because they had both of the kids this week. If they start becoming more active, their son can be baptized. He is 9 yrs. old.

Last night was pretty crazy. We had to usher 'The Messiah' Sing Along at a Methodist church. So, we welcomed people and gave them programs. I mostly just told people where the bathroom is. Then, they asked us to collect offerings! Weird, weird. A lot of our stake came because members performed and so the stake president okayed the collecting of offerings if we took off our nametags. But, we literally passed a bowl around in another chapel, it was nuts. But a fun week as you can tell!

Love ya,

Elder Janz