November 17, 2009

Hey family! How's life? I'm on and checking my email. Get ready for TRANSFER NEWS!

Hey everyone!
How's everything going? Good I hope. I know you've really been waiting and looking forward to this email, so I'll just move it right along.
To start I've got some really exciting transfer news that I know you really want to know about ---
WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE PROPOSED?! What have Kaydee and Kellie been doing this whole time?! . . . . Tell him I expect a lengthy letter from him very soon to tell me who he is. :-P Kaydee, you failed me. And you too Kellie. And Alex. . . . you didn't even try. Whatever. Congrat's Kassie. Let me know the details when you get 'em. But I seriously better get something from him soon. :-D
So any way, where was I? Oh yes! TRANSFER NEWS!!!
My companion, Elder Page, "died" yesterday afternoon, so I was companion-less for a while. We dropped him off at the mission office in Scottsdale at around 4:30 in the afternoon, and I was with one of the spanish speaking missionaries in the zone after that until I picked up my new companion today. That was really wierd. I had a missionary with me, but I didn't have a companion, if that makes sense.
My NEW companion is Elder Seaborn, who is from Alberta, Canada. I've heard a lot of good things about him, and he seems like a good guy, so I'm pretty excited. And, since I am still in Apache Junction, I will be here for(a total of) six months, which is the longest I've ever been in an area. Crazy, huh? I am still the Jr. Zone Leader. I expect that's where I'll be for a while. And yes, time is flying by. To give you an idea of where I am right now, I am on transfer number 11 of 17 transfers. I remember when I was on transfer 1 of 17. Holy Bible where does the time go? Having a companion go home makes you contemplate your time a bit.
Elder Rutledge, one of my companions in Phoenix, got transferred into my zone, so that's exciting too. :-) He's a good guy, and I'm looking forward to seeing him again.
Our zone had two areas split as well, due (I think) to the sudden increase of work in the zone. So we are going from 8 sets of missionaries to 10 sets. That should really help a lot, too.
We're going to have an amazing next transfer. We are teaching a guy named Ken, who's been looking into the church for a long time. Missionaries have been teaching him on and off, and he was never sure if he wanted to join the church, but he kept coming on his own. He recently decided he needed to join, so we are excited to work with him and help him along. The problem is that two things are holding him back: Coffee and cigerettes. He is having a really hard time quiting those. We gave him a packet that the church produced on quiting smoking-- it's a 2 week program that helps you quit-- but he didn't feel like it would be enough. We asked him what he needed, and he told us he really wanted a class and a support group. So we met with the bishop, and no sooner did we tell him that than he jumped on it. Now we are organizing the Meridian ward Quit Smoking class! YAY! That should really help him a lot. He aims to get baptized early in January. He's got a great testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. He's prayed about it, and knows it's true.
One thing that I am noticing more and more is that no one really seems to understand what we missionaries do. Even a lot of members don't understand what we do. Everyone seems to think that we go door to door looking for people to recruit/baptize-- which is why so many people don't want to talk to us. :-P "[Our] purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. . . ." (Preach My Gospel pg. 1) We aren't there to recruit or to baptize. It's to bring people closer to Christ. Sure we invite people to be baptized when they learn our message is true, but we really just want them to hear us out and ask God what's true. God loves us and wants us to be happy, and that's why he called prophets and apostles throughout time-- to teach us how to live so that we can be happy. And Because God loves us and cares about us just as much today as he did 2,000 years ago, he again called a prophet to lead us. And by asking Him, we can learn that it's true. People that listen to the message can't help but change and live better. Whether they accept our message or not, they do come closer to God everytime. And all of them find more peace and happiness in their lives. It's been amazing so far to see that happen.
I love you all and hope that you have a great week,
I've gotta go. Love you!
Elder Jason Mace