March 16, 2010

WHY DOES SHE (Kaydee) ALWAYS BEAT ME?!!! Can't I just win once? Can't she just get one "B" or something? (mom's note.... KD got her acceptance from BYU- Hawaii in just 2 days. Jason's took 4 days!)

(His response about BYU-Hawaii or BYU-Idaho.... Big Decisions to make!)
Hmmm. I don't know. I'll have to think/pray about it. (You already knew that, of course.) Of course, money is one of the big things for me-- the less I have to save up the better. :-P If I really can graduate from BYU-H with and pay partially with their polynisian (spelling?) center that would be great, so I'm anxious to hear about that. How much money do I have saved, and how many semesters do I have left, anyway? I don't even know anymore. lol. Anyway, I'll keep thinking about it. I don't know of anyone that knows much about BYU-H, so I don't know who to talk to. But I can ask around. One of my Zone Leaders if from Hawaii, so he might know a little. I do really like the smaller class sizes. That would be really great! Anyway, I look forward to more info. :-) Love you, and thank you for getting my applications together for me.

Hey family!

How's life going for everyone? Sounds like things are going good, so far as I can tell, lol. When is the big wedding day again? Not sure if anyone gave me a definite date. Mom just sent me two. I am guessing the 1st is the wedding and the 2nd is the reception?

For school, I should just say to let Kaydee decide. And then I'll do the opposite. lol. Just kidding. Maybe. lol.

So we had a really great week last week to follow up the really slow week the week before. We found five new investigators this last week, and all but one are really solid. One was Carrol-- I think I wrote about her last week.

That same day, we found a lady named Marie. She had met with missionaries before but had an addiction to alcohol so never did much. Well, we taught her and she expressed a great desire to change. She had given up drinking and was wanting to get back on the right path. Unfortunately somewhere between our first and second appointment she got anti'd and didn't want to talk to us anymore. Why people believe the garbage other people say, I will never know. People have to know that those things are retarded lies, but they still believe it. Anyway.

Then we taught Bob, a members brother. He's a really nice guy, and because of his sister, he's always been around the church, so he knows some of the members, but he doesn't know much about it. Ironically, we found him when we were trying to teach his niece, who turned out to not be interested. He's a really solid guy.

TOP STORY: Saturday the 6th we talked to a member of the ward at the adult session of stake conference. He told us that a while back he had set a date to have someone for us to teach in his home. He had carefully prayed about it and had been given what he felt was an inspired date. Well, he told us the date he set was the 7th of March, which was the next day. He told us sadly that he hadn't yet found anyone, but told us that he did not doubt. He gave us his testimony that Heavenly Father would prepare a way. So he told us to find him the next day, and he would have someone for us. I'm somewhat ashamed to say that I did not have much faith in that situation. I've seen members carelessly try the set-a-date program for a while, and I've never yet seen it work. Just getting members to try it is like pulling teeth.

Well, the next day we didn't see him, and I honestly forgot all about it. The next day (Monday) he called us with great news: he had found someone for us to teach. He had felt inspired Sunday to invite his neighbor to talk with us. The neighbor declined. As he walked home, he was wondering what to do, when he felt the spirit say his nephew was prepared. His niece-in-law and nephew live with him, but they've never been interested in the church. They both have lived rough lives, and he hadn't thought they'd accept it. But he invited them. And they accepted.

When we first me with Shawn and Michelle, they expressed their sincere desire to change. They cried as they expressed how they had been struggling in life, and how much they needed a change. It was a great experience for me to teach them about the healing power of our Savior's atonement. We taught them about how, through a living prophet, God had restored authority to baptized; and through the saving ordinance of baptism, they could start again with a new life, just as Paul describes in Romans 6:3-4 (I think). They are some of the most prepared people that I have taught so far. So many people are in pain and are seeking healing and comfort, and they just need to be invited. I admire that Brother's faith. He never doubted, and right at the end the Lord answered his prayers, and his nephew's.

My faith in members sharing the gospel is really increasing rapidly. Thank you, by the way, for sharing Bill's story and giving me updates. That's really cool. I know without a doubt that "angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory." (Alma 13:24)

Well, that's about it for this week. A lot a great things are happening, and I'm really excited to be a part of it all.

Love you all,
Jason


Oh! And Clinton got baptized! Don't know if you remember him, I taught him in Apache Junction. He finally got the courage to ask his parents, and like we knew they would, they said yes. Clinton is the best teenager I've ever known. He's awesome.


I gotta go. Love you all!