It is so fun serving around the Spirit of Christmas! This week has been great! Serving a mission is the best decision I have ever made. I love coming to know our Savior more and more everyday!
We have been kind of stressed about covering two wards because of the time we put into the Tiger Mountain Ward, but the Lord is making it possible for us to do everything that we need to! This next month and year in these two areas is going to be amazing! The wards are so excited about missionary work!
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| Brock the chef! |
We had a great week of experiences! On Wednesday morning we got a call from a former investigator named Nathan, and right when we answer he goes “I get it! I get why we need a prophet and the importance of the Book of Mormon! I get it now!” He hasn’t been investigating for quite awhile because he wasn’t able to understand the importance of that! He was flipping through the tv and the BYU channel came on about the Book of Mormon and Jopeph Smith and it explained everything enough for him to understand! So we met with him that night and he is getting baptized this next week! He is in his 20s and is a great kid! He is a little bit slow so it has been a struggle to try and teach him. It is amazing to watch the Spirit teach him, because we can't teach him ourselves because we struggle to put things into a perspective that he will understand. The Spirit is completely teaching him and I am so grateful for the Spirit and its necessary role in the conversion process.
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| First baptism - Jennifer Simmons! |
Then my first baptism was on Friday! I was so excited! Jennifer got baptized, she is from our new area Issaquah 1st! The missionaries found her last Saturday, and after transfers, we got her on Monday, and she was baptized 4 days later. I have never met a more prepared person in my life! As we have been taking over teaching for her, I am just amazed at her testimony! She says the Lord has been preparing her and leading her to the Mormon church her whole life. She moves out to Utah in the next few weeks, so we won't get to see her anymore but I am so happy she was able to be a part of my mission! Whenever we have met with her we are all on the verge of tears as she talks about the gospel. It means so much to her now and she loves telling people about it. I can't wait to hear the great things that she accomplishes! The baptism was amazing! It was so cool to watch someone make those covenants with our Heavenly Father and to watch her face light up as she received the Holy Ghost. She got her temple recommend right after the baptism so she could do baptisms when she gets to Utah this week with my mom! She is so great!
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| Gerald Andersen getting ready for Dec. 31st baptism! |
Gerald and Lucy are amazing. They are just the best! All Gerald wanted for Christmas was a new suit for church. He has never had one before. They are so excited to go shopping to buy one today!
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| My good friend Elder Deines |
Although it is really hard to be away from family during Christmas, I am so grateful I get to spend a Christmas on my mission. Christmas doesn’t have the same meaning for me this year! It's all about our Savior this year and I how grateful I am that he was born, so that I could have Joy in this life, and so we can all return to live together again someday! Our Savior has been there for me through everything and I am so grateful for Him and His perfect example! I love you all! Merry Christmas and enjoy the time you have with family! It goes by too quickly. Be safe and do something good for someone less-fortunate. We are so blessed.
Elder Aiken
He's so cute! That is so fun that Jennifer is moving here!! I'm so proud of him listen to how much he is learning! So awesome. Miss him and loved this christmas post!
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