April 7, 2014, East Brunswick

This is going to be quick because I have to sign up for classes!

-FIRST: GEMSTER. Thanks for your letter. I loved it.

-New companion. NEW MISSIONARY! Elder David Bennett from Cardston, Alberta Canada. He is a baby, barely 18 years old, and he's so ready to work and be diligent and talk to people. He's an example to me of who I need to be to finish out strong.

-I got stressed out on Thursday when we went to go grocery shopping because he wanted orange juice and that's EXPENSIVE, but I let him do it and now we're happy and chugging smoothies every morning. HIGH ROLLERS, I KNOW.

-Got contacted by a 16-year-old Guatemalan girl named MARIA who asked us if we knew a previous Elder that had served in this area, to which we responded YES. She told us to tell him "hi" and then we started talking about the missionaries and the gospel and if we could visit her again. All she said was "can I see your phone" "Uh sure... " I said. She punched her number in and told us to call her and that we could visit her on Thursday. We were STOKED. She is awesome and has sincere desires to learn, and it's GREAAAT teaching her because she loves using big words and complex sentences and we smile and nod and then deliver short, simple statements of truth that punch her in the face and shatter all intellectual capacity. She's going to progress, I can feel it.

-Not as much contacting this week. We got side swiped on Monday night so our car is not really supposed to be driven around right now. And then we had meetings all week long and weekly planning which takes 4 HOURS with new missionaries having to explain all your investigators, elss-actives, etc. But it was still a good week, we found a couple new awesome people and Elder Bennett's Spanish AND confidence is getting BOOSTED just in these first few days.

-WE INVITED BRENDA TO BE BAPTIZED AND SHE SAID YES. WE went in to the lesson having role-played the baptismal invite about 12 times and then, during the build-up, I looked at E. Bennett and gave him "the nod" and he invited her right there and then. She said YES and we were so happy. We left the lesson and Elder Bennett was saying 'THIS IS THE GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE." The gospel changes lives, yours and mine.

-Still not warm. I want SUNSHINE. "AIN'T NO SUNSHINE WHEN SHE'S GONE"

-CONFERENCE WAS INCREDIBLE. I was stunned to receive so many messages about repentance, change, and authority, ESPECIALLY in the Priesthood session, which is practically always my favorite. I loved every talk from Henry B. Eyring, Elder Oaks' talk in the Priesthood session, Elder Holland's talk about "comfortable gods", and Elder Corbridge's talk in the Priesthood session. I teared up in E. Corbridge's talk, about Joseph Smith and the Restored gospel. 'Truth will always be opposed," he said when talking about J. Smith and Christ when both were preaching the gospel.

THIS IS CHRIST'S CHURCH AND HIS WORK.

EC

 36 And it came to pass that Moses spake unto the Lord, saying: Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and ^atell me concerning this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens, and then thy servant will be content.

 37 And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The ^aheavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine.

 38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no ^aend to my works, neither to my words.

 39 For behold, this is my ^awork and my ^bglory—to bring to pass the ^cimmortality and ^deternal ^elife of man.

March 31, 2014, East Brunswick

Infamous words of Ill Mitch, my favorite Russian rapper.

WEEK 6 just ended, and it was pretty good. We spent all day Wednesday doing WORK. We contacted tons of people, gave a blessing to a less-active, got taken out to dinner by an awesome member, who's recovering from a rough patch in his life. He's coming back to church, reading the scriptures, and loves being with us. Before, he would almost always refuse to come out and teach with us, but he looks forward to it now. ALSO, he is a boss soccer player (no surprise, all Hispanics are). He took us to a Mexican restaurant and I got their "special" quesadilla with spicy guacamole and fresh Mexican cheese.

Some of the other days we had to stay in because E. Wood was not feeling well, so not as much missionary work was done on those days, but overall our week was good. We have begun to establish some REALLY tight bonds with the members and they are sad that Elder Wood is leaving but I'm excited to get a new companion.

OHH YEEAAAHH! Great news everyone! I'm training again. My companion is either Hispanic, Samoan, or Canadian. We'll see how it goes. I'm so excited to train again, especially since I've grown and learned so much since I trained Elder Leon, Whitton, and Sailsbery in Plainfield. They are three amazing missionaries, and I KNOW that the new Elder will be incredible.

At the trainer's meeting on Saturday, Pres. Jeppson talked about setting expectations for your transfer and for being a trainer. 

Here are a few expectations:

1. We will follow the white handbook.

2. We will work as hard as we can every single day.

3. We will be best friends.

I learned an important lesson when I was out running with Elder Packer, who was the assistant at the time when I was a zone leader in Passaic. He told me that he had set a goal to not just be companions with every Elder he served with, but to reach a point where he could call every one of them his friend. I really love and respect him, so naturally I love his point of view. That's my goal and expectation for our companionship this next transfer.

I will be staying in East Brunswick. 

BRENDA and her daughter Brenda Jr. came to church yesterday! It was the best. They loved every minute too, even though Brenda thought it was a little long. Heh... well, she'll get used to it. HOWEVER, Brenda Jr. (11 years old) told Karla (the member that lives with them) that she wanted to go church with Karla, she didn't care if her Mom went or not, because she was going to be singing in the primary. YES! I love the church. It's the most amazing environment for families. Even if the church wasn't true, there are countless "good fruits" that stem directly from it and it's teachings, or the teachings of Christ. But GUESS WHAT?

I  T   I  S   T  R  U  E  .  

God is our loving Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And Joseph Smith saw them both.

EC