Mission Rules

Dear Everyone: The mission rules have changed, I can email anyone I want I guess. My email adress is call.joseph@myldsmail.net. Anyone who so desires can type me a letter.

Sick

Hey Guys! This was one of those horrible weeks where my companion and I took turns beings sick. But that's okay. I know that none of you are probably going to remember this because it's been over a year but I set the goal in the MTC that I was going to reach inner peace, someting I like to call "Nirvana". Have I reached it? No. Am I pretty dang close? Yes. I found out that my happiness doesn't have to depend on other people or what is happening around me or even what is happening to me. It's true what they say about the Gospel, it brings people peace. If ye have faith, ye must needs have hope, and if ye have hope, ye must needs have charity. If I have faith, hope and charity, do you think that will bring me peace and happiness? Ya, sure, You betcha it will! Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox. That lady I was talking about before is doing really good, she's struggling to fulfill the prerequisites for baptism, but she has so much faith that I know she will get baptized on her baptism date. Sometimes I feel really bad because the Gospel really kicks people out of their comfort zones. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it will bring them lasting and eternal happiness, however miserable they might be during the repentance process or breaking an addiction. One of our goals is to help people turn commandments into traditions, and that is a very precious and valuable thing.

Fellas

Hey Fellas! Well, it's been interesting. We found this really cool lady walking down the street one day, and we started teaching her. I guess she said she invited us in just to see what we were all about, and I guess when she found out what our real aim was (Baptism), it kinda freaked her out. We went over to her house, and she came out to meet us with all the pamphlets and the book of mormon that we gave her. She said straight up that she didn't believe it, that she had already been baptized, ect. All the returned missionaries reading this are probably groaning inwardly. Well, we brought a member of the church with us for this visit, and as she was telling us this stuff he had this smile on his face, and he just nodded, as if inwardly he was thinking "I've been waiting all week for this," He starts talking, until she invited us in, and then he bore his testimony of his own conversion, which was pretty dramatic. We were there for a long time, until she asked to have the Book of Mormon back. We've taught her a couple more times, and she came to church this sunday. At church, she told us that she wanted to be baptized. She still has a lot of hurtles to get over, but I have high hopes. It's amazing what the Holy Spirit can do, eh? I love you guys! Elder Call.