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.

Norman

Hey guys! It's been an interesting couple of weeks. I got another companion, who's name is Elder Norman, from Utah, and we are now in a three person companionship, which has it's own challenges and advantages. The weather has gotten a lot warmer, which means that there are more crazy people out on the streets, ha ha. We've been spending a lot of time finding people lately, which is a lot of fun in it's own kinda way. I still feel very happy to be here and I wish all of you the best. Adios! joe

Homies?

Hey Homies! Well, I think I've been neglecting this Blog a little bit. I apologize. It's basically because nothing noteworthy has happened recently. We're still working hard down here in sunny California, we've been finding a lot of new people. In fact, one day my companion and I were walking down the street, and I started to talk to God in my thoughts. I said, in essence, "Father, we've been doing really good lately and you've blessed us a lot. But I would really like to find some more people. Will you put someone in our path that is ready for us?" We walked a little more and we saw this lady throwing water out of her window and we decided to talk to her, and she ended up telling us that her best friends moved to Utah and got baptized (Because that just comes along with moving to Utah). We then asked her, "You ever wonder why your friend got baptized?" And we had a super good talk with her. This just happened, so I can't say if she is Legit yet, but God answered my prayer within seconds. It was way cool. I guess when it gets in the 50's over here in Cali, everyone uses it as an excuse to not come to church, whether it be members or investigators. I had a pretty good inward laugh about that. People always ask me on the doorstep or whatever: "You guys aren't cold?" and I like to say, "Remember in the Bible when the Holy Spirit came upon people like fire? I got one of those inside of me!" It's true, but I'm also from MN and I used to walk barefoot in the snow to get wood for our fireplace. Well, anyway, I love you all and I'm having the time of my life over here. Adios! Joe

Little Slice

Hey guys! Well, I've been transferred to a Little slice of Los Angeles called Van Nuys. It's a nice place, Picture big apartment complexes with really tall but crooked palm trees with furniture and old TV's on the side of the street. Look it up on google earth. Most of the people here are Spanish speaking, and I am back in the full blown Spanish work. Which is AWESOME. My new companion is a newer missionary from Colorado named Elder Robison. He's pretty awesome. He's like a piece of steel, and I'm sure he'll be a mission president some day. He's super bold and we've already seen a lot of miracles. I like it a lot here. We are very very busy and spend a lot of time on the streets just talking to people, which just delights me. Anyway, I'd love to write more, but I have to renew my Library card in order to have more time. Have fun! Elder Call.

B.S.

Hey guys! Something really interesting happened to me. It's another one of those typical missionary stories that is typical yet extraordinary We decided to stop by this less active member for the first time She answers the door and says "Hey Elders! I'd love to talk to you but today is not a good day..." And so we get ready for some typical avoid-the-Elder B.S., but she tells us that a major crisis has hit her in the last couple of hours, and without skipping a beat my companion asks her if she wants a blessing. She says she would love one, and my companion obliges. Also, we've been meeting with a lady that hasn't been progressing, and she told us that it was frankly because she had enough faith to pray to the Lord and get an answer to whether all the things we had told her were true, but she was just scared about what the answer might be. I suspected as much, and I told her about a similar experience I had a long time ago. I was in one of our meetinghouses, and I frankly wondered if I should even be there. I had prayed about such things before, but it wasn't until I said: "Lord, I will walk straight out of that door if you tell me to, and leave it all behind." It was then that I felt the most peaceful feeling, and I knew that I should stay. I told her that the Lord wants to bless her, and give her direction, and if she does she'll find the most happiness that is possible. We finally seemed to come to an understanding right there. It was cool. Well, that's all I got. Elder Call