Letter 24

Hey Everyone!

This week has been super crazy! First item of business, Lia was baptized! It was a super cool experience with 5 elders to help her be baptized because of her handicap. It was an amazing experience and hopefully I can get the pictures we have. It was perfect and we are so happy for her. It was a wonderful experience and she has so much faith and had enough faith to be baptized even with her handicap. This week was super stressful because we just did a baptism and we had another one that took a lot of preparation.

Our days this week have been full of super spiritual highs that by the end of the day changed into extreme lows. One for example was the day of Lia's baptism. It was a super good experience but after the baptism, we got rejected by every single person we talked to. Like no joke, every person. We didn't teach a single lesson at the end of the day and it really took a toll on us. We had a really hard time with all that rejection, especially when trying to move forward with the white Christmas theme. Our whole zone is having trouble, some of the greatest and most perfect investigators dropped us and the other missionaries too. It has been really hard but it has also been necessary.

I have learned so much about loving the people who I have the opportunity to teach and the importance of my calling. The closer we get to the white christmas, the more amazing the miracle will be that happens. I know that it will be a miracle that takes place for us and so I am excited for that moment. Take advantage of every opportunity and hardship you have because there is always something you can learn from it. Lastly, I would challenge you all to do the light the world program on mormon.org. Watch the video and make the commitment to follow the savior by doing little acts of service. It has new ideas and I know that it will open your eyes in the way you see others. I hope you all have a great week!

 

 

Letter 23

Hello Everyone!

This week was amazing! Our people on date for baptism ended up switching places so that Asal was on the 19th and Rosalia is on for the 26th. Asal's baptism was just so perfect. I have grown to love this family so much. They have been through a lot but they have finally made it to this stage where they can grow together as a family with the freedom of religion. Mosi baptized her and when she came up out of the water she was just so happy.

I will never forget the spirit that was felt there and the support that she had. Even President Villanueva and his family came. The room was packed and everyone was so excited for her. I can't wait for them to be sealed in the temple together. They still have many trials ahead of them but I know that they will be strong enough to face them.

As for the rest of our week, we worked really hard and had a good outcome. We have one person on date for December but I don't think he is willing to put in the work to make that date so we will need to keep finding people. We have found some great people but it has just been hard to meet with them all because of how busy they are. It is very late to set people on a date for December, but I think we can still do it if we meet often and if they are prepared.

I know that this gospel is true and that Heavenly Father cares about each and every one of us. He has watched over this family for sure and I know that he watches over each and every one of us as well with his angels round about. Do not doubt that there are angels everywhere to help you. I would also encourage you to do what you can this Christmas season to be an angel in someone else's life. There are many people who need love and comfort and so share that light with as many people as you can. I love you all and hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

Oh, also we are allowed to listen to a little bit more music now and so we bought some super legit Armenian music. We got a children's CD where they sing about Christ and it is pretty great. Have a great week!

Elder Jensen

 

 Elder Stucki, Elder Jensen, Elder Meppen, Mosi, Ayla and Asal (getting baptized)

Letter 22

We got our car back! That makes everything so much better. Just for the record I love my companions. I just wanted to give him a hard time about the car thing. It doesn't matter that we have the car back, we just still have to give him a hard time, haha. Well, my camera broke so I might not have pictures for a while.

Anyway, we have found a lot of new investigators but we haven't been able to get follow up so as for now, both of our people we are working with are still on date and doing well!  Lia is progressing wonderfully and we will have her baptism this week and Asal is doing well also. Her baptism will be next week. Now we just need to find some people for our white Christmas this December. Hopefully we can find an Armenian to set with a date.

We had a super good week this week. Maybe it's because we didn't have the car. We have been doing a lot of less active work with the group leader just to see if people still want to be involved. Most of the Armenians either don't want to be involved with the church or don't live there anymore. Unfortunately it is not going so great as all of the Armenian people just like to kinda come when they feel like it. We have found a few however who are willing to come back and so we will try to grow the group bigger, that way our investigators feel more welcome.

Anyway, I am out of time so I hope you all have a wonderful week and continue to work hard! Invite all your friends to church! Most of the time, the people don't need missionaries, they need friends so share the gospel with everyone! Have a great week!
(11 pounds of Salmon -- recipe from home -- cooked by the Campanas family!) 

Letter 21: November 7, 2016 -- Car Accident

Hello everyone!

It was a pretty decent week for the most part. We had to move some dates but we are still looking at Asal and Lia being baptized in November so that's good. I have met a bunch more crazies this week so that was cool too. I just love Glendale so much. The people here are just amazing. I am definitely coming back to visit my mission and I am definitely taking friends and family to visit these people. They will just be so excited to meet these people I just know it.

The end of this week was rough though. I feel for all of my friends who are in walk only missions because we won't have our car this week (thanks to one of my wonderful companions who will remain nameless) which stinks. We have walked everywhere and I have been dying. It also means we are very limited on where we can work but it has also been very good for us because we have been able to talk to so many people. It has been really good but hopefully we can get the car back soon so that we can actually visit our investigators without abusing the members by always using them for their car. It has been good but I can't wait for the car again.

Photos:  One is the 4 Armenian Elders trying to recreate a photo and the other one is just a really bad district photo. That's what happens when that nameless companion mentioned above is also your district leader. One companionship was on exchanges too so that made it even better because one of the elders wasn't even in our district.