Dear Family and Friends Monday,
April 29, 2013 3:10 (EDT)
Well this week was pretty good. On Monday we went and taught
a man named Jeromy. He is a less active member. Hes been through a lot of tough
times. We invited him to pray for help at the end of the lesson.
On Tuesday we had a lot of people to see. We had a lesson at
Jamie's house. We brought a member from the ward, Brother Bussell. He is a
really funny old man. Its always fun to bring him teaching with us. After
Jamie's we went to Sister Warner's for "Sugar on Snow" You heat up
some maple syrup until it is almost candy. Then you poor it over a bowl of
snow. You pull it off with a fork and eat it. I think you can do the same thing
with molasses. We had a really good time talking with her husband. I couldnt
figure out if he was a member or not, but I soon found out. At the end of
dinner I asked if we could leave them with a prayer. Her husband said,
"No, you cannot, I wouldn't want to ruin the night, everyone can practice
their own religion and keep it to themselves, so no we cannot have a
prayer." I was really surprised because I thought he was being sarcastic
at first. I soon found out he wasnt when he didnt call back what he said. I
guess he had a really bad experience with church when he was a child.
On Wednesday we had District Meeting. Elder Rogers our Zone
Leader came with one of the Assistants. Elder Rogers just hit 18 months out on
his mission, so he tore off his shirt. I guess its a tradition or something. It
was pretty funny. After that we went on exchange. Elder Caserio stayed here in
Lamoille. We did alright. I hadnt planned for the day so well so we wasted a
lot of time.
On Thursday we switched back. We taught Carlee with one of
the Young Men, Sam. It was a really good lesson. We read Alma 34 with her
and she really understood it and had a lot of good questions that we answered.
It is really cool to see how much someone can change when they take a step of
faith and start doing things that bring them closer to Christ. On Sunday she
told everyone in Sunday School that for a long time she has had a long time
forgiven a certain person. She couldnt ever for get what that person had done
to her family. Well she said lately as she has relied on the gospel of Jesus
Christ she has been able to forgive, forget, and move on with life. So that was
cool.
On Friday we had a lesson with Jake. He is 12 years old and
he is preparing for baptism. He is a really smart kid. After that we went to
the Fitzgeralds and they fed us. Their son had a bunch of friends over and they
had a bonfire out back next to their pond. It made me miss doing those types of
things back home.
On Saturday morning we went back over to the Fitzgeralds and helped
them move out their tenant. Their tenant cant afford rent anymore because he
got in a drunk driving accident. He ran the car he was borrowing from Brother
Fitzgerald into a tree. We felt a little bad because it felt like we were
repo-men, especially when we found out that this man had no other place to go
to and that a lot of the things we were moving out were going straight to the
dump. We went over to Sister Larsens after that. She lives right on the shore
of Lake Eden. We went over to the Cochrans for dinner. They live in Eden. They
are the last house in the town of Eden going toward Lowell on Rt 100. They are
a fun family. Brother Cochran has a collection of chainsaws on their
front porch and a snowmobile on the top of their garage.
On Sunday we had a lesson with Tucker. It went pretty well. Today we
went and hiked the Long Trail. It was alright. It followed the old railroad bed
for quite a while. We climbed some hills around the quarry and that was pretty
fun.
The St Albans missionaries told us that while they were teaching a less
active member, another member that came with them told the less active that
"The power is in you to become better" My goal is to realize that the
power is in me to be a great missionary. A blessing that I noticed this week is
the fact that I get to be the designated driver. Being a missionary is more
stressful than I thought. Back home I would relieve stress by driving. Being
the designated driver out her has helped me relieve some of that stress.
Jamie, Marissa, Tori, and Bill are doing great. They all came to
church. They really enjoyed it. Carlee read Alma 34 and she loved it. We read
it again during a lesson and clarified on some key points. Now that she is
finally going to church, praying, AND reading she is really doing well. She is noticeably
better. Even some members noticed that she is doing better. Jake is doing
really well. For being 12 years old he knows a lot. He did not come to church
yesterday. We dont know why.
A miracle that we witnessed this week was when we taught Bill on
Sunday. He told us that he felt
something during priesthood, and he started feeling it again during our lesson.
He started crying. He said "I dont know why Im crying. Ive never felt this
way before" We explained that it was the Holy Ghost and that it was confirming
what we were teaching.
I enjoy receiving every-bodies letters. Thank You.
Elder CWJensen