Monday, January 7, 2013

BROTHER BROWN, WE ARE READY FOR BAPTISM!!!!!



:))))))))))))))))))))))) hooray!!

 

[note: please don't post people's last names on the blog, privacy stuff.] :)

 

okay but first to respond to your letters from the day after Christmas.... haha basically i love reading your conference notes and reading my conference ensign, nathan's lion king "it is time!" cracks me up every day, aaaaaaand i love you all. haha. i hope i get another letter soon......... :) love em.

 

in other news....... last wednesday. day of miracles. okay so here's how it went. wednesday we volunteer at a thrift shop kind of like DI except it's run by lutherans. so a few weeks ago another volunteer came up to us and asked us what church we were from and then said how much he LOVED and respected members of our faith, and we're not supposed to proselyte there during work hours so that was the worst!!!! haha so we just prayed for him.

 

AND THEN, last wednesday HE came up to US and said i'm so glad you guys are here today, i'm interested in learning more about your faith, DO YOU KNOW ANYONE THAT I COULD TALK TO TO LEARN MORE !!!!!!!!!!!! and we're like uhhhhh... yes. that would be........ us. hahaha. so since we were supposed to be working we said we'd talk to him afterwards! so we did and we gave him a mormon.org card and got his number and set up a time to meet! which was only possible because our 4:30 appointment canceled! so that turned out to be a good thing, otherwise we wouldn't've had time! :) and also HOORAY for good happy members of the Church who probably had NO IDEA the impact they had on this man! THEY are the reason - people like YOU are the reason - brother rivers came up to us and ASKED to learn more!!!! also it's SO COOL TO BE A FULL-TIME MISSIONARY :)))))))))

 

so THAT was great. also, a while ago i remembered how the snohomish elders put "mormon.org" as their text signature on their phone, so we decided to try that, whatever. then on WEDNESDAY we had been texting a potential investigator and after we came out of a meeting we checked the phone and he'd said "hey do you know where i can get alex boye's cd i went to that website on your text and watched some videos" :))))))))) so that was also awesome!

 

aaaaaand wednesday night we went with the relief society president to some appointments, and the first person (we tracted into her and left her with a book of mormon and asked her to read 3 ne 11) didn't answer, sad day, but luckily the next person (a less-active member) could meet with us early! which was good because she and sister b**** (rs pres) talked forEVER haha also she has a dog that looks like a horse. it is HUGE. EVERYONE HERE HAS DOGS AND CATS. anyways that ended up being great. sister g****just went through 6 months of chemo so she can't remember anything she reads........ which is awkward when you want to talk about the book of mormon haha. she's like "oh i read it, i just have no idea what it's about." blink. blink. "oooooookay, well....." so we summarized quickly haha but basically sister b**** saved the day because we're just sitting there SO awkwardly and sis b***** goes, "... i just love the book of mormon" and launches into this really beautiful testimony of how it brings her closer to Christ. so that was perfect, and then she invited her to all these relief society activities at her home and basically saved the day, amen. hooray for members! :) :) and she even suggested a scripture journal to help sister g**** remember stuff haha.

 

also - basically everyone here is a 1st generation member, so that's cool. :)

 

also i went to culvers! and ate fried cheese curds and custard. yummmmmmm :)

 

oh and THEN we checked the phone and it turns out the person we thought had blown us off had actually texted us!! and she rescheduled with us!! so we're going to see her tomorrow, hooray hooray :)

 

so basically, i've just been so grateful to be a missionary lately :)

 

also i just got done being sick, hooray! the tiny tim cough was starting to get on my nerves haha :)

 

GREAT scripture - Alma 17:3. i love how it says, "THEY HAD GIVEN THEMSELVES." reminds me of helaman 3:35 and d&c 4:2. give yourself :)

 

other thoughts.... gummy bears taste like children's shampoo.

 

update on sister a**** d****: "i watched like 30 Mormon Messages and like 28 applied to me!" :) also her dad came to the appointment the other night, unannounced, to see what his daughter was getting into. he said he could see the "beauty of God" in us (he's cuban, which was surprising since a**** does NOT look cuban) and we heard him later on the phone with his wife saying "no, no, they believe in Jesus Christ" haha. so we gave the spanish elders his information! hooray! :) :) and j**** and a**** both got to share the book of mormon with her dad and tell him how it testifies of Christ, which was awesome :) :)

 

people here leave their lights up, which i love. i guess they do the "12 days of Christmas" starting with dec 25th as day 1? so last sunday was the 12th and about half the houses still have lights on them haha i love it. Jesus is still born! and He's still the Light of the world, so hooray! :) we went to a house that had lights choreographed to music on the radio. yeah. legit. :)

 

let us all just remember that God knows better than we do what will bring us ultimate happiness, amen. :)

 

and remember to set goals AND make plans to achieve them!

 

OH YEAH I FORGOT WE'RE HAVING A BAPTISM :)))))))))))

 

we met with brother r***** on Saturday! fact: I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR MEMBER HELP. the work does NOT progress with out members!!!!!!! so we called sister m**** (a ward missionary) and asked if she could come and if she knew any men who could give br r a ride to the church for our appt (no car) and she mentioned brother f****, so we called him and he said he'd clear his schedule and give brother r a ride to the church! which was ACTUALLY PERFECT. we met in the gospel principles room which was also perfect because there are two paintings in there - the resurrected Christ at the tomb in Jerusalem, and the resurrected Christ in the Americas. and so when we introduced the Book of Mormon, Brother F*** pointed that out and Brother R**** was all, "that makes so much sense!" and (hooray for scripture mastery!) when he asked if the Book of Mormon replaced the Bible we were able to go to (guess where............. ezekiel 37! correct!) :)

i'm almost out of time aahh so i'll write the full story later but basically we invited him to be baptized on january 26th!! and he said yes!! and it made him so happy! and he wrote it on his calendar! also he brought a notebook to take notes haha so cute. (he's like 65 and retired btw)

and he came to church on Sunday! and he loved it! he felt the Spirit! he met the Bishop and the ward mission leader! and Brother F**** gave him a ride again and sat by him in all the meetings, even gospel principles!! hooray, hooray, hooray for wonderful members!! we seriously SO appreciate the sacrifices they make to come out with us and pray for them every prayer (which is like 23904378 times a day haha) :) :)

 

anyways i'd better wrap up but i love you all!!! more details next week about brother rivers :) :) i love the Book of Mormon!! i know that it's the true word of God and a companion to the Bible. they testify of Christ, and they bring me closer to Him than anything else. I love sharing it with people!! I KNOW that the Gospel brings peace and happiness! everyone needs it!! I know that God lives, and that He is always aware of us and wants to bless us with maximum happiness! hooray for that! I love the gospel and I love being a missionary! also HOORAY FOR ETERNAL FAMILIES. i KNOW that our family can be together forever and i'm so grateful for temples and the blessing we enjoy because of it :) :) everyone needs this!! it will improve the quality of every life :) hooray for missionary work!!

love love love love love you guys :)

xoxoxoxo

cece J

ps - i basically felt EXACTLY like that elder from the best two years writing "1" down for baptisms hahaha love it :) :) :)

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