This
week was great. I really believe that the Cherry Park ward is prepared
for big things.We have a lot of people who are prepared to make the next
step for baptism. Jeffrey is being baptized on February 7th. He is 13
and the son of a recent convert. He is so excited for baptism and it has
been awesome to teach him. Unfortunately we had to take Shaylah off
date because she has been really sick so we haven't been able to meet
with her. Plus, she has a smoking problem and she is not sure when she
will be able to quit. We will keep working with her and I will keep you
updated. There is a family in this ward named the Brinkerhoffs. I have
to find out how they do their missionary work. They are wrecking balls!
haha. They find the perfect balance between sharing the gospel and not
being pushy or over the top. We had a lesson set up with some of their
friends last night. We showed up and they had not come yet and Brother
Brinkerhoff was out of town so we were no allowed to go in yet. So
sister Brinkerhoff told us to knock on the door of one of her neighbors
and invite her to church. So we knocked on the door and had a great
conversation with this lady that lived next to her. She expressed her
concerns about going and we and we addressed them and it was great. Then
she told us that she would be at church and that she was now
accountable because she told us she would. It was so inspired. Then we
went back and their friends, the Brewers, were there. He has been
inactive forever, but still supports the church. She is a non-member. We
had such a great lesson. They both have been coming to church and
reading from the Book of Mormon. She started crying when we asked what
she thought of it all and she said that it is all so inspired. She is
worried about new culture, vocabulary, lack of knowledge, etc. so keep
her in your prayers. Her name is Katie.
Richard
is doing great. He is still clean and he wants to be baptized so bad.
There is a bunch of stuff he has to go through to get baptized again,
but it is awesome to see his determination. It is also because he
considers us his friends too. He calls us almost every day (yesterday he
called us to tell us there is a killer deal on razors at the grocery
outlet) and he loves the lessons.
So
Portland is so incredibly diverse. So as far as what draws Samoans
there... I have no idea. We run into Russians and Ukrainians about every
day. There are also quite a few Indians (not Native Americans but
people from India). There are also a lot of black people and a ton of
people from Vietnam and Cambodia. Samoans are great members of the
church, but they are pretty lazy in general. 9:00 church is a struggle
haha, but they are great. From them I have learned to relax a little and
not be so stressed out and intense. We were eating with a Samoan family
and I said that we had a lesson that we had to go to. They all looked
at us like we were crazy! They were like, just be late! Haha! I can feel
their love for those around them and I wonder if people can feel the
same thing from me. It is a work in progress for me. No weird food from
them yet... knock on wood!)
So
the big jump was for the district. We made a big jump in pretty much
all of our numbers. My first district meeting went well. I was afraid
that it would end like 30 minutes early and that would be awkward but it
ended right on time. So far all of my training have bee stuff that I
learned from PGC so that is cool. Who knew that those books by Dick
Devenzio would help me on my mission? The responsibilities are pretty
simple. Just teach and motivate. I try and keep track of the
investigators that are most progressing and I will pray for them
throughout the day. I just try and focus on how to help the missionaries
in the district.
I
was thinking about how our problems can seem so big in the moment. Even
as missionaries we think this. Elder Hammond (a zone leader that I live
with) and I were talking about that. We were looking back in high
school and thought how silly our problems were. Then we realized hat we
are going to look back on our missions and think that our problems are
small in comparison with what we will go through. Then we will die and
look back on our mortal life and realize how small they really were, but
how they each helped us become a better person and more like our
Savior.
I
am so glad that Kody is going on a mission. He will reach a lot of
people in Mississippi. That is a good scripture that he quoted and a
good message. Thanks for sharing it. There are so many things that go
into serving a mission and so many experiences leading up to it.
Heavenly Father doesn't do random things and everything happens for a
reason. Brian Ashton game a great message too. That is something that
President Taylor talks about a lot. We have to respect agency and just
go with it. Sometimes people will make wrong choices and sometimes they
will be right. We just need to love people.
Thank
you for the email. I love hearing updates from home so keep them
coming. I hope everything is going well. Have a great week. I love you
all!
Love, Jaxon
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