Elder Elder: Serving the Lord in Iowa: June 24, 2013

Well, my heart is very full today! I am so happy that the family is doing so well! I miss you and the family so much and love you all so much as well! I don't know if Andrew knows, but it means so much to me that he writes me every day! He sounds like he is doing so much better and Aubri sounds very happy. I would talk about Erin and Cameron too, but they don't really write too often... haha. Make them feel guilty for me. Tell them that I miss them! And when they write would you have them send it in their own emails? It makes it less confusing when I am writing back.

So President and Sister Jergensen leave on Saturday! It is so weird. I luckily got to see them at church on Sunday. They try and make it around to all the wards out here and we were lucky enough to meet with them on their last Sunday! They have been such wonderful examples in my life. We have not met President Jensen yet! We will meet him on the 4th of July at a Zone Conference. I am excited to meet him and see how he helps the work move forward here in the IDMM (Iowa Des Moines Mission).

Ya, home and visiting teaching are truly inspired callings! So much good comes from it! I can't wait to be a home teacher again. Well, in a way I am a home teacher now. I just have the added plus of knocking on doors. haha.

So did you watch that seminar?? Oh my goodness it was so amazing! I have never seen the church do anything like that before! They are truly utilizing all of the resources they can! That seminar is going to change the missionary work worldwide.

So, as far as I know Taren is doing fantastic! He is a District leader and is working hard. Wow, I miss that guy and Bradley! They both are getting close to being done. And wow, I have almost been out for ten months! Does it seem that long to you??

So I learned something fantastic this week. I have learned how to drastically improve my teaching skills! One of the fundamentals of Preach my Gospel is Teaching People Not Lessons. So I have made it a point to do this in all of my lessons! I have had many awesome experiences since then. So the first one, we were on exchanges with the Assistants to the President, and I was with Elder Vanwoerkem, who interestingly enough was my first Zone Leader in Manchester. We went and saw this potential Investigator named Ray. We sat down with him and just started to talk and get to know him. We both were planning on sharing the restoration lesson with him, but it didn't seem right. So we starting talking about the first couple points in the Doctrine of Christ! We started with faith and then repentance and the spirit just came pouring in! This was exactly what we were supposed to teach him! By the end of the lesson, he committed to be baptized and come to church this week with us! He wanted to make his life better and repent for his past mistakes! At the end of the lesson, he said the closing prayer and he said such a sincere prayer! I Couldn't hold back the tears in the middle of it! It is just amazing what happens when you listen to the spirit! The Lord will fill your mouth when you are sharing the Gospel because we are all his children and he wants everybody to know about it.

And the second experience was also on exchanges, but this time it was out of our area. We were in Dubuque. We were struggling to find people to teach, so we sat down and prayed about were to go. Several names popped into Elder Clark's Head. I was on exchanges with him. So we went to see these people. One of them was a 22 year old named Dakota and his experience was kind of similar to Ray's. We started teaching the restoration, and I just had an overwhelming feeling to stop and ask him a couple of questions. So I did and it was so sweet! Through these inspired questions we were able to really figure out what it was that he truly needed which was a testimony that there truly is a God. So we talked about prayer and the importance of it. We asked him if he had ever prayed. And he said, "no, I have never really prayed before." So we told him that the only way he would ever know if there was a God is if he asked! So right after that he said, "Ok, can we pray right now?"..... This never happens! We always have to almost coax our investigators to pray! So, he prayed, and was pretty sincere!!! And he also committed to be baptized when he received an answer and is planning on going to church!!

I have learned so much about being a missionary this past week. I have to teach the person, not the lessons! And God loves all his children so much we just have to listen to the spirit to know what he would have us say!!!

Well, I am praying for you and my family everyday! I pray that your own testimonies will continue to grow. and that through the Atonement you can all become even better than you already are. I was telling Aubri that if we are not changing, then we are not moving forward, and if we are not moving forward, then we are moving backwards!! My invitation for you and my family this week is to find something that you could change to bring your lives closer in harmony with the Gospel! Everybody has something they can change, because if they didn't then they would be perfect, and if we are perfect, then why would we need a Savior?? I testify that we need a Savior, because we all screw up! and we need his Atonement to help make us clean and grow closer to him! I love this Gospel so much and love my Savior with all my Heart! I love you and my family as well! I hope you all have wonderful weeks!

Love,

Elder Elder