Whats up yall!
So this week was really good! We had a couple miracles that I would like to tell you about! Before I do though, I'd like to mention one thing. Weekky Planning with the APs was really good. We have been trying to pick out two formers and two potentials from the Area Book to try by and flog 10 each day, but with the help with the Elder Jean and Elder Schiller, we were able to go through a lot of the old progress records and pick out some formers who either had a baptismal date or had been to church quite a bit. With the help of the spirit guiding us, we chose about 12 people to try by.
Miracle #1 As Elder Patten and I went by this investigator that we havent been able to see for a couple weeks now, we felt impressed to flog 10 the area. As we were going to our bikes after having nobody answer their doors, we stopped to talk to this one guy. His name is Jan and he has just moved here 6 months ago from Newcastle up north. He was being taught by the missionaries up there and tried to get in contact with us down here, but the number he had was the Leeds mission office and so he couldnt find us. He asked us immediately to come and teach him this week! We set up an apointment and got his details. Unfotunately, he had to take his mom to the hospital, but left a note telling us to call him to set up anither appointment for this week. Jan was sooo excited to see us and to have us over to his home.
Miracle #2 Saturday was our first day of trying by the formers that we had picked out from Weekly Planning. We told Heavenly Father the area we were going to be in and asked Him to prepare someone there. We didnt have luck with the former, nor flog 10ing. While talking to everyone on the way to the next former, we met this woman who was waiting at a bus stop with her children. We talked about the Plan of Happiness for her family and how we can learn it from the Book of Mormon. It seemed that with ease, she accepted the book and a return appointment! Her bus came shortly thereafter, but we had just enough time to get her address and a time when we should try by and see her.
Something that I have learned this week from these two experiences is that if you plan with the spirit and ask Heavenly Father to prepare people to be in the planned areas, He will do as we humbly ask. As we show Him faith and do all we can to find them, the Lord will place the elect in our path.
I love this work with all my heart. I know that this is the Lord's work and we need to include Him in it. This past week was a testimony builder for me!
Just a quick shoutout to my dad whos birthday it is tomorrow...HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!
Its cookin out here this week. It will probably be the only 1-2 weeks of summer we will get haha I got this sweet tan line on my wrist from my watch haha
Gotta go for now. Have a great week everyone!
Godbless,
-Elder Jaquish
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Monday, May 28, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Things to see on the train....
Hiya!!
Soooo I didn't write a general email last week because it was transfer week. I "killed" Elder Siegel with some dignity left in him haha Just kidding. It was nice to go around with him and see him say goodbye to a lot of people. I really enjoyed serving with him and I learned a lot. But now he is safely back in good ole Utah. My new companion is Elder Patten. He is from St. George, Utah and has been out only 3 months. I'm his 3rd companion and he was previously in Peterborough. We have a lot of the same interests so its easy to get along with him. He is a really good missionary and works hard.
Its been quite a god week. An interesting one, at the least. So like i mentioned earlier, the beginning of the week started off slow because Elder Siegel was going home. Transfers were on Wednesday. We went to a funeral on Friday because one of the less-actives that we are working with just lost his mother, and so he asked us to come. It was a lovely service. I thought the whole time about how glad I am to have a knowledge of the plan of salvation. It was nice to feel the spirit witness that to me at the funeral service. Saturday we taught Theo. Oh yeah, we invited him and his wife, Diana, on Monday to be baptised! We followed up in our lesson on whether or not they had prayed about it. They said that they had spoken to their mothers in Ghana about it and their old pastor from London and they all said that its not necessary to be baptised twice. We explained to them about the importance of priesthood authority, but I don't think it clicked in their heads. They came to church yesterday for all 3 hours and really enjoyed it. The lesson in Gospel Principles was on prophets and so it was good that they could hear once again the importance/necessity of having a prophet on the earth. This Saturday we will teach them and help them understand more fully that baptism requires the authority of God, not just the authority of man.
Funny thing that happened on Saturday as well. We went to Rugeley for dinner and we taught a lesson to the less-active family that fed us. On the way home on the train, we sat a few rows in front of this couple who were probably in their 40s. Next thing we know they start kissing and stuff. The lady stops because she realises we can see, but the guy keeps insisting. They were being all lovey and we pretty much saw all of it. It was sooooo AWKWARD!!! Elder Patten and I just laughed and turned our heads away. Luckily ours was the next stop, so we didn't have to see any more of it.
This week we will have the privilege of having Elder Jay E. Jensen of the Seventy come and speak to our mission. I'm really looking forward to it! This will be my second General Authority coming to speak to us here in Birmingham. I know that as I pray and seek for inspiration, the Lord will reveal to me the things I need to do here in the area of which I serve. Isn't it cool that we have a line of revelation that we can tap into to seek the will of God?! I am grateful for this church and for the gospel that's in my life. I hope you all spend time reviewing the talks given in this last conference and seek for revelation for your own needs!
Take care all!
Godbless.
-Elder Jaquish
Soooo I didn't write a general email last week because it was transfer week. I "killed" Elder Siegel with some dignity left in him haha Just kidding. It was nice to go around with him and see him say goodbye to a lot of people. I really enjoyed serving with him and I learned a lot. But now he is safely back in good ole Utah. My new companion is Elder Patten. He is from St. George, Utah and has been out only 3 months. I'm his 3rd companion and he was previously in Peterborough. We have a lot of the same interests so its easy to get along with him. He is a really good missionary and works hard.
Its been quite a god week. An interesting one, at the least. So like i mentioned earlier, the beginning of the week started off slow because Elder Siegel was going home. Transfers were on Wednesday. We went to a funeral on Friday because one of the less-actives that we are working with just lost his mother, and so he asked us to come. It was a lovely service. I thought the whole time about how glad I am to have a knowledge of the plan of salvation. It was nice to feel the spirit witness that to me at the funeral service. Saturday we taught Theo. Oh yeah, we invited him and his wife, Diana, on Monday to be baptised! We followed up in our lesson on whether or not they had prayed about it. They said that they had spoken to their mothers in Ghana about it and their old pastor from London and they all said that its not necessary to be baptised twice. We explained to them about the importance of priesthood authority, but I don't think it clicked in their heads. They came to church yesterday for all 3 hours and really enjoyed it. The lesson in Gospel Principles was on prophets and so it was good that they could hear once again the importance/necessity of having a prophet on the earth. This Saturday we will teach them and help them understand more fully that baptism requires the authority of God, not just the authority of man.
Funny thing that happened on Saturday as well. We went to Rugeley for dinner and we taught a lesson to the less-active family that fed us. On the way home on the train, we sat a few rows in front of this couple who were probably in their 40s. Next thing we know they start kissing and stuff. The lady stops because she realises we can see, but the guy keeps insisting. They were being all lovey and we pretty much saw all of it. It was sooooo AWKWARD!!! Elder Patten and I just laughed and turned our heads away. Luckily ours was the next stop, so we didn't have to see any more of it.
This week we will have the privilege of having Elder Jay E. Jensen of the Seventy come and speak to our mission. I'm really looking forward to it! This will be my second General Authority coming to speak to us here in Birmingham. I know that as I pray and seek for inspiration, the Lord will reveal to me the things I need to do here in the area of which I serve. Isn't it cool that we have a line of revelation that we can tap into to seek the will of God?! I am grateful for this church and for the gospel that's in my life. I hope you all spend time reviewing the talks given in this last conference and seek for revelation for your own needs!
Take care all!
Godbless.
-Elder Jaquish
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Ready to be amazed??
Hey, where did the time go? Can yall believe that its already been 21 months since i left the promised land to come to the home land?! haha Well, despite the fact of quickened time, the British Isles have treated me well thus far! This past week was smashing! Ready to be amazed??
On Tuesday, we had a wonderful lesson with one of the recent converts here. She was preparing to do baptisms for the dead and so we taught her about the temple and what sort of thing to expect. We also talked about the doctrine of doing this type of temple work and how crucial it is to our exaltation. Fast-forwarding a bit for the moment, she went to the temple in Preston on Saturday and absolutely loved it!!! She said that she felt so good going and being near to the Lord. When we went around to talk to her about her experience, she had this lightened countenance upon her face. She just looked so happy! You could definitely tell that she had been enlightened at the temple :) This whole experience made me miss going to the temple so much!!!! And the fact that my companion goes home next week and him making plans to go to the temple the day after he gets home doesn't help things either!! haha Oh well. My joy is in seeing others have joy!
Wednesday I went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders and got to spend some time in my old area! I was able to see the young girl I baptised there and her family! It was so special to me to see them. They are doing good. Struggling a bit, but don't we all?
Thursday was pretty good too! We found some good potentials to try by this week so that's always a plus!
Friday weekly planning was tough haha It was slightly difficult to stay focused. We go done with it all in the end. We had a lovely dinner appointment with a family that we hadn't been to in a while. Ummm, I think that's it for Friday haha
Saturday we taught a part-member (future) family. It went really well. We spoke about the purpose of life and the things that we need to do while here on this earth. We used Alma 34 to discuss the topic, which I think really helped. It explains very well the fact that we cant really do our labours after this life. Nor will our attitudes towards God and our lives change once we are on the other side. Its interesting to me that progression in the gospel on earth is easier than progression in Heaven. I suppose that's why we are always taught that faith is so powerful! Cool huh?
Sunday was brilliant!! Testimony meeting was legit. A lot of the primary/young men bore their testimonies! It brought a powerful spirit into the room. One thing that happened at church that was funny is that the usual piano player wasn't there, which pretty much leaves us with nobody else to play. This one woman got up and tried playing, but didn't really know the songs. She would only play the beginning note of each verse and some random notes throughout the hymns. I couldn't help but laugh every time I heard the piano!!! hahahaha Bless her cotton socks :)
Since its Tuesday now, I will talk about an amazing thing that happened yesterday. So one of our investigators, Theo, was only able to meet with us in the morning on Monday. Elder Siegel and I decided to sacrifice some of our pday time to teach him anyways! His wife joined in on the lesson and it went so well!!! We discussed the Restoration again and kinda talked about how she feels about faith. She feels the same was as Theo felt, too many churches nowadays are more like businesses rather than places of worship. We spoke about how Christ set up a specific Church when he was on the earth and how that same church has been restored! The spirit was definitely there. They really liked our lesson and accepted an invitation to read and pray about the Book of Mormon!! They are excited to come to church too!! We are seeing them again on Friday, so hopefully we can talk more with them about the restored priesthood!!
How grateful I am to the Lord that I have been blessed with the gospel. It is the source of my love, happiness, and drive. I love the Christ with all my heart and am grateful for His sacrifice. I pray that we may each understand how much the gospel affects us for the good each day :)
Also, I would to extend a congratulations out to Maria Gage on her upcoming marriage in the Temple.
-Elder Jaquish
On Tuesday, we had a wonderful lesson with one of the recent converts here. She was preparing to do baptisms for the dead and so we taught her about the temple and what sort of thing to expect. We also talked about the doctrine of doing this type of temple work and how crucial it is to our exaltation. Fast-forwarding a bit for the moment, she went to the temple in Preston on Saturday and absolutely loved it!!! She said that she felt so good going and being near to the Lord. When we went around to talk to her about her experience, she had this lightened countenance upon her face. She just looked so happy! You could definitely tell that she had been enlightened at the temple :) This whole experience made me miss going to the temple so much!!!! And the fact that my companion goes home next week and him making plans to go to the temple the day after he gets home doesn't help things either!! haha Oh well. My joy is in seeing others have joy!
Wednesday I went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders and got to spend some time in my old area! I was able to see the young girl I baptised there and her family! It was so special to me to see them. They are doing good. Struggling a bit, but don't we all?
Thursday was pretty good too! We found some good potentials to try by this week so that's always a plus!
Friday weekly planning was tough haha It was slightly difficult to stay focused. We go done with it all in the end. We had a lovely dinner appointment with a family that we hadn't been to in a while. Ummm, I think that's it for Friday haha
Saturday we taught a part-member (future) family. It went really well. We spoke about the purpose of life and the things that we need to do while here on this earth. We used Alma 34 to discuss the topic, which I think really helped. It explains very well the fact that we cant really do our labours after this life. Nor will our attitudes towards God and our lives change once we are on the other side. Its interesting to me that progression in the gospel on earth is easier than progression in Heaven. I suppose that's why we are always taught that faith is so powerful! Cool huh?
Sunday was brilliant!! Testimony meeting was legit. A lot of the primary/young men bore their testimonies! It brought a powerful spirit into the room. One thing that happened at church that was funny is that the usual piano player wasn't there, which pretty much leaves us with nobody else to play. This one woman got up and tried playing, but didn't really know the songs. She would only play the beginning note of each verse and some random notes throughout the hymns. I couldn't help but laugh every time I heard the piano!!! hahahaha Bless her cotton socks :)
Since its Tuesday now, I will talk about an amazing thing that happened yesterday. So one of our investigators, Theo, was only able to meet with us in the morning on Monday. Elder Siegel and I decided to sacrifice some of our pday time to teach him anyways! His wife joined in on the lesson and it went so well!!! We discussed the Restoration again and kinda talked about how she feels about faith. She feels the same was as Theo felt, too many churches nowadays are more like businesses rather than places of worship. We spoke about how Christ set up a specific Church when he was on the earth and how that same church has been restored! The spirit was definitely there. They really liked our lesson and accepted an invitation to read and pray about the Book of Mormon!! They are excited to come to church too!! We are seeing them again on Friday, so hopefully we can talk more with them about the restored priesthood!!
How grateful I am to the Lord that I have been blessed with the gospel. It is the source of my love, happiness, and drive. I love the Christ with all my heart and am grateful for His sacrifice. I pray that we may each understand how much the gospel affects us for the good each day :)
Also, I would to extend a congratulations out to Maria Gage on her upcoming marriage in the Temple.
-Elder Jaquish