Poetry shared by Elder Jolly written by his friend James H. Lee Jr.

Because He Loves Us
8 February 2003

The Savior, Blessed Jesus, has watched for many years
To heal our tears and sorrows,
And banish all our fears.

He's sending forth His angels to gladden heart and soul,
And help us stretch beyond the mark
To our eternal goal.

He loves us each and every one, and wants us to be true,
True to God's commandments
Each day, our whole life through,

So we may be together for all eternity,
Helping Him perform God's work
For His posterity.

Since He's our Elder Brother, our Savior and our Friend,
He's hoping we will follow Him
Down to the very end,

Submitting to the Father's will, just as He did here,
So we may share in His reward
In heaven's atmosphere.

All the Father has is His, His to have and hold,
More precious than a thousand worlds,
Or all their wealth and gold.

And it is His to share with us if only we will be
Faithful in our stewardship
As His posterity.

The world and all its glory has nothing to compare
With what is waiting for us
Beyond the Golden Stair,

If only we are faithful as followers of He
Who gave His life, His love, His all,
And died on Calvary

So we, His friends and family, and all of Father's clan,
May glorify The Father,
And help ennoble man.

God help us to be faithful as His own children here,
So we may find eternal joy
In heaven's atmosphere,

And be with friends and loved ones, and with our Savior, too,
Helping build God's kingdom,
As Jesus said to do.

Dream a Dream
8 August 1980

Dreams have a way of becoming
Whatever you want them to be,
But they can only become as much
As your inner eye can see.
If your vision is very limited,
Your dreams will be limited, too,
For you can only stretch as far
As your greatest dreams come true.
So dream a dream worth dreaming,
And raise your vision higher,
And start today to open the door
To gain your greatest desire.
Envision the things you're dreaming
As having come to be,
Pretend you already own them,
And pretty soon you'll see
Your visions and dreams becoming
More glorious every day,
And things will start to happen
In a most miraculous way.
What wonders do await you?
Only your dreams will tell,
So dream a dream worth dreaming,
And let it cast its spell.

Heart Thoughts by Jim

April 20, 2011

Dear Peoples,

 

   Another week has come and gone. This past week was good and we picked up 2 new investigators Oscar and Alberto. Oscar is a part memeber family, his wife and daughter are baptized but less active so we are working to activate them, it is a tough but rewarding task. Alberto has 2 kids very young and we are hoping to start to teach his wife coming up. On sunday we had a miracle happen. There is a part member family in the branch, the son is active dad less active and the other 3 members of the family are not members. We tried teaching them about 4 months ago but they were very against the idea, so they began taking the daily dose english classes with the senior missionaries that only speak english. Eventually they gained a trust with this family so last week the senior missionaries invited them to church and they accepted. The mothers sister who is also not a member watched conference and loved it. So on sunday the whole family came to church and the branch warmly welcomed them in and they plan on coming next sunday. The senior missionaries are going to invite the family to be taught by us in the near future.

  On friday I got an intersting call from Carmen. First of all she never calls us so when I saw her name appear on the phone I was like "Huh?". I answered the phone and asked her how she was doing, she said fine. I asked her if she needed anything she said no. So we just talked for a few minutes before we had to go to an appt. I could tell something was bugging her so I called her back a little while later and asked what was wrong and she told me she was having a really rough day so she decided to call me because she said, "I always know how to cheer her up and make her laugh." Now whether she is laughing at me or with me is still to be determined but the fact she trusts me enough to call me and have me try to cheer her up touched me.

  Sunday we had dinner with the Elders Quorum Pres and his family and sister. We were talking and laughing and just having a good time. At the end the sister told us that when the hispanic members see us they think of us as angels because of what we have brought into their lives. She said we just have a different countanance about ourselves and you can see it in our faces. Earlier this week a lady we ate with told us how much she loved us in her house because it was as if the Savior himself was there because we are his representatives. The people in this area are just too loving, I think I need to be transfered.

   I hope things are going well back home and dad is having luck with finding a job.  I loved the pictures. My memory card on the camera is full so I may send it home soon. Let me know how the job hunt is going for dad. Love you all.

 

Elder Jolly

April 13, 2011

Hey mom,

 

Don't know if Makenna told you  but Fred our recent convert went to conference and while there he managed to find a ticket. He got inside sat down and started talking with a Bishop about his conversion story and an Usher invited him up to the roped off section. For more information about the story check out http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/60767/Conference-moment-Seeing-a-prophet.html because his story was on the back page of the church news!!!! It mentions how the missionaries helped in his conversion, that was me!!!! 

  

    Now about our crazy week. You wont get many letters this week because this week was just weird, but here is what happened. Last Friday night elder Fordham woke up at 5:30 in the morning and woke me up. When I woke up I could tell something was wrong, the room was really dark and there was not a good feeling inside. He told me he had a dream like the sister missionaries experience I told you about 3 weeks ago.  He said, "I dont want to be here" So I told him we could go play basketball. We left that house in a hurry. 2 nights later it was my turn. I woke up at about 2 am and the same feeling was there. I layed there in bed nervous. I could sense that someone from the other side was in the room. All of a sudden all my hairs stood on end and I had the darkest thoughts run through my mind. It was as if he had taken a hold of me. I couldn't move, I tried to scream but I couldnt even open my mouth. I had no control over my own body. This lasted for about a min before I could move. Then it happened again. It was the scariest thing I had ever experienced in my life. I had always known that the 1/3 cast out of heaven were here on the earth but I had never taken much thought as to what they could do.  I layed in bed for about an hour afterwards reading the ensign with the lights on and then at finally around 4am fell asleep with my scriptures in my hand. I have never experienced something like that before and I hope I never have to again. The harder we work to get closer to  God the harder Satan beats up on us, especially missionaries.

   Other than that it has been a good week. We talked with the stake president about doing a youth fireside to talk about how they can share the gospel with their friends. He loved the idea and it will probably happen early next month. We did some service with the sister missionaries in our area pulling out strawberry plants. The weather cant seem to make up its mind so somedays we bike others we walk. I need to bike more so i can lose these unwanted pounds. Conference was great!

    It is amazing how fast these past 7 months went past. Fastest 7 months of my life.  Oh man we have been having some problems with the branch, they want to feed us too much. We had too many dinner appts sunday (4) and they were all so good but I was so full afterwards. I went home and weighed myself in at 181.6 lbs. I think I am going to start to diet.

   Anyway, I love you all and I hope my experience didnt scare you mom. I will continue to pray for dad and the Lord will provide. 

 

Love,

Elder Jolly