Well tansfers just happened and Elder Bowers is out. He is now serving in Murray covering 10 stakes. My new companion is Elder Bolivar, straight out of Columbia. Well he left Columbia about 5 months ago so not straight out of Columbia but pretty close. This is his third transfer and one of the first things he told me is "I am shy so you will need to help me to open up". Haha President wrote me and the first sentence was "You will have to get your companion to talk more", so I guess I have a new challenge on my hands. He is a great kid though, hard working, knows the scriptures, just needs to open up a little more. His dad just finished serving as a mission president in the Columbia, Cali mission so he knows how the mission is run.
This week we had a lot of success, so things are looking good. Alonso was baptized last sunday and confirmed yesterday. On Wed. we had a lesson with a less active Iris, her roommate Stephanie and her daughter Isabel. The lesson went really well and they accepted baptism on the 25th of September. Yesterday at church Stephanie was telling people how she is excited for her baptism. We met with Lizeth Moran on thursday, she is excited for the wedding, but they are saving up money so they can have a little party and invite friends. She hopes it will be at the end of sept so she can be baptized on Oct 2nd with her husband. Christian, told us that he will get baptized since we cant find his records so we are just trying to decide on a date that works for him. We have a few more investigators that are progressing well. Gabby is doing good, she came to church yesterday with her daughter. She asked me if Elder Bowers will ever come back and I responded "of course, for your baptism" haha she looked shocked but smiled and said "ok". We have an appt with her tomorrow and we are going to extend a date and see what happens. She is ready, she is just very scared to take the step. Two returned sister missionaries were called last week and man they are a huge help. They ran around yesterday picking up investigators for church and getting them rides home. It felt good to relax a little. They are also going to be teaching the new member lessons so we can focus on finding more people. Yesterday in Ward Council the Bishop and Auxillary leaders gave us like 15 families to go by. The conversation went a little like this "Well none of us can get in the house...hmm.... lets send the missionaries" haha some of the names have kids that are not baptized so it looks promising there. There is just so much to do.
When we taught Iris the other day she was talking about how life is tough since her husband is in jail, so we shared a scripture with her. At the end she stopped for a secod and then said "wow, I felt that, it felt good when I read that scripture" she then told us that it was the same feeling she gets when she takes the sacrament. I know that that was the Spirit! The Spirit is the converter, it teaches truth and speaks peace to the mind and to the heart. That is what these people are looking for, peace and comfort in a world where life is so hard. That true peace is only found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no subsitute there is no other way. The experiences I have had on the mission have grown my testimony, just like the seed of faith, it has been nourished and now it is growing. I love you all and thanks for all the bday wishes.
Love,
Elder Jolly
