well winter has arrived or at least the cold. Today the high is 27 and they said the wind chill could be as bad as -1. This past week we were able to enjoy a wonderfull mission conference in the which Elder Christofferson spoke to us along with two members of the seventy. Elder Christofferson has such a sense of humor. He was constantly making jokes teasing people. The conference was a question and answer session in which he would allow us to ask him anything we wanted to know. I was grateful that the missionaries kept all their questions appropriate. One sister missionary asked him what his favorite scripture was and his response reminded me of something Bro. Adams used to say all the time. He told us he had many but one of his favorites was in Heleman 6 so we all opened to it waiting for the verse when he said "well I find that sometimes scriptures move around on me and it seems this one has" after a few seconds he responded "yep it did move, chapter 3". I couldn't help but laugh as I thought of Brother Adams in seminary saying the exact samething. It helped me realized that those called of the Lord are not perfect people and do not have a perfect knowledge, they are real people and the Lord uses what abilities they have. He doesn't expect perfection, just as close to it as we can get and the attonement will cover for where we lack. After the conference we left for the parking lot and I noticed that Elder Christofferson has a nice car, a for Taurus 2011 but Elder Holmstrom had the better car, he went for the Toyota Avalon.
transfers have come and gone and Elder Bolivar and I are still in Kearns together. I have mixed reactions about it. I love Elder Bolivar and a lot of the members here but I have been here since June and that is along time for a tiny little area like this. I am excited because I wont have to spend Christmas in a new ward but I think by next transfer I will be ready for a new area. I am now the missionary that has the most time in the zone. They call me the Patriarch.
We had an awesome lesson with Liz and Erik Moran on thursday. Lizeth had brought up the concern that she doesnt believe Jehovah is Jesus Christ so she asked that we explain it to her. Before the lesson she told us that she knows that Jehovah is God. Five minutes and 2 scriptures later a shocked look appeared on her face and the words "ooooh" came out of her mouth. She sat their shocked starring at the chalk board and the drawing we had made to explain the scriptures. She then asked "how did you pull all that out of the scripture?" It is amazing at the things the Spirit can teach us, but it all begins with opening the book and studying not just reading words. We talked about their wedding and they set a firm date for Jan 2 and they are excited about baptism on the 7th of Jan. They both were at church on sunday and loved it. Liz announced in Relief Society that she is preparing to get baptized. Other than that the work is slow. We are still teaching Lucero but she is on the soon to be dropped list in my head unless she stops being ridiculous. She said everything we teach her is exactly what she needs and she feels great every time we teach her but she doesnt like church. She told us of how she was super close to God about 7 years ago but then left him and is trying to make her way back and we have helped her along the way but she still refuses to go to church and baptism. Tonight we have a lesson with her in the which I intend to be blunt a bold. She needs to realize that the Gospel is not just good info. It is neccesary info to do neccesary ordinances. The moment we stop teaching her that "closeness" to God will be gone because the Spirit leaves with us. She needs to understand that where she is now in life is not a place that will save her a spot in the Celestial Kingdom. She may get offended but she needs to hear it so wish us luck...
The Christmas First Presidency Devotional was amazing. When they showed clips from the New Testament videos that are coming out there was a powerful spirit. President Monson gave an amazing talk on how we cannot lose the spirit of Christ in Christmas because without Christ there is no Christmas. Lucero went and loved it so poco a poco. Sometimes the work moves along faster than others and right now is a slow time but as our Ward Mission Leader said "Sometimes the purification of a missionary is more important that the baptism that comes at the end" (in spanish of course). This is a purifying work.
Love,
Elder Jolly
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