2/27

Woah another week is over and the bags underneath my eyes are growing increasingly larger. I have been finding the greatest joy in the work lately. Transfers were last week and well I am now in Murray and Elder Pitcher is my comp again. We are getting along great and working super hard. I say this out of a realization of the blessings that come when we give the work a little push above what we thought we could. The past 8 weeks I have been tired beyond belief because I have been pushing myself to the max and beyond, and have really seen the blessings. In the past 2 months we have had 8 baptisms. I honestly do not say this out of pride because I know the blessings have come as the Lord has seen our sacrifice and obedience along with our willingness to follow the promptings of the Spirit. No person not guided by the spirit could ever convince someone to join a church in which the person must sacrifice everything in persuit of the kingdom of God. Only the spirit can fulfill that task, all he needs is willing hands. I am enjoying my new area and new asignment as District Leader but it is a lot different when you are worried about 4 areas and 8 missionaries instead of just your own area. A lot more prayers have been said and well it is tough working with the hard nose Zone Leaders who only care about numbers and do not see the effort each missionary is putting in.

Rafael and Socorro were baptized this past week on thursday and I had the blessing of returning to Sandy to baptize Socorro. It was a lovely baptism in which we witnessed the parents follow the example thei 2 daughter had set just 2 months prior. The family is almost complete, just one more brother to work with. When I got transfered I went and said goodbye to Rocio Juarez and Lilian Pineda both are people we are teaching. I told them both that soon they would make great strong members of the church (which is totally true!) and they both said they planned on it and were excited to get baptized soon. They both have several challenges in life right now but have a determination to follow their Savior. I will miss Sandy but it is in good hands with Elder Schmidt.

Now to Murray... I arrived in Murray on wed and have loved every second of it, including killing several roaches every morning when I wake up. We live in a retirement home but odly enough no retired people live here, just a lot of weird people several of which do drugs. A few weeks before I got here the man who lives in the room next to us was a little out of it due to drug use. He put on a ski mask, went out side his door into the hallway and started pounding on his own door yelling "It's the police open up!". He is a really nice guy though. I feel bad because someone stole his BBQ. The hallways smell of smoke and well weed. Funny thing is I didn't know what marijuana smelled like until I got on the mission. Meeting and talking to people all day well obviously you run into some strange people. It makes me realize how the gospel has always given me a stable enviornment to grown up in. I am having a blast driving the car we have in the area. It is a 2010 Suburu Impreza with a slap shifter. So I can put it in automatic and just drive or sport and shift up and down by slapping the stick, no clutch! It is a hoot driving up the windy, twisty roads that lead to the mountains. Our area covers 10 stakes so we do quite a bit of driving.

We had another baptism this past week for a lady named April Trigo. She is a single mom with 5 boys all under the age of 7. Now mom if you thought you had it tough, think again. All through the lessons we would be getting smacked, punched, bitten and abused by these out of control kids. We wondered how this lady could feel the spirit amongst all the comotion. We ask her why she wanted to get baptized and she told us that she had met with tons of other religions and never felt anything or seen a difference but with us she had felt a lot when we taught and when she would read. She told us that she has had a lot more patience since we started meeting with her, which has helped her cope with 5 crazy boys. It was a huge testimony builder of how the spirit works in mysterious ways. We are also teaching a man named Juan. He is going to be baptized this sunday. He is a writter so he speaks very poetically and it drives me nuts sometimes but he knows the gospel is true.

On wed night my first night in the area we had a lesson with Brenda and Patrick two 19 year old kids who are dating. They have been meeting with missionaries for almost a year. We read in Alma chapter 7:11-16. We testified of the things the Savior suffered for us because he loves us. The spirit was extremely powerful! Then we talked about how in verses 14-16 it mentions what we have to do to payback and follow the Savior. We then commited Brenda to baptism for March 18th. When we asked Patrick he turned it down and told us we just didnt understand how religion was a new thing to him and he was still learning. They both have younger siblings who they care about. I remeber sitting there thinking about what Patrick needed and a personal story popped into my mind. I immediately recognized it as a prompting from the Holy Ghost. I looked at them and told them about how their younger siblings looked up to them whether they realized it or not. I told them that I used to tease my brother and sister (mainly my sister) nonstop and how the sunday I was leaving for the mission we were sitting in church as a family and I put my arm around my little sister Hannah and she began to cry. As I looked up at my mother I noticed she was crying to and she told me something that has stuck with me ever since that day. I can remember the exact words she said which were "you have no idea how much your little sister loves you, you have no idea how much she looks up to you, you have no idea." As I told Brenda and Patrick this they began to cry, I was already crying. we testified that they would be the example for their siblings. We then said "Patrick, will you prepare yourself to make that same step with Brenda by being baptized on March 18th." He responded with a yes and we closed with prayer. As we asked them how the felt afterwards they responded "amazing, the things I am feeling are amazing!" That is the spirit. It leads and guides this work. It is the convincing power by which so many have come to know the truth of what we teach and the truth of this gospel. I know it! May we all live by that knowledge and live worthily of the presence of the spirit for he truly is our connection between heaven and earth.

Love,

Elder Jolly

Feb 13, 2012

Well this week went by really fast and all is well in Zion (if you can even call Utah that). Lilian is doing very well and is progressing nicely. Her boss did not change the schedule to give her Sundays off work at least until 4 so she was not able to come to church with us. Although she has a friend that goes to the Union Park Spanish Branch and that service begins at 9am so we went with her to that Branch and helped her around. We haven't been able to meet with her since then so tomorrow when we have our appointment with her we will find out how it goes.

In one of the lessons with her this week she said something that strengthened my testimony that the Lord and His angels are preparing people to accept this gospel. Lilian told us of how the missionaries had knocked her door several times before when she was living with her mother. She said her mom would always say she is not interested but the missionaries would persist and set an appointment. When the appointment time would arrive her mom would say "Lilian lets go to the store". Lilian would remind her mom of the fact that the missionaries were going to be arriving soon to which the mom would reply "I know and I don't want to be here". When we knocked on her door a few weeks ago she had been prepared and was listening when the Spirit told her "you need to listen to them". Later in the lesson she told us of how her mom noticed that Lilian had been changing she seemed much happier. She told her mom that it was because she is getting closer to God. Her mothers boyfriend did not like this answer and told her that she was being silly and she was making it up. Lilian snapped back at him one day he would understand because one day he will need God and he will be ready to listen. The senior missionaries (The Birds) are teaching her English and man are they loving her to death and it is great. Lilian is a lot happier now than she was the first time we met her. The gospel changes lives.

We have really been trying to solidify the testimonies of Rafael and Socorro. They are the parents of two girls that were recently baptized. They have listened to the missionaries before and liked it a lot. I believe the baptism of their daughter was the push they needed in order to get them more interested in acting and being baptized. We taught them the first half of the Plan of Salvation focusing on Adam and Eve and The Fall because they believed we were all born with the original sin from Adam and Eve and that's why babies need to be baptized. I have always struggled to teach the Fall of Adam and Eve but for some reason this lesson flowed really well as we worked as a companionship to resolve their doubt. We pulled from 2Nephi 2 and the articles of faith to explain that God knew Adam and Eve would eat of the fruit and that it was all part of the plan. I think a good analogy for this situation is a parents with their kids. Many times because parents know their kids so well they know exactly what their kid would do if they were placed in a certain situation. If the parents put a candy bar on the table and leave the room and then the kid eats the candy bar the parents are not normally surprised because well that's what a kid would do in that situation. Heavenly Father knows us so well that he knew Adam and Eve when placed in the garden would eat of the forbidden fruit. The lesson was spirit filled and they told us they are ready for baptism on Feb 23.

On Saturday night one of our stakes had the adult session of stake conference so we attended. They had 2 guest speakers one of which was Elder Franco from the seventy and the other was Elder Anderson from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He spoke on how we are living in enemy territory and how we are living in the great and spacious building. He spoke of how the Twelve and the First Presidency often speak of the next generation and how to help them grow up strong in the church. He mentioned that one of the most important things to do is to keep our homes and what enters them very sacred. We must also have a wakening unto God, or come to the point where we realize how much we really need him. He told us of how he taped the Super Bowl so he could watch it the next day when it was no longer Sunday. He said the half time show was full of glamour and things that he realized brought no eternal value. The things that now entertain the people of this world are things you would find in the great and spacious building. The key to avoiding all this he said was to have a deep and lasting conversion. The 10 virgins had lamps which are a representation of their testimonies and the oil was a sign of deep conversion. Our testimony must be so deep and rich that our children will not be able to deny the words of our testimony because the spirit will leave a lasting impact. The spirit will take the words unto the heart but there we must act and bring the words into our hearts. He truly is a Special Witness of Christ.

I have come to realize and realize more and more the truthfulness of this gospel. I can firmly testify that it is true and is the key to eternal happiness. Faith is where it all begins and I have come to understand that faith is a purifying principle. As we exercise our faith we are purified through the Atonement of Christ. I know this is true!

Love,

Elder Jolly