6/4/12

This past week was awesome. We decided to start getting our muscles warmed up for when we have no car so we biked a good amount everyday. We would bike from about 12pm to 5 then picked up the car right before dinner and drive the rest of the night. We biked over 100 miles this week and when we lose the car it will probably be close to 200 a week. We are having a lot of success now. We picked up 4 new investigators this week. 1 accepted baptism for june 24th and the other 3 said they need to learn more first so we will keep working with them. We also were able to recieve several referrals for part-member families who are less active. The work is progressing a lot faster now and we are staying really busy. Maria one of our investigators has been meeting with missionaries for more than a year said she picked a date to get baptized but it is in august. She said she wants us to make her a plan so that she can be ready. We told her straight up "Maria it has been a year! We have nothing left to teach you! You know this is all true so get baptized!" She said she would pray to know if she should get baptized in June. She has a hard time coming to church though because she works most sundays, but this past sunday she snuck out and came to sacrament meeting during her lunch hour. Also Brenda came to church for the first time in 6 months and is getting close to baptism.

It is starting to get hot so when we get home we plan, update the area book and then I am outcold. I have been sleeping like a little baby lately and I love it. Elder Quiroz is really awesome! He really knows how to be a missionary and is a great person, we are getting along amazingly. With the mission split coming up soon I wonder what mission I will be in. I talked to Elder Harvey today and he said President called him and asked him to extend 3 weeks, so he knows he will be in the new mission. I haven't been called yet so maybe I will be getting transfered back into the South Mission. It is a stressful but exciting time. I love you all.

Elder Jolly

May 28, 2012

This past week was great! Side note. So right before the mission Dad and I flew down here and stayed in a hotel for 2 nights and that hotel is in my area. I drive by it everyday. On Tuesday we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders and it was an amazing experience. I went to serve in their area for the day with Elder Wilson. We had an awesome experience where we felt impressed to go to a certain apartment complex on the other side of the area and their area so we did. As we pulled in Elder Wilson asked me if we should go left or right, I answered right, he was thinking the same thing. So he turned right and not 5 feet later he parked. I asked "why would you ask me right or left if you were just going to park?" He didn't know why he just felt like this is where we needed to be. We got out and decided to start at the top floor, nobody answered. As we finished the second floor a lady pulled up. I looked at Elder Wilson and told him that we should go help the lady with her groceries. We went down and I asked her if we could help. She accepted and we found out that she has diabetes and her blood sugar was low so she didn't feel good. We helped her get all her stuff inside and she asked us to sit down. Her husband then walked out of his room and she told us that he was not a member. We sat down with him right then and taught him about the Book of Mormon and as it turns out he had been reading the Book of Mormon lately. The Spirit was strong as we testified of the power of the Book of Mormon and then invited him to be baptized on June 9th. He accepted and is now preparing to be baptized. We were guided by the Spirit and were led to one of Heavenly Father's children that was ready to hear the Gospel.

That night we had a lesson with 2 other investigators, Cody and Wade. There are 2 young single adults that have just started learning about and coming to church. I have been a part of some powerful lessons but this lesson was easily the most spiritual and powerful Restoration lesson I have ever taught. There was this atmosphere in the room like no other, you could feel the Spirit as if it was whispering all the words in your ears. The testimony and teachings flowed out of the mouths of Elder Wilson and I and even the members who came to the lesson. We asked Wade what was keeping him from baptism and he said "nothing. When I am reading the Book of Mormon, praying and coming to church are the times when I feel the best!" At the end we invited them both to be baptized on June 16 and they both said yes. The Work is true!

Elder Quiroz continues to improve and grow as a missionary. He is an amazing teacher and is super bold. We were teaching Adan and Alejandro who both didn't read from the Book of Mormon again so I asked them if they really had a desire to read. They said no but that they wanted an answer. Elder Quiroz told them that what they wanted was silly, they wanted an answer with out doing any research or work. We told them that if they wanted an answer that they had to put in their part. By the end Alejandro excitedly asked what the reading assignment would be. The work continues to progress and my testimony and I have no doubts that this is Christ's church had never been more firm. I love you all.

Love,

Elder Jolly

May 21, 2012

So this week was really good. I went to the mission office on wednesday to pick up my new greenie. My new trainee is Elder Quiroz from Dallas although he was born and raised in Mexico City. We have been working super hard this past week and have been seeing the success come as we do our best. We picked up a new investigator named Juan and he accepted baptism for June 10. We also picked up another new investigator named Wendy who accepted baptism for June 17th. Four other investigators finally accepted baptism but said they need more time before choosing a specific date. We are teaching this one lady named Maria and well she has been meeting with missionaries for more than a year and she told us that she is finally thinking about what date she wants to get baptized on. Things are looking up. There is a lot of faith in our companionship right now and so the Lord is blessing us. I wish I could write more but we are going to go play kickball as a zone. Love you all. Oh yea and BTW we are losing our car in a month so 10 stakes on foot! I am going to be in really good shape by the end of the mission.

Love,

April 30, 2012

Hello,

This past week has been one of the harder weeks of my mission. Things are not going well with my companion. I push him and push him but the mission just doesn't mean anything to him. It bothers me that a life changing experience such as this can be taken so lightly.

The highlight of the week was interviews with President Miller. It was probably one of the most spiritual interviews I have had on the mission. The first thing he said to me when I sat down was "Elder Jolly, you have a hard hard district, probably the hardest in the mission". I would have to say I agree with President Miller. There are 10 missionaries in the district 8 of those missionaries are in just split areas 3 are new missionaries so 3 are training, 2 of the 3 new missionaries are struggling. My prayers are a lot longer now, we will just leave it at that. He then looked me in the eyes and said "You have changed so much!" He talked about the difference he has seen in me and the new found confidence I have. I hope that all he said is true. I asked him why he decided that I should not go to school in the fall and finish the last 3 weeks of the mission. He related how he had done everything possible to serve an English speaking mission (at that time English missions were 2 yrs and other languages 2.5) so he could get into dental school on time and not have to wait an extra year. Well he was called English and only served 2 years. He got home an applied for dental school and was denied and had to wait another year before getting in. He told me how he had lost the blessings and he didn't want the same for me. He felt that I would receive special blessings for finishing those 3 weeks and spending the fall with my family. At the end I told him of how I have seen a big change in him since i started the mission. How he has become a humble, spiritual leader. He got up and gave me a huge hug and as we were hugging he said "you are a good son". It was a memorable experience. I am thankful that he was called as my mission president. I know that it was inspiration.

Love,

Elder Jolly