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

4/16

Well. This past week has been very rough. The work is progressing slow and the other members in the district are struggling with their new smaller areas. It is going to take some time to adjust but everyone seems to be in good spirits.

Last week on tuesday we were all sitting down just about ready to start district meeting when I got a call from the assistants. They were looking for the building and were lost. "Great!" I said to myself. I have no problem giving trainings and doing district meeting but whenever President Miller or the Assistants show up I always get a little nervous. It went well though and I even challenged myself by demonstrating a role play with Elder Mckinney (one of the assistants) who is probably the boldest but also the funniest person I have ever met. We went to lunch at Braza Grill afterwards to talk about the meeting and the district.

We were able to meet with Isaac several times this week and he is set for his baptism this sunday. He is a hyper kid and never seems to be able to pay attention but somehow he remembers everything we say.

At chruch we had an interesting experience. My companion is struggling to stregthen his testimony and as we walked out of Gospel Priniciples this man stopped us and began to speak to us. He told us of some very spiritual experiences and told us of a few things regarding the temple. The spirit was really strong. It left me pondering for several minutes afterwards. When he finished he looked at my companion and said "When I saw you walk out of the class I was prompted to tell you these things and I don't know why." My companion was half paying attention through most of the conversation and I just wanted to hit him on the side of the head. Tomorrow we are going to the Draper temple and I will have several things to ponder about.

In the past few weeks I have really found my prayers to be more sincere. I am often stressed and I have found it becoming natural to just get on my knees and pray. It has been a great help. I don't always get the answers I look for but I get the peace of mind I need. In the bible dictionary under prayer it states:

As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. I feel that I am grasping that relationship and it has been a huge help when I have needed it. The Spirit should guide our prayers and the words we say. As we do this we will have a greater understanding of this relationship and come to love the time we have o our knees in prayer. It will become second nature to pray in times of distress and doubt. I love this work and the things I am learning. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Jolly

April 2, 2012

Ok so this week was awesome. Last sunday when reporting numbers I was examining the district goal we had all set. Near the end of the month we are supposed to adjust the goal depending on what the projections are. Well I was looking at the numbers and we had baptized 7 so far for the month and nobody was on date for the last week. I felt to set the goal at 9 even though nobody was on date to be baptized. At the time it didn't make sense to me but I did it with the faith that the Lord would provide a way. Monday morning we had companionship study with the sisters because they were struggling to baptized and had only baptized 2 in the past 7 months. We went over all the investigators they were teaching and discused what could be dont differently. The conclusion was that they needed to be more bold. They took the advice to heart and executed. The mission was pushing super hard to get 200 baptisms in March and we were extremely close so everyone was trying to get last minute baptisms in on saturday so we could reach our goal. Friday I get a call from the Sister Hermansen and Sister Meyers and they asked what I was doing the next day at 12:30. We had a lesson at the time but I asked what I could do for them and they yelled out "A BAPTISMAL INTERVIEW". They had run into a couple whose had just moved to Murray that same day. They had been meeting with the missionaries in West Valley and the bishop had recently married them. The sisters went in for the first time, taught them and then put them on date to be baptized the next day. It was a miracle! I interviewed them
on saturday and they were baptized that evening at 5. The rest of the night I could not stop smiling because I was so happy for the sisters. They had been on the edge of just giving up and then they saw the hand of the Lord work a miracle and reward them for their hard work. It was not until sunday that those 2 baptism had made us reach the goal of 9 baptisms as a district. This is a work of miracles.

We went over on tuesday to teach a young couple, Ana and Jesus. They had been meeting with missionaries for more than a year and were progressing very slowly. The week before they had accepted a baptismal date for April 15 but they did not seem so sure. When we went in and started to teach Jesus told us how the other day he was thinking about his life and realized that every time his life was going bad and everytime he was about to start drinking again the missionaries would show up and help him. He noticed how his life was always easier and blessed when he was listening to the missionaries. He told us that he doubted baptism when we had extended the date but now he was sure that it was something he needed to do. They prayed at the end that they would be ready for baptism on April 15. We are still working with them but the work schedule makes it hard to meet more than twice a week but the should be getting baptized in April.

Wednesday we went over to teach Gabby for one of the last times before she goes back to Mexico. Her little baby boy is super cute! Anyway, we talked about all that she had learned and about the Sabbath Day. At the end she prayed and it was an amazing prayer in which she began to cry when she gave thanks for her kids and for the missionaries. Then she began to cry harder and she said thanks for letting me have a relationship with you (God). It was amazing and you could feel the sincerity of her prayer. She had learned that God exists and that you really can have a close relationship with him even though we can't see Him.

So on Saturday night I had the opportunity to go to the Priesthood Session of Conference. It was an amazing experience and as I was walking out someone stopped me and asked how I was doing. At first glance he looked so familiar but I could not remember his name or where I had seen him, He told me that he had served in the Totem Lake Ward and then it all clicked. It was Elder Biseger (spelling?). He served with Elder Mitchell and then he told me that he had returned and served in the ward after I left. They were the first missionaries I started to go out with teaching. We talked for a bit and then we parted.

This week was full of miracles and wonderful experiences. I have come to understand the Savior's love even better. I pray we can all come to this same knowledge and realize the love our Savior has for every single one of us. I pray that we may all see the miracles that occur daily in our lives, which miracles are blessings heaven sent.

     Hey so yea. Wednesday I will be picking up a new missionary to train him. I am going to be a daddy!!! I am excited but super nervous.

Love,

Elder Jolly

March 26, 2012

Another week has come and gone and well this Elder is about 10lbs lighter. I quickly realized why I was having such a hard time and had no energy last week. It was because I was getting sick. I got punched in the face by the flu this past week and because of that spent 3 whole days in bed with the worst case of everything terrible you can imagine. Thursday we had a leadership meeting all day and that is when it started to hit me. It was a 6 hour meeting but it felt a lot longer. I woke up that night freezing cold. I took my temp and it was 102.4, it was not a fun night. The weird thing is that besides being sick all week I am doing a lot better and am in better spirits.

Yesterday at church Dyasha was confirmed and a new inv showed up. Her kid was bouncing off the walls and it kind of made me think of my childhood and hope I was not a terrible as that kid, then I was hit by the reality that I was (my bad mom). This was actually a great week, nobody bashed on us which was nice for one. Also the family that bashed on us last week got deported back to Mexico. I honestly don't have much to say so I will end with a dream that I had...

I dreamed that I was about 10 years older and I was married. In this dream I was playing with 3 kids who I quickly realized were my own. Two had brown hair and brown eyes but the oldest who was probably 8 had blonde hair and blue eyes and looked just like me. All 3 were boys and I was running around playing with them and we were all speaking in spanish. My wife then walked into the room but I never got to see her face. It was weird because as I woke up I was really happy and I could not stop thinking about the fact that the kids in the dream were mine, I had my own kids. I am definitely not ready for that now but it made me ponder on my own future family.

A better letter is in store for next week as long as I dont get sick again. Also if I remember I will show something interesting I learned about the connection between "living waters" and the sacrament.

Love,

Elder Jolly

March 12, 2012

This week was a very long and hard week. I got your letter mother and am working on a response. I honestly don't ever have any free time so I write little bits here and there and so hopefully you will get a letter before next p-day. Sorry to everybody else because well I am really bad at writting back. When there is time to write sometimes I decide to close my eyes for a few seconds instead of write letters. I am just hoping that the new bags under my eyes are not a permanent thing.

We had Stake Conference this week and well we had the wonderful privilage of translating everything into spanish. I honestly thought previously that translating would be fun and easy. I learned first hand that it is way fun and NOT easy. You are sitting there concentrated on what the person is saying and as you translate they continue to speak, so you have to listen, speak and try and control those around you. I was getting into a groove yesterday while translating until some gringos walked in and started talking. I just wanted to punch them in the face because I couldn't hear what the speaker was saying. Gratefully nobody was punched. My favorite speaker was Elder Rudy Franco because not only did he give a great talk on establishing a safe home, but he also speaks slower which results in a better, more understandable translation from Elder Jolly.

All week was spent preparing Dyasha for her baptism. We were making daily contact with her to help her feel ready. I have gained a testimony of the importance of daily contact with investigators. It is easier to stay up to date on their commitments and help them see how important the message is.  The baptism went great and there was a beautiful spirit as the primary president testified of how all little girls are princesses in the eyes of God. Afterwards we went up to Issac, her 8 year old brother and asked him if her liked it. He replied with a yes. I told him that he was next and he said "No.... Just kidding, I want to be baptized on one condition. We asked what the condition was and he told us that we would have to hold him under water for atleast 5 seconds. We told him that we would be willing to make that sacrifice. So next week we will begin to teach Issac and the parents.

A sad thing happened today that made me learn something important. I was in the shower and when I got out Elder Pitcher looked at me with a sad face and told me he had accidently deleted all my pictures on my camera while trying to copy some photos to his memory card. All my photos that I had taken since May were gone. He asked me if I was mad. As I sat there thinking the thought came to my mind, "what good will come from being mad". I was a little sad but while he was in the shower I knelt in prayer and I said "Heavenly Father, everything happens for a reason. Help me to learn what I am supposed to." I learned and understood that trials come and instead of being mad and upset with the world we need to look at what needs to be learned, because anger causes us to decline spiritually, but when we focus on what God wants us to learn we can make a bad situation into a learning situation.

I am more tired than ever but I feel as though I am filled with and everlasting happiness. This happiness comes from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It really does bring true and lasting joy. It fills us with a feeling of peace and hope.

Love,

Elder Jolly

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