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

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