I'm pretty sure that i've mentioned this before.. But our Iowa Des
Moines Mission goal was 400 baptisms for the year of 2012..
As of this morning we have 347 baptisms here in the mission! We have
people on date in order to reach this goal.. But people have a
tendancy to fall off a week or 2 before there baptism..
So for this next 3 weeks please pray for the Iowa Mission to be able
to reach there goal of 400 baptisms.. We are SO close. And we need all
the prayers we can get. It would be the first time in a LONG time that
this mission has actually reached its goal. Our Mission President has
done amazing things with the mission to get us to this point.
We had a wonderful weekend. We had the baptism and it was yet another
sweet experience that i'll never be able to forget. The spirit was
unbelievably strong, and the service went smoothly.
A little less than 4 weeks ago.. Me and my companion had been teaching
ALL night and we were hungry.. It was about 8:45.. And we really
didn't have anything to enjoyable to eat in our apartment.. We decided
to go out and eat.. Which we never usually do.. And as we were
discussing where we should eat, I said " I want to go somewhere where
we can share the gospel with someone." We said a quick prayer, and
Subway popped into both of our minds. We went to Subway and this young
lady who was making our sandwhiches was so kind to us, and asked
questions.. She wrote Bible verses on our Subway sandwhich bags.. We
invited her to church, got some info from her.. And the next day she
came to church. We taught her the first lesson, and she's never stop
coming since.. She was baptized Saturday.. And it was so amazing to
see the Lord's hand in both her and our lives. I love my mission.. So
much.. It the greatest thing.
We are working with another lady right now who is great.. She has had
some pretty traumatic experiences in her past life which makes it hard
for her to trust people. But as she's come to church she's gained a
knowledge that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints are different. She says she feels welcome and like she belongs
and even to the point of trusting these people even though she's known
them for a short 4 weeks.. Its been really cool to see her overcome
her fears. We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and had a
wonderful talk about the Atonement.. She said as we talked feelings of
anger and depression from past experiences was literally dissolving
from within her soul. Peace was again being established in the
chambers of her heart, and we literally witnessed the Atonement of
Jesus Christ right before our eyes. Her countenance changed. It was a
great experience.
Her daughter has some behavioral issues as well.. She would never pray
with us, and she would always be a distraction during the lesson. We
would try very hard to get her involved but she didn't want anything
to do with it. At age 6!! It was pretty intense.. But we promised the
Mom that if she would read and pray with her daughter every night
without missing a single day that things would start changing inside
her.. Yesterday as we were about to close the lesson I asked the
little girl if I could help her say the prayer. She, suprisingly to
all of us, said yes.. We said a prayer and it was great. She was so
happy. You could tell that things were changing. It was a very neat
experience.
Mom and Dad thank you for the email.. I appreciate it! It sounds like
things are going good with the wedding and all.. So thats fun. I would
love to see pictures! So please please send me some when the time
comes.
Mom I知 good for the winter.. I don稚 need any boots or anything.. and
also training my new companion is going great.. Haha. I love it so
much. It reminds me of the beginning of my mission.. I don稚 know what
time I will be calling on christmas yet.. But I値l probably let you
know this upcoming week..
Lexee Thanks for the email as well.. I appreciate it. I知 excited for
you to be married. Haha whats your new last name going to be?
We get to play laser tag in a town called Oskaloosa Iowa today.. I知
pretty excited. We had a district p day. So that will be fun!
Oh and yes.. I forgot to thank the Gleave Family for the letters last
week! That was great. Thank you SO much. It was good to hear from you.
I love you all very much. Thanks for everything.
Love Elder Russell
No comments:
Post a Comment