Thank you God for “these two amazing guys you've sent to help me get my faith back.”

Hola!

Well as you can see I've mastered the Spanish language, I'm pretty much fluent. :) Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts, as always they're very appreciated as I see the blessings on this end.

First off, all those missionary stories you hear about people who were found and were just so ready actually do happen! We tracted into a Vietnamese girl who's 18 five days ago, and she decided yesterday that she wants to get baptized! It was the most incredible experience I've had on my mission so far, we knocked on her door and at first she was just like "I'm a really strong catholic" and was just asking questions about our religion, but she let us in after a bit and kept talking to us. After about 20 minutes she really opened up and was telling us about how she'd completely lost her faith because the first time she'd prayed really sincerely was when her grandparents were dying, and she asked God to save them and they died. She said she'd really believed when she was young, but now she just went to church, confessionals, and was active in her church because she'd been taught to be afraid of all kinds of things, and she was even afraid of talking to us because she thought her priest would say it was "sinning". She had pictures on her wall of the virgin Mary and God, and apparently they were "blessed" so you'd talk to them and it was like talking to God. She was constantly apologizing to these pictures as we talked to her when she expressed her feelings about the Catholic church and God, especially when she admitted that she didn't have any love for God, just fear. We taught her about prayer and how to have a real relationship with God, and the spirit was just incredibly strong. She was crying by the end of it and had really been touched. We set an appointment for the next day and left with the spirit really strong. We came back the next day and she told us that when we'd left, she'd prayed like we'd taught her and asked if she should keep talking to us, and she'd felt really good about it so decided to do it even if it was "sinning", and also by the time we went again she'd taken down her pictures and decided to completely throw away the form of praying she'd been taught for her whole life. She said the opening prayer for the visit, and asked God to protect "these two amazing guys you've sent to help me get my faith back". We taught her about the Book of Mormon and had prepared some passages to read with her, and also sort of a study guide to do over the next couple days. Again, the spirit was incredibly strong and we all had an amazing experience, and she said she was really really interested in reading the book. We came back two days later (actually it was Elder Murray and Elder Geigle, an English elder we're transferring her to, we can't teach and baptize English people) and she'd done the entire worksheet, plus started reading from the front and had gotten to Omni! In two days! She'd prayed about it and knows it's true, and she'd talked to her priest and very Catholic grandfather, and they said that she was sinning by looking into this church but she told them she didn't care and knew it was true. She left yesterday for Denver and then on to New York for a week, but she called us last night and told us that she was almost through with Mosiah, and would call the next day so we could give her more parts she could read. She also said that she'd told her cousin that she's going to join the Mormon church, and she didn't believe her. She'll be going to church in New York with her Aunt's boyfriend or something, who happens to be Mormon. So in 4 days she went from an extremely staunch Catholic to having incredible spiritual experiences and knowing the church is true, not to mention having read a third of the Book of Mormon. Absolutely amazing. The Lord really is preparing people, even if at first you'd never be able to tell.

Things are going fantastic with the work here, we got two sisters last week for the other Spanish missionaries, and they're both motivated and extremely good, a good sister set puts any elder set to shame. With Elder Murray leading our companionship though and now having sisters, we're ripping up the Spanish work in Grand Junction and we're starting to see miracles. :)

I hope all of you are well, and I pray that the Lord will be with you. The church really is true, and it's awesome to be a part of the greatest work in the world!

Love,
Elder Damon Janis

Best Week So Far, Plus a Baptism!

Hi Everyone!

First off, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, things are going great here in Grand Junction Colorado and the work is moving forward! The Lord truly blesses us when we put our trust in Him and do all we can, He'll make up for our weaknesses when we give everything we have to him.

This week has been one of the best of my mission so far, with the highlight being that we got a baptism! The girl's name is Marcela Soto, she's 9 and has wanted to get baptized for a while, but her family was inactive and so we've been working with them and now they're active and committed to the gospel. I got to perform the baptism, which was a really neat spiritual experience, and I got really lucky because usually the newer missionaries aren't the ones in the font. It's so cool to see the change in people's lives as they realize how important the Gospel truly is and exercise the faith to live it. It makes me so grateful that I've grown up knowing it and understanding how I need to live to be happy, it's something that a lot of people don't have, that certainty, and it's the best thing in the world to be taking that to whoever will listen.

I had an interesting experience while on teamups with an English elder, we were transferring an investigator to their companionship and so my companion and his companion went and taught her a lesson while us two tracted. We ran into a Baptist Sunday school teacher, who started using the bible to try to convince us of the error of our ways. I haven't studied the bible for a long time, so I was unable to defend my faith very well, although the logic and scriptures he was using were pretty weak. Apparently, he believed that all you have to do to be saved is accept Christ's gift, and works has nothing to do with it. Also, if you haven't accepted Christ, you're doomed to go to Hell for eternity, suffering endless torment, regardless of whether or not you've ever heard of Him. Also, it's our responsibility to tell everyone about Christ, because if we don't we're in essence damning them. But, there's no punishment if we accept Christ, live a terrible life of murder, adultery, stealing etc., and also don't fulfill our responsibility to tell people about Christ. That person will still enjoy eternal bliss and happiness while good people who never heard of Christ will be tormented forever. Personally, I don't think that fits with God being perfectly just, and I don't think that fits with Him being merciful or loving either. To me it sounds like Nehor, one of the most infamous characters in the Book of Mormon, who preached that all men were saved, and "eat drink and be merry". It's a nice thought, because it means that we don't have to do anything, it eliminates responsibility. So, I've decided that if I didn't know the truth, confirmed by the Holy Ghost, I probably wouldn't believe in the bible and maybe even God, because without the Book of Mormon and modern revelation it just doesn't make any logical sense.

I'm so grateful to be out here serving the Lord, and doing His work. We really do have the truth, and that's what people need to be happy and have security in this life. Thank you all again for your prayers, God is truely there and He truely does answer them.

Love,
Edler Damon Janis

Great New Companion, Brothers from Guatemala, and the Book of Mormon

Hi Everyone!

This week has been really cool for me and an awesome learning experience. I have a new companion, Elder Murray, and he's probably the best Spanish missionary in the mission. He's been out for a little more than a year, but he's completely fluent (with no Spanish before the mission) and is an excellent missionary. From the day of transfers we've been working hard and finding a lot of success, we found people the second day he was here that are progressing and have a lot of potential. It's been a little tough because I didn't know the area that well from not paying enough attention to the roads and directions, so we had to do a lot of calling and looking at maps the first few days. I'm super excited for this transfer, my Spanish is getting better really quickly because Elder Murray is good about always speaking it and making me speak it, and we're finding people and teaching lessons every day. I really hope I can become like him, he's a fantastic teacher and can just talk with anyone, which gets us into doors and makes the people trust us. It’s so cool to watch him work, I'm just trying to learn as much as I can from him and contribute as much as I can as well.

We had an interesting experience, we were tracting in a small town on the far reaches of our area called Fruita, and we ran into a couple of brothers from Guatemala. Usually when we teach a first lesson we don't include the Book of Mormon till the second visit, because it's a little too much information for most people to handle, but this time the Book of Mormon was almost all we talked about because they were very interested in the story of it, and how it talks about some of their ancestors. It was the coolest thing teaching them, because it was like direct fulfillment of prophecy. They almost seemed anxious for us to leave so they could start reading the book, and were just totally excited about it. We're going back there today to teach them, I hope that they've really read and have felt the spirit testify that it's true.

I hope all is well for all of you, as always I'm so grateful for your prayers in my behalf, and I'm so grateful to be out here sharing with people what I know is true! The gospel truly is amazing, and it really is for everyone. I'm so grateful for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, it's such a blessing to know where we came from, why we're here, and where we're going after this life! Take care, and have a great week!

Elder Damon Janis

Companion Transfer and Slow Drivers

Howdy folks!

Well today I might have to cut this a bit short, we have an investigator to see at 11 and it's 10:40. So we'll see. :)

Alright, we got out transfer call, and it turns out that I'm staying in the same area, and my companion Elder Francis is leaving. That means that I'll have more experience in the area, and there'll be more pressure on me till my companion gets to know the members and investigators. That could end up being a problem, because I haven't been able to get to know the people very well due to the language barrier, all I'll be is a familiar face. Hopefully my new companion (I'll find out who it is tomorrow) will be experienced and know how to handle that as I do the best I can as well. I can't believe it, my first transfer is already over! Although, it's felt like an eternity, and thinking about my first couple days makes me realize how much I've learned and experienced in 6 weeks. I'm excited for the change though, it'll be a good thing to have another missionary to learn from and work with, and I'm guessing that I'll have a whole different set of challenges than I have now. I'm learning that the Lord has a lot to teach me, and so when I start getting used to the challenges I have and am overcoming them, He swaps them out for new ones that help me grow and progress further and faster.

I was able to go on team-ups with the other 2 Spanish elders in Grand Junction this week, and I got to drive one of those days! It's incredible, the people here actually obey the posted speed limit, which just blew my mind! I actually really like it, because it slows the pace of everything down a lot and there's almost no stress in driving! I don't know yet whether or not I'll be driving this next transfer, but I wouldn't mind it if I were. I don't really have too much to talk about from this week, we visited a lot of people and taught lessons, but nothing was really notable. Mostly I'm just excited for the coming transfer, to see who I'll get and what we can do in this area. :)

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers! As always they're much needed and much appreciated. I hope you all have a wonderful week and are doing well!

Elder Damon Janis

P.S. Auna, if you could get me your address, that would be awesome! I wrote you a letter back but realized I don't have your address, so I'll send it as soon as I can! Just send a quick email. :)