YEEAAAH!!!

Hi everyone!

We set 4 people with a baptismal date this week, a family of 3 kids and the mom. We thought the mom was an inactive member, but we started talking to her and found out she couldn't remember being confirmed. We searched the church records and couldn't find her, so we have to baptize her again. They'll be baptized March 7th, and we're really excited for it! We also have Jose Jacob with a date, he'll be baptized the 28th of February.

I'd like to make something clear: the gift of tongues is real. I went on splits yesterday with our zone leaders, and since they're English I was doing all of the work in Spanish by myself. We tracted for 4 and a half hours, and had about 10 good conversations about the gospel in Spanish (plus some in English). We also had 2 Spanish lessons, as well as multiple phone calls to coordinate lessons with members in Spanish. The Lord has truly been blessing me, and even though at times it seems like progress is slow, I've been able to learn this language in 6 months well enough to communicate what I want to and understand other people. The work can go on without my language skills being a barrier, which is a blessing of the Lord I'm really grateful for.

An interesting lesson I learned yesterday while teaching a lesson by myself is how the spirit has to be working with both the learners and the teachers for it to be an excellent lesson. We went into the lesson with the spirit, taught by the spirit, but the couple we were teaching weren't very into it. They didn't open themselves to the direction and instruction of the spirit, and so to them it was just another lesson. As missionaries or teachers we can do everything in our power to bring the spirit, but if the listeners aren't receptive to it there won't be any real learning. It's the same in a sacrament meeting, or a seminary class, or wherever the gospel is being taught. If we're not in tune with the spirit, we won't learn anything, regardless of the presentation. If we are in tune, we'll always learn something, regardless of the presentation.

Elder L. Tom Perry is coming to our mission on the 20th, and he'll be instructing the missionaries for 2 hours, after which he'll instruct the local stake and ward leaders. If we get there early we'll have the opportunity to shake his hand, which is a very rare opportunity. The whole mission is preparing for his instruction, he'll be teaching about how to work with ward leaders and members. I think this is exactly what we need, and exactly in time. That's one of our challenges in our ward right now, and this could be the boost that we need.

Comic relief: tracting stories! Yesterday we were knocking some doors in an apartment complex, and as we went up to a door we heard someone inside yelling YEEAAAH!!! Like his team had just won a championship or something. He kept going, so we decided to just knock on the door and see what would happen. A younger guy opened the door while on the phone, (probably mid-twenties) and looked surprised to see us there. He stepped outside and closed the door, asked the person to hold on, then asked us "So, what part of Utah are you guys from?" We had to tell him we actually weren't from Utah, although I'd gone to BYU, and then he asked us "so where are you going to serve your missions?" We told him this was our mission, and then he told us that he'd grown up in Utah and had a lot of Mormon friends, so he'd just wanted to say hi. Then he went inside and shut the door before we could talk about the gospel. :)

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers! God is truly in charge of this work, because it's His work, and he blesses us every day. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to serve full-time, to be able to dedicate myself to helping others for 2 years of my life. I know that this church is really the one true church of God, restored to the earth through a latter-day prophet. I see the spirit work every day and I feel it time after time tell me that what we share is true. I love you all, and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Elder Damon Janis