Hi Everyone!
This week was awesome!
We had 2 baptisms in the branch, both of them counting for the sisters, but I count one of them as mine because we helped Gabriel, an 18 year old kid make the commitment to be baptized and he invited me to perform the ordinance! It was a sweet experience, I don't think I've ever participated in a baptism where the person was so ready or so committed to the Gospel! The Lord poured out His spirit in response and that feeling will be one of the highlights from my mission! My companion, Elder Medina, confirmed him on Sunday, and again it was a powerful experience and afterwards Gabriel broke down into tears.
The power of the Gospel is so real, and I love what it does for us! Sometimes we get into a "gospel routine" and it takes a neat spiritual experience to remind us of why we love the gospel so much, but having the contrast makes me so grateful for just the constant presence of the spirit in my life and the peace that comes from righteous living!
This is probably the last email I'll send from the mission, next Monday I'll be getting picked up in the morning to drive back to Denver for a couple days of interviews, testimonies, visits and a temple trip, and then Wednesday morning I'll be on a flight to Houston! I can't wait to see everyone again, I love you all so much and I can't wait to share my experiences here with you all!
This next week is going to be great, we've got so many good people we're working with, the area's probably twice as productive now as it was 6 weeks ago and I think will just keep getting more productive! A lot of less-actives are coming back to church and we're working with their friends and families, a blessing from the Lord. I haven't even gotten to tap the potential here though becuase there's always so much work to do that we don't have time for tracting, don't have time to look for former investigators I used to teach, and we don't even have time to locate all the less-actives in the branch! This has been a great area to end my mission in, I don't have time to think about going home because I'm so busy and occupied with the people we teach!
Thank you all so much for your support, I've been especially grateful this last week or two for all the postcards that y'all have been sending from all over the country, I don't know if it was planned or if it's just a coincidence but I want you to know that I really appreciate it! I hope you've all been able to feel my testimony through the letters I've sent, I'd like to share it just one more time though.
This is God's work and His hand is in it and I've experienced that through the many blessings I've recieved and the miricals I've seen. The worth of every soul is great in the eyes of God and even though change is one of the hardest things to help people do, I've been able to witness many people go through the process of repentance and align their lives with the Gospel. I love this work and I love the Restored Gospel, there's nothing like it in the world because it's the truth and it's powerful! I hope to continue this work even after I'm released as a full-time missionary, I'm planning on using the skills and ablities I've developed here to help people find the joy of the Gospel for the rest of my life. As the call letter says, there's no more satisfying work than this.
I hope you all have a great week, talk to you soon!
Love,
Elder Damon Janis
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Can't Write Even A Hundreth Part
Hi Everyone!
We had another great week, full of teaching opportunities and service! On Saturday we went over to help out the 1st counselor in the branch presidency tear out the roof from the inside of his trailer and put up new sheetrock for the ceiling and walls, and it was an awesome experience! We got menudo for breakfast (It was actually pretty good, I think I'm developing a taste for it) and then we worked hard most of the day with the counselor and branch president. I felt really good about it, I realized that my work ethic has improved a lot on my mission because usually after a few hours of hard manual labor I get tired and poop out, but this time I felt like I was able to push through and get the work done and finish the day strong! It's one of the blessings the Lord has given me, being able to work and work and discipline myself even though I've had to try really hard to get to that point!
I gave a talk yesterday in sacrament meeting about sacrifice, which went well and for the first time ever, I didn't have enough time to share all the material I wanted to and actually had to shorten my talk a little bit! I shared the story of my great great great grandfather Stucki, when he was crossing the plains and was so hungry that he couldn't resist slicing of a piece or two of meat every day, and how he'd chew it so long that it got tasteless. It was a topic I think that the branch needed to hear, I didn't know this but the branch president told me afterwards that the branch council had been talking about it just that morning before church, how the members needed to be more willing to sacrifice their time for church callings, make the sacrifice to pay tithing, and really give their lives to God. I felt inspired with the topic and I felt the spirit testify of what I said in the talk, and I felt like an unusual number of people were actually paying attention to me as I spoke. It was a really neat experience for me, I hope I can do as well when I give a talk in a couple of weeks in Katy!
We almost put one of our investigators with a baptismal date on Sunday, after a good lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Confirmation, Endure to the End), but he wants to wait just a little longer before committing. He's told us that he's pretty sure this is what he wants to do, but he just wants to know a little bit more. I think a good dose of the Book of Mormon and a little prayer might just do the trick, it has a way of helping people change their lives! I love the Gospel and I love what it can do for us if we let it! There is so much power in what we teach and in the saving ordinances we perform. We're actually baptizing 2 youth on Friday, which technically counts for the Sisters missionaries in the branch but neither would be getting baptized without our going over and just talking to them about it and inviting them! I won't count them as my baptisms but I'm really excited for them and their future in the church!
I hope you all have a great week! I love you all and I can't wait to tell you all about my experiences in person, I feel like Nephi or Moroni saying that they can't write even the hundredth part of everything that went on, but I have definitely been touched and changed by my many experiences here and the miracles I've seen!
Love,
Elder Damon Janis
We had another great week, full of teaching opportunities and service! On Saturday we went over to help out the 1st counselor in the branch presidency tear out the roof from the inside of his trailer and put up new sheetrock for the ceiling and walls, and it was an awesome experience! We got menudo for breakfast (It was actually pretty good, I think I'm developing a taste for it) and then we worked hard most of the day with the counselor and branch president. I felt really good about it, I realized that my work ethic has improved a lot on my mission because usually after a few hours of hard manual labor I get tired and poop out, but this time I felt like I was able to push through and get the work done and finish the day strong! It's one of the blessings the Lord has given me, being able to work and work and discipline myself even though I've had to try really hard to get to that point!
I gave a talk yesterday in sacrament meeting about sacrifice, which went well and for the first time ever, I didn't have enough time to share all the material I wanted to and actually had to shorten my talk a little bit! I shared the story of my great great great grandfather Stucki, when he was crossing the plains and was so hungry that he couldn't resist slicing of a piece or two of meat every day, and how he'd chew it so long that it got tasteless. It was a topic I think that the branch needed to hear, I didn't know this but the branch president told me afterwards that the branch council had been talking about it just that morning before church, how the members needed to be more willing to sacrifice their time for church callings, make the sacrifice to pay tithing, and really give their lives to God. I felt inspired with the topic and I felt the spirit testify of what I said in the talk, and I felt like an unusual number of people were actually paying attention to me as I spoke. It was a really neat experience for me, I hope I can do as well when I give a talk in a couple of weeks in Katy!
We almost put one of our investigators with a baptismal date on Sunday, after a good lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Confirmation, Endure to the End), but he wants to wait just a little longer before committing. He's told us that he's pretty sure this is what he wants to do, but he just wants to know a little bit more. I think a good dose of the Book of Mormon and a little prayer might just do the trick, it has a way of helping people change their lives! I love the Gospel and I love what it can do for us if we let it! There is so much power in what we teach and in the saving ordinances we perform. We're actually baptizing 2 youth on Friday, which technically counts for the Sisters missionaries in the branch but neither would be getting baptized without our going over and just talking to them about it and inviting them! I won't count them as my baptisms but I'm really excited for them and their future in the church!
I hope you all have a great week! I love you all and I can't wait to tell you all about my experiences in person, I feel like Nephi or Moroni saying that they can't write even the hundredth part of everything that went on, but I have definitely been touched and changed by my many experiences here and the miracles I've seen!
Love,
Elder Damon Janis
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
5 Phenomenal Lessons In 1 Day
Hi Everyone!
This was an incredible week, I've never been so busy on my mission! The work in the branch is awesome, there are so many people that need our attention and our visits and are progressing in the Gospel!
This week in fast and testimony meeting more than half of the people that got up mentioned missionary work and the missionaries in some way or another, and you can tell that people are getting more excited about it! We taught the lesson in priesthood and decided to do it on home teaching, because as one of the prophets says in Preach My Gospel "Missionary work is nothing more or less than Home Teaching for those who are not currently members of the church", and likewise home teaching is nothing more or less than missionary work to those who have been baptized and confirmed!
My companion gave a good example of a soccer team, and drew it up on the board, and explained how home teaching is like a soccer game against the less-actives. We have to be unified to win, and we have to work with the players that surround us (our companions) to move the ball effectively and beat the other team. It was a great example and helped everyone understand, and after that I shared D+C section 4 and asked a few rhetorical questions about how much we really desire the salvation of others or if we're being selfish. I asked about the qualifications to assist in the work, which verse three lays out as "if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work." We bore testimony of the principles and invited everyone to participate more actively in their home teaching visits.
The highlight of my week was doing a companionship exchange with the zone leaders and having Elder Shawhan come with me and work in my area. He served here about 7-8 months ago, so he was familiar with everything and most of the people, and he had a few ideas as well for people we could visit. We ended up with 5 phenomenal lessons, I'll see if I can put them down here so I'll remember them later.
The first was with a lady and her husband that Elder Shawhan remembered but had gotten dropped by previous missionaries, we dropped by and at first the lady was hesitant to let us in but because of her relationship with Elder Shawhan she relented and gave us a shot. We listened to her and found out that she'd been going to church regularly (she's not a member, I think she wasn't married to her boyfriend or something so she couldn't get baptized) and was taking the lessons from the missionaries but then all of a sudden they just stopped coming.
It was the second time that had happened to her, and combined with her work changing to Sundays and some racist things some LDS politician in Utah had said she stopped going to church and decided to start a bible study with a christian church. We had a powerful lesson with her about the restoration of the gospel and gave her a lot of reasons to keep going with the church and the Book of Mormon, and the spirit was really strong and I could feel it testifying to her that what we were teaching was true.
The next lesson was when we came out of the first one, we saw a recent convert playing the guitar with a couple friends, one who I recognized from another time we had gone over to the recent convert's house.
Well, we started talking to them and eventually went inside the house and started teaching again, starting with the Book of Mormon because the recent convert's friend hadn't had the gospel explained to him very well by previous missionaries. We just read the introduction and talked about each paragraph, and had a great spiritual lesson and committed Jose (his wife's name was Maria, we asked if they had a kid named Jesus :) to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! I've never felt so eloquent and powerful as I did then bearing my witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and I could tell that everyone was touched by the spirit there.
We had our dinner appointment afterwards with the family who I'd taught and baptized their daughter Marcela when I was here the first time, my first baptism on the mission! Unfortunately they're still going through hard times and the couple is thinking about separating. We mostly just listened to the sister talk, and we shared some scriptures and helped her feel better and maybe see what she could do to change herself and the situation even if her husband wouldn't do the same. I felt bad for the situation but I felt like we helped her out and provided the moral support she needed at the time.
Next we tried to visit a part-member family who has a bunch of relatives in the branch, but we didn't find them so we went to their parents house which was in the same trailer park. When we got there it was just the Grandma Delatorre, but she invited us in and we chatted for a minute.
Pretty soon a few more family members trickled in, and eventually the entire Delatorre family was there, like 20-25 people! One of the sons was leaving for Chicago to join his wife and kids, and taking advantage that we were there a blessing was requested. We put a bit of pressure on his father, the Grandpa Delatorre, to give the blessing, even though he's been off and on in his church activity recently due to work. He didn't really know how to give a blessing even though he had the priesthood, and so we coached him a little and he relented and gave the blessing. I got to be in the circle, and when the blessing started the most amazing feeling came into the room and a real power accompanied us. When we got done most of us were in tears and the whole family was united and touched!
For the final lesson of the night, we went to the house of some less active members who I'd worked with when I was here before, and who haven't shown a whole lot of progress since. They're very open to our visits though and I thought it was a good opportunity to go. We read Alma chapter 7 with them and we both bore testimony of the Atonement and the amazing plan of the gospel which allows us to repent and progress. During the lesson I actually had the impression to invite them to repent of their sins, and I asked directly "will you repent of your sins and transgressions?" The spirit was powerful and I think had an impact on them, even if they don't start progressing immediately there was a power there that was undeniable.
I'm so grateful for the chance to be engaged in the Lord's work! I love helping people come unto Christ and receive His Gospel, it's the most amazing experience of my life and I'm enjoying this final stretch! I love you all and I hope you're all doing great! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Damon Janis
This was an incredible week, I've never been so busy on my mission! The work in the branch is awesome, there are so many people that need our attention and our visits and are progressing in the Gospel!
This week in fast and testimony meeting more than half of the people that got up mentioned missionary work and the missionaries in some way or another, and you can tell that people are getting more excited about it! We taught the lesson in priesthood and decided to do it on home teaching, because as one of the prophets says in Preach My Gospel "Missionary work is nothing more or less than Home Teaching for those who are not currently members of the church", and likewise home teaching is nothing more or less than missionary work to those who have been baptized and confirmed!
My companion gave a good example of a soccer team, and drew it up on the board, and explained how home teaching is like a soccer game against the less-actives. We have to be unified to win, and we have to work with the players that surround us (our companions) to move the ball effectively and beat the other team. It was a great example and helped everyone understand, and after that I shared D+C section 4 and asked a few rhetorical questions about how much we really desire the salvation of others or if we're being selfish. I asked about the qualifications to assist in the work, which verse three lays out as "if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work." We bore testimony of the principles and invited everyone to participate more actively in their home teaching visits.
The highlight of my week was doing a companionship exchange with the zone leaders and having Elder Shawhan come with me and work in my area. He served here about 7-8 months ago, so he was familiar with everything and most of the people, and he had a few ideas as well for people we could visit. We ended up with 5 phenomenal lessons, I'll see if I can put them down here so I'll remember them later.
The first was with a lady and her husband that Elder Shawhan remembered but had gotten dropped by previous missionaries, we dropped by and at first the lady was hesitant to let us in but because of her relationship with Elder Shawhan she relented and gave us a shot. We listened to her and found out that she'd been going to church regularly (she's not a member, I think she wasn't married to her boyfriend or something so she couldn't get baptized) and was taking the lessons from the missionaries but then all of a sudden they just stopped coming.
It was the second time that had happened to her, and combined with her work changing to Sundays and some racist things some LDS politician in Utah had said she stopped going to church and decided to start a bible study with a christian church. We had a powerful lesson with her about the restoration of the gospel and gave her a lot of reasons to keep going with the church and the Book of Mormon, and the spirit was really strong and I could feel it testifying to her that what we were teaching was true.
The next lesson was when we came out of the first one, we saw a recent convert playing the guitar with a couple friends, one who I recognized from another time we had gone over to the recent convert's house.
Well, we started talking to them and eventually went inside the house and started teaching again, starting with the Book of Mormon because the recent convert's friend hadn't had the gospel explained to him very well by previous missionaries. We just read the introduction and talked about each paragraph, and had a great spiritual lesson and committed Jose (his wife's name was Maria, we asked if they had a kid named Jesus :) to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! I've never felt so eloquent and powerful as I did then bearing my witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and I could tell that everyone was touched by the spirit there.
We had our dinner appointment afterwards with the family who I'd taught and baptized their daughter Marcela when I was here the first time, my first baptism on the mission! Unfortunately they're still going through hard times and the couple is thinking about separating. We mostly just listened to the sister talk, and we shared some scriptures and helped her feel better and maybe see what she could do to change herself and the situation even if her husband wouldn't do the same. I felt bad for the situation but I felt like we helped her out and provided the moral support she needed at the time.
Next we tried to visit a part-member family who has a bunch of relatives in the branch, but we didn't find them so we went to their parents house which was in the same trailer park. When we got there it was just the Grandma Delatorre, but she invited us in and we chatted for a minute.
Pretty soon a few more family members trickled in, and eventually the entire Delatorre family was there, like 20-25 people! One of the sons was leaving for Chicago to join his wife and kids, and taking advantage that we were there a blessing was requested. We put a bit of pressure on his father, the Grandpa Delatorre, to give the blessing, even though he's been off and on in his church activity recently due to work. He didn't really know how to give a blessing even though he had the priesthood, and so we coached him a little and he relented and gave the blessing. I got to be in the circle, and when the blessing started the most amazing feeling came into the room and a real power accompanied us. When we got done most of us were in tears and the whole family was united and touched!
For the final lesson of the night, we went to the house of some less active members who I'd worked with when I was here before, and who haven't shown a whole lot of progress since. They're very open to our visits though and I thought it was a good opportunity to go. We read Alma chapter 7 with them and we both bore testimony of the Atonement and the amazing plan of the gospel which allows us to repent and progress. During the lesson I actually had the impression to invite them to repent of their sins, and I asked directly "will you repent of your sins and transgressions?" The spirit was powerful and I think had an impact on them, even if they don't start progressing immediately there was a power there that was undeniable.
I'm so grateful for the chance to be engaged in the Lord's work! I love helping people come unto Christ and receive His Gospel, it's the most amazing experience of my life and I'm enjoying this final stretch! I love you all and I hope you're all doing great! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Damon Janis
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