Last Letter, Baptisms, and Testimony

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