Sunday, November 6, 2011
Surprise Email with Pictures!
HELLO MOWER FAMILY,WE ARE THE RODRIGUEZ FAMILY FROM THE EAGAN MN WARD WHERE ELDER MOWER SERVED UNTIL HE WAS TRANSFERD TO BRAINERD MN. WE WHERE REALLY BLESSED HAVING SUCH A GREAT MISSIONARY, HE WILL BE GREATLY MISSED HERE IN EAGAN.HERE IS A PICTURE OF HIM EATING PIGS FEET IN A SOUP WE IN PUERTO RICO CALL (SANCOCHO) IN THE OTHER PICTURE HIM , HIS PARTNER ELDER BLACK AND US THE RODRIGUEZ`S. :):):):):)PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU GOT THE MESSAGE AND PICTURES.THANK YOU
Elder Mower Letter #22
Hello from the town of Brainerd!!!
So it wasnt untill i got to Brainerd that i started to learn how true Minnesotans really are. The accents are REALLY THICK. They wern't that bad in Eagan. It's a HUGE difference. Plus i was in the cities and now i am in the "sticks." BUT, i absolutely LOVE this area. Even more than Eagan, as far as the work goes. We are getting soooo much more people to teach. The numbers are higher, we already have 3 people committed to baptism with more on the way! Brainerd has EXTEREMELY supportive members. The members are mostly upper aged people and they feed us soooooooo much fatty foods. So im gonna need to buy P90X or something when i get home! haha. Geographically, it is a HUGE ward. The area has a diameter of about 50 miles. So Elder Johnson and I have a BIG area to cover. But we have more miles in this area. Overall, I think this will be one of my favorite areas i will serve on my mission.
Elder Johnson is my new companion. He is LEGIT! He is actually from Centerville, UT. I dont know why President Clements said he was from AZ. haha. He is 6'1 (not quite as big as my last companion, Elder Black), he is a football player. Our personalities are very parallel. He is an AMAZING missionary. I have been out a transfer longer than him but he can talk to people soooooo much better than I can! I even felt a little bit inadequate! He is that good! He is very excited about missionary work and he is BY FAR my favorite companion so far. This is going to be such an awesome transfer to serve with Elder Johnson.
So just last friday, a HUGE miracle happened. So on a typical day, we get 1-2 future investigators. Not this day though. Elder Johnson and I got 6 future investigators. We found a lot of people to teach. That was awesome! The Lords hand was evident in this miracle. We couldn't be anymore grateful.
We taught only a few people and because i am new and i have a TERRIBLE memory, i dont remember who we taught but they are very close to being committed to baptism. I'm very sorry about that but i will have a detailed report next week.
My spiritual thought this week is from the Saturday Afternoon session of General Conference, Elder L. Tom Perry of the 12 Apostles said: "If you will respond to the invitation to share your beliefs and feelings about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, a spirit of love and a spirit of courage will be your constant companion." Being courageous has been a challenge on my mission and it continues to be so. But on those moments that i have found courage in sharing my testimony of the gospel, I have seen a difference in my testimony. The power distinguished from one to the other is crystal clear. I am still very scared of people and i feel inadequate sometimes when i speak to them because i am not the strongest speaker. But every time i bore my testimony courageously, that spirit of fear has ALWAYS left me. My faith has increased. I am more able to trust in the Lord. I develop a greater love for whom i am bearing my testimony. Anyone can have courage in a short moment. But can that individual carry on that zeal consistantly to all that he or she comes into contact with? I am not to that point yet and it is a weakness that i have but i know that through patience in myself, through my best efforts, and through the divine grace of the Lord, He can help me strip myself of this spirit of fear and replace it with a spirit of courage, faith, hope, and charity. This includes all, not just myself. Some of us may feel intimidated to share the gospel because we feel inadequate and the spirit of fear seems to be powerful. Allow me to testify through my own experiences that if we are bold yet loving in our testimonies, the spirit of fear will depart from us. We will progress to a higher ground than we already are. Let us all be open with our testimonies. If you are scared or intimidated to share the gospel with a friend, to bear your testimony in church, to defend the Church, to protect your integrity even when you stand alone, know this: it is your complete right and power to cast out the spirit of fear and invite the warm spirit of love and courage in your lives and greater blessings are in store for those who show greater courage. I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Love Elder Mower
So it wasnt untill i got to Brainerd that i started to learn how true Minnesotans really are. The accents are REALLY THICK. They wern't that bad in Eagan. It's a HUGE difference. Plus i was in the cities and now i am in the "sticks." BUT, i absolutely LOVE this area. Even more than Eagan, as far as the work goes. We are getting soooo much more people to teach. The numbers are higher, we already have 3 people committed to baptism with more on the way! Brainerd has EXTEREMELY supportive members. The members are mostly upper aged people and they feed us soooooooo much fatty foods. So im gonna need to buy P90X or something when i get home! haha. Geographically, it is a HUGE ward. The area has a diameter of about 50 miles. So Elder Johnson and I have a BIG area to cover. But we have more miles in this area. Overall, I think this will be one of my favorite areas i will serve on my mission.
Elder Johnson is my new companion. He is LEGIT! He is actually from Centerville, UT. I dont know why President Clements said he was from AZ. haha. He is 6'1 (not quite as big as my last companion, Elder Black), he is a football player. Our personalities are very parallel. He is an AMAZING missionary. I have been out a transfer longer than him but he can talk to people soooooo much better than I can! I even felt a little bit inadequate! He is that good! He is very excited about missionary work and he is BY FAR my favorite companion so far. This is going to be such an awesome transfer to serve with Elder Johnson.
So just last friday, a HUGE miracle happened. So on a typical day, we get 1-2 future investigators. Not this day though. Elder Johnson and I got 6 future investigators. We found a lot of people to teach. That was awesome! The Lords hand was evident in this miracle. We couldn't be anymore grateful.
We taught only a few people and because i am new and i have a TERRIBLE memory, i dont remember who we taught but they are very close to being committed to baptism. I'm very sorry about that but i will have a detailed report next week.
My spiritual thought this week is from the Saturday Afternoon session of General Conference, Elder L. Tom Perry of the 12 Apostles said: "If you will respond to the invitation to share your beliefs and feelings about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, a spirit of love and a spirit of courage will be your constant companion." Being courageous has been a challenge on my mission and it continues to be so. But on those moments that i have found courage in sharing my testimony of the gospel, I have seen a difference in my testimony. The power distinguished from one to the other is crystal clear. I am still very scared of people and i feel inadequate sometimes when i speak to them because i am not the strongest speaker. But every time i bore my testimony courageously, that spirit of fear has ALWAYS left me. My faith has increased. I am more able to trust in the Lord. I develop a greater love for whom i am bearing my testimony. Anyone can have courage in a short moment. But can that individual carry on that zeal consistantly to all that he or she comes into contact with? I am not to that point yet and it is a weakness that i have but i know that through patience in myself, through my best efforts, and through the divine grace of the Lord, He can help me strip myself of this spirit of fear and replace it with a spirit of courage, faith, hope, and charity. This includes all, not just myself. Some of us may feel intimidated to share the gospel because we feel inadequate and the spirit of fear seems to be powerful. Allow me to testify through my own experiences that if we are bold yet loving in our testimonies, the spirit of fear will depart from us. We will progress to a higher ground than we already are. Let us all be open with our testimonies. If you are scared or intimidated to share the gospel with a friend, to bear your testimony in church, to defend the Church, to protect your integrity even when you stand alone, know this: it is your complete right and power to cast out the spirit of fear and invite the warm spirit of love and courage in your lives and greater blessings are in store for those who show greater courage. I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Love Elder Mower
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