Hello!
Thanks
for your letter this week. I'm glad you guys had a good New Year's and a good
vacation with the family. I remember our last trip to California was a lot of
fun too. That means you guys went to California twice in 2013! I can't believe
we're already in the new year. I know I still have a long time out here, but I
can now say I'm going home next year! haha. That's nice that you were able to
stop by the Las Vegas temple. I looked at a picture of it on LDS.org. It looks
nice. It was super nice going to the LA temple last year, just a month before I
left. That was nice what that couple said about me. And it's nice that you guys
got to go inside and sit for a minute. I still have not received your package.
It's possible it might have already arrived in the mission office. If that's
the case, I'll get it the next time the office secretaries or assistants come
out to T3. But don't worry too much about it; I'll get it sooner or later.
The
work out here is going slow. This past week was a little difficult with New
Year's and all the parties and drinking that people was doing. Everyone was
with their families on the 31st and 1st, which made it hard to sit with anyone.
Then on Friday, we lost our phone. I think I may have dropped it on the ground
accidentally, thinking I had placed it in my pocket. We were walking on sand,
so I wouldn't have heard it fall on the ground. But not having a phone the past
couple days has made the work hard also, because we can't call to set or
confirm lessons. But we should be receiving a new one today, hopefully. Because
of all these difficulties, we didn't really find any new investigators, or even sit
much with our existing ones. The good thing though is that we had 3
investigator families show up to church yesterday. And there were almost 200
people at church. So yesterday it was probably the best day of this week. I'm
thinking this next week will be normal, since there are no holidays. Hopefully
the weather will agree. It's been pretty hot here lately, but it's a lot better
than being hot and rainy. I am a senior companion now, but I'm not the leader
of our companionship. My companion is also a senior comp. It's kind of weird.
We both take an equal role in finding and teaching and making decisions during
our day. I like it though. I feel like we have a pretty good balance in our
companionship, one is not taking over the other in decision-making.
Thanks
for your encouraging words. I know sometimes it is hard when we work hard and
see little results. But like you said dad, the seed will sprout and bring up
fruits sooner or later. All that I have to do is make sure I'm putting forth by
best effort in bringing others unto Christ, and I can feel satisfied with the
work I am doing, whether or not it produces many baptisms. Speaking of
baptisms, we will probably see another one here in a month. And it will be a
wedding also. It's looking like another couple that another companionship is teaching
will also get married on the same day, so it could be a double wedding. We are
planning this for the 7th of February. We're working hard to make sure it
happens.
That's
nice that you are able to see our Skype conversation again whenever you want
to. That's cool that you showed a lot of my videos to the family. It's nice
they can feel close to me too. I probably will not even see a cello while I'm
here in Mozambique, but that's okay. That will just make it so much sweeter
when i finally do get to play it again. I cannot believe that it has been about
8 months now. I know I still have a long time, but at least it's going by. I
know some days are probably harder for you to have me away than others, but at
least time goes by still. Every day is just closer to the next time you'll see
me.
Thank
you for your advice also. I always try to share my testimony every opportunity
as I'm teaching, talking to others on the road. I know that my testimony has
grown so much here on the mission already, and I'm not even halfway through. I do
miss home and all you guys and everything that I used to do. But i know that
these two years will give me so much more than anything I could be doing at
home right now. It helps not only me,and not only those I teach, but it blesses
you guys too. I hope you have felt the blessings that have come from my service
here. I always pray for you that you can have a good day at work and that you
are protected at all times. I hope you guys have a good start to 2014 and back
to life as normal! I can't wait to write to you again next week!
Hey Jake! Wow, from what you say in your email, it seems that your vacation was a lot of fun! You guys went to a lot of cool places! I want to keep seeing pictures of your vacation. Send more next week. I bet Hunter was super excited to see you haha. I wonder how he'll react when I finally get to see him again. He might not even recognize me! I saw the picture of you on the beach. It looks sooo nice! I really wish I could have been there. When I'm walking around in a shirt and tie in the hot and humid weather, I think it would be nice to be at the beach instead. Or maybe back in Utah, with all the snow. Is there still a lot of snow over there? Tell Mom and Dad that you should all go sledding together. Anyway, I guess you're starting school again this week. I hope you have a good time being back with your friends and playing in the snow.
I
love you sooo much! I miss you a lot and think about you!
Until
next Monday,
With love Josh
PS:
tell hunter I said hi!
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