Alright well I guess I might as well respond to the last email, the couple left the island like I said so they didn't end up getting married but hopefully the elders following will be able to finish all that up! And I did have a baptism my last Saturday In the marshall islands so that's just a really good feeling and good to know that I did something. Also coming back here for a little bit is awesome, I freakin love I and you will definitely meet him at some point. Also gave the pkg away to Elder L, but it was received so thank you so much for that! Love you so much and thank you for everything!
Lots of lovin'Monday, December 29, 2014
I found some really eye opening things about the atonement
December 8, 2014
Well that sounds like quite the interesting week, hope that you are feeling better now. I'm still in Ebeye I fly back to Majuro on monday, it will be the sisters and I that come back on majuro. Also just saying when we go to hawaii, we definitely have to go to the temple and the polynesian cultural centre, one of the sisters that works in Ebeye now lives in hawaii, and gonna have to go visit her when we're there. This week was pretty good, we went to a picnic this week and had a going away party with all the people, yea that was pretty fun. We also had a baptismal interview so this last week we will have a baptism before I leave which will be nice. The couple however won't be able to married because they randomly went to an island for christmas and then didn't tell me about it... So hopefully my companion Elder K will be able to get them married and baptised. I have no doubt that they will be. Kind of was a bummer this week showing up to their house and finding that they just random went to another island! But we found another investigator in that house so that was nice. Also this week I gave a training that I really liked this week about the atonement and the importance of it and I found some really eye opening things about the atonement, I might share some of those thoughts when I give my homecoming talk... Haha I guess we'll see. And for right now I'm just trying to show Elder K around my area, so he knows the people and where to go.. So that's what I'm trying to do to keep busy and also help prepare our investigator for baptism. And naww you don't have to wait to do anything, if it was early december I would say to wait, haha I just want some root beer and chocolates when I come home hahaha, I wish I could go cut down a Christmas tree but that's cutting it way too close, so just have everything all good to go. And for the thanksgiving thing I just couldn't eat all that much because my stomach had shrunk a little bit and I've been feeling not all that fantastic since I've come to Ebeye, but yeah life goes on! And then to answer your last question, I will be with Elder I for my last couple days that I'm in Majuro. I think that's about all for the week though, just trying to finish strong and help whoever I can this last week. Definitely am looking forward to seeing all of you though and thank you all for everything!
Well that sounds like quite the interesting week, hope that you are feeling better now. I'm still in Ebeye I fly back to Majuro on monday, it will be the sisters and I that come back on majuro. Also just saying when we go to hawaii, we definitely have to go to the temple and the polynesian cultural centre, one of the sisters that works in Ebeye now lives in hawaii, and gonna have to go visit her when we're there. This week was pretty good, we went to a picnic this week and had a going away party with all the people, yea that was pretty fun. We also had a baptismal interview so this last week we will have a baptism before I leave which will be nice. The couple however won't be able to married because they randomly went to an island for christmas and then didn't tell me about it... So hopefully my companion Elder K will be able to get them married and baptised. I have no doubt that they will be. Kind of was a bummer this week showing up to their house and finding that they just random went to another island! But we found another investigator in that house so that was nice. Also this week I gave a training that I really liked this week about the atonement and the importance of it and I found some really eye opening things about the atonement, I might share some of those thoughts when I give my homecoming talk... Haha I guess we'll see. And for right now I'm just trying to show Elder K around my area, so he knows the people and where to go.. So that's what I'm trying to do to keep busy and also help prepare our investigator for baptism. And naww you don't have to wait to do anything, if it was early december I would say to wait, haha I just want some root beer and chocolates when I come home hahaha, I wish I could go cut down a Christmas tree but that's cutting it way too close, so just have everything all good to go. And for the thanksgiving thing I just couldn't eat all that much because my stomach had shrunk a little bit and I've been feeling not all that fantastic since I've come to Ebeye, but yeah life goes on! And then to answer your last question, I will be with Elder I for my last couple days that I'm in Majuro. I think that's about all for the week though, just trying to finish strong and help whoever I can this last week. Definitely am looking forward to seeing all of you though and thank you all for everything!
Lots of loving'
From Elder Jordan Michelson
I guess I got a confirming witness this week that my mission has been successful
December 1, 2014
I'm good, we had the little girl named molliysha baptized and it was a good baptism, and the couple didn't end up getting married this week, but hopefully pretty soon, they said before I leave that they will get married. So that will be awesome, and I really love that couple. We also went to Kwajilien for thanksgiving on friday and that was pretty good, we ate all sorts of good food, way too much food and I could barely eat anything... it was somewhat depressing! This week I guess I got a confirming witness this week that my mission has been successful, and that was just a cool feeling to get that from reading the scriptures. Anyways not a whole lot from this week, and how are the missionaries in our ward? I definitely want to work with them when I come back home. Hope that you have an awesome week and it's ridiculous how little time I have left to serve, it's really starting to dawn on me. But I'm still working and still trying to do whatever I can to help, I also learned this week that I will fly out of Ebeye on Monday so that'll be awesome. Thank you for being awesome! Hope that you have an awesome birthday, and know that I love and am thinking about you a lot! Thank you for being my mama!
I'm good, we had the little girl named molliysha baptized and it was a good baptism, and the couple didn't end up getting married this week, but hopefully pretty soon, they said before I leave that they will get married. So that will be awesome, and I really love that couple. We also went to Kwajilien for thanksgiving on friday and that was pretty good, we ate all sorts of good food, way too much food and I could barely eat anything... it was somewhat depressing! This week I guess I got a confirming witness this week that my mission has been successful, and that was just a cool feeling to get that from reading the scriptures. Anyways not a whole lot from this week, and how are the missionaries in our ward? I definitely want to work with them when I come back home. Hope that you have an awesome week and it's ridiculous how little time I have left to serve, it's really starting to dawn on me. But I'm still working and still trying to do whatever I can to help, I also learned this week that I will fly out of Ebeye on Monday so that'll be awesome. Thank you for being awesome! Hope that you have an awesome birthday, and know that I love and am thinking about you a lot! Thank you for being my mama!
Lots of lovin'
From Elder Jordan Michelson
I learned about the enabling power of the atonement
November 24, 2014
I have been doing pretty good, we had our final dinner with president this week and that was kind of weird, I have had my final interview and things like that and I guess just kind of looking back on my mission it's nice to see that I don't have regrets, so that is nice to look back on that and have a feeling of accomplishment in what I did. yes I am excited to come home, I mean I've been thinking about it for a while, but it's not the only thing that I'm thinking about haha. Another thing about this week is that I was pretty sick, that made things not all that exciting... Makes things a little bit harder, but I'm still out doing things. I learned about the enabling power of the atonement how Jesus Christ not only suffered for our sins but also for our shortcomings and weaknesses. How we can be able to do things that we could not do by ourselves, and how we need to rely on him and his atonement. So that was cool, and I like continually learning more. The cooking is going well I'm finding new things to make hahaha cheese was on sale and stuff for a dollar, so been cooking a lot with cheese. And yes I'm getting along well with my companion I think I might have one more before I go home, I guess we'll see what's going to happen. I quote mosiah 24:14 quite a bit, I have like 5 from the book of mormon that I quote quite a bit. And yes I know that I am missed and loved I'm glad for all the love and the support and I hope that your enjoying the Schaffers posts and what not. I love each and every one of you, and I'm excited to see all of you. And whoever wants to come to the airport can come! Just saying, so I think that's all for this week, oh I guess we're having a baptism this week, and also a couple getting married! So that is awesome and hopefully they will be able to get baptized before I leave. If not I have confidence that they will be!
I have been doing pretty good, we had our final dinner with president this week and that was kind of weird, I have had my final interview and things like that and I guess just kind of looking back on my mission it's nice to see that I don't have regrets, so that is nice to look back on that and have a feeling of accomplishment in what I did. yes I am excited to come home, I mean I've been thinking about it for a while, but it's not the only thing that I'm thinking about haha. Another thing about this week is that I was pretty sick, that made things not all that exciting... Makes things a little bit harder, but I'm still out doing things. I learned about the enabling power of the atonement how Jesus Christ not only suffered for our sins but also for our shortcomings and weaknesses. How we can be able to do things that we could not do by ourselves, and how we need to rely on him and his atonement. So that was cool, and I like continually learning more. The cooking is going well I'm finding new things to make hahaha cheese was on sale and stuff for a dollar, so been cooking a lot with cheese. And yes I'm getting along well with my companion I think I might have one more before I go home, I guess we'll see what's going to happen. I quote mosiah 24:14 quite a bit, I have like 5 from the book of mormon that I quote quite a bit. And yes I know that I am missed and loved I'm glad for all the love and the support and I hope that your enjoying the Schaffers posts and what not. I love each and every one of you, and I'm excited to see all of you. And whoever wants to come to the airport can come! Just saying, so I think that's all for this week, oh I guess we're having a baptism this week, and also a couple getting married! So that is awesome and hopefully they will be able to get baptized before I leave. If not I have confidence that they will be!
Lots of lovin'
From Elder Jordan Michelson
We had a couple of interesting lessons
November 10, 2014
Okay well this week we had a baptism for 3 of our companionships, the sisters our central elders and one from our area, so that was really good and they are all really solid investigators. There were 2 19 year olds and a 14 year old boy so that should be a strength to the youth here. We also had a couple of interesting lessons where we tried to teach this one kid and he literally said nothing to us the entire time a little bit awkward, but we'll see if we can make it a little better. We also have been working with this one couple who are doing well, they said they will get married at the end of this month, which is still kind of weird to me because all the couples that I work with never end up getting married. They are serious about it though and have been doing really well in the lessons. It's awesome to see the changes that people can make, we just need to help them come to church and they will be ready for baptism. So that's awesome, their names are scott and lita. Excited that we found them and they've been progressing well. I guess other than that there is nothing all that new going on n Using Danae's story has definitely helped open the hearts of some of the investigators, I will use that when I teach the plan of salvation. It does help when I can testify that I know there is something after this life and that we can be with our families forever. So yeah, in studies I recently started reading the teachings of the prophet John Taylor which has really been pretty interesting, especially his testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith, and the divinity of his calling, his personal witness of the prophet really helped me realize truly how much Joseph Smith has done for this church. I also have learned a lot about the plan of salvation from his book, hopefully before I go home I'll also be able to read a couple of the other prophets books before I go home.
Okay well this week we had a baptism for 3 of our companionships, the sisters our central elders and one from our area, so that was really good and they are all really solid investigators. There were 2 19 year olds and a 14 year old boy so that should be a strength to the youth here. We also had a couple of interesting lessons where we tried to teach this one kid and he literally said nothing to us the entire time a little bit awkward, but we'll see if we can make it a little better. We also have been working with this one couple who are doing well, they said they will get married at the end of this month, which is still kind of weird to me because all the couples that I work with never end up getting married. They are serious about it though and have been doing really well in the lessons. It's awesome to see the changes that people can make, we just need to help them come to church and they will be ready for baptism. So that's awesome, their names are scott and lita. Excited that we found them and they've been progressing well. I guess other than that there is nothing all that new going on n Using Danae's story has definitely helped open the hearts of some of the investigators, I will use that when I teach the plan of salvation. It does help when I can testify that I know there is something after this life and that we can be with our families forever. So yeah, in studies I recently started reading the teachings of the prophet John Taylor which has really been pretty interesting, especially his testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith, and the divinity of his calling, his personal witness of the prophet really helped me realize truly how much Joseph Smith has done for this church. I also have learned a lot about the plan of salvation from his book, hopefully before I go home I'll also be able to read a couple of the other prophets books before I go home.
we had a run in with a member of another church who really didn't like what we were saying
November 3, 2014
Okay so about the letters and stuff... I still suck at it, and I just don't know plus all the letters that I got I left them on Majuro, it's hard to find time to sit down and write a letter, so everyone that has written me tell them I am extremely thankful for the letters and that I wish I could respond to them all, but I don't have time. I'm sorry if I sound like a punk, and just don't care, but it's hard to get it done when your companion doesn't take time to write letters, I don't want to have to waste his time if he doesn't have anyone to write. So I'm sorry about that once more. When I get home I'll have to get some thank you cards out or something. But yeah this week was a pretty good one, we had some success and one of our investigators is going to be baptized this saturday, which is pretty exciting. He's 19 and is a solid young man, it's cool to see the difference that he has made since we first got here. So that will be nice. Also we had a run in with a member of another church who really didn't like what we were saying haha he just had to prove that we were wrong and wanted to bible bash with us, which literally accomplishes nothing. He just kept talking to us, and kept trying to prove how it's not possible that Joseph Smith was a prophet and how God doesn't talk to us anymore, it was kind of a sad argument. It just amazes me that people will take words from the bible and distort them, or take other things and take away the basic meaning of the message. We testified of Jesus Christ the entire time but this guy kept bringing it back to Joseph Smith and how we worship him and whatever, but anyways the reason why I told that story was because there was a man in that house that we were studying with and this Full Gospel member was trying to get us to stop. I felt I needed to fast for both our investigator and this other man, and then right after I began my fast another lady from the same house came up to us and apologized for her little brother's actions and told us that we were welcome to continue teaching our investigator. That just showed me that fasting truly does have power and that maybe sometimes it won't be answered the way that we think, but he will answer. So that was my cool experience from the week I guess! Also I guess I have to apologize for not sending pictures, you can't send them from the computers here so maybe I'll ask the Schaffer's to send you some. To answer your other questions though, the district is doing well, we had 3 baptisms last week. I work with people mostly just going around and spreading the gospel, nothing different from before. Umm Elder Parkinson emailed me once, but I haven't heard from him since. There is a variety of people in our district, there are people from New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii, Utah, Arizona, Canada and that's pretty much it. Umm my favourite scripture from the week is not just one verse, its just simply Abinadi's testimony of the Savior. I find it amazing how despite him not coming yet, despite all the tribulations and trials he had to go through, he still stood firm in what he knew to be true. I guess that shows to me how close he must have been and how in tune to the spirit he was, that the Savior truly did make himself known unto him. I think that it's easier for us because we have all this proof that he did come, so many biblical accounts prophets today, and all of that, but Abinadi didn't have all those witnesses that we now have, and I just found that really amazing as I thought about it. So that was what stuck out to me this week, oh and also just randomly saying, but we had a really fun halloween, they put on a talent show and had all this face painting and stuff and we just had a pretty good time! That was probably one of the most fun experiences I've had on my mission, and sometimes you have to have some of those too, don't know if you saw any of those pictures or not, and I haven't been taking pictures because my camera died and I don't have the charger... So I'll try and copy some before I go home. I think that's about all for this week though, thanks and hope you have an awesome time on your safari!
Okay so about the letters and stuff... I still suck at it, and I just don't know plus all the letters that I got I left them on Majuro, it's hard to find time to sit down and write a letter, so everyone that has written me tell them I am extremely thankful for the letters and that I wish I could respond to them all, but I don't have time. I'm sorry if I sound like a punk, and just don't care, but it's hard to get it done when your companion doesn't take time to write letters, I don't want to have to waste his time if he doesn't have anyone to write. So I'm sorry about that once more. When I get home I'll have to get some thank you cards out or something. But yeah this week was a pretty good one, we had some success and one of our investigators is going to be baptized this saturday, which is pretty exciting. He's 19 and is a solid young man, it's cool to see the difference that he has made since we first got here. So that will be nice. Also we had a run in with a member of another church who really didn't like what we were saying haha he just had to prove that we were wrong and wanted to bible bash with us, which literally accomplishes nothing. He just kept talking to us, and kept trying to prove how it's not possible that Joseph Smith was a prophet and how God doesn't talk to us anymore, it was kind of a sad argument. It just amazes me that people will take words from the bible and distort them, or take other things and take away the basic meaning of the message. We testified of Jesus Christ the entire time but this guy kept bringing it back to Joseph Smith and how we worship him and whatever, but anyways the reason why I told that story was because there was a man in that house that we were studying with and this Full Gospel member was trying to get us to stop. I felt I needed to fast for both our investigator and this other man, and then right after I began my fast another lady from the same house came up to us and apologized for her little brother's actions and told us that we were welcome to continue teaching our investigator. That just showed me that fasting truly does have power and that maybe sometimes it won't be answered the way that we think, but he will answer. So that was my cool experience from the week I guess! Also I guess I have to apologize for not sending pictures, you can't send them from the computers here so maybe I'll ask the Schaffer's to send you some. To answer your other questions though, the district is doing well, we had 3 baptisms last week. I work with people mostly just going around and spreading the gospel, nothing different from before. Umm Elder Parkinson emailed me once, but I haven't heard from him since. There is a variety of people in our district, there are people from New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii, Utah, Arizona, Canada and that's pretty much it. Umm my favourite scripture from the week is not just one verse, its just simply Abinadi's testimony of the Savior. I find it amazing how despite him not coming yet, despite all the tribulations and trials he had to go through, he still stood firm in what he knew to be true. I guess that shows to me how close he must have been and how in tune to the spirit he was, that the Savior truly did make himself known unto him. I think that it's easier for us because we have all this proof that he did come, so many biblical accounts prophets today, and all of that, but Abinadi didn't have all those witnesses that we now have, and I just found that really amazing as I thought about it. So that was what stuck out to me this week, oh and also just randomly saying, but we had a really fun halloween, they put on a talent show and had all this face painting and stuff and we just had a pretty good time! That was probably one of the most fun experiences I've had on my mission, and sometimes you have to have some of those too, don't know if you saw any of those pictures or not, and I haven't been taking pictures because my camera died and I don't have the charger... So I'll try and copy some before I go home. I think that's about all for this week though, thanks and hope you have an awesome time on your safari!
Lots of lovin'
From Elder Jordan Michelson
We did meet a few new people this week
October 27, 2014
From Elder Jordan Michelson
Well this week was kind of slow I guess, there was a primary presentation and a lot of the kids that we were studying with were busy with that, which is good, but at the same time makes our life kind of slow. Also there was a funeral which is a pretty big deal here and no one really wanted to see us, they were all just kind of gone or busy or whatever. We did meet a couple new people and hopefully should have some success pretty soon, I just want to make this area better than it was when I got here. Just trying to work more with the members and strengthen the youth here, because there aren't a whole lot of young men, so trying to see what we can do with that. I don't think I've done that much to help the district improve, I just changed the attitude a little bit hopefully and we also have some great elders and sisters out here right now. I guess in terms of my studies, still been studying with the same focus and plan on doing so until the end of my mission. Just learning more about Christ and how I can better follow him and hear his voice in the book of mormon. One thing that stuck out to me this week was the concept of devoting all your time and efforts to serving him. And if we do that he will strengthen us and allow us to do things that we could not do with our own strength. I also liked the promise that if we do all things we will ultimately gain eternal life and become as he is, which is still a hard concept to grasp for me. The possibility that I can literally become perfect and be as Jesus Christ is, is amazing to me. Obviously that takes a lifetime of work, and will require a lot of effort, but I found that to be a really good promise and it helped me in a couple of the lessons that I had this week. As far as I know the couple that I was working with never did end up getting baptized, at least not yet, but I will check and see again because that would kind of not be all that fun if it didn't work out, because they are awesome. The members out here are awesome, they always feed us and will help us, tell us where other people live and whatnot, I think I have 3 ladies that I call mama now. The one family that we go see quite a bit is the Stephen family and they are helping us teach a couple YSA aged young men. The lessons are going well and hopefully one of them will be able to be baptized in 2 weeks, his name is Labuji hahaha good luck trying to pronounce that one right, but he's pretty solid and we had a really good lesson with him last night. Also we've been working with the Couple missionaries from Cardston who are doing an awesome job trying to give the youth here something to do, because in the tiny crowded island, there isn't a whole lot to do to say the least. They are awesome, I feel like I told you that before but it's all good I just love the S they help us out quite a bit. I think that's about all for this week, Elder L came here and is now training Elder S which is both good and bad. Haha I miss having s around just because he was the man and was just nice to have around. But it'll be good for him to actually be with one missionary, because being with 2 you just have less time to speak and don't learn as fast. Thank you all for all the support and the kindness! I hope you also have an awesome week in Africa! Once again kind of jealous, but I guess that's just part of life haha.
Lots of lovin'From Elder Jordan Michelson
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