Man! It's going to be pretty tough to get that letter from Brittany. Last week at the mission activity Elder Elliott gave me a letter from Grandma that they received and they probably got hers within a couple days so I don't know when I'll be able to get it. I'll probably call them today and get them to get it to their zone leaders so that I can pick it up at zone leader council.
That's so sad about Bro. Walker. Especially that the Alzheimer's was getting to him so bad. He was a very kind and loving man. I remember home teaching him. He had such a spirit of service and loved going to the temple. He'll be dearly missed. It sounds like I'll be coming home to a totally different place!
Oh, Katelyn's a big old captain! Make sure she doesn't get too bossy. Katelyn can get pretty power crazy some times.
That's awesome that Maleah's getting ready to receive her patriarchal blessing. I know mine's been a real blessing to me out here in the mission field. I read it as often as I need it. It really provides concrete and powerful direction for the rest of our lives and throughout eternity. It's amazing to think of the immensity of our Heavenly Father's knowledge and that he shares with us a small precious part of it so that we can find security and guidance throughout our lives. I hope our patriarch is still patriarch Pringel. I have such a testimony of the power and love of that man.
I am loving Jersey City and I love my companion as well. We're not as tight knit as Elder Elliott and I were but we're still getting used to each other's quirks and what makes each other tick and wot not. It's a real learning experience being a zone leader and having all kinds of different responsibilities. I really miss being a district leader because it was really hands on and I had much more control over what got done and what was accomplished. Whereas when I am a zone leader I really have to learn how to work through the district leaders. It's very different and will take a lot of getting used to but I pray that God will help me to do it.
I do get to see her a lot because she's in my ward now. We do a lot of corresponding work and I'll see her usually about three times a week but this week was a little crazy and I saw her almost every day. It's a big struggle for me actually because it's been tough to stay focused but Heavenly Father's been helping me out a lot. It's really a conscious effort to garnish my thoughts so that I stay on topic and on guard and I'm really relying on thinking about you guys and about the work that's really been helping out. I'm really just hoping it only lasts for this transfer and I or she gets moved out but we can only hope I guess. Kind of weird but we'll see.
We had an interesting week this week. We worked with as much time as we had. We had the great mission activity on Monday and then leadership trainings Wednesday through Friday all day so we didn't have much time to work. What we've experienced though, and apparently it's shown in the work of the other leaders as well, is that while we were all down as far as quantity in numbers, overall quality sky rocketed. Tons of investigators, who were kind of just sitting there, started progressing and everyone began reporting miracles and baptisms. The Lord has really given us a lot of inspired direction through our leaders.
What the training mainly focused on is what the investigators needs. Helping us to understand and find those needs so that we can address them. Often we find, at the base of a misunderstanding, is a lack of communication and knowledge on both parties. Listening and asking inspired questions are vital to an active growing unit so that both may grow and be edified. Often times, teachers, in any setting, will neglect the opportunity to learn from their students and miss out not only on growing vistas of understanding but pass by doorways to breakthroughs in their teaching and the students fundamental understanding. Learning these has really helped us missionaries to tune in to the Spirit and make it an integral part of us and our investigators.
We had great miracles in setting people with really solid dates for baptism and we have very high hopes for the upcoming month in those regards.
It is pretty weird that I am coming up on my 11 month mark and then only a month away from my year and my birthday. I've been having odd dreams about after the mission, like just sitting in my bedroom or taking something out of the fridge. Odd I know but those are things that I really actually miss. We don't really have any down time and so it's really the little things that you used to do at home that you grow ever fond of. You really don't know what you've got till it's gone.
We're excited to apply all the things that we've learned this week in the upcoming week so that we can see not only the great spirit that enters in but see in ever flow with the time that we'll be able to give to it. I know that as we give the Lord our time he pays us back double what we sacrifice for it. Make sure the girls are reading their scriptures and Dad's behaving himself.
-Elder Guinto
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