Alrighty so lot's of business items this week. Finance first. Woa, was not expecting that money. I don't intend to spend it. I was fully resigned to the fact that I would have 30$ for the rest of the mission. I used the 79$ to buy a good warm coat for the winter and a really warm hat. I just remembered suffering through last winter and I just took a look at what I had and decided it was worth it. It's a really nice coat that I got at tj max and it's super warm so it should be a better winter than the last one. The only other potential expenditure that I can foresee would be the last package of ropas home which I'll probably do before the end of January.
Second, here's my plan for Christmas. Just so I make sure I don't miss Katelyn, I'm going to call at 9:00 AM Pacific Time, when you guys should be opening up presents and talk with you guys just for 10-15 minutes. Then I'm going to call again at 4:30 PM Pacific Time, hopefully some of the family will be there at that time so I'll be able to talk to them too!
I'm so excited you got the job!! I won't lie, I was praying really hard for it this week. While it sounds like it's going to take some time away from home, it's eventually going to make everything a little more relaxed. Things will be a little more taken care of and there will be less worries. Remember though, and this may be mostly for Dad and the girls, with great endowment comes great responsibilities. Be careful about raising the standard of living because of a plentiful increase. Great kingdoms rise and are felled in one great swoop as they yield to worldly impulses to splurge in times of plenty and not prepare for times of famine. One thing that I know has really blessed Elder Calderoni and I is being careful with our money so that we have things set aside for an emergency. (Like a super unexpected ticket!...we paid one of those this week.) Be careful and wise with how you use what the Lord has blessed you with.
That's awesome that so many people are getting their Eagle award. I kind of regret how much I wasted my teenage years but it does not do well to dwell on the past. I wonder how Cameron is doing with Kylee being engaged. But I bet that's all way in the past. I can't wait to see where he goes on his mission!
It's good that Dad's exercising and developing his singing talent. When people ask me where I learned to sing I just tell them that my dad's an excellent singer. Hopefully now Dad will learn songs in their entirety now instead of just two lines of the chorus.
We had a really great week this week. We've really been working hard to get this one investigator ready to be baptized on the 26th; the day after Christmas! He's now our 200$ investigator! He's really fighting through a lot of opposition with his father being a pastor though. He's really going to make it though, we're so excited for him. This week he made it to church on his own and he surprised us by coming in a really nice suit! Usually he comes in regular clothes but this time he polished up and he was mistaken for just a regular member. It's really cool to see people transform as a result of the Gospel touching their lives.
We really saw success as we were taking out members with us this week. God really put the resources in our path this week to make great things happen. We were walking on Thursday and we happened to bump into one of the members, who we haven't been able to get a hold of for a team-up in a long time. We asked if she'd like to come with us because we were on our way to an appointment. She came with us and we had a great lesson with a less-active, recent convert family. After the lesson we walked the person home and she agreed to come out with us to two other appointments later that day. As we were leaving her house we were approaching the appointed finding time between the hours of 5-7PM and Elder Calderoni felt inspired to ask her where she thought we could go to find a new investigator. She gave us a referral but told us that we should wait for her to talk to them and then visit next week but gave us a street that she felt prompted that we should go to. We straightway went and knocked a few doors on the street till we met a guy who'd met with the missionaries in South Africa and wanted to learn more about the Book of Mormon! What a member miracle! The lessons with the member later that night went exceptionally well in that we did very little of the talking and the testimony of that member really sank deeply into the heart of those investigators, who both committed themselves to baptism that night. Members are amazing!
I'm so excited for this wonderful Christmas week! There's going to be lots of miracles and we're planning on doing some Christmas Caroling with the zone. Should be fun! Have a great week!
-Elder Guinto
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
E-mail received 12/13/2010
That's alright I like long letters. WOA! Brittany's married now! That's super weird! I knew stuff like this would happen but when it actually happens it's a little strange realizing that it'll be a quite different home I'll be returning to.
It's really kind of sad going to mission activities now and realizing that it's my last on my mission. Time flies way too fast!
I'll definitely be praying for you and your job opportunities. I know that finances are pretty tough right now. One of life's greatest struggles is embodied in the most simplest of phrases in the scriptures: "Endure to the End." When we read it it sounds so easy, so rudimentary. But when we experience it, we realize it's much more difficult than we ever anticipated. The comfort comes in knowing that we do not have to do it alone. We can, but why would we? Isaiah told us to lean not unto our own understanding, in all our ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct our paths. Then enduring not only becomes easy, but enjoyable because we're in it together with our families.
One item you might like to know, and I probably should've told you this earlier but here it is, you should probably get that package off ASAP because we're getting mail on Wednesday and after that we're not getting mail till probably January...just a little note.
I'm probably going to be sending you a package with the rest of my clothes and some other things that I don't really use much. I'm "de-junking." I also have a lot of things that are pretty distracting so I'll probably send those too. I should hopefully get those off today. Now that we're in a two-man again we have a little more time on P-day's to do things.
Transfers went pretty smoothly this week. Elder Calderoni and I are still together but the whole zone changed drastically. Almost every companionship changed and almost everyone who got switched out were switched with Elders who I've worked closely with before and who were zone leaders the transfer before. We got stacked! Our zone has most of the best missionaries in the mission! We're going to really rock the Hudson Front this transfer and we're all super pumped to work together!
One of the things that I think sets apart the missionaries that came in with any other missionary is the keen ability to set good goals. I think goal setting was definitely something that I lacked before I came out on a mission. I really appreciate how much easier everything is when you have a clear and bright direction to guide your feet. You also feel the glorious light of purpose which really helps you to achieve worthy accomplishments and improve internally so that those triumphant moments last. We've set some really good goals with the missionaries to really get their purpose and obedience in their hearts so that they can really reap in the white field before them.
Elder Calderoni and I were a little disrupted by the bulk of meetings this week. We enjoyed a great meal at the mission home with our zone where we shared good company, good food, and good conversion stories that we've all experienced in our time here in New Jersey. We also had a great fireside in Union City, in Spanish. Great talks, and inspiring music helped us to remember the real meaning of Christmas and the wonderful blessings the Savior's birth brought to all who live on this earth. I hope, as you exchange presents and gifts this year, you remember the gift the Savior has given you and just how much it really cost. Show gratitude to your Father in Heaven, who's given you everything by giving Him what you can render. Service to others, a loving hand to lift up, a kind smile, a letter of encouragement, your heart, your all. Though some may feel they have little to give, what little means so much to those who have none. The Savior said, "These deeds shall thy memorial be, fear not, thou didst them unto me." ("A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief) I challenge each of you to really capture that magical spirit of Christmas this year in giving, and grateful receiving.
We're excited to work hard this Christmas season, knowing that we are bringing the greatest gift that anyone on this earth can receive: the matchless love of God's divine son. It's truly a pleasure, a joy beyond measure, a blessing of duty and love.
-Elder Guinto
It's really kind of sad going to mission activities now and realizing that it's my last on my mission. Time flies way too fast!
I'll definitely be praying for you and your job opportunities. I know that finances are pretty tough right now. One of life's greatest struggles is embodied in the most simplest of phrases in the scriptures: "Endure to the End." When we read it it sounds so easy, so rudimentary. But when we experience it, we realize it's much more difficult than we ever anticipated. The comfort comes in knowing that we do not have to do it alone. We can, but why would we? Isaiah told us to lean not unto our own understanding, in all our ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct our paths. Then enduring not only becomes easy, but enjoyable because we're in it together with our families.
One item you might like to know, and I probably should've told you this earlier but here it is, you should probably get that package off ASAP because we're getting mail on Wednesday and after that we're not getting mail till probably January...just a little note.
I'm probably going to be sending you a package with the rest of my clothes and some other things that I don't really use much. I'm "de-junking." I also have a lot of things that are pretty distracting so I'll probably send those too. I should hopefully get those off today. Now that we're in a two-man again we have a little more time on P-day's to do things.
Transfers went pretty smoothly this week. Elder Calderoni and I are still together but the whole zone changed drastically. Almost every companionship changed and almost everyone who got switched out were switched with Elders who I've worked closely with before and who were zone leaders the transfer before. We got stacked! Our zone has most of the best missionaries in the mission! We're going to really rock the Hudson Front this transfer and we're all super pumped to work together!
One of the things that I think sets apart the missionaries that came in with any other missionary is the keen ability to set good goals. I think goal setting was definitely something that I lacked before I came out on a mission. I really appreciate how much easier everything is when you have a clear and bright direction to guide your feet. You also feel the glorious light of purpose which really helps you to achieve worthy accomplishments and improve internally so that those triumphant moments last. We've set some really good goals with the missionaries to really get their purpose and obedience in their hearts so that they can really reap in the white field before them.
Elder Calderoni and I were a little disrupted by the bulk of meetings this week. We enjoyed a great meal at the mission home with our zone where we shared good company, good food, and good conversion stories that we've all experienced in our time here in New Jersey. We also had a great fireside in Union City, in Spanish. Great talks, and inspiring music helped us to remember the real meaning of Christmas and the wonderful blessings the Savior's birth brought to all who live on this earth. I hope, as you exchange presents and gifts this year, you remember the gift the Savior has given you and just how much it really cost. Show gratitude to your Father in Heaven, who's given you everything by giving Him what you can render. Service to others, a loving hand to lift up, a kind smile, a letter of encouragement, your heart, your all. Though some may feel they have little to give, what little means so much to those who have none. The Savior said, "These deeds shall thy memorial be, fear not, thou didst them unto me." ("A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief) I challenge each of you to really capture that magical spirit of Christmas this year in giving, and grateful receiving.
We're excited to work hard this Christmas season, knowing that we are bringing the greatest gift that anyone on this earth can receive: the matchless love of God's divine son. It's truly a pleasure, a joy beyond measure, a blessing of duty and love.
-Elder Guinto
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
E-mail received 12/6/2010 - December Already!
I sent the pictures they should be getting to you soon. I didn't email on saturday because we didn't have the temple trip. The assistants texted us and told us that all temple trips were to be postponed until after transfer conference so that they would get people going and then going again because their new companion hadn't gone already. We will hopefully be going either this saturday or the next but we're not sure yet.
Sounds like a lot of job opportunities are opening up and the Lord is preparing you to do some great work. Just keep praying and I know that the Lord will direct your paths. Lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.
As far as the tow incident. Don't worry about sending any more money. I don't spend anything so it shouldn't be a problem. I already bought a very inexpensive pair of shoes so my needs are taken care of. I know that my companion doesn't have a lot of funds to his name so I volunteered to pay the whole amount. I don't expect him to pay any of it but he's already decided that he wants to make it up in installments so what I get from him I'm going to put into an emergency reserve fund just in case something else comes up.
It's kind of weird. Most of the names that you've said are ones that I don't recognize like the Mortensens & the Shepards. Maybe I just didn't know them very well but I'm excited to meet them when I come home.
That's cool that you're getting the tree! We set up ours last Thursday. It's fake, and it's white but it does the job. I miss Washington where everyone has a real tree and I told everyone how it's a travesty that we're having a fake one but in most places in New Jersey it's illegal to have a real tree because it's a "fire hazard."
Transfers are this week! Neither Elder Calderoni or myself are getting transferred so we'll have the blessing of serving together for at least six more weeks. After this transfer we will have served for a fourth of our mission together! Crazy! Two companionships are being doubled out and the zones getting a major face-lift again. Should be pretty exciting.
What a wonderful time to be doing missionary work. The first snows of the season are falling today and field is, literally, white and already to harvest. Elder Calderoni and I have really been looking towards the following transfer and the miracles that we're expecting to occur.
We had a great week this week as we were really able to contemplate on the things that we want to improve in so that we can fit ourselves for the work to which we are appointed. We met with the zone leaders and with our district leaders to talk about how we can move the mission in a monumental way towards bringing more of God's children unto Christ. We surmised that the best way is unity. We've seen examples from the Godhead, the first presidency, and the quorum of the twelve apostles about how unity is an inspiring and absolutely vital part of a working appendage of the church of Christ. We've been examining ourselves to see what we can change to have an eye single to His glory and our hearts knit together in unity and it love. we may need glasses and a lot of string to do that but no doubt it will be worth it.
As we met with the district leaders about what goals we would help the members of the zone set we realized that the work plays so much into our own desires. Really what we focus on, we will get. Whether that focus be on relaxation and pleasure or on the salvation and exaltation for ourselves and for others, it is our choice to choose the results we attain in this life. We determined to focus on matters of the heart for this transfer. Really helping missionaries focus on their own faith and perfection so they can minister that renewed testimony of divine truth to bless the lives of those they serve.
Elder Calderoni and I have really seen how setting goals yields powerful fruits. Our last zone goal was to put every missionary out on the line in testifying to everyone of the truth and divinity of the book, prophet, and Gospel we are called to proclaim. We've had the opportunity of seeing three choice souls begin from one critical moment where we were pushed by a goal to contact a person that we'd never met before and share with them the talent we've been given. Those three people now have baptismal dates for the day after Christmas and are progressing like wildfire! We truly gained a testimony that there are prepared individuals all around us. We don't know who they are but the Lord does and, as we seek for it, the Spirit will guide us to them and we must open our mouths.
One of those people had a really hard time coming to church this last week but made it anyway. His father is a pastor and very antagonistic towards the church. The son forgoes the family strife because he's already received a witness that these things are true and he cannot deny it. We admire him because he's really pressing through some strong opposition so that he can be baptized the day after Christmas. It's an inspiration and a blessing to see his determination.
We're excited to work and hope that you all can feel the power and love of God this Christmas season.
-Elder Guinto
Sounds like a lot of job opportunities are opening up and the Lord is preparing you to do some great work. Just keep praying and I know that the Lord will direct your paths. Lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.
As far as the tow incident. Don't worry about sending any more money. I don't spend anything so it shouldn't be a problem. I already bought a very inexpensive pair of shoes so my needs are taken care of. I know that my companion doesn't have a lot of funds to his name so I volunteered to pay the whole amount. I don't expect him to pay any of it but he's already decided that he wants to make it up in installments so what I get from him I'm going to put into an emergency reserve fund just in case something else comes up.
It's kind of weird. Most of the names that you've said are ones that I don't recognize like the Mortensens & the Shepards. Maybe I just didn't know them very well but I'm excited to meet them when I come home.
That's cool that you're getting the tree! We set up ours last Thursday. It's fake, and it's white but it does the job. I miss Washington where everyone has a real tree and I told everyone how it's a travesty that we're having a fake one but in most places in New Jersey it's illegal to have a real tree because it's a "fire hazard."
Transfers are this week! Neither Elder Calderoni or myself are getting transferred so we'll have the blessing of serving together for at least six more weeks. After this transfer we will have served for a fourth of our mission together! Crazy! Two companionships are being doubled out and the zones getting a major face-lift again. Should be pretty exciting.
What a wonderful time to be doing missionary work. The first snows of the season are falling today and field is, literally, white and already to harvest. Elder Calderoni and I have really been looking towards the following transfer and the miracles that we're expecting to occur.
We had a great week this week as we were really able to contemplate on the things that we want to improve in so that we can fit ourselves for the work to which we are appointed. We met with the zone leaders and with our district leaders to talk about how we can move the mission in a monumental way towards bringing more of God's children unto Christ. We surmised that the best way is unity. We've seen examples from the Godhead, the first presidency, and the quorum of the twelve apostles about how unity is an inspiring and absolutely vital part of a working appendage of the church of Christ. We've been examining ourselves to see what we can change to have an eye single to His glory and our hearts knit together in unity and it love. we may need glasses and a lot of string to do that but no doubt it will be worth it.
As we met with the district leaders about what goals we would help the members of the zone set we realized that the work plays so much into our own desires. Really what we focus on, we will get. Whether that focus be on relaxation and pleasure or on the salvation and exaltation for ourselves and for others, it is our choice to choose the results we attain in this life. We determined to focus on matters of the heart for this transfer. Really helping missionaries focus on their own faith and perfection so they can minister that renewed testimony of divine truth to bless the lives of those they serve.
Elder Calderoni and I have really seen how setting goals yields powerful fruits. Our last zone goal was to put every missionary out on the line in testifying to everyone of the truth and divinity of the book, prophet, and Gospel we are called to proclaim. We've had the opportunity of seeing three choice souls begin from one critical moment where we were pushed by a goal to contact a person that we'd never met before and share with them the talent we've been given. Those three people now have baptismal dates for the day after Christmas and are progressing like wildfire! We truly gained a testimony that there are prepared individuals all around us. We don't know who they are but the Lord does and, as we seek for it, the Spirit will guide us to them and we must open our mouths.
One of those people had a really hard time coming to church this last week but made it anyway. His father is a pastor and very antagonistic towards the church. The son forgoes the family strife because he's already received a witness that these things are true and he cannot deny it. We admire him because he's really pressing through some strong opposition so that he can be baptized the day after Christmas. It's an inspiration and a blessing to see his determination.
We're excited to work and hope that you all can feel the power and love of God this Christmas season.
-Elder Guinto
Monday, November 29, 2010
E-mail received 11/29/2010
Wow sounds like one crazy Thanksgiving week that you guys had! We had a pretty crazy one ourselves but not in the way of weather. I definitely felt a little sting of homesickness on Thanksgiving day. We had our dinner with Dave Zumbrennan, he's like the mission dad in Jersey City and he really takes care of the missionaries. We had a lot of really good food but it really made me miss Thanksgivings back home. Another family gave us food as well. All in all it was pretty good.
Boy I'm excited for Christmas! I should tell you to send me another email before Saturday. We're doing our temple trip on Saturday so that will be our preparation day for next week so I'll email you then. It's hard to believe that it's already December! As far as clothing they pretty much have all the same stores as they do on the west coast. We live in a heavily populated city here so between having two malls we basically have everything. Just for reference, even if you already bought everything it's nice to know, for tops I wear between a small and a large and for pants it's safe to go between a 32"-34" waist.
One thing I did want to make sure and say is that I decided to not ask president to switch to the Spanish program. I've been thinking about it a lot lately and even though my Spanish has been improving a lot lately and I've been using it a lot and I really would like to serve in the Spanish program, it would definitely be because it's something that I want. If it's something that the Lord wants then the mission president will be inspired to make the assignment and I am content to do whatever the Lord asks of me. For now he's asked me to lend my talents and skills to the English-speaking people and so I am happy to serve them.
So I do have to get this out of the way, if you haven't seen it already there's a substantial withdrawal from my checking account which should appear as a withdrawal of 102$ and 62$. I realize that's a huge amount of money but there's a really cool story that goes with it.
We had gone to meet with an investigator at the Newport Mall and we decided to park in the BJ's parking lot, which we've parked in several times. We crossed the street to go to the mall but we couldn't find him there and he wasn't answering his phone so after about 15 minutes we abandoned the pursuit for that time and went back to the car. When we entered the parking lot, somewhat sad that we weren't able to meet with that investigator we both came to a complete halt. We looked around, we looked at each other, the same thought clicked in both our minds which we voiced vocally, "We parked the car right there right?" It was gone! We stood there looking around for a few minutes and probably altogether looking pretty dumb trying to figure out what had happened to the car. My first thought was that they had towed it but there was no way that they could've towed it that fast and we'd done nothing wrong that I could've thought of. My next that was that it had gotten stolen. Luckily there was a nice lady parked right behind where we had parked and we asked her what happened. She told us that she'd seen the car get towed, but what's more it had gotten towed only three minutes after we'd left the car. We called the police and found out that we weren't supposed to park in the parking lot if we weren't going to BJ's and the lot was under close camera surveillance. We went into BJ's and talked with an employee about getting our car back. They told us that we needed to talk with a supervisor who was currently stationed between isles 12 & 13. We walk between isles 12 & 13 and one of the members that we know happens to be doing their shopping in isle 12. They were flabbergasted to see us there because they had actually just been talking about us and here we come. We talked to the supervisor who told us our car was across town and was actually about to close and if we didn't get our car that night we would lose the car for the whole holiday weekend! Magically the member was right there and was more than happy to give us a ride and to convince us to keep the appointment that we had in a couple minutes which we were in the process of canceling when we saw him. We rushed over and for some reason I was just in the most peachy mood for someone getting towed. I was happy as a little toad in a swamp. On the way there I was told that we'd probably have to pay cash and the thought came that I could only withdraw in 20's so I thought hey I think I might brighten the tow guys day a little bit and give him a nice little tip with whatever's left over. We got there and found out that they didn't have change so I had to give them the tip anyway but it was good that I was in the mood for it in the first place. Anyway we rush off to the appointment which is with a referral and we have a hard time finding the place but fortunately we find it and so does the member that we'd scheduled to bring with us. We knock on the door and the man answers and starts yelling at us. He tells us that we're no good and that he read about us online and that he believes in God and we're of the devil because we believe in Joseph Smith and not God. We tried for a few minutes to explain the truth to him but he was definitely not in the mood to hear as whenever we tried to respond he would just repeat what he had previously affirmed in increasing loudness and intensity. We saw that this wasn't going anywhere and were about to leave. After we asked him if he knew anyone who would be willing to listen and he smartly told us no, the door to the apartment complex opens and out walks a young man we'd met on the street the previous week and given a pass-along-card to. Turns out that this young man is the man's son and has the same name as him only he's the Jr. He's the one who ordered the Book of Mormon. After a short meeting with him, amidst the screams and competitive shouts of his father, the young man received a testimony that the Book was true and began testifying to his father that he was feeling the Spirit and he knew that this Book of Mormon, us missionaries, and this church was from God! It was really cool in that moment to see how the Devil was doing everything to keep us from being there and God had given a way for us to be in the right place at the right time.
We saw many more miracles this week in which we met people for the first time and after feeling the Spirit were in tears at the love and mercy God was extending towards them. I'm really beginning to understand my purpose out here the more that I lose myself in this wonderful service. It really is true. It really is. And I'm loving every minute of it.
-Elder Guinto
Boy I'm excited for Christmas! I should tell you to send me another email before Saturday. We're doing our temple trip on Saturday so that will be our preparation day for next week so I'll email you then. It's hard to believe that it's already December! As far as clothing they pretty much have all the same stores as they do on the west coast. We live in a heavily populated city here so between having two malls we basically have everything. Just for reference, even if you already bought everything it's nice to know, for tops I wear between a small and a large and for pants it's safe to go between a 32"-34" waist.
One thing I did want to make sure and say is that I decided to not ask president to switch to the Spanish program. I've been thinking about it a lot lately and even though my Spanish has been improving a lot lately and I've been using it a lot and I really would like to serve in the Spanish program, it would definitely be because it's something that I want. If it's something that the Lord wants then the mission president will be inspired to make the assignment and I am content to do whatever the Lord asks of me. For now he's asked me to lend my talents and skills to the English-speaking people and so I am happy to serve them.
So I do have to get this out of the way, if you haven't seen it already there's a substantial withdrawal from my checking account which should appear as a withdrawal of 102$ and 62$. I realize that's a huge amount of money but there's a really cool story that goes with it.
We had gone to meet with an investigator at the Newport Mall and we decided to park in the BJ's parking lot, which we've parked in several times. We crossed the street to go to the mall but we couldn't find him there and he wasn't answering his phone so after about 15 minutes we abandoned the pursuit for that time and went back to the car. When we entered the parking lot, somewhat sad that we weren't able to meet with that investigator we both came to a complete halt. We looked around, we looked at each other, the same thought clicked in both our minds which we voiced vocally, "We parked the car right there right?" It was gone! We stood there looking around for a few minutes and probably altogether looking pretty dumb trying to figure out what had happened to the car. My first thought was that they had towed it but there was no way that they could've towed it that fast and we'd done nothing wrong that I could've thought of. My next that was that it had gotten stolen. Luckily there was a nice lady parked right behind where we had parked and we asked her what happened. She told us that she'd seen the car get towed, but what's more it had gotten towed only three minutes after we'd left the car. We called the police and found out that we weren't supposed to park in the parking lot if we weren't going to BJ's and the lot was under close camera surveillance. We went into BJ's and talked with an employee about getting our car back. They told us that we needed to talk with a supervisor who was currently stationed between isles 12 & 13. We walk between isles 12 & 13 and one of the members that we know happens to be doing their shopping in isle 12. They were flabbergasted to see us there because they had actually just been talking about us and here we come. We talked to the supervisor who told us our car was across town and was actually about to close and if we didn't get our car that night we would lose the car for the whole holiday weekend! Magically the member was right there and was more than happy to give us a ride and to convince us to keep the appointment that we had in a couple minutes which we were in the process of canceling when we saw him. We rushed over and for some reason I was just in the most peachy mood for someone getting towed. I was happy as a little toad in a swamp. On the way there I was told that we'd probably have to pay cash and the thought came that I could only withdraw in 20's so I thought hey I think I might brighten the tow guys day a little bit and give him a nice little tip with whatever's left over. We got there and found out that they didn't have change so I had to give them the tip anyway but it was good that I was in the mood for it in the first place. Anyway we rush off to the appointment which is with a referral and we have a hard time finding the place but fortunately we find it and so does the member that we'd scheduled to bring with us. We knock on the door and the man answers and starts yelling at us. He tells us that we're no good and that he read about us online and that he believes in God and we're of the devil because we believe in Joseph Smith and not God. We tried for a few minutes to explain the truth to him but he was definitely not in the mood to hear as whenever we tried to respond he would just repeat what he had previously affirmed in increasing loudness and intensity. We saw that this wasn't going anywhere and were about to leave. After we asked him if he knew anyone who would be willing to listen and he smartly told us no, the door to the apartment complex opens and out walks a young man we'd met on the street the previous week and given a pass-along-card to. Turns out that this young man is the man's son and has the same name as him only he's the Jr. He's the one who ordered the Book of Mormon. After a short meeting with him, amidst the screams and competitive shouts of his father, the young man received a testimony that the Book was true and began testifying to his father that he was feeling the Spirit and he knew that this Book of Mormon, us missionaries, and this church was from God! It was really cool in that moment to see how the Devil was doing everything to keep us from being there and God had given a way for us to be in the right place at the right time.
We saw many more miracles this week in which we met people for the first time and after feeling the Spirit were in tears at the love and mercy God was extending towards them. I'm really beginning to understand my purpose out here the more that I lose myself in this wonderful service. It really is true. It really is. And I'm loving every minute of it.
-Elder Guinto
Monday, November 22, 2010
E-mail received 11/22/2010
Wow, sounds really weird. We've actually been having pretty fair weather here in Jersey City. Only a few days of bad rain. One really crazy thing that happened this week though is that we got in a car accident! A few drunk people coming from a party crashed into our parked car right after we'd gotten into it. It was pretty crazy. We had to do a lot of arranging but it all worked out alright. We have a lot of great senior missionaries working in the office who really take care of us really well.
I did get the package! Thanks so much. I think I'm going to make the cake today as well as mail off the card. You guessed right, I was out of stamps. I haven't bought shoes yet. Time on P-days has been really short because of choir practices for the Christmas firesides. I'm singing a solo for a song I've never heard before but it's a pretty song. It's called "Night of all Nights." Sister Bahr's crazy about it but not a single missionary in the mission has ever heard it before and what they gave us to sing off of at first was just a paper with the words. After suffering through it and finding that no one had ever heard it they decided to make it a solo instead. So I'll be singing this Sunday and then again on December 12, should be fun.
I did hear about Harry Potter coming out. It's just about all the Americans in our area talk about now a days. I hear it's pretty good. I hope that both of the seventh book movies are out when I come home so that I can just watch them both together. That'll make it nice and painless.
It's so weird to think that this will be my last Thanksgiving in the mission. Fortunately we're not going to have to worry about having 5 dinner appointments like last year because we can plan it. We know that we have somewhere for breakfast but no one's invited us for dinner yet. We'll see though. Say "hi" to everyone at Thanksgiving for me though!
That's crazy that Ben Swenson is coming home soon! It seems like his mission is on the same transfer cycle as ours. I can't remember but he's in Japan or some crazy place like that right? That'll be super weird when you guys start counting the days and your emails start ending with, "Well, see you in a month!" Elder Coffin started getting those and it made him super trunky.
Well we had a pretty exciting week! We didn't have much of an opportunity to work in our area because we had some extensive leadership training but despite the time out our area seemed to explode. The training, once again, really helped us focus on the Spirit, the truth, and the investigator. It really helped Elder Calderoni and I to realize the things that we needed to change with certain people so that they could really begin to, not just keep commitments or go to church but, have spiritually moving experiences which convert them and bring them closer to Christ. When we went to apply the training, big surprise, it worked! Everyone began to start realizing really why they've been listening to us and the impact that the message from Christ and the Book of Mormon will have in their lives. Solution after solution seemed to present itself as we addressed their needs and found their concerns. It's really been a good week for us.
We've really seen us be more excited in planning. The more we love them the more happy we are to strive with them because then it truly becomes a labor of love. One family in particular, we've been working with a while. We lost contact with them a while ago and Elder Calderoni was inspired to just drop by one Sunday morning. The mother happened to be there and we were able to find out that despite everything that's been going on, her and her family have made great leaps and bounds in changing their lives to bring them in closer harmony with the Savior and His teachings. We were so excited for them and along with other families who now have a renewed commitment to follow the Savior by repenting and being baptized.
I love the work! I love the miracles it brings and the joy we experience as we labor in this transcendent, latter-day undertaking.
-Elder Guinto
I did get the package! Thanks so much. I think I'm going to make the cake today as well as mail off the card. You guessed right, I was out of stamps. I haven't bought shoes yet. Time on P-days has been really short because of choir practices for the Christmas firesides. I'm singing a solo for a song I've never heard before but it's a pretty song. It's called "Night of all Nights." Sister Bahr's crazy about it but not a single missionary in the mission has ever heard it before and what they gave us to sing off of at first was just a paper with the words. After suffering through it and finding that no one had ever heard it they decided to make it a solo instead. So I'll be singing this Sunday and then again on December 12, should be fun.
I did hear about Harry Potter coming out. It's just about all the Americans in our area talk about now a days. I hear it's pretty good. I hope that both of the seventh book movies are out when I come home so that I can just watch them both together. That'll make it nice and painless.
It's so weird to think that this will be my last Thanksgiving in the mission. Fortunately we're not going to have to worry about having 5 dinner appointments like last year because we can plan it. We know that we have somewhere for breakfast but no one's invited us for dinner yet. We'll see though. Say "hi" to everyone at Thanksgiving for me though!
That's crazy that Ben Swenson is coming home soon! It seems like his mission is on the same transfer cycle as ours. I can't remember but he's in Japan or some crazy place like that right? That'll be super weird when you guys start counting the days and your emails start ending with, "Well, see you in a month!" Elder Coffin started getting those and it made him super trunky.
Well we had a pretty exciting week! We didn't have much of an opportunity to work in our area because we had some extensive leadership training but despite the time out our area seemed to explode. The training, once again, really helped us focus on the Spirit, the truth, and the investigator. It really helped Elder Calderoni and I to realize the things that we needed to change with certain people so that they could really begin to, not just keep commitments or go to church but, have spiritually moving experiences which convert them and bring them closer to Christ. When we went to apply the training, big surprise, it worked! Everyone began to start realizing really why they've been listening to us and the impact that the message from Christ and the Book of Mormon will have in their lives. Solution after solution seemed to present itself as we addressed their needs and found their concerns. It's really been a good week for us.
We've really seen us be more excited in planning. The more we love them the more happy we are to strive with them because then it truly becomes a labor of love. One family in particular, we've been working with a while. We lost contact with them a while ago and Elder Calderoni was inspired to just drop by one Sunday morning. The mother happened to be there and we were able to find out that despite everything that's been going on, her and her family have made great leaps and bounds in changing their lives to bring them in closer harmony with the Savior and His teachings. We were so excited for them and along with other families who now have a renewed commitment to follow the Savior by repenting and being baptized.
I love the work! I love the miracles it brings and the joy we experience as we labor in this transcendent, latter-day undertaking.
-Elder Guinto
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