Dear family and friends,I am excited to tell you about Melanie! She is a new investigator thatwe met this past week and she will be getting baptized on the 11th ofFebruary. She is 9 and is super funny! We taught her the Restorationyesterday and we're going to teach her the plan of Salvation tomorrowwith some picture cut outs.Today we will be teaching two separate families the restored gospelfor the first time. It's an amazing blessing especially for this areaand we hope to be able to baptize both of them. Please keep us in yourprayers that we'll have the Spirit with us as we go over and teach.These past couple weeks we've been focusing as a mission on the Bookof Mormon and Preach My Gospel. I have loved reading the Book ofMormon again. They just keep adding new stuff in every time. Mytestimony of the Book of Mormon has grown immensely. I know that it istrue and the the principles and promises within it are all real andcan affect the life of any seeker of truth. Anyone who reads it willlearn how to grow closer to God as I have these past weeks.Some other news, I went on Exchanges with Elder O'Neil this last weekand he is a great missionary! I'll point him out in the picture Iattach. He is very powerful when he talks and always is willing togive anything and everything to his investigators. I had a great timewith him.During district activity we all watched the testaments and then webuilt a snowman. It was great and it was the first time ever buildinga snowman as a missionary.I love the work of Salvation. It is the most important work to theLord and has filled me with such joy. Everyone! Pray for missionaryopportunities! They will come and they will be specifically for you!Also don't worry about what they will say. Lehi is the perfect exampleof diligence admits adversity (1 Nephi 2:1)I hope everyone has a great week!
This week has been amazing! We've been led to so many people to teach
and daybreak is becoming an amazing area!
To start off the mission is doing a study of Preach My Gospel and the
Book of Mormon. I'm reading each one every day and I have learned so
much doing it. I feel the promise in D&C 24:12 that the Lord has give
saying "...And I will give unto him strength such as is not known
among men." The Lord does truly send the Spirit of God to accompany us
as we study his word and seek to learn of Him. It has been a great
study and I have loved every second of it.
We've found a ton of new people to teach this week and the Daybreak
area is doing great! Someone that we found is a man named Pedro. Pedro
is married to a member but has never really got to know too much about
the church. He's super open to the gospel and loves talking with the
missionaries. We taught him the restoration and invited him to be
baptized. He said that he had already been baptized but then he
thought about it and said "well I can't remember my baptism and it
wasn't really my choice. And I haven't been baptized Mormon yet...."
We explained the blessings of getting baptism and how it can help him
and his family. He's going to be thinking about it and we gave him a
chapter in the Book of Mormon to read we're super excited to teach him
more. Both Elder Cardenas and I feel really good about him.
We found a family this week as well through a miracle. I was on
exchanges with Elder Pineda who is from Costa Rica. We prayed over the
area and felt strongly that we had to go to this retirement
neighborhood. We had no idea why but we went and the first door we
knocked on was a member's home. He told us of three families that we
could visit, the Escobar family, the Castillo family, and the
Jaramillo family. We went by the Escobar family first and the husband
wasn't home so she told us to come back later so we could meet him and
give her a blessing. We then went to a nearby potential and ran into
another member who gave us the same three referrals. We thought it was
odd so we decided to continue with it and went to the Jaramillo
family. They were all members and let us in. We had a great time and
received an amazing referral from them. Just when we were about to say
the closing prayer we heard a knock at the door. It was Hermano
Escobar who wasn't a member. We talked to him a little and he invited
us over to his house a little earlier than his wife did. We were super
excited. It turned out that hermana Escobar is a member but her
husband and friend isn't. That night we picked up Edwin and Hermano
Escobar as new investigators. They're both amazing and this is
actually the first time that Edwin has been able to talk to someone
from our church. He said that he was really impressed with us and said
that we were pure people. It sounds more normal in Spanish to call
someone pure and it was a great compliment. He will be baptized soon!
We're working on helping him accept a date. Ricardo has a doubt about
the Book of Mormon so everyone pray that his hear will be opened by
the Spirit so he will decide to read.
I love this work and I can feel myself coming closer to the Savior
each day. I know he is real and that he loves each and every one of
us. I know that Father lives and that His plan is perfect. I am
humbled each day as He tries to help me testify to this people of the
amazing gift of repentance and forgiveness.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
This week has been amazing and I have truly come to love serving here
in daybreak!
Elder Cárdenas and I were able to Learn a great deal about the
Atonement of Jesus Christ. It has been the focus of many of our
lessons that we have had especially with less actives In the ward.
Christ truly suffered so that we don't have to and He can take any
amount of suffering away as long as we come unto Him and repent. Our
testimony of Jesus Christ has truly grown and we try to share it as
often as we can. During fast Sunday (yesterday) many of the members
talked about how much they like us in the ward. That's when I knew
that we were being successful as missionaries. I hope that they will
continue to build their faith and trust in us and that they will bring
people for us to teach.
The ward is doing amazingly. There have been a lot of changes in the
attitude of the members towards the missionaries. Before I came, the
missionaries were split between 9 different wards so the Spanish ward
didn't get to see them too much. Now that we're in the Spanish ward
alone, the members get to be around for us much more now. The Bishop
is really excited about the missionary work in the ward and Is making
some amazing goals. Even the Ward Mission Leader is starting to get
involved! We're really excited with everything that is happening.
Recently Elder Cárdenas and I have been reading the Book of Mormon
with an emphasis on the love, mercy, and justice of Jesus Christ. I
have learned a great deal reading over the life of Nephi again. A
scripture that I think demonstrates an invitation applicable for all
of us is 1 Nephi 10:17. At this time, Nephi had just returned from
bringing Ishmael and his family back from Jerusalem and Lehi had just
finished prophesy information the vision of the tree of life. Nephi is
telling us how he was able to gain an understanding of the words of
his father and invites us by saying that the Holy Ghost comes to all
men. I truly believe that God loves us enough that if there is
something that we want to understand like the Love of God for His
children or the Atonement, we too can seek the Holy Ghost in order for
us to hear, see, and know of the doctrine and principles for
ourselves. It has helped me understand the Atonement better and come
to Love Jesus Christ that much more.
I hope everyone has a great week and is able to stay healthy at this
time of year.
Elder Kallin James Austin
Utah SLC South Mission
Merry Christmas!!!! I hope everyone enjoyed it!
We had some amazing miracles! I don't have too much time to write
about them but hopefully I can include it all.
So Friday night I received the craziest phone call of my life. It all
started with a district fast we did for an investigator named Valeria.
She wasn't progressing in the Gospel and the Elders had a really
powerful lesson with her. She was committed to find an answer and we
all fasted that she would find one. Well I received the call from the
Elders and this is what they said: "Elder Austin! Valeria called our
bishop and they set up a baptism for tomorrow at 11:00....can we have
permission to baptize her?" I freaked out and I called my Zone
leaders. They told me to have the Elders teach her everything at
10:00, and me interview her at 11:00, and then have the baptism
sometime that day. So that's what she did. I went in for He interview
at 11:00 and she passed with flying colors. I asked her what had
changed and she explained that the thing that held her back for so
long was laziness. She just never did any of the commitments that the
Elders gave her. But when she finally sat down and read the Book of
Mormon seriously, that's when she felt something. I couldn't stay for
the rest of the baptism because of a lesson we had but she was
confirmed on Sunday as a member of the church. It was an amazing
miracle.
Another miracle that happened was with a family that the sisters are
teaching in the district. They have been investigating the church for
a while now and they've all decided to get baptized on the 31st of
December which is this next Saturday. One of the daughters who is 8
had a dream about 2 weeks ago where she met Jesus Christ. This family
is very poor and is living in the home of one of their cousins. In her
dream she was pro used that they would have many presents for
Christmas, a new home all to themselves, and that she would have a
room upstairs to play in. Well when the sisters told us about it we
all got together and went house hunting. The sisters bought a couple
of little presents and we sent them an address and phone number of
someone who was renting out a basement. Well that night we got a call
from the sisters saying that the dream came true! That number we had
gave them was the home that they were promised! Also the owners had a
play room upstairs that they weren't using anymore so they decided to
give it to the 8 year old. 3 days before Christmas, we received a call
from a member who said that he had just bought a $100 gift card for
this family he had heard about. It was what put presents under this
family's Christmas tree. They are all very excited for their baptism
this Saturday and so are we. Hopefully we can take our investigators,
Tania and Ricardo, with us.
Please pray that we can be lead to new people to teach. Elder Cardenas
and I are itching to teach lessons but we're mostly focusing on
finding right now. Hopefully we can find some miracles.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and I hope everyone has a great New Years!
This week I was transferred to daybreak to be with Elder Cardenas.
Elder Cardenas is from Arizona and this is his second transfer here
which means I'm finishing up his training. I already love being here
in daybreak! They say that it's hard to do Spanish work here but we've
already seen miracles. We've been praying all week to be able to find
people to teach and 2 people from Venezuela walked into church with a
member family. They stayed for all three hours and loved it. We're
going to teach them tonight for the first time and we're super
excited!!!!
Friday we had a Ward party and we were told that the whole Ward was
going to invite all of their non-member friends. Well we got there and
I was talked into participating in their Christmas play of the birth
of Jesus Christ. My companion was dressed as one of the Shepherds and
I was the angel that visited the shepherds. It was great! I had to
memorize a couple verses in Spanish but it wasn't too hard. Overall it
was a great way to have the members know me. Now everyone calls me
Angel Austin haha.
This week I was transferred to daybreak to be with Elder Cardenas.
Elder Cardenas is from Arizona and this is his second transfer here
which means I'm finishing up his training. I already love being here
in daybreak! They say that it's hard to do Spanish work here but we've
already seen miracles. We've been praying all week to be able to find
people to teach and 2 people from Venezuela walked into church with a
member family. They stayed for all three hours and loved it. We're
going to teach them tonight for the first time and we're super
excited!!!!
Friday we had a Ward party and we were told that the whole Ward was
going to invite all of their non-member friends. Well we got there and
I was talked into participating in their Christmas play of the birth
of Jesus Christ. My companion was dressed as one of the Shepherds and
I was the angel that visited the shepherds. It was great! I had to
memorize a couple verses in Spanish but it wasn't too hard. Overall it
was a great way to have the members know me. Now everyone calls me
Angel Austin haha.
Elder Austin
