"We came to earth to learn by faith"

Dear family and friends,

 

Wow I can't believe I've been in sandy for 3 weeks already. I miss Kearns a little. The fonts gather too much dust here. Whereas the fonts in Kearns get washed out every weekend. So elder Dresen and I are making plans to start washing the fonts. So far we have a baptism planned! It's exciting. And another lady that we are focusing on is Wanda Brady. Her husband died and she is torn up inside. We do service and stop by and talk. The plan of salvation is really important for her along with the atonement, but she has a hard time believing it all. She's not reading the BOM yet so that's why.  She's reading the whole bible before she reads the BoM. Its a great goal but she putting off salvation until she prays for her answer.  She is smiling a lot more when we show up. Those are two investigators that I think will be baptized.

We are really trying to involve the member here because they are so awesome! They are always missionary minded and we should baptize here. They come out with us now we just need people to take them to lessons with us. Our numbers look soo much better this week. But I'm still hoping that we will pick up a few more investigators. There are golden ones everywhere-we're just waiting for them.

But a mom told me to tell you about my normal day mom cause she said that would interest you. So usually we wake up at 6, workout- I like to play basketball. I've gotten a lot better at shooting on the mission. Come back and make breakfast, usually eggs or cereal. A family gave us extra eggs and I'll probably keep going back because they always have too many. They have chickens. Then we start studying at 8. I always read a little from the BOM then I study a topic in the scriptures or in PMG. Then for 2 more hours I train Elder Dresen. I teach principles, have him practice teaching me, and I teach to him. Then an hour of missionary work lunch/ nap time (which is actually encouraged by mission presidents wife. At 1 we are out working till 5, then dinner for an hour and them work till 9 or 9:30 if in a lesson, then plan for the next day get ready for bed and sleep. Repeat.

 So music is still the best! haha and I'm thinking that I'm going to buy basketball shoes and another pair of Sunday shoes soon. Ill probably use my debit card.

Its getting hot here. And I got a lot of sun the other day. I'm hoping mom that if I tan while its not too sunny I'll tan and never need sunscreen. I got a little red the other day but didn't burn so it might work.

I had a weird lesson with a guy. He is an evangelical and I knew that going in but he wanted to discuss religion. I was thinking he wanted to bash... but he really wanted me to answer some gospel questions. I'm really glad that I know my stuff in the bible. The next time we go back he wants me to prove things using the bible... I don't know why people always think they need proof. We came to earth to learn by faith. The only principle we couldn't learn in God's presence. So I made a giant list of all the scriptures that support restored truths and how Christ's church was during his ministry. It's like 3 pages long. Obviously if he's not willing to pray about the BOM I wont go back though.

 

Well I hope you're all doing well.

Love Elder Salmon

"My Jaw Dropped"

Dear Family and Friends

 

Man I’m out here in Sandy! We are not in Kearns anymore. It’s different. But it is good. I do enjoy myself here and I am having a lot of fun getting to know the bishops and stuff. So my first week or so I had appointments with the bishops and stake president so that we could get to know them and they could see us and see how hard we want to work so they feel comfortable giving us referrals. We have been contacting a lot and trying to find the elect. We had to drop a few off the so call investigators here that haven’t been to church and don’t even want to come to church. So now we are working on finding our own. It can be a struggle. Where the main ward lives not many people move in and out so it’s hard. We have apartments in our area which is really nice but finding a time when people are home is rough. I see a lot of potential here and success will come with time I’m sure. I am definitely learning a lot about patience. All I want to do is teach but hey that’s not missionary work.

A family that I think elder Dresen and I have really touched is the Watts family. They are less active and have kind of felt forgotten by past missionaries because it’s not a baptism when we teach them. It is a reactivation. So because elder Dresen and I taught them like investigators and really showed our love for them and helping them to get sealed in the temple they have changed and they seem brighter and happier. In fact they said they were close to giving up because they were not feeling the spirit when the other elders taught. Our first lesson was very powerful with them. They are a really cool couple and I’ve learned a lot from both of them. Sister Watts is one of the most dedicated and avid scripture readers. She often texts us topics she wants us to teach them next.

 

We live with a cool English woman and her husband. They are pretty normal compared to the last house I lived in. I love having a car though. We got a brand New CAR last week. hahaha its a 2013 Chevy Cruz! It had 94 miles on it when I got it. It has some good acceleration. It hasn’t been too warm so we have been driving more often than I usually like.

 

 I’m doing well. I gave myself a haircut this morning and I think I did a pretty good job again. I’m getting better. We have weights downstairs so our workouts are good. AND I HAVE MY JUMP ROPE AND I'M GETTING BETTER.

 

We had a really crazy lesson with a Pakistani Muslim. I had no idea what to do so I invited this guy who works for the church and is the head interpreter for arabic. But the Muslim (syed) only wanted to talk to him because he knew where he came from It was a super long lesson and by the end of it syed said "I’m scared to find out because I’m scared your religion is right." my jaw dropped. This guy did an amazing job and really strengthened my testimony and taught me a lot about how much more I should learn about the atonement. Sandy is warmer than Kearns... And I’m glad the sun is out way more.

 

Hope you all are doing well. Love you all.

Elder Salmon

"The Greatest Easter Egg Hunt Ever"

Dear Everyone,

Well it was a really rough week for us (numbers wise) but I absolutely loved being able to remember what the Lord did for us. In the phone I made certain alarms at certain times so that at the exact moment I could remember what is happening. I had alarms going off in the middle of the night when the savior was paying the price for our sins but it was worth it.

 

Too many people cancelled appointments this week. So people were cancelling there salvation unfortunately. I can't really get too down because we are doing our best, but people's agency is getting in the way. Not much to report this week about the work because it was slow. But in the mission the baptisms were down hard core. Except in Kearns zone. We killed it out here. We had 32 baptism for March. Miracle madness and the next closest zone was 14 baptisms. We just got the best missionaries up here with some great leadership. Elder Swainsten and Talentino are the zone leaders. They keep the attitude up.

 

Well mom I don't know what to report on about myself. This morning I studied the scriptures and was studying on agency and accountability. I figured out I'm sinning because I don't always love to report and sometime I wait for my leaders to call me! haha. yeah I chastise myself when I study. PMG says our attitude for our mission directly correlates to how much we love the Lord and honor his priesthood. So if we hate our mission or are having a hard time we don't honor the priesthood and we don't Love God.

 

I am doing good though. It's very tiring and there are so many things I have to worry about and least of all I worry about myself. Don't worry I eat well. Sometimes I skip lunch because dinner seems so close. we eat at 5 here and that's way too early. But we get good food at dinner time. And my weight since you ask I am at 200 pounds. But we bike around all the time. I can actually touch the rim of a basketball hoop now. I love it. I'm hoping to dunk by the end of my mission. As long as I stay biking. Which I think I will always be able to do. None of the areas are too big that I couldn't bike if I didn't want too. Unfortunately I'm not growing taller. That would make it easier. In the morning elder Bennett and I ride down to zone workout which is all down hill and then after we play sports and run around a lot we rode back up which is a killer but for some reason I really like it.

 

Well mom if you were here in Kearns I could find you about 5 tailors. I use them often don't worry. I get the holes mended in my pants and my suits still look nice. Actually all my clothes are in pretty good shape really. The only ones that are wearing are my cheap black pants.

 

SOO we have an investigator who is 29 and has a little mental disability. She called us Saturday morning and said she wanted to be baptized that night. We were ecstatic. We had it all set up and then we went to the interview with the ZLs and she decided not to go through with it. I talked her into at least coming to watch a baptism right before hers would go down. After we talked about it and I almost talked her into being baptized right there! She is ready and she is just scared. And a little bipolar and doesn't liked being pressured. But it was very stressful and nothing came out of it. But I did learn a great lesson in my prayers afterwards. It's all in the Lord's time. everything that happens is all under his hands and will happen when he wants it to be done. And I was more going for the number than really helping her out. But she calls me every night to talk about how she's scared and all that. She is very needy but its going to be a great story after I'm done with the stress.

 

Well Kearns is warming up. The sun is shining and more people are outside for us to talk to. And new people are moving in! So potentials are moving in and its great. We just have to find them. It's the greatest Easter egg hunt ever because its so long. And when we break the eggs the people are baptized!!

 

Love everyone. Take care

 

Elder Salmon