"I have work to do"

Dear Family and Friends,

So this week went by quick. It was crunch time. We have all these investigators that were on date and now it looks like a bunch will fall off. But they will be baptised it just won’t all happen in one month. At one point we had 10 people on date for this month. And actually all 10 will be baptised just a matter of when.  I think one got stuck somewhere and couldn’t make it to church another was sick and just little things came up, but they still need to come to church to get baptised. So looks like April baptism- which is okay. We worked hard but we really were blessed. We had more projected than anyone in the zone. And it’s all because the Lord decided to bless us. We have found our weaknesses and we know what we need to work on.

Next week we have two baptisms! yes! The Moore kids are getting baptized; Ashton and Memphis, and better yet the dad is doing it. He is getting active and he now is doing awesome. He got over some sins repented and now wants to go to the temple. WE are working on his wife. She still doesn’t want to be baptised. But she will.  At the baptism there will be the confirmations, two kids will be getting the priesthood and the daughter will be getting a blessing. It will be a great baptism. The father also planned everything and we just need to show up and fill the font.

SOOO this week we had another miracle. This girl called us and said she wanted to take the discussion. We met with her and she said she wanted to get baptised as soon as possible. Sooo we are waiting for her to tell her family and I hope it will happen next weekend or the weekend after that. Her father might stop her. He’s a baptist minister and hates the church, but she is 29 so we will see.

Also I have had really bad luck with the dogs here and I do not trust dogs at all anymore. In fact I basically hate all dogs right now. I got bitten by a dog on Tuesday and I had to go to the instacare because it drew blood. It’s really not that bad but because there was blood I had to go there. I will be buying a squirt gun soon, and I really hate pit bulls.  But besides that i love it here.

So it has been getting a lot warmer here. I like it, although I’m not too excited about getting burned because I’m almost sure that it will happen. Today we are BBQ with the zone and one of our zone leaders is going home soon and is paying for all of it. Legit I know. WE are playing rugby and ultimate Frisbee, it’s going to be great!

So I’m am super jealous of everyone at home. I wish I could have been there.  I wanted to hear all those homecomings and play volleyball and hang out with the cousins. BUT I understand.  I have work to do. And I am loving it here. I don’t really ever have to worry about myself, just other people.

So from my studies and understanding of the mission I’ve come to the conclusion that the purpose of missions isn’t to spread the gospel. That is a secondary reason. I believe that the reason the Lord sends us on missions is to build us up. We are to be the next leaders in the mission. As we overcome our own weakness we become better missionaries and better people. Baptisms are just blessings that the Lord gives us to keep us happy! haha

Hope everyone is doing well. Love everyone

Elder Salmon

"If they don't have time to write me they can email me now"

Dear Family and Friends

 

First off WELCOME TO MIRACLE MARCH! It’s way better than march madness in case you were wondering. Yeah we found 6 investigators this week! I was really happy. But the real work is helping them come unto Christ so Elder Bennett and i are doing our best to get to them each of them and let them know that we are there for them. However, just when we start doing the best work and being successful, Satan got in the way; Elder Bennet and I resolved all conflict so we are firing on all cylinders. Satan is attacking our BIKES now. Without bikes we cannot get around as fast. Mine was just flat but Elder Bennett stopped very fast in front of me and I crashed into him and ruined his disk brakes. I wasn’t hurt btw(by the way). But still Satan is trying to stop us but he can’t, he can only delay the inevitable.

 

So mom the Johnson didn’t come to church. But WE will get them next week. Her husband is going out of town for two weeks and when he comes back they agreed to let us teach them the lessons. So they will come to church because they will be hungering for the spirit. The Lord is all powerful and has all these people in mind and does want us to help them and he has been empowering us.

 

Now i have not heard a bunch of these things that you thought i did. When did LEXI decide to go on a mission? I’m so excited for her. That’s amazing! Best part about it we will be at school together longer! haha. And we will get back pretty close to the same time probably. Aunt Nancy my prayers are with you! Love you!

 

And dad I didn’t know that Caleb read my letter out loud. I hope it made sense. I wrote it really fast and kind of ran out of room. But those are the things that I kind of wish I had done before. I didn’t take it serious because i thought i knew the gospel. I was very very mistaken.

 

And since when was dad nominated for the SAmmi Award??? And he actually won? For what? haha i know you do a lot dad but aren't you just doing what any normal citizen should do? haha

 

I heard about Rachel. She actually emailed me to tell me the news. But it’s like old times I’m the last to hear about everything even though mom and dad you were the first two to hear about it. (So no big deal). I’m glad to hear grandma is doing better. I was a little worried about her.

 

Anyways I wish I could see Hannah, Andy, Christian and Tanner!! AHH it’s been a while but I guess I can wait seeing how I will. But new development:  we can now email basically anyone we want. So friends and leaders and everyone can email us now. So spread the word. If they don’t have time to write me they can email me now.

 

Well we had another baptism this week. RaeAn Butler.  She’s 17 and it was a lot of fun teaching her because it was like teaching a kid in the sense that she didn’t know anything. Her faith was strong because she just accepted it then prayed and got an answer first time she prayed. There have been a few really strong spirits that I have met lately. The spirit just radiates from them.

 

Also I try to fill my time with perspective missionaries and get them coming out with me as much as possible. I am hoping to make an impact and get them more ready for their missions than i was. Plus it helps me because I make sure the lessons they go to are really good. Oh and Mom you will like this but I try to sing before every lesson. It definitely brings the spirit. I recommend dad singing before priest quorum and kneeling at the end. (If you don’t already do it). The lessons that we sing before are soo much better. We always sing before our meetings in the field.

 

A transfer is 6 weeks. but all the missions will have one 5 week to make the change to the shorter time in the mtc. Ours was last transfer.

 

Love you all Take care

Elder Salmon

"I really love being here"

Dear Family and Friends,

Well this week was a very rewarding week! It was the highest numbers that I’ve every had in the mission. And i don’t think it’s because of me. The Lord blessed us. People were home and we were able to talk to lots of people and find a new investigator. We had a baptism and we went to temple square. It was a good week.

Our district changed. We got some sisters in our district. We now have 8 people in the district. its cool i know there are lots that we can learn from them.

So first the weather had been sooo much nicer. I didn’t wear any jacket or hats or scarfs and it felt great. The snow is kind of melting. Where the sun hits, the snow has melted, but in the shadows there are still like 2 feet of snow. I did enjoy a little rain the other day! i was very happy. I’ve missed the rain and i had a good walk in the rain while my companion wasn’t too happy. But there’s not much i could do. Since the weather has picked up I’ve definitely noticed that my attitude has picked up. When i talk to people I’m perkier and it’s a lot easier to get into the gospel. So i enjoy it.

SOOO!!!!!! i had a miracle the other day. The Johnsons are a less active family that i met almost the first week in the field. And for the 5 months I’ve been in Kearns they haven’t come to church. But the Mom always said don’t give up on me. So i didn’t. This last Sunday they said they would if they found things to wear on Saturday. i was praying really hard and they found clothes for all of them! It went really smooth and they were at church and they liked it!!!! I was soo happy.

We also had a baptism yesterday. Carlos Ruben Martinez got baptized. He is from Blackfoot Idaho and has lived here for only about 5 weeks when we met him. When he committed to baptism after that day he would pray for patience to wait for the baptism so me being the kind missionary just moved it up a week. I know so merciful haha but it was a great service. Not a lot of support from the family but a lot of support from the ward family. We also had a lot of tender mercies because some people who fell off date decided to get baptized on the date originally set for them and i was excited. I didn’t have to worry about anything, the Lord took care of everything for us and i am so grateful for that.

So i finished my first transfer of training and it wasn’t that bad. I have one more transfer of training and I’m kind of looking forward to it. We get a lot more blessings because i don’t know what I’m doing.

I am just getting so many blessings and i don’t really know why. We are having great success and the Lord is doing a lot of work for us. i know that what we are doing is bringing people closer to the Lord. I’ve seen people change. Everything about the gospel makes sense and i learn so much every time i study. Studying really is an act of faith! i know that there is always something that i can learn and i do every morning.

I really love being here. it’s pretty cool seeing all the miracles. It’s good to see that everyone is happy. I’m glad that everyone is doing alright and having fun. Take care.

Love Elder Salmon