Familia!
And they're off! Zone Conferences have officially started and all of the time I didn't have is still gone. It is crazy how much can be done in one day, but I'm thankful to have so much to do.
This week we started Zone Conferences in Casa Grande, Maricopa, Yuma, and Mesa. Its always such a blessing to be able to go back to old areas and hear of the people that you have been able to help come to know the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel. While we were in Casa Grande, the sisters told me about one in particular, Andreas, who was baptized a little over a year ago. The sisters had several investigators at church for fast and testimony meeting and Andreas got up and bore powerful testimony directly do them. He told them that over a year ago he was in their same shoes and an Elder Grandote (Thats what they call me, essentially it means giant haha) came and started teaching him and talking about all of these new and different things. He told them at first he wasn't sure about it all, but then he decided that he would put it to the test and truly come to know. The sisters told me that he bore testimony of the miracles and changes he had seen in his life since that point and promised each of them the same blessings he had seen as he turned his life over to Christ. I'm thankful to be able to be a part of some of the most incredible people's lives.
On our way to Yuma from Casa Grande as we were driving President asked, "Do you want to go to Hyder?" Hyder is home to about 5 families and 15 packs of coyotes. In the past Hyder had a lot more going on and the church thought it was going to grow a lot larger and so they actually built a chapel out there. So, with President Toone's day old Tahoe we headed out to the middle of the desert. You literally drive on a dirt rode in the middle of no where and when you come to a fork in the rode there are always signs that say "LDS CHURCH" and point in the direction to take. So after about 15 minutes of dirt roads we finally arrived. Two weeks ago they had a baptism out there and performed it in a horse trough. Arizona truly has it all.
Yuma proved to be just as interesting as the ride down there. Several months ago the Stake President felt very inspired to reach out to the Native American Reserves. He knew that in the past there were members out there, but that was about all he knew. As he felt prompted to reach out to the Native People, he called President Toone to see what they could do. Neither was really sure as what to do, whether to send a companionship out to the reserve or to just work through the members, but shortly their prayer was answered. Later that week President Toone received a call from Salt Lake informing him that a couple had recently submitted their papers requesting to work with Natives and wondered if our mission could use them. Well, long story short the couple came to our mission and so many miracles have occurred since then. Today there are over 20 members out on the reserve and miracles are continuing to happen. For our lunch at the zone conferences, about 15 Indians from the reserve cooked us a native meal and performed song and dance for us. It was incredible.The Gospel is for all kindred, tongue, and people. They know their Savior Jesus Christ and it was incredible to see as they intertwined their testimonies with their culture. After we finished up Zone Conference we went to Mexico.... Ya, MEXICO! Well my hand did anyway. We drove down to the boarder and I stuck my hand through. As close as I will get to going while being on my mission I guess. We then went to California to see the sand dunes and finished it off drinking a cactus milk shake with President Toone. A successful trip I would say!
Thursday we finished up Zone Conferences for the week and I was exhausted. When we all got home that night we got ready for bed and we were out. I woke up in the middle of the night to hear Elder Kloepfer screaming, "OUCH! FREAK! OUCH!" over and over again. I asked him if he was ok and he didn't respond. I asked him again and he said, "The Bugs! They're coming down!" My response was, "Man, that must be an awful dream." Right away he said, "Its not a dream! Its real!" and went back to bed. The next morning he didn't remember a single thing, but oh was he right! They're back.... We have bed bugs again..... These critters, they just can't stay away from us! We sprayed everything down again, so hopefully we've taken care of them.
It was tough being out of our area for so long this week, but there were still miracles that happened. In the couple days we had to work in our area we received 4 referrals which are all very interested learning more. Two in particular are Paul and David. They are brothers from California, they're also Brothas from California. Paul is playing football for ASU he is 6'9" and huge and then David is about 6'5" and was going to enter the NFL draft this last year. The Raiders, Cardinals, and 49ers were looking to pick him up in the later rounds of the draft, but right before the draft he received a pretty big shoulder injury. So, David is coming off that injury and is looking to enter next years draft. Paul is headed to Florida for a few days this week, but we are meeting with David tomorrow and then both are going to come play basketball with us Saturday morning with our ward. Its awesome to see the desire that they both have to come unto Christ. We were talking with David and he said that football used to be his everything until he received that injury and realized that there is more to life than just this game. He knows that God is guiding him in his life and hopes to be able to find why God gave him another year to train here in AZ. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ answer all of life's questions and I'm excited to begin to meet with these two.
Every month we have what is called the Mission President's Devotional. At the devotional, two recent converts speak and share their story and then President Toone takes some time to speak to everyone there. Yesterday we had one and it was one of the most powerful ones I'd been to. I feel like the overall message was the ability that we have to change for the better through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I have seen it time and time again in my life. Often times in this life we fall short, we can be inadequate for what is ahead, but with Christ all things are possible. I know as we turn our lives to Him, He will mold and shape our lives. Through Him, we will become who we were meant to be. It was powerful to hear the testimony of these two recent members of the church and see how Christ has molded and shaped their lives.
I hope everyone has incredible weeks!
Con Amor,
Elder Jurgensmeier
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