Charity Never Faileth

Joke of the day that we got to our phone this morning:

What did the buffalo say to his child when he left for university?

Bison.

Hahahahahahaha. Too funny! Or at least I find it funny.. You know it doesn't take to much for me to laugh. I am not sure how we got jokes sent to our phone every day but it is the best.

Wow! This week has been FULL of great experiences and hard work. It has been a week that appears to be not as successful when you look at the numbers but boy, did I learn and grow a lot. I know that every trial we receive from the Lord is not a punishment but an opportunity for us to grow in ways we were not sure were possible.

First of all, this week I went on exchange with Sister Gaitau (pronounced night owl) who is from New Zealand. This was the first time ever in my mission that I have gotten to go on exchange with a new sister. Ever since the STLs told me about our exchanges I have been praying  that I could make this exchange memorable for Sister Gaitau. The first time a missionary does anything is monumental. It was such a privilege to be on exchange with Sister Gaitau. We had a lot of fun together. She is adjusting well to missionary life and did so well leading her area. Her biggest strength is her humility. I know she is going to grow so much on her mission because of how teachable she is.

Sister Gaitau and I saw so many miracles! The first night we were on exchange was after the Skills Workshop we had on Thursday. After eating tea we had about an hour and a half to make great things happen. There was not much luck stopping people on the street but I kept a prayer in my heart that the Lord would lead us to those that would receive us. We decided to knock a door and this 15/16 year old girl answered. She told us she was Methodist and I asked her the golden question ''have you ever wondered why there are no prophets on the earth today?'' and she said yes! These questions work! We taught her the restoration using the pamphlet and she seemed to be absorbing it all. Unfortunately, her mom came out in the hall towards the end and told us ''they'' weren't interested. Still a powerful moment thought. THEN we stopped this man sitting down across the street and we taught him a lesson using the pamphlet. He became a new investigator. With 15 minutes left til 9pm we stopped this girl walking her dog and because she told us she lost her mom 3 or so years ago we taught her the Plan of Salvation using that pamphlet. She also became a new investigator. What a power hour (and a half) of finding! That night we taught 3 lessons and found 2 new investigators. Wow! Talk about a first exchange :)

Our most progressing investigator at the moment would have to be Richard. We taught an amazing lesson with one of the members in the ward this past week. We were teaching the restoration using cups and Richard said he recognized the words ''repentance, salvation, baptism'' etc from what he has been reading in the Book of Mormon. It was music to my ears to hear that such a new investigator like Richard had READ the Book of Mormon without us having to persuade and pester him to like we do for most people. Miracle! He went to a baptism of a child in the ward that just turned 8 this week. I was away on exchange but from what I heard he really enjoyed it and felt the Spirit.

One of the biggest reasons I've had to refocus is the week of opposition that we had. It was full of appointments falling through, people not at their homes like they said they would be, and people not stopping on the streets. I know a lot of this opposition is from the adversary and I am not going to go down without a fight. Instead of giving up and submitting to defeat I have done the opposite and become more bold with people on the street and our investigators. For instance, Samilda. We decided to call by her since the day before she had fallen through on an appointment we had confirmed that morning and had put so much effort into getting a fellowshipper there. She told us she was not willing to change from being Catholic. I boldly testified to her that this church was true and that the priesthood power that was going to bind her family together forever was real. I know it is real because I have experienced it in the temple the day my family was sealed for time and all eternity. We committed her to pray to know if this church was true. She said she would. I am starting to let our investigators know how it is. No more time to be nice and soft. Their salvation is at stake!

A quick miracle I'd thought I share is about Jose, the preacher at the Nigerian church we went to over a month ago. He referred himself on Mormon.org and the Elders are now teaching him. The Lord works in mysterious ways...

The Chinese work here in Wrexham is starting to come alive again! We have been praying to find more Chinese and we went out and acted and found Chinese. One day after a few disappointments I had in my heart a scripture that came to mind:
''Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn‍ back, behold, the Lord comforted‍ us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience‍ thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success'' (Alma 26:27). This scripture had been communication from the Lord because not too long after having that scripture come to mind we ran into this Chinese man that moved to Wrexham 3 days before. He wants to meet with us and referred us to come teach his friends too! Oh, the Lord is just too great! I think the reason why our investigators from the summer are all of the sudden fizzling out is because the Lord wants us to focus more on the Chinese work. I know He has prepared away for the work to continue on here despite the great opposition.

A great lesson on Charity..

I was reminded a lot about the importance of charity this week. Missionary work is exhausting mentally, physically, and spiritually. When ever I feel drained spiritually it is hard for me to keep going. It is hard for me to continue finding because of the days people just won't stop and listen or act on this message from their Heavenly Father. At times I thought to myself: ''Why am I doing this? These people don't even appreciate what I am doing for them. These people aren't going to listen. What is the point?''

Thank goodness I have such an inspired companion that gave me a really great commitment this week for our companionship inventory. Simply study about charity, hope, and faith. I turned to the scriptures that next morning hoping to find what I need to learn at this moment. In 1 Corinthians 13:8 I read: ''Charity never faileth.'' I had lost vision of what was important-- to labor in the behalf of my brothers and sisters because of my charity for them. This is the reason why I will continue to press forward and declare the gospel despite the opposition and the tough week we had. I need to follow the example of my Saviour Jesus Christ; It was His charity towards us that did not fail Him in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross:

''Which suffering‍ caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not‍ drink the bitter cup, and shrink—Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished‍ my preparations unto the children of men.'' (Doctrine and Covenants 19: 18-19). 

''Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail'' ( Moroni 7:46)

If we do not have charity we will fail to help others. We will only think of ourselves and the discomfort we are in and we will want to quit when things get tough. On the other hand, if we are striving to do good things through charity, all things are possible and we will be able to accomplish this great task to bring others unto Christ.

Love,

Sister Jordan 

Really lame pictures this week haha. Sorry!

                     Our study desk. Can you guess which side is mine ;)

The wonderful flavors of crisps (aka chips) here in the UK. It was quite delicious

Courage to Change

The Manchester Zone Leaders gave us a call last week asking us if we could come help out on oxford road for Freshers week going on at the universities. I was anxious to see what it would be like to visit my previous area again. We went on Wednesday and it was so great to be back. I prayed that the Lord would place people I have taught in the past there in my path.  I meet so many humble Chinese students, gave a few tours, and had fun talking to so many people on the busy street called Oxford Road. My prayer was answered and ran into a couple of investigators I taught while I was serving the YSA with Sister Merrill. Needless to say, I got some really great sleep after being on Oxford Road all day :)

We had our 4 hour finding this weekend. President wanted us to focus on using family history. I have never been that confident in my ability to use family history as a finding tool but it was actually pretty successful.

On Saturday we also helped out at a Clothing swap for Charity that was organized by a friend of a member in the ward. It was such a great opportunity to share the gospel. I had a great conversation with the father of the lady that organized the event. His name is Lez and he LOVES to do family history. His family knows quite a few members of the church. He brought up how the church does baptisms for the dead and I was very surprised he knew about it. I felt impressed to ask him if he knew why we did baptisms for the dead. His response was ''to get others into the fold and increase church membership.'' I was able to teach the true doctrine of temples and family history work as I simply explained the plan of salvation to him. Although Lez said he was an atheist, He listened intently without building up a protective wall of disbelief. Nothing immediate came from going to this event but I know we were the Lord needed us to be for those few hours.

We ran into Anu and her children last night. It was a miracle that I spotted and recognized them because it was pretty dark. We walked with them as they were heading home and Anu invited us in. We haven't been able to teach her family lately because Anu has been busy at work. She is free this Friday though and Sister Klemm will go over to teach them while we are on exchanges.

I have been praying a lot lately to know how we can work better with the ward. I have been able to receive revelation on what things we can do to unite the members and missionaries. One of the ideas that came to my mind was to have the members ''adopt'' our investigators. This responsibility includes being involved with the teaching of that specific investigator and inviting them to be taught in their home which would in turn make us, the missionaries, more of just the teachers and the investigators only link to the church. During our lesson after our tea appointment the Pattenden family, we shared this idea. Brother Pattenden, who happens to be Elders Quroum President in the Ward, is was on board with the idea. I know this will hasten the work here in Wrexham but a part of me is afraid to hand off our investigators to the ward because I have been doing things differently my whole mission. I shared with the family my anxieties and Brother Pattenden shared with me how the adversary may be using fear to keep me from acting on this idea because it will be successful. We both agreed that the members and missionaries both need to make a few changes so that we can act more united in missionary efforts. I have since shared with the Bishop my idea and he wants me to give a 5 minute presentation on it in the next ward council. Things are rolling forward and our plans are being transformed into action.

There will always be times in our life where we need the courage to change. As promised to Nephi, the Lord will always prepare the way for us to accomplish the things which He has asked us to do. We may doubt our ability to do these things or we may doubt that the desired result will come to us if we do it. I now understand a bit more how non-members might feel when they are invited to change their lives; As a missionary I KNOW that if the investigators live the gospel they will see the promised blessings from the Lord. I am sure the Lord has the same attitude towards me right now. He KNOWS this idea He as given to me through revelation will work. I cannot let the adversary tell me otherwise. Likewise, you cannot let the adversary tell you that the gospel or anything from Heavenly Father will not work.

This gospel is true and I know the enabling power of the Atonement to change is real. Have the courage to change.

Love,

Sister Jordan

"Beware of Pride, Boy"

First of all, thank you all so much for writing such wonderful emails. Always something to look forward to on a Monday :)

We gave our Turkish investigator, Murat, a Book of Mormon in his language this past week. It was actually a miracle we were able to meet with him this past week. The night before we put in our plans to just call by him with out calling him because we are only meeting him informally at the moment. We were taking the bus to visit a potential investigator and I had no one to talk to so I made a few phone calls to be productive. I thought I would call Murat and let him know we were coming. He did not answer but called back about and hour and a half later and we told him that we had the Book of Mormon in Turkish for him and that we wanted to give it to him that night around 8pm. He told us he would see us then. That night when we went by he told us that he was planning on going to Liverpool to do some job searching but when we called to say we were coming, he cancelled his plans to go. Murat has a strong desire to know what is true.

We got back to our flat Thursday night after ward coordination with 10 minutes until 9pm. We were going to go in for a bit of language study but I figured it was not the most time effective thing so we went to find one last person to talk to for the night. I am so grateful we did because there is no doubt in my mind we were meant to talk to this man named Terry that night. He was walking a head of us and stopped to smoke which made it quite easy to talk to him. Upon introducing ourselves Terry told us he had been in the exact same spot we were in now when earlier he found a booklet on the ground with a picture of  Jesus on it ''looking right up at him''. He told us he has been reading it and that it had some scriptures from the Bible in it. It sounded like he found one of our pamphlets we had passed out that some one must have left on the ground. We showed him the pamphlets we had and asked if any of them were the one he found and it was! He had found a Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet. He could not believe the miraculous nature of the situation and said that we all needed to tell everyone of this miracle. His wife is in the hospital dying of cancer so e gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and we managed to get his number before he walked away. Last night we saw him again. He has been reading the pamphlets he has. He said they have helped him feel better. We simply testified that this was God telling him that what he was reading was true. We gave him a Book of Mormon.

Lukman agreed to meet with missionaries in Nigeria! Now to let the Lord do His magic :)

We visited Ruth and Mario with a member that lived near by. Ruth did indeed have the baby and they are doing great. We gave them a Book of Mormon in their language. We were convinced they were coming this week but alas, they were a no show again. Sigh..

Remember Naomi? She is a former investigator we have been teaching on and off since June? Well we were with the member that is really good friends with her and dropped by to see how things were going. It is still emotionally exhausting for her to deal with her brother's suicide that happened a little over a year ago but she told us that what we have shared with her the times we have come are helping her cope. She wanted to go to church last week but did not make it. She was going to come this Sunday but once again did not make it.

Samilda fell through on her appointment this week. We went by a day later to see how she was doing. She had family visiting which made it difficult for her to meet with us. Her husband is not too keen on us meeting with her because they are Catholic. Despite this difficulty, Samilda is still willing to meet with us. There is something keeping her drawn to our message.

Thus we have seen a lot of miracles but a nice helping of disappointments as well. However, I know that this is the Lord's work and that He is mindful of the people we are teaching. Although so much feels out of our control right now I find peace in knowing the Lord will take care of it and give us the aid we need to bring these souls back to Him.  

I am gaining a stronger testimony in asking inspired questions. I love sharing the gospel and I love sharing what I learn as I study for my investigators and I always walk away from a good conversation or lesson with Spirit seeming to radiate around me. But what is it that really helps our investigators have these same feelings during and after a lesson? It is the questions we ask them. Often times I just want to spoon feed them what they need to know and neglect to let them actually learn for themselves. I know I need to step back and let the Spirit do the teaching and trust the Lord to place into the hearts of those we teach not only the answers to our questions but a witness of the truth of what they have answered.

As a missionary I am learning that there is always something to work on and learn. I have learned a lot and yet I know I still know nothing. It is so humbling! I am grateful to have weaknesses because it keeps me humble. I want more than anything to be stripped of my pride. I can hear the words of the preacher from the Restoration DVD that confronts the young Joseph Smith: ''Beware of pride, boy.'' Haha. I love that I haven't lost my ability to quote movies on my mission.

Love you all!

Sister Jordan

Divine Communication

Quick transfer update:

I am staying in Wrexham with Sister Klemm! I could not be more happy. I really feel we are on the verge of great things. It is time for both of us to get to work and help our investigators progress. With the Lord's help through much prayer and fasting, I know we can help these individuals and families progress to baptism. I feel now more than ever a great surge of energy and power in my day as I start with personal study that is dedicated to our investigators needs. With their needs always on my mind I have been able to receive revelation on what they all need to overcome their concerns and start gaining a personal testimony of the restored truths of the gospel. I am so grateful to be serving the Lord.

Garry is still with out a date for baptism. We have finally taught him all of the first 3 lessons. Garry worries that the gospel path may be too hard for him. It saddens me that he no longer has the fire to be baptized as he did just 2 weeks ago. We are slowly helping him resolve his concerns through the scriptures and by sharing our personal experiences.

A sudden realization I had this week was how most of our investigators already have a church they attend which keeps them from attend church with us on Sunday. This is a lot different from Chinese work since most Chinese do not have a religion at all when we meet them so it easier to teach them about the Sabbath and helping them attend church. These investigators we have now don't seem to quite get why it is that we invite them to church with us and expect them to come each Sunday. To a certain extent, they already live the Sabbath day by going to church. So what is it that they need from our church than the one they already attend? I studied this in my personal study the other day and received inspiration on what we could do to help them. It was clear that we need to focus the Sabbath Day lesson on the importance of the sacrament and how it is blessed by the priesthood that has been restored. The Bible and Book of Mormon both have records of Christ instituting the sacrament. The record in Book of Mormon where Christ is introducing the sacrament to the Nephites makes it clear that it needs to be done by the right authority. Not only do we partake of the sacrament, but it is also a chance for them to grow in faith and knowledge of the restored gospel. I can't believe I haven't asked this question to myself earlier! We will be putting this knowledge into action when we meet with our investigators this week.

As a Chester Zone we have been inviting the members to pray about and set a date by which they would invite their friends to come learn about the gospel in their homes. I have been surprised by the positive reaction from the ward. They are all willing to work on this commitment. We invited the members to fast this Sunday for a name to come to their minds. This is going to set off so many miracles. I know it!
We actually ran into this lady who knows one of the members of the ward and said she would be interested in learning about the restored gospel. We told the member in the ward and invited her to invite this friend of her to come to her home to meet with the missionaries. It is inspiring to see how the Lord is helping us transition into a work that is lead by the members.

We taught Stanley, Lukman, and Chinedu (our Nigerian investigators) all together about the Plan of Salvation. It was a review for 2 of them and I think it went really well. The member that came with us invited them to church and they all said they could not make it this week :(

Lukman is heading to Nigeria for his sister's wedding this week. He was only supposed to be gone for a week but now he is going to be gone for a month. Oh my lanta! I can't handle this! We have been trying to think of what we could do to help him while he is away and this morning I had the idea that we needed to invite Lukman to meet with the missionaries in Nigeria. This will be great for so many reasons 1) The missionaries there are probably used to dealing with his type of concerns since they are familiar with the Nigerian culture 2) Lukman , I am sure, will be invited to read the Book of Mormon and attend church there, 3) they can invite him to watch General Conference there since I am pretty sure he will be away still when it happens, etc, etc. Hopefully he will be willing for us to pass his info on to the missionaries in Nigeria. His month trip to Nigeria might actually be what he needs after all.

Some miracles that I am really excited about from this past week:

-We went to visit this man named Jason that we have been teaching his door step and haven't seen him for 2 or 3 weeks is considering meeting with us now!

-Annette, a less active, allowed us to come see her and her husband who isn't a member. Neil, the husband, is more on the atheist side and Annette doesn't know if the church is true or not and they were both so kind to us. We taught them the Restoration and it went really well. They both sincerely listened and at the end Annette asked how she could know that God was telling her that the Book of Mormon is true. They both seem really willing to give the Book of Mormon and prayer a try.

-Samilda, one of our Portuguese investigators, has been reading the Book of Mormon we gave her in Portuguese  and said it reads just like the Bible. It is always a miracle when investigators, especially new ones like her, take a leap of faith and read the Book of Mormon.

This past week we taught an Iranian man with no belief in God. We were blessed to have a couple from the ward join us in teaching him. We came into the lesson excited to answer his questions about the reason for existence but 30 minutes into our visit I realized we were not going to get that far. This man went on and on and on and on with little to no breaks in his speech. We were all trying to understand what he was saying and answer the many questions he had but he didn't give us time. That 30 minutes in I thought ''ok, maybe we should just explain the Book of Mormon.'' Another 5 minutes went by and I thought ''no no, obviously that is too much too'' and went to the basics and we taught him about prayer. We have already invited him to pray but he hasn't yet. That foundation of faith in God is crucial to understanding our questions in life.

So this experience got me thinking how much this relates to our relationship and experiences with Heavenly Father. How many times do we go to him with loads of questions in prayer only to end our prayer and go immediately to the next thing on our agenda and then we get upset when we don't seem to be getting an answer. Do we give Him time to answer us or are we like this Iranian man that would not let us teach him the things he was asking about. Heavenly Father has the answers to all of our questions just as we had the answers through the lesson we had planned for this man. He is as anxious to answer our questions as I was to teach this Iranian man about the Plan of Salvation. Just as we had to eventually go much simpler in the lesson than we intended, this is how Heavenly Father chooses to answer our questions-- line upon line, precept upon precept until the small answers set the foundation for a much grander answer. It reminds me of a recent Mormon Message:

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-07-006-the-hope-of-gods-light?category=mormon-messages/mormon-messages-2014&lang=eng

I have been able to learn so much about my Heavenly Father through my experiences with missionary work. I realize now more than ever just how much we all need Him and His guidance through prayer every day. We may be out of His presence but prayer is divine communication that connects child to Father. Prayer needs to be apart of the foundation of our lives. Have hope that He will hear and answer every single prayer you utter.

Please pray for these wonderful families and individuals!

Anu, George, Bebe, Binol

Mario, Ruth, Thomas, Samida

Samilda, Leo, Salma, Leonado

Stanley

Garry

Lukman

Chinedu

Love,

Sister Jordan

Turn Your Doubts Into Faith

I cannot believe it is P-day again. This whole week has been a great blur. As always, great things are on the horizon.

You may have noticed I stopped talking about a few of the families we were teaching and that is because they are all stuck in limbo and are ''too busy'' to meet with us. The polish family I envision in my prayer and Lisa and her family included. They may be genuinely busy or dodging us. That's missionary life for yah though!

I think the greatest miracle of the week would have to be David. Sister Klemm and I met David a few weeks ago. I think he was the first person we talked to that day. We followed up with him a few days after meeting him and he was willing to have us over. We had a wonderful lesson when one of the members in the ward came teaching with us and then David suggested that he come to the church for a tour to ''see if he was cut out for all of this.'' Sister Klemm and I have a pretty big teaching pool to work with and we discussed one day that we ought to pass most of the males off to the Elders because it would be easier for them to be taught and we know the Elders need new people to teach. We had the Elders come to the church tour so we could pass him off then and there. Elder Oakey and Elder Young connected well with him. David came to church on Sunday and seemed to fit right in. We are so excited to see what lies in store  for David. He says it is because he could tell how sincere Sister Klemm and I were that got him to give this all a try. He is a very humble man himself. I am grateful Heavenly Father has given me so many opportunities to grown in humility by helping me find the prepared and hand them off to other missionaries to be taught.

We taught Garry several times this past week. The first one was great, as usual. And then the next lesson we had with him, Garry raised a few of his concerns.. We teach Garry during his 1-2 hour lunch breaks at the library in town. There was a priest that eavesdropped on the really good lesson we had with Garry and he came up to Garry afterwards and asked what church he was going to. This priest had the nerve to tell him that we weren't Christians because we don't have a cross on our church. Garry was shaken up a bit from the whole experience and we spent the next two lessons trying to help him resolve his own concerns. I know that his is nothing but the adversary being an annoyance in the spiritual progression of Garry. In the end, we explained to Garry that he needs to be praying to know if what we are teaching him is true and that we were not there to force him to be baptized. This is all his choice and we are just here to help him. He feels like the date he has now for baptism is too soon so his date is currently on hold. He also didn't show up to church yesterday which is very unusual because he said the day before he would be there.

On a happier note, Anu and her family are back from India! We should be seeing their family tonight.

There is a Portuguese invasion currently going on in our teaching pool. It is so great! We have just started teaching this lady named Samilda that we met this past four hour finding day. She is Catholic and told us how they are warned not to change churches but she has invited us back twice now to teach her. She has the cutest family! A six year old daughter and a month old new born baby. We had a quick 10 minute lesson with her the other day and introduced the Book of Mormon. In personal study that day, we highlighted a few scripture masteries in the Portuguese Book of Mormon we gave her. She committed to read the Book of Mormon and asked when we could come again.
We then went to visit the family of Mario, a man from Portugal I met on the bus a few weeks back.  His wife and 2 children were home this time, miracle! The wife, Ruth, was 38 weeks pregnant and they haven't been able to make it to church because of the pain she is in. She told us that she has had this really strong feeling that she needs to go to church and she did not know why (it's the Spirit, that's why!) but they were going to try again to come to church this Sunday. They did not show but it was for a good reason-- they went to the hospital and she was to deliver the baby that day! It may be awhile before we teach them now that they have a new born but they have such great potential and I know their family will become progression investigators soon.

After all the many referrals we have given these last few weeks, we finally got one for our own area! Her name is Sue. She is the sister of a member in the Chester ward. Our plans for Sunday evening fell through so it gave us plenty of time to walk to where she lived 40-45 minutes away (buses don't really run on Sundays here). Sue is an elderly lady but so adventurous. She is planning on going to Africa in November. She was born in South Africa herself but has lived here in the UK for over 64 years. It was a miracle we went to contact her when she did because she does not like to stay in the house alone and is usually out all day but had returned home early yesterday. She has lost a lot of her loved ones, her husband passing away only 4 years ago. She has had a lot of hardship but has been so positive in it all. She had a few Plan of Salvation related questions that we were able to answer. She does not see herself ever becoming a Mormon but I know her heart will change when she learns and lives the Gospel.

We ordered a braille Book of Mormon for the blind man we met on our four hour finding day and it came in the form of 6 huge binders (picture of them below). Some members drove us to deliver them to the blind man at the nursing home he lives at. He was so grateful to have them after searching and asking for them for such a long time.

I had a few moments of spiritual epiphanies this past week but the whole explanation is too long to fit in this email. If you want to discuss some deep doctrine, email me for more info haha.
The moral of the story though is that my mission has opened up the way for me to know the gospel more deeply because of the questions of the people we meet and because of the questions I think of during our lessons with people. I have learned things that I would have never thought about if I had not come on a mission.

 If our beliefs were never tested or questioned, we would never have the chance to study it more thoroughly and to discover the truth more fully.

In times where we feel like questions causing us to doubt what we feel is right, we should remember that our Loving Heavenly Father is willing to teach us by His Spirit if we but ask and study. As we study and seek answers to our questions those doubts will turn into faith and lead us to a deeper conversion to the gospel. I have studied these things for myself and I know them to be true. I know God is our Heavenly Father and He has prepared a plan for us to return back to Him. The center of that plan is our Savior, Jesus Christ, and His atonement. Joseph Smith was called to restore this truth in these latter days. I know it and I cannot deny it.

Love you all!

Sister Jordan  

 

pictures

 Sometimes, the only person you stop all morning and will talk to you is a drunk man who picks you and your companion a rose from a bush. 

              Pictures of the Book of Mormon in braille. That thing is massive!

 

 

Minister To Many Nations

Before the last email I sent, things seemed to die down a bit but they picking up again this week. The miracles we saw at the beginning of the transfer have come again! I think this is because we have made it apart of our transfer vision to pray to find the pure in heart. I also love to pray that the Lord will help us be in the right place at the right time to meet these prepared people. I think we got a little slothful the week before because I don't think we were sincerely asking to find the pure in heart every day like before when the great miracles were happening. Now that we are mindful to do so we have found so many wonderful people, including these two humble men from Iran that are open to learning the message of the restored gospel and want their family to as well. This past week I read in the scriptures that ''this is Zion—the pure in heart'' (D&C 97:21). I am grateful that all this time I have been basically praying to bring forth Zion. How amazing! I find the miracles we see each day as a shield against the fiery darts of the adversary trying to discourage us from the rejection and opposition we face each day.

Some stories out of my miracle bank for the week:

Dennis-  We first came in contact with him back in May. He is from the Philippines and very Catholic. He was not willing to sincerely read and pray to know if our message is true so we dropped him about 2 months ago. We went to visit a potential investigator that lives a few doors down from him this week. The potential was not home but we thought we ought to call by Dennis to see how he was doing. No one was at his home either but just as we turned to walk away we saw him parking his car to go home. Time has softened his heart a great deal. We were able to share the message of the Restoration with him and he asked sincere questions about how he can know the truth. He is now willing to meet with us again and seems to want us to teach his wife too!

 

More potential Chinese investigators! We ran into this one student that used to be flatmates with a recent convert. I met him some time last transfer and he wasn't too interested since he is Buddhist. When I taught him briefly about the restoration in Chinese, however, his heart softened. We asked him if we could say a prayer with him on the street and he offered to pray for us. It was such a sweet prayer.

We had the chance to call or visit Chinedu and Lukman , our investigators from Nigeria, individually and share with them powerful scriptures from the Book of Mormon about the importance and blessings of reading the scriptures. It invited the Spirit both times and with out having to invite them they told us they were going to read the Book of Mormon that very night. It has always been a common commitment we leave them both to read daily from the Book of Mormon and I just thought it was a tender mercy that the Spirit had planted in their hearts the desire to read on their own.   

One of the greatest tender mercies from this week was when we left for church Sunday morning and went to buzz the recent converts, Michael, Steven, and Amanda's, flat to make sure they were up and coming. Steven answered the intercom and not only told us they were coming but that they were going to go pick up CiCi (our new investigator and referral from them) and bring her to church. I just about cried tears of joy. They haven't been at church in over a month and both us and the ward have been trying really hard to make sure they don't go astray. My joy was full! Amanda had slept in on accident but Michal and Steven and CiCi stayed for 2 hours and the talks and lesson in Gospel Principles was just what they all needed to hear.

Garry is making great progress. I know he still has a bit to go before he will be fully prepared for baptism but I just have so much trust in the Lord to be able to prepare him completely for the end of September. It is apparent that he is feeling the Spirit and I hope he has an adequate understanding of what that implies-- that this church and gospel is so true! It is crucial that we make sure that he is able to connect these dots.  

Sister Klemm and I were blessed to be able to go to the temple this Bank Holiday. It was such a sacred day. The members that took us played General Conference on CD on the way there and back. I just wish to live in the temple. It always replenishes my supply of peace and hope. In the temple I reading in the book of Nephi and I have just come to love how Lehi and his family  ''began to bear their journeyings without murmurings'' (1 Ne 17:2). I want to make this my quest for the rest of my mission. I no longer want to murmur or complain when things get hard or uncomfortable. This week the Lord was able to teach me about the blessings of diligence despite our sufferings and discomfort. Sunday night we were finding before going in for the night for language study when I just had some really uncomfortable stomach pains. I was tempted to complain and ask that we go in a little sooner but I ignored the temptation and pressed on. While finding, we tracted into this young man we met a week or so ago. The conversation turned into a lesson. I walked away with a greater abundance of the Spirit and my stomach pains had vanished as well. The Lord knows when we are suffering and going through a hard time but if we suffer with patience and diligence, there are greater blessings awaiting than if we quit too early.

The experience I had in the temple has strengthen my desire to submit my will to the Lord. In my last two transfers I want to do what the Lord wants me to do and go where he wants me to go. My will is His. The fate of the end of my mission is in His hands.

I decorated my planner this month with pictures from the Ensign that talk about the history of the gospel in the different nations around the world. I found the phrase ''Minister to many nations'' in another article, cut it out and put it on the front cover. It was a prophetic decoration because this transfer I have seen the Lord bless us with the opportunity to teach people from all around the world: China, India, Portugal, Poland, Nigeria, Iran and the UK of course. I love being able to fulfil the Savior's commission to ''Go ye therefore, and teach‍ all nations, baptizing‍ them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost'' (Matt 28:19). The Standard of Truth Joseph Smith wrote right after publishing the 13 Articles of Faith is coming alive in my mission: ''the truth of God shall go forth boldly, nobly, and independent. Till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear.''

I am a witness that the work of the Lord is hastening. We are all so blessed to live in the days of the Restoration. I know that this gospel is true!

Love you all!

Sister Jordan

pictures:

                                                My planner this transfer

                                                     

                                                       Yesterday's temple trip

  The GIANT spider that crawled out when we were helping a recent convert peel down her wall paper. Yikes. Bring back any girls camp memories, mom? ;)