15 February 2011

Hey family

First of all, let us have a moment of silence for the resignation of Jerry and Phil.

Thank you.

This week has been another good one. Biggest news first, I had a very yummy orange off an orange tree, and it was very tasty.

Next biggest, Billy got off parole on Tuesday afternoon!!! He is super excited. He had his baptismal interview on Saturday night, and it went well. His baptism will be this Saturday at 5pm. The ward, us and Billy are all very excited. Pictures to come soon

We found out the reason John was in the hospital was because he drank over the past weekend. He drank, and drank, and drank some more. Then he drank some more. He hadn't had alcohol in decades. He got some pretty nasty alcohol poisoning. We kindly let him know how stupid that was of him, and he has learned his lesson. We 3 fasted this last Sat/Sun for him to quit smoking. He joined in and did very well. We didn't think he'd make it through the night without smoking/eating something. He made it until noon on Sunday. He actually missed church because his medicine without food made him very, very weak and sick. He tried really hard. We were very proud of him. Let's see how that goes!

On Wednesday, all missionaries in our mission got the privilege of texting. Oh my has it been nice. The past few months President has experiemented with it with the zone leaders and district leaders. It is so nice, because people won't ever answer their phones, but they're happy to reply to a text right away.

On Thursday, Elder Bailey woke up with super severe itching. He had weeded right in the middle of stinging nettle the previous day. Mom and Camille will remember how crazy that kind of itching drove me that one Sunday. He was going berzerk, it was funny. The whole time I was in the shower, he was punching his pillow to get his frustration out. He emptied a whole tube of Gold Bond anti-itch that morning. Didn't do a lot though. Funny stuff.

I got a letter this past week from my friends in the U of U band! They sent one during marching band, and now this one. That was a good booster! They sent a couple Valentines Day cards and a lot of the people I know signed it.

Also on Thursday, we had three evening appointments, and they all fell through. That makes for a bad day as a missionary. Jamie and Christine both got sick. We ended up helping Bro. Christensen see some of the inactive people he'd been assigned to find. After that was done, we still had two hours left. Just then, a couple in the ward that we're friends with called and she asked for a blessing (she's almost due with a baby). We went to help her out, and they were very very grateful. After that, we called Donna on a whim (she never answers her phone), and she answered and said it was a great time to come by. We had an awesome lesson on the beginning of the Plan of Salvation. She loved it all, especially the fact that we lived in heaven before here. Most people don't react to that, but she loved it. She also ended up coming to church this week. She's starting to progress very well. It's neat to see that God works in many ways to bless His children! A bad night turned into a great one.

That's all I have time for this week. Thank you all for your support and love. Have a phantastik week!

Elder Jon

Go Utes!

8 February 2011

Hey family!

I'm short on time so unfortunuately this will have to be quick.

It's been a lot better week.

Our investigators are doing pretty well. Nothing big to report, except that Billy hears about his parole TOMORROW (everything rests on that). Please pray for him.

John has also been pretty sick lately, and checked into the hospital early yesterday. He was there most of the day, and we went to visit him in the afternoon. (Palomar Pomerado Hospital for Daniell). He is doing okay and is annoyed with having to be there. He's funny. He is fine though.

We stopped by Patrick yesterday for a lesson, and he said he went to a Catholic church on Sunday and loved it. He said "hey guys, thanks for all, but I realized that's where I belong. I was born Catholic and I'll die Catholic." He may have been on one of his "down" days. We dropped him because he wasn't interested, but we'll stop by again. I'll let you know how that goes..

Last Wed we saw a guy on a really busy intersection that had stalled his car (Felicita and Center City). We parked the car really quick at a nearby CVS and ran out to help him. There was a HUGE truck that turned the corner and squealed tires but we got out of teh way in time. He had a stick and a dead battery, so we just needed to push him for a combustion start. It worked. He was grateful, but had to drive off. That was fun!

We had dinner with the Wanless family on Saturday. It was just a normal dinner until we found out that they are Kaytlyn and Mara Monsivais's aunt and uncle! That was weird! But very cool.

If you sent letters, I won't get them until tomorrow. Transfers are today (I'm staying here), so they've been holding mail at the office since Thurs. I'll reply next week!

There is a really really big hill by the Boroughs that we ride down when we're on bikes to get down to the main city. Yesterday we decided to not brake the whole time because it was boring, so we road down really fast. I leaned down to my handlebar for wind resistence. When we got to the bottom, there was a car that pulled up next to us and the driver rolled down his window and said "45!" It felt fast! That was so fun!

Well I am out of time. I am doing well and am happy and busy. I love you all. Have a great week

Elder Jon La Follette

1 February 2011

Hello everyone! Tomorrow's Groundhog Day! Hopefully winter stays around some more so it stays cool here!

On Wednesday August called us. He was going in to get a biopsy for a large bump on his neck. He had been really worried about it, had 2 doctors appointments, and had been told that it was probably cancer. We said lots of prayers for him. Not only is cancer not good, obviously, but he doesn't have enough money to pay for any surgery he'd need. When he called us he told us the doctor came in to check his neck before the biopsy. He felt his neck and said there was definitely a bump there. He left the room to get some paperwork, came back and felt his neck again. He couldn't find the bump anywhere. He checked up and down his neck, in and out, and the bump was gone. The doctor said August could go home, and no biopsy or surgery was needed. Tender mercies of the Lord.

On Thursday night, we were towards the end of our day, and went down a street (San Pasqual Valley Rd and Grand if Daniell knows where that is), and we saw what had to be thousands of cones, and about 30 police cars. We were on our way to the church, but when we were done, we took the same road back. It was still there. We got closer and some signs said it was a police DUI checkpoint. Every car was required to stop in one of the lanes set up by cones and you would pull up to a cop and give him your license and talk to him. Good thing I had my license! We pulled in the middle of all of it, and stopped by one of the cops and rolled down our window. He asked for my license, looked at us, and asked "have you had anything to drink tonight?" We said no, and he laughed, and said "Figured. I'm required to ask! Utah eh?" "How many Utah licenses have you had?" "You're the only one! I've had 2 from Arizona though." He asked us about our missions very briefly while we were waiting for the car in front of us. That was a fun experience though! I can now say I've been stopped to be checked for a DUI!

Our investigators are doing well, kinda an average week. We met with Jamie and read through D&C 76 with her. She loved it, especially because it was all new to her. She's a lot of fun to teach, because she has so much faith and a really strong testimony. We received great news after the lesson. Bro Maughan, the ward mission leader, got a hold of Jamie's new probation officer and the officer agreed to write a letter of recommendation for her to get baptized. It is exactly what we need to send to the First Presidency, and has been very difficult to get. We are so excited!

Billy finally got a job this week. He has been trying for over a year to get a job, but has been very difficult because of his prison record. But he got a job shining shoes at the local Toyota dealer. He's very excited.

John was up too late Saturday and missed church again, but hopefully he can come next week. He's still working on quitting smoking. I will bet it's gonna take longer than he expects to quit smoking, but we'll see.

Ruben is doing pretty well. I forgot if I told you about him or not. He's the brother of a church headquarters referral we got like a month ago (still haven't met the referral yet!). He's 15, and loves to learn. The first time we went over, we taught him how to pray, and when he prayed, the Spirit came in really strong. Recently we finished teaching him the Plan of Salvation. He's a really good kid. He's scheduled to be baptized March 5.

We picked up another new investigator yesterday. He was also a church HQ referral. His name is Richard Irizarry. He has been a religious man his whole life (45 yrs old), and has tried every religion you can think of, to try to find the true one. He's been Catholic, Protestant of every kind you can think of, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and he didn't like any of them. He felt they were all wrong in different ways. He knows some Mormons around here, and is very impressed that they "practice what they preach when no one else does." He was impressed with our calmness for 19 yr old kids, and wants to know what it's all about. We read through the Book of Mormon Intro with him, and he is very very excited to read the book. We can't wait to teach him the Restoration. He is very ready for it.

There is a guy sitting next to me that is listening to music, and forgot where he was, and broke out singing really loud. That was really funny. Oh there he goes again!

That's really about it as far as the work goes this week.

Here's a thought for you:

Brother Borough has a lot of really good quotes in his book that he's come up with throughout his life as a scientist. One of them is "there is not one-trillionth part of the Universe where one could stand, using our most powerful telescope, and see the Earth." It's kind of confusing, so you can ask Dad. But basically it's saying the Universe is so huge, that you can pick any one-trillionth part of it, pull out our best telescope, but you are so far from the Earth, you won't see it.

Heavenly Father created everything. He has so many worlds, and children. Try to fathom that.

Now, go to Moses 7:28-31. This is Enoch and God talking, and looking at some people who are messing up in their lives. Enoch notices God is weeping for them. Enoch, knowing about all his endless creations, notices that God's heart is with these people, and is weeping because of their transgression. How sad do we have to be before we start crying? God has so many creations, but knows and loves every single one of them so very very much. Try to comprehend God's love for you, or the person next door. It's pretty neat to think about.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Keep writing me letters, please! I've gotten one letter in the past month in the mail. You don't have to write them all the time, but they're appreciated! Camille, you're off the hook because you sent a package (that I still haven't gotten...)

I love you all!

Elder Jon La Follette

25 January 2011

Hey family!

I'm going to write my "main letter" first so I make sure to say what I want to say!

It's been a good week. I guess most of them are good as a missionary.

First off John is progressing really well. We emphasized one lesson the importance of baptism, and made sure he knew he has to quit smoking before he is baptized. The next lesson he was in a strange mood. He sounded very sarcastic the whole lesson, it was kinda annoying. He was convinced he was already saved, and that baptism didn't really matter. He wanted to keep meeting with us, and would go through baptism, but he didn't really care. We were pretty frustrated when we left.

We went back again yesterday, and he was very different. He said he had prayed long and hard, and that he felt he should go through with this. He described having a very powerful experience. He was worried he wouldn't be able to prepare himself, saying that the Lord asks very hard things of him. We shared 2 Nephi 23:25 (I think that's it) and helped him realize that the Lord steps in after we do our best and put in effort. He is already in the process of quitting smoking, and is veyr excited for baptism, and especially excited at the idea that he can go in the temple after he's baptized. He's always loved looking at pictures of the Salt Lake Temple (he lived in St. George for a while), and we showed him pictures of the San Diego temple. He is more excited and motivated than I ever thought he would be. It is very exciting to see.

Billy isn't doing as hot. He's gotten in a lot of arguments and fights with his roommate. Both are big black guys with bigger egos. Sometimes it's funny to hear stories about their quests for domination. But Billy has been pretty upset, and we're doing what we can to help him out, and maybe to find another place to live. He's just not getting along. The HP group leader Bro Zierden is having separate appointments with Billy to help him sort that out (Bro Z used to be a police chief and the sort), and to help him gain a spiritual testimony, on top of what we're doing with him.

Zion hasn't showed really any interest in the lessons, and pays attention to about 10% of it. We will read a chapter of the Book of Mormon with him, explaining every 3 verses or so, and summarizing the chapter in the most basic terms when we finish, and then summarize it again simpler, and then we will ask him what the chapter was about. He usually doesn't have a clue. We are going to try to teach him tomorow, but will probably end up dropping him.

Last night we had a FHE with August and Shai--I don't know if I talked about them or not. August is a LA member, baptized 6 years ago, and Shai is his 12yr old daughter, not a member. We have been teaching them, and August will baptize her when Bishop Marler gives the OK. We had a lesson last night in the Julien family's home. They are a fun family, and Bro & Sis Julien are U of U alumni, and big red Ute fans like me, so that is always fun. They also have a next door neighbor, non-member, who are U of U alumni, and not interested in the church. Funny how that works!

The rest of our investigators are doing okay, nothing really new to update though. We've been getting a couple new investigators, but I will tell you more about them later. Nothing huge yet.

On Sunday, we were asked by Bro. Cottam, the choir director, to help sing in the choir in sacrament meeting. We sang a cool arrangement of Our Savior's Love. It was pretty neat to do that. We actually had dinner with the Cottams that night as well, which is always fun. Bro Cottam is a jazz trombonist like me, so we talk jazz music whenever we are around each other. He is in a group full of LDS jazz musicians. Our stake president is the drummer. Bro Cottam also served his mission in France, so we talk a little bit in French. He's a very easy person for me to get along with. He looks like Dr. Fullmer, but with gray-white hair (Fullmer's getting there).

Last week we had interviews with President Cook at a nearby church building. That was the same building that Eric Weddle goes to church. Elder Bailey and I made sure to stand at the pulpit for a few seconds so we could say we stood where an All-American Ute and now Charger stood. Hopefully we have a stake activity sometime and I can go meet him!

I finally got to ride my bike again yesterday. I had a flat tire two weeks ago, and I repaired it last week, and we went down the hill and it popped. I patched it again, and it popped in a different place. One of the members bought me a new inner tube, and it finally works now! Now my knees and legs are sore, because biking in Escondido is like biking up or down Quail (by Timpview) all day long.

That's about all for this week. The transfer is almost over already, the mission goes by quick! 99% change neither I or Elder Bailey will be transferred though.

I hope you all have a great week! I appreciate your love and support, and your prayers. I pray for all of you as well.

Have a good one!

Elder Jon La Follette

18 January 2011

Hey family!

I hope you all had a great week. I had a good one, kinda average, but an average week isn't bad.

Yesterday was a pretty bad day, I dunno if it was my worst one, but one of them for sure. We were really excited because we had about 6 solid appointments throughout the day, and everything was going to work out. We got Elder Bailey some new bike stuff and we were really excited to work. We came outside and it was about 85 degrees (much hotter than it has been so you could definitely notice) and no clouds. We got to the bottom of a very long hill on our bikes, and then out of nowhere my bike tire explodes. The air was gone in about 2 seconds. We walked back up, patched the tire, pumped it up, and were all set to go, rode down again, and then it exploded again... in a different place. We just put our bikes away and decided to walk. We walked all the way across Escondido to John's house, (about the distance and "difficulty" of walking from our old house to Timpview) and he is always there 100% of the time for lessons, but he wasn't there. Frustrated, we went a little further to Zion's house for a lesson, and he was there. He didn't pay attention to 90% of the lesson and just smoked the whole time we were there. We'll probably drop him. He just doesn't care about anything we're saying. More frustrated, we walk back to John's house, and he's still not there. So we walk back across town and back up all the hills to dinner at home, where a member was going to drop off food. She forgot. So, we ate an orange and a glass of water and then got dropped off at the church for another appointment after. The lady we were teaching was MIA for about an hour, so we missed that, and she called us later at the end of the night. Another missed appointment. Then we saw Billy, but he spent the hour talking about himself again, and didn't have one second of silence for us to cut in and teach. We almost walked out of the lesson. Finally we shared a scripture and left. We went to another appointment (Donna) and she wasn't there either, and of course didn't answer her phone. So we walked back up the hill again to the Boroughs (at a quick pace it's about 25 min about a 30 degree angle) and finished our day.

Other than that my week was good though!

Our investigators are doing okay. We are meeting with Jamie tonight. We haven't seen her in a while, but she is doing super well. She is dating a new guy now. He came to church twice (he is a member for Carlsbad) and helped us move stuff once. He is way nice, and will be good to Jamie.

John is doing okay as well. We are still trying to get him motivated to quit smoking. He wants to be baptized still. We see him mostly every day. I don't know if I said but he looks like Jeff Foxworthy. We had taugh him about the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and the Gospel (faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, endure), and he is consistenly reading and enjoying the Book of Mormon.

Zion doesn't seem to care about anything, so we're probably going to stop teaching him soon.

We are teaching Shai [edit last name], who is August's [edit last name] (a recent convert and less-active member) daughter. August has been trying really hard to meet with us and come back to Church. He also wants to baptize Shai, so he is working with Bishop to get that squared away. Shai can't wait to be baptized. She is 12 and a ball of energy. She loves to draw and understands the plan of salvation really well. She has a short attention span, but she is fun to teach.

Billy is having a hard time overcoming his own pride. He loves (LOVES) to talk about himself, and how awesome his past was and all that stuff. He has interesting stories, but it's easy to get tired of them after a while. We can squeeze in a couple minutes of lesson in, then he tells another story--that originally is relevant--and then gets us off subject again. It's been kinda frustrating. The high priest group leader, Brother Zierden, who is a former cop and a large man that just sounds like he has a lot of authority in his voice, has felt inspired to work with Billy on these exact problems. He couldn't have started at a better time. I will let you know how Billy's heart changes! Billy still loves the church and meeting with us, but has a very weak testimony, despite what he says.

We have met a couple less-active or inactive people that we are now teaching. One of them is Malina, 30, who was baptized last April in like Virginia or something. She has been inactive but still reads her BoM, and wants really badly to come back to church. She is a lot of fun to teach. We're still getting to know her.

We also had our first appointment with Suzanna, another inactive since she was married at 18 (raised in the church). She wants really badly to quit smoking, so we're excited to work with her.

That's about it for now!

I appreciate your prayers and love. We're staying pretty busy. I love you all. Have a great weeK!

Jon

1/11/11

Hey family! I'm short on time but I'll write as much as I can

This week was a good one!

We finally got Elder Bailey a bike. He got an old one for free from a member family, the Fraedrichs. He didn't care about having a nice one, so that was neat for him to save $300.

LAst Friday and Sat I went ot Vista for the day for a leadership training. All ZL, DL, and trainers go. It was pretty neat to see how to be a better missionary, and to better use the Spirit in lessons and finding new people to teach. Heavenly Father definitely knows his children, and leads us to them and their needs. It's amazing how many people we meet that are ready for the Gospel.

We have a new investigator named Lahraseb [edit last name]. He is a political refugee from Iran, and is now good friends with the bishop. We got him a Farsi Book of Mormon, and it is weird looking! It's pretty neat though. He is a Christian, and really likes the Church.

I'm not sure whether I mentioned Zion [edit last name], a new investigator or not. He's from S. Carolina, and a good guy. It's hard to have focused lessons sometimes, but he is progressing well. He was as high as a kite one lesson, so we had to reteach it! That was funny. He seemed non-interested in the Church yesterday, and we were thinking of dropping him, until he said that he "feels his Spirit again" when he meets with us. He said it was a long time since he felt that good, so we're going to continue meeting with him. I'm excited to see where it goes.

We've been having a great week working with members and such. Most good/great weeks for missionaries here include 1-2 referrals. We currently have 15 to contact, and we've already contacted 16. Some are inactive members, some are nonmembers. It is really neat to see blessings flow in. We are staying very busy!

John accepted to live the Word of Wisdom this week. Now comes the process of quitting smoking! He seems determined though. I am excited. He loves reading the Book of Mormon and meeting with us. It's pretty neat to see

Thank you for your love and support! I hope you Utahns are keeping warm! I am doing very well, and staying busy.

Love you all

Have a good one

Elder Jon La Follette

4 January 2010

Hey family!

It's been a good week. I hope everyone had a safe and good new year.

My new companion is Elder Bailey, from Ephraim UT. He is a sports nut like me, a Utah fan, a Jazz fan, and life-long baseball player like me. He also played saxophone for 6 years, and likes music. We get along well. He is willing to work hard and try new things, and jumps out of his comfort zone well, even though he is nervous a lot. He is learning really fast, and is a really good missionary. It makes being a "trainer" pretty easy.

It's been raining a lot here in Esco, and apparently snowing other parts of California. It's been a little chilly, but the only time I've been cold here was last night. It was about 35 degrees with rain (wet clothes contributed).

We have picked up 2 new investigators, Donna (a former investigator) and Zion, from South Carolina. Donna has been going through very deep depression lately, and has been praying for help from God. The other night, we felt impressed to visit her, although she wasn't planned in our evening. She let us in of course, told us her life story, and said she wanted to be baptized before we ever mentioned baptism. I expect she will progress really fast, and is excited to learn. Zion is a middle-aged black guy from S. Carolina. He has heard of Mormons and LDS people, but never knew that they were the same group! He is pretty interested to learn as well. He told us some things we didn't really want to know, but it was a good lesson. We will probably run by his place on Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes.

John accepted a baptismal date for Feb 5. He went to church this week and absolutely loved it. It was testimony meeting, but it went well and the Spirit was strong--whew! Missionaries always worry about bringing investigators to a fast and testimony sacrament meeting. But it worked out. He wants to come back every week. I'm excited for him.

Still no word from the First Presidency for Jamie, and Billy has a parole hearing this Thursday. A lot is depending on that hearing, so keep him in your prayers, please.

I'm sorry this week is short, but that's all the time I have. That's really all I had to say, too. There's one story I told Mom and Camille about biking and knee pain, so if you want to know about that, ask them.

Hope all of you are doing well. I appreciate your emails, letters, and prayers. I lvoe you all very much. Have a good week!

Elder Jon La Follette