Monday, March 9, 2015

Sweet Week (week 13)

Well this week felt like it was totally short. I feel like it has only been 3 days, so this e-mail might be short. 

I'll start with what we did last Monday cuz it was soooo awesome. WE WENT ICE SKATING! There is a Sister Missionary who went home this week and she wanted one last really fun day. Monday is the only day we have to do non-church stuff so plans were made for the Ice Skating. So the sister that was leaving, her companion, me, my companion, the Spanish south Elders (my area is the Spanish north), and 2 Spanish Elders in a town right outside of Omaha called Fremont, which is where this Sister was serving, all went to the YMCA in Fremont, where there is free skating like every Monday from like 1-5. The skate rental isn't free (only like 6 bucks tho) so we all went up there and had an awesome time playing tag on the ice and just skating around (I don't have a picture sadly. I forgot my camera). And then, my companionship (so me and Elder Wilson) and the Spanish south elders all had dinner at the Bishop's house (bishop is the leader of a congregation, kinda like a pastor in most other churches). It was sweet! Pancakes and other breakfast foods for dinner plus cookies for dessert. Most of the time our dinners are Mexican or other South American foods but breakfast for dinner works too!

The rest of the week was awesome, but in different ways. We have 2 people that are preparing to be baptized this month! I'll tell you about one of them now, and the other next week. One of them is the daughter of a member who had been to church maybe a few times the last few years. But, her daughter had the desire to go to church and be baptized so we are teaching her and helping her and her family to all get closer to God and preparing the daughter to be baptized as well. It's really awesome to see the change in her and her mom (the daughter is only 10 years old btw). Just by asking us to help her and teach her, she already understands a lot of things about the church that adults understand. The understanding is at a simpler level, but it's still an understanding about how God and Jesus Christ can help her in her life. And if she can understand it, it shows me that I can help others of any age understand it as well.

There is also a person who is preparing to be baptized next month is the husband of a member who came back to church about a year ago after not going like at all for years. This husband, his name is Bryan has heard about the church since she started going again but he has never really been interested until now. Sister Missionaries had taught Bryan but since he didn't have a huge desire to learn, he didn't really remember anything about what they had taught. He remembered the fact that one of the things we believe is that we should not drink alcohol, smoke, do other drugs, drink coffee or tea. But, he only remembers that because he smokes and drinks. But he has seen that the situation in his life is not optimal and wants to help his family stay together. He sees that his 15-ish year old daughter is not really going the way he thinks is right and wants to be a better example to her. For this reason, he wants to see if joining our church would help he become the father he wants to be. It's awesome to see how he wants to be better for his family, not just for himself. 

I know that Bryan can become a better person through this church because I've become a better person through this church. Through reading the Bible, reading the Book of Mormon, through going to church, through praying, and through having faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior and the Redeemer of the world, I've been able to communicate better with other people. I've been able to be out here in Omaha and stay out here. Without prayer or my faith, I wouldn't have even come out here, nor would I have stayed. I've gotten pretty discouraged because of my communication issues with my companion and other people too and i've only gotten through it because of prayer. I know that God heard my prayers and sent me an answer in the form of my leaders coming over on Saturday giving me advice and helping me work through it. It's really the greatest thing that happened this week.

I hope you all have a good week!

Elder Cox

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