Monday, March 28, 2016

Transfers past! THE BIG REVEAL!

I didn't get transferred. Surprisingly, Elder Peters, my companion, did! Even though I have been here longer than he has.  went to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. and I got ELDER JENSEN AGAIN. Yes, the same companion that I had about 9 months ago was returned to be and we are together as Zone Leaders. It's crazy! Like, that almost NEVER happens. #hedidntgetenoughofme 
He is also been in Sioux City before, which rarely happens (elder Peters and Elder Jensen did it so that was cool),

So yeah, this week was FULL of surprises! It was a good week tho. We met some new people that are really good people. Funny story: We met this family this week. The father's name is Miguel Angel (Michelangelo) and we knocked on his door while he was watching a documentary on Michelangelo. It was a funny coincidence. 

Otherwise, not to much happened this week, except for a SNOW STORM! "Happy Spring, have some snow!" -Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
6 Inches here in Sioux City. more in surrounding areas. It was awful. 

As of right now, there is not much to report news wise here in my mission. Soon, we will be having Mission Olympics, which are when we have a little competition on certain physical activities, like Sprints, Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, Curls, etc. It's gonna be great! 

I hope you all have a great week! I might be able to send a quick little video that we took that will make you all laugh but I might not be able to send it (the sdcard slot on this computer isn't working right now). 

Love you all!

Elder Cox
Transfer Meeting (from the NOM Facebook page) 

Monday, March 21, 2016

Superb Week! Transfers on Wednesday! AHHHH!

So, yeah. Tomorrow I find out if I am leaving Sioux City of sticking around for another 6 weeks. It's pretty exciting but I'm also a bit anxious. I do like it here, so I don't wanna leave, but at the same time I wouldn't mind some change lol. It's been good here, so I really don't wanna leave. Anyways, whatever happens happens! 

So this week had some HUGE heart break. So I talked about the MIRACLE which happened last week in the which we found a family that we drew and had a time to go see them. So, we saw them on Wednesday. Sadly, the wife was out of town on a work thing and so we just talked to the husband of the family. He started off by saying that he doesn't like the idea of us coming over after this time to talk about religion. That's a great start, right? So we taught him the first thing we usually teach people and he totally didn't want anything to do with it. It was really depressing. We had even brought over a member to be there to help us with the lesson and to give him a friend in the church. So yeah, that one didn't work out at all. But, the member we brought said that she has someone that she wants us to visit, so that's a good thing that came from that visit! 

Other news, we found another family that meets some of the same criteria of the family that my companion drew! The husband was doing his college homework, they are both from El Salvador, and she has big cheeks! Those were all things that my companion included in his drawing. And the wife is super ready to hear us! So it's a good thing that happened, just last night.

Other other news. We found a different family that are all awesome too! The mom of the family has gone to our church earlier in her life and said that when she first talked to us, she told her 3 teenaged kids, "We'll go to that church soon." It's awesome! She wasn't able to go yesterday, because she was having her baby shower (it's a huge thing for Hispanics) so we will see her during this week and she already promised to go this sunday! GOOD THINGS! And her kids are all super ready to hear us too! GOOD FAMILY THINGS!! WOO!

anyways, I hope that I don't get transferred and that you all have an Excellent week and an Excellent easter!

Elder Cox
Elder Andrew Cox
Outstanding in his field.

Monday, March 14, 2016

This week man!

So. Yeah. This. Week. Was. A. Week. Amen.

So, really awesome news! An investigator of ours named Evelio literally had a dream from God that showed him that the Book of Mormon was important. Lemme explain. So, he said that at the end of his dream (cuz the beginning part was just weird dream stuff), he said he sat down at a table and he knew that God was there, just invisible. He could feel that God was there. God set on the table in front of him the Bible, some other religious, chicken-soup-for-the-soul type of book that the investigator reads, and The Book of Mormon in a stack. He then heard the Holy Spirit say, "I'm going to explain these to you." And then his wife woke him up. AW! That's so MIRACULOUS!! Literally, Evelio had a dream that told him the Book of Mormon is as important as the Bible and it was from God!!!!! AWWWWW YEAH! That was like the best of part of my time here in Iowa!!! 

More awesome news! Elder Peters recently drew a little family on a sticky note and we prayed to God to help us find this family. It was incredibly specific. Father: College education, bushy eyebrows. Mother: From El Salvador, big cheeks. Kids: 2 twins of a boy and a girl, 2 other kids, all above the age of 8. WE FOUND THEM! It wasn't exactly as Elder Peters drew but we found the following: Father: Bushy eyebrows (college education not verified yet, we will find out lol). Sister of Father: Big Cheeks. Mother: Really kind. Kids 6 kids all above the age of 8! We were given by God more than what we expected! It's awesome! And it's ok that not everything was done specifically how Elder Peters' drew it, it was still another MIRACLE!!!! YAY!!!! 

Also, on Friday, we went to Orange City, Iowa to give a 3 classes to high school students! It was pretty terrifying. It is a private Christian High School and they had some HARD questions. They are realllllllyyyy intelligent kids, so they really wanted to understand what we were saying or they wanted to find out the beliefs we have on some hard topics. It was a good experience though. I learned that I would be just fine having a job as a teacher and I might actually look into going into that field. 

So yeah, that's the week! It was good. I'm doing great out here! I'm nervous, cuz this might be the last week I spend here. Transfers are next Wednesday, so I'm gonna be taking some pictures just in case I get moved. It's been really good here, so I'm happy with the time that I have spent here.

Love you all!

Elder Cox

P.S. I want to invite you all to go to followhim.mormon.org because there is a REALLY SWEET video about Jesus Christ and Easter on that website. It's a great way to begin to remember the special Easter time!

Monday, March 7, 2016

The week where I have like no time left to send this e-mail

So, this week has been pretty good. It's been good weather, we have found some new families, the people we have found in the last few weeks are doing really good and are really liking what we teach, and only a few people have told us not to come by anymore. Nothing much to complain about. 

This week, I also had an awesome opportunity to hear directly from the Mission President about some things! (it's a sweet perk about being a Zone Leader). But, he specifically trained us on the importance of the family, so I'mma talk about the importance of the family to God.

So, when God made everything, he made a family. He first made literally everyone who ever existed or ever will exist in the form of a spiritual family. He made a place for that family to live on: Earth. Then, he started that family physically by making Adam and Eve, a husband and a wife, and designing them in a way that they can increase that family. He gave them the commandment to have children (in other words, increase the family). They, however, sinned, making all of God's family fallen from his presence, unable to return to him without help. God likes his family (us) and wants all of his family to come back to live with him. So, God send his Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, (our older and awesome brother) to the world to die for our sins and resurrect for us, giving us the way to come back to him. Not only that, God also gave us the ability to keep our earthly families together through the power of his Son. In holy temples, we can seal (or bind together) our families. By God's power, we can make it so death doesn't seperate us permanently. Marriage isn't just "'til death" but for Time and All Eternity (aka forever)! How wonderful!!!! That sealing power is found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the church that I am currently serving. I want to bring the Good news of Eternal Families to everyone! and I know that what I just said is all true.

Have a great week!

Elder Cox

Editor's Note: The Nebraska Omaha Mission on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/220374167987612/