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Inside the life of a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
-- Scripture of the Week --
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
(Matthew 25:40)
(Matthew 25:40)
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Jesus Christ, My Savior
Jimmy D. Downer, Me
Weekly Family Letter
ReplyDeleteMONDAY, 17 OCTOBER 2011
Hey, everybodies!
All is well here in McKinney, TX. The flight into Dallas was quite a thrill, and one of my MTC companions, Elder Larson, was having quite the conversation/gospel discussion with a non-member sitting next to him. He explained it to me later and told me: this young lady was on her way to Germany but had to take that flight to get there on time (and the last available seat was next to him); her computer also broke down, which had her reading materials for the long flight, but we had some reading materials for her instead. If you ask me or Elder Larson, we'd both agree it wasn't a coincidence that that happened.
The work's been going well this week. A tad slow--depending on one's point of view--but it's going nonetheless. We had a baptism on Sunday, October 16. The lady's name is Rachel, and she was so ready! I quote my companion (more or less) when he said, "If the world had faith like she has, miracles would happen." And yeah. It's true!
And wow--I've never had such an easy time falling asleep every night! It's funny because I could almost never fall asleep for at least an hour each night in the MTC, regardless of the workloads per day, but here in the field, I fall asleep within 5 minutes of hitting my pillow! What a change!
So, yeah. That's about all. We have an investigator whom we contacted sitting outside on his porch who really wants to turn his life around from bars and beer and clubs and the whole sh'bang. He accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon (in Spanish, of course), and today (Monday, October 17) we're going to follow up on his reading. I'm so excited for him!
I'll do my best to send these family-and-friends updates each week. I hope to hear from y'all soon!!
Elder James D. Downer
Weekly Family Letter
ReplyDeleteMONDAY, 31 OCTOBER 2011
Querida Familia Downer,
Dear Downer Family,
¡Hola, hermanos! ¡Feliz Día de Brujas! ¿Cómo están?
Howdy, Brothers (and Sisters)! Happy Halloween! How are y’all?
Todo sigue aquí en bonita McKinney, Tejas. ¡Milagritos acontecen casi diariamente!
All is moving along here in good ol' McKinney, TX. Little miracles happen almost daily!
¡Los otros dos misioneros en nuestra rama tuvieron un bautismo ayer! Yo tenía la oportunidad de tocar el piano durante eso. Fue muy espiritual, como siempre.
The other missionaries in our branch had a baptism yesterday! I had the oportunity to play the piano during it. It was very spiritual, like always.
Nuestra rama es lo mejor. Los miembros siempre están listos para ayudarnos a servir el Señor. Gracias a uno de ellos, ¡tenemos ahora otra familia para enseñar!
Our branch is the best. The members are always ready to help us serve the Lord. Thanks to one of them, we now have another family to teach!
¡Español es muy divertido! Yo aprendo mucho cada día. A veces es difícil entender una persona cuando habla, ¡pero mi habilidad ya mejora!
Spanish is a ton of fun! I learn a lot every day. Sometimes it’s difficult to understand someone while they’re talking, but my ability’s already improving!
Estoy muy agradecido por la oportunidad de servir el Señor. Aprendo mucho de caridad y diligencia aquí en el campo misional. ¡Me encanta llevar la placa del misionero! Siempre me recuerda eso de los misiones de Mike, Dennis, y Will. Siempre yo admiraba ellos porque decidieron a servir el Señor.
I’m very grateful for the oportunity to serve the Lord. I learn much about charity and diligence here in the mission field. I love wearing the mission plaque! It always reminds me of Mike’s, Dennis’s, and Will’s missions. I always looked up to them because they decided to serve the Lord.
¡Les quiero muy muchísimo! ¡Tengan un buen tiempo!
I love y’all very very much! Have a good time!
Elder James Daniel Downer
Weekly Family Letter
ReplyDeleteMONDAY, 07 NOVEMBER 2011
¡Hola!
Howdy!
Todo está trabajando aquí en Tejas. Como siempre tenemos milagritos cada día, gracias al Señor.
All is working here in Texas. Like always we have little miracles every day, thanks to the Lord.
¡Tenemos 2 más fechas bautismales!
We have 3 more baptismal dates!
Una de ellas es de una investigadora que se llama Esmeralda, y ella quiere bautizarse (¡después un año teniendo lecciones con los misioneros!) pero necesita unas mas veces asistiendo a la iglesia. ¡Y ayer ella vino!
One of them is for an investiator called Esmeralda. She wants to be baptized (after a year of lessons with the missionaries!) but needs a couple of more times attending church. And she came yesterday!
La otra fecha es de un investigador que se llama Jorge. Él conocimos cuando vinimos a la casa de una futura investigadora (pero ella estaba ocupada) y él decidió escuchar nuestro mensaje. ¡Él fue muy interesado y decidió fijar la meta del 11 de Diciembre para bautizarse! ¡Fue lo mejor! Estamos tan felices.
The other date is for an investigator called Jorge. We met him when we came to the house of a potential investigator (but she was busy), and he decided to listen to our message. He was very interested and decided to set December 11th as a goal to be baptized! It was the best! We're so happy.
Español es asombroso. Estoy aprendiendo más cada día. Todavía es muy fácil estar aburrido cuando una persona habla en español porque todos hablan muy rápido. Ay. Pero está mejorando.
Spanish is awesome. I'm learning more every day. It's still really easy to get bored when someone's speaking Spanish because they all speak so fast. Argh. But it's improving.
Mi compañero Elder Fisher es bueno.
My companion Elder Fisher is pretty cool.
Pues es todo para ahora. ¡Adios!
Well, that's about it for now. Adios!
Elder James D. Downer
Weekly Family Letter
ReplyDeleteMONDAY, 14 NOVEMBER 2011
Querida Familia Downer (and friends),
I'm... just going to do English this week. I don't have very much time this week to put the Spanish in too. Sorry, Will!
So, all's coming along pretty well here in good 'ol McKinney. This week was a bit slow buuut we did have investigadors finally come to church! The "new-comers" were Hna. Cruz (she's a less-active who asked Heavenly Father to help her back on the path--and then we showed up!) and Ruban and his kids Isaiah, Alexis, and Omar (the wife Cherri couldn't make it this week). The kids are especially excited to go to church and to be baptized on December 11th! And we're so excited too, especially since it's taken Ruban quite some time now just to come to church!
We also had a really powerful lesson on prayer yesterday--by that I mean the investigators knelt and just poured out their hearts to Heavenly Father. And they fed us tamales! But, of course, the more awesome part was their prayers. It was such a great day yesterday!
All else is pokin' along. Spanish is a ton of fun. I especially love being able to talk with basically any Hispanic here. It's so great! They're such humble people, especially the members!
I guess I'll share my testimony this week.
I know that Joseph Smith was no liar when he said he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that day in 1820. I know that the Book of Mormon is literally an ancient record that prophets of God wrote just for us. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that the Book of Mormon says nothing without somehow focusing on and testifying of the Savior. I know that my call is in reality given to me by a prophet of God so that I can bring others to Christ. If any of you are unsure of something that the Church teaches or professes, feel free to write me a letter and I'll share with you individually how I came to know that that thing is true--and I've had doubts before about a lot of things--because I am confident in my testimony that the Savior lives, that the Book of Mormon is a testament of Him, that this church is His Church and is led by His prophet, and that this work is His. This I testify in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Well, that's about all for this week. I love you all so much!
Élder James Daniel Downer