Recent Baptism
Great members in my last area Riverside
Thursday, July 24, 2014
We Have Many to Teach
July 21, 2014
I'm glad you enjoying a trip to Zion! Tell the whole crew I say, "What's up!" and tell them of my love for them!
Our week went very well. We found someone named B-- on a street called Monroe, and from there we have visited her and found a lot of other investigators on the same street that live around her. I think we are teaching 7 or so people that live on that one street. Hopefully a few of them will progress. B-- is very lonely and looking for her purpose in life. We've made her promises that if she reads the Book of Mormon and comes to church she'll find that purpose, but sadly she didn't come to church, and we'll see.... I really hope she'll progress because I think she would find a lot of joy serving in the church.
We ended the week with the baptism of M-- She was really excited and had a good time. She wanted me to baptize her so I got to do that. It was cool. I'll send the pictures here in a minute, but I forgot my spare under garments in my backpack and so when I went to change after baptizing her I realized I didn't have any dry ones. So I just dried them off the best I could, and went back out. It was super uncomfortable.
We are getting a lot more people to teach. So we should be seeing a lot of progress in the near future. I'm pretty excited! We taught a girl and her mom and we invited them to be baptized and they sad yes without hesitation. They said they need religion in their life. They'll do good to accept the true one!
I love you Mom! Thanks for your wonderful testimony. It has a powerful effect on children to know that their parents know and have faith in so many good and true things. So thanks!
Love, Elder Higgins
Who Do You know That Could Use a Message About Jesus Christ?
July 14, 2014
Hola!
Well, my week went well. It's getting real hot and I have flashback's to when I was in MoVal in this heat a year ago riding my bike. I'm thankful I get to spend this summer in a car! We have just been visiting former investigators, and talking to everyone we see. We really need more people to teach! Our new President has asked us to ask everyone, "Who do you know that could use a message about Jesus Christ?" So we have been doing that, and we have had quite a few responses. A few days ago we got a referral from some random people to go and visit their uncle who drinks a lot. They didn't have the full address, but pointed us in the right direction. We found what we thought was the house and knocked on the door. We ended up getting the wrong house, but a lady answered the door. We had a conversation with her, and learned about her life. She has no family left, lost her husband a while ago. She said when she was younger she went to the LDS church for five years with her friends, but was never baptized. So we invited her to return, and I think she'll do it. She didn't come yesterday cause she had prior commitments, but we have an appointment with her tomorrow.
We also started teaching Another investigator and M-- is all lined up to be baptized this Sunday. She went camping with her dad this weekend, but is all ready to go this next weekend. So we are pretty pumped about that!
That's pretty much my week in review. I'm fighting to finish strong! It's so crazy being around Elder B-- my previous companion who goes home in just a few weeks. That will be weird to see.
Well, I love you lots!
Love, Elder Higgins
Our New Mission President is an Extraordinary Man
July 7, 2014
Before I forget I'll answer some of your questions. We met the new mission president on Saturday. He did a mission tour, and stopped by each zone. I won't have too much time with him, and I got really used to President Smart, but the meeting was very cool. It was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had. He is a very extraordinary man. He likes scuba diving a shared a video with us of an octopus. At first you couldn't see the octopus because it blended in with the some corral, but as the camera got close he shot out from his hiding place and became very visible. He compared it to Satan, and the temptations we face, and reminded us that sometimes if we're not careful we wouldn't be able to recognize that it's Satan trying to destroy us! It was cool.
Missionary work here is a little slower here in this area. I think the main reason I feel that way is that everything is so spread out here. There's a lot of dirt roads and the neighborhoods are very spread out, unlike Riverside where everything is packed together. The ward is a lot older as well. Everything is going well though. We are slowly finding more people to teach. We are teaching M-- and her son still. They are progressing, and M-- recognizes, and accepts a lot of what we say as truth. Her son was taught before and pretty much taught us about the Priesthood. It was cool. The one problem we'll face is that they are heading to Mexico for a few weeks pretty soon. So we'll try and teach them and baptize them before they leave.
We also taught M--and her family a lot this week. She is 8 years old, and her aunt is a member. Her brother was baptized not too long ago, but for some reason she has been slow to want to learn. So we taught interactive lessons and played games, and she is slowly lightening up. My companion asked her if she wanted to be baptized this weekend at church yesterday, and she nodded yes. So hopefully she remains excited. But who knows, you can never tell with those little divas! Haha :)
So everything is going well. We just hung out with the other missionaries for the fourth of July. We played card games, and reflected about American stuff, and poked fun at one of the elders who was born in England, and raised in Canada. He only wishes he was American!
Well, that's about it. All is well.
Love, Elder Higgins
Thursday, July 3, 2014
There's people that need the gospel everywhere
June 30, 2014
It has been weird adjusting to a new area. I felt weird on Sunday not being in the DeAnza ward. But my companion is cool. To answer your questions. He's been out for 6-7 months. He's name is Elder Taylor. I'm not a zone leader. It's a big relief!
The area we cover is huge! So we are in car. It's actually super close to Murrieta, which is kind of cool. We don't really have too many investigators right now. We did pick up a few new ones this week though. One lady told us she was really depressed, and doesn't really like living. She told us she would listen to us and come to church, and we promised she would overcome her depression. We have an appointment with her on Tuesday.
We also taught some Jewish people this week. It's a very different experience teaching them since they don't believe in the Bible completely, just the Torah. It was sad to see them deny Jesus Christ as our Savior, and I told them that. They believe he was a prophet, which doesn't make sense in my mind, because he professed to be the Son of God. So he was either the Son of God our Savior, or he was a false prophet. There's no middle ground. Anyway it was interesting teaching them. The mom wanted to show me something in the Torah and told us to come back on Tuesday. So we'll see how that goes!
Other than that nothing too fancy is going on. I was able to go back to De Anza ward for 2 baptisms. L--and A--were baptized, and A-- wanted me to baptize him so I had that cool opportunity. The water was really cold and it took his breath away when he was immersed so his reaction was super funny when he came out of the water. He's funny! So that was cool to go back and see them be baptized. L-- whole extended family was there. It was exciting!
Well, I'm still trooping along. I know I'll grow to love this area just like the last. There's people that need the gospel everywhere!
Love you lots!
Elder Higgins
Most likely the last transfer of his mission!
June 23, 2014
Well, I don't have that much time today so I will be very brief, but we had a pretty crazy week. Last P-day after we emailed we got a call from two missionaries that weren't getting along very well so we had to exchange with them for almost the whole week until President told us what to do. So Elder Prieto and I kept on switching in and out of our area. So we spent most of the week in a weird limbo state where we were constantly switching companions back and forth, and places too. Then we ended the week being in a trio with one of the missionaries while the other went someplace else. So that was pretty intense! That's just a glimpse into the drama we see as missionaries.
We also spent 8 hours helping someone move on Saturday. My neck is super sunburnt! I guess I still haven't learned to put sunscreen on, and there's no excuses, but in my mind I didn't think I was going to be outside as much as I was.. It was really fun though!
So about transfers.. They've decided to send me to Mennifee. Where ever that is! My companion's name is Elder Taylor, and I have no idea where he's from. I've heard excellent things about him so i'm pretty stoked to meet him. I'm excited to be leaving, and for some reason I wasn't that sad to be leaving. I feel like I will still be in contact with everyone, and that I wasn't saying goodbye at all. So that's that.
Love,
Elder Higgins
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