We were happily surprised to hear from Jonathan today. He was suppose to be on Guadeloupe at zone conference and was not going to be able to e-mail until Wednesday. Here's his message:
Zone conference was postponed because the French people on Guadeloupe went on strike again. Hopefully we will be going down on Friday or Saturday. We almost got to go to St. Lucia but the tickets were too expensive and they wouldn't let us pay for the difference using personal money. :( That would have been awesome!
Well, things are going good down here. I am pretty sure that we are going to have a baptism this week. I will send you pictures if we do. Then you can see my dark hair. I promise that it is natural! I also weigh 160 lbs now!
I wanted to tell Grandma and Grandpa Olson thanks for the books that they sent me. They came on Wednesday last week. I got caught up in reading Jesus the Christ this week instead of my scriptures. :)
I am only in Matthew 18 and Alma 50. I will try and catch up to my schedule if we get to take our trip for zone conference this week.
Anyway, the scripture of the week is Helaman 4:20-26.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
You have impacted the future
There has been some excitement during this past week in Jonathan's mission. The missionaries received a special, non P-day, message from President Robison:
"The West Indies is a Preach My Gospel Mission and has the finest missionaries in the world. Last year you had probably the most dramatic increase over the previous year in baptisms seen world-wide. In a few weeks, Brother Swenson of the missionary department is coming to assess the condition of medical facilities in Guyana and Trinidad. In preparation for that visit, the missionary department has requested that you complete the Preach My Gospel Missionary Questionnaire. The missionary department wants to know how we did so much last year."
We are also including portions of an e-mail Jonathan recently sent to one of his friends that expresses his testimony:
"You have to continue going to God's true church. I know that it is true. You know it too and you can't let something stupid mess up your chance for salvation. That would be giving others control over your future instead of taking control for yourself. When that happens, you lose all sense of self and then nothing matters anymore. I have seen too many people around here fall away like that and it makes me sad because they don't want to even talk to members of the church any more (much less the missionaries). If you fall away, I will be devastated. Don't stay for my sake though. Stay because you want to and you know it's right.
You can apply Brigham Young's advice on prayer to going to church in your case. He said, "the times you feel like praying the least is when you need to pray the most". It can be changed for you to say, "the times you feel like going to church the least is when you need to go the most". If you feel you aren't "good enough" or "worthy" to, the only way to become "good enough" or "worthy" is to go to church, repent and try to become more like our savior Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life. His church is on the Earth and there is no other way by which we can return to live with Heavenly Father except it be through Him. Sorry for going all missionary on you but I had to say what was on my mind."
Now for today's e-mail message from Jonathan:
I guess tomorrow will be an important day in the history of our country. The ceremony to inaugurate Obama is all that people here care about right now. I am quite sick of talking to people who think they know how our country runs.
Elder Marshall and I are still getting along great. We work as hard as any of my other companions but he is really fun to be around. I don't feel all that stressed right now even though we are actually under a lot of pressure. It's nice because it has felt like the last 7 months worth of weight has just been lifted.
Check out what President Robison said about my last companion, Elder Nielsen's, brother when he was here a couple weeks ago. That's high praise coming for our mission president. "Thank you for helping Elder Nielsen's family have a positive teaching and testifying experience. Because of your kindness and thoughtfulness, his younger brother wants to serve a mission...you have impacted the future by your actions.
Our next transfer day is February 18th. I think that I will probably leave this island that day. I will probably be on my way to Trinidad or back to Guyana. (I would prefer Guyana). If I stay on Sint Maarten I will be here at least until the next transfer on April 1st.
Anyway, I am in Matthew 16, Alma 41 and my personal scripture study.
The scripture of the week is D&C 27:15-18.
P.S. I heard the Aggies are doing great. Hope they beat Boise on Saturday!
He also said he finally received the last of the Christmas packages we sent before Thanksgiving!
"The West Indies is a Preach My Gospel Mission and has the finest missionaries in the world. Last year you had probably the most dramatic increase over the previous year in baptisms seen world-wide. In a few weeks, Brother Swenson of the missionary department is coming to assess the condition of medical facilities in Guyana and Trinidad. In preparation for that visit, the missionary department has requested that you complete the Preach My Gospel Missionary Questionnaire. The missionary department wants to know how we did so much last year."
We are also including portions of an e-mail Jonathan recently sent to one of his friends that expresses his testimony:
"You have to continue going to God's true church. I know that it is true. You know it too and you can't let something stupid mess up your chance for salvation. That would be giving others control over your future instead of taking control for yourself. When that happens, you lose all sense of self and then nothing matters anymore. I have seen too many people around here fall away like that and it makes me sad because they don't want to even talk to members of the church any more (much less the missionaries). If you fall away, I will be devastated. Don't stay for my sake though. Stay because you want to and you know it's right.
You can apply Brigham Young's advice on prayer to going to church in your case. He said, "the times you feel like praying the least is when you need to pray the most". It can be changed for you to say, "the times you feel like going to church the least is when you need to go the most". If you feel you aren't "good enough" or "worthy" to, the only way to become "good enough" or "worthy" is to go to church, repent and try to become more like our savior Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life. His church is on the Earth and there is no other way by which we can return to live with Heavenly Father except it be through Him. Sorry for going all missionary on you but I had to say what was on my mind."
Now for today's e-mail message from Jonathan:
I guess tomorrow will be an important day in the history of our country. The ceremony to inaugurate Obama is all that people here care about right now. I am quite sick of talking to people who think they know how our country runs.
Elder Marshall and I are still getting along great. We work as hard as any of my other companions but he is really fun to be around. I don't feel all that stressed right now even though we are actually under a lot of pressure. It's nice because it has felt like the last 7 months worth of weight has just been lifted.
Check out what President Robison said about my last companion, Elder Nielsen's, brother when he was here a couple weeks ago. That's high praise coming for our mission president. "Thank you for helping Elder Nielsen's family have a positive teaching and testifying experience. Because of your kindness and thoughtfulness, his younger brother wants to serve a mission...you have impacted the future by your actions.
Our next transfer day is February 18th. I think that I will probably leave this island that day. I will probably be on my way to Trinidad or back to Guyana. (I would prefer Guyana). If I stay on Sint Maarten I will be here at least until the next transfer on April 1st.
Anyway, I am in Matthew 16, Alma 41 and my personal scripture study.
The scripture of the week is D&C 27:15-18.
P.S. I heard the Aggies are doing great. Hope they beat Boise on Saturday!
He also said he finally received the last of the Christmas packages we sent before Thanksgiving!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Don't forget us in your prayers!
Before Jonathan's e-mail for this week, we wanted to let you all know that we posted two new slideshows today; one of Guyana and one of Sint Maarten. We received a DVD of all the pictures Jonathan took in Guyana at Christmas and just this past week received a flash drive with the pictures he has taken so far on Sint Maarten. We hope you enjoy them, we sure have!
Don't worry about what happened on the French side. Elder Pahio and some little punk got into an argument and then the kid went into his apartment to get his gun. I don't think he would have really used it though. He just wanted to scare them away. The missionaries were transfered because President Robison wasn't sure that they would be able to work effectively without always looking over their shoulders. President Johnson, our area president, requested for me to find the guy and officially apologize for the Church. The request came through President Robison. I was unable to locate him. Supposedly the kid I was looking for jumped islands and is now on St. Thomas to avoid any legal problems. So it's all solved and life is back to normal.
Things are going really well with my new companion. We love to have fun and neither of us are too stiff. It's a relief because I haven't had a companion like that yet. (Don't worry, we are obedient!) It makes this worldly island much easier to live on! My new companion, Elder Marshall, and I have set a goal to try and break the record for baptisms in a transfer for this area. I think that we can do it but we'll need all the help that we can get. So don't forget us in your prayers this month!
I am in Alma 20 in my personal Book of Mormon reading and still in Matthew 12 in my New Testament reading. It has been a pretty busy week with trying to find the kid, get the new senior couples computer to work, getting 2 new French elders settled and a new companion for myself. It was a crazy week!
The scripture for the week is 2 Nephi 2:22-25.
I hear that the Aggies are kicking butt! I wish that I could go to a game and cheer them on! 15-1 now huh? That's pretty good. I hope they don't lose another game the whole season.
I hope that the funeral for Great-grandma Larson wasn't a huge bummer for everyone. I got an e-mail from Jay that sounded like he was sad about it but he was excited to get to go skiing with Dad! I would love to have a single snow flake down here!
P.S. My package got through customs on Tuesday last week. We are going to pick it up today!
P.P.S. Zone Conference will be on Monday, January 26th. It will interfere with me getting to e-mail you. I don't know what day I will get to write that week but it will probably be Wednesday. I'll try and find out and let you know next week.
Don't worry about what happened on the French side. Elder Pahio and some little punk got into an argument and then the kid went into his apartment to get his gun. I don't think he would have really used it though. He just wanted to scare them away. The missionaries were transfered because President Robison wasn't sure that they would be able to work effectively without always looking over their shoulders. President Johnson, our area president, requested for me to find the guy and officially apologize for the Church. The request came through President Robison. I was unable to locate him. Supposedly the kid I was looking for jumped islands and is now on St. Thomas to avoid any legal problems. So it's all solved and life is back to normal.
Things are going really well with my new companion. We love to have fun and neither of us are too stiff. It's a relief because I haven't had a companion like that yet. (Don't worry, we are obedient!) It makes this worldly island much easier to live on! My new companion, Elder Marshall, and I have set a goal to try and break the record for baptisms in a transfer for this area. I think that we can do it but we'll need all the help that we can get. So don't forget us in your prayers this month!
I am in Alma 20 in my personal Book of Mormon reading and still in Matthew 12 in my New Testament reading. It has been a pretty busy week with trying to find the kid, get the new senior couples computer to work, getting 2 new French elders settled and a new companion for myself. It was a crazy week!
The scripture for the week is 2 Nephi 2:22-25.
I hear that the Aggies are kicking butt! I wish that I could go to a game and cheer them on! 15-1 now huh? That's pretty good. I hope they don't lose another game the whole season.
I hope that the funeral for Great-grandma Larson wasn't a huge bummer for everyone. I got an e-mail from Jay that sounded like he was sad about it but he was excited to get to go skiing with Dad! I would love to have a single snow flake down here!
P.S. My package got through customs on Tuesday last week. We are going to pick it up today!
P.P.S. Zone Conference will be on Monday, January 26th. It will interfere with me getting to e-mail you. I don't know what day I will get to write that week but it will probably be Wednesday. I'll try and find out and let you know next week.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Happy New Year
In the mail today we received this video along with some pictures of Sint Maarten from Jonathan. We thought you would enjoy it. We will try to put together a slideshow with some of the other pictures he has sent.
Happy New Year to you as well! Things are slowing down here a lot but now everyone is at work all of the time trying to make up for the time they took off during the holidays.
I haven't moved in with the Frenchies yet actually. Elder Pahio, a Tahitian on the French side, had a little shoving match with some punk over there on Tuesday so they came to us that night. Elder Pahio flew out the next morning for French Guiana. Elder Lines has been with Elder Nielsen and I ever since. Elder Nielsen's family came in on Thursday afternoon so we haven't seen him very much and he was a great hindrance to the work. So it's just been Elder Lines and I for the last couple days. Our new companions get here on Wednesday. Mine is Elder Marshall.
My scripture reading has been really slow this week again. I am only in Alma 2 and Matthew 12.
The scripture of the week is Exodus 12:2. I figured that it would be appropriate considering that it was new year's this past week. By the way, we stayed up and got to see some fire works from our apartment. They were pretty lame but it was fun.
I am sorry to hear about Great-Grandma Larson but I guess that her time was up. One thing that I have learned down here is that Heavenly Father won't take anyone before their time. She lived a good life and it is time that she gets a nice rest. Besides, she is happier than we are now!
No one in our building has revieved mail since before Christmas. I am really hoping that last Christmas package comes today. I am not going to take the tree down until I get to open my presents!!!
Well, I hope to hear from you soon. Can you guys let me know how Aggie basketball is doing? I am missing that a lot!
Check it out! We finished last year with 2012 baptisms! This is a letter from President Robison:
Dear Elders,
This past weekend, the mission baptized 39 souls and confirmed 45 to start the new year! History was made at 6:24 p.m. in Crabwood Creek when the 2008th newest member of the Church was baptized. Four more members were baptized to end the year at 2012. Miracles truly brought each of us here, surrounded us this year and await us in 2009. What an incredible time to serve together in the West Indies Mission. Don't you just love this mission? The Hurrah for Israel this week says it all - a graph of the ten year history of the West Indies Mission.
Now as we look forward to this year, the question is what is the goal....let's stay the course and do our best to head towards 3000. As the year progresses the goal will materialize.
Here are a few suggestions for regrouping and making this year even better using President Hinckley's six b's:
1) Be grateful. The mission was blessed with miracles and they are all due to the Lord.
2) Be smart. You used time wisely this past week. Can you continue to use the Lord's time this way. Read the White handbook monthly and obey its rules.
3) Be clean. You must think clean thoughts to keep the Spirit with you.
4) Be true. You should be loyal to the mission, to your president, to your zone, district & companion. We are a band of brothers. Do not misuse the cell phones or use text messages under any circumstance.
5) Be humble. The miracles we have experienced are because of the Lord. We are merely His servants.
6) Be prayerful. The miracles that lie ahead depend upon your yearning prayers for direction in this work.
May the Lord watch over and bless each of you as together we accomplish even greater goals in 2009.
Love, President Robison
Happy New Year to you as well! Things are slowing down here a lot but now everyone is at work all of the time trying to make up for the time they took off during the holidays.
I haven't moved in with the Frenchies yet actually. Elder Pahio, a Tahitian on the French side, had a little shoving match with some punk over there on Tuesday so they came to us that night. Elder Pahio flew out the next morning for French Guiana. Elder Lines has been with Elder Nielsen and I ever since. Elder Nielsen's family came in on Thursday afternoon so we haven't seen him very much and he was a great hindrance to the work. So it's just been Elder Lines and I for the last couple days. Our new companions get here on Wednesday. Mine is Elder Marshall.
My scripture reading has been really slow this week again. I am only in Alma 2 and Matthew 12.
The scripture of the week is Exodus 12:2. I figured that it would be appropriate considering that it was new year's this past week. By the way, we stayed up and got to see some fire works from our apartment. They were pretty lame but it was fun.
I am sorry to hear about Great-Grandma Larson but I guess that her time was up. One thing that I have learned down here is that Heavenly Father won't take anyone before their time. She lived a good life and it is time that she gets a nice rest. Besides, she is happier than we are now!
No one in our building has revieved mail since before Christmas. I am really hoping that last Christmas package comes today. I am not going to take the tree down until I get to open my presents!!!
Well, I hope to hear from you soon. Can you guys let me know how Aggie basketball is doing? I am missing that a lot!
Check it out! We finished last year with 2012 baptisms! This is a letter from President Robison:
Dear Elders,
This past weekend, the mission baptized 39 souls and confirmed 45 to start the new year! History was made at 6:24 p.m. in Crabwood Creek when the 2008th newest member of the Church was baptized. Four more members were baptized to end the year at 2012. Miracles truly brought each of us here, surrounded us this year and await us in 2009. What an incredible time to serve together in the West Indies Mission. Don't you just love this mission? The Hurrah for Israel this week says it all - a graph of the ten year history of the West Indies Mission.
Now as we look forward to this year, the question is what is the goal....let's stay the course and do our best to head towards 3000. As the year progresses the goal will materialize.
Here are a few suggestions for regrouping and making this year even better using President Hinckley's six b's:
1) Be grateful. The mission was blessed with miracles and they are all due to the Lord.
2) Be smart. You used time wisely this past week. Can you continue to use the Lord's time this way. Read the White handbook monthly and obey its rules.
3) Be clean. You must think clean thoughts to keep the Spirit with you.
4) Be true. You should be loyal to the mission, to your president, to your zone, district & companion. We are a band of brothers. Do not misuse the cell phones or use text messages under any circumstance.
5) Be humble. The miracles we have experienced are because of the Lord. We are merely His servants.
6) Be prayerful. The miracles that lie ahead depend upon your yearning prayers for direction in this work.
May the Lord watch over and bless each of you as together we accomplish even greater goals in 2009.
Love, President Robison
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