#49 - What a WEEK!

​Last Monday after we got home from the hour drive to Mishawaka we all decided we wanted to grill some chicken on the new grill Elder Barbosa bought. And so that is what we did:) The chicken was all good and tasty... except a few minutes later as we were enjoying the chicken we get a knock at the door. It was the neighbors telling us the dumpster was smoking! Apparently on of the four missionaries who were there, me, Elder Stallings, Barbosa, and Ahlstrom, had thrown the hot coals we used into the dumpster not thinking anything of it hahahah! I wont name names of who did it but lets just say 5 fire trucks and 2 cop cars later the fire was out. What an adventure! It wasn't as bad as it sounds mom:)

In the zone meeting we had this week President wanted us to stress how important it is to get back to the basics! It is all about Preach My Gospel and the scriptures. In one of Elder Bednars talks that I listened to he said, "The difference between the skilled and the unskilled are the fundamentals." The principle is simple and true for anything in life. Even prophets of old understood this! Alma 37:6.

This weekend we had some great miracles. One of which is that our investigators attended church with us! Yesterday after church we decided to stop by a lady we helped move a few weeks back. As all 4 of us knocked on the door I realized it was the wrong apartment! Elder Ahlstrom and I luckily slipped away before the door opened. We kept walking on and found the lady we moved walking her dogs. We had a great talk and she told us she has a very nice neighbor that she thinks we could meet. We went and knocked on his door and when he opened up he immediately let us in. Omar is the coolest guy ever! He has had a hard life and was so prepared. While we were sitting on his couch talking we hear another knock at the door. It was Elder Stallings and Barbosa, they were tracting hah! He invited them in as well and we had a big gospel discussion for an hour. The work is speeding up around here!

Maggie is still working towards her baptism in a few weeks. She has read the Book of Mormon 2 times in the last 3 weeks! She soaks everything up like a sponge.

We found a man named Akeem the other day. His wife was a bit standoff-ish but as we got talking both of them opened up. Apparently she had some misconceptions about the church and after we cleared them up they were very friendly. They just had their 3th baby boy and their goal is to have their own basketball team ha. Their sons are going to be big!

The other day while we were tracting we could hear thunder storms above us and knew it was about to rain haaard. We prayed that it wouldn't rain on us and we kept going. Sure enough the second we sat down in our car, it came dooown!! The rain storms here are so cool, but not when you get stuck in them!

Oh and btw, "There will be no hard feelings in heaven"

God speed :)

894 1/2 West Shore Dr.

Culver, In 46511

#48 - Greetings from the lake view of my apartment in Culver, Indiana!

Last week was the last week of the transfer! President called us Saturday and told us that we are both staying for another 6 weeks!

Our teaching pool has blown up the last few weeks compared to when we got here. We are still preparing Maggie for her baptism on the 7th. she has accepted all the commandments and is going strong! Tiffany and her two daughters have been going through some rough times and want to turn to the Lord. She invited 3 friends to church on Sunday! She was so excited to finally come. We had a lesson at church Wednesday night with her and one of her friends. They were planning on coming to church but something came up and their ride couldn't make it to pick them up... so I pray next week they will make it! Charlene also came to church again. She is a FUNNY black lady!!! Oh my word she has me crying from laughing so hard. I called her up Saturday to make sure she was coming to church and she talked for at least 20 min to me on the phone about her spiritual experiences. She said the other night after she was read the Book of Mormon she night couldnt sleep. The spirit overcame her and she felt like shouting for joy! She said she almost called me right then at 3 am to tell me about it. Hahaha.

We also found 3 very solid people while tracting this week. Anthony is about 30 years old and has 2 kids and a wife. He is looking for a church and is interested to learn more. We also tracted into Dorthy. A few years back she lived by a set of sister missionaries who would come over and help her in her garden. She had never came to church with them, but lately she has felt the impressions of the Holy Ghost that she needs to start going. We had a very good lesson with her and she knows that it is time to come. Oscar is from Honduras and moved to America 15 years ago. He has a big heart and a few members of the church in his family back in Honduras. When we first met him and he found out we are missionaries he immediately invited us in to talk with him! 

In my studies this week I was learning about Applying the Atonement. That seems to have been the theme for this transfer. How to find strength through the Atoning Sacrifice of our Savior. I was studying about the people of Alma and how Amulon was persecuting them. They were to be put to death if they prayed! So great were their afflictions, but they held strong to God and prayed mightily for strength. The scriptures say that the Lord gave the strength to bear their burdens. They submitted cheerfully with patience. Mosiah 24: 10-16. I invite you to pray for strength to bear your burdens with a cheerful heart through your trials. 

Random Stuff

While tracting Tuesday, Elder Ahlstrom was stung by a wasp! We were waiting at the door when all of a sudden I hear him yell, "Ouch!" I turn around to see him holding his chin. I look up to see a huge nest! Haha! We ran for our life! It was a good memory :)

I have been inspired to buy a "tracting yoyo" and it makes tracting super fun hah! hopefully i get really good and when i come home have a few sweet moves:) 
Love,
Elder Coon

Dear  Dad

 That is a great talk! you are very active in the stake calling! i sure miss moms sunday dinners! and every dinner she has ever made! the only person who has been able to come close to moms cooking is sister griesemer from my last area haha. im glad grandpa came by for dinner. he is a character! adam is a good kid, i hope he will get the health problem figured out asap so he can get back out here! my comp has struggled a bit on his mission with his confidence. he doesn't talk very much and has been a bit of a challenge. door steps he stays very quiet, and during lessons i'm lucky to get 3 words out of him. BUT i do love him and he has improved so much this transfer. before he was with me he was a service missionary working in the office, so he didn't really teach much. We are working with learning the restoration lesson right now. i have understood why we are to go 2 by 2 to preach the gospel! It makes things so much easier!! we got transfer call Saturday and we will both be staying. i know it is the best thing for both of us, i have learned so much this last transfer!our teaching pool has blown up the last few weeks compared to when we got here. We are still preparing maggie for her baptism on the 7th. she has accepted all the commandments and is going strong! Tiffany and her two daughters have been going through some rough times and want to turn to the Lord. She invited 3 friends to church on sunday! She was so excited to finally come. We had a lesson at church wednesday night with one of the friends. They were planning on coming to church but something came up and their ride couldn't make it to pick them up... so i pray next week they will make it! charlene also came to church again. she is recovering from an alcohol addiction and an abusive husband. she is a FUNNY black lady!!! Oh my word she has me crying from laughing so hard. I called her up Saturday to make sure she was coming to church and she talked for at least 20 min to me on the phone about her spiritual experiences. She used to go to a baptist church, hallelujah! She said the other night she read the Book of Mormon and that night couldn't sleep. The spirit overcame her and she felt like shouting for joy! She said she almost called me right then at 3 am to tell me about it. Hahaha.

#47 - Hello my family and friends!

This week has been a good week! It hasn't been too hot, at least not like back home! When I tell people out here I am from AZ they look at me like I'm crazy to live somewhere that is that hot. But they are the ones that live in negative degree weather! Now that is insane! Hahaha but gotta love em:)

Last Monday we had a big combined zone basketball tournament and cookout. It was sweet! And so much fun that we are doing it again today:)

Maggie is doing so great! We met her last Friday, had a great lesson Saturday, and she came to church Sunday. She loved it!! Last Sunday when we visited her and I felt prompted to challenge her to read the whole Book of Mormon in a week. She laughed and said, "Challenge accepted." Yesterday at church she had told me she completed the challenge!! Maggie has seriously been a miracle for us, the branch, and everyone around her. The week before we met her she was in a serious car accident and was lucky enough to live with only a hurt knee. The doctor told her that she had a torn meniscus and that it would require surgery. We have been praying for a quick recovery so that she will be able to reach her goal of being baptized in 3 weeks. On Saturday they took more xrays of her knee to find out it had healed 4 times the speed it usually does. The doctors call it a miracle, we call it faith! In the true church of Christ you will find that just like in times of old, the Lord performs miracles with those who have faith. She has had countless experiences like that recently. I testify that "Through faith, men work mighty miracles." (Mosiah 8:18) 

The members of our small branch are catching the fire of missionary work! Yesterday we had 4 people at church! Members are inviting their friends and family to church and it has brought a strong spirit to the branch. One particular lady who came is named Charlene. Her 2 sons have been going to scouts now with a few of the boys in the branch, and she was invited by Sister Cantarro to come to church! She absolutely loved it! In the gospel principles class we had a great discussion. Maggie was able to bear her testimony of her experiences as she has read and felt the spirit testify to her of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. It touched Charlene and she was so excited to begin reading herself. We will be visiting her and her family tomorrow to teach her! 

I had the opportunity to teach gospel principles yesterday. "Our willingness to sacrifice is an indication of our devotion to God." We must be willing to say, Thy will be done. As a test of Abraham’s faith, the Lord commanded him to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice. How painful would that be? The Lord was there to test Abraham and his faith. Because of that test, his seed was as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore. "The harder the test, the greater the reward for passing it." What are you willing to sacrifice for the Lord? 

Lastly, there is a great talk by Elder Bednar called, In the Strength of our Lord. The atonement allows men and woman to go from bad to good, then good to better. I encourage you to study the enabling power of the atonement and learn to use it!

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/david-a-bednar_strength-lord/ 

This is the last week of another transfer, wow it flies by!