#71 - Freezing rain, snowball fights and Christmas

It snowed this week! I have also learned that there is such thing as freezing rain! It is horrible ha! It snowed the beginning of the week and this weekend it rained and washed all the snow away so now it is just windy and cold again :P

On Wednesday we went out tracting and about 30 minutes into it we somehow got in a snowball fight with these two 12 year old boys in the middle of the street. It was a blast! Im sure people were looking out their windows thinking we were crazy haha. After the kids were tired of getting hit with snow, we talked with them and left them a Jesus picture. Before we jumped in our car to head out I grabbed one last snowball. I made the best ball I could, and at about 20 yards away I threw it up in the air hoping to hit near them. By some miraculous power, and on complete accident, I nailed one of the boys square on top of the head!!! He came back laughing luckily and then invited us to his house a few streets over to talk with his mom! We have now been teaching her and her 2 boys and they seem interested :) The Lord sure works in mysterious ways!!

We went singing at the nursing home this week. I am sure grateful that there were a few good singers in our group because the old people loved us singing for them haha. 

We are still working with Chuck! He is so ready for baptism!! He came to the Ward Christmas party and church and the members are already great friends with him. At church yesterday he asked about what to study for our next lesson. We helped him download the Gospel Library app and I showed him Preach My Gospel online! He will now be able to study the lessons after we teach them :) To help you understand how prepared Chuck is, this summer before meeting with us he went out to Utah for a month and went through all the church tours, the temple visitors center, and even worked in the bishops storehouse!! He has a lady friend in Washington who works in the temple each week and has told him if he wants to find a good mormon wife, which is one of his goals, he must be temple worthy! He is planning on going through the temple in one year. We are setting him up to go to all the single adult activities next month. His lady friend even sent him a leather bound quad with his name on it! We enjoy teaching and learning with Chuck!

On Thursday we received a member referral for a man who lives next to one of our former investigators. After trying by the referral we stopped in to say hello to Star and Chris, the formers. We invited them to our ward Christmas party the next night..... AND THEY CAME!! They also brought their family with them. Including that family, we had 10 people at the party who we are teaching! The members did a great job at inviting them back and 6 of those people came to church yesterday.

Last night we had our stake "Why I Believe" fireside where missionaries and members bring their nonmember friends to hear the conversions of the recent converts of the stake. It is amazing to hear how the each person was prepared by the Lord to find the church. They all spoke about how they had a friend who was mormon who influenced them for the better. I pray each of us can find opportunities to be a light to all. Miracles happen when we have the faith to open our mouth and invite.

Hope you all have a great Christmas week! Love you all!

Elder Coon

2909 Traditions Ct.

Franklin, IN 46131

#70 - Where is the snow?

This week we didnt work in our area as much as we would like with all the meetings we had. Elder Dyches from the seventy came to our mission. He is a powerful speaker! Here are a few things that stuck out from zone conference and mlc

-Converts never forget "their missionaries" and we should not forget them.

-"When obedience ceases to be irritant, that is when the Lord extols upon us power from on high."

-If a leader looks down in defeat, so will everyone around them.

-Repetition is the mother of memory

Yesterday we had stake conference! You know you have served in the stake for a long time when people are called and released from stake callings and you know about half of the people! I have served in the Indianapolis stake for 9 months of my mission. The people in this area have a special place in my heart! It was great to see all the members from Greenwood.

​Fun Facts

1. Every city I've served in/around on my mission has President streets, Tree streets, Number streets, and center/main streets. Not much creativity involved with grid planning I guess haha.

2. Caviar and ginger beer do NOT go well together. I dont recommend either of them hahah

3. Shout out to my mom for being super flexible!

Love you all, have a good week

Elder Coon

#69 -Time to start filling the font! This area is LIT

This week was supa sweet!!! Thanks for all the birthday wishes, it is so much better to be 20 years old ;)

This week has been a week of miracles! We have had multiple tender mercies each day. We have met a man named Charles but he likes to go by Chuck this week. He was a referral from a member in Washington! He is so prepared! The first lesson we put him on date for baptism. He isnt married but wants to marry a mormon lady so he can be sealed in the temple. We have a good time teaching him! The goal is January 7th! 

The lady we met while we were emailing a few weeks back is awesome! She loves the broncos haha. We have been teaching her and she should be at church next week and she is praying about baptism!

Last night we went by a part member families house. I have learned to be super bold especially if we are good friends. The conversation was on the topic of personal study. Bryant wasn't getting the most out of his studies so we gave him a few tips. We invited him to read about Joseph being sold by his brothers in Genesis. The conversation turned somehow to about his vision he had of the Restoration. We related it to 2 Nephi 3 when Lehi was teaching his son about the prophecy. While we were teaching and testifying, Bryants mother Ginene was sitting on the couch with us and her eyes were locked on us. We could see her wheels turning. After a few minutes she spoke up. She said while we were teaching she felt the Spirit for the first time touch her heart and tell her that these things are true. It was a miracle! We had the opportunity to set a goal for a baptism with her. The day is Valentines Day. It is amazing how the Lord works. 3 years ago her family, including her (now ex)husband and son, took the lessons. At that time she didnt receive her answer that she needed to be baptized but now after trials and humbling experiences she feels ready. It gives a whole new meaning to trusting in the Lord and his timing. Isaiah 55:8-9. Although she has some hurdles still to overcome, through the Atonement she will have the power to fulfill the will of the Lord.

Fun Facts

1. Dean "Dino" Lark (my gator in Plymouth) was baptized on Saturday! Woot woot!!

2. I found my camera so I will be taking pics this week!

3. I recommend buying 4-5 feet of pvc pipe + nerf bullets

#68 - Still in a coma after Thanksgiving

CONGRATS BLACKHAWK FOOTBALL FOR WINNING STATE!!!!!!!

It has been a super week! On Tuesday we had transfers and I am now companions with Elder Tanner from Gilbert! It has been great fun working hard with him!! 

Thanksgiving day was one to remember for sure!!! In the morning we went to Indianapolis to the IUPUI campus and had a massive game of football with missionaries within most of the state. We had a big football tournament. It was super nice to play. I went out the Monday before and got some sweet cleats and I am sure glad I did because everyone else had some too. I was toast for the rest of the week because of how sore I was. 

THEN THE FEAST.... or 2... or 3. YES we had 3 Thanksgiving meals!!! We had one at 2 o'clock, one at 4, and one at 6... Hubba hubba! I dont' remember the last time I had so much food haha. During the second meal, I looked over to see Elder Tanner doing the same thing I was, eating everything with a gulp of water ha! I am getting really good at pretending to eat a lot. The trick is to have a small plate of food the first serving and eat reaaaaally slow, then get up for seconds so it looks like you like the food.... haha and feed the dog who is sitting under you. When the member saw that we were done with our first plate of food he made sure to make us get a second serving. While in the kitchen filling a second plate of food I couldn't stop laughing at E. Tanner who was trying to psyche himself up to eat another plate by jumping up and down and doing the "Tongan Tuck." Oh we were sick after all those meals!! Good times!

Our investigator Ryan has been super sick this week but he is a saint because he hasn't stopped reading the scriptures! This week we hope to put him on date. We are building a good teaching pool here and praying to find a family!

Fun Facts:

1. We got hooked up with a brand new 2017 Chevy Malibu to drive! Nicest car in the mish :P

2. While calling potentials in the area book this past week I had a guy start talking trash and try to meet up to fight! Hahaha so if you see us in the obituary in a few weeks you know why... lol (i'm kidding mom)

3. My good friend Jimmy from Plymouth is on fire, he is preparing to serve a mission!

ya that is dope! wf is a powerhouse in football! ohh dang that is super sad the vette was ruined!

elder tanner is sick! he was trained in martinsville, then he got redmond who trained me in martinsville. he went to greenwood 2 ward, then i went to gwd 1 ward. we have kinda followed each other around our whole mission. but he is a good kid! we have fun!! we workout/play basketball in the mornings. the church is right next door to our apt. we both like the same sports. we are pretty similar. he has 2 brothers playing byu football rn. he will be going back to try and play. 

we get a total amount of miles for the zone and we distribute the miles. so usually each companionship has about 1000-1200 miles. we allotted our self 1250. 

GUESS WHAT! we drive a 2017 Malibu! it is a suuuuuper nice car! we have a good set up that is for sure! we get some special perks when our good friend elder redmond and heimuli are aps haha.

no haven't heard from anyone out of the unusual lately.