#80- RETURN WITH HONOR!

 Dearest family and friends, the time has come... two years of serving the people of Indiana with all of my heart and strength! It has been the most rewarding experience I have ever had. There is no more compelling work than this. I am amazed at the love I feel for the people and for my Savior. I know that God the Eternal Father is the Father of our spirits. Jesus the Christ lives, speaks, and leads His church. My favorite lesson to teach is the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love it so much because of the power it brings. I know it is true, time and time again that familiar spirit touches my heart and it rings true for me and those around me. It has given me motivation every day to talk with as many people about it as I can. Our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ really did appeared to Joseph Smith. The priesthood keys have been restored! I testify the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know it. It will draw you closer to God than any other book. It sure has done that for me and every single person who I have worked with.

Neal A. Maxwell once said, "The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. It is a hard doctrine, but it is true. The many other things we give to God, however nice that may be of us, are actually things He has already given us, and He has loaned them to us. But when we begin to submit ourselves by letting our wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him." The Lord has done so much more with me than I could ever have done on my own. Every good thing that has happened in my life from Him.

The area will be left in good hands. Robert, Guy, Desiree, Jasmine, and Rodney will be entering the waters of baptism very very soon. I had hoped before I left but it must be in the Lords timing not my own. 

Keys to success

1. FEAR NO MAN 

2. Follow the Spirit

3. Learn to love, love to learn

4. Never get comfortable

Fun Facts

1. I left July 29 two years ago, so on the 29th we burned our suits!

2. I have gotten very good at smelling out weed and alcohol :)

3. Every time I have been in a smoke filled room the last 2 years (which is almost a daily occurrence) I have prayed that I will not get cancer, so I am covered.

4. I have had a total of 11 companions and 5 areas. 

5. Sad to say goodbye to those here, but excited to see my family Wednesday!

God Speed,

Elder Coon

Dad - it really does feel good to have put my heart and soul into the work for a whole 2 years. the future has so much in store! i will be excited to see all of the family and friends! 

interviews went great with president. he talked a lot about dating, home teaching, college. i will have to tell you in person more of what he said. one thing about dating is to "keep it in the fire ring" haha in other words stay in the bounds of dating. pretty good advice! 

thank you for the letters every week, i am always ecxited to hear your week and insights.

cont wait to see you in a few daays!!

#79 - Email time

Here is a cool story for you this week!

We were in a small town called Dowagaic this week working. We had tracted for a few hours and were driving through town to find another spot to talk with people when I drove by a little ice cream shop. I had a random craving for ice cream. Out of the whole 2 years on my mission that was my first time I bought ice cream. Elder Richards loves ice cream so he was all for it haha! While waiting for our ice cream a lady came in the shop. We began talking with her and it was a complete miracle. She had just came back from the hospital with bad news, her health is failing quickly. She lives in another town in our area but stopped in because this is where her father would take her for ice cream as a little girl. She had just finished praying for one of the first times in her life. We had a great discussion over ice cream and left with a prayer. We will be meeting with her tomorrow night after my departing interview with President Carlson. The Lord looks out for his children. I testify of the Savior Jesus Christ and the comfort that he can give us in times of trial.

1 Nephi 1:20 “But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.” 

Love ya,

Elder Coon

can you send the pic of last night? i didn't get to see much of it. exciting stuff!!

we will be having the baptisms a week or two after i leave, they will be better prepared for it. we have 2 that will for sure be baptized. Robert is a miracle part member and guy was a miracle while tracting. both great guys.

i have a goal to wake up super early to start the day off with extra studies and a good workout. we also have a goal to put 3 more on date by the time i leave.

i cant wait to go to the lake asap!!! Dylan is a great kid snap will be fun

that scripture is so powerful. even in Christ's trial he was looking to others to serve. thanks for the insight. tomorrow is my final interview with prez... next Tuesday we go to transfer meeting and then to the temple. that night is a testimony meeting. Wednesday morning we wake up super early for the flight.

i would be so down to go to the miller raceway right when i get in!! that would be lit! the girls can come if the want too hahah. but i have a flight to az too... what ever you want i am in!

love you! i am soaking the last week up!

#78 - Fear or FAITH!

Here is an interesting story!

We called up an inactive member on Wednesday to visit him. We had heard of the man from many ward members. Seemed like a nice guy and no one knew why he was not coming to church. We went over and planned to be very bold with him as directed by the Holy Ghost. The lesson never goes as planned! He began by expressing that he doesn't believe in God or the bible because of all the error that is in it. It was a perfect transition into the apostasy and restoration. The spirit was so strong! It seemed to be tangible. He was a different person from the beginning of the lesson to the end. By the end we didn't even have to invite him back to church. He committed to us that he would read the pamphlet, Book of Mormon, pray, AND come to church!! 

The next day he did not answer our phone call so we stopped in to check on him. After some small talk we asked about his prayer. He told us there was no way he could come back. He knew he felt the spirit but after we left he didn't read and didn't pray and very quickly felt fearful and backed out!! AH! We identified the difference between FAITH and FEAR. 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Fear is the number one tool the adversary uses to tempt us! It is also the number one killer of missionaries. When he feels the feelings of fear we counseled him to do 3 things. 1. Self diagnose the feeling 2. Pray in faith to overcome it and read a scripture 3. Act on what you should. These 3 things also work for missionary work! The scripture I often quote to myself is 3 Nephi 5:13 "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." The final thing is to say out loud to yourself or your companion, "I FEAR NO MAN." As Nephi of old went to get the gold plates his brothers were afraid of Laban. Nephi bore testimony that God is more powerful than every man. I know this to be true! 

The spirit was tangible again! He said it himself he could not deny these feelings. Recommitted himself to read, pray, and come to church. Sadly the next day he called us saying he could not do this and to never contact him again. I have never seen so obvious the influence of the other side. Just as Christ is working to bring us all back to Him, there is an adversary. I testify as we hold strong and faithful we will overcome all fear we feel. Be not weary in well-doing for you are laying a foundation of a great work. Behold, the Lord requires the heart and a willing mind. 

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love, Elder Coon.

work is going strong! look up the Ricciardi Letter online. this guy is sick!! he is a legend :) i havent been looking too hard for pastors. they all turn me down when i ask for a chance to teach haha! usually they are too prideful! but i will keep looking :)

that was a fun trip!

i have been sharing the word remember 497 with all the people we teach! it has made a great impact on them, thank you!

we have had some spiritual lesson lately. man the ward counsel has really been useless if i can say so. it really doesnt get anything done! i had my last stake missionary correlation meeting with the stake prez yesterday. we talked about how to reset the tone of mcm's. make sure to focus on FINDING and TEACHING. Fellowship and action plans! constantly be evaluating your effectiveness. change when needed. It is so crutial to be effective. i just dont know how to get it across to the ward counsel. i will be talking with the high counselor about it this week, we are really tight. our ward is struggling with retention rn. 

the investigators seem to be motivated to live the gospel when they are actively learning the gospel. we begin with testifying and having the hg enter their heart. promising blessings is huge. then committing them to study when we arent there so they become familiar with the spirit. if they do not read then the next lesson we will read with them. every day it is important to stay in contact and remind them!

love you father!

funny thing happened early this morning that reminded me of when you were at girls camp! at 3 am this morning i woke up screaming in pain! CHARLIE! my calf seized up and it killed hahaha! my comp jumped out of bed. it was a complete shock lol. my calf is pretty sore this morning. good times!!

#77 - Amish country... pictures

#76 - Hello there

Not much time today! We are going to the Amish land with our good friend Scott! Her daughter was baptized 2 months ago and he is investigating! I will send the pics of what we do next week!

It was a miracle week again. On Saturday we had two spirit filled lessons. One with Desiree and Jasmine. They are loving the Book of Mormon. They had found the chapters where Christ comes to America and read from 3 Nephi 11-27! They knew the scriptures were true. They will be coming to church next week. Their baptismal date is July 29th. 

We also had a great lesson with Robert. His wife is a member. Robert was raised in foster care and has never been apart of a family. He is looking for the joy that comes from the family. It is found here! He is a miracle find. 3 weeks ago while saying our nighttime prayers on a Saturday night we prayed that someone will be directed to church the next day who has a desire to change their life and be baptized. The next day he walked into church. He has not missed a Sunday since. He is on date for July 29th as well.

Everyone else we are teaching are doing wonderful! I came across this quote the other day. President Lorenzo Snow said, “There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children” I know that is true. We are guided and directed every day and the Lord. He wants His children come home to him and we all can be his instruments in doing so. We must live worthy, sacrifice, and make a covenant with Him. As Paul once said to the Corinthians, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase."

D&C 64:33-34

wow! that is a ton of remembers! 

what has changed.... i am a whole different person. my personality is the same but i feel i have come to know who I am by coming to know who my Father is. i have remembered the spiritual experiences and simple impressions from the HG. 

How is kaleb? steele said he was coming home a few weeks early so he can go on a trip with his family to mend some relationships. it will be the only time to do so before they all leave again i guess. Glad to hear ashlyn is coming the same time!

samantha is doing great! scott is taking us to the omish country today so we will be with him all day today! we have a baptism in 3 weeks with gary. and one every week after that so far. we put another 3 on date this week! so that is 6 total right now. wow you guys in the chaparral ward need to step it up big time!! bring someone to church mom!! 

thanks for the motivation! ''what you do after you do all you can is really what counts to the Lord.'' we listened to a talk this week and the general authority said that. its true! im excited to see you! love you!

#75 -We eat, sleep, breathe the doctrine of Christ

This transfer we have prayed about our vision and goal for this area in the next 6 weeks. Our motto is "If the desire is strong enough, performance is assured." We are following Christ to victory- we will do so by 1. Sacrifice and Consecration to be strictly obedient, pray mightily, study purposefully, and expect miracles. 2. Act boldly by focusing on the progressing gators and resting the rest and contact gators daily, do something each day to result in a baptism, and reinforce the blessings of baptism including the Gift of the HG. It will be a transfer of miracles and I cant wait help my Savior in the work of salvation.

Zone conference was this week. We had several policies presented to us by President Carlson that will help us to be more effective with the time that we have. Hopefully we will be able to successfully implement everything going forward in a way that will allow us to work smart!

Church attendance yesterday was a miracle! We had 6 at church! Saturday night Samantha invited her parents, who we have invited hundreds of times, to come to church with her. We prayed all week that Scott and Elsie would come this week. When they walked in the church doors we both almost fell over! We had witnessed a miracle!! They stayed all three hours and loved every minute of it! Both of them fit right in to the ward. We have been teaching Samantha the new member lessons and silently been teaching them the lessons at the same time. They will be out of town at a family reunion next week but loved church and will be back soon! Gary came as well and is loving everything he has learned, baptism will be within the next month for him. Ray is getting back on his feet and starting with church. Robert is a part member family and in the beginning stages of taking the lessons and coming to church. Rodney is also a part member family. Saturday we had a powerful lesson with their family, focusing on repentance and baptism by following our Saviors teachings in 3 Nephi 27. He has gained a testimony of prayer and the Book of Mormon. Baptism is coming soon :)

Yesterday we had a return appointment with a man named Guy. While teaching the Restoration of the Gospel and Book of Mormon, Elder Richards and I kept looking at each other to ask ourselves if this was real... He was so prepared ha! He agreed with everything and loves the simplicity of the Restoration. He is on date for July 29th. 

Wednesday we had a great lesson at the church with Alena and 3 of her friends. Jasmine, Desiree, and Jared. Jared was really quiet but D.J. were eating everything up! They love it! We are excited to begin teaching them!

Joyce is making leaps and bounds! This last week we had a great lesson. We committed her to a baptismal date of July 22. She is now figuring out how to get work off on Sundays instead of Saturdays. She was a 7th day... but her testimony of that church is COMPLETELY shattered :) We invited her to be baptized and she responded, "Well I have been baptized?... oh but not by the priesthood! Yes!" She loves the priesthood!

Life is good and I love the work. Happy fathers day to my wonderful father. I have a great love for you. The longer I am out the more I realize that I am very much like you ha! The Savior has the power to change our lives to help us become disciple he needs us to be. 

Quote of the Week: "I hope your parents have wealthy children!"

Nasty.... gross!!!

 Car show in town...

 ​So brother Tropp just sold me his spare motorcycle.

 I will be driving this home instead of flying home.

 ​Apartment tracting

Walking to the Light...

The most confusing name for a church! 

How about just "the church of jesus christ..." -3 nephi 27​

ya we had a good laugh at grandpaDs letter. i always enjoy hearing what he has to say. we have been seeing huge growth with the people we teach. we are exercising principles of righteousness and seeing the miracles role in! i am loving my mission.

well i am staying here for my last 6 weeks! i requested this from president so i was pretty sure this is how it would end. wouldnt have it any other way :) there are probably about 7 zones in the mission. i have been a dl for 9 months and a zl for 12, 3 months to be trained. 

Thank you for the support. thanks for keeping an eye out for work for when i come home. i have a goal to make $6,000 a month when i come home! im sure i will have to work up to it but that is the goal! 

Last fast sunday there was a little girl who was 5 years old that got up and bore her testimony. it was so powerful and made a lasting impact on me. one of the most sacred priesthood duties is to be a father. while she spoke i noticed her father with tears down his face, and i knew he was a proud father. i wish to make my father on earth, and in heaven, proud! thank you for leading the family in righteousness. i have felt the strength of our family as i serve will my whole soul. I am reminded of D&C130:19-21. blessings come by obedience to specific laws. priesthood power comes as we are faithful and consecrated. 

This transfers theme we have thought up is "If the desire is strong enough, performance is assured." We are following Christ to victory- we will do so by 1. Sacrifice and Consecration to be strictly obedient, pray mightily, study purposefully, and expect a miracle. 2. Act boldly by focusing on the progressing gators and resting the rest and contact gators daily and reinforce the blessings of baptism including the Gift of the HG. How does it sound? any thing i should add?

#74 - Less actives have the worst excuses!

So we visited some less actives who promised us they would be at church. This week their excuse was, "We HAD to get the new heater in our trailer before winter hits and Sunday morning at 9 oclock was the ONLY time the guy could install it. Winter is coming FAST!" haha! Winter doesnt hit for atleast 5 months. Thought that one was pretty funny!

We were invited to a graduation party for a youth in the ward this week. There we met two twin sisters who we had a great gospel conversation with and they love the Book of Mormon! We will be meeting with them this week to teach them more. It was a miracle we met them and we have high hopes for them!

We are working with a man named Gary. He had a brain surgery a few years back to take out cancer. He is a great guy and loved church yesterday. We are also still meeting with Joyce (from Ghana). Her husband sat in on the lesson the other day and he was pretty interested! We are now teaching him too and they are learning as a family now:) We pray they will come to church this next week. 

"When you become tired of walking, then it is time to run. Study more intently, pray more earnestly, rededicate yourself to the Lord."

"Once you wear out your shoes, then you are back on your feet." 

Fun Facts:

1. This area has so many lakes around! We have set out to find a person who lives in a lake house to teach

2. We have been told by two black people this week that Jesus was black, who knew!

3. We went to a car show in town on Saturday! Thought of GrandpaD and his classic cars :) 

Here are some great talks to study!

1. Following Christ to Victory by Hartman Rector, Jr.  

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1979/04/following-christ-to-victory?lang=eng

2. Which Way Do You Face? By Elder Lynn G. Robbins

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/which-way-do-you-face?lang=eng

Sorry for no pics! Love you all! 

Elder Coon

Zone conference outline:

Stand Up and Be All In

- Ezekiel 18:21-22

What is the promise we are given? The promise requires two “alls” to receive the third “all.” It requires us to be “all in.”

-D&C 4:1-2 See that ye serve him with your heart, might, mind, and strength.

-By becoming fully committed we will become like the strippling warriors, firm and undaunted from the world. But if we are only partially committed or lukewarm (revelations 15:16) we will lose our choicest blessings.

-Share video “Your Potential, Your Privileges” or tell story of member who buys junk cars. They settle for discomfort and less.

-Discuss

-We are, in effect, settling for less when we take lightly our duty, live less than obedient to the mission standards, or even forget to involve the Lord in our work.

-Have a vision, set goals, and reach your potential. “The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going.”

-”When we are complacent with our covenants, we are complicit with the consequences.”

-In reality, it is much easier to be “all in” than partially in!

-Isa 57:20-21 There is no peace to the disobedient

-Share: Job 17:9 The righteous shall be made strong

-President Carlson said, “Stand tall, never back down from being obedient.”

-Be patient in your trials, have a positive outlook, talk good about people, defend what is right.

-These standards President has talked about are inspired. They will help us to keep in sight of our paramount responsibility to T.R.B.C.

-If you spend time with LA’s who are not keeping commitments, or doing service that does not produce missionary opportunities, it is time to reevaluate those things.

-In the premortal life we shouted for joy to come to earth and be a disciple, a missionary, for HF. We were all in.

-When you become tired of walking, then it is time to run. Study more intently, pray more earnestly, rededicate yourself to the Lord.

-Pg 2pmg Lengthen your stride. When we are exactly obedient, we can expect miracles.

-We challenge you to become the best missionary you can be.

-Who is a missionary you look up to? Elder Kapua. Alma 22 Sacrifice and make a covenant. He taught me if you would have a blessing from the Lord, put something upon the altar. Make the sacrifice. If you want to receive, you must first give. Then expect a miracle.

-This mission is the Saviors mission. I am here for Him, not myself, not my friends/family, not for President Carlson, but for my God.

-We promise if you will focus on finding, teaching, and baptizing, and will stand up and be all in, you will become the missionary HF needs you to be.

#73 From getting chased to eating

What a week! We had so many good laughs and miracles. First off, if you want to learn from my mistake I would recommend not flashing your bright lights at a random car, they might turn around and chase you down.

MLC was super as always. On the 4 hour drive down to Fishers, Elder Quick yelled, "Oh beep I forgot my suit!" The next morning we drove around to all the Goodwills in the area to find him a suit to wear for the meeting. Ha! And we found one!​

Dinner that night to celebrate to best car ride ever was Texas Roadhouse.​

We also had the opportunity while we were down to check up on Sister Banks!​

Courtney went crazy on us this week while we introduced him to the Plan of Salvation. He saw the black Jesus on the front and exclaimed, Jesus was obviously black! And it only went down hill from there. Lets just say weed and conspiracy theories don't go well together... and that the world is about to go into the 4th dimension (don't worry there are 9 dimensions).... and the andromeda council will one day need all of our support and money so the aliens don't take us over. Ha!

This week we had a lesson on Family History with Sister Phillips... you can tell how much of a help we were... :)​

We have had some huge miracles this week. The work is progressing and we are working hard. The ward is catching the fire :) And they are hooking us up with a bunch of meat so that is nice too. 

We are working with members to bring more people to the gospel. It is called "Operation New Blood," where the ward reaches out to the inactives and show they are needed in the ward, because they really are needed! They should already be doing this but by calling it O.N.B. they are getting excited. We have seen a bit of success so far so we are excited to see where things go. 

​

#72 - pictures