Sorry everything is so short today-- we only have a few minutes until our ride (The Zone Leaders) need to go.
First, the most important news, it has been confirmed that next time I email, I will be emailing from a Gmail application! Yay!
On a more focused note ☺, transfers are tomorrow, and I will be getting a new companion here in Willow Creek. My good, hard-woking Canadian companion, Elder Romeril has finally succumbed to his headaches and accepted President's suggestions (which has been made 5 times so far) to leave the mission on honorable medical release.
So that makes 3 companions in one transfer (6 weeks): Elder Finch, Elder Chapman, and Elder Romeril.
Our investigators are making wonderful progress (more than they themselves probably realize), and they're slowly but surely gaining a testimony of the Restored Gospel. Hopefully, they will accept the invitation to be baptized within the next several weeks.
That's all I have time for today-- the book is blue, and the Church is true. =)
Love you all, and have a good time!
--Elder Watkins
Colorado Denver South Mission
Hi all:
Well, here we go again-- another week to report:
So I am now paired with Elder Romeril, a former Zone Leader from Calgary, Canada. He's a hard worker, and very obedient to mission rules. It's fantastic to see how persistent he is in talking to people. He manages to get a quality gospel conversation with even the most stubborn of contacts, and always seems to have a smile. The only downside to him is that he's a big headache... literally. The poor kid has been suffering with a serious headache he contracted in September of last year, and none of the numerous doctors have been able to pinpoint the cause. So, when it gets really bad, we end up spending a good portion of our time inside with him moaning under a blanket. Sometimes, he forces himself out to work notwithstanding. Please keep him in your prayers.
We're still working with the same investigators that we were working with last week, but some of them are hitting a wall. By far the most necessary and frustrating difficulty as a missionary (and thus envelopes an entire chapter in the Preach My Gospel manual) is getting people to make and keep committments. People usually don't take this message seriously. Many investigators just enjoy hanging out with "those nice Mormon boys," and they listen to the lessons, but they don't ever seriously consider the implications of what we are teaching.
We are sharing the message that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father, who from the beginning of time has shown His love for all people by speaking to men and revealing His plan, His Gospel. He has called Prophets in ancient days-- all pointing towards the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. Shortly after Christ's death, the people once again rejected His Gospel, and His Church was lost from the Earth, but God has spoken again through the mouth of a living Prophet, testifying of Jesus Christ. We claim that our Church is the very Church of Jesus Christ restored again to the Earth, and that God speaks to men today through a prophet.
If what we are teaching is true, it is by far the most important message to come to the Earth since Christ declared that He was the Savior of the world. And yet people usually don't get it. Revelation, Priesthood, Restoration, the Church of Jesus Christ again upon the Earth, and all we get is a "Oh, well, isn't that nice?"
I hope that we can help people to see that. Maybe they may not think it's true, but at least we can help them see the importance of such a message.
I, however, know that what we share is true, that God has indeed spoken again, and reached out ot His children in love, and that all will eventually have the opportunity to either accept or reject this glorious message. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
--Elder Watkins
Colorado Denver South Mission
Well, here we go again-- another week to report:
So I am now paired with Elder Romeril, a former Zone Leader from Calgary, Canada. He's a hard worker, and very obedient to mission rules. It's fantastic to see how persistent he is in talking to people. He manages to get a quality gospel conversation with even the most stubborn of contacts, and always seems to have a smile. The only downside to him is that he's a big headache... literally. The poor kid has been suffering with a serious headache he contracted in September of last year, and none of the numerous doctors have been able to pinpoint the cause. So, when it gets really bad, we end up spending a good portion of our time inside with him moaning under a blanket. Sometimes, he forces himself out to work notwithstanding. Please keep him in your prayers.
We're still working with the same investigators that we were working with last week, but some of them are hitting a wall. By far the most necessary and frustrating difficulty as a missionary (and thus envelopes an entire chapter in the Preach My Gospel manual) is getting people to make and keep committments. People usually don't take this message seriously. Many investigators just enjoy hanging out with "those nice Mormon boys," and they listen to the lessons, but they don't ever seriously consider the implications of what we are teaching.
We are sharing the message that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father, who from the beginning of time has shown His love for all people by speaking to men and revealing His plan, His Gospel. He has called Prophets in ancient days-- all pointing towards the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. Shortly after Christ's death, the people once again rejected His Gospel, and His Church was lost from the Earth, but God has spoken again through the mouth of a living Prophet, testifying of Jesus Christ. We claim that our Church is the very Church of Jesus Christ restored again to the Earth, and that God speaks to men today through a prophet.
If what we are teaching is true, it is by far the most important message to come to the Earth since Christ declared that He was the Savior of the world. And yet people usually don't get it. Revelation, Priesthood, Restoration, the Church of Jesus Christ again upon the Earth, and all we get is a "Oh, well, isn't that nice?"
I hope that we can help people to see that. Maybe they may not think it's true, but at least we can help them see the importance of such a message.
I, however, know that what we share is true, that God has indeed spoken again, and reached out ot His children in love, and that all will eventually have the opportunity to either accept or reject this glorious message. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
--Elder Watkins
Colorado Denver South Mission
Hello all!
Well, this week certainly has been a busy one! Unfortunately, there were some changes in the companionships in the mission, and Elder Finch ended up leaving this area. Elder Chapman (part of my MTC group) was transferred in. What to our surprise when just last night the Assistants called us again and informed us that Elder Chapman would again be transferred back to his area in University Hills, and I woudl receive another companion-- Elder Romerol (being shipped in from his area of Baggs, Wyoming). It should be interesting. We'll see how it goes and how permanent it will remain. I'm hoping there aren't any more changes. The ward here has seen three companion changes in one month!
We also have a really good new investigator! We taught her last night. She has been working with the elders in an area where her friends live, and attending Church there, but President is insistent on investigators being taught in the area in which they reside, so after a few months of instruction there, we now get to teach her. She's making wonderful progress (though perhaps she doesn't see it yet), and we have high hopes for her. Her case really shows the importance of having a strong foundation of members fellowshipping their friends and inviting them to Church!
That's about all I have to report today. I will hopefully have more to report on next week.
Love you all!
--Elder Watkins
Colorado Denver South Mission
Well, this week certainly has been a busy one! Unfortunately, there were some changes in the companionships in the mission, and Elder Finch ended up leaving this area. Elder Chapman (part of my MTC group) was transferred in. What to our surprise when just last night the Assistants called us again and informed us that Elder Chapman would again be transferred back to his area in University Hills, and I woudl receive another companion-- Elder Romerol (being shipped in from his area of Baggs, Wyoming). It should be interesting. We'll see how it goes and how permanent it will remain. I'm hoping there aren't any more changes. The ward here has seen three companion changes in one month!
We also have a really good new investigator! We taught her last night. She has been working with the elders in an area where her friends live, and attending Church there, but President is insistent on investigators being taught in the area in which they reside, so after a few months of instruction there, we now get to teach her. She's making wonderful progress (though perhaps she doesn't see it yet), and we have high hopes for her. Her case really shows the importance of having a strong foundation of members fellowshipping their friends and inviting them to Church!
That's about all I have to report today. I will hopefully have more to report on next week.
Love you all!
--Elder Watkins
Colorado Denver South Mission
Hello all!
Hope all is going well wherever you are! Happy new year! I hope 2010 treats you all well.
Here's a quick update of what's going on in our area: We're continuing to teach the friends of a recent convert. They're pretty solid: one is a Christian and the other is a Muslim. They're both reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible, and by so doing are coming to gain a witness that they're indeed the Word of God. I expect we may very well have a convert or two by the end of the transfer (Jan 28).
The below-negative-10 weather we had several weeks ago looks like it's coming back, and we'll be back real soon to "nose-hair-freezing cold." Oh, the fun of living in Denver!
Today we were assigned to work in our new mission office. FYI: All packages, letters, or other are to be sent there exclusively from now on. The address is 999 E. Tufts Ave, Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113.
Still no progress on switching the Church email client to Gmail, so expect dropped messages and faulty delivery until then.
Speaking Google, we went to the mall on Tuesday, and the guy at the Qwest kiosk demo'd the new Google Android smart phone to us. He showed us how the Google app works by doing an image search from the built-in camera, and running a Google image search on it. It was pretty neat to see him use camera pointed at the mall's shops' logos to pull up the websites for the stores, and so I had him take a picture of my tag. Sure enough, the phone immediately pulled up this blog-- it was so cool!I might get an Andriod when I get home (and they're cheaper).
Anyway, cool story done, back to missionary work-- The Willow Creek Ward is awesome! I've never seen such a missionary-focused ward ever-- they really know their duties as member missionaries, go above and beyond our expectations in helping us out. I'm grateful that the Lord has sent me here to serve, and I look forward to continuing to work in this wonderful area.
I know this Church is true, that Joseph Smith was another Prophet called by God to lead God's Church, and that through Jesus Christ, we will all be able to live again, and to keep working and growing after this life. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ (which name I bear on my tag ☺), amen.
--Elder Watkins
--Elder Watkins
Colorado Denver South Mission
Hope all is going well wherever you are! Happy new year! I hope 2010 treats you all well.
Here's a quick update of what's going on in our area: We're continuing to teach the friends of a recent convert. They're pretty solid: one is a Christian and the other is a Muslim. They're both reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible, and by so doing are coming to gain a witness that they're indeed the Word of God. I expect we may very well have a convert or two by the end of the transfer (Jan 28).
The below-negative-10 weather we had several weeks ago looks like it's coming back, and we'll be back real soon to "nose-hair-freezing cold." Oh, the fun of living in Denver!
Today we were assigned to work in our new mission office. FYI: All packages, letters, or other are to be sent there exclusively from now on. The address is 999 E. Tufts Ave, Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113.
Still no progress on switching the Church email client to Gmail, so expect dropped messages and faulty delivery until then.
Speaking Google, we went to the mall on Tuesday, and the guy at the Qwest kiosk demo'd the new Google Android smart phone to us. He showed us how the Google app works by doing an image search from the built-in camera, and running a Google image search on it. It was pretty neat to see him use camera pointed at the mall's shops' logos to pull up the websites for the stores, and so I had him take a picture of my tag. Sure enough, the phone immediately pulled up this blog-- it was so cool!I might get an Andriod when I get home (and they're cheaper).
Anyway, cool story done, back to missionary work-- The Willow Creek Ward is awesome! I've never seen such a missionary-focused ward ever-- they really know their duties as member missionaries, go above and beyond our expectations in helping us out. I'm grateful that the Lord has sent me here to serve, and I look forward to continuing to work in this wonderful area.
I know this Church is true, that Joseph Smith was another Prophet called by God to lead God's Church, and that through Jesus Christ, we will all be able to live again, and to keep working and growing after this life. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ (which name I bear on my tag ☺), amen.
--Elder Watkins
--Elder Watkins
Colorado Denver South Mission
Happy New Year
Happy (early) new year!
I don't have very much to report this entry, so I apologize for its shortness.
Apparently there was a mix-up with technology and my last emails didn't send. Well, I've been transferred to the Willow Creek area, and my companion's name is Elder Finch.
1.) Phone calls home were cool (we get to call home 2x a year). It was weird though-- I said, "Hi Sis. Wat.... I mean, Mom" =) It truly is different life, and I really am a different person out here.
2.) We've had a few really close scrapes with left-turning cars that don't care about pedestrian right-of-way. Jumping out of the way and narrowly missing a moving vehicle is not altogether fun, but I'll take it as a hopeful sign that something good is about to happen that someone bad is trying to prevent. But don't worry (this means you Mom and all other concerned females ☺), Romans 8: 31 says If God be with us, who can be against us?
3.) We have some investigators that show up to appointments and keep their commitments! This is a HUGE change from my previous areas, and I am excited to see them progress towards gaining a testimony!
Well, that's all for now-- I love you all, and hope your new year goes well!
--Elder Watkins
Colorado Denver South Mission
I don't have very much to report this entry, so I apologize for its shortness.
Apparently there was a mix-up with technology and my last emails didn't send. Well, I've been transferred to the Willow Creek area, and my companion's name is Elder Finch.
1.) Phone calls home were cool (we get to call home 2x a year). It was weird though-- I said, "Hi Sis. Wat.... I mean, Mom" =) It truly is different life, and I really am a different person out here.
2.) We've had a few really close scrapes with left-turning cars that don't care about pedestrian right-of-way. Jumping out of the way and narrowly missing a moving vehicle is not altogether fun, but I'll take it as a hopeful sign that something good is about to happen that someone bad is trying to prevent. But don't worry (this means you Mom and all other concerned females ☺), Romans 8: 31 says If God be with us, who can be against us?
3.) We have some investigators that show up to appointments and keep their commitments! This is a HUGE change from my previous areas, and I am excited to see them progress towards gaining a testimony!
Well, that's all for now-- I love you all, and hope your new year goes well!
--Elder Watkins
Colorado Denver South Mission
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