My first baptism

Hello all! Hope everything is going well back home. On 20 April 2010, our top investigator entered into the waters of baptism and made a covenant to "come into the fold of God, and to be called his people... to bear one another's burdens that they may be light... to mourn with those that mourn... and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as [a witness] of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places" (Mopsiah 18: 8-9). What a marvelous and spiritual experience it was! Our Mission President, Pres. Christison, and his wife attended with 11 brand-new missionaries straight from the Provo MTC. The Spirit was there, and the investigators who attended were touched. Elder Jefferey R. Holland estimated that something like 80% of investigators who attend someone else's baptismal service will feel the Spirit and be baptized themselves at a future date.

The work is going well. We just moved to another member's host home-- it really has a good feel to it. We are very grateful to the members of the Willow Creek ward who have consecrated their time, their energies, and their homes to this work by allowing us to live there.

Gotta go now-- lots to do. Until then, love you all. Keep up with what you're doing!

Funny Stories For April

So-- limited time this week-- gotta make it quick:

1. Conference was amazing!!! I loved all the talks (that and we had two investigators here for it!).

2. Fun story: while tracting, we knocked on the door, and a young adult (aka delinquent) answered. We could hear grumpy parents loudly asking "Who is it?" and he tried to balance a conversation between us and his loud old folks. The cat started coming for the door, and they started hollering "Cat coming!" He responded, "I know!" Either because they couldn't hear him, or because they wanted to keep warning him, they continued, "Cat coming!" "I KNOW!" "Idiot-- the cat's coming!!!" "I KNOW! JES@!* CHR$%&!!!" And then, from the missionaries: "Yes sir, that's exactly who we're talking about, sir!"

Hello all!

Well, another week has come and gone, and I am still alive. This week has been pretty uneventful-- a good portion of our investigators have gone out of town for Spring Break. As a companionship, we've been reviewing our performance and the results of our efforts as measured against the Mission President's weekly Standards of Excellence, which are as follows:

* 70 Quality Gospel Conversations (QGCs) = Teach + Testify + Invite
* 20 Sit-down lessons (SDLs)
* 20 Hours Tracting (HT)
* 10 Baptismal Invitations (aka. BIs: "As you receive a witness from God that these things are true, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding proper priesthood authority?")
* 5 investigators at Church
* 80% of Sit-down lessons (15+) as member-present lessons (MPLs)
* 20 New Investigators (NIs)

That, coupled with the standard of 2 investigators baptized and confirmed per month, and it all equals quite a hefty goal, and takes a lot of work to get to that level. We meet those standards of QGCs, SDLs, HT, and BIs, so we're doing well on the "effort" key indicators, but miserably fail at the "results" key indicators of NIs, investigators at Church, MPLs (tired of the acronyms yet? ☺), and of course baptisms.

We've been working on trying to focus our efforts on raising the bar for the areas we lack. Right now, we're putting forth a renewed determination to find new investigators. While we're still not achieving the 20 that is the eventual goal, we are trusting in the Lord to help us as we strive to push for it, and expect to see an increase as we strengthen our focus there. once we get that indicator to a maintainable, steady clip, we will redouble our efforts on another key indicator.

So that was a little dive into the logistics of missionary "return and report" numbers. Although some of those numbers seem unrealistic, we have been promised divine assistance in achieving them and that those are the possibilities for every area in the mission, regardless of the elders, the ward, or the conditions of the people in relation to the Gospel.

If it weren't for the miraculous success that this mission has seen over the past three years, I wouldn't have believed President when he said that these things are possible, but I've seen growth here from the time when QGCs seemed doomed to remain at 40 or less, and SDLs seemed perpetually stuck at 13, but as we've prayed and worked hard, the Lord has blessed us and allowed those goals to come into fruition.

There's a great quote in preach My Gospel by a General Authority (I think it's Elder Ballard) that says:

One of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work. If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit. If he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit. If he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people, and he will be happy. There will be no homesickness, no worrying about families, for all time, talents, and interests are centered on the work of the ministry. That's secret-- work, work, work! There is no satisfactory substitute-- especially in missionary work.

Well, time's up and I have to leave. Elder Andersen and I are doing well, and we will continue this marvelous work and a wonder. Enjoy Conference!

--
Elder Watkins
Colorado Denver South Mission

Happy Spring!

Well, Colorado has welcomed in the new spring with blizzards and a whole lot of wet snow. On the plus hand, though, this is fairly normal (March and April are Colorado's snowiest months), ad providing much-needed moisture. Also, weather here tends to produce 60-70⁰ days immediately following an onrush of snow ad 10⁰ weather, so it usually melts really fast. Attached is a few pics of a minor blizzard when we felt daring enough to get out our cameras. People thought we were crazy for going out and knocking doors in that weather (and by people, that includes the members who were driving by), but that's how important this message is-- even if it gets down to -30⁰ and 6 feet of snow, we will still be out there pounding on your door sharing our message (although we may elect to tract some roofed apartment complexes for part of the time).

As far as the work goes, it going forth "boldly, nobly, and independent." "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, and calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth... 'til it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in ever ear, 'til the purposes of God shall be accomplished, ad the great Jehovah shall say 'the work is done'" (Joseph Smith).

Can you tell I'm still super-pumped from Zone Conference a few days ago? =) Zone Conferences, if attended with the right spirit, are always really life-infusing to missionaries, and get them through the ext transfer.

We are very proud of our two primary investigators, who are starting to really show their commitment and faith in trying the fruits of the Gospel and keeping their commitments. If everything goes well, we should have at least one baptism coming up in April.

Last night, we got even more snow-- I'm guessing somewhere near a foot or more. We spent all night on the corner of Quebec and Dry Creek helping push cars up the slippery hills and getting them out of ice and mush. It was so good to help people in a moment of need like that. Maybe people don't like the Mormon missionaries at their front doors, but when we're behind their cars in a snowstorm, they're a bit more appreciative.

I thought of something interesting as I worked there. Many times, the cars don't see us helping them through the darkness and the heavy snow, and they just realize that there's an unexpected shove from behind when they get stuck. I remember the Willie and Martin Handcart company's experience as, when they couldn't push their carts one more step on their own frozen wintry journey, the handcart would seem to move on its own and push them. I wonder if that was from angels behind the cart, and if they felt the same joy of service that I felt last night.

I really love this work, and I hope I can stay here forever. I wonder if that's what our super-missionary role-model Ammon meant when he was brought before King Lamoni, and declared that he wished to remain in the land for "a time," and even added that he may wish to remain all the rest of his life. What dedication! Perhaps I may not wish to stay all my life (at least not yet), but I certainly don't feel like leaving anytime soon-- esp. a mere year and a half from now!

But I must put such thoughts of departure aside. I always thought they told missionaries not to count their time because they would get trunkie (always thinking and wishing for home), but for me it's just the contrary-- I keep getting terrified about how quickly time is passing, and now that I'm training my greenie "son," as usual, he makes his "father" feel really old.

Well, my time is short, and I must run and get back to work. I am so happy to serve as a missionary. I love you all, and God bless you!

--
Elder Watkins
Colorado Denver South Mission