Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Clinton, NJ - Week 2, Week 26 Mission


Monday holidays are hard!  We didn't get this email until 5:00pm yesterday! 
Hello family!

This week has been a nice breather; finally feeling caught up on all my new responsibilities as district leader. Its really not that much stuff to do, it was just such a shock the first week and so much on top of running a new area for me. I am the youngest (mission age) District Leader in the whole mission right now. So humbled at the fact to serve my fellow men and missionaries more. Every week I have to prepare an hour and a half district meeting, make accountability calls (which is just checking up on each companionship and following up on zone goals and making new goals with them), organizing exchanges (Me going and training a missionary in their area), writing weekly reports, and being an example of obedience. Ha the last one is the hardest. Not because I'm disobedient, I just haven't learned all the specific rules yet. Usually you learn them over time with your senior companion but since me and my companion are fairly new, we have to learn it all together. Its fun though. My companion is the best and we get along super well.

We have been praying hard to find new investigators here in Clinton. When I got here, the previous Elders had worked super hard and contacted hundreds but there still wasn't much success but we have been working hard and are making more progress here. We found 6 new last week, which is actually a good amount. We have knocked tons of doors and been asking almost everyone if they know any Hispanics that would be interested in learning the Gospel. That festival thing was a great idea mom. Hopefully we could find one to go sing at. I am loving singing now, me and my companion start every companionship study off with a Spanish Hymn. It really brings the Spirit. Well this last week we have been teaching tons of Restorations in Spanish. Its some fun work. We met this man named Ne--- and he was super interested in what we had to say. He called us a few nights ago and said he had been reading the Book of Mormon. We were pumped. Investigators don't usually give us any calls back but he did, and he is reading! So cool.

We ran into this old contact a few days ago. Her name is Il---. She is 18 and living with her mom sister brother and step father. She talked to us about how her dad died a few years ago. We shared with her a quick message on her door step of the Plan of Salvation and bore strong testimony that she would see her father again. She said we could come back and see her so we are going back this week. We also started teaching her step father. His name is Ed---. He is the investigator I have been praying for. He is super prepared and accepting and did not try to fight with us but accepted the message and wants to learn more. I have some real hope for him and his family. We have been praying for them. And he started feeding us which is a good sign they like us. Ha!

We also are teaching this one man named Ge--- and wow he is the best. He absolutely loves the Bible and will do anything to discredit the Book of Mormon and our Bible. ha little does he know that our Bibles are the same Bible! So funny. He listens but he tries to check it with the Bible too much. We are trying to really get him to focus on the Book of Mormon and reading it. One of my favorite lines in Preach my Gospel says,"The Book of Mormon, combined with the Spirit, is your most powerful resource in conversion." So I try to make sure all of our investigators are reading and praying because that is really how they will be converted.

It is snowing like crazy outside right now. Its about 8 inches or so of snow. Its funny how much the town just shuts down here with that much snow. We were all grounded today, which means no driving. So we didnt get to go out much. Most of our investigators live about 4 hours away walking. We did get to shovel some sidewalks though and met with the district for a district lunch at a senior couples house. We read some awesome talks there and played some ukulele while waiting out this storm.

Ha funny you mentioned that famous red mill here in Clinton. We drive past it everyday. It looks awesome with all the snow. This place is pretty beautiful. Lots of farms and deer and trees and water. Such a different feel from the city. We are getting fed here, mainly by American ward members. Nice to have some classic American food again. The ward is super nice. The Bishop is super focused on missionary work.

Loving it out here,
Elder Sumsion

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