Monday, December 8, 2014

December 8, 2014

Dear Family,

This week went by so fast! I've said before that time seems to be speeding up every week and this one was no exception. This week Elder Poulino and I handed out little Christmas cards with the link to the "He is the Gift" video as well as our names and phone number on it. It went fairly well and people excepted them but we haven't gotten a new investigator because if it as of yet. We have appointments and plans to teach new people in the near future and I have the feeling that we will soon see the fruits of our efforts as well as many missionaries before us in the Christchurch area.

Bob is doing really well! We've seen him a lot over the past week. We taught him in a member's home on Thursday with his wife and that went really well. He's admitted many times that he knows the church is true and knows he needs to get baptized. The only thing holding him back is the fact that his wife doesn't want him to pay tithing on their money. He talked with the Bishop about what he should do yesterday so we'll see how that went. He also came to the ward Christmas party, which was a huge success, and I spent 20-30 minutes just talking to him and helping him open up to us more. He is SO close to making the commitment to be baptized. Elder Poulino and I are going to extend the commitment this week no matter what. He know's that Elder Poulino is leaving after this transfer, he's been here for 7 1/2 months, and wants him to be there when he gets baptized. So we keekp encouraging him and joking with him that he really can be baptized before then. I'm not particularly worried about him getting baptized but we are trying to help him make the solid commitment now instead of waiting another 2 years.

We were also able to set up and appointment with a former investigator that Elder Poulino taught a few months ago. Her name is Jessica and she's 18 years old. She has been taught everything and has told members that she has a testimony of the Church! The only problem has been that she works a ton and we haven't been able to teach her at all since I've been here. As soon as we get the chance we will teach her and invite her to be baptized as well. She's super smart and says she knows our Church has a feeling that no other she's been to does.

Another exciting thing is that our zone along with a couple of others are going to the London Temple tomorrow! The sad part is that we have to be on the train at 5:20 AM... But it will be well worth it. It will be nice to see people that were with me in the MTC and are at the same exact point on their missions as I am. Seeing President and Sister Millar is always nice as well!

I really thought I would get homesick around Christmas time but I haven't been too bothered by it. I've noticed that especially over the last few weeks I've grown a lot more used to being a missionary and being set apart from the world for a little while. It hit me one day how short a mission really is and how many priceless experiences I've had already! I'm so happy I get to be a missionary! It's still hard and I still wish I was home sometimes but I know that I couldn't possibly be doing anything better than being a missionary right now. In one of his letters to us President Millar said "you can never get these days back, so be careful not to waste them."

Email time is so nice because I can get updates on the lives of all those that I love back home. I'm glad everything is going well with the family. I love hearing about mission experiences from my friends also serving in other parts of the world or preparing to serve shortly. The Church is true. No matter how many atheists look down at us or yell at us on their doorstep, or how many Muslims tell us we should do ourselves a favor and read the Qur'an, or how many people tell us that they have their own religion and don't think we should be preaching to them about ours. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's Kingdom restored on this earth and is the only church that has the Priesthood Authority to act in the name of Christ and perform saving ordinances. I know it and I want the whole world to know it. It's so sad that many will reject the gospel no matter how many blessings they've received or how many witnesses they've seen of the truth.

I love you all so much and pray for you everyday!

Love you most!

Elder Draney

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