Monday, June 24, 2013 - "Behold, I will hasten my work in its time"

Hola Mi Familia! I do agree...summer is going by super fast. We only have one week left in June and my, did it just fly by! I seriously feel like we just started June. But thank heavens we are just moving through summer. 1/3 of summer done means only 2/3 more heat.... :( So you will have to tell the Porter family thanks for my package! It was a lovely surprise and I absolutely LOVE the tie! You can NEVER have enough ties! Well this week was better. We are slowly, but surely finding new people and have a few outlooks for July baptisms! That is exciting! Hopefully we can help them progress. We had a Father's Day celebration this week and a few members brought friends and so we were able to get a few references from that as well. One of our investigators seems to be quite excited and gearing up for his baptism. Just 2 weeks left and we are just going through and review a bunch of things with him. We went with them and their family that is in our branch and we did a Family Home Evening service project Saturday Night where we just cleaned their yard getting rid of a few weeds and things. It was nice. I enjoy cleaning and seeing how things were before and how clean and nice they can be after. He is progressing well and we are getting excited for his baptism. On Thursday a couple in our ward invited over a co-worker and her family for a lesson with us. The couple is trying to get the kids to go to EFY in July and it looks like they may be going. We taught the mom, and her 4 teenage kids--2 girls and 2 boys. They were really quite neat and seemed to be a little bit interested the lesson. They don't have a specific religion. They say they don't believe in religion, but in doctrine and that in place of going to church they just study some book. They believe in God, but have a different view of Jesus Christ and call him Jesus of Nazareth and not Christ. They also don't believe in baptism which is interesting. They say that baptism is for the rebellious! Haha! We taught them about faith, and repentance and did an awesome activity showing the need for repentance and then to finish things off we watch my personal favorite, "Finding Faith In Christ". Man, does that video really work wonders! They really have a different view of Christ, but by the end of the video the mom was crying and they all seemed to like it. So we are excited to work with them and hope that they will progress. We have also been teaching a girl that is 11. A member in the branch told us of inactives that lived in front of them and so we went to visit and turns out the mom has been inactive for about 14 years and has really wanted to come back to church for a time, but has been embarrassed and not known how. We have begun teaching her the lessons and her daughter and it looks positive. We were able to help them come to church yesterday, but Priesthood got out late so we didn't see them before they left to see how everything went, but it seemed good. Ah! Yesterday was just magnificent and so special! I absolutely LOVED the broadcast! I was so into it every single second and it was so interesting! It is quite fantastic the new advances the church is making using the media and internet. We are in a tech age and even missionary work is not staying behind. Just in the past year with all these new changes and announcements of ages, and new missions, and MTCs, and such it really feels like the second coming is so near and we really need to "put in the batteries" as they say here and go working! It was so amazing to see examples of members working with the missionaries and having success. I think it was really good for our members to see that. I wish that all the members and not just the ward council would have gone. Directly after I had a few members come up to me and say "I have a few friends I want you all to teach" . It was amazing! They really felt the spirit and felt encouraged to participate in the missionary work. Now, if all members had seen the broadcast, what could have been the result. I am so glad that you all had the opportunity to see it as well and that even Alex went. I wish that Elise had gone too, but go and watch it on the church website! It was fantastic! And quite a surprise to see Mason Branning! We were in the office watching it in English and I screamed "Hey! That's my cousin!" Haha! It was funny! I especially like the video they showed of how a family in their everyday life and routine looked for opportunities to serve and share The Gospel with others. I hope that we all can be able to do that as well. Pray for special moments to help serve someone or for missionary experiences. I really feel like that is the best way to share the Gospel. It is more important who we are and what we do than what we say and often our actions speak louder than words! I hope that as a family you all can talk about this and maybe for a FHE watch parts of the broadcast again and then talk together and make a "Family Mission Plan" and make goals of things you want to do and prayerfully consider who you all can invite to share the Gospel. I would suggest invite all! Sometimes we are scared and feel like people will think differently about us, but it really is worth being scared and putting friendships and relationships on the like. We are talking about people's salvation and what could make them more happier in life. We have something so special and I feel that it is worth sharing with everyone. I really invite you all to talk about this as a family and consider what you all can do personally and together to be member missionaries! I better stop talking about it now, because I will just get carried away! But in the end, the broadcast was very special and I was glad to be apart of it. It motivated me personally and I believe the leaders and well. I like how they mentioned that it is part of the baptismal covenant we made to be witnesses in all times, all things, and all places. We made this covenant and we have to fulfill it for the rest of our lives. The Lord really is "hastening his work in its time" and the second coming is near. How privileged we are to be on earth at such a great a time as this! Well, I hope you continue to enjoy your summer and relax! I miss and love you all dearly and hope all is well. Have fun and be safe! ¡Yo sé que vive mi Señor! Con Mucho Amor, Elder Joyner