Called to be a Zone Leader Dad

Hola Familia,

WOW!! I haven't really mentioned it to you guys before now, but the Zone in which I am in right now hasn't had many baptisms for months and months, up to even more than a year.  This last week Elder Monjarraz and I were able to help the Zone have double digits in baptisms!!  What a relief it was to see the success begin to spring forth after all the effort we are putting in.  This week we have 14 baptismal dates and 11 more possibles.  I am so thankful for the Lord's mercy that is allowing us to have this success.

There's a quote that I love and that sinks deeper and deeper into my heart as I get more and more time in the mission.  Elder Holland said, "Some blessings come now.  Some come later.  Some don't come until heaven.  However, for those that embrace the Gospel they come."  What a sweet promise made by an Apostle.  Everyday we see this apply.  When we see immediate blessings for responding to the promptings of the Spirit in the moment that we receive them or when we obediently follow the commandments although we don't know when we will see the promised blessings.  As I have embraced the gospel, my life is happier and I see it also brighten the lives of others.  Recently, I have come to love diligently searching the scriptures and finding answers through prayer and even hidden doctrine.  I have loved how studying the scriptures opens our eyes to the terrific gravity of the Atonement and necessity of not only taking the name of Christ upon us but acting as he would act.  I know and testify that daily striving to act as Jesus would brings the light of hope to our lives and an assurance of receiving the blessings the Savior has promised each and everyone of us.  We have got to keep the faith and never lose sight of that which is truly worth fighting for: our eternal potential as a family to have all that the Father has.  There is no promise more grander or of more importance.  All this and more we can have as we daily search the scriptures and pray sincerely, fervently, and intelligently.

Today we had changes and man do I have some wonderful news.  Wait,  sad news first...Elder Monjarraz was changed to another zone. I will never forget the wonderful things that Elder Monjarraz taught me, for his example, and for the person he helped me to become.  There is a huge difference between the Elder Janis before the change with Elder Monjarraz and the Elder Janis after the change.  He is and always will be a great friend.  He is so Christ-like.  Sunday night before the changes, I went to bed at 1:00 a.m. and he was still up packing.  In the morning I asked him at what time he had finally gone to bed to which he told me 3:00 a.m.  He then explained to me that he still needed to pack.  I was thinking to myself, how is it that he was up almost all night and didn't pack.  I found what he had been doing when I saw every one of my shoes shined and all my recently washed shirts ironed and hanging up.  This isn't the first time he did something like that for me.  Things like that made a lasting impact on me!  He also helped me overcome hurdles I thought almost impossible to overcome.

HAHA, so now for the wonderful news.  I was called to be a Zone Leader dad!  That means I will be training a new zone leader and showing him the ropes.  Not only that but I was also given two new district leaders in the zone who have never interviewed before and the responsibility to train them too.  With only one transfer as a Zone Leader I would be honest in saying that a certain thought crossed my mind: Am I capable of this?  If there is anything the mission has taught me (well, one of the million things I have learned) is that some one the Lord calls, he also qualifies.  I will be faithful holding to that promise because man do I have some great work ahead of me!  My new companion will be a huge help!  He is Elder Sanchez Zapata from Tabasco, Mexico.  He is a super consecrated missionary and has tons of potential.  He also has come to the table with tons of great ideas.  I know we will make a great team!

Well, things are going great! We have an amazing family preparing for baptism this coming Sunday and I look forward to also having another family work out for this Sunday also.  Many miracles are in the making and I couldn't be more thankful for the Lord's love and trust.  I love all of you so much and hope you are all doing well!

Love,
Elder Janis

Will you trust in God and be baptized this coming Sunday?

Hola Familia,

 

So as I said in my letter last week we planned to do tons of exchanges and that is what we did this week!!  It turned out to be a wonderful week where we saw many miracles.  Some of the companionships in the Zone hadn't baptized and after doing exchanges we were able to let them see miracles and almost everyone baptized this last week!

 

One of my favorite moments was when a companionship made an appointment for me to interview a guy who told them he wasn't going to get baptized anytime soon.  He was the only hope they had to baptize this week and so I decided to go ahead and give the guy an opportunity in the interview.  It turned out to be one of the most spiritual interviews I have ever had in my entire life!  I think what he really needed was someone that would listen to him and that's exactly what I had the opportunity to do.  He told me about the problems he was recently facing and about dreams he had had and many other things.  Usually we try to make the interviews short and powerful but I felt impressed to just let him go at it.  When I had the chance I would relate anything he had said to baptism and the blessings that it would bring to his life.  I testfied and felt my mouth filled as to know just what to say and to promise him.  In the end he agreed to be baptized but did not want to do it for a couple of weeks.  I shared with him a couple scriptures about not waiting to act upon things such as this and then felt impressed to have him pray.  That is exactly what we did and in that moment he prayed and asked God.  There was a powerful feeling of peace and assurance that felt as if we were both in a bonfire.  I think of it as something like in Helaman 5.  I then told him "As a Representative of Jesus Christ, I testify that we both just felt the will of God.  You must get baptized this coming Sunday.  Will you trust in God and be baptized this coming Sunday?"   He looked at me as we both felt the intense peace and looking me right in the eyes said "I will."  WOW, I will never forget that moment.  What was equally special was see the faces of the Elders for whom I had done the interview.  They were so surprised and SOOO happy.  There is nothing more satisfying than seeing the other Elders in my zone have success, see miracles, and prayers answered!

 

Wow, so I actually don't have anymore time to write anything else.  I am doing great and loving the experience of being a Zone Leader.  I am looking forward to another week full of exchanges!  I hope you all have a great week and I really appreciate the letters you are all sending me!

 

LOVE,

Elder Janis

Unity in Feeling the Spirit

Hola Familia!

WOW what an excellent week!!!!!!  To start off the week Elder Monjarraz and I organized a soccer game with the Zone and it turned out super fun.  We are pretty united as a Zone and we had a lot of fun together.  HAHA, while I was playing I thought that I would get fancy...when the ball came towards me I lifted my foot up to bring it down trying to time it just right to send it into the goal.  However, when I brought my foot down I ended up slipping and falling splat on my back.  I instantly got back up and started playing but about busted my head open all over the concrete...Thanks for all of the prayers of protection!! :)  Yeah so I am more than fine just super grateful nothing serious happened!

Speaking of gratitude for your prayers on my behalf, Elder Monjarraz and I have tons of unity in feeling the Spirit.  When we feel something and voice it about 80% of the time we are feeling the same thing.  This has never happened before but man have we had some powerful experiences seeing the Spirit work in our daily labors.  Anyways, the other day we were walking home at about 9:30 pm when we felt super strongly we should not be walking in the path we were walking.  We decided to go home another way and instantly we felt better.  Who knows what could have happened but I am so grateful for the prayers and protection the Lord is sending me from your guy's faith.  THANKS!!

On Tuesday, I had my first Zone Leader Conference.  What a blessing it is to have the experiences the Lord is blessing me to have.  The Conference was so great!  We meet together, talked about the progress of the mission, ideas to make things better, and President shared a super spiritual message that has changed my life.  I realize that I don't have that much time left here and I have many goals.  One of the most important to me is to come home converted; converted to the gospel, the Lord, and His Church.  That's really the core purpose of missionary work and if I am going to sacrifice two years of my time why not get EVERYTHING I can out of it?  That's my plan.  I am counting down my days and treating my mission time like a track race.  That last lap is going to be where I run the fastest and hardest I ever have in my life!  I am on that last lap and I WILL give it all I have got and more.  Cheesy, I know, but it is helping me stay focused and work harder than ever!!

This last week we made a record of baptisms they tell us in the ward!  We had a baptism on Friday night for a teenage girl named Paola and it was packed with her friends.  She was crying throughout the baptism and her friends that are members bore their testimonies and she was just SOO happy.  On Sunday, we had the baptisms of Paty and Paco (a young couple we found knocking doors and are probably the most golden investigators I have ever had) and Francia and Lorena (cousins we found this last week who had been to church many times but just needed a spiritual experience to help them make the decision).  The service was super special and Elder Monjarraz and I sang "Nearer My God to Thee" and it turned out wonderfully.  What a blessing it is to do the Lord's work!

Well, this next week I am going to be spending a lot of time outside of my area in interchanges to help some struggling Elders in the Zone.  This is a part of my assignment that I really love and I look forward to the opportunity to lift some discouraged missionaries and help them see some miracles!  I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

Love,
Elder Janis

Trials humble us...

Hola Familia,

My thoughts this last week have centered on conversion.  The mission/life is a refiner's fire that purifies and cleans.  The high heat of afflictions and adversity won't consume me but rather will serve to burn off all the impurities and weakness that I have.  I found a scripture this morning that really opened my eyes to how I should react to trials.  In D&C 112:13, I learned that the burning off of weaknesses and impurities isn't magic.  Trials humble us and help us realize that which we can get rid of, what is weighing us down, and hindering our ability to draw closer to our Heavenly Father.  I read a talk the other day about how sometimes we pray to get out of the trials we have in life.  However, that would ruin the whole purpose of the trials.  The Lord knows that a little pain now will serve for protection and avoidance of a lot more pain in the future.  The Lord will bless us with the help we need to overcome the trial, receiving the experience and knowledge that will serve us in this life and in the eternities.

Judging by what I just wrote you are all wondering if I had a rough week!!  HAHA, is was pretty trying but a wonderful chance to burn off what is really not worth having and an opportunity to become more like Christ!!  We had a family of 5 that was going to get baptized but they weren't going to be able to complete 100% of the commandments and so we had to hold off the baptism.  This week we hope to help them make the necessary changes in order to be baptized this coming week!!

We had a miracle on Monday in which a family opened the door and told us that they knew we were coming.  They even told us that they knew we were representatives of Christ before opening the door!! How cool is that!!  Honestly, I was kind of like..."How does that work?!"  But, hey the Lord definitely prepared this family!  They came to church on Sunday on their own and are happily preparing themselves for baptism this coming week!

I had the chance two times this last week to be in Stake Presidency meetings with President and WOW was that a great experience.  There are many amazing examples to me in the Church and President is such a spiritual powerhouse (I cannot think of a better way to put it :) ).  I really enjoyed learning more from him!!  We also have a Zone Leader Council this coming week and I am excited to learn more from him and the other zone leaders.

We have 9 people this week preparing for baptism and I have a lot of hope for SUPER success this week!  I love you all lots and lots and hope you have a SUPER week!!  HAHA, by the way the word SUPER is a word the really rich people say here!!  HAHA, it made me laugh when I learned that!!

LOVE,

Elder Janis

Opening the area has been a little rough

Hola Familia!

So I planned out P-Day better and now I have the whole alloted time instead of the couple minutes I have had other Mondays.  Things are going so wonderfully; I love the opportunities the Lord has been blessing me with!  I mean, I am learning and growing like crazy.  Elder Monjarraz is exactly the companion that I have needed becuase I am finally learning how to really get lost in the work.  Like I said in the last letter we are literally running from place to place, teaching some of the most powerful lessons of my life, and finding the elect of God. 

Opening the area has been a little rough.  We have spent many hours knocking doors and talking to people in the streets and I have never received so much rejection.  However, one morning I was reading in my personal study about faith and how it is a principle that brings about the miracles.  I read in Ether 12:6 about how the testimony comes after the trial of faith.  I then remembered something that I had heard one time that in order to accomplish great big things we need great big faith.  I then started thinking about how we have a goal to baptize tons here in Santa Cecilia and in order to acheive the goal I need to adquire the faith necesary.  I then put two and two together and realized why things were happening like they were here.  We have a great big goal.  Right now I don't have the faith that is necesary to acheive it.  The Lord permits the trials of my faith and everytime I overcome a trial my faith grows and grows until I have the faith necesary.  I then had a great time being rejected, spit upon, and made a hiss and a byword because I knew that overcoming the trials would bring great rewards!

Amazingly that is exactly what happened! :)  About mid-week, the Lord blessed us with the opportunity to find someone to baptize and we found a HUGE family that came to church with us this last week!  Elder Monjarraz and I were walking on water with happiness as we realized the Lord had found us worthy of the blessings after overcoming the trials.  What a sense of peace and love from God I felt after reaching that conclusion.  I felt a satisfaction that fills you to the brim and that makes all the pain and effort worth it.  HAHA, I have to admit...it is addicting!!  Oddly, before the mission I don't think I could have seen me come home exhausted and spiritually spent grinning from ear to ear.  Sounds super cheesy but that is literally how I feel everynight coming home.  There is nothing more satisfactory than giving all that I can in the Lord's work!

MIRACLE:  We were teaching a new family that we found when one of the older kids came crying into the room with her fiancé yelling behind her.  The whole family was shocked, got up and left except for the mom of the family and the young couple.  Not knowing what to do, we just sat there and after we didn't go at first I felt that we should stay.  Not knowing why we were to stay I sat there listening.  Quickly the situation began to heat up and the young couple were talking about separating and the mom was saying tons of not so great things...the spirit in the room was dark and oppressive.  We waited for the moment to break and when it came we started to talk about the family and helping them realize the importance of forgiveness and repentance.  The Spirit filled the room, some were crying, and we finished with the problem solved.  The Spirit had resolved the problem in such a way that the couple had decided that they would get married and the rest of the family decided to get baptized  this coming week!!  As Elder Holland would say, "that was definitely a situation where a representative of Christ was needed."  I would never have known what to say but the Lord filled our mouths and miraculously the problems were fixed and we have baptisms for the coming week!!

Love,
Elder Janis

AMAZING EXPERIENCE

Hola Familia,

 

Wow, I absolutely don't have any time to write this week!  I am SOOOO sorry!  We are getting the hang of the area and zone and will be able to plan better the next P-Day.

 

I have never been so tired in my life!  I mean, I am literally running from appointment to appointment and contacting almost everyone that passes on the street.  I then get home and have the opportunity to plan for the next day and plan for the Elders in the Zone.  Being a Zone Leader is so beautiful.  I get the opportunity to serve and love 18 Elders and have had amazing morning studies in which I have received revelation from God to share with particular elders or the zone.  We are having tons of success and I wish I could tell you all about it.

 

AMAZING EXPERIENCE:  We were walking down a street we felt impressed to be walking down when we heard a young mother screaming, running down the street with her baby in her arms.  My companion told me, hey we should go and see if we can give a blessing.  We ran behind them and after they had entered into the doctor's office we presented ourselves and offered to give a priesthood blessing.  In a super stage of shock, they accepted and I ended up doing the blessing.  As I put my hands over the baby's head his eyes were crossed and he was rigid from not being able to breath.  I felt a super calm feeling and started the blessing.  I felt super sure and a very clear impression that I must bless the baby with an immediate recovery and that he would be healed in the moment.  As the words came out of my mouth the baby began breathing again!  WOW, what a miracle and such an amazing blessing to be a part of.  There is no doubt in my mind that we Priesthood holders really do have the power of God.  We MUST be worthy of such a huge blessing at all times!

 

Well, sorry for so little of a letter!  I love you and hope you all had a wonderful week!!

 

LOVE,

Elder Janis

Opening a New Area

Hola Familia,

 

Wow, I cannot believe the opportunity the Lord has trusted me to have!   This last Saturday night I was in a lesson when I got a call at about 8:30 at night from President Villareal.  He informed me that Monday morning, today, I would be going to a new area to open it with another Elder and that I would be assigned to be a Zone Leader...wow am I excited!!  He sent me with Elder Monjarraz from Sinaloa, Mexico and he is so great.  We are opening an area which means we have to learn the area together but also the President sent us to lead a Zone that has been known to have a couple of problems.  However, the district leaders that we have here are great, all super diligent and I know we will see many miracles this next week.

 

I was sad to leave Parque Via which was by far the best area of my mission and where I grew so much.  I am so thankful to the Lord for the opportunity that I had there!!  I am excited for the new trials and all the growing that I will do here.

 

Sorry I can't write too much...we have got to get going with making plans for the zone and working the new area!!  I AM SO EXCITED!!!

 

Love,

Elder Janis