August 26, 2013

Transfers are on Thursday so we got transfer calls on Friday.  It turns out Elder Tall and I are both leaving the area and 2 new elders will be coming in to replace us.  Luckily Elder Tall and I didn't do anything wrong.  There is just a lot of stuff happening in the branch that we know about that missionaries should not know.  We are leaving to help the branch cool down a little.  Luckily we have members working with all our current investigators so we know they will be well taken care of.  Now these next 2 transfers are going to go even faster with a new zone and new companion.  I'm excited to see more of the mission and meet more missionaries.  On Saturday we had the privilege to go to Nauvoo with a recent convert and her non-member son.  We didn't go to the temple but we went through the visitors center and went to a few of the old Nauvoo houses.  It was a lot of fun!   Then at the end we watch Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration.  It was great and the spirit was strong!   One of the temple sisters talked to the non-member son for a while after and gave him a BoM to read and told him to read Enos.  He read it as soon as he got home and decided that he was going to read the entire BoM!!!   He said to his mom after they dropped us off that he felt like it was all true!!!   So excited to see the progress of others in the gospel!   This recent convert is the only member in her family and it would be SO great for her to have her son baptized!   I'm bummed that I won't be here for Quashawn and  Krystal but I know they will be baptized in the future.   I love this work and am so thankful for the comfort the spirit brings!

Love Elder Jach-Goates

August 19, 2013

We had a great week!  We were able to go on 2 exchanges with some elders.  It was a lot of fun!  On Saturday the college here in town had their move in day and all the Churchs in the area go and help the people move in.  So we went and were there from 9 till about 2:30.  We met a lot of cool people and found a potential that said he wants to come to church. Quashawn and Krystal are both doing great.  They came to church yesterday and we had a lesson with them this morning in a members home that went great.  They have been praying about being baptized on September 28th and they said they feel good about it so far.  They are still worried about getting married but they are doing awesome.  I'm super excited to continue to see them progress.    In Ames there was a boy we were teaching named Austin that was friends with a member family the Greenes.  He started emailing me a few weeks ago and said he has decided to be baptized on September 7th.  SO exciting!!  He also said he has been thinking a lot about going on a mission.  How cool is that!   He is such an awesome kid and its so great to hear that he is doing so well.

Love Elder Jach-Goates

August 12, 2013

We have had a pretty busy week.  We had a meeting an hour and 20 minutes away in Iowa City on Tuesday than a meeting 1 hour and 15 away in Osceola on Thursday than another meeting 1 hour 15 away in Des Moines on Sunday, ha ha it was a travel filled week.  We had a zone training meeting on Thursday in Osceola and it was awesome!  Such a spirit filled meeting.   The trainings were on sanctification and on helping our investigators feel and recognize the Holy Ghost.  It was related to describing and elephant to someone who has never seen one.  We decided we would just take them to Africa to see one so during the week we have received word that everyone has been taking their investigators to "Africa!" ha ha it was awesome!   We also had an amazing opportunity to teach a non-member family in a members home.  They invited them over for dinner along with us and we had a lesson on the BoM and they were reading out of it and asking questions.  It was SO cool!  They will most likely be a slower process but are such nice people that we are excited to work with them. That same member family has been trying to share the gospel with SO many different people all the time it has been great.  You will now start to see missionaries in light colored suits and without back backs.  The 1st presidency has decided that we look to much like the feds and not very approachable.  No more backpacks because we look like we are going hiking in the mountains.  We are now to use side bags or to carry our things in our hands! =) pretty crazy! This work is changing, change is part of this life.  The appearance on the church might change to remain involved in this ever changing world but one thing is for certain the Gospel standards will forever be the same.

Love Elder Jach-Goates

August 5, 2013

We were able to go to the pageant on Saturday.  The last day of it.  It was SO cool!   We went with 3 investigators.  They all LOVED it!  It was such a cool experience.  We went through the visitors center when we first got there and I got to see Sister Hall.  It was SO fun!   There were some members from one of my previous areas that I got to visit with as well.  It was such a great day! We had so much fun and the investigators were so excited.  The spirit is so strong on temple grounds and in Nauvoo.  You can feel the difference when you drive up and see the temple.  Martie, one of our investigators, noticed the different feeling she had and how happy and comforting it was.  She loved the visitors center and wants to come back when they have more time to go see all the different buildings and learn more about everything.  It was such a fun experience!   We were so blessed to be able to have all of that work out.

Love Elder Jach-Goates

July 29, 2013

It's been a crazy few weeks as you can tell as I haven't had time to write a blog post.  Last week was interviews and so we got to spend some time with President Jensen and his wife and get to know them a little better so that was great.  We had transfers but both my companion and  I stayed.  The work here is creeping along and struggles as we don't have much for member missionary work.  They are amazing at fellow shipping people as we bring them in but they refuse to help us find any new people to teach.  There are a few people in the branch that do really well and are trying their hardest to help us so that is great.  This zone is really picking up and the district leaders are really changing and striving to help in any way possible.  Elder Firth, our district leader has changed SO much.  It's been great to watch as he opens up and gets excited about the work and about helping the district.  We have one family who has recently started coming back to church and is SO awesome!   They are working with their neighbors across the street and invited us and them to the circus as a fun activity to break the ice so that should be fun.  Their neighbors are a really nice family and would fit right in the branch.  We have been looking for opportunities to serve them and help in any way they need so we mowed their lawn and gave them our number for anything else they need.  Things are going here just wish it was a little faster! =)

As we strive for excellence the battle is hard but once we are there and look back we can live with no regrets and full of gratitude for what that journey taught us!

Love Elder Jach-Goates

July 9, 2013

As for the mission it was another busy hectic week with the 4th of July and zone conference! We had a ward talent show and picnic on the 3rd Elder Tall and I and the senior couple in the branch did 2 skits, ha ha they were pretty funny!  I'm trying to get the video from a member to show everyone.  On the 4th we visited a few members and got to help with a 10k run that a member puts on as well.   It was a lot of fun!   The elder in the zone who was in a car accident is rapidly improving.  He is now able to talk and feed himself.  His memory is slowing coming back.  He remembers his dad and is able to walk around.  He is still in missionary mode and responds better to elder and not his first name.  He talks about the Iowa Des Moines Mission but still isn't quite sure where he is.   He gets better everyday.  We are SO thankful to the Lord in protecting him and helping him to heal.  His companion walked out with a couple of bruises after get hit at 60.  Miraculous how much we are watched over.  I'm so grateful to be a missionary at this day and age where there is so much evil around.  So much that is trying to drag us down and make us miserable.  What a blessing it is to be teaching something that literally changes people lives and gives them the chance to be happier.  We found a man named James who is in his 60s and is home bound because of his back.   We were looking for a referral that we received and he and his wife Geneva invited us in and allowed us to share a message.  We did and invited them to read and pray.  We went back a few days later. Geneva had a migraine so wasn't able to sit in on the lesson but we talked with James and he had read chapters 1 and 2 of 1 Nephi.  We asked if he had prayed to know it was true and he said that he already believed it was true just like the bible.  We were pleased but talked about how it is essential to gain a spiritual conviction from the Holy Ghost.  We read chapter 3 and then Moroni 10 3-5 and he sat there in tears and said over and over "that is a powerful verse!"   The spirit was so strong!   We invited him to continue reading and praying and talked to him about baptism.  He said he really wanted to be baptized but wasn't sure how he would be able to since he was home bound and would lose his assistance if he left his house too often.   We invited him to pray and left after closing with prayer.  On our way out we looked in the window to watch him pick back up the Book of Mormon and start reading again.  We have another lesson with him tomorrow.  SO excited to see how the spirit works with people.  He had talked to missionaries 20+ years ago and just now he was ready to accept.  We never would have found him unless that member had given us the referral to go see someone completely different, (he lives in a town where there is literally 5 houses, so we never would've gone there).   Follow the promptings and you could change some ones life FOREVER!!!   This gospel is true and this work is amazing!

Love Elder Jach-Goates

July, 2, 2013

It was a pretty rough week!  The work went great we found 6 new investigators and got 12 referrals, so that was awesome, but it was a pretty stress filled week.  We got a new mission president on Saturday and that night an elder in this zone got in a car accident.  He was hit by a dodge truck going 60 mph, was life flighted to Des Moines and is in critical condition in the hospital.  He only has a few broken ribs and some big cuts on his head but he hit his head pretty hard and isn't functioning fully yet.   He responds and is excelling rapidly but there is some possible brain damage.  He gets better everyday and we were able to go and see him yesterday as he opened his eye (one is too swollen to open still) for the first time and was looking at us.  He still doesn't talk but can give you a thumbs up and nod his head.  He is doing good though.  Yesterday we had zone conference and got to meet President Jensen for the first time so that was fun!  He's definitely different than Pres Jergensen.  A lot more soft spoken and unsure about what he's doing but he still carries the spirit with him and I'm sure will be a great leader.  Not sure if everyone was able to watch the new mission presidents broadcast seminar but its online and was filled with some cool things that are happening. Check it out!   I was able to talk to President Jensen on the phone last week before he got here and he told us a lot of things that might be changing soon.  We will get I-pads in the near future to help us with teaching and keeping track of everything in the area.  That will be a great tool to be able to show people different videos of General Authorities and Mormon messages as well as talks from conferences and ensigns.  The work is changing and we need more and more help from the members.  This is a GREAT work and an amazing time to be a part of it.

Love Elder Jach-Goates