Merry Christmas!

It has been a really great week. Everything is going well, and Elder Jorgensen is doing a lot better. It looks like the prayers have paid off. Missionary work is interesting during the Christmas season, because lots of people are travailing and very busy. We have had a few of our investigators tell us to get in touch with them at the new year, because they are busy, which is too bad. Because it is hard to get lesson with those we are actually teaching it means we have more trackting time, Which i really don't mind. Trackting this last week actually was really good, we met some cool people and we taught 3 lesson while trackting. Which is pretty rare because usually the most you get from someone is them telling us we can come back. I am curious to see how this next week goes, I am not really sure how it will be as Christmas gets closer.

For what i learned this week i am going to type up a passage from my study journal. I have been reading in Mosiah and absolutely loving it. this passage is on Mosiah 12 and 13. "Abinadi is the man! He is absolutely fearless. Abindadi prophesies that the people will be taken into bondage because of their wickedness. Then King Noah tries to kill him, but he escapes. Then two years later he comes back and does the same thing and he purposefully falls into their hands and gets captured (Mosiah 17: 9). Then when he is questioned before the King and the wicked priests he chastises them and is extremely bold in telling them of their sins. He is a incredible example of someone who is not at all afraid to do exactly what the Lord commands him, even if it is something outrageously scary. He has to have incredible faith to be that fearless. I want to be more like Abinadi."

I hope everyone have Merry Christmas, I love you all

Elder Covey
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Fearless via Faith

Fearless Via Faith

Hey everyone, thank you so much for all the prayers, I know they have helped. Elder Jorgensen is still here! Things definitely are easy for him, but they are getting better. These past two weeks have definitely been the hardest and most stressful of my mission, but I have learned a ton and had some great times. Elder Jorgensen and I are getting along great. We have very similar personalities and we have become really good friends. I really feel myself around him and we have been able to connect. We joke around a lot, which is way fun. A lot of the time when we drive we will play cheesy EFY pop songs, or Spanish gospel songs and we will sing at the top of our lungs, I love it, it always relieves my stress and just makes me happy. I am not sure if Elder Jorgensen will stay, because every morning it is still really hard for, and he is not really sure how long he can put up with it. but if he does go home that will be okay, because he has done all he can, and i have done all i can, and we just pray for the best.

I am going to start getting back into the habit of every week saying something i learned. This week while studying the Book of Mormon I had some cool incite of taking the name of Christ upon us. I was reading in Mosiah 5. It is right after King Benjamin gives his address and all the people who are there make a covenant with God. After they make the covenant King Benjamin  tells them the take upon themselves the name of Christ. While i was reading this it kinda hit me, that taking upon ourselves the name of Christ is not only a responsibility but it is also a privilege. I know that i sometimes take for granted what a privilege it is to take upon myself the name of Christ, it is an amazing thing that we do because of the covenant we made with God at baptism. In verses 7-12 it says name, referring to the name of Christ and taking it upon ourselves, nine times. In verse 12 it says that we are to "...retain the name written always in your hearts." I love that! we have this privilege and responsibility, and we need to always remember it, we need to have it written on our hearts. In verse 13 it says "For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served?" That really hit me. I know that in order for us to truly take upon ourselves the name of Christ we need to serve Him. Service is a way that we honor our baptismal covenant. 

That is all i have time for today, keep praying for Elder Jorgensen

Love 

      Elder Covey

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Fearless via Faith

A Very Interesting Week

On Saturday Jeff was baptized, It was so awesome. A recent convert named Austin was the one who baptized him. Jeff and Austin best guys ever. they are both around my age, and threw this process of teaching Jeff we have all gained a strong brotherhood. I love these kids, it makes me sad to think that someday i will have to leave the area and i wont see them. They are both planning on going on missions and i told them once they get back i will make a trip back up here to Medford and we will hang out for a week. Jeffs baptisms was one of the happiest moments of my mission, both Jeff and Austin are going to be such amazing members of the church, they both bore there testimonies yesterday and i now that they are going to do great things.

Now i will go from the start of my week. On Monday i drove down to Eugene with the Assistants to the Presidents and some other missionaries who where called as trainers. We got to the mission home and immediately went into some training. We learned a lot of amazing things from Pres. Young, maybe next week i will have more time to talk about what i learned. We did training until it was time to go to bed, we all slept at the mission home that night. The next morning we woke up and then went and jogged at some trails right next to the Oregon football stadium. It was a beautiful place. Sis. Young was saying that the running trails were designed by Pre Fontane (i do not know how to spell his name.) Through out the whole time was great to be able to spend so much time with President and Sister Young, They are amazing! 

There is no doubt in my mind that President Young is the best mission president for me. once we got back we did some more training and the President and Sister Young went to pick up the new missionaries. Once they came it was kind of weird, it felt like i was just in there shoes. Threw out the whole thing i felt pretty under qualified, most of the other trainers where former District or Zone Leaders and one was a former assistant to the president. I kinda felt bad for my future companion who would be stuck with someone who does not know that much himself, but i was very confident that Pres Young called me to be a trainer for a reason, even though it might not be best for the new missionary. We spent sometime with the new missionaries and then they announced who was with who. They announced mine very last. I got Elder Jorgensen. 

Right when we started talking he told me how this was a reassignment for him, how a year and a half ago he went to the MTC for 9 weeks and he was going to go to Argentina, but he had really bad anxiety and he had to go home. and since he had already done the MTC that he came strait from home. A little later I talked to President Young and he told me that, he knew that i was suppose to be Elder Jorgensen's companion, he said that out off all the new missionaries coming that we were the only companionship that he had decided prior to that day. It was great to know that Pres. Young trusted me with him, and that the Lord trusted me with him, but it also made me very scared. I could just imagine Pres. Young's conversation with Elder Jorgensen's parents, who with no doubt would be very concerned for there son taking this huge step. I knew that he would tell them that the Lord had chosen us to be together, and that put a little stress on me. I trusted that we were meant to be together but i did not want to mess up, I did not want to be the reason he goes home.

Since then it has been very interesting. The good part is, is that Elder Jorgensen and I have really bonded, we have very similar personalities and we have become really great friends. He has really opened up to me and I am very grateful for that trust. We are very comfortable with each other. The bad part is, is that his anxiety is as strong as ever. during the day and at night he does pretty well, he shakes a lot, but he is able to do everything and we can joke around and he seems to be enjoying it. It is the morning that are bad for him, every day at 8 when personal study starts he has a anxiety attack and he has to call his Doctor and talk to him for a while before he calms down. It is really wearing on him to have such a traumatic thing happen every morning and its a lot for him to handle. 

Yesterday Pres. Young came down and they talked for a long time, the decision was made that it was going to be a day by day thing, but most likely he will go home. On one hand I really want him to stay, he is such a great guy and i know he will be a amazing missionary, but on the other hand i really don't know if he can physically handle it, it is hard to see him go threw it and sometimes i cant help him, no matter how much i want to.

I don't have time to write anymore, but i would just like to end by saying, that I know that by putting all our trust in the Lord we can have great peace. I really am peaceful now and the only possible way that could happen is threw the Lord, because everything is going crazy around me. Please pray for Elder Jorgensen, he really needs. And pray that i will be able to help him as much as possible.  

Love, Elder Covey
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"Fearless via Faith"

Austin & Jeff