Ever since rain season began everyone has been telling me that in Oregon once it gets to mid June, it turns to perfect weather for 3 months, they lied. It has been raining quite a bit, and its suppose to rain all this week. You gotta love the Oregon rain! but i really have grown to love the rain, but too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, and i am definitely ready for some sun.
So transfers are today, and this past week has been kinda crazy, we got calls from President or the Assistants about everyday asking about certain missionaries and certain areas and just throwing out some ideas. For a while there it the plan was to split the zone and Elder Howard stay here and get a new ZL comp, and me go to Lebonnen and start the new Lebonnen Zone with a new companion, but that did not end up happening. But the final verdict is that the zone is not splitting and Elder Howard and I are staying together. Which is really good because i love this area and it would have been hard to leave these investigators, and I am way glad Elder Howard and i will be together another transfer. Something that did change for us is that we no longer cover a family ward. I am really glad that we just get to focus on the Singles ward. The family ward we had was just kind of a distraction, we did not have a lot of time to spend out there, so the change is definitely for the better. The only potential downside is that things could possible get slower in the summer, and now the ward has full time Elders and Sisters, We teach the men the sisters teach the women (there has been both in the ward for a while, i dont know if i have mentioned that earlier.)
So with us both here it could equal us tracting out the area pretty quick because there are less people in the summer, but that just means we are going to have come up with new ways to find and to get ward members to share it with there friends. We have been thinking and praying a lot about how we can make things explode this summer and we have had a lot of ideas, so we will see how it goes.
The zone is doing awesome, Jurassic June has been one to remember! we did not quite reach our goal of every companionship baptizing, but we had more than doubled the baptisms the zone had in May. And its looking like July is going to be even better, the zone has 27 people on date, which is way more than i have ever seen it.
Things really picked up in our area this week now that finals are over, we were able to have lessons with a few investigators we had not seen for a while, and we had two awesome lessons with two new Chinese investigators Carl and Len Ting (some of the Chinese pick American names when they come here and some keep there Chinese name.) we found them both tracting. There both awesome especially Len Ting, He let us right in when we knocked on his door, then he came to church the next Sunday, and we have had another lesson since. Its very interesting teaching the Chinese, you have to start at ground zero because they have no beliefs, we usually teach the plan of salvation first, and we teach it very simple. They usually understand it well. And almost all the Chinese are willing to give a prayer at our fist lesson, its awesome, and for all of them its the first time they have every prayed. And they all talk about the peace they feel, while praying, and then we teach them how that's the spirit, and that's God speaking to them. Its very humbling to get this opportunity to teach these people who are so hungry for something more than have. Our investigator who is most progressing right now is Allen (also Chinese) he is the roommate of the Chinese guy who got baptized a month before i came. They taught him a couple months ago and apparently he was not very interested but he came to church a few times. We saw him about two weeks ago and invited him to come to church again and ever since then he has had a change of heart. He is so sincere and he is recognizing God telling him, that He is there. He is doing awesome we are really exited for him.
It has been a amazing week. Yesterday during church i was just thinking about my whole mission and all that has happened since i have been out. It made me think that i still have a far way to go to accomplish all my goals and to grow as much as I want to, and how i still have so many weaknesses that i need so work on. but its also made think about how much i have changed, and grown in these past 10 months. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission, It has done so much good every aspect of my life. I know it has only changed me for the better, i use to worry that i was going to turn to a robot missionary and not be able to joke around or have fun, but that's not the case at all. Sure it happens to some missionaries but it definitely does not have to. I am probably more of a goofball than before, but i have learned how to have fun without taking away from working or taking away from the spirit. And most importantly its been amazing to see the change in other people, I know there is nothing else near as meaningful as what i am doing now, and its really scary think that its almost half way gone, ha ha every time that comes to my mind i think to myself 'I better start working harder cuz before long i wont be able to do this anymore.'
The church is true! and it changes lives! Don't forget it! I love you all, thanks for your prayers
Elder Covey
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Fearless via Faith
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