WK49 'Eternal Life Time'

Dear Family and Friends!!

Ah my joy is completely full for the strength that the Lord has given our amazing mission to complete our goal of 150 baptisms this month! We finished with 153 baptisms as a mission which is somethings that has never been done before! This was absolutely the whitest Christmas I have ever been a part of! We saw so many miracles here in Cypress Creek as well as throughout the district this past month it was amazing!

This week I gained a HUGE testimony on how revelation is recieved at church to those who have open hearts to the Spirit of God. We have this investigator who we have been teaching for a while now and knows everything is true just won't act upon it. We had an amazing lesson with her Saturday night with a recent convert that came with us but she was still having doubts about being baptized so we testified to her if she listens to the Spirit at church the next day, she will feel God needs this for her right now. So the next day at church right before Young Womens I got a chance to testify to her and challenge her to be baptized that day. She still didn't feel quite ready. But she went to young womens and after the block she came out and was super pumped and filled with the Spirit of God. They were talking about New Years Resolutions and she announced that her's would be getting baptized next Sunday! Miracles happen as those we love come to church and we are able to allow the Spirit to do the teaching. I truly cannot wait for her baptism next Sunday! Another experience that we had was with two new investigators that came to church this Sunday as well. After the block they explained how much of the Spirit sent from God that they felt at church. We then followed up with them Sunday after church with a member and you could tell they were on a spiritual high! The Sister explained how she came home and had no desire to drink any alcohol. We then challenged her to get rid off all the alcohol in her house so she can prepare more for her baptism on Sunday. She went inside the house and came back with an entire case of beer saying, "I don't need this anymore. I'm DONE!" The Spirit that they felt at Christ's true and living Church gave them so much strength to continue to prepare for their baptism next Sunday!

We also had two amazing experiences while harvesting this week! We stopped to contact this guy on the street on Wednesday and went to go bless his home. He accepted baptism immediately and that fulfilled our eight blessings by Wednesday! Then the Lord blessed us because of our obedience! We were walking out of this house and someone who was checking their mail asked us what we do. We explained that we baptize people and help them feel peace from God. Immediately she beckoned us to come and bless her home. She accepted baptism immediately talked about how she knows we were sent from Christ because she was praying for more peace for her family and then God sent us! Another experience harvesting was we were walking on the streets once again and this lady was walking towards us. So we contacted her and she took us inside her home to bless her entire family. The Spirit was undeniably strong after the blessing and they all accepted baptism. Then we invited them to church and the mom explained how they have their church. Then we basically said, "We know this is an invitation from Christ himself to come to Church with us. You must come and listen to the Saviors voice!" After much testifing we left and they were still set on going to their church on Sunday. But that Spirit from our testimony stayed with them and they all came to church on Sunday! This is God's work, I know it!!

This month was amazing here in Cypress Creek we gave six souls the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ! The District ended with fifteen baptisms all together which was amazing I was extremely happy!

This gospel is a gospel of change! If we truly sit back and evaluate how much this gospel has changed our lives we will not even be able to measure it. This is the way back to the Father! So follow the gospel with all your heart, might, mind, and soul and strive to share that with others and behold thus saith the Father, "Ye shall have eternal life"! So lets go get eternal life ya'll!!

Love ya!!

Elder Pond

WK48 'A White Christmas!'

Dear Family and Friends!

I love you all and this truly is the most amazing white Christmas that I have ever had in my entire life. I absolutely love bringing souls unto Christ and helping them recieve salvation threw baptism. I have never been happier in my life! I love the Lords work and am eternally grateful for all that he has done for me!
This week we saw many miracles here in Cypress! We worked extremely hard and started off the week with determination to get eight blessings by Wednesday and twenty-five blessings by Saturday night. The Lord worked miracles to be able to make this possible because of our amazing desires and our faith in the Lord. Wednesday morning as we began to work we only had one blessing so we knew that we needed to get at least seven that day to be exactly obedient and recieve the fullness of miracles from God. During the middle of the day we were unlocking our bikes off a street pole and we saw this van pull passed us honking and waving. The Spirit prompted me to follow them and talk to them so Elder Wood and I peddled as fast as we could and finally caught up to where they had parked. They began talking with us and were extremely excited to see us. They were just dropping someone off so they took us to their friends home so we could bless their home and they left. We blessed the home, the Spirit was undeniably there, and they all accepted baptism. Then an eight year old girl of the family came up to us and said, "Can I take you to some of my friends home so you can pray with them as well?" Of course we accepted and we came to find out that she knew the whole neighborhood! This eight year old girl took us to nine of her friends homes and we blessed them all and six of the homes accepted to be baptized! Because of our righteous desires the Lord blessed us with this miracle. The entire day we blessed twelve homes in total and by Saturday night we had twenty-six blessing so the Lord allowed us to hit both of our goals! Which then allowed us to get many new investigators and baptismal dates which is amazing!

I know that our Savior Jesus Christ atoned for our sins, as well as our iniquities in Gethsemane! He is the Lord that was prophesied of by many prophets of God before His birth. He loves all of us and is there to comfort and help us as we come unto Him! Let us all follow Jesus Christ this Christmas season! I love you all and Merry Christmas!!

With Christlike Love,

Elder Pond

Fort Lauderdale Mission, this photo came from President Anderson's Christmas Letter.  Elder Pond is 1st row, 4th from left.

WK47 'Hand of the Lord'

Dear Family and Friends!!

Oh how the work is moving forth within Cypress Creek, our district, zone, and mission! This is truly going to be the best White Christmas that anyone could ask for! We are already seeing "the snow" falling here in Cypress Creek! I absolutely love the work here in Cypress Creek and our amazing district! We saw many mighty miracles this week and I truly am grateful for the hand of the Lord in this work because without Him it would not be possible!

The biggest miracle that we saw this week in Cypress Creek was the Lord giving us five souls to bring unto Christ threw baptism! It was amazing to see how the Lord prepared these people. We had this family that came to church last week and we set with baptismal dates for the next Sunday. As we had daily contact and testified every time we saw them their baptismal dates began to get more and more solid. Saturday night they were all pumped to get baptized the next day! We went to go round them up for church Sunday morning and they told us that only two would be coming to church today and only one was getting baptized. But three of them ended up coming to church and they brought their cousin who came last week again this week! So we got them to church but we knew we had a lot of work ahead of us. We also had a miracle and a lady who was very close to baptism this Sunday that we were teaching during the week ended up coming to church instead of going out of town like we expected. So after sacrament meeting I grabbed a member and told him to go invite her to be baptized today! She accepted because of that members testimony. Then I grabbed the cousin on the family and invited him to be baptized today and he accepted! So Elder Sommerfelt and I took him and began teaching him everything he had to know for baptism while Elder Wood taught Gospel Principles with a member. During Gospel Principles a recent convert bore her testimony on her baptism and the Spirit hit a nonmember that was preparing to be baptized but before church decided she wasn't ready and she now knew that it was exactly what she needed! Meanwhile we were teaching the cousin and the Lord had prepared him like nothing else! He saw us as representatives of Jesus Christ and readily accepted everything that we taught. He expressed how he has always dreamed of getting baptized and how he is grateful that Jesus Christ sent us to him to make it possible. After we got done teaching him we grabbed another investigator who decided she wasn't ready for baptism at the last second and began teaching and testifying to her about baptism! There was one moment that I remember there was an extremely powerful spiritual pause and she felt the Spirit so strong that she began to cry. We testified at the drop off a hat and committed her to get dressed in white at the baptism and if she felt the Spirit to get baptized! Then the zone leaders came down and the cousin and the lady who showed up to church instead of going out of town got interviewed and passed! The Lord made everything happen to where this was all possible! As we were at the Vega's house getting ready for the baptism the girl that felt the Spirit while we were teaching her and began to cry came up to me and said, "Elder Pond, I am ready. Will you baptize me?" The Spirit was undoubtedly there and I was eternally grateful that the Spirit bore witness to her heart that God wanted this for her. Finally we had an extremely powerful, spiritual baptismal service for all five of them. After the baptism they all came up to me and had the Spirit illuminating off of them! It was an amazing witness to me of the power of baptism, and that if we give all that we can the Lord will make it happen!

I know and testify that this is the Lords work. The Spirit will ALWAYS testify of truth and we must always rely upon the Spirit!

The district is doing very well! We got seven baptisms this Sunday as a district and are at twelve as a district so far this month only eight from our goal of twenty so we are pumped! I love being District Leader and serving the other missionaries in my district. It definitely is a lot of work of course though! Which you all know that I love working hard!

This week Elder Shipley, the newly called Assistant who was my first District Leader, also came into our area for a day and I learned so much! The biggest thing that I learned in that as you minister to not only nonmembers but missionaries that you have stewardship over, you will change their lives. As well as the doctrine, or why, of things is extremely important. It allows you to be much more powerful and it gives your actions substance!

I love ya'll soo much and I am eternally grateful that I have the opportunity of a lifetime to serve the Lord for two years. To truly make the greatest WHITE CHRISTMAS EVA!!!

With Christlike Love,

Elder Pond

WK46 'Focus on the Atonement!!'

Dear Family and Friends!!

It is absolutely amazing to hear from ya'll as always! Everything is amazing here in the mission field! Last Wednesday we had our Transfer Meeting and it was extremely revelatory for me especially! Of course as always it is amazing to feel of the spirit of missionary work when missionaries gather together. It was very exciting to receive the call from the Lord to serve my district as District Leader as well as to see where our above average mission is heading! Many changes are happening in the leadership of the mission because these next two transfers because most of the mission leadership go home and in January alone we get 27 new missionaries! So very exciting things are happening here in the amazing Fort Lauderdale mission! I also got a new companion. His name is Elder Wood and he was actually in my MTC district as well! He is from Overton, Nevada and is a hard working Elder! During the closing song "We'll Bring the World His Truth", the Spirit was undeniably strong. I felt it, and I felt God directly giving me the strength that I need to do His work. God absolutely works along our side every single day as we are exactly obedient. This is a work of miracles as we rely upon our loving Savior Jesus Christ for His strength that we definetly felt here in Cypress Creek this week!

This Sunday President and Sister Anderson came to visit our little branch, that I must saying is growing extremely fast! Yesterday we had another baptism and we had 110 people total come to service Sunday! Which is a miracle because a year ago they had an average of 35 people show up.This Sunday our friend Charles got baptized and he was a HUGE miracle brought forth by the Lord for sure! We met Charles walking on the streets and we taught him right there about how God loves him and desires him to follow Christ and be baptized. He said that baptism isn't something that he wants but he would think about coming to church. So we got his address and told him that we would stop by and bless his home. The next day we went to the address that he gave us and it was the wrong address. So we prayed and told God if it is His will to help us be led to find Charles again. Well the next day we were walking down the street and sure enough our friend Charles was there! We gave him a hug and then he took us to his home to bless it. That Sunday he came to church and at church we invited him to be baptized. He accepted a soft date because he felt "strength from Christ" at church. But his baptismal day came and Charles didn't feel ready so he wasn't baptized. We then lost contact with Charles and his roommate told us that he went to the hospital. Then this Saturday we felt prompted to go over to Charles home with a member that fellowshiped him at church when he came. Charles was there and out of the hospital! Charles explained to us that he was standing at the bus stop and didn't feel well and then he passed out and fell down! They called an ambulance and took him to Plantation Hospital. He was there for over a week and they did a whole bunch of tests and couldn't find anything wrong with him. Charles told us that while he was in the hospital he felt like he was going to die, but he prayed and asked God to give him life because he needs the baptism. We then at the drop of a hat invited him to be baptized! I will never forget his reply, "I will never say no to what Jesus wants me to do again!" Charles was then baptized on Sunday and after his baptism he was giving everyone hugs. He came up to me and said, "I feel different. I like this a lot!" Jesus Christ led him to us that first day on the street, he then helped us get back in contact, helped Charles come to church to increase his desires to be baptized, had to humble him by going to the hospital, led us to him that Saturday, and gave him the strength to be baptized Sunday! This work is only possible threw Christ who strengthens us!!

We also saw a miracle threw Christ while biking Sunday night! Of course it was 8:15 at the end of the night and we were pushing threw till the end working hard to continue to see miracles from Christ! We biked past this lady sitting by her car and I felt the Spirit prompt me to talk with her and leave the harvest blessing. But I kept going and we went to our appointment. He wasn't home so I told Elder Wood that we needed to go talk with this lady. We biked up to her, introduced ourselves as representitives of our Savior Jesus Christ, and told her that the Spirit prompted us to stop and leave this blessing with her. She readily accepted. I offered the harvest blessing and remember having specific promptings from the Spirit to say certain things. After I said Amen a peace fell over us all from the Spirit. She said, "Thank you. I really needed that because of all that I have been going threw. Sometimes I feel like giving up and I need more of this peace in my life." Tears began to come to my eyes because the Spirit was extremely strong. We then testified that Christ sent us there to bring this more into her life threw following Christ. She then was very excited for baptism and church next Sunday! We must ALWAYS listen to where the Spirit is guiding us!

It has been very exciting to serve as district leader! I gave my first district training this week and also did my first baptismal interviews! I'm pumped to help the CoCo Creek District do what has not been done before!

But P-days have been different in every area I have been in and it depends on the Elders that you serve around. It is different here in Cypress Creek because we don't have a car. So we wake up, study till ten, then go email, get shopping at Publix done, and start our laundry. Then we normally go get something to eat at a restaurant by the beach and go to some of the local shops with some cool stuff. Then relax because after a long weeks work you definitely need it! So nothing really too special. We also look for any opportunity as always to share the gospel, even on P-days! The P-day before my birthday was basically the same. Haha. But then at five thirty we go out and invite people to Christ and proselyte.

Today and always I am extremely grateful for the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. That is the power that cleansed me from mistakes I may have made and allowed me to be who I am today! There is always hope and you are NEVER too far gone! God always loves you! Always strive to share the Atonement of Christ threw baptism!

I love ya'll and hope this week goes well!

With Love,

Elder Pond

WK45 'Be Ye Therefore Perfect, Even as I Am!'

Dear Family and Friends!

So last night Elder Lee and I got a transfer call and...... Elder Lee is leaving and I will be staying and getting a new companion tomorrow here in Cypress Creek! I am extremely excited to be staying here in Cypress Creek and continue to see the work progress! It's my goal to turn this branch into a ward and miracles are happening daily from the Lord that are allowing this to come forth! This is absolutely and fully the Lords work and he gives me strength every single day to be able to bring to pass his holy purposes!

This week we really saw the power of contacting people on the streets. We bike a lot so we set a goal this week to contact everyone we saw while we were biking. It was amazing to see that we got 21 blessings and we didn't knock on anyones door all week. I know that the Lord puts people in our path as we are walking, biking, or even driving. We must just ALWAYS open our mouths to everyone!

Lately Elder Lee and I have been focusing on developing a different attribute of Christ every single day and we have been seeing miracles come from that!

Faith in Jesus Christ: We must show everyone that we come in contact with that we have complete faith that they will accept the gospel. Christ said, "To him that believeth, all things are possible!" Sometimes we limit ourself but we must have the faith in Christ sufficient to produce miracles!

Hope: We definitely noticed that hope eventually turns into faith when acted upon. When we invite people to be baptized and they accept they hope this things will truly bless their lives. It turns into faith when they keep commitments and eventually get baptized.

Charity: For me one of the most important Christlike attributes. As we show everyone charity they will feel it and be able to tell that we want these things for them not for a number, but because we truly love them.

Virtue: There are so many things in the world today that Satan uses to try and make us unclean. As we have virtue and keep our thoughts clean, then our actions will be clean as well!

Knowledge: As we seek to obtain God's word, then our mouth will be loosed and we will speak from the Spirit. We must obtain the knowledge first though!

Patience: The Lord knows all things. By being patient threw all things we are showing our trust that we have in the Lord. When times get tough as we patiently endure it, then the Lord always gives us a miracle!

Humility: We always must stay humble and as Ammon said know that it's only threw God's strength that we can accomplish anything!

Diligence: As we consistently work hard the Lord always blesses us! Work is the key to any situation, especially in missionary WORK!

Obedience: This is the first law of heaven. If we want blessings from God we must always be exactly obedient in ALL  things!

My favorite experience that we had this week in Cypress Creek happened on Saturday! Saturday is always our big day where we go see everyone we are teaching and make sure they are solid for church on the next day. This Saturday we were coming out of an investigators home around five at the top of our area and my bikes back tire was completely flat. But we didn't let that slow us down and immediately we began calling people to find a ride as we were walking swiftly to our next appointment. As we were walking this lady stopped us, expressed a huge desire to change her life, and accepted a baptismal date! Then we continued on and finally found a ride down to the bottom of our area. Then we began running in proslyting clothes from one investigators house to another rounding up as many investigators for church the next day as possible. We saw many miracles and were able to round up many people because of our diligence. We didn't let any adversity stop us, but we continued to push foreword with faith in Christ!

We are very excited for transfer meeting tomorrow as well as to here you and Sister Anderson speak in Cypress Creek on Sunday!

I don't have too much more time so next Sunday I'll write the personal notes dad. But I got the package and thank you it came on my Birthday! I love ya'll and can't wait to here from ya threw letters during the week!

With Love,

Elder Pond

WK44 'Trust in the Lord!!'

Dear Family and Friends!

This week especially I am extremely grateful for the guidance of the Lord and the Spirit! Once again we say many mighty miracles here in Cypress Creek! The Lord blessed us to be able to help four souls access the amazing gift of the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. Baptisms are amazing here too cause the Branch gets very excited and we actually do it in a swimming pool at a members home right off of the intercostal. Because the chapel that we are in isn't a LDS chapel we are renting it so it doesn't have a baptismal font. So yesterday I was able to baptize in a swimming pool so I thought that was pretty cool!

But on Saturday I was exchanges with Elder Torres, our zone leader, so he could do interviews for us. We left the apartment at 10 AM and went straight to work. We were biking everywhere, finding while we teach, teaching while we find, testifying with boldness, and just working as hard as we possibly could! But unfortunately all of our interviews that we had scheduled fell threw. We just knew that the Lord was ready to bless us with something amazing and he did! At 8:15 the Spirit prompted us to go see a family that has been waiting to get baptized for a long time but hasn't been able to (the kids could be baptized whenever but they were determined to wait for their mom to get permission). We knocked on their door and no one answered. I heard the Spirit say very clearly to knock again just louder. So I listened and they all answered the door. Immediately the kids exclaimed, "We need to get baptized tomorrow!" We testified of that's why Christ sent us here, they were interviewed, and baptized yesterday! I learned so much from this experience. First that we must ALWAYS listen to the Spirit because that comes directly from God. And second, that after all we could do and working extremely hard, the Lord provided souls for us to baptize. This work will continue as we trust in the Lord and work hard! That's the same in anything in life as well. If we TRUST in the LORD then all will be well!

We also saw a miracle with the Spirit softening many souls hearts. The first experience that we had in Cypress Creek was last Sunday we were biking up to the top of our area and as we were biking we ran into an investigator that before then had no desire to be baptized and didn't come to church. We started talking and we testified of the amazing Spirit that she missed at church that day. I looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Sister Williams, the Spirit told me very clearly at church that God NEEDS you to be baptized!" The Spirit was extremely strong and she accepted! We saw her every day this past week and every time we came over she felt the Spirit more and more. She came to church yesterday and was baptized after church! Then Sunday night we visited her and she gave us three referrals and said she's gonna go around to her neighbors tomorrow and then bring us over to them to baptize them! The Spirit is by which children of God are converted!

There was also a family that we went and saw and immediately they all started complaining on how God is putting too much on them and they don't feel like he loves them. We started with a prayer and then began testifying of the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. As we began doing so the Spirit got stronger and stronger and the expression on everyones faces completely changed. At the end of the lesson when we invited them to be baptized they readily accepted and were very excited. The Spirit once again worked a mighty change in them and gave them that amazing desire to enter into the waters of baptism!

I love you all from here in Cypress Creek! I are excited for the work to continue to progress in this Branch we continue to see miracles after miracles every single day.

And this week is transfers once again! I truly cannot believe how fast this transfer has flown. They just keep going faster and faster. But once again I am extremely excited for whatever the Lord has in store for me!

Tomorrow is my birthday and I plan for it to be the most successful day of my mission thus far! We won't go anywhere for dinner cause we just work threw dinners here so we can get more done. But I am excited for this to be the most amazing birthday in the world because I will be bringing God's children unto Christ!

I love you all and make sure you always trust in the Lord.

With Christlike Love,

Elder Pond

Mission Pictures

Pictures from  Cypress Creek!



A look at the city of Fort Laud from the fishin pier by our house!





Baptism this week



Writing in the Sky

Sister Williams singing her gospel songs for us!



Baptism time off of the intercoastal!




Goin Fishin



 

WK43 'MANY MIGHTY MIRACLES!!'

Dear Family and Friends!!

Ah I cannot express to you how amazing this week was! We worked incrediably hard and I know here in Cypress Creek and throughout the mission we have huge amounts of gratitude for what the Lord has done for us this week! I was very excited to see the mission get 290 MPL's, another thing that has never been done before! I have definetely seen here in Cypress Creek that because of our obedience, dilligence, and faith the Lord always grants unto us success.

Elder Lee and I started off the week with a lot of fire working hard as always! We knew if we started off strong after the trial of our faith we would receive many mighty miracles, and Friday night the Lord definetely gave us those miracles. We were biking to an appointment that the Branch President was meeting us at to How to Begin Teach this referral and we got a text from a member. He said, "Elders my fiance is flying in from Brazil tomorrow and is ready to be baptized on Sunday." It was such a testimony builder to me to know that the Lord blessed us indirectly at that time! She was baptized on Sunday and it was an amazing, powerful baptismal service. Then we went to the appointment and we walk in to meet a huge family of 13. They all wanted prayer from Jesus Christ and we testified that Jesus Christ sent us there to bless their lives. We left the harvest blessing again with the entire family and the Spirit was extremely strong. The Branch President then testified of the Spirit and so did we. We invited them to be baptized right on the spot and they all accepted right away. At the end one of the ladies said, "You know we can definetely tell that ya'll are representitives of Christ. You just have a glow around you right now. I know Christ wants this baptism for me." Two MIGHTY miracles after the trial of our faith! I love this work!

I gained an even stronger testimony that the trainings we receive in district, zone, and mission conferences are very inspired from God himself! President Anderson gave a training on the why and how to teach repentance really helped us with many of our investigators. After Zone Conference we went to go see an investigator that just "doesn't feel quite ready for baptism yet." But we took the inspired training into action and went into a lesson with her with full faith that she will accept to be baptized this Sunday. At the beginning of the lesson she wasn't even thinking about it, but as we testified of repentance and how baptism is the last step of repentance we saw the Spirit hit her very strong. At the end of the lesson we committed her to prepare to be baptized this Sunday and to be interviewed the next day! Then we went to another lesson with a family that we recently found, are pumped for their baptism, but have Law of Chasity problems. We took a member with us and began testifying of repentance and the cleansing power of the Atonement. We testified that Christ needs him to get married to repent and to finish that process threw baptism and I will never forget the words that came out of his mouth. He said, "I know this is what Christ wants for me. You lead and I promise I'll follow." The member was then able to bear powerful testimony of his own family and how this gospel has strengthened his family! They are now preparing to get married and be baptized. I know that the Lord is in all that we do, especially in the missionary meetings that we have!

We will be having quite a few baptisms here in Cypress Creek and we are very excited to see the work continue to go forth in our amazing branch!

Something that has been on my mind is that I know as we live more Christlike lives every single day those around us with be able to feel of and see that "glow" around us. This is how we can be perfected threw Christ! We must always strive to live as Christlike life as possible that one day we may reign in the mansions above!

I love ya'll soo much and hope all is well back home! For the Band of Brothers all over the world I pray for ya'll every day! Invite everyone to partake of this gospel threw baptism!

With Christlike Love,

Elder Pond

Mission Pictures





 





November Birthdays!



WK42 'Time to BAPTIZE!!'

Dear Family and Friends!

Man Elder Lee and I have been working extremely hard with the strength that God has been giving us every single day! He's definetely intrusted us with many of His precious children and we are about to link those souls that we have harvested to baptism and definetely will be seeing even more miracles here in Cypress Creek very soon!

This week we were harvesting this street and we knocked into Pauline. She first cracked the door open and tried shoving us off but we continued to testify that Christ sent us to her home to bless her life! After testifying over and over the expression on her face completely changed and you could see that the Spirit hit her. She let us right and and we left the blessing with her. After the blessing tears were streaming down her face and she expressed how the night before she prayed and asked God to send His representitives to her. She also felt from God the night before that she needed to be baptized again. We then testified boldly that God sent us there to help her be baptized! With tears streaming down her face she accepted readily!

I also realized this week how much power comes from consistant church attendance. A family that we have been teaching for a while came to church this week for the third time. Sunday after church we went over with a member to follow up with how church went and her testimony struck me. She said, "Every single week I look foreword to coming to Church. It's the highlight of my week and without it my week would be incomplete. It gives me strength to push foreword threw any trials. I can't imagine another week without coming to church!" Another family that came this Sunday, but for the first time, and they definetely felt that same Spirit as well. She said, "I felt that God was there for sure. There was so much kindness and love. I felt a peace that I knew was from God." We must get our investigators to Church so they can feel of this amazing Spirit! And as member of Christ Church we must always appreciate the Spirit that is felt at Church!

We also saw a miracle late Saturday night. The miracles always comes after the trial of our faith and I love it! We worked very hard Saturday and were reaching the end of the day when Elder Lee and I felt very impressed to go see this referral from other missionaries. We went searching for the house number but could not find it. We called the other missionaries and no one answered so we started walking away thinking we would have to see her later. But I felt the Spirit whisper to me very strongly that we really needed to see her. As we were driving away we got a call from the other missionaries and they exclaimed how they gave us the wrong address. So we immediately turned back around and heading to the correct address. We knocked on Tati's door and she let us in right away. After the harvest blessing the Spirit was extremely strong and we invited her to be baptized right there. She accepted and expressed to us how she has been praying to get closer to God and knows this is the way. We received the witness of our faith and the Lord also prepared the way for us to see her that night because He knew she needed it! I love Cypress Creek and know miracles are going to come threw our trust in the Lord!

But all is well here in Oakland Park/Pompano Florida! I love all of you soo much and appreciate all you have ever done for me to get me to where I am today! I am greatful that many of you answered the Lords call to help me threw whatever I was going threw at the time. This week the shout out goes to my Aunt and Uncle Tam and Clair for takin my family to Mexico! Remember, always trust in the Lord and all will be well in the end!

With Love,

Elder Pond

WK41 'Testify, testify, TESTIFY!!'

Dear Family and Friends!

Ah it was amazing to hear from ya'll this week! Cypress Creek is booming like it never has before! The Lord gave us 76 homes to bless which is incredible and we are soo greatful for all that the Lord has been doing for us in this area. Cypress Creek is just like five miles north of my old area so it is very close! And yea our apartment is a couple of blocks off of the beach and so is the chapel so it's pretty cool!But right now we're especially looking foreword to continue to do what has never been done before! This week we blessed quite a few homes once again and saw miracles come from always testifying.

We started to harvest this apartment complex and the third door answered. Immediately he said, "No I already have good faith in Christ thank you, goodbye.." But we didn't give up, as the door was almost closed we testified very boldly that we know God sent us here to leave this blessing. And that we know we are representitives of Jesus Christ himself! Then something amazing happened. He opened the door and allowed us to leave the blessing. Afterwords the Spirit was extremely strong and we invited him to be baptized on the spot. Immediately he said, "No I'm sorry guys but I have already been baptized." Once again we didn't give up and we testified that Jesus Christ sent us there to invite him to be baptized again and to come to church to prepare for that baptism, never giving up faith and hope. Then his face changed and he said, "Yes I'll be baptized and I want my family to as well. I'm going to bring them all to church this Sunday!" I am so glad that the Lord gave us the strength to testify even when the door was almost closed. We must never give up because "the worth of every soul is great in the eyes of God"!

God always continues to lead and guide us to those souls searching for baptism but not knowing where to find it. We were harvesting on this street and we came to the door of Angela. Right when she opened the door she looked suprised but happy at the same time. We left the harvest blessing and invited her to be baptized right away! She looked at us and said, "I actually missed the baptism at my church and I felt horrible. Ever since then I've been looking for a new church so I can get baptized." We testified that God sent us here for that very reason and she accepted to be baptized on the 11th!

We are praying very hard down here in Cypress Creek to be able to link these precious souls that we have harvested to baptism! I know that miracles are on the way!

Continue to pray for the missionaries out here in Fort Lauderdale. Miracles are occuring daily! And I wanna hear about everyones missionary experiences from home so lemme know for sure!

With Love,

Elder Pond

WK40 'HARRRVEST!!'

Dear Family and Friends!

Well this Wednesday we had transfer meeting and it was very sad to leave all of my amazing friends down in Fort Lauderdale, but I knew the Lord had bigger and better things in store for me and he defientely did! I was called to serve in the Cypress Creek Branch which is just North of Fort Lauderdale. I absolutely know that this was a call inspired from God because I have already learned so much. Elder Lee from Kaysville is my companion and we were actually companions in the MTC so its really amazing to see how much each of us have grown. The work is progressing very quickly here and the branch is excited to very soon become a ward threw hard work in the Lords vineyard. When I got here the work was very slow so we knew that we had to get out, work hard, and find those children of God that have been prepared for this gospel. So this week was a huge finding week for Elder Lee and I that we saw many mighty miracles come from!

I truly gained an even stronger testimony of Ether 12:6 and how the witness always comes after the trial of our faith. The first couple of days we were working very hard and harvesting a lot in order to find the elect. During the morning before we came out we felt very inspired to pray to find families that need this gospel in their lives. About half way threw a day we felt very prompted to bike up to the very northern part of our area and visit two potentials. When we knocked on the first potential they immediately let us in, we blessed their home and their family of three accepted baptism almost immediately. Then when we went and visited the second potential she opened her door and expressed how much that blessing that we left with her helped the past couple of days. She then introduced us to her family of four and as we were doing How To Begin Teaching they all exclaimed a huge desire to come to church and be baptized. That family came to church yesterday and couldn't be more excited for their baptism this upcoming Sunday. I am eternally greatfull that the Lord heard our prayer in the morning to lead us to families as well as he gave us a witness after we worked as hard as we possibly could! This is absolutely His work!

We also saw a miracle while harvesting. We were knocking around eleven and we knocked into Kenny. Right away he expressed how he "goes to Church by the Glades". But we testified that Jesus Christ sent us to his door to leave a blessing and we were doing our best to invision Kenny in white getting baptized and he accepted the blessing. Immediately after we said amen his entire face changed and he expressed how much peace that blessing brought into our lives. We followed up Sunday after church and testified how much peace baptism will bring into his life. Him and his wife are now preparing to be baptized on the 11th because of the harvest blessing. I absolutely love harvesting!

Miracles are happening every single day here in Cypress Creek and I am eternally greatful for them! This week I definetely learned that without faith all is lost. We MUST have faith in all things and focus on the future not on the past!

I love ya'll soo much and yes I got your package thank you!

El Bell tear it up out there big man I love ya!!

With Love,

Elder Pond

Pictures 'Elder Pond'

MISSIONARY COMPANIONS

September 18, District

September 18, Pond & Hall

October 24, Pond & Lee

October 27, Ft Lauderdale Temple Moroni

October 27, Ft. Lauderdale Temple construction

WK39 'Many Mighty Miracles'

Dear Family and Friends!!
So last night we got a transfer call and the news was shocking! I am
leaving Fort Laud South.. I am excited for whatever the Lord has in
store for me for sure, but can't help but to be sad because of all the
people I have grown very close to here in the amazing city of Fort
Lauderdale. I know that wherever the Lord sends me there are some of
His children waiting for the Lord to guide me to bring the Gospel of
Jesus Christ to!
President Anderson gave us an amazing announcement in our email this
week. "We just got word last week that the Florida Fort Lauderdale
Mission is the highest baptizing Mission in the United States and
Canada. This hasn’t happened out of the Utah Missions in a long time I
am told. What an honor to know that you missionaries are working so
hard and reaping such great miracles in finding the elect of God. I
wasn’t going to announce this because we shouldn’t compare with
others, but General Authorities are telling other leaders and I rather
you hear it from me. Remember God’s hand is in this work and he has
poured out his Spirit to make us instruments in His hands. You are
amazing missionaries and I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of your
Mission." Once again I was reminded of Ammon in Alma 26:12 when I read
that we are the highest baptizing mission in the US and Canada
missions. It is only because of the Lord and our faith that this has
been made possible. But it truly is a mighty miracle which we have
received from God! I am eternally grateful for the blessings from God
in this work. It has truly shown me that with him ALL things are
possible!
This week I definitely learned how much revelation comes threw church
attendance and how we must never give up on God's children. When I
first got to Fort Lauderdale South we found an amazing man who had
heavy troubles with the Word of Wisdom. We helped him overcome those
problems and he was preparing to be baptized but two days before his
baptism we lost contact with him for about four weeks. Those four
weeks were extremely hard because I knew that our friend needed the
blessings of baptism in his life. So every day for those four weeks we
called him and went to knock on his door at least twice a week. He
just ignored us time and time again. Then about a week ago we finally
got back in contact with him and the reason he was ignoring us was
because he relapsed with drinking and smoking and felt very guilty. We
testified to him that there was hope ahead and that no matter what
happened or will happen we will always love him. This week we got this
child of God to come to church to see his daughters baptism even
though he was drinking the night before. It was amazing to see the
change in this man just in a mere couple of hours. He was overcome
with the love and happiness that he felt during Stake Conference and
then after when he saw his daughter get baptized he said that he saw
his life flash before his eyes. He saw all those mistakes he had made
and he felt God speak to him that he NEEDS to be baptized. Then he
envisioned himself dressed in white on his baptism day and announced
to us that he will be quitting drinking and baptized next Sunday!
We also saw a miracle happen with one of our baptisms this week. She
came to Stake Conference all ready for her baptism and for some reason
got very afraid and started making excuses on how she isn't ready for
baptism. So we took the training into action and kept our faith and
began testifying to this daughter of God on how much God needs her to
be baptized and follow Jesus Christ. While we were testifying she
finally brought up her true concern and we overcame that and she was
baptized. We must keep faith with everyone and testify boldly always!
There was another miracle that we saw this week with the Book of
Mormon! We were eating dinner with a member family and she invited her
nonmember sister who we have been teaching. The member invited her to
read Moroni 10:4 and this nonmember got half way threw and then began
weeping. She said that a feeling involuntarily came into her from God
and that she knew it was the Spirit. The Book of Mormon carries the
Spirit like nothing else.
I am very excited for transfers and can't wait for what lies ahead. I
know that the Lord has even bigger things in store for our mission
just as we trust in him fully! I absolutely know that this is the
Lords work! Miracles happen every single day! I love ya'll and
continue to send letters to the mission office!
With Love,
Elder Pond

WK38 'Picture the World'

Dear Family and Friends!!

This week was absolutely amazing! We had a marriage from a family that we have been teaching since I've been here in Fort Laud South and they got baptized yesterday! Another amazing marriage and baptism combo! We also baptized another lady that was super prepared and I love her soo much!

One of my favorite stories by President Monson in this past Conference was, "In one particular meeting, N. Eldon Tanner, who was then an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve, had just returned from his initial experience of presiding over the missions in Great Britain and western Europe. He told of a missionary who had been the most successful missionary whom he had met in all of the interviews he had conducted. He said that as he interviewed that missionary, he said to him, ‘I suppose that all of the people whom you baptized came into the Church by way of referrals.’ The young man answered, ‘No, we found them all by tracting.’ Brother Tanner asked him what was different about his approach—why he had such phenomenal success when others didn’t. The young man said that he attempted to baptize every person whom he met. He said that if he knocked on the door and saw a man smoking a cigar and dressed in old clothes and seemingly uninterested in anything—particularly religion—the missionary would picture in his own mind what that man would look like under a different set of circumstances. In his mind he would look at him as clean-shaven and wearing a white shirt and white trousers. And the missionary could see himself leading that man into the waters of baptism. He said, ‘When I look at someone that way, I have the capacity to bear my testimony to him in a way that can touch his heart.’… We have the responsibility to see individuals not as they are but rather as they can become. I would plead with you to think of them in this way." I've been trying to do that in the work Elder Hall and I are doing and it has been amazing! I love seeing how your faith in the Savior and in them rubs off and they can feel of the love that you have for them. Jesus Christ loves all of us and as representitives of Him we must do the same!

We saw some huge miracles here in Fort Lauderdale South this week! On Wednesday morning we had two blessings so that day we set out to be exactly obedient by getting eight by the end of the day. We went out to harvest and blessed five homes before we had to go to meetings with Bishop that night. We got done with the meetings at 8:30 and had a lady to go and visit but we knew being exactly obedient would bring forth the most blessings. So we set out to knock in the dark and at 8:55 we knocked one last door and Leroy answered the door. At first Leroy kept putting it off and saying no but I felt the Lord testify so strongly threw us and he accepted a blessing. We got to eight on the very last door of the night! Then the blessings that came the next day due to exact obedience was amazing. In the morning we got a call randomly from one of our dates that has been super busy saying the Spirit told her that we need to come over today. We were able to go over and solidify her date for Sunday. We got a call from a former investigator to come back over. Then we also got a call from an amazing family that got offended the first time they came to church. They stated that they would love for us to come back over. We did and they even came to church and loved it! All these blessings came due to exact obedience by getting eight blessings on Wednesday. I turned to Elder Hall Thursday night and said, "We must always be obedient by getting eight blessings by Wednesday!"

I am very excited for transfers this upcoming week and cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store! This week we have some baptisms for the Zone baptism at Stake Conference this Sunday so we are excited for another amazing week!

Another amazing week here in South Florida! I love ya'll soo much and love our Savior Jesus Christ as well! I really need some short sleeve white shirts so yea. But other than that, that's all! Love ya and BAPTIZE THE WORLD!!

With Love,

Elder Pond

WK37 'Listen to the Spirit ALWAYS!'

Dear Family and Friends!

What an amazing week we had and we were able to top it off by listening to inspired Prophets of God! I received so many answers to my prayers and was uplifted to the fullest! My favorite talk was Elder Holland when he challenged the entire world very boldly to always love God! It inspired me to do even more to show my deep love for my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ! If we truly love God it will be evident in everything that we do. We must always love God especially as members of His restored church!

This week we saw a huge miracle! We were going to visit one of our baptismal dates and while walking over there we saw a family walking up the steps in a complex next door and I felt the Spirit whisper to me to go knock on their door. I set it aside and our baptismal date ended up not being home. As we were about to get back in the car I felt the Spirit whisper it to me once again. So I couldn't deny what the Spirit was telling me and we went to go harvest that complex. The fourth door we knocked on was that family that we saw and they immediately let us in. They accepted baptism almost before we could even invite them! Then the next day when we went to go follow up she exclaimed, "Ya'll were definetly sent from Jesus Christ. I've been searching for a job for months now and yesterday a half an hour after you left that blessing I got a call for an interview." It was a miracle and then she exclaimed how she desires so badly to change her life and be baptized. The Spirit led us to her home and because we headed to the promptings of the Spirit and put off the natural man her entire family will now have the gospel of Jesus Christ!

We had quite a few investigators come to Conference this weekend and they definetly received inspiration on decisions that they have to make in their individual lives right now! We also have nine baptismal dates for this Sunday so it should be an exciting upcoming week as always FULL of miracles!

But not much has changed out here in the mission field. Elder Hall and I are working hard as always and transfers are coming up on October 24th. Hopefully Elder Hall and I stay together but we'll see what the Lord has in store for us!

I love the Lord. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. It means everything to me and we must do all things in our individual lives to follow our Savior Jesus Christ. He has sacrificed everything for us, can we not sacrifice a little for Him?

With Love,

Elder Pond

WK36 'OBEDIENCE in ALL Things'

Dearest Family and Friends,

Ah this week I have soo many blessings and miracles that the Lord has blessed us with! We are eternally greatful here in Fort Lauderdale South for all that the Lord has given us this month! We had the honor and priveledge to bring twelve souls unto Christ by baptism this month. It truly is amazing what the Lord can do with that full faith and trust in Him. Faith is a HUGE principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I have definetely grown over my mission thus far. Christ pronounced to all of God's children, all things are possible to him who believeth! Elder Hall and I definetely exhibiting a lot of faith this month and worked as hard as we can and the Lord granted unto us success!
This week the Lord especially blessed us with miracles especially as we were exactly obedient. We have a lot of investigators here but know we need to find the time to harvest in order to find more as well as solidify our current investigators with those indirect blessings. We set out to get eight blessings by Wednesday and fifteen blessings by the end of the week and definetely saw the indirect blessings. We have an amazing investigator that was suppose to get baptized last Sunday but got scared and all the sudden didn't think she needed to be baptized again. So this week we set out to help her recognize that she definetely needed this baptism and this is what God would have for her. Everything we testified of this week the Spirit testified of very strongly and pierced her to the very soul. She felt it and was baptized this Sunday! We know this was because of our exact obedience in all things.
Then we also saw direct blessings at the same time. We were out seeing some people Friday morning and all our appointments fell threw. So we prayed and asked our Father in Heaven to tell us where we should go and what we should do. We felt very inspired to go harvest this street that had been recently knocked but we didn't doubt the Lord at all. The first couple of complex's no one answered and then we got to the house that I know our Father in Heaven was leading us to. She opened the door and right away she asked what church we were from. We told her that we were from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and that Christ sent us to her home. She exclaimed that she knew Christ sent us there because on Monday she was talking with a lady that told her she needs to stop us next time she sees us. As well as she was just laying in the bed wondering how she is going to deal with all the stress she's going threw and then we knock on her door. As she is looking up to the sky she said, "I know that God sent you two to me!" We then blessed her and she now cannot wait till her baptism day.
We also saw the blessings with our Recent Converts who we love very much! We went and saw an amazing new member who was baptized a couple of weeks ago and he told us something amazing! He said, "Last night I was pondering on everything ya'll have taught me. And while I was doing so God put it on my mind that I need to go out and serve a mission as well!" We then tesitfied that he can do missionary work here and one day he can serve a senior mission! He has already found three solid referrals for us and is now preparing to one day go out and serve as a senior missionary!
I know that all these blessings came to us threw obedience! We MUST be obedient in ALL things in order to recieve the blessings of heaven! This work is amazing and I know that we will see even more and greater miracles as we are continually obedient in all things!

Transfers aren't till October 25th so we have a little bit but time just flies by when you are out serving the Lord. I just wish it could slow down!! Haha. But I guess ya'll will just have to guess who the pictures are of on the SD Card if they are of just us with normal people they are either Recent Converts or people that I have grown really close to.

Todays message is that the Lord is in ALL things, so ALWAYS trust Him! Love ya'll!!

With Love,

Elder Pond

Elder Pond Emailing Ya'll!

WK 35 'BIG Thinks Happening!'

Dear Family and Friends!!

It was amazing to hear from ya'll and feel of the Spirit that came from the temple dedication this week! Everything is going amazing out here in the mission field we are pushing to hit 150 baptisms as a mission this month! I cannot wait and know it will only come as we are faithfully obedient and always diligent! This week I also was pondering on how excited I am for the future of this mission and where we are going as we continue to do things that have not been done! I love missionary work!

Once again this week the Lord prepared the way for Elder Hall and I to baptize one soul unto Christ. Five weeks in a row He has allowed us to baptize this truly is a miracle that came from the Lord especially after seeing where this area was before! I know that this only came because of Christ's strength as Ammon states in Alma 26.

A huge miracle we have been seeing lately has been with the power of Book of Mormon study as a family and family prayer. There is this amazing family that Elder Hall and I have been working with for a while now that have amazing desires to get baptized, but are not married and living together. So they have been preparing for their marriage on October 5th but have been facing heavy opposition where Satan has been trying to tear their family apart. So we met with them and this day they were just yelling at each other and you could just feel the contention in their home. But we felt very prompted by the Spirit that every night if they read from the Book of Mormon and pray as a family that the Lord would bring their family closer together. They all committed to do so that night and what was really cool is what happened the next day. We came over and everything was picture perfect! Everyone was getting along and the house was filled with the Spirit because they were showing that Christlike love towards each other. When we asked what they did differently and they said they just did what we asked, read and prayed as a family and the Lord sent a miracle! There is power in reading the Book of Mormon and communicating with God!

This week we also saw how obedience in harvest brings indirect blessings. Last week we didn't quite get all the blessings that the Lord wanted us to get so this week we set out to get eight by Wednesday, and fifteen at the end of the week (the standard that President Anderson has set). While harvesting we didn't really find a ton of people who were really solid but the Lord saw our hearts and definetely blessed us indirectly by getting nine referrals of amazing people who are excited to be baptized! I will always be exactly obedient in all things not only to get the direct blessings, but the indirect blessings as well.

Big things are happening out here in the mission field and I truly cannot wait! We are baptizing more than this mission or almost any mission stateside has in a long time. We have a temple that will be dedicated in less than a year. And the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored! I love it! But yea the temples dedication date is set for 2013 Labor Day Weekend so we pray every day that the temple will be open by that date! It's been eight months since I've been to the House of the Lord and I really miss it. I'm proud of you as well El Bell you finna tear it up in the mission field! Love ya man!

Grandma Ruby-Thank you soo much for your advice in your letters. I can really feel the Spirit when I read them and they help me go out every day and work as hard as I possibly can! I love you!

That's really it for this week. Thanks for the packages and you should get a letter with the SD Card in it! Love ya'll make sure ya write this week!

With Love and Trust in the Lord,

Elder Pond

 Elder Pond and Elder Hall

 

WK 34 'Three Hour Baptism!!'

Dear Family and Friends!!

Ah I can't wait to tell y'all what's been happening this week cause it has been full of miracles!! Right now we are actually sitting in McKay Peirs grandparents home because they are serving a senior mission here in Fort Laud! I'm actually on Sister Peirs iPad right now! It's crazy for sure!

The words of the prophets always gets me pumped for doing missionary work! I love it! Last night we actually got the transfer call and both Elder Hall and I are staying here in Fort Laud South! I'm very excited to stay here in Fort Lauderdale South for at least one more transfer with my amazing companion Elder Hall! We have a lot of exciting things happening here in our area and are definitely seeing the Lord labor along side us every single day. The miracles we are seeing here by the hand of the Lord make me stand in aw all the time!

Last week was amazing but ended on a sour note due to most of our baptisms falling threw. But we pressed foreword with faith knowing that the Lord was along our side always! We also set out to be even more obedient this week by reaching eight blessings by Wednesday as well as getting home at nine every night. For we knew that by being exacltly obedient we would recieve even more blessings from on high and we definitely did! On Wednesday we only had one blessing and we set out and the Lord preparing seven homes for us to bless. Then we saw the indirect blessing flow in on Sunday! The family that was suppose to be baptized last week overcame a lot of trials this week and entered into the waters of baptism. They all exclaimed that they felt relieved of all of their burdens when they came out of that water and can't wait to recieve the gift of the holy ghost next week! We also had a part member family where the son was set to be baptized. We had been teaching him for a while and his desires have always been sky high. We also always heard about the other son but never met him until they brought him to church this Sunday. But we had thirteen non members at church so we were super busy and didn't really get to talk to him much. Then after church everyone was sitting in the chapel waiting for the baptismal service to start when I felt very prompted to invite the other so to be baptized today with his brother! We first met him three hours ago and never even taught him but I couldn't argue with the Spirit and invited him right there! He accepted and was baptized with his brother and it was amazing! We always must be exactly obedient and listen to the Spirit and by doing so miracles always come forth!! Not only in missionary work but in ALL things in life! This week we had a total of seven baptisms and I know that we can see miracles like this in our individual lives as we are exactly obedient and always listen to the Spirit in all things!

I love this work and am very excited to see even more miracles here in Fort Lauderdale South! When ya send mail to the mission office they just transfer it to our apartment and it only takes an extra day so you're good to send mail! I love y'all and can't wait to see more miracles in y'alls lives as well as in the mission field!

Return With Honor!!

Elder Pond