Dear Family and Amazing Friends,
Thank you for all the mail and packages I recieved this week! It's amazing to hear from all of you and be able to feel of your love and hear what's going on back home! I can tell ya'll one thing though I do miss the snow down here in sunny Florida! Like the weather is wayy nice but I really do love the snow so yea. I guess you could say I am excited to shred Milly up in two years from now! But I hope and pray that everything is doing well for everyone back home! Cause things are doing more than amazing here in Wellington. The field is truly white and ready to harvest here in Wellington I know that without a doubt becuase of the blessings we recieved this week!
This week the missionaries in Fort Lauderdale got the honor of hearing from Elder Gonzalez, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy. It was really inspiring to hear the words of this man especially as we are "Preparing for the Prophets". I really took that we need to focus everything we teach around the book of mormon. As the keystone of our religion everything we teach relies upon this book, and if it is truly taken into someones life it will bring an added measure of peace into their life. So this week Elder Shaffer and I took those great words of advice and applied them into our teaching. In Preach My Gospel it says, the Book of Mormon combined with the Spirit can be your two biggest tools in teaching. The amazing thing that I saw is it really works! As we focused our teaching around the Book of Mormon investigators saw the importance of it and found peace in the book while gaining a testimonty of it at the same time.
One other thing that I learned this week that as we are exactly obedient, the Savior will prepare and lead us to people who not only are ready for the gospel, but need the peace that the gospel brings into peoples lives! The start of this week was very tough because we were working very hard and being obedient but not much was coming of it. Appointments were falling threw, and we even had to drop an investigator that is so close to baptism but just isn't progressing because that full desire is not there. His name is Keith Davis and I absolutely love the guy to death but he just wasn't progressing towards baptism. So we told him that we know if he applies his faith and acts upon it that his life will be greatly blessed, but we can't come around and teach him as much until he truly has that desire to know for himself! But we knew that if we continue to work hard and be exactly obedient and push threw it, that Jesus Christ would lead us to where we need to be threw the Spirit. That exact thing happened the last two days of this week! On Saturday night we were traveling on bike to go visit one of our investigators and a recent convert who just had a death in their family. When we arrived their friends answered the door and told us that they were not home because they were still putting things in order. So we asked them if they would like to listen to a short message about Jesus Christ and how he can bless them in their lives. They very hesitantly accepted and told us to make it quick. But as we got into the lesson the Spirit guided and directed us and softened their hearts totally! Even to a point where at the end of the lesson we invited them to be baptized and they accepted. The only problem that we found out the next day was that they are living together and they are not married. So being led by the Spirit once again they accepted to get married a week before their baptisimal day! I can not even believe the change that they have made in the past two days. Both of them are 100 times happier and just have felt that calm peace more in their lives.. They both also came to church this week and he told me once he stepped inside the building he felt as if all his troubles and trial were left outside that door. That he felt 100% at home and an absolute peace and that he cannot wait for his baptism! He also expressed he is very excited to take his family to the temple in one year and be sealed. He said that will be one of the happiest days of his life! Elder Shaffer and I are very blessed in our missionary lives to be led to people as prepared as Angelo and Shannon are.
Just when we thought it couldn't get any better on Sunday we met a golden investigator! It strengthened my testimony that if we work hard and are exactly the Lord always prepares a way. That the heavens are opened when we do so and miracles are possible. In HIS strength we can do all things! But Sunday a young man by the name of Brian walked all the way to church. We saw him and started talking to him and actually found out that he has been studying about the church for six months already. He has already read all of Moroni, 3rd Nephi, and most of 1st and 2nd Nephi! He was anxiously engaged in all three church hours and because of our amazing ward here in Wellington we were able to get him at a dinner appointment with members that night! There we found out that he has already gained a witness from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. So we invited him to be baptized and he said, "Yes, absolutely. There is nothing more than I want in my life right now!" Brain will be baptized a week after we first met him on next Sunday and we will get the honor of meeting with him every day this week! I know that Jesus Christ himself is preparing people in South Florida for us as missionaries to teach and baptize. This is a great and marvelous work and I am so honored to be a part of it! I love my Savior Jesus Christ.
One other thing that I learned this week that as we are exactly obedient, the Savior will prepare and lead us to people who not only are ready for the gospel, but need the peace that the gospel brings into peoples lives! The start of this week was very tough because we were working very hard and being obedient but not much was coming of it. Appointments were falling threw, and we even had to drop an investigator that is so close to baptism but just isn't progressing because that full desire is not there. His name is Keith Davis and I absolutely love the guy to death but he just wasn't progressing towards baptism. So we told him that we know if he applies his faith and acts upon it that his life will be greatly blessed, but we can't come around and teach him as much until he truly has that desire to know for himself! But we knew that if we continue to work hard and be exactly obedient and push threw it, that Jesus Christ would lead us to where we need to be threw the Spirit. That exact thing happened the last two days of this week! On Saturday night we were traveling on bike to go visit one of our investigators and a recent convert who just had a death in their family. When we arrived their friends answered the door and told us that they were not home because they were still putting things in order. So we asked them if they would like to listen to a short message about Jesus Christ and how he can bless them in their lives. They very hesitantly accepted and told us to make it quick. But as we got into the lesson the Spirit guided and directed us and softened their hearts totally! Even to a point where at the end of the lesson we invited them to be baptized and they accepted. The only problem that we found out the next day was that they are living together and they are not married. So being led by the Spirit once again they accepted to get married a week before their baptisimal day! I can not even believe the change that they have made in the past two days. Both of them are 100 times happier and just have felt that calm peace more in their lives.. They both also came to church this week and he told me once he stepped inside the building he felt as if all his troubles and trial were left outside that door. That he felt 100% at home and an absolute peace and that he cannot wait for his baptism! He also expressed he is very excited to take his family to the temple in one year and be sealed. He said that will be one of the happiest days of his life! Elder Shaffer and I are very blessed in our missionary lives to be led to people as prepared as Angelo and Shannon are.
Just when we thought it couldn't get any better on Sunday we met a golden investigator! It strengthened my testimony that if we work hard and are exactly the Lord always prepares a way. That the heavens are opened when we do so and miracles are possible. In HIS strength we can do all things! But Sunday a young man by the name of Brian walked all the way to church. We saw him and started talking to him and actually found out that he has been studying about the church for six months already. He has already read all of Moroni, 3rd Nephi, and most of 1st and 2nd Nephi! He was anxiously engaged in all three church hours and because of our amazing ward here in Wellington we were able to get him at a dinner appointment with members that night! There we found out that he has already gained a witness from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. So we invited him to be baptized and he said, "Yes, absolutely. There is nothing more than I want in my life right now!" Brain will be baptized a week after we first met him on next Sunday and we will get the honor of meeting with him every day this week! I know that Jesus Christ himself is preparing people in South Florida for us as missionaries to teach and baptize. This is a great and marvelous work and I am so honored to be a part of it! I love my Savior Jesus Christ.
An 86 year old lady by the name of Elizabeth is also getting baptized as well this week! She is one of the funniest and my favorite people in the entire world! I love that woman to death! We ran into her harvesting and she has an absolute love for our Savior Jesus Christ. In two weeks we are also hopefully baptizing a Haitian family that has been a blessing in our lives as well! We absolutely love our investigators that our father in heaven has trusted with us here in Wellington.
I know that there in no better place for anyone to be than the mission field! This is His work and glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man! And this is the work that is going forth as we speak. Who the Lord calls he also qualifies threw His strength! Once again letters are always appreciated and I love ya'll soo very much! I love hearing about what's happening at home and how everyone is doing! Laboe you better get around to writing me that letter and I heard you tore it up at your farewell man!! You'll be an amazing missionary and I truly cannot wait for us all to come home and just mob it up!! And to everyone else, especially those who said they would write me a letter, I love you soo much and am waiting!! haha. God be with ya'll back home Elder Pond out!
With Love,
Elder Pond
