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
