Fully engaged in this great enterprise that Jesus called "my Father's business!!!"""

Well Hi there!!

 

   It snowed again here a few inches and its really making me sad..... I just want to see the warm weather come around because I'm just not liking all this white garbage.

 

  We had interviews this past week and it was great to be with President Jergensen for a day. He's someone that I will stay in contact with for the rest of my life. Here was here in the zone on Friday and then on Sunday he was here for Stake coordination with the Stake President. On Sunday we had 5 investigators at church and they are all working towards baptismal dates.

 

  Ben will be baptized on Saturday and he will be baptized by Jared Veach who was baptized on Feb 9th so he's also a recent convert. You want to know how to keep people active in this church??? You get them to the temple within 30 days of their baptism and get them to baptize someone else hahaha. Oh he's great and the 2 of them want to go on missions, so a year from now they will be out in the mission field, and that makes me so happy.

 

  Sam is doing great, he's now in Helaman in his Book of Mormon reading and wow the spirit is just working with him so much. We were talking about his feelings with his reading and he kept saying that he wants to come to Jesus and then he was thinking about Ben's baptism( he was sitting right there with us) and he was like "can I get the baptism too"? We were just so excited that he said that and will be getting him all lined up for baptism on the 20th of April.

 

  I'm so happy to be here in Ames because it's just the best area and has some super sweet members who are taking good care of us. If you've noticed mom I've been using the home card to get some food because I'm staight up out of MSF because we have bought flowers and thank you gifts for people that have helped us out in the ward and I'm just out, so I'll be taking some out to buy food this week....... sorry:)

 

 Let me know how the family is dong down in st. geezy and in Cali cuz that's where I"m headed for school and all:)  I hope that Abuelo is doing ok it's been one of my biggest fears that something bad would happen to him or anyone in the family.

I could really use a spring break right now, my body is just beat but my spirits are high and doing better then ever.

 

I sent all my love from Ames Iowa    Elder Gonzalez

 

 

ps transfers are only 6 weeks long

 

pps   On may 4 we are having an apostle come and speak to the missionaries with a Presidentcy of the 70 dude

More cold weather......

Hey good family

 

   I'm happy today and glad that I do get some time to send an email your way. I'm sorry that lately it's been on Tuesdays, we just are all over the place on Mondays even though it is P-day. This past week was just great but a little slower then normal. On Sunday we did get to have a great lesson with Ben and with Sam (our Chinese friend). Ben has expressed interest in serving a mission and that is really exciting because he's not even baptized (March 30th) and he's already thinking of going on a mission to let others know about the eternal significance of the gospel. He's doing great and will meet him baptismal date. Sam is doing great as well. When we sat down with him we asked if he has been able to read from his Chinese Book of Mormon, and he grabbed his book and starting flipping the pages and he stopped at Alma 32! He's already read to ALMA 32!!! Elder Herrin and I just about fell off our chairs we were so excited. We watched the Restoration DVD with him in Chinese so that he could understand more about the prophet Joseph Smith and where the Book of Mormon came from. He's doing very well and has been to church every week for about a month.

 

  That's great to hear that you are getting some warm weather over there, because we are just getting more snow and cold weather. It snowed Sunday night and it's clear outside right now and pretty chilly. I really hate the snow and want it to be spring here. It's spring break for the university in town so it's actually pretty quite and not much commotion going on. We have interviews with President Jergensen this week and so I'm excited for that and ready to update him from my last interview. He love Elder Herrin and I so it'll be just great.

 

That's sweet that your planning on going to Cali. I want to go there so bad. MOM you have to go, just drink a couple of red bulls and you'll have all the energy in the world. I love the Midwest, it truly has a special place in my heart and Ames is a very special place for me. I will be transferred out of here on April 25th and be in my last area probably fixing what other missionaries have destroyed since that's been the trend for me my entire mission. Elder Pope my 2nd boy in now the district leader down in Ankeny and that's exciting to see that he is doing well in his mission and staying strong in the gospel. I'll be on exchanges with him later on in the transfer.

 

 

  Keep being good and do fun things. 

 

 

 

       Elder Gonzalez   Ames 2nd ward

Road Trip to Nauvoo I'll always remember!!!

Hello Family

 

  This past week I was able to see so many miracles. First off Sara Rogers and Matt Schmits were baptized and confirmed and are doing well. I was able to baptize Sara and it was unforgettable and absolutely amazing. If there is something that I'm addicted to it's baptizing people. Her family is starting to come back to church and her father, who hasn't been active in over 20 years, was able to stand in the confirmation circle in Sacrament meeting. Brother Rogers now has a friend that he wants us to teach and we will be meeting with him tomorrow morning.

 

  After the baptism and 10:30 or so we loaded up in a big van and headed off to Nauvoo to do baptisms for the dead with 4 recent converts, 2 of which where there for the first time. I'm so grateful that I have Nauvoo is in my mission because there is truly a very special spirit there. Alyssa Schuster, and Jared Veach were able to do baptisms for there family members that never had the chance to accept the gospel in this life and wow the tears were rolling down everyone's cheeks. We were the only group down in the baptismal area and on a Saturday afternoon it was the best place to be. So the group was Elder Herrin and I, Chris Stott, Jared Veach, Alyssa Schuster, Kara Maxwell, and Emily French. Everyone is YSA aged and it was so much fun going down and back in the same van. It was the first time that Elder Herrin has ever been able do baptisms for the dead because he wasn't active in his former years and it was great to have him baptize me in the Nauvoo Temple. Goodness it was a great day. 2 convert baptisms and then a road trip down to Nauvoo for a recent convert baptism trip.

 

  Elder Herrin is a great person and I'm so glad that I've been able to serve with him for the past 11 weeks here in Ames. Saturday we were to get our transfer info in the morning but we didn't get it until we were on our way back from Nauvoo at about 8 at night. The call came and we are staying for another 6 weeks which makes me so happy. He reminds me of Tony because he's 2 years older then I am and he is always picking on me and pulling pranks me like Tony does.

 

  So I have to go now but next week I'll write more about who we are teaching and how they are doing. Ames is great and I will be here until April 26th now.

 

With all the love that I possess  Elder Gonzalez  Ames 2nd ward

 

PS we have lots of snow.................... oh well spring break is next week!!!

I really don't like the snow and we got a ticket for it :( (from March 3, 2013)

hey good family

 

  So this past week was just grand. We got stuck out in the snow in Newton Iowa for Tuesday and Wednesday and it sucked. Were we parked it didn't have any signs about parking when it snows and so when we went to sleep it started to snow and in the morning it was like 6 inches on the ground and we got a ticket for parking there. Not good.

 

  We do have 2 baptisms this Saturday. Sara Rogers and Matt Schmits I'm so excited one service starts at 9 in the morning and the other at 11 so it'll be super sweet. The work here in Ames is moving right along and we set 3 more baptismal dates with investigators this past week. Jin He is set for April 20th and a new investigator named Dominique and her son Corvon for April 13th. So cool thing about Dominique. We obviously got whitewashed in and so for Jared's baptism we just went through the phone and texted everyone that was list with an a capital I in front of their name which means that they are an investiagator from the past. With Dominique she was just under there with nothing just her name and so when we texted her she said that she would meet. SO on Saturday we finally set something up with her and the spirit was so strong there. She was crying and saying that we could actually answer her questions about which church is right for her, and why didn't people just go to the same church. I have had so much fun teaching her. So we came back yesterday on Sunday, 2 days in a row and she felt it again. She read the chapter in the Book of Mormon that we left with her (2 Nephi 31) and she loved it, so we set a date for her and her son right then and there. She has lived in Ames her whole life and has been searching for a while and now that the right missionaries are there it is just all going to work out.

 

  Jin He is doing great he came to Region Conference which was sweet. It was a big broadcast from Salt Lake and Elder Craig C. Christensen spoke as well as Larry Echo Hawk and finally Dallin H. Oaks. I loved it and wow we had 4 investigators there for them to hear from an apostle of the Lord.

 

I'm really scared that I'm going to get the call this Friday saying that I'm getting released as Zone Leader and transfered away. I really don't want that to happen I love the people here and we have such good members to take care of us, even if they take pictures of me with snakes on my head. 

 

One Love all the way from Ames Iowa   Elder Gonzalez