Apostle-hugging

Dear fa ily a d f iends,

New Jersey Morristown Mission was privileged to welcome Elder Lowell Tom Perry from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife (President Jeppson's first cousin) into the Morristown chapel for an emergency all-mission conference yesterday.  I had the privilege of attempting to wrap my arms around that man's torso and failing; he is huge!  A giant both physically and spiritually.  When they entered the chapel with our mission president and his wife and a general authority, everyone stood up in respect and the Holy Spirit immediately filled the room.  He gave a couple of fist bumps and proceeded to the stand.  Each missionary received an opportunity to shake their hands.  I hugged him.  I'm never washing my right hand and clothes again.  I'm afraid that the traces of Priesthood that my clothes and hand have acquired on contact with Elder and Sister Perry might wash out.

Oh!  Speaking of emergencies, I don't know if I wrote about our apartment building burning.  Two weeks ago, the apartment two floors below us started emitting smoke.  No one saw it at first.  We just heard sirens, which are common here in Irvington.  Then I noticed through the kitchen window the fire engines headed toward our building.  The dumb alarms sounded and before long, were headed down the stairs only to be told by some cop to "Go use the other set of stairs or something."  Before doing that, however, he opened the 5th floor door for those firefighters to haul up some sort of thick hose.  Thick smoke ignorantly billowed out of the door, ruining that morning, so we nonchalantly walked down the other set of stairs to watch the building burn from outside.  We got bored and headed to the library, which was more exciting than our burning building.  Thankfully, the fire only affected that apartment on the fifth floor and no one was harmed, especially our Pop Tarts and breakfast that I was about to eat before we were naively evacuated.

Well, things here are getting monotonous.  Elder Walker and I are figuring out what more we can do to make this area that we opened more exciting and fulfilling for both us and the missionaries after us.  As a mission, as I've said before, we have set a goal to contact 10 people on the street per day, and to invite 1 person to be baptized per day.  Doing so, and sometimes exceeding, the goal does not satisfy us anymore.  What more can we do to make our missions more meaningful and exciting here??

Uhmm....  Packages.  Yes.  We have 2 boxes' worth of packages in our apartment now!  Now our bodies can actually receive sustenance.  Happy Easter!  We four Irvington elders also got fed by Bishop and Sister Klusey on Easter, which was a miracle!  Neither Irvington areas have active members to feed us, but the Kluseys volunteered last-minute.  They are awesome!

I can't think of anything else....  Saffa is now not progressing because of his two new jobs and family.  If only he didn't have two jobs and a family!  We haven't heard from Clement since last transfer.  Emmanuel is the closest investigator to progressing, and he doesn't even do things to show his faith!  What?!  All of our other investigators have been taught once and just got busy with their lives or something.  If only they didn't have lives!  Missionary work would be tons easier.

Oh well,

Still Finding

Dearest,

With 10 minutes remaining, I apologize for not writing this email last week.  There was a lot going on spiritually and temporally.  Some really good memories were created that I will just have to write in my journal.

The Work here is plugging along.  Most of it is finding people to teach, however, since we just opened the area, and there was a confusion in the records as to whose area people belonged to and whatnot.  All of our lessons but one this past week were to investigators of the Church.  President Jeppson is emphasizing consecration and contacting this month and set a goal of contacting 10 people per day.  Elder Walker and I end up contacting 15 per day and inviting a couple to be baptized if they find out from God that the Book of Mormon is His book!

General Conference was amazing though!  I loved Elder Bednar's talk about how the Atonement of Jesus Christ was accomplished not just to take our sins, but to strengthen us.  It enables us to become better people.  Something that Elder Walker and I love to teach is that Jesus Christ did not just die for our sins; I wouldn't die for my mom because she's a sinner.  He died to preserve the good in us.  Whatever form the help that comes from the Atonement of Jesus Christ helps us to become stronger and more godly, which is God's purpose for us in the first place.

I love you all!

Love,
Elder deJesus

Bus Preacher

Dear,

This week was a'ight.  It was sort of an extension of last week.  The reason I say that is because when we opened the area, we were surprisingly flooded by work to do: referrals, potential contacts, less-active members, etc. to visit.  This week, we just sort of continued trying to contact those people that haven't answered their phones or doors.  That is what we call "serious jukage."

One evening, we went to a scheduled appointment with one of our investigators.  We knocked on the door and no one answered.  Surprise.  He had done that before.  So we left his apartment complex and started for Springfield Ave to contact people.  As we left, he waved to us from a few yards away.  We talked to him and asked if we should still visit him that night.  He said yes.  30 minutes after contacting on Springfield, we knocked on his door again.  His brother opened the door to him eating dinner in front of the telly.  We asked, "Do you want us to come by another time?"  He said, "Perhaps."  AAAHH!!!  Juked twice within one hour by the same person!

We left his apartment complex and met a giant black man.  "How tall are you?"  "6-foot-eleven," he replied casually.  He continued, "Y'all goin' to the memorial?  My main man just died in gunfire."  "No.  What was his name?"  "I dunno.  I only know that his Crip name was Smiles."  Definitely a gang member.

The next morning, we got on the bus and were graced by the words of a bus preacher.  Her voice emanated from the front of the bus like a broken automatic pencil sharpener.  "Jesus was a black man!  I know him!  I saw him with my own eye!  He love me more than all y'all!  It says so in the Baaahble!"

Anyway, not much to report.

Love y'all.

Love,

Elder deJesus

Nigerian Party and Dr. Chicken Shack

Famiriends,

Below are a picture of my beloved family, the Basanteses at Dana's baptism!!!  Next Sunday is Julian's, third from the left.  I am all teary right now, which is not a manly confession.  I love that family!  Las misioneras en Kearny are doing great.  Also below is a picture of half of our New Jersey Morristown Mission family in December (we couldn't fit all of us).

Oh!  And just so I don't forget, and with high hopes that someone will love me enough to send me something valuable, my new home address is:

10 Marshall St. apt 7B

Irvington, NJ zipcode

United States of America.

By the rubs, since someone commented on how lame and uninformative my emails are (#snarkiness), I make plain this statement: I have been privileged to open a new area with my past companion.  We were in Kearny; now we are in Irvington, New Jersey, or, in other words, the hood.  The people are nice!  They love Jesus.

What a great couple of weeks!

We were privileged to attend a Nigerian party last week.  After teaching Emmanuel, his Nigerian landlord invited us to his daughter's first birthday party.  There were a lot of kids, simultaneously-yelling Nigerian women, and good food.

Dr. Chicken Shack was one of the many sketchy chicken shacks found in the hood.  It was better than Popeyes or even KFC!

Being a companionship who opened a new area, and have served here for 3 weeks, may I brag about our two new and extremely prepared investigators who now have baptismal dates: Saffa and Clement.  Clement was a miracle of whom I will tell you next week.

Love and xoxo and stuff,

Elder de. Jesus

Basantes Family

Irvington North. The hood.

Dear,

Well, these past two weeks were a wreck.  Two weeks ago, Elder Walker and I were in Kearny, rushing to do our normal missionary labors, and struggling to clean the apartment for the new sister missionaries in Kearny, and shoveling the 16" snow, and preparing the information that the new sisters are going to need, and saying goodbye to Hna. Basantes and her family, Gma. Jackie, and the Pesantez family.  I totally didn't cry at all.  7 months in Kearny....

But now I'm excited to immerse myself in police sirens every 5 minutes, loud conversations in front of stores, and hip hop blaring from every other car.  As a plus, the Bloods and Crips got our backs!

Last week, Elder Walker and I were doubled into Irvington North.  We didn't even have the area book or a map, so we didn't get to start working until Thursday, when we just called people and planned all day.  Friday was when we knocked and contacted as many people as we can.  We also met Sakinah, who is Black and into white guys, and has half-Asian babies.  Way to flirt to convert, past missionaries!  We got talking about white guys, and how her last missionary is the whitest of the white: blond, blue-eyed, and white.  She immediately said, "That's how I like 'em!"

Then on Saturday, we met Sis. Francis, who is less-active because of health issues.  She talks.  But she loves the missionaries and has a wall of our names in her house.  We then taught Manuel, who is an investigator, for the first time.

When we came into the house, we were greeted by a family of Nigerians.  They were so nice and got us excited to teach Manuel.  He invited us to his room and took off the hookah from the center table/box.  We sat on the floor of that chairless room with turf and he offered us some carrot cake.  It was good.  He sat on the floor across from us in an awkward mermaid pose and began firing questions, some of which were about how we can be promoted to President of the Church.  We told him that it is by revelation and he kept asking how to be good enough to be voted into presidency.  We bore witness to him about the reality of modern revelation and left.

New investigator our first week!  As bizarre as that visit was, we felt the Spirit bear witness to him.  He invited us over again.

I am amazed at how much I am reminded that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true every time I or someone else bears testimony.  The Church is true and changes lives!

Elder Walker was impressed at how well this week has been going so far.  He said that it was better than when he was first doubled into Sparta.

Sunday was spectacular!  We had a linger longer, which apparently never happens in Maplewood Ward.  It was a very warm welcome to me, Elder Walker, and Elder Page from Utah and Elder Cuyon from the Philippines.  The ward itself is multicultural, ranging from Guyanan, Ghanan, and Haitian, to puertoricense and Filipino!  Yes, there is a Filipino family from Pangasinan in our ward!  AAAHH!!!  I love this place!

Keep it hood.  Maple hood.

Love,
Elder deJesus

Gaah. First New Area.

Friemily,

7 minutes.

Yesterday was transfers!  I finally get to leave Kearny, which is the suburbs of Newark, which is the hood.  I was sent to the sparkling Irvington North Walking, which is the extension of the hood.  And, surprise, I stayed with Elder Walker!

The reason that that is interesting is the he, as my third companion in Kearny, was doubled out with me.  All week was spent [15 additional minutes on this computer] preparing the area book and the apartment for sisters, as well as trying to keep it a secret from our zone that the second set of sisters are finally coming into the Newark Zone.

As we were doing that, a few thoughts garnished my mind: that I only knew Elder Walker for 6 weeks, I have known Kearny for 7 months, the apartment is not worthy for sisters to live in, and they need appointments set for their first week so they can have a good head start to working the area.  As I thought these things, I bawled like a baboon!

Yesterday, we found out that we were going to be doubled into Irvington North Walking, and they just don't usually do that.  They don't usually double a companionship out of their area and then transplanted into another.  But they did for us, and we are so happy!!!  Irvington!  Hud lyfe 4 lyfe.  Goodbye, Peruvians and Ecuadorians in Kearny.  Hello, Haitian food and Elizabeth Zone!

Anyway, we found out on Sunday night that one of our many members who have difficulties with the branch presidency told us about his marital problems that we weren't aware of before. Monday morning, we met with him at Vicente's and talked.  We went in knowing that the only things we can teach him is the gospel of Jesus Christ and we cannot be involved with marital issues.  It was a nerve-racking idea.  But it was the most spiritual lesson that we have ever taught.  The Spirit truly did all the teaching.  He told us that he knew what he had to do but had been denying it.  We bore testimony to him that the best way to fix any problems was to follow the personal promptings that he has received.  Many tears were shed.

I do love this work and I am excited to establish God's kingdom in Irvington!

Love,
Elder deJesus

Hello!

Hello!

10 minutes.

If you're confused why you're getting this email from a Filipino, I finally added you to my weekly email updates because I think that I promised that I would....  If you don't want them, let me know in the subject line!  Thanks!

So...next week is transfers, and I don't want to leave my first area!!!  I've been here 5 transfers and I've known and loved these people for so long.  And Elder Walker is the bomb, is tight, dope, and swag, and the best district leader and companion I have ever had.

On Tuesday last week, I went on the most productive exchange in what used to be part of my area, Harrison, NJ.  Ever since it was split from Kearny/Harrison, there was just barely any work to do there.  All the elders did was pray, knock, and street contact.  That is what we did on Tuesday, and voila, miracles.  We met a lady who was actually willing to talk to us about her dog and gave Elder Anding the run-down of how to find Christians looking for the truth in Harrison.  Then we knocked into a family of 5 people who were "looking for some sort of Christian teachers" since the mom was pretty much bedridden, and we found a referral for the Portuguese elders, among other miracles.

Yesterday, in my own area, we talked to a lady on the bus about things other than the gospel and gave her a card before she got off.  Then a man who was getting off at the same stop as the lady asked us if he could have a card as well.  That never happens here unless they are Hispanic, which that man was not.  Also, when we checked for a potential investigator on Schuyler, a different man told us that Paul had moved a couple years ago but "I'm interested in learning about your religion; here's my number."

Oh!  And we moved a family of gypsies too!  One of them has Tourette's Syndrome and is a deacon for a church.  He wants to teach me Gypsy.

And Don and Jack the Chinese man are progressing.

We also taught President Mitchell, Sister Mitchell, and Miriam and Svetlana.  Best lesson ever.  Sis. Mitchell said, "That was just what we needed to hear."

Other than that, we just shoveled and pushed people's cars out of the snow and freezing-rained-on snow, or, in other words, ice.  Now I'm yoked, or, in other words, swoll.

I love this Church and God!  And I love you, random citizen.

Love,

Elder deJesus