Elder Jones (Paduwan Jordan),
Thank you for your letters and email last week. It was great hearing your testimony. Christmas was good. Hannah now has your phone number and mom has your phone. She had an accident with hers and shattered the screen. Rachel also has a phone so now mom only has to wrestle with Sarah to get her phone back. I have been letting Sarah use my Nook during the vacation but I ask her to do chores in order for her to use it. It seems to be working for now. On Thursday we tended the kids so that Bonni and Chris could go to the temple. On Friday we went to Temple Square to see the lights. On Saturday we went swimming with the cousins. On Sunday we had our usual dinner at Robert's house. On Monday we had FHE and then went to Robert's for dinner. On Tuesday we went to Robert's and watched The Lone Ranger. You will be able to see it in two years if you want. It was okay and had some funny lines but wasn't exceptional. On Wednesday Bonni and Chris drove back to Colorado. As you say in your emails, not a lot of exciting things. However, on Friday we had a hot air balloon land in our yard. Mom uploaded the pictures but don't know if she will send them to you.
Josep Rivera did well on his talk. He enters the MTC on January 15th. Maddie gave a great talk on grace. She flew out New Year's morning at 1 am. Kevin Wellman did well but he had to cut it short because Maddie had taken over half the time.
We are thrilled to hear that the Korean is coming along. I thought it was interesting that you said that during the other part of the day that it was boring. Do I need to remind you of Brother Bytheway's talk about bricks and ants? This is a time for you to feel the Spirit and be guided by its influence. If you are studying about faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, think of some of the stories from the scriptures and then translate them to Korean. Then do it again with a different story from another book of scriptures. If you used the Book of Mormon the first time, use the D & C or New Testament the second time. Then be adventuresome and use the Old Testament.
If you have completed the exercises, write down in a notebook different ways to start conversations with others. You will find in your mission that you will talk with a lot of different people. However, just like Alma with the Zoramites, you will have more success with the temporally poor people. Listen to the Spirit to come up with ways to capture the attention of rich people, poor people, men, women, children...
I respect you for what you have accomplished already. My dad tried to help me be more outgoing but I resisted. On your mission you will always have people come up to you because of the Spirit. You will need to be able to keep their interested once you start speaking. As you know, a monotone voice will not do that.
Keep up the great work. We love you and are always praying for you. Sometimes I have to remind your sisters to include you in their prayers but they are getting better. Just remember that the time goes by quickly. Dallin Colgrove only has 6 months left. Kevin Wellman claims that he was the hardest working trunky missionary in his mission. He didn't want to think about how much time was left so he continually had his companion out the door working as fast as he could.
Please let us know how we can help you enjoy this experience more.
Love,
Sarah, Hannah, Rachel, Bekah, dad, and mom and everyone else
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