New Address

This week has been wild for me too. I got a new companion, and I am training  him. His name is Elder Facer, he is from Tennessee, no he does not have an accent and he is so good at Spanish and working hard and being obedient and desiring the best for everyone else more than himself. I love serving with him and we are going to be able to accomplish some great things together over the next 3 months. This past Sunday I gave my first talk in public. Everyone I asked said they understood everything and I only made 3 mistakes that I was able to correct. I am still sure they are lying or weren't paying attention because my Spanish really isn't that good and I was a little nervous to try and give an organized talk. I also did the confirmation of Jiulianna Cespedes which I was much more worried about than my talk, but that ended up all right too. So My Spanish is coming along. This coming week we have some large goals coming up. But through putting our faith and confidence in the guy we are doing all this work for (God) he can make it happen for us if we work hard. That was basically the topic of my talk anyways so I need to put my money where my mouth is. We will tell you how we did this coming week!

Here is a picture of my trainer, me, and my new trainee.

Much much love,

Elder Jonny Bigelow

ps My address to send things to now is 13022 Weeping Cherry Walk, apt. 204, Herndon, VA 20171-2851, and you don't have to send stuff only through Priority Mail now because that is my apartment. Please let some homies know via the blog.

This past week has been some more of working hard to work through well to the end of this transfer. I find out tonight if I actually am training and staying in this area. We do the actual switch on Thursday. I will be able to email you later this week to tell you if I am staying and what the address that you should send other things to.

 I don't have a lot of time again, like always, because we don't have our computers like we normally do. 

I sent a little hand written home today with the temple cards. Talk to you soon! love you guys

love,

Elder Jonathan Bigelow

Dear Family,

This week has been an interesting week. So many powerful ups combined with a few demoralizing downs. We had a lot of meetings this past week which means we got to hear from our amazing leaders which is really inspiring. We had a lot of really great talks from them that have helped me know what I want to make my mission and how I want to work while I am out here.

Lots of our investigators are progressing and it is wonderful to see them choose to actually be baptized and take the steps they need. I love you all, I am sorry I have to be so brief.  I don't even have as much time as I normally would.

Love,

 

Elder Jonathan Bigelow

Another Week in the life of my little ole' mission

Good afternoon family and friends!

This week has been a lot of the same runnin' around trying to teach lessons to all of the wonderful people we know and want to help. I played lot of soccer with investigators and our ward members. A lot of meetings and studies. Especially Spanish Studies, that is one of my main goals right now.

The one thing that was really special this past week was this Sunday. We had the opportunity to go to the DC Temple Visitors center twice. That place works magic! Well really it is just an absolutely amazing resource that can invite the spirit in such an amazing capacity. Because of the experiences we had yesterday we were able to help 2 people get on date for baptism this month! Our second time up we took Harrison, Christian's brother. He is amazing. He reads like crazy, says some of the best, most specific and sincere prayers. We were able to speak about the Holy Ghost and ask him some inspired questions to help him really think about the answers he has received and is always receiving. There was a moment right after we had talked about how to receive and how the power of the Holy Ghost feels. I asked him what answers he had received in the past and what his next action should be. He started to really think and was struggling with words to explain what he was feeling. In the end he basically said that these feelings of warmth, happiness and joy while his heart was beating so quickly was his confirmation that the Book of Mormon was the word of God and that he needed to get baptized.

I have still never received that kind of answer that he had last night. That burning, or warmth, or tingling, or absolute calm or enlightenment while reading, talking and or praying about the Book of Mormon. I have however felt the Holy Ghost and know what it feels like for me and I can tell when someone else is feeling it. So, I have a strong faith, a firm belief that this Church is the Church of God and that the Book of Mormon is a book of God. It is kind of weird, but that's where I am at and how it is.

Know that I am doing great and loving it. I will send more pictures soon!

Love you guys so much!

-Elder Jonny Bigelow