"Sometimes in life you're going to start out slow" Elder Jeppson

You guessed it, it's me once again

This week was very challenging. We didn't find any new people and we went knocking for many hours! So that was a little frustrating. Also we had investigators say that they were excited to Come to church on Sunday, but they never should up. So we went to visit them after church and they totally Ignored us. But that's just how missionary work goes. If missionary work was easy and great all the time then there wouldn't be any opportunities to grow. We have hard times so that we can be stronger and better missionaries. So far every week here has been a humbling experience. Once again sometimes In life you're going to start out slow, but it'll be alright.

Also we are having a lot of changes in our mission so it is hard to get used to the new rules. As of tomorrow there will be no more sports in our mission. When I heard that my heart was so sad😪 So today we went out on a high school football field and played flag football! It was a lot of fun and I made some nice catches so I'm pretty pumped about that😏 We had to make the best out of the last time. But I know that our mission president is an Inspired guy, so i know if I follow all these new rules then I will see a lot more miracles and see more blessings in my life. So I will be focusing on not what I'm giving up and more on what I will be receiving. I'm actually excited about the changes!

We had another great lesson with Mary this week and she is definitely going to get baptized and I am really happy about that. I love visiting her and her mom. Her mom is 91 and she has no filter. She joins in on our conversations and she likes to swear a lot. Everything she says is so funny! She also is now supporting Dio in getting baptized which is a huge step! We are so excited for her.

Oh and we went to The Brooklyn bridge this week! It is so amazing! I couldn't ask to be in a better place! I will send some pictures!

So that was my week! A lot of learning and growing. It was hard but rewarding. I can't get down on myself because I have seen so many miracles already so I just need more patients. But the New York New York South mission is the place to be. Thanks for all the prayer!  Love you all very much

With divine love,

Elder Jeppson

    

Repentence, It is so Beautiful

Good day family and friends it's me once again

This week was once again a good one! It started out with Elder Bennet (A general authority from the 70) came and talked to us. He came to help us out because we are the lowest baptizing mission in the U.S. So yeah that's unfortunate. He talked to us for seven hours on how we need to be exactly obedient and and not waste time. He told us if we are not on our knees before 6:31 A.M. we are choosing to be disobedient. So you could say that hit me pretty hard. He was yelling at us and it was beautiful. It's not very often where I'm excited when somebody is yelling at me. The spirit was so strong in that meeting. He is such an inspired man and I felt like he was just talking to me. So I know if wasn't just random that he was the one who came to our mission. He has what we need. He talked to mission president and I know a lot is going to change in our mission. It's going to be hard
but it's the only way for us to be better.

So this week I made sure I was up at 6:30 and in bed by 10:30. Andhonestly I saw a big difference in the work. We found so many more people this week and it's because I have the lords trust that I'm serious about this great work. And like I said we are a lot happier when we follow the schedule exactly. So I am once again grateful for
these humbling experiences.

We taught Julio this week and he really wants to know what the true church is. So he committed to sincerely read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Like the promise says in Moroni 10:3-5 if you ask with a sincere heart and real intent he will manifest it unto you. And I truly believe that Julio will get an answer. We will be meeting with him next Wednesday so I'll keep you posted on his progress. Also Dio is still progressing. She keeps on telling us "that there is nothing that will take her from this true Church". It's so great to see the change she is having and how much happier she is. She calls Elder Barola and I her spiritual grandchildren.

Also this week We were walking down the street with two other elders that went knocking with us and this big guy came up to us wondering what we were doing in his neighborhood. He was cussing us out and told us to leave his neighborhood. Then we told him we are just missionaries for our church and his attitude totally changed! He wasn't mad at us anymore and he started warning us about dangerous people in the neighborhood. So he apologized and told us to be safe and have a good night. It's cool to see when people recognize you are a representative of Jesus Christ.

And on Friday we went and did service for a lady in our ward and shewanted to call our parents to tell them how we are doing. We tried my mom first and she didn't answer so we called our home number and McKinsey answered. It was so good to hear her voice! I guess she told my parents that the mission president called so my dad called back thinking it was the mission president. So I bet him and my mom thought something bad happened to me. I'm all good though! But it was so good to hear my dads voice too! I didn't get to say anything but Hello but it was a cool experience. The best part about it was I didn't even get homesick. So it was great.

SO I have had a great week! Elder Barola and I will be in the city  tomorrow and probably will see the Empire State Building of Brooklyn bridge. so I will send more pics probably next week. I love you allhave a great week!

Elder Jeppson

Preach My Gospel: The Way to be an Effective Missionary

Braden Micah here,

This week has been a good one. I am really seeing the blessings of being exactly obedient. It seems when we follow our schedule and try our best we have the spirit all day and we are much happier. We had a zone trainer meeting this week and they emphasized following the morning schedule and Reading preach my gospel. I'll start with the morning schedule.

There is a quote by Jeffery R Holland that says “I frequently say to missionaries in the field, ‘You make or break your mission every morning of your life. You tell me how those morning hours go from 6:30 a.m. until you are on the street in your mission, whatever time it is; you tell me how those hours go, and I will tell you how your day will go, I will tell you how your month will go, I will tell you how your year will go and how your mission and your life will go.’”  This is so true! Even when we wake up 15 minutes late or don't effectively study, we don't have that same spirit has if we wake up on time or study the whole time. We have a lot more success when we give it our all and follow that schedule.

Now preach my gospel. Studying preach my gospel everyday is the way to be an effective missionary. It literally answers any question you have and shows how you can be your best. Our goal as a mission is to become a "preach my gospel missionaries" so that is the focus right now.  

Remember last week when I said the Lord always sends miracles when we have moments of struggle? Well it happened again this week! I was having a tough time and I was really down on myself. And then we got a call for our investigator Mary. She was just calling to see if we were still coming bye because she had something really important to tell us. So we went over there with our bishop and his wife and Mary fed us Chinese food. And after dinner she told us that she decided she was going to become a Mormon. She said she had so many experiences this week that she knew this was what she needed to do. So she will be baptized on November 22nd! She told us there is nothing that will drag her away from this church. It has been amazing to see the change in her in the past few weeks. 

Also we got a call from the sisters in our district that told us there was a guy that wanted a blessing. They told us his name and we realized he was the guy that shut us down. He didn't want to hear anything about the church so we were really surprised that he wanted us to come and give him a blessing. We got there and he told us that when we came by last time there was some spirit that we brought that was very comforting. Its great that everybody truly sees us as representatives of Jesus Christ. But anyways we asked him what prompted him to get a blessing and he said "I've heard my family who is Mormon talk about blessings of healing and I feel like that it would help" He has a hole in his leg that isn't heeling and its hurting him. So we gave him a blessing and in the blessing we promised him if he puts his faith in Jesus Christ then he will be healed. After the blessing he thanked us and said that we could come over anytime. So hopefully we will be able to start teaching him!

But we found so many pure In heart people this week that we will start teaching. I know that because we were more obedient that lord led us to them. Like preach my gospel says "There is no other satisfying work than missionary work" And it is so true! I love this work so much and I know this is were I need to be and were I want to be. 

Thanks for all the love and support

With sincere love,

Elder Jeppson 

So Blessed

This week was a good one! We didn't have many lessons but I really learned a lot. I have been thinking a lot these last couple weeks on how I can deal with the hard times on the mission. So I decided to pray on ways I could be better and instantly I started thinking about all that I have been blessed with. I've been given my amazing family, I have a house to live in and parents who love and provide for me, I have all of you guys supporting me, and especially I have this gospel I get to be part of. I've been blessed with so much, so I can do my part in spreading his gospel. 

So anytime I'm having a hard time I think back on all that I have been given. And doing this work is honestly one of the greatest blessings. I've seen so many miracles in such little time and I know a lot more are in store for me. So when times get hard for all of you just look back on what you have been blessed with. And that was my humbling experience this week!

Also we taught Mary this week again. She is so ready to be baptized! She has been to church every week and even payed tithing again this month. Also she has been persistently reading the Book of Mormon and said that she loves it. She has a lot of questions about the church but we've answered many of them and she's even getting answers from church. It's amazing!

So we taught her on Thursday and after the lesson we were about to leave. I put my iPad on top of the car and totally forgot about it. We were driving home and I heard something hit the car. And I looked back and my iPad fell off the roof.  The funny thing is that it stayed on the car for like 2 miles but then finally fell off. So we flipped around to go find it and there was like 20 cars that passed it. So I thought for sure that one of those cars would've ran it over. But we get back and I see it laying in the middle of the road so I stop and get out to grab it, and it is totally fine! Not a single scratch. It was funny because there was a whole line of cars behind me while I'm standing in the middle of the road holding my iPad up screaming and jumping around with joy. I was so pumped the rest of the night. But Honestly it was a miracle! I don't know how it didn't get ran over or anything. So so blessed.

So that was my crazy experience for the week. Also transfers were this week and Sister Lamah got transferred out. So now we have sister Jones and she's great. So I'm loving Huntington so much. It really is the area that I'm supposed to be in. I learn so much from the people I teach and they are the greatest.

That was my week. I'm going to Manhattan on Tuesday so I'll send a lot of pictures! Also I bought a golf club for 3 dollars at the thrift shop so I'm pretty happy! Thanks for all the love and care you give everyone❤️

With trusting love,

Elder Jeppson