Importance of the Sacrament

Good morning to all my loved ones,


So this week was amazing! It started out really slow though! We only had one lesson by Thursday! But we ended up  having 13 lessons by Sunday! So it's not how you start it's how you finish. We had three member presents lessons as well! When the members come to the lessons they go so much better! This ward is so good at missionary work. They always are giving us referrals and coming out teaching with us so it's great. So in your own wards back at home make sure that you are helping the missionaries. Without the members we couldn't do anything! I'll share one experience we had with a member.

So we took a young couple in our ward out teaching with us. We went to Thomas, he is the 85 year old from Nigeria. We had a great lesson with him on the plan of salvation. He had some really key questions like "where are we going after this life" and "what happens to the people that don't have the chance to hear he gospel". So it was great because we had the answers for him. we started talking about the spirit world and for those who didn't get the chance to hear the gospel on this earth, they will be able to hear it in the spirit world. And how no matter what everybody will get the chance to except the gospel. Then he said "now that sounds like the God I know, he's a merciful God." He has been wondering that question all his life and he was so excited because we were able to answer it for him. Also the members we were with had some very great incites and answered his questions. He said "it's a good thing all four of you came over, otherwise I wouldn't have learned as much." So right there you can see the power of member missionary work! He is so excited that we came and he wants us to bring another member next week as well. He really wants to come to church! He even said when he goes back to Nigeria he is gonna walk into the Mormon church there and say that he is a Mormon haha. Is what a great experience!

We also met a Nigerian couple this week by the names of J****** and C******. Cool name huh?? Anyway they let us in their home and then went on to get us some Snapple drinks and served it to us on a tray. They are very respectful of guests. We started talking and we got to know them a little bit and we decided that Nigerians are the most down to earth and pure in heart people. We are teaching like 6 different Nigerians and they are all super nice. But anyways we started talking about the Book of Mormon and found out that they have never heard about Mormons! So we just started talking about how we came about and then talked about the Book of Mormon how it's an ancient record of the prophets and people in the Americas. We explained God has children everywhere so he's just not gonna talk to some of his children, that he'll talk to all of us. We also explained it was just another
testament of Christ and it's not to take away from the bible at all. It made sense to them that God would want to communicate to all his children so they told us they would read it. They also want us to come back and we are gonna talk about the restoration of the gospel next time. The spirit was definitely there.

We also did a lot of service this week! Anywhere from taking a guy in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs, pulling weeds, putting out lawn noms, mowing a lawn using an electric lawn mower, putting up a gazebo, putting together a table, to painting a house! So much service this week!! We started painting a ladies house Saturday and we were there for 3 1/2 hours and only did one room! We have to paint the whole house so it's gonna be a long process. It was really fun. But there were sometimes where I didn't have the best attitude towards service because I felt like there are some people that just take advantage of us. But this morning for studies I was reading in Moroni CHP 7 and it was talking about Charity and if you do service grudgingly you might as well not do it because you are just thinking of yourself. So Heavenly Father gave me a slap in the face for that lol. It's funny how he works. But service great! It's great helping people and it real softens their hearts.

Also yesterday during sacrament I had a great experience. I decided I was actually going to ponder on the importance of the sacrament for the whole meeting. And it was awesome because as I took the bread and water, literally right after I really felt like my mistakes I made this week were taken away! It was one of the few times I felt it hit me that fast! And yes even has missionaries we make mistakes. Wait let me rephrase that, especially as missionaries we make mistakes! We are still human. But it was a great spiritual experience for me.

So yeah that was my week! Next Monday is my birthday so a member is gonna take us to play golf at Bethpage black! I'm so pumped!! It's my first time on the mission so it's been like 10 months since I played so I'll probably suck haha. But hey it's gonna super fun. Have a great week all. I love you all so  much.

Elder Jeppson

Missionary Work and the Atonement

Good morning to all!

I hope all is well with all of you! My week was pretty good so I'll get right into it:

So we met with Ashley this week and had a really good lesson! We had a prompting that we needed to talk about the doctrine of Christ again. So we read 2 Nephi 31 with her about the gospel of Christ. As we read it with her it just hit her that she knew she had to get baptized. She started sharing some near death experiences she has had that she knows God protected her from dying. She told us a story where she was gonna go somewhere with her friend but something told her she shouldn't get in the car. So she listened and just went back in her house for the night. The next day she saw on the news that her friend who was driving the car got in a car accident and got killed. Another time when she was living in Jamaica she was sleeping and told us something woke her up and told her to move beds. 

So she thought it was weird but she did it anyways. And no joke like 5 minutes later a giant boulder came crashing through her roof and landed on the other bed. She lived in a poorly built shelter thing that was right next to a big mountain where they was someone was making explosions. So the boulder came driving through the roof. So we told her it was the Holy Ghost warning her of the danger. We told her that if she gets baptized she will be able to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost if she is worthy of it. It was awesome! She knows God needs her to be baptized. The spirit in the lesson was really good so hopefully soon we can extend a baptismal date.

We also met with Thomas this week. He is an 80 year guy from Nigeria. He is one funny dude! We read the introduction of the Book of Mormon with him and he said he totally believed that this was the word of God. It made sense to him that there was prophets throughout the world and not just in the bible. He also said that every church should use the Book of Mormon! I've never seen someone so excited about reading a book. It was so awesome to hear him say that. That right there proves that he believes it is true. The only thing he needs to do is come to church, because if he does he will feel the spirit of it and we'll get him.

We also had a funny moment this week. We went to see a less active this week and he was talking about the tenant who lived in his house. I guess this guy is crazy and has called the cops 24 times for no reason. So while we were talking about him he walks in and goes off on us and our less active. He kept on trying to tell us all the great things he has done for the house and how our less active treats him bad. It was getting so heated that he started using words that are not quite mission appropriate. Elder Bingham started getting in his face and they were going back and forth for a while. So I decided to record it and sit back and laugh. I love seeing elder Bingham get heated. It's the funniest thing ever!

So those were some good things but don't get me wrong we also had our downs. Rita and some other solid investigators dodged us this week which was very disappointing. We were rejected many time as well. It hurts because we're just trying to bring happiness in their lives but they curse us out. But hey that's part of the mission! Elder Holland gave a talk in the MTC called Missionary Work and the Atonement. That is what keeps me going when times get hard. He says "when times get hard, and you get spit upon, cursed at, and rejected you are standing shoulder to shoulder to the greatest life this world has ever seen. It's so true! Christ was the perfect missionary but got rejected a lot worse then we do! Anytime times get hard I can always look to him because he is with me every step of the way. It's a beautiful thing! I am very thankful for the atonement in my life and in missionary service.

So yeah that was my week! Very good learning experiences. I hope all of you have a great week! 

Love you all so much!


Elder Jeppson

Spiritual Confirmations

Good morning all,

This week was pretty good! We didn't teach as much as usual but the lessons we did teach were great. I hope this finds you all well!

So this week we got a referral for a lady that ordered a bible on Mormon.org. So we went to drop it off and she is  the most solid/prepare person! Her name is Rita. Rita used to be Hindu but just recently has found Christ in her life. She realized in her old religion she felt that there was always something missing and now she knows that it was Christ. So she has been reading the bible online every night for the past two months. But she decided she wanted a hard copy. So when we went over there she was so happy because we were the first to get the bible to her. She told us she usually doesn't answer the door for strangers because it's only her and her daughter, but she said she felt different about us. She told us she was looking for a church that would fit her and her daughter so it was perfect. We said a prayer for her and a blessing on her house. After, she was begging us to come back next week and share our message with her. She was so excited! We feel really good about this one. I'll let you know how it goes next week.

We also met with a less active member who hasn't been to church in over two years! She is in the hospital right now dealing with health problems and she asked us to come visit her. We gave her a blessing and in the blessing it was said that as long as she put her faith back in the Lord and do the Lord's will, then she would be healed. Later that week she gave us a call telling us that she had a strong impression that she needed to take the sacrament. So we brought her the sacrament and I have never seen her that happy! She said that right after she was filled with the spirit that she hasn't had in a long time. Since then she has been out of the hospital and is gonna come to church on Sunday! Reactivation work is just has fulfilling as getting a baptism in my opinion!

So the Lynbrook ward had a double baptism yesterday! They weren't our investigators but we have grown so close to them that it felt that we have been working with them the whole time. In the end it felt like it was a combined effort, family baptism. It was such a good experience. After, the baptism they both bore their testimonies and explained how they met the missionaries and their conversion stories. The spirit at that baptism was the best I have ever felt! Their testimonies were incredible! It was like they have been life long members. The ward made this such a special experience for them, we had over half the congregation show up at the baptism! Members make the biggest difference when is comes to missionary work, and this ward understands that! This is a true ward family.

Also this week we had stake conference! And the presiding authority was Kent F. Richards from the 70. He actually spoke in this last General Conference in the Sunday afternoon session. But anyways he came and delivered a great message to our stake. He shared an experience he had a while back when he was diagnosed with cancer. He had a grapefruit size tumor that was really threatening his life.

While all this was going on he got called to be a general authority. He said he felt he was in no position to except this calling but he faithfully did so. As he did he started to see miracles in his life were he became cancer free! He knew that the lord had something that he needed to do. He had everybody in tears! His talk was about discipleship and how no matter what the circumstances are we always need to be a disciple of Christ. He even gave a shout out to all the missionaries saying that we were true disciples of Christ. It was such a spirit felt meeting!

So it was a very good week! I felt the spirit so strong all week! I kept on getting spiritual confirmations that this is exactly were I need to be. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here serving the lord. Like I always say "it ain't easy, but it is worth it". Also remember that you don't have to have a major calling or be a missionary to be a disciple of Christ. We are all disciples as long as we love and are committed to the lord. I love you all! Have a
great week!

P.S. I'd love to hear from all of y'all. Feel free to write :)


Elder Jeppson

Power of Priesthood

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a good week! I sure did. This week is transfers but we found out that elder Bingham and I are both staying in lynbrook. I'm really happy about that. But let's get into the week.

So this week we met with that guy who is a Methodist pastor again. Before we went over we felt that it really wasn't gonna go anywhere but it ended up being really good again. We talked about Joseph Smith and the first vision and he was just blown away. He said he was so excited to read the Book of Mormon! After the lesson with him he told us that before we came over for the first time he prayed asking Heavenly Father to send his servants that would help him feel at peace and have contentment in his life.  He said "God works so fast because in the next couple days you guys showed up". It was so cool because I know if he sincerely reads and prays about the Book of Mormon he will get answers! The spirit definitely led that lesson.

We also met with our investigator Ashley this week and had a great discussion. We talked about the doctrine of Christ and a lot about baptism. We talked about her faith and she shared some really cool experiences that have happened in her life that has built her faith. And she is one of the few people that I have talked to out hear that understands true repentance! So we invited her to be baptized but then she went on to tell us that when she moved out to New York she had the intention of being baptized into the Pentecostal church. But she told us every time she went she felt something was missing. So said that she really likes the feeling that she gets when she comes our church. But she told us she is still looking. She shared an experience earlier where she has felt god has led her all throughout her life. So I told her that I didn't think it was a coincidence that she was led to Utah
and now led to us. She told us she has been thinking the same thing because Utah was the last place she wanted to be. But she watched general conference so hopefully she got answers to her questions. She'll come around! I feel really good about her.

And finally conference! Conference was absolutely amazing! It was a lot about the power of priesthood and the power Holy Ghost. There were a lot of amazing talks but my favorite was obviously Elder Hollands. It was the best way to close conference. That man is so in tune with the spirit it's crazy! His topic was exactly what I needed to hear. Because sometimes on the mission I get caught up in thinking that if I'm not exactly obedient then I'm not gonna have any success on my mission and that I'll have regrets. But elder Hollands quote "We get credit for trying even though sometimes we don't succeed" It was exactly what I needed to hear. I can be really hard on myself sometimes so knowing that as long as I try my best then God will give me credit. This is a great reminder for all of us because as we want to and are trying to improve God will be pleased with us. Please never get down on yourself. Life ain't easy so just remember if you are giving a sincere effort God will notice that and will help you. All he asks for is your love. Elder Holland hit it right on the money. This conference answered all the questions I had and I know it can or it did answer yours. Remember to review it as much as possible.

Over all a great week! I am excited to apply the things I learned in conference and I am also glad to stay hear in lynbrook. It's gonna be a great transfer! I love you all.

With Love,

Elder Jeppson