Monday, October 20, 2014

THE BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!



October 20, 2014

So I don't have much time at all, but I wanted to talk about the Baptism that we had! And also inform you on how we found them, teaching, etc. Because I don't think I've talked about them at all really...



So It's Jeremy, Alexia, Alexandria, and Achilles (Raven). And Jeremy was the only member, his kids were all non-members. Ages 10, 9, and 7 respectively. So the whole family hadn't been to church in just about a year or so, and the previous missionaries and even a lot of the members had given up on this family. But Elder Turner and I decided that we needed to try them.

Our first visit we just introduced ourselves and taught a short lesson. We could clearly see that they weren't really interested. But then Jeremy hit a really rough patch in his life, and he lost most everything. In the process he got very angry with God, and began cursing Him. Not too long afterwards we went and visited him with our Elders Quorum President, President Hansen. We had a very powerful discussion on how God loves him, and knows him and the family personally. And he would never leave him if he would just keep the commandments.

From that lesson sprang soooo many miracles! We began visiting the family twice a week, teaching the girls the lessons, and preparing them to be baptized! All the while, he's been working on finding a good job, quitting smoking, and getting back into church. They haven't missed a single meeting for 7 weeks now.

Anyways, the baptism itself was awesome!!!!!!!! Elder Turner was supposed to baptize Alexandria, and I was going to baptize Alexia. But apparently Elder Turner heard that the Baptism was going to be at 2, even though we had set it up together to be at 1. (He got transferred just a few days before.) So he ended up being late, and I got to baptize the both of them!

The Spirit was sooo strong, they had definitely prepared themselves, and they were ready! Both of them went under smoothly, first try! It was great, they were both very happy. Alexandria told me right after, "I don't feel anything! :(" I was a bit worried, but then I asked, "How do you feel right now?" And she thought for a second and said, "Really happy!" quick with the response I told her, "That's it right there!" So great. They're awesome!

Also on Sunday I was privileged to confirm both of them! It was also a very spiritual experience, and the Lord had some great promises and blessings in store for both of them. It was awesome!

Anyways, I sent some pictures... and I gotta run!

Love you all!!!

Elder DeFreese

1. Me, Elder Pack, and Elder Johnson

2. Alexandria - Me - Alexia Just before the Baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3. G-Ma, Jeremy (Dad), Elder Nield and I, Elder Turner, Alexia, Achilles, Alexandria after the Baptismal Service!!!!!




Monday, October 13, 2014

Real quick!

October 13, 2014

Hey!

So... of course I don't have a whole lot of time to write but, this week is Transfers! I'm staying here in Ridgepoint ward (Derby, KS). And Elder Turner is going away. However, the good news is that Elder Nield is coming in to run around with me! Him and I have served around each other, he's awesome. I'm super stoked!

I'll try and send some pictures later today if I can.

Love you all!

Elder DeFreese

Oh... P.S. We're having a baptism this weekend. I'll definitely take some time to talk about that this coming week. So sorry to cut it short! Their names are Alexia and Alexandria, they're 9 and 10 year old girls from a part member family. So... yeah!

Monday, October 6, 2014

CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!

October 6, 2014
 



So, like most every single week for the past 4 or 5 months or however long it's been.. I don't have time for anything! But I wanted to write a quick note at least, letting you know how much I loved this conference.

This being my last General Conference, I wanted to reeeeaaaaaallly seek some personal revelation, and find out just how I could be better. What do I need to focus on??!

To answer that, at least in part, I have to tell you that this most recent Friday, I gave a training to the whole Zone, about Christlike Attributes. I took it a little bit deeper than, "Let's talk about charity today..." Or something like that. I talked about how when Christ called his Apostles, in Mark 1:17 we read "And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men." and what I focused on was how He called them (and now us) to become! So we talked a lot about the what - becoming like Christ. And the why - Because Christ was the perfect example in everything, and our end goal is to be with Him and God the Father in the afterlife. In short, the training I think went alright, but we weren't able to really cover the how fully. I definitely felt the spirit as I spoke though, I think it was more to prepare the missionaries for conference.

This conference, every single talk, to me, showed me exactly how I can become like Christ. I don't want to give you all the details because a lot of it was my own personal revelation, and you need to seek your own, like we learned. But I will say this, becoming like Christ is the single greatest thing that we can strive for in this life. And if we are not constantly seeking to improve and realize that goal, then we are falling short. We need to always seek for His guidance, and His direction. He can help us! This isn't some unimaginable task, this isn't impossible. He has already done it! So we can too.

Love you all, talk to you soon!

Elder DeFreese