This week was one of the best ones I have in recent memory. I received some great news on transfers, got to enjoy some amazing food from Texas, had another foot of snow, and you can’t forget the miracles going on in the Jamaica Ward.
On Thursday afternoon the office elders called and asked for a favor. One of the office elders is my old companion Elder Howells, and the other is one of Elder Merrill’s old comps. So they called and asked if we could help them go pick up a car in a repair shop on Long Island. We were excited to help, and didn’t have anything planned for the morning except planning. (I also haven’t left NYC in the last 13 months, so a chance to venture out of the city was pretty exciting) We made it to the repair shop and my comp and Elder Howells comp went to drive the other car home. Then I saw it. Next to the repair shop was a brand new Dickies BBQ pit. I was shocked because I didn’t realize that there were any Dickies outside of the Dallas area. We stopped and I had my first westerner in over a year, and it was just as good as I could remember. They also had all you could eat ice cream and pickles. It made for a freaking sweet lunch. Im also pretty excited to have a yellow cup here up in NYC. Anyway, I was pretty excited.
The next amazing thing that happened this week was the snow. It started snowing Thursday morning and kept snowing for 36 hours. It gave us a chance to perform service again, and continue to help out the members and investigators here in Jamaica.
The next big news is about transfers. On Saturday night I got the call that Elder Merrill and I are staying together for another 6 weeks. Its very rare in this mission to stay together for 3 transfers, so we are psyched to keep the good things going here in Jamaica.
But the highlight of the week was after church on Sunday. The other missionaries in Jamaica have been working with the Robinson family for years, and after seeing the excitement of all the people getting baptized here, they decided now was the time for them to join the church they knew was true. Also, another family, the Frazier family, was completed. Brother Frazier has been a member for years, but had fallen away, but recently has returned to active, and now the rest of his family was able to be baptized. There 13 year old son, Troy Jr asked me to baptize him, and it was great experience to be dressed in all white with those amazing families. It was just a great day.
The Jamaica ward hit a new record for attendance yesterday with over 130 people there. It is starting to get close to the max this building can hold! This ward has seen 20 baptisms in 2010, and we are only 2 months in, so the rest of this year will continue to be miraculous. In February about 1 in 3 people baptized in NYC were baptized in Jamaica, which is amazing. The excitement is not coming from the missionaries though, it is all from the members. They are the ones telling their friends, and their friends are telling their friends. One woman, Sister Elizabeth Sing was baptized in January and had brought 10 friends with her to church already. It is so awesome to see. I am just really glad to be here and be able to witness this.
Now for the Q’s of the Week:
1. How are You and How was your Week? I am great, and my week was awesome. If anyone could make it warm already, that would be pretty nice though.
2. How was Smith’s Priesthood Ordination? What a lucky Priests quorum your ward must have with so many new Priesthood holders. It was great. There are 6 new prospective elders in this ward now. It is great to see a new generation of priesthood holders building up in this ward.
3. I think it’s transfers this week, are you staying or a going? STAYING!
4. How about your companion or housemates? We are all staying. They kept the district identical, so that’s pretty exciting.
5. Did you get to help shovel away the snow storm this week? WOWSERS! Yea, and I heard there might be more snow this week. How do people in utah deal with snow, I miss Texas weather!
6. Anything you need or anything we could do for you? Just keep on keeping on.
I love y’all. Thank you for your support and love. I am really blessed to be here in NYC, the greatest city on earth, and am so pleased to be able to serve the Lord here.
Sly,
Elder skyler T O
On Thursday afternoon the office elders called and asked for a favor. One of the office elders is my old companion Elder Howells, and the other is one of Elder Merrill’s old comps. So they called and asked if we could help them go pick up a car in a repair shop on Long Island. We were excited to help, and didn’t have anything planned for the morning except planning. (I also haven’t left NYC in the last 13 months, so a chance to venture out of the city was pretty exciting) We made it to the repair shop and my comp and Elder Howells comp went to drive the other car home. Then I saw it. Next to the repair shop was a brand new Dickies BBQ pit. I was shocked because I didn’t realize that there were any Dickies outside of the Dallas area. We stopped and I had my first westerner in over a year, and it was just as good as I could remember. They also had all you could eat ice cream and pickles. It made for a freaking sweet lunch. Im also pretty excited to have a yellow cup here up in NYC. Anyway, I was pretty excited.
The next amazing thing that happened this week was the snow. It started snowing Thursday morning and kept snowing for 36 hours. It gave us a chance to perform service again, and continue to help out the members and investigators here in Jamaica.
The next big news is about transfers. On Saturday night I got the call that Elder Merrill and I are staying together for another 6 weeks. Its very rare in this mission to stay together for 3 transfers, so we are psyched to keep the good things going here in Jamaica.
But the highlight of the week was after church on Sunday. The other missionaries in Jamaica have been working with the Robinson family for years, and after seeing the excitement of all the people getting baptized here, they decided now was the time for them to join the church they knew was true. Also, another family, the Frazier family, was completed. Brother Frazier has been a member for years, but had fallen away, but recently has returned to active, and now the rest of his family was able to be baptized. There 13 year old son, Troy Jr asked me to baptize him, and it was great experience to be dressed in all white with those amazing families. It was just a great day.
The Jamaica ward hit a new record for attendance yesterday with over 130 people there. It is starting to get close to the max this building can hold! This ward has seen 20 baptisms in 2010, and we are only 2 months in, so the rest of this year will continue to be miraculous. In February about 1 in 3 people baptized in NYC were baptized in Jamaica, which is amazing. The excitement is not coming from the missionaries though, it is all from the members. They are the ones telling their friends, and their friends are telling their friends. One woman, Sister Elizabeth Sing was baptized in January and had brought 10 friends with her to church already. It is so awesome to see. I am just really glad to be here and be able to witness this.
Now for the Q’s of the Week:
1. How are You and How was your Week? I am great, and my week was awesome. If anyone could make it warm already, that would be pretty nice though.
2. How was Smith’s Priesthood Ordination? What a lucky Priests quorum your ward must have with so many new Priesthood holders. It was great. There are 6 new prospective elders in this ward now. It is great to see a new generation of priesthood holders building up in this ward.
3. I think it’s transfers this week, are you staying or a going? STAYING!
4. How about your companion or housemates? We are all staying. They kept the district identical, so that’s pretty exciting.
5. Did you get to help shovel away the snow storm this week? WOWSERS! Yea, and I heard there might be more snow this week. How do people in utah deal with snow, I miss Texas weather!
6. Anything you need or anything we could do for you? Just keep on keeping on.
I love y’all. Thank you for your support and love. I am really blessed to be here in NYC, the greatest city on earth, and am so pleased to be able to serve the Lord here.
Sly,
Elder skyler T O
I LOVE seeing entire families baptized! That's what it's all about. Yipee!
ReplyDelete