Goodbye Durham

This week has been a great week!  We had a lot of people there, including some non members!  We think other family members will start investigating soon!  At the baptism one of the family members proudly announced that he was a "Mormon Jew".  We had several nonmembers and investigators at church this week as well!  I expect that there will be some more baptisms after I leave.

For my last day in Durham I am hanging out with some members.  The weather has not been bad at all, we walked to church today to write emails.

I honestly do not know much about this tri-companionship, I was in one for a week in Pembroke and that was it.  I still do not know where I am going yet.

I hear that Harry is opening up an area in a trio so that will be interesting as well.  That is great to hear that Carly will be able to extend her mission, that almost never happens!

That is great that dad got a new job!  It sounds like it will be a great one!

That is awesome to hear that your prayer was answered!  The idea that The Lord blesses us in his own time is something I have seen a ton on my mission!  To be honest, as a missionary, it seems that nothing ever works on your time when you want it to work.  It will work, eventually, you just have to be patient. It just makes you rely on the Lord even more!

I hope you are having a great week!  You may not know what area I will be in until next week, but I will try to update what city I moved too, so it should give you a pretty good idea.

Love,

Elder Lakey

Baptism in Durham

Things are going well!  We will be having a baptism on Saturday!  She is very excited to be baptized! We may some baptisms in February, but I will not be around to see them.

I am being transferred next week.  I will be in a trio companionship.  President Bernhisel said I will be with with 2 seasoned missionaries where we will be focusing solely on proselyting, which will be great!  I do not know where I am going.  Elder Wion will be training a new missionary.

We didn't really do anything special for New Year's. But the weather has been nice.  It has been rainy, but it has stayed in the 50s.  I have enjoyed it, it has been warmer than last winter.  Duke will be starting up again, I believe this week.

I like that thought about prophets.  We got the new manual about Ezra Taft Benson and I have read a bit about it.  It seems that President Benson was very bold.  And was not very popular for his time, yet the Church and the people of it has been blessed because of him, especially concerning his counsel about reading the Book of Mormon more.

Hopefully I will have more to report next week, but it probably won't be till the week after.

I hope you are having a great week.

Love,

Elder Lakey

Christmas in Durham

This week has been a great week!  This week we should have a baptismal interview with one of our investigators.  If she passes she will be baptized on Jan. 10.  She is the daughter is of a returning less active mother and a non member father.  Her father owns a pizzeria in Durham that is really good and he knows a lot of players for Duke really well and has a lot of autographs from previous players, some of whom are now famous NBA players.

Christmas with the Johnson's was fun!  We spent the whole day with them.  We don't really have any New year's plans.  My jeans do fit. Thank you!  Elder Wion had a good time with his family as well. We don't really have anything special planned for New Year's.

I am glad that William had a good time for his birthday.  It seems that a lot of people have their birthday around Christmas time.  I'm not too surprised that Grandma and Grandpa are heading to Arizona again.

That is crazy that Brian's mission went over 3 weeks! How did that happen?

I love that thought about the scriptures. In 1982 the Ensign made a 7 part series about how the Bible was made.  It is a miracle that the Bible actually exists.  In all actuality the Bible did not reach the public until the 1600s a mere 200 years until the Restoration began.  Something I have learned on my mission is that without the Reformation and the translation of the Bible, there would be no Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I hope you are having a great week.

Love,

Elder Lakey

Skyping for Christmas

This week has been a good week!  We still have some baptisms lined up for January at the moment.  Our investigators are doing alright.  We did find a new investigator last week.  It snowed on Saturday for about 2 hours and then it turned to rain and it all melted.

It sounds like the Christmas party was fun!  I will try to Skype at 11 am my time which is 9 am your time.  I will send a short email again to confirm or change it if anything happens.  I will send a short email before then to confirm.  It will be exciting to see you then!

It is crazy to think Jonathan is in the 7th Grade!  It seems like he should be younger than that!

I really liked that thought, of preparing for the 2nd coming, we had a member give a talk on Sunday where he compared celebrating Christmas to preparing for the 2nd coming.

I know this is short but I figured we can talk more in depth about my week over Skype.

I hope you are having a great week.

Love,

Elder Lakey

Christmas is Giving

Everything is going well in Durham.  We had 2 investigators at church on Sunday!  We won't have a baptism until January the first one being on the 10th.

I am enjoying Christmas a lot!  On Saturday they had the Ward Christmas party and it was well put together!  They made the whole place look like Bethlehem!  We got a lot of non members out to it!

We know where we are spending a part of our Christmas Day but we haven't figured out the whole day yet. We should be Skyping.  And we also have a Christmas Zone Conference this Wednesday.

I'm glad to hear that you got to meet Elder Roberts!  He is amazing!  Who all was there from the mission? It sounded like a fun trip.

I'm glad to see everyone is doing well.

I love that thought, because I think that the BEST way to spend Christmas is giving to others!  I still remember very well the time you donated gifts to that family in Ogden.  I also remember very well the Holy Spirit being there!  That idea of giving back is something I want to continue when I get home!

I hope you are having a great week!

Love,

Elder Lakey

Christmas Packages

This week has been a great week!  Thank you for the package it was great!  Elder Wion didn't know what a stocking was so he started to open it before I could explain what to do with it.  I am sure I will receive one from Grandpa soon. (It seems that every time you ask me if I have received a package and I say no, it appears later that same day).  

I loved the Christmas devotional, I really enjoyed Elder Christofferson's talk, we are having our Ward Christmas party this week.

It has gotten cold this week, but no snow.  It is suppose to be in the 30s and 40s this week, but I will be fine.

We had one investigator show up to church on Sunday.  She is a daughter of a returning less-active mother and a non-member Jewish father.  It looks like I should have another baptism or 2 before I leave Durham.

It sounds like Mom is busy this time of the year.  I know that Christmas should be simple, but I don't think there is not much you can do about that if you are the Relief Society President.

I love how you talked about peace in the temples.  It seems to me that peace is the biggest feeling I feel in the temple.  It seems that time stops and that there is no one around you, but God.

I love you and I will email you again next week.

Love,

Elder Lakey

Thanksgiving in Durham

Thanksgiving with the Rangnow Family.

Thanksgiving was good.  It was nice and simple, we didn't do much that day.  We ate with the  Rangnow family.  It sounds like you had a good Thanksgiving.  I guess it is nice to have both sides of the family living by each other now!

I am not being transferred.  Our investigators are doing ok.  We did not have any investigators go to church.  But, we do have 4 baptismal dates.  We do have the Christmas party coming up, that should be fun!

I love that thought.  Christmas is my favorite holiday because people act differently, they usually act more Christlike.  I believe that is because people think more about Jesus Christ this time of the year.

Christ is responsible for Goodness in the world, that is why the Church is doing the #SharetheGift  the more that Christ is talked about the better people are going to be.  For Christ can only those who are trying to follow him.

I hope you are having a week.

Love,

Elder Lakey