15.4-- Exchanges, Exchanges, Conference, and Baptism

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Life is great, and time is just cruising by! This past week, much like the title indicates, we did exchanges twice. The first time was with one of our Zone Leaders, Elder Doutre, and then I was able to go on exchanges with another elder in the district, Elder Riley Smith. Does that name sound  familiar? :) So Elder Smith and I went to high school together, and we are in the same stake back at home too! Which was pretty weird, but pretty good! :) We had a great time talking about old times and old people!

Also, yesterday we were able to have a Zone Conference, which was pretty great. We didn't have any General Authorities come, but it was still good nevertheless. They trained us on learning to seek for and use personal revelation in our lives. We also discussed how we can use the Book of Mormon in our finding and contacting more.  We also saw a video about how as we minister with love, we will be able to bless the lives of those that we come in contact with.

And last but certainly not the least, Anne was baptized this past Saturday!!!! :)  I was able to perform the ordinance, and it was perfect. I was a little nervous at first because this was my first time baptizing somebody, but  it worked without a hitch, and it was a blessing. We also were able to have a lot of guests come and visit at the baptism who were invited by there friends. 

One more thing, on Sunday Elder Bunderson and I were able to talk in Sacrament meeting, and it was a blast!  It may be because of my theatre background, but I love giving talks in front of people! 

Anywho, I think that's all for this week! I love y'all and have a great week! 

Elder Jacob Guymon

15.3—Anne’s Upcoming Baptism

Dearest Ladies and Gentlemen of the Internet,

My apologies…this email will be fairly short for this week. I spent most of my 2 hours doing online registration for school…J Ung. There was a pretty sweet miracle though with that. I thought that I had 24-26 college credits that I had taken in high school, and I was just perusing through my transcripts, and it says that I have 36 credits!! Which is a pretty substantial difference to meJ Moral of the story, I am grateful that my math was wrong for once.

Aside from the inner workings of my personal life as previously noted…the mission is going pretty swell. This past week, we were able to meet with Anne, and we should be good to go for this upcoming Saturday! J So we are super stoked, and she actually asked if I would perform the baptism, which is a pretty big honor. This will be my first baptism that I have performed, and admittedly, I am a little nervous, but excited for her!

Also, this past Friday, I was able to conduct my first district meeting! That was pretty great, and it just so happened that our usual place that we had was commandeered, and so we had to shuffle around last minute to make it work. BUT the training went really good, and we all learned a lot from the discussion. We talked about praying with faith, and how it is necessary when we do missionary work to have the Holy Spirit with us, so we can teach with power and authority.

Anywho, I hope y’all have a great week!

Elder Jacob Guymon

15.2--An upcoming Baptism (featuring Elder Bunderson)

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Man time is flying by! Today I have been out for exactly 20 months, and what a blessing its been to be able to be serving a mission. It's been one of the most difficult and most enjoyable things that I've ever done! It's neat to be able to see others change and come unto Christ. 

Being on a mission is also like been tossed into the water and having to figure out how to swim. You figure it out... eventually.  At first your head is constantly dipping in and out of water, so-to-speak, trying to figure out if you will keep trying or give up, and then you learn to doggy paddle, and eventually you are able start moving forward. But then as you are swimming along, some unexpected waves come and throw  you through a loop. Then you recover, and you learn to adapt to the unknown currents, and you are finally able to cruse along and fulfill your destiny. 

Anywho, life is pretty good right now! We are working away, and the Lord is continually blessing us with people to find, people to teach, and even someone to be baptized! Speaking of Baptism, Ms. Anne is doing quite wonderful! :) She has been reading, praying, and coming to church! And she is still excited and ready for baptism! We will be teaching the commandments tomorrow, and then in a week from Saturday, she will be getting baptized! She also took us to a baptism that some Sister Missionaries in our district had and then spoiled us with Ice Cream!

Oh I keep saying "we" but I never specify who "we" is. My new companion is Elder Bunderson and he is from.... wait for it...... Hyrum, UT. :) Huh? He is 19 and graduated this past year from Mountain Crest.... (for those who are reading and may not be as familiar with Utah Geography. Hyrum is a 20 minute drive south of from where I live, and Mountain Crest is our rival high school... dun dun da dun)  He has been out for about 6 months. He's pretty quiet, but he's a hard-worker, and so I think a lot of good things will be in the move for us and for our area. He loves to hunt, fish, and to ride horses. His family has a farm out in Tremonton, and he worked road construction for a while before coming out. He is the oldest of 9 children.

Oh also and update on some of my past comps as well: Elder summers is in Rio Ranch, NM (20 mins north), Elder Roylance is in Estancia, NM (about 2 hours away), and Elder Jewett is home now.

Anywho, I hope you are having a great week! 

Elder Jacob Guymon

15.1--T -3 transfers left

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today we are at the library in Corrales, NM, and we only have a short period of time to email today! But I will include as much of the wonderful details of this week that I can! :)

This week was incredible! :) We were blessed to have 5 new people who are interested in learning more about the church! And how did we find those people; one might ask. The majority were introductions from  some of the members in our wards! What? Which means that good things are going to be happening in our area in regards to missionary work! :) 

And we even have a new investigator who has accepted a date for baptism! She is in her 70s and has had Mormon friends for years and years! And has even met with the missionaries before. Much to our delight, one of the first things that she said when we started to teach her was that she was interested in being baptized! :)

We also got a referral from Church Headquarters for a man who wants to take the lessons and eventually be baptized!

Oh on a different note, we got transfer news, and I will be staying for another transfer here in the Paradise Hills/Cibola Wards! :) Elder Summers is getting transferred out of here, which means that I will be getting a  new comp come tomorrow! :) Also our Mission President called, and I will be the new District Leader here. Which is pretty sweet! It's good to see that I am trusted, but it's also a lot more responsibility, but I think it will be good thing!

Anywho, Folks! I love you  and have a great week!!

Elder Guymon