Monday, December 29, 2008

...and a Happy New Year!

Why hello everyone, I hope y'alls Christmas was AMAZING!!!  We had a pretty good week here.  Tuesday we had a sweet experience.  We were riding back from an appointment and we passed a street that Elder Van Genderen said he felt like we should tract, so we locked up our bikes and started knocking doors.  Pretty much no one on the street was home.  :(  HOWEVER... as we were getting ready to leave, a minivan pulls up and motions for us to come over.  "Are you Latter-Day Saints?" a woman asks.  "Yes".  "My niece was supposed to send you over a month ago and you never came!"  So apprently this lady's sister has been a member of the church for 10 years.  The lady we were talking to had become dissatisfied with her church and wants to investigate "the mormons".  (!!!)  So we'll be heading over tomorrow to teach her about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  How sweet is that?!  That taught me to ALWAYS follow promptings of the Spirit, even if the reasons aren't obvious.
 
Wednesday we had an awesome district meeting... the Spirit was so strong.  We talked a lot about goal setting and raising our vision, and then we knelt together to set a baptismal goal for our district.  So, by February 8, 2009, we will baptize 25 people.  The Spirit confirmed it!
 
Christmas was awesome.  We spent Christmas eve at the Grieve's house eating ridiculous amounts of food, and of course reading Luke 2 and singing every single christmas song in the hymn book!  Christmas morning we went over to Bishop Ross's (OP2) house for breakfast along with a few other missionaries.  Then we stopped by a few more places until we ended up at the Gonzalez's home, where we spent most of the day (1:00-8:30).  It was there that I was able to call home and talk to my family for a good 3 1/2 hours!  Man, I LOVE my family.  In these last 2 years I've really come to appreciate 100x more how much of a blessing my family has been in my life.
 
Then yesterday we wrapped the week up with a baptism... IN THE OCEAN!  We started teaching Marvada on the 14th and she was supposed to baptized on Saturday.  Well, then she was scheduled to work a double on Sat. so we put it off until Sunday.  THEN she got a staph infection called Mursa on her leg that is transmittable through water!  So, rather than postponing the baptism, we hurriedly planned to do it in JAX beaches in the Atlantic Ocean.  (The salt water kept Elder VG from getting it too!)  Then we met back at the church for her confirmation.  It was such a sweet experience, even if the water was freezing cold!  (We forgot it was December!)
 
So, Happy New Year everyone! (in a few days, I guess).  Its a time for a fresh start, so don't squander it!  Rather than setting resolutions to be broken, how about praying about it and making goals & committments with the Lord?!  Lets make this a time of growth both temporally and spiritually.  Love ya!  -Elder Borgia
 
 
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Monday, December 22, 2008

2 more makes 5! :(

So this was a way sweet week!  I started the week sending off all y'alls christmas cards (if you didn't get one I don't have your address).  And because of that, I never want to lick another envelope in my life!  I really had to keep a glass of water next to me to make it physically possible!  ;)  Tuesday we had a SWEET lesson with an investigator... watching Finding Faith in Christ.  The Spirit was SO STRONG!!, which makes our job easy.  After all, it's not us that convinces or converts, we just act as the guides to help people act on their own feelings.
 
This week I was blessed with 2 more flat tire stories, making that 5 just in my time in Orange Park.  I have slime tires (which I thought would prevent these type of things) which have green slime that supposedly stop up punctures.  Right.  All that accompished was to spray green slime all up the back of my bike and leave a bright green trail all the way down Blanding as we walked to our next destination.  Ugh.
 
Friday afternoon/evening was definitely the highlight of the week.  The entire mission (about 140-150 missionaries) met together at the JAX W Stake Center for a Christmas devotional.  Most of the time was spent with President calling up different missionaries to bear their testimonies.  We were also able to hear quite a few musical numbers.  Elder Kenworthy and I were able to sing a duet of "Joseph Smith's First Prayer", which was sweet.  It definitely brought back memories.  Speaking of memories, you may remember that a year ago at that same meeting we announced a mission goal of 650 baptisms for 2008.  It definetely stretched our vision and our goals, and tried our faith (prior to this year the highest was 320).  As of this weekend we will have baptized 650+ people.  The Lord has definitely blessed this area.  And He's not done yet... we set a goal for next year of 1050, and I've decided that we need to accomplish it by January because I'm selfish and I want to be here to see it happen!
 
Sunday was pretty cool.  We sang in the ward choir music program, including a mens octet (sp?) of "Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel".  Also, the other elders (OP2) brought some people that they've been teaching that their going to switch to us.  They're from Haiti and have only been here a few months.  There's a few people in our ward that know French, and so they'll be doing some translating, while Elder Van Genderen and I will be doing some creative teaching.  (I can hear Mama telling me I should have paid more attention in French class!)
 
And lastly... transfers have come and gone, and for the 3rd time on my mission I will be keeping a companion for longer than 6-weeks.  (I dare not think about what that says about me).  Elder VG will be my last companion.  In fact, our entire apartment will be staying.  The only change is that I've been asked to serve as district leader.  I suppose it'll be good to keep me going strong 'til the end.  President Newman told us we have permission to run that stop sign!
 
Merry Christmas everyone!  It's crazy to think that it's come and gone so fast.  I pray that, even in the hustle & bustle of the season and everything else going on in the world, we might have time to stop and honor Him who is our Savior and our King.
 
Love, Elder Borgia
 
 
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Monday, December 15, 2008

Is that a raisin?!

This week was horrible, crazy, depressing, and there were horrible little demon goblins with crazy eyes running around screaming and giving us the heebie-jeebie's. OK... well maybe not. I just didn't want to start off yet another email with: "It was a good week". Anyhoo...
We had some sweet experiences this week, and some weird ones. We were able to do trade-offs with our zone leaders, which was great. It really showed us some areas that we can work on in our area to help move the work along. One of weird experiences... we were at a gas station buying gatorade and some guy walks up to us and handed us some anti-mormon DVD's. Then without saying anything he walked away. He didn't even have the huevos to say it to our face! Ugh. So he ended up donating 2 new frisbees to our apartment! ;) However, a few hours later we met a woman named Mary who was SWEET!!! She's already taken the discussions before, but she never acctually prayed about the Book of Mormon... so she's going to do it this time around! After we talked to her for 10-15 minutes she invited us inside and showed us all of her paintings. !!! :0 She does watercolors, and she's GOOD! She told us that she'd give us a print, so I'll have to show y'all eventually. Friday was the ward christmas party, and the theme was "Christmas around the world". They had different dished from different countries and a little presentation about how that culture celebrates christmas. It was really good, even some of the weird food. (I would have never thought to add sausage, apples, and raisins to stuffing... but I guess the Germans did!) Then Sunday was the highlight of our week. There's a girl in our ward who invited us over to teach her roommate, Marvada. The Spirit was SO STRONG and she was just giddy the whole time, and she's going to be baptized on the 27th. It's amazing to see the work of the Lord progress. Last night we went to a fireside here in OP with President Newman speaking, and he talked about our baptismal goal of 650. As of this weekend we're at around 645... and we've got about 40 more scheduled before the end of the year. How awesome is it to see that if the Spirit is there when we set a goal, and then we work for it, the Lord will help us to achieve it. Merry Christmas everyone! Talk to ya next week! -Elder Borgia
PS- I've got a few more addresses, but I could use a few more!
 
 
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Monday, December 8, 2008

Sour, then SWEET!

OK everyone... so the only people that sent me their address were my grandparents... and I definitely already have their address. SO... REPENT! Send me your freaky-leaky addresses, and then you'll get mail! Anyhoo...
We had a pretty good week here. Monday after emails most of our district headed to a Mexican restaurant called La Napolera that is WAY GOOD... and a member who was there saw us and ended up paying for all of our food! That's the first time that's happened to me out here, and it was sweet! It was a reminder that there are still some nice people out there. Also, Monday night I picked up my bike from getting fixed, and it's BEAUTIFUL!!! It rides like a Cadillac! It doesn't even make any grinding noises when I pedal! Tuesday was zone conference, which is always a good boost. Our area definitely has a lot of room to grow, but we have several people who are pretty solid. Right now our biggest obstacle is health problems! For some reason, as soon as people set baptismal dates they either get kidney stones, pnemonia, or swollen feet. Go figure!
Saturday was one of those days where you know something miraculous is going to happen. Why? Because everything that could happen happened. All of our appointments cancelled, my right shoe started falling apart, one of investigator's Dad (who we found out was a holy-roller minister) called and told us to stay away from his family, and then my bike tire blew out. I didn't even know bikes could have a blow-out!!! But Sunday it became worth it, when 2 people showed up at church wanting to start meeting with us. So I'm glad for trials and opposition, because they strengthen my faith and prepare me for sweet stuff! (and they provide for some pretty rockin stories as well) The appointments were rescheduled, the shoe still wearable, and the bike tire fixed, so in the end the Lord worked everything out.
Have a great week everyone! God is our Father, Christ is our Savior, and we are under Their constant watch and care. Love, Elder Borgia
 
 
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Monday, December 1, 2008

The blessings of testimony

WAIT!!! Before you read this email, PLEASE take 5 seconds (OK, maybe 10) and email me your address, even if you think I might already have it. Thank you!!
 
 
OK, so this week we... . . . . . . . .
Ah HAH! Have you sent the address yet??? I'm waiting!!!
 
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OK... we had a pretty sweet week. On Wednesday we had a special guest at our district meeting... President Newman. He spoke about the conversion experience and where we missionaries fit in. Now, I ought to tell y'all in case you don't know... our mission president is a convert to the church, he was raised Catholic and was actually at one point going to a Catholic seminary. He spoke about his conversion, and how his life is divided into 2 segments: before and after testimony. He spoke briefly about the experience of gaining a testimony, and how it was something entirely divine and separate from the world. That is the experience we are praying that everyone will have, and it is those whom we are trying to find. The Lord is preparing many people who will recognize the gospel of Jesus Christ and act upon that.
A direction that we were given this week from President Newman was to contact all of those investigators who had missed their baptismal dates and recommit them. One such was a man named Brian who we had 'dropped' about 2 months ago. In that time, he had changed his life to truly follow our Savior and is now preparing to be baptized next week, as long as his health allows it. This is one of many amazing experiences that testifies to me that the Lord's hand is guiding this work.
Thursday we went to Thanksgiving dinner at the Raffa's, and ate way too much food. Sister Raffa called my mom to talk to her (I didn't!) but put my mom on speaker as she yelled out how much longer I have left. UGH! So, apparently my mom is counting down. I guess I should've known, right? ;) I'm just doing my best not to think about the fact that I've only got 2 months left out here. :(
Saturday I had the awesome privilege of baptizing Greg Raffa. What a special experience that was. The Spirit was so strong to confirm the truthfulness of that ordinance. On Sunday after his confirmation he came to us to tell us about a dream he'd had, which I think would be appropriate to share with you. He said that he's been like a snowflake, drifting about for 57 years. He could've landed on pavement or mud where he would've merely melted, but he's landed on a patch of snow on soft grass, gathered among other snowflakes. How awesome is that?! The Lord really has guided him to this point in his life, and it has been amazing to witness his journey.
Sunday we were able to speak in sacrament meeting. It was storming outside, so every once in a while our words would be reinforced by a flash of light and crashing thunder. Pretty effective teaching, dontcha think?!
In Sunday school we talked a lot about gratitude (imagine that!) and a brother in the ward shared that gratitude can become a form of worship and praise as we remember and recognize the blessings we receive from our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful to know that I am a literal son of God. I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave His life willingly for me that I might be cleansed and be afforded the opportunity to return to the presence of eternal Father. I am grateful for my family, and the ordinances that seal us together for eternity. I am grateful for my testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, which has been my rock and foundation. And I am very grateful for the calling I have now and for the remainder of my life to share my testimony with all of God's children.
I love you all very much! -Elder Borgia
 
 
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