Reality Setting In

Morning Everyone!

I hope you`re all having a great day. I`m sitting here wondering how
it`s even possible I`m still functioning. I`m so tired, but I feel
good. It`s good to be a missionary. It`s good to soak up these last
few weeks as well. I had my final Zone Conference and final interview
with President W last week in Okayama and wow, I can`t believe the
end is actually here. It feels so weird. These last two years have
gone by so fast, but at the same time, it`s been the longest two years
ever! Ha. I guess that`s just how life goes sometimes. The bottom line
is I wouldn`t trade the experiences and miracles that I`ve seen on my
mission for anything. There`s been a lot of talk on what the biggest
thing I`ve learned on my mission is, and I think it`s got to be this
simple fact: there is a God in Heaven. He loves us and is very aware
of what we`re going through. I have conversed and spoken with my
Heavenly Father many times in the last two years of my life and I can
honestly say that he`s heard every single time. One of the members in
church yesterday about something that would happen in the Ward after
I`ve returned home. I told him that it was too bad I would be
transferring. He looked a little confused and surprised and was like,
"you`re transferring? Where are you going?" I responded with, "Salt
Lake City." That got a good laugh out of all of us. I just can`t
believe how weird it is that it`s almost over. My interview with
President W was incredible. I love that man. We both cried like
children and I can honestly say he`s one of the greatest men I have
ever had the opportunity to work with. After that interview though, I
think it`s safe to say that I`m prepared to transfer to my next area.

 Well, we were blessed with another baptism yesterday. The Lord`s
hand is so strong here in Matsue I love it! The daughter of a Less
Active, H M, was baptized by her recently returned to activity
Father and her Mom was baptized as well. This was one of those tender
mercy baptisms for sure. I seriously didn`t do a thing! I was merely
an instrument to teach M the lessons and prepare her to be
baptized. The Ward and the Spirit did the rest. It was so cool to
witness her Father, who just received the Aaronic Priesthood two weeks
ago, go down into the water and perform his wifes`, and his Daughters`
baptism. It was a special experience for sure and now they`re working
to go to the temple in a year to be sealed as a family. Hopefully in
that time their other children will make the same choice and enter the
waters of baptism so they too can join their family in the temple
soon! The work continues.

 During Zone Conference, President W issued us a new challenge to
read the Book of Mormon again by the end of November of this year.
This time, we`ll be marking and studying specifically the Doctrine of
Christ and how it can apply to us in our own lives. It`s so cool! I`m
only a few chapters into the Book of Mormon so far, but I`ve already
found so many things that have helped me out a ton. Nephi was a beast.
He also shared with us an experience from his own mission. He showed
us a chart of the number of baptisms per month in a three year period
while he was a young missionary and the numbers were crazy! They went
from getting about what we get, which is about 20 baptisms per month,
to over 200 in three years. He explained the reason for this jump in
success. His Mission President issued a challenge to all of his
missionaries that they were to rededicate their areas where they were
serving to missionary work, and also, they were to rededicate
themselves to the work. After they did that as a mission, miracles
happened for sure. Because of that, President W issued us the same
challenge. Next Sunday night, we will be finding somewhere special in
our areas to go, kneel down, and rededicate the area for missionary
work and for the finding of the elect of God. He boldly told us that
"they`re there. Go find them." and I know we will. I`m super excited
about this challenge and this final stage of my mission. I`ll only
have about ten days or so to be rededicated, but man, am I ready to
change and see some miracles in these my last days.

 I`ll close with my testimony of missionary work, my Father in
Heaven, Jesus Christ, and the Prophet Joseph Smith. My mission has
been far from easy. It has stretched me in ways that I never thought
it would. I have come to know myself better than ever before because
of these last two years. I love my mission. I have come to know the
God lives, he loves us, and we are really his children. I feel that
every day as I go out and work. I feel his love and I want so badly
for all of these people in this strange country to feel the same. I`ve
come to walk with my Savior. I know He lives! He descended below all
things, and now sits at the right hand of his Father. Without Jesus
Christ, I am nothing. My life would be incredibly challenging. He has
taken away my guilt and he has given my strength I never knew I had.
I`ve also come to respect and love the Prophet Joseph Smith more than
I ever have. I can`t imagine what he went through. I can`t imagine the
weight that was on his shoulders. I don`t even want to try to imagine
what the weight of an entire dispensation feels like. I know he saw
what he said he saw. He was a Prophet of God and through him, the Book
of Mormon was translated and stands of a witness of the Saviors
divinity. I know that this is the Kingdom of God on the Earth today.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. I leave that
with you, as well as all of my love, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen!

I love you all! I hope you have an awesome week! I`ll see you soon!


Elder Jeff Giles

A Higher Standard

Friends and Family,

I realized this week that I now have too many fingers to count the number of emails I`ll send to all of you before my mission comes to a close. If you think that I`m winding down, and settling in for college life and dating after my mission, you`re wrong. I`m planning on grinding to the last minute. I didn`t come here to fight for two years, and then take it easy for the last few weeks before it`s time to return. I came to serve the Lord, and that reason alone. Sure, I`m exited to come home and see you all, go to college, and date, but those things are in the back corners of my thought process right now. I have work yet to do. 

So we were on a companionship exchange, and we went to visit a member that was recently baptized, but has had some health problems and struggles with the Word of Wisdom that have kept him from coming to church recently. Every time we go over to his house he talks about how hard it is to go to the hospital all the time to get a problem with his leg figured out. He complains how much his leg bothers him and how difficult it is to walk to the church. When we went over to his house, his mood was worse than usual. He showed us all the medication that he had to take for the pain in his leg and just seemed flat frustrated with what was going on. On hearing what this man was saying, I remembered suddenly that the companion I was with at the time knew a lot about the human body and how massaging and physical therapy work to make us better. I looked over at my companion, and signaled that he should try and give him a massage. At first, he was skeptical, and so was I, but we asked the member if he would like to see if my companion could help his sore leg. It took some convincing, but the member agreed to let my companion see if he could help his leg. It was painful, and the member complained quite a bit, but when my companion was finished, all he could say was "本当に有難うございます” and "とても楽" which basically translates to, "thank you so much" and "it feels so good!" He sat there for a moment and my companion told him to try and stand. When the member stood up, he stood straight up faster than either of us had ever seen! We looked at each other in complete surprise and the member was full of joy and gratitude. That`s where the Spirit came in. My companion noticed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter on the table and asked the member if he`d been smoking recently. He said that he had, but he only smoked every three days or so, and he really was trying to quit. My companion told him how tobacco can be very harmful for our bodies, and might be a cause for the pain he was experiencing in his leg. The member agreed and said that he thought he could quit. I took the pack of cigarettes and opened it to see how many he had. There were 8 cigarettes in the pack and I proceded to take 2 of them out. I told the member that it would be difficult to just flat stop, but he could have these last 2, and after that, he was done. The member readily agreed. I asked him if I could take the cigarettes and he said yes. Because we followed the Spirit, and because my companion used the special gits and talents that he has been blessed with, the man was not only healed, but was able to experience a softened heart that lead him to commit to quit tobacco once and for all. Well, going to church yesterday we learned that the member actually continued to have a hard time, and actually got a little mad at us for taking his cigarettes. The member said not to worry and that he just needed to understand the doctrine of our church a little better. I thought of the scripture in 1 Nephi 16 when it says, "guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center". I know he`ll be back. He just needs some time for the Spirit to work on him, and for his body to heal.

I won`t lie, this last transfer has been the hardest one of my mission. I`ve had to deal with some pretty difficult circumstances and situations, but through all of this I`ve learned that God must have a lot more trust in me than I give myself credit for. It`s been a challenge, but nothing has helped me to grow like the last three weeks or so. I know my Father lives. I know Jesus Christ is His Son. I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true. These things I`ve come to know because of the trials I`ve had to overcome. I`ve had to earn a testimony, it hasn`t come easy, but I wouldn`t have wanted it any other way.

I love you all and I hope you all have a great week! We have a Baptism Sunday of a15 year old girl and her Mom. They will be getting baptized by their recently returned to activity Father and husband so we`re excited for that! It`s going to be a great Sunday for sure. I`ll see you all soon. I love you!

Elder Giles

Companionship exchange with Elder T.

One year older and (hopefully) wiser, too

Friends and Family,

This week was an interesting one, for sure. I wish I could share some
of the details, but I can`t. It`s been a little difficult, but know
that I`m doing just fine and I`m working as hard as I possibly can to
help people my last little while in the mission. It`s so crazy that
I`m also 21 now... I actually forgot it was my birthday yesterday until
I saw an unopened envelope on my desk from Sister W that said,
"don`t open until July 12". Ha! It was a great birthday, for sure!
 Most of this week was spent, well, loving and lifting. That`s all
I`ll say about that. Being a District Leader and a Senior Companion to
a very very young missionary is a huge blessing for sure. It has
helped me to forget myself and just focus on the needs of either my
companion, or my District. Our investigators are doing really well
right now as well. We have a 15 year old girl that will be getting
baptized in two weeks with her Mom. Her parents have had some
difficulties, so long story short, the parents live over in Izumo
(about an hour away) and their daughter lives here in Matsue in an
institution. The Dad was baptized some twenty years ago or so, but has
been less active up until recently when a missionary invited him to
come play ping pong at the church for an activity. He went to that
activity for a few weeks, and then approached the missionaries and
said that he wanted to come back to church, and he wanted his family
to be baptized as well. It was a huge miracle for sure! So yeah, the
Sisters over in Izumo are teaching the Mom and we`re teaching the
daughter here in Matsue. She`s doing really really well. She comes to
church every week and plays with all the kids because we don`t have
any young women in the ward, but she just does what she can anyway.
It`s basically like she`s already a member. We taught her the
Commandments yesterday and she readily accepted all of them. She`ll be
getting interviewed by the Zone Leaders for baptism on Saturday with
her Mom, so miracles are happening for sure!
 We had to jump on the 3 hour bus down to Okayama again last week for
Zone Training Meeting. It was a blast though! We have two Brazilian
Elders who were sent up here to the District to try and start a
Portuguese branch in the area next to ours. One of them in the Son
(trainee) of the one and only Elder Brown, so he`s pretty solid!
They`re both really good guys though. I had fun learning some
Portuguese from them on the way down. Our ZTM was way good. As a Zone,
we`re focusing on "Becoming One through changing". That`s something
that I really really love. I`m so imperfect, and the only way I`m
going to be able to work with someone else is to change and become
more like the Savior. I had the chance to bear my testimony at the end
of the meeting, and I was overcome with gratitude for the two years of
missionary service I`ve been able to have. This really is the greatest
thing I have ever done. I wouldn`t want to be anywhere else, and I
know what I`ve done here has had eternal significance. I`ve come to
know my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ over the last twenty
three months and that`s something I`m incredibly grateful for.
 I`m sorry I don`t have a lot of time this week because I`ve got to
go celebrate my birthday right! Know that I love you all, and I pray
for you all the time. I hope you have a great week! Wish me luck and
I`ll see you in a little while!

Elder Giles



I`m 21!!!

No More Counting

Friends and Family,

 This week has been a long one, which is a great thing! I`ll be just
fine if this last little while as a missionary goes by as sllooowwww
as can be! Haha it`s been a great week. Elder Takahashi transferred
out last week and I`ve got a new companion, Elder Jackson, now. He`s a
good guy. He`s from Arizona and came to Japan about 2 months ago. He`s
young, but he`s doing great! Transfer day was a tough one for sure.
This transfer we started transferring with bikes, so there was all
sorts of commotion over that. Usually transfers are done by about one
in the afternoon and everyone is on their way home, but it was a
little different this time. Because we were carrying bikes with us on
the trains, we had to go in smaller, more spread out groups, which
made transfers a LOONG day. To make a long story short, I basically
spent 9 hours in the Okayama train station helping people get where
they needed to be and waiting for missionaries to meet their
companions. It was a drag, but everyone got home safe and sound... I
think.
 The week ended in a great way. We were able to be a part of Brother
Jiken getting the Aaronic Priesthood. It`s amazing to watch him
progress in the Gospel. He worries because he doesn`t speak Japanese
that well, that he is a hinderance because we have to translate for
him all the time. I told him to not think like that, but understand
that it is a major blessing for me to be able to help him. I love the
guy. I want him to stay active and grow in the church forever. I feel
the big responsibility that I have. These people who I`ve helped come
into the church deserve a continuing example of faithfulness to the
Gospel in their lives. I intend to be that example for them. This is
just all part of enduring to the end.
 We had a really interesting experience with one of our Eternal
Investigators that I talked about a few weeks ago. Basically she`s
really lonely. She lives alone and doesn`t really have anyone in her
life so she likes it when the missionaries come over. We figured that
she hadn`t been keeping her commitments, so we went into the lesson
thinking that if she didn`t start showing signs of progression, we
were going to have to drop her. I followed up with her about prayer
and she told us that she hadn`t prayed, and probably wasn`t going to.
She went about talking to us like it was all a big joke. That set off
a fire inside. I asked her why she thought we gave her commandments
and why we were there in the first place trying to share the Gospel
with her. She talked about how missionaries in the past have tried to
get her to do the same things and how she doesn`t really have any
intention of doing anything we ask her to do that isn`t reading from
the Book of Mormon. We testified of the blessings of prayer and how we
can receive answers from God. That`s when the wheels just about came
off. She asked me in a strange way if I had ever REALLY received an
answer from God. I felt something well up inside so strong that I just
couldn`t contain it. It was one of the strongest testimonies I`ve ever
born. I witnessed that God was there. That he lives and that we are
his beloved children. I testified that unless we have a desire to act
on what we receive, we probably won`t get anything. I know that God
lives. He will answer his children IF they are ready. This women just
isn`t ready yet. We committed her one last time to pray for herself to
find out if these things were true. When she receives that answer,
she`ll come to church. I love bearing testimony. My testimony has
grown so much here and I was able to fully witness that when it was
put to the test. I can say with all that I have that I know this
Church is true and that Jesus Christ is our Savior. God does indeed
hear us and I`m incredibly grateful for that.
 That`s about it for me this week. I love you all and I hope you all
have a great week. Pray for my companion and I and I`ll see you all in
a little while! I love you!

Elder Giles


Happy 4th of July!

BAPTISMS

Mom (and the rest),

This week was amazing. Seriously though. Amazing. I`ll cut to the good
stuff real quick by saying that we had the privilege of baptizing and
confirming two of our Chinese investigators yesterday! Matsue Ward
just got a little bigger! It was awesome. That just capped off the end
to an amazing week though. This is the work of the Lord and I`m more
aware of that than ever.

The week started off with a short little four hour bus ride from
Yonago to Kobe. Yes, that was sarcastic. It was a long one, but on the
plus side, I was with Elder Jake Jensen, so we got to catch up for a
long time! We had District Leader Council down in Kobe on Tuesday and
it was an incredible meeting. I love President Welch. He could say
"jump", and without hesitation I would ask, "how far?". It`s been an
honor to serve with him. The focus on the meeting was definitely
helping missionaries. It was funny, Sister Welch made the comment that
the DL`s are like the "Mothers" of the mission. We`re the ones that
interact the most with the missionaries in the mission, so in a way,
we`re kind of like everyones Moms out here! President is really
focusing on "Love and Lift" right now among the leaders of the
mission. Those two things basically make up the role of a District
Leader. It was funny, I asked one of the Assistants before I left Kobe
last transfer what advice he had on being a good District Leader and
all he said was, "Just love people. And help them." I didn`t think so
at the time, but that`s some pretty good advice. That basically makes
up what I do all day everyday, love and lift!

Getting everything prepped for the baptism was a breeze. We cleaned
the baptismal font after a companionship exchange on Saturday and
filled it early Sunday morning. It was awesome, Chen (the guy I`m
standing next to in the picture), really wanted to look like a member
when he was baptized and asked us if we would help him pick out a new
suit! We went with him during the week and got him looking pretty
spiffy for the big day! It was a blast. He`s 20 years old right now,
and when we were at the suit store I couldn`t help but think, we might
be helping this guy get ready for his mission... It was so cool! The
baptisms themselves went perfectly. My companion baptized Brother Ko
in Japanese, and then baptized Brother Chen in English! He worked hard
and his practice paid off. During sacrament we had a member confirm
Brother Ko and I had the privilege of confirming Brother Chen! It was
an amazing experience. It was like I could feel an army of people on
the other side of the veil pulling for this guy. It was a blessing to
be a part of for sure. After church the Bishop interviewed both of
them and it looks like they will be receiving the Aaronic Priesthood
as soon as next week! We`ve already set up for them to go to the
Fukuoka temple with the ward in August so we couldn`t be happier. This
is all amazing yes, but there`s something I want you all to
understand. I played a very very small role in this. These were in no
way shape or form "Elder Giles`s baptisms". These two men were
prepared by the Spirit long before I got here, and I just had the
privilege of reaping the reward. None of us have the power within us
to convert a soul. Only the Spirit can do that and I can testify of
that for sure. I`ve seen it many times in my mission. I`m so grateful
to be doing what I`m doing and I love the work of the Lord. I love my
mission.

Oh, by the way. We got the transfer email, and yes, I`ll be staying in
the beautiful city of Matsue for my last transfer here! My companion,
however, will be transferring to Takatsuki (one of my areas) so we`ll
have a busy week this week. My new companion is another newer
missionary, Elder Jackson. I know him a little bit from when he first
came to the mission and stayed in Kobe, but other than that, I don`t
know a thing! It`s going to be great though! This transfer was a bit
of a ride, but transfers are a great way to start off fresh! It`s
scary to think how fast this last transfer went by, and now to think
that it will happen again in a short 6 weeks. I`m winding down, but I
won`t quit. I intend on working harder than I ever have before. I love
what I do and I don`t want to waste a minute of being a missionary. I
love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Elder Jeffrey Maxwell Giles

Tudo bem?

Hi Mom! Oh, Happy Fathers Day, Dad!

 This week was freaking awesome. I`m sure I sound like a broken
record after starting out every single one of my weekly emails for the
last two years with something about how awesome the last week was. Oh
well, I`ll be home soon anyway! We really did have an awesome week
though. Being a full purpose missionary that does just about
everything is a blast and we`re seeing miracles in Matsue for sure! I
have great news, by the way! Our two Chinese investigators (Chen and
Yo), passed their baptismal interviews last Saturday so we`ll be
baptizing them this Sunday before church! I`m so excited for them! We
were teaching Chen yesterday with one of the members that speaks
English, we were talking about the temple and the Priesthood and stuff
like that and the member voluteered to take Chen down to Fukuoka after
he gets the Priesthood to do baptisms before he goes back to mainland
China! We`re seriously seeing some major success with the Chinese
right now. They are amazing people. On top of that, my companion and
Elder W from our District were on a companionship exchange and
they got invited into a Chinese guys house who was really interested
in learning about the Gospel. These people are pure! It`s been
awesome. Fe cheng hao!
 That brings me to my companionship exchange with Elder S over
in Izumo last week. They have a very large population of Brazilians
over in Izumo because there`s a factory that hires them out of Brazil
and pays them better than what they would be receiving if they were in
Brazil. Anyway they have somewhere around 25 Brazilian investigators
right now, and almost all of them happen to live in this one apartment
complex. We decided to go over there and see if we could get any
lessons in with any of them and see how they were doing. Mind you, we
don`t speak Portuguese, and they speak little to no English or
Japanese. The Spirit is amazing. We tried a few of them, but found
out that most of them were at work or out doing something on their day
off. We noticed a guy pull into the parking lot riding a BMX bike with
Beats by Dre headphones on with an Oakley hat (not common here). We
met him on the stairs of the apartment complex and tried to talk with
him. From being with Elder DS for close to 5 months I was able
to get across to him that we were missionaries from The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I`m pretty sure he just understood
"Igreja" haha! We were trying to figure out how we were going to teach
this guy because he really seemed like he wanted to know what we were
doing (wouldn`t you if two white boys stopped you on the stairs of you
apartment?). Elder S remembered that he had wifi at one of his
other investigators apartments, so we asked the guy if he would come
with us. We stood outside of the investigators (who wasn`t home)
apartment and managed to get a little bit of a signal. We used google
translate to tell him who we are and stuff like that and he got really
happy. I called around the mission to find a Brazilian Elder who could
translate for us because Elder DS was busy in Kobe, and
managed to find one! We called him and he translated for us over the
phone! It was hilarious. Here we are, two white Americans standing
outside of a Brazilians apartment using Google translate and an Elder
on the phone on the other side of the mission to teach a guy that just
moved here from Brazil the Gospel. Long story short, they`re meeting
him on Friday, and he`s a new investigator! Don`t worry it gets
better. After that we went and taught one of the Brazilian families
they have and Elder DS translated for us! It was awesome.
After that we met the same guy that we taught before, but he was with
his younger brother. We talked with them for a little bit and the
little brother ended up coming to church the next day, skyping with
another one of the Brazilian Elders in the mission, and he`s now a new
investigator too! (takes a gasping breath) Pretty cool right?
 Everyone, this is the work of the Lord. I`ve seen things and been in
situations where I can honestly say the hand of the Lord was present.
He is ever at the head of this church. I love being a missionary and I
love the chance to be here in Matsue. It`s a great place and will hold
a special place in my heart forever. I love the gospel and I know it
has changed me for the better. I love you all so much and I hope you
have a great Father`s Day. I love you, Dad! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Giles

My new Brazilian friends in Izumo. 

This guy can`t hear a single thing, we taught him by writing on a piece of paper in Japanese. He has all sorts of crazy Japanese history things in his house.

The Lord places people where he needs them

Friends and Family!!!

先週は最高でした！
I`m seriously concerned for life after my mission and having free time
because I`ve literally been going 100% all day every day for a long
time. I was laying in bed last night thinking about the future. It`s
crazy what a foreign concept regular member life is to me right now.
It really sparked my desire to use every minute of the time I have
left to serve the God that lends me daily breath.

So we have two Chinese investigators who are really really strong. One
of them has a baptismal date for this coming Sunday, and the other has
a baptismal date on my birthday. We were thinking about them last week
in our Weekly Planning Session and we figured it was going to be
difficult for the one getting baptized this Sunday to make that date
because we still need to teach the commandments and he needs to get
interviewed! Well the one that has a date on my birthday only has a
few of the commandments left and his interview and we felt like he
could be baptized a lot sooner. After looking at the calendar and
talking about it for a little bit, we decided it would be awesome if
they just got baptized on the same day, June 28th! Because they are
good friends, this will work out perfectly. After that we realized
that one of our other Part Member Family investigators also has a
baptismal date on the 28th of this month. We`ll be having a baptismal
service for three investigators that day! You should have seen the
Ward Council yesterday. Everyone is super excited! One of the Chinese
guys actually sadly goes back to China in August or September, and I
was thinking this week how amazing it was that he came to Japan, found
the church, will be baptized and confirmed a member, and return to
China. He`ll be here for a total of less than one year, but in that
time his life will have changed completely. I`m sure he was planning
on coming to Japan for school, but the Lord had bigger things in mind.
He wasn`t coming here for school, he was coming here to receive the
Restored gospel. We taught him about Tithing yesterday during Sunday
School and he readily accepted it. We were a little nervous in
teaching it because it`s such an important commandment, but when we
told him that we were planning on talking about something called
"tithing", he was like, "I already know about that." We thought, "well
great!" explained the blessings and doctrine behind it, shared a
scripture talking about how the windows of Heaven will be opened, and
committed him to pay his tithing after he is baptized and confirmed!
It was an awesome lesson completely run by the Spirit and an already
prepared heart.

We had an awesome District Meeting last week talking about how to
become "Full Purpose Missionaries". Seriously sometimes in Japan it
feels like all we do all day is go out and knock on doors or talk to
people on the street and it yields little fruit. We`re focusing more
now on the bigger picture of missionary work. Using technology,
visiting Less Active Members, visiting members from the Wards and
trying to strengthen them. It`s much more motivating to visit a
member, share a short message with their family, then pray with them
to find someone around where they live that is prepared to receive the
gospel, and then go out and find. We talked about how working in this
way now will prepare us much more for when we have to go home and
fulfill our missionary obligations in our own wards. I assigned a few
members of the District a few of the Great Missionaries from the
scriptures, like Alma, Aaron, Peter, and Paul, to study and prepare to
teach for a few minutes on what made them so great. The activity is
actually in PMG in chapter 1 under the "Companionship Study" (I don`t
just come up with this stuff). It was awesome and I felt like I
learned a ton. It was actually pretty great, during one of the Sisters
training on the Apostle Paul, she was talking about how he was going
from one place to another. I remembered how there was a map depicting
Paul`s Missionary Journey`s in the Bible so I decided to look that up.
I don`t think I ever realized how far Paul actually travelled! One of
the other Sister`s asked, "well are we sure he walked the whole way?"
I responded with, "would riding a donkey the whole way be much better
than walking?" Seriously, Paul was a beast and all he did was love
people. He`s a perfect example of a missionary that teaches people,
not lessons.

This week is very very busy for us. Between getting our investigators
prepared for their interviews and prepping for another District
meeting, I have to go to the next area over for a baptismal interview
tomorrow, and then a companion exchange with the Elder`s over there on
Friday followed by a Missionary Day for their ward where all the young
men will be going on splits with the Elders from our District to go
out and proselyte on Saturday! It should be fun! I had the chance to
speak in sacrament meeting yesterday about the importance of preparing
for a mission. It was the first time I just went up with a few notes
in English and tried my best to speak through the Spirit. I`m sure
absolutely none of the members could understand what I was saying, but
I just hope the Spirit testified for me. Anyway the church is still
true and I still love you all! I love being a missionary and I don`t
want my two years to come to an end! I hope you all have a great week!
I love you!

Elder Giles