By small and simple things are great things brought to pass

Paul Jamison:  I was preparing material for our ward's Aaronic Priesthood Commemoration program.  We would be using the message of Alma 37:6-7 as a theme.

6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

I asked Josh to share an experience of how a seemingly small thing has resulted in a great thing being brought to pass.  Here is Josh's reply:

The other day, Elder Tipene, my District Leader, and I were tracting. We knocked on a lady's door and she said that she wasn't too interested in the gospel but she knew members of the church. She had gone to the Halloween activity in October and missionaries had given her family some service while they were living south of the river in Mandurah. We found out she was moving to another suburb within the same ward boundaries and offered to help them move. She said that would be great and asked us to come back when her husband would be home. When we met him he said that every time he moved, missionaries rocked up to help no matter where he was. Maybe it's a sign he said. They invited us over for dinner and we brought the sister missionaries, whose area they live in. Now they are investigators and will hopefully be baptized someday.

White Broccoli

Dang time flies. Anyway, all is good here. I only have five more minutes on the computer though. The ward here is so cool! They are all so nice and want to help with the work. There is so much potential here!

My comp is so funny! He calls cauliflower white broccoli! Ha ha, he is really funny all the time. A bit quiet, but that is a nice change. In sacrament, the only people to sit in the middle pews were me and my comp... Ha ha, everyone else sat on the sides! It was really awkward but funny too.

Dad, thanks for teaching us about sacrament. I remember being little and you would teach us about sacrament when it was coming around. We had a lesson about it in Elders Quorum, and everyone had different ways of teaching their kids about sacrament.

We had a few stake things and it was cool to see the old Duncraig clique. Aw, dang! Only one minute left. It is beeping at me now. I gotta go but I will try to send more later.

I love you!
Elder Jamison

Okay, I'm back. I got on my companion's remaining time. So, we were at a dinner appointment last night and the oldest kid and the mom's 18 year old brother were into Pokemon and had the new game and were playing it right there. Ha ha. I had the time of my life and I have new favorite members! Ha ha, dang though I miss you all so much! I love you all and pray for you always!

Elder Jamison

Hey, I heard a really funny joke the other day.
     Knock, knock.
     Who's there?
     Daisy.
     Daisy who?
     Daisy me rollin', they hatin'.
Ha ha, a five year old told me that at a dinner appointment.

Time Flies

Hey everybody!

I am doing so great! My new area is really cool. It is in the same stake I was in three months ago, so I get to see some of the same people! We have had a lot of miracles this week too! Elder Calizo and I went tracting and found nine new investigators on Friday! Two families from Africa and a 19 year old boy from there too. They are all so cool, and I can't wait to start teaching all of them. Elder Tipene and I went tracting on Saturday in between conference sessions. We found quite a few people but the best was a family of four. They were so nice to us and we helped them pack some stuff into a trailer because they are moving. They were saying to us, "You know, every time we move, Mormon missionaries show up. It must be a sign, huh?" They were joking, but we got them this time! They live in Clarkson, which is covered by the Sisters in our district. They fed us burgers that night that were really good. The two kids are so nice too! They are four and two.

It is so hot here - not really though - I am just not as used to it as I used to be. Winter is coming up and it should start raining a lot, so I am pretty excited. I can't believe how fast time is going! Michael's graduation is only two months away. That's not even two transfers! And I will be at a year in my mission time then too! Wow, it is too crazy. I am excited for Easter. I love that time of year because of how we get to remember Jesus being resurrected. Conference really was so great! One of the Seventy who was released, Elder Caulister, was the Elder who came to my first area in the mission. I was surprised to see him released, but it helped me remember all he has talked about. There also seemed to be a lot of talks about not doing stupid things - things that waste time and don't mean anything. I will have to think about that since most everything I like to do is just a waste of time. I am more committed than ever to follow the Savior! My roommate, Nick Johnson was in the choir at Priesthood session. That was cool to see.

My favorite part of the mission is meeting people I never would have otherwise - all my companions, etc. It is cool with companions especially. I mean, when would I have ever met three Utahans, one Malaysian, one recent convert, two Maoris, a Hawaiian and a Samoan and lived with them all for a month and a half each? it took a while to explain, but it is sick anyway. Sometimes, while driving, I realize I'm not in America and I freak out like I'm in a totally different world, and I am totally chill about it and that is weird to me.

I love you all so much!
Elder Jamison

Off to a new adventure

I'm being transferred to Butler, in North Coast, with Elder Calizo. I am pretty excited. I like North Coast a lot.  This will make nine companions and five areas - cray cray. This week has been hectic trying to keep track of all the less actives. Out of nowhere, some of them want to do better and others are dropping off like crazy.

There isn't a ton of time to email today so Ill be quick. The teachers here went on strike so kids haven't been in school for a few days. Crazy, but we love talking to all the kids so much. I got gnarly sick from KFC the other day. Why does it have to taste so good?  I am gonna miss Albany more than anywhere. I love it here so much, but I am excited to go to Butler. I served in that zone while in North Coast and I have seen the area, it is so cool, lots of people ready to hear the gospel!

I love you all!
Elder Jamison

Dog-tired

Hey everybody!

This week has been good! I am dog-tired though! I need to figure out how to get my energy back. I'm just gonna start eating healthier and hopefully that will do the trick.

Elder Ropiha and I gave three blessings yesterday. A family in our branch all has pneumonia. We had dinner the other day with a nonmember. We walked up at 6:00 like we needed to. We went in and he was sitting there in nothing but shorts at his computer playing Bejeweled. Ha ha.

We did service at this aboriginal lady's house the other day. Her lawn was crazy! It looked like it hadn't been mowed in years. It took us two trips and like six hours to finish. I have bad allergies so I've been sneezing ever since.

We had a miracle this week too. We were in Denmark, which is like 50 k's out and we were tracting these houses. We get to one house. The lady comes out and we were talking to her and she goes, "Oh yeah, I've been waiting for Him to send someone. We have been going through a hard time lately." We are teaching them now and will see them on Friday - SO EXCITED!

Yup, this week was pretty chill and low-key, but I'm still so tired from running around all the place.