Dear Family and Friends,
This past week Elder Hawkes and I had our faith tried numerous times as we are putting in to practice the counsel of President Monterio and use 80% of our time searching for new invesigators and teaching the restoration and using the other 20% of our time to tech the Lord´s elect that we encountered. The majority of the time this week we knocked on hundreds of doors searching for the Lord´s elect and found a lot of rock hard catholics and lazy people that didn´t want any commitments. I am learning more and more every day on the mission that I am a sinner, far from perfect and for this reason I need to humble myself and rely completley on the Lord so he can make my weaknesses become strengths as is stated in Ether 12:27.
However, yet another miracle took place, as yet another one of God´s children entered the waters of baptism yesterday, Sunday afternoon. Arlinda, a 51 year old single mother of 4 children, who we encountered after Elder Hawkes met and talked with her daughter at the end of July in the street. We first started teaching Arlinda´s son Luan, but he lost intrest and didn´t want to make any commitments with us, but in the middle of August Luan´s mom, Arlinda sat in one of our lessons and a fire was sparked within her. In our first visit with her, we could tell that she was a smoker and wasn´t too happy. I asked her if she were to die today, would she receive eternal life and salvation. When I asked this she nervously responded that hoped she wouldn´t die becasue she had a lot of changes to make in her life and wouldn´t receive salvation. We then invited her to continue to receive our visits and prepare for baptism, which is the ksy to eternal life. She accepted the invitation and these past few weeks, with the Spirit and the Lord´s help, we helped her gain a testimony of the restored gospel, fast, stop smoking, repent and enter the waters of baptism, gaining the key to eternal life.
I am loving this missionary work, it is a very tough, faith trying, refining, fulfilling and humbling work and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to be one of the Lord´s servants. I just want to publicly apologize to you all for any unrighteous or dishonest thing I have ever done or said to you, and ask your forgiveness. I have learned on my mission that I am far from perfect and without the savior, I am nothing, but through repentance, daily prayer and scripture study I am cleaned from my sins and become even more like my Savior.
I love you all, thank you for all your love, prayers and support.
Love,
Elder Jonathan Hokanson
PS- Attached are pictures of yesterday´s baptism of Arlinda
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