WEEK 94 - Farmington Is a Beautiful Place

Mommy,

Farmington is a beautiful place. Besides its fantastic families and promising potential, the geography is amazing (I took pictures). I know I will have a lot of fun serving here for the remainder of my mission. In addition to that, serving with Elder Bland will definitely enhance the whole experience. I greatly look forward to the upcoming adventures here in Farmington.

To add to the excitement of being here, we had the privilege of baptizing a guy named Ivan Paz on Saturday. (He was a former baseball player and has a firm testimony). He has been taught for a long while but has finally realized that God has granted him a divine witness testifying of the truthfulness of the glorious gospel. His story reminds me of the Lamanites who were converted but "knew it not" (3 Nephi 9:20) . I am sure this occurs often. I can recall many instances, before and on my mission, where God has tried to communicate with me. However, because my pride stood in the way, I was unable to receive revelation that could have possibly grown my testimony or helped someone else's. Like Amulek, our hearts are sometimes hard, making it very difficult to recognize when God whispers to us (Alma 10:6).

These thoughts led me to study personal revelation this week. Here are some of my notes: Because God speaks to us through a quiet whisper, it is important that we heed the saviour's invitation and "Come unto Him". In order to hear a whisper, it helps to be close to the person who is speaking. How do we come unto God to be close to him? According to John 14:23, Obedience to the laws of God, enables Him to move closer to us, thus making it easier to hear the voice of God in our lives. Kind of a neat I thought.

Because Elder Bland and I transferred in together, we are still trying to adjust to the area and become familiar with all the leaders. In the course of doing that, we found a guy named Aaron who is extremely interested in the church. After being taught the first lesson, he has a great desire to follow Christ and get baptized -- His date is set for the 28 of June. Another tender mercy.

Thank you for all your prayers. We really need them!

I love yah:)

Elder Jonathan Kaufman

P.S congrats on the baptism!:)