How Do You Like Our Third Companion?

That's Why I'm Finding, Teaching,Inviting, Baptizing, Reactivating, Rescuing and If You Think You're There, I Promise You're Not and Loving all 7 Billion of Them

Hey guys!

I don't have a ton of time to write this week, but we did have some cool stuff happen. We had stake conference this past weekend, which ended up being a regional conference broadcast for stakes in Davis & Morgan counties presided over by Elder Andersen of the Twelve and conducted by Elder Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy. Elder Andersen spoke about deveolping the christlike attributes of dilligence, patience, and faith. It was a good talk, and I'm striving to apply it to the rest of my mission. We also got several solid referrals from the missionary-minded members in our wards, so we've got good things coming up this week.

I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and that this is His Church led by an inspired prophet. I know God loves us and that His Son died for us. I know the power of the Atonement is real and that it works, and that it's for everyone, regardless of who you are. Doesn't matter if you're black, white, gay, straight, liberal, conservative, mormon, catholic, baptist, buddhist, existentialist, addicted to heroin, or sober...Jesus loves you, despite what others may say. He desires all to come to Him because He loves them, and His gospel is for all of them. That's why I'm out finding, teaching, inviting, baptizing, reactivating, rescuing...it's becuase of His love and Atonement for everybody. My invitation to you is to come unto Him. We all can do it. Even if you think you're there, I promise you're not. I know I'm not yet. It's a lifelong process, so keep working at it. And if you love Jesus  you'll love His children (all 7 billion of them!)  as well, regardless of who they are.

love you guys!

Elder Jake Lusk

Enough Deviled Eggs, I Dig How the Catholics do Easter, John 20:1-4, and Do We Run to the Savior?

Hey guys! Happy late Easter! Our week was good. Two of our dinner appointments were big family easter parties, so we had enough deviled eggs to feed an army. Last easter, one of my best buds was a devout catholic, and this year, my companion came from a devout catholic family that was baptized into this church was he was about nine. I have nothing but love and respect for Catholics, and I really dig how they do Easter. The whole easter season, with Ash Wednesday and Lent, and Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. I like the emphasis they put on the Easter season.

On our second dinner appointment we shared a message with the extended family that was there that Sister Hansen, our mission president's wife, shared with us. The message comes from John chapter 20, focusing on verses 1-4. It tells the story of how Mary goes to the sepulchre early sunday morning and discovers an empty tomb. The part to focus on his how she runs to find some apostles, finds two of them and tells them, then the three of them run back to the tomb. This news about one of their loved ones, a man who they knew was their Messiah, caused them so much concern that they run to get there, not casually stroll there. So the question is, how can you follow their example and run to theavior?

That's about it for this week. I've got some pictures of me and my companion with puppies, but I forgot my cord, so you'll probably get those next week.

I know the Atonement is real, and was made possible because God loves us so much that he sent his only begotten son (John 3:16) to suffer and die for us so that we can be saved. According to the scriptures, and I know this to be true, we are saved by grace, after all we can do. Love you guys!

Elder Jake Lusk

It's Pretty Amazing How the Spirit Works and Together Forever

This week has been pretty good. We weren't sure what to teach the {} family, so we ended up watching that old church video that was produced in the 80s, Together Forever. I bet you dad used that one on his mission. It's super cheesy, but it's got a good message, and we figured it would be good for the{} family. The video goes over several stories, mainly about families, but also about the Atonement and almost every story we felt could apply to their family. If I remember right, I think we have it on VHS, probably somewhere in the basement, so you guys should watch it sometime for FHE. The challenge is to see if you can watch it without laughing. As much as we make fun of it, it does have a good message, though.

We went out with Elder Delgado again this week. We normally have dinner together and then take him with us to any evening lessons we have that day. Every single time, our conversation at dinner somehow turns to some gospel principal and every time, whatever we talked about ends up coming up in our lesson that night. It's pretty amazing how the spirit works and how we can be prepared for things without even knowing it, even as missionaries.

That's all I got for this week. Hit me up if you have any questions, as usual. I know God loves us and that the power of the Atonement is real. Love you guys!

Elder Jake Lusk

Staying in Layton, Getting the Nod from Mitt and speaking Spanish and eating real Latin American Food

So guess who's got two thumbs and is staying in Layton with Elder Ogden another transfer? Not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited about that. I like it here in Layton and I like having Elder Ogden as a companion. I also really love the people that we're working with and I'm hoping I'll be here to see them get baptized.

We had general conference this weekend, which was pretty exciting. We were up in the balcony for the Saturday AM session, which was pretty sweet. For lunch, we went to a place called Crown Burger in downtown SLC (which has the best fry sauce I've ever had) and ended up getting lunch paid for by an area seventy who had been Elder Ogden's sister's mission president in Brazil. Saturday afternoon we watched the session in the Joseph Smith memorial building, and then when that was over, since we weren't hungry from lunch, we got in line at the conference center so we could get good seats for priesthood session. We ended up being right on the front row again. unlike last time, we were specifically told not to approach President Uchtdorf to shake his hand unless he approached us first (apparently security doesn't like that too much, which is understandable), so I didn't shake any First Presidency hands this time. The closest thing to that that happened this time was sitting there when some guy named Mitt Romney walked by us and nodded to us. Even if I don't necessarily agree with him, he's still a good guy, and it's still cool sitting near him at General Conference. And then Sunday we watched conference with the Olpins :)

I really liked conference this year. I felt like I got a lot out of it. Priesthood session was especially good, and if you missed it, watch it. It's definitely worth seeing.

Aside from conference we had a relatively normal week of teaching lessons and finding new investigators. We were on exchanges with the Spanish elders on Wednesday, so I missed the lesson with the{} family , but i got to do my best to speak Spanish all day and eat real Latin American food, so that was fun.

As usual, hit me with any questions. I love you all, and I know this church has the fullness of the Gospel and that the Atonement is real and made possible by God's incredible love for us.

Love, Elder Jake Lusk

ps. Stef...did you get my letter I sent you? Did you get what I meant by that? If not, let me know and I'll explain. hit me back, brotha.

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The Dynamic Duo and Where In the World is Elder Lusk (look closely at the name tag...can you guess the language?)

The Fearless Four

Bearing Your Testimony is Part of What Builds It, Ministering to Those in Need and She Gave us Each a Dog!!

 We had a pretty good week this past week. We had a good lesson with the {} family.  We decided to do an unofficial testimony meeting and share what the gospel can mean to us. I shared my testimony about the Atonement and how it can help you overcome stuff in your life and I directed it towards Brother {}. Even Sister {}, who isn't a member of our church and doesn't seem super interested bore her testimony that she can feel the difference in her home and in her family since we've been coming over. We were kinda hoping that that would happen, but not getting our hopes it. It was super exciting that she did that, though, because bearing your testimony is part of what builds it. Everyone who was there could feel the spirit.
    This was pretty cool, too. After the lesson, Sister {} said she had something for us. Elder {} and I had no idea what to expect. She prefaced it by saying that she knew we loved dogs, but also knew we couldn't have one while on a mission. With a preface like that, we really had no idea what to expect. She reached into a bag and pulled out these little toy dogs, one for me and one for my comp. The coolest part was that my comp got a German Shepard and i got a pug. The story behind that is the family has four dogs, including a pug named Toby and a German Shepard that's six feet from nose to tail named Luke. My companion really likes Luke and I fell in love with Toby as soon as I met him, so Sister {} got us the dogs that she knew we'd like the best. We were both pretty happy about it just because of how awesome the gift was, and it shows how much the family loves us. 
     Saturday night we were out with Elder{}(remember me talking about him the last time I was in Layton?) . I seriously love that man.  We ended up staying for an hour and taught her less-active friend who was there who has been struggling recently. We gave her a blessing of comfort and the spirit was super strong.
    Oh, and to wrap the week up, we got invited to a Tongan barbecue, and it was absolutely amazing. It was probably the first real poly food I've had since Glendale, including real O'tai. It was pretty awesome.
     This work is absolutely amazing. I know the Atonement is real and that it can save our lives if we're willing to do our part to tap into it. I know that God loves us. His gospel is true, and that truth can be found everywhere, but the fullness of it was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, and that priesthood authority is here on the earth in this Church.

Love,
Elder Jake Lusk.

ps. Pugs are those dogs that are so ugly that their cute. The {} pug, Toby,  is absolutely adorable, and the next time I'm over there I'll take a picture of me with it so you can see just how cute it is and why i want one when i'm off my mission.