With My Canadian Companion!

All I Want For My Birthday.....

These are pictures from Elder Lusk's 19th Birthday in the mission field. A sweet family had them over for a birthday dinner and spoiled him with a cake and gifts. He actually did not expect a lot of fanfare since he is focused on his mission but he was happy to be there, clearly. Really all he wanted was for us (his family) to make a donation to the National Humane Society as well as another organization that is near and dear to his heart. He is truly focused on thinking about and serving others at this time. Happy Birthday, Elder Lusk!

He says eh Alot....which is Awesome, Mormon Utopia and Helping Them Receive

So...about my companion and my area. My comp's name is Elder {} (it's a Welch name). He's from a small village outside of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, and he says "eh?" alot, which is awesome. He's been out for seven and a half months, and we knew each other before from serving in the same zone in Layton together for a while several transfers ago. He's a cool guy and I really like serving with him. He's like Elder Martin a little bit where he loves to laugh and have fun, but he's super focused, too. 

 

My area is covering the Farmington South Stake, as well as the Canyon View Stake in Centerville. We cover 15 wards. Our area is pretty much all on what's sometimes known as "the bench", which is the neighborhoods and houses that are way up on the hill. This is a pretty rich area. There's some pretty big houses up here, and even the smaller houses are probably expensive because the view from up here in amazing. You can see the entire valley. It's kinda like a Mormon utopia with big houses and nice, green lawns and everyone outside walking their dog and kids playing and all tha. This is probably the richest area I'll ever get to live in, so I might as well enjoy it. There's a lot of great people here. There's only a handful of nonmembers in each ward, but there's some solid potential, so I'm excited for what'll happen in the next transfer or two.

 

I want to bear my testimony that I know the church is true, and that it's led by a prophet of God. There's a reason why I'm out here, and it's to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I know that the atonement is real and that it's powerful and it's everything of why I'm out here. 

Love you all!

Elder Jake Lusk

 

A Rare Find In Davis County

The work here in Centerville and Farmington is going well. The members here are pretty missionary minded. There's only a handful of nonmembers in each ward, but we have a few solid investigators. Just this past week we started teaching a catholic family. It's rare to find an entire family of nonmembers in Davis County, and even more rare to find one that's open to meeting with us. They're a great family and we have a lot of beliefs in common. Right now it seems like they're just looking to learn about our church becuase they're living in Utah and are curious, but they've accepted a return appointment and accepted commitments to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, so we'll see where it goes. 

 

I know that this church is true. I know that it was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith and that it's led today under inspiration. I know that God loves us and that the atonement is real and that it's powerful. Missionary work is amazing. 

Love all you guys.

Elder Jake Lusk

With his Canadian Companion and a Dear Family They Worked With

God Told Me to Come Here, There's A Reason Why Jonathan, Logan and I Are Out Here Doing This and Don't Take it From the Punks

Hey guys!

 We had a pretty good week this week. Now that's it's warm, there's a lot more people out, and way more opportunities to street contact, which is awesome. We contacted into this guy the other day and found out he was from Georgia. We asked what brought him here to Utah, and he laughed and was like, "well, I had a dream the other night and God told me to come here, so I did. I got here a couple days ago." HECK YEAH! We got his contact info and we're going to start teaching him once we figure out if he lives in our half of the apartment complex, or the other elders' half. Good stuff.

I also don't know if I mentioned this, but we had another miracle with the {} family . There's some complicated stuff going on with the baptism and for various reasons they needed to do a waterside confirmation instead of getting confirmed in sacrament meeting the next day. In the past, we'd have to talk to President Hansen to get approval, but the church policy has changed, and we have to get area seventy approval. We knew it would be an uphill battle and that most likely the confirmation would have to be done on Sunday, but I told Brother {} to have faith and that it was worth a shot. I don't know what made me say that, because all evidence showed we wouldn't get approved, but we got a call a few days later saying that the area seventy had given his approval. So yeah, that's taken care of, the interview the our district leader is tonight, and then we're good to go for Saturday! I'm super stoked about this and I'll be sure to send pics.

I know that this work is amazing. There's a reason that me, and Logan, and Jonathan, and all of us are out here doing this, and it's to help share the message of God's love to us, and how that love has made it possible to the Atonement to redeem us of our sins, the gospel so we know how to live with him again, and the Restoration of said gospel in these latter days. I know that these things are true, and can promise this with all my heart. God answers prayers, and if you're in doubt, don't take it from some 19-year-old punks. Go to Him about it. I promise he'll answer you.

That's all I got this week. Hit me up with any questions. Love you all, and good luck with moving to Ashburn!

Elder Jake Lusk

Working with the Senior Missionary Couples is Awesome

So, {} got baptized, which was awesome (I'll attach a pic!). The spirit was totally there. Aside from that it was a pretty normal week. We've been going around and visiting auxiliaries and ward councils to try and find prepared people to teach, and we're getting some stuff out of that. We've also been working a lot with the senior missionary couple in our stake, the Kakazus. I can't remember if I told you about them or not, but they're awesome. They're full time proselyting missionaries, just like us, and they focus mainly on less-actives, and we work pretty closely with them. They've come to every lesson we've had with the {}, family and we correlate usually twice a week. Like I said, working with them is awesome.
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> So...That's been my week. Hit me up with any questions, as usual. I know that this Church is God's church that contains the fullness of the Gospel as restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that God loves us and that the Atonement of Christ is real and powerful. Love you all!
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> Elder Jake Lusk
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