Elder John-Gregory Sierra

RISE UP! THERE ARE MIRACLES IN FOLSOM!

Hey Mom,

I wanna first off say sorry for not being able to talk to you last
week. A missionary that I loved broke his nose (my fault) [knee to the face (little sporting competition)] and I had to help him get to the hospital. I couldn't find a darned computer and felt terrible that I missed you. 

So, I gotta little bit to talk about: There are miracles
in Folsom. As a zone, we were pumped up by President to Find, Teach, and Baptize here in Folsom, because there have been little to no baptisms in Folsom. The companionships here went from 5 to ten, with two Spanish missionaries in two different areas. NEVER has happened in the history of Folsom missionary work. 

I came here and met my awesome companion Elder Stradling. He was companions with Elder Amos!! (Elder Amos is from our old stake in Orlando, FL.)  He and I loved swapping stories about that guy. He is by far the humblest guy I know. He told me coming in that I may have heard some stuff that Folsom is hard to baptize. All I told him was, "Whatchu talkin' bout boy? We came here to fix that!!" He couldn't help but hug me. He really didn't want another companion that was depressed about the circumstances. 

These last 2 weeks have been unbelievable. We have an investigator, named Bernard, who referred himself to us and loves the gospel. We have him set for a date at the end of this month. Another sweet spirit we found is a wonderful woman named Heather. She has been investigating the church for 20 years!! I kinda told her, "Heather you are done investigating. You need to
decide to join the church or not now. The Lord needs your talents and this is an urgent gospel. Will you be baptized?" [She replied]  ".....yes, I think I have held it off long enough." That's two planned for the month. Also, we were teaching a family of 5 (plus a boyfriend) and as we taught we committed them to read the Book of Mormon and, upon receiving their answer that it's true, followed up with them inviting them to be baptized. They said yes. That's 8 for the month. Also, we just got 6 referrals that another Spanish elder and I are going to teach this coming Wednesday . All of them are Spanish families and we are doing exchanges that day.

Our Spanish group is about to start in Folsom. I just called President for the translating equipment, because I already have 5 Spanish investigators and Elder Echanique (the other Spanish Elder) has 6. Folsom is exploding. I never believed for a second, that we would not baptize here and that is what's happening. I truly do believe that I am needed here in this place at this time. I have no "Ammon Moments" to report yet, but I will get on it later. However, I will leave a little spiritual thought taken from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk and mixin it up a bit: "Champions are not measured by how many times they are victorious, but by how many times they fall and Rise Up to meet the next challenge." My family, brothers, sisters, and friends, we will all, at some point, fall, but what makes us great is when we RISE UP!! This is the Lord's Kingdom on the Earth that we are blessed to be a part of. We cannot dwell in despair. Our Father in Heaven has promised us that He will lift us up and exalt us on high if we endure our trials well. We are Sons and Daughter of a King, ALL of us, including those not of our faith. And as a missionary, I remind them of their divine destiny, for our Father in Heaven wants all of us to come home to him. Just as it hurts me to leave my family for two years to serve people that I don't know, some that would love nothing more than for me to drop dead, I will gain a testimony and help others come unto our Savior. My friends that follow my Mother's blog, we are
all on Missions. It pains our Father that we must leave Him and that
we may risk the chance of not coming back to Him, but think of the joy that will come when we do come back to see Him again, better than what we were before. This is the way I want to return to my Father, Mother, and my best friend, Benjamin. My friends, whether you are a little lost right now or not, come and bring your sorrows to the Lord, for He loves us unconditionally. There is always a place for you here. I love you all so much. I love you, too, Mom.

Elder Sierra