this week was fantastic. we left for singapore last thursday morning, and didn't get back until saturday night. it was an excellent trip though. the zone leader conference was awesome. president clark is really shaking things up and changing a lot of stuff. it's all good though, and i think it will really help the work. the last six months or so, the mission has really slowed down a ton, but everybody is really excited about the changes and i think it will really help.
not too long ago, we got a referral from a member in a different branch for a family of seven. we met them for the first time about three weeks ago on a friday, and they all came to church the first sunday. however, after that they kind of backed off and i was really worried that we were going to lose them, especially with all the time that we've been spending out of our area. when we got home on saturday night, we jumped on our bikes and made the ride out there to try and get one last push and get them to church. we had a member meet us there so that she could help us teach and bear testimony to try and give this family the best possible chance we could.
one of the big problems is that the dad in this family is always working, and it's super hard to meet with him, but he happened to be there that night, even though he told us he wouldn't be. we sat down with them and started to teach them about the gospel. we taught about faith and repentance, and then i felt like we should throw out the church invitation then, so we did, and they said that they couldn't come. we talked for awhile longer and finally got down to what his real concern was- he is afraid to leave his old church because he converted most of his family into that church, and it would be hard to leave. then, out of nowhere, our member slaps them in the face with an amazing testimony and her conversion story. he still wouldn't budge, but we went back on monday night to teach them again, and brought the same member and her daughter.
it was so awesome. the dad hadn't read the chapter we gave him from the book of mormon (3 nephi 27), so we threw out the original lesson plan and read that chapter with them. after we read it together, the conversation split into three different parts. our member (Ulat) started talking with the mom in the family, i started trying to resolve the dads concerns more, and elder watkins talked with the kids. i didn't make too much progress with the dad, but he budged a bit. the mom was completely won over by sister Ulat, and when we got up to leave, she told us to sit down so she could talk more with Ulat. it was awesome. we tried to set and appointment for friday, but they requested that we come back sooner than that, so we're going back there tonight. yeah, they're baptized...
while i was in singapore, i got a chance to talk a bit with president clark about what i should do with the end of my mission. i told him that i've felt for awhile like i wanted to extend a month, but that i also really wanted to try and walk on and play football. i asked him for advice, and he told me that i should look at the pros and cons. first off, he told me that i'm under no obligation to extend my mission. in fact, if i made the decision that i wanted to play football, i would even be able to come home a couple weeks early. then he talked to me about what could happen. what happens if i make a huge effort to go home (possibly even early) and get back in shape, and then don't make the team? what a waste, especially when i could have had more time serving the Lord. Or, what if i do make it, and then i just get injured? that could screw up a lot of things for a long time.
then he asked me, "will playing football be helping you in your career path?"... not really, no. he also asked me, "who would you be playing for- you, or the Lord?" of course, me. football would not help me at all in getting back to the celestial kingdom. he also threw in there, "is that the kind of environment and friends you want to be around?" typically no, but at BYU i think it would be a lot better. anywho, he really made me think about a lot of things. if i were to try and play, it wouldn't be bad, but there are a lot better things that i could be doing.
does that mean that i don't want to play anymore? absolutely not, i still really want to play football, but it does mean that i'll be finishing my mission on February 10th, no earlier, and no later. then dad and i can jalan-jalan for a few days, and i'll be back. with enough time, if i really want it, to get into as good of shape as possible before i try-out... but just in case i do, i've already gotten in touch with coach clark and asked him to help me with a work out program that i can do in the mornings and at nights to try and come home in some kind of decent shape =)
by the way, happy birthday to Jackson, Mandy, and TJ! or, as they say in Malay, "selamat hari jadi"
good luck in college whitney. tell me how it is.
oh yeah, i did draw out money from my account a couple weeks ago while i was in singapore last time. you may want to check the dates. i think i did the withdrawals on the 11th and 13th of august, or around there. if it happened just in the last couple days, it wasn't me. i haven't touched it since the 13th.
i think that's everything. things are starting to get moving in our area, and things in the zone are going really well. thank you for your support and prayers.
love you all,
elder Troxel
Note from Dad: Jordan sent a few pictures home in this email. There was no explanation or description in the letter on when or where the picture were taken. It appears that Jordan has been taking lessons from Michael on how to pose for pictures.
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