Hello,
Alright so a couple stories for the week:
First, when we went to the capital we also went to the institute building and they have a ping pong table. One other Elder told me that he was pretty good and that he played a lot in college. I dominated :) You know how I do. I think he scored like 5 points. Then a little later I was looking at their board and they have a rank list for ping pong and at #1 there was 'Bro. Johnson' so I told Elder Foster "I bet I could beat him." Then about 5 mins later a teacher walked in and I looked at him and said "Are you Bro. Johnson?" He said yes. Then I pointed at the rank list and he said "You want to play?" So we played and I dominated :) We played 4 games, I won the first 2 by quite a bit. Then the third game he beat me by 2 points so just barely. Then the last game I beat him by 12. So I am now the best ping pong player at the institute building in Austin. So that was pretty cool. Elder Foster was kind of upset because he wanted me to lose. I had been telling him all week how much I played ping pong and stuff and he didn't believe that I was that good. I told him that I wasn't going to lose, so he wanted me to be wrong. It was a ton of fun though, ping pong is the best sport.
The other story is even better because it has to do with the work. At the beginning of this transfer (3 weeks ago) Our new district leader that just got transferred set a district baptism goal with us for this transfer. That goal was 5 baptisms for each companionship in the district. We were suprised how high it was but agreed. Later he told us that President had e-mailed him and told him to set the goal. Now just last Thursday Elder Foster and I had to call President to ask him about going to the temple with one of Elder Fosters converts from last year. President is allowing us to go on the 10th of July but he asked "How are you planning to make up for all the lost time?" And Elder Foster said that we had a plan that involved a lot of biking to make sure we don't go over miles and that we would work hard. President responded "I don't care about biking, what about baptisms? What is your goal for baptisms?" and Elder Foster was kind of speachless. Then President said "How about 5, 5 baptisms for July?" So obviously we agreed and he said that he knows we can do it.
So after the phone call we had weekly planning we figured out how we are going to get the baptisms and what we are going to have to do. Because to get that many in this short of time is hard. The investigators have to come to church 3 times before we can baptize them, and we have to teach them everything. The goal was set by us first as a district and then confirmed with President. We know the goal is from God so we know we are going to accomplish it. We still don't know how but we are just doing everything in our power to get those baptisms and to work as hard as we possibly can. We are giving it all we have and we will do it. Just on Saturday our ward mission leader told us that he had been inspired to fast on Sunday for more baptisms and he invited each of us to do the same. So the Lord is definitely telling us that we can do it and that we are going to do it. Right now Elder Foster and I have about 15 names of poeple we are teaching and have the potential to be baptized, and other than that we are frantically trying to find more people. We would definitely appreciate your prayers. We know we can do it and we are going to do it. We are working really hard and doing everything we can to accomplish the goal the Lord has set for us.
The work this week was hard. It reached 110 on Tuesday and we were on bikes :) It was great. Our investigators didn't come to chruch even though we talked to all of them the day before and they all promised that they would be there without a doubt. But it is ok we are being patient and we will accomplish our goal. This goal lit a fire inside of Elder Foster and I and we are working like I haven't worked before, it is fantastic.
Thank you for all of your support please keep us in your prayers this month I know it will help. I love you all and hope you have a great week!!!
Elder Jackman
