Summertime!

Summertime and the livin is easy! Not! We are workin hard and goin “Jersey Strong! Our missionaries are amazing.  They are working so hard and bringing many souls into the water!  It was terrific here in June.  The weather was perfect. We enjoyed 70 to 80 degree temperatures.  We were all enjoying it because we knew what lay ahead. 

Summertime and the weather is HOT, HOT, HOT! Once again, as a repeat from last July 1 when we arrived, you open your door and feel like you are in an oven!  It is easy to get dehydrated here so we drink, drink, drink! As for the flower pots, they need continual water every day or they melt and shrivel just like us!   We love the breeze from the ocean when we get it that’s for sure!

Summertime and the moving is challenging.  Our Parsippany Office is no longer our mission office.  We have a beautiful, cozy new office on 5 Cold Hill Road So. Ste #10, Mendham, NJ  07945. Our Senior couples worked very hard to get us relocated. 

Summertime and the finding is easy!  Elder Kevin R. Duncan came on a mission tour and the missionaries were told they will be more successful in finding investigators if they open their mouths and ask if they have anyone that could benefit from their message of Christ.  We have seen miracles as in the following story:

The missionaries, Elder Williams and Elder Smith, went to a member’s house who were recent converts and taught them the importance of sharing the gospel, the hope and the love that we receive from the gospel with others.  It so happened that a little neighbor boy was over at the house playing with the kids so when the missionaries asked them if there was anyone who could benefit from hearing the gospel message and having the same joy that you have in your life, they thought for a minute and said, looking at the neighbor boy, “Our neighbors could”.  Then Elder Williams said, “Why don’t we go over right now and ask if they want to come to family night on Tuesday.”  At first they were reluctant and asked the little boy if his parents were home.  He said “Yes”. So over to the neighbors they went.  The members knocked on the door and the neighbors let them into their house. The member family began to invite them to a family night where they would watch a movie about Christ.  The neighbor said “Yes we would love to and we will be there on Tuesday.”  So Tuesday came, and the missionaries got everything prepared to have them over.  To their surprise, when they came over, they had also brought two other family members.  So they had five new investigators!  There have been many stories just like that.  Hopefully they will all choose to be baptized!

Summertime and the Conference was fun!  June 29^th we had an All Mission Summer Conference Boot Camp!  We met in the chapel at Morristown and while President Jeppson was in another room with the leaders of the mission, the rest of us were having Army drills.  Drill Sergeant, Elder Archibald, took us through drills to be a better missionary. We ended with our Mission Cadence:

1. New Jersey is the place to be                                    3. Praying is our favorite drill

As missionaries we agree                                                    Staying worthy is our skill

We will serve with all our might                                        We love to teach and testify

Our purpose here is to invite                                                    And baptize others that’s no lie

Sound Off, 1,2                                                                            Sound off, 1,2

We love others yes we do                                                    We serve God and others too

2. We all know cuz we’ve been told                                    4. The Iron Rod is what we hold

We are strong and very bold                                                    Teaching others seven fold

We open up our mouth each day                                        The love of God is what we feel

To teach the gospel in His way                                       We have a Savior and He’s real

Sound off 1,2                                                                           Sound off 1, 2

We love Preach My Gospel too                                      We love Christ and we’ll be true

Then we all played Ninja Turtle, picked up our mission t-shirts and headed to the chapel.  We had Brother Chester Elton who made the New York Times Best Seller List 7 times, speak to the missionaries on motivation and team work.  It was fantastic.  We were very fortunate that he would come and give us his time.  The missionaries really enjoyed it.  Then we moved into the cultural hall for lunch and zone skits that were very funny and clever.  We traveled to Lewis Morris Park to have Book of Mormon battles, Broom Hockey, Obstacle Course, Scripture Chase, Balloon Soccer and ended with the final battle where some of the missionaries got a little hurt as in a broken finger, sprained ankle, hurt back and some bruises.  But they loved it! It was a great stress reliever!  We were all dripping wet from the heat and activity, but these missionaries are amazing! We finished up with Elder Chriswell playing his bagpipes and Elder Steel played taps on his trumpet. Then all the missionaries went to get their mail and tour the new mission office just 5 minutes down the road.

Summertime and the mission is busy!  We are now into the 2^nd year of our mission with zone conferences next week, new missionaries coming and old missionaries leaving and the routine continues to go forward! We are loving our experience.  It is hard work, tiring, stressful and physically demanding, but we are privileged to serve these amazing young Elders and Sisters.  We love them so.

We love and miss you all terribly, Dad and Mom, Jon and Bonnie, President and Sister Jeppson