Have a Happy New Year

Its nice to see that you and Grandma had some time together at the
beach :) I would say that the best part of Christmas was the phone
call home as well :) Things continue to go on though. We are teaching

a lot more people including a man who his family are all members and

he is the last. He is the the father of the family and has bee living far away for the
past year for work but now he is back and wants to join the church. In
our first meeting with him he told us that he already knows the church
is true and had read the Book of Mormon three times. A very humble and
caring man :) He will be baptized in February.
We are having another quiet holiday season here for new years. I
haven't received Grandma's and Judy's package yet but it should be
here this week :) We are just planning on playing different sports
today, go out to lunch with some other missionaries and tomorrow we
have been invited to a very nice family for a new years lunch :) But
other than that we are not allowed to work today or tomorrow for
safety reasons so we need to find things to keep ourselves busy. Other
than that there isn't to much going on here right now. It has been
really hot lately and the mosquito's are out :( But I am doing well, I
am happy and still working hard. I love you and hope you and the
family have a very happy new year :)

DEPENDING FULLY ON THE SPIRIT

So Jordyn pulled off straight A's, why does that not surprise me.

Caity is looking good though, and I am sure she
did her best to look her best for that picture haha. I received
letters this week from a lot of people in the ward so I will do my
best to respond to as many as possible :) Christmas is different
here in many ways, one of those ways is that it is about 90 degrees
here during Christmas haha but there are also a lot of fireworks and
everyone slaughters a Chicken for dinner (not prime rib but thats ok).
Nothing to special but we are not allowed to go out on Christmas eve
or Christmas so we just hang out at our apartments.So here is the
weekly update on the work in Johannesburg :) We had a much better week
than last week partly because I wasn't sick but also because we have
started working harder than ever! We really felt like we could do
better and so that is what we set out to do. We started to talk with
everyone we could and it has proved to be of great worth to the area.
We set 12 appointments with different people and also 3 appointments
with new families that we are very excited to see. So our finding
efforts are being blessed by the Lord right now. He is showing us that
as long as we depend upon Him we cannot fail :) Things are looking up
for the city of Johannesburg and I hope to leave this city in a much
better situation than when I found it. No health problems this week
but there has been a lot of rain, thunder and lightning and when it
rains it pours, sometimes for hours at a time. It was like that
yesterday. We were walking and we just came out to a street corner and
it was raining cats and dogs so we sat there for about and hour,
contacting people as they braved the storm, and waited to be picked up
for our dinner appointment, Which was a wonderful dinner :) Well that
was my week in terms of the work and I look forward to what this week
will hold and hope that we can maintain the spirit of finding more
people to teach and help on their way back to their Father in Heaven.
One lesson that I have learned this week is about depending fully on
the spirit and the lesson was put so clearly and beautifully by our
Bishop on Sunday when he spoke at Sacrament meeting. I want to relate
to you the example he used from the scriptures that really opened my
eyes to our possibilities. In Matthew we read of the account of where
Peter was saw the Savior walking on water and asked that the Savior
would bid him come unto him and he knew then that he could do the
same. So the Savior bade him come and Peter stepped out of the boat
and began to walk on water focusing his attention fully upon the
Savior. Now this is the part that got my attention, as soon as Peter
looked away from the Savior and looked down at the waves beneath him
did he falter and begin to sink into the depths of the sea. Then the
Savior calmly extends his hand returning Peters focus to him and they
both continue on to enter into the boat. We can do anything the Savior
can do if we will turn all of our focus to him and then not deviate
from that focus for anything. I think it kind of goes along with
having an eternal perspective but I think it is a lot more focused
than that. Learning to trust in the Savior fully and completely is not
easy. It involves a lot of blind following on our part, a step into
the dark or unknown, or as Nephi puts it going without knowing what
you are going to do before hand but knowing that the Savior will not
leave us alone because he loves us and we are putting our trust and
faith in Him. This is a lesson that I am trying to learn right now.

CHRISTMAS IN THE SUMMER

Poor Caleb was sick this last week so he had a uneventful week due to his illness, but he and Elder Rakoto are back out there looking to share the Gospel.


Our area struggles a lot because of how hard it is to find people to teach but
our Zone leaders are coming to help us contact people on Friday so
Elder Rakoto and I are excited for that. I almost have to pretend that the holidays aren't here
because if I think out them I get a little home sick besides I am
still not used to the whole Christmas in summer thing :)Anyway I am
happy and doing great. The work is slow but we are still working to
change that :) I love you and hope you have a great week :)

I AM EXCITED TO SPEND CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY

I am glad that you liked the pictures. Sadly we did not celebrate Thanksgiving at all but that's okay because I completely forgot about it on the day of :) . Thank you for sending my supplies and a package :) I cant wait to get them and I will have to see if I can wait until Christmas to open my presents :) and you are not here to stop me haha. I will do my best to wait but I cant make any promises :) I also have some news for you. Due to the younger ages in which missionaries can now go on mission the mtc's are now shortening the time that they have to spend in the mtc so they can have more missionaries go through. This means that the next two transfers will only be 5 weeks instead of 6 weeks and that means that everyone who is on mission right now will be coming home two weeks earlier so I will be back Oct 3 and not Oct 17.

Things are going good right now. We are still looking for people to teach but it is hard. Johannesburg is getting ready for its mass exodus that occurs during the holidays. The two wards will even be combining for about a month because so many people will be gone. Other than that though there really isn't to much going on here. We have our mission tour tomorrow and the Area President will be addressing us. He will be also be giving a special leadership training so I am excited for that. I am doing good and I am happy :) The holidays are not affecting me to much and I am excited to spend my Christmas here in the city :) Know that I love and miss you.

Love your son,

Three New Investigators

Things are going good here in Johannesburg. We have three new investigators and we should be having a baptism next month so we are excited for that. We still struggle to find people but we are learning how to work better in the city every week :) President Omer surprised us by attending our district meeting this week and it had to be the best district meeting of my mission :) He is just a very humble yet powerful man. I am very grateful to have such a mission President.

I have been missing home a lot more lately but I think that just comes with the Holiday season, it just means we got to go work harder :) Anyway I hope that this email finds you well and know that I am very happy with where I am, who I am with, and with what I am doing. Have a great week and a great thanksgiving :)

love your son,

Caleb

The Temple

 This is the Johannesburg Temple that sets up on a hill in my area I am in now.

Things are good this side. We are working very hard to still find new
investigators and hopefully with all the referrals and contacts we
have had last week we should more than double our teaching pool :) We
also received a referral from President Omer for a young family that
he and Sister Omer met at a Mission Presidents Seminar and they want
to come teaching with Elder Rakoto and myself (We are both excited and
nervous about that haha). Patricia is doing good. She cancelled her
meeting with us today but the last two times we have seen her have
been very powerful visits and she is just so determined to do what is
right (which reminds me we need to call her today). Elder Rakoto and I
are staying together for another transfer :) We are both very happy
for that. He admitted to me today that until he was companions with me
he thought that all Americans were racist. This mission faces a lot of
challenges with that and it is sad to see such good young men hate
each other because of a few differences they cant look past. But Elder
Rakoto and I get along so well, he is one of my favorite companions so
far :) Well that's all for today. I hope that you have a great week and
that everyone is doing good. Love you to the moon and back :)

Love your son,

Elder Caleb Coon

JOY DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN HAPPINESS

Things are going good here. The work is still a little slow but we

where able to meet with one of the referrals for the second time today
at the Area office and her name is Patricia. She is doing good and is
very interested in learning about what God expects of her and what she
needs to do in order to gain forgiveness. Speaking of forgiveness I
read a book the other day entitled The Miracle of Forgiveness. It is
the greatest book I have ever read in my life and I will never
recommend missionaries to read it while on mission. I just saw it at
the distribution center and I felt like I needed to read it and boy
has it broadened my perspective on life, sin, the Atonement, and
forgiveness. It took me four days to read it was so good! If you
haven't read it yet I highly recommend it :) Other than that though it
has just been work as normal. We are facing a lot of challenges right
now when it comes to finding still but we are determined to just press
on and do are best. Transfers are in a week and Elder Rakoto and I are
hoping and praying we get to stay together another 6 weeks. We get
along great and have a lot of fun together.
It has just been an interesting week and the book has added to it. I
feel like I am at the cross roads of life when it comes to choices of
who I want to be. I feel almost like I have come to a fork in the road
and there is the good way and the best way. I am doing a lot of soul
searching you can say to find out what I really hope to get out of
life and what I most want to achieve. Most of all I just want to be a
worthy husband and father and live a life that I will be able to spend
a lot of time with my family and at the same time provide the
necessities of life and many of its comforts. Its a gift to be simple
I have come to understand, not simple minded but simple in desires,
hopes, and dreams and what ever comes after that is in the Lords
hands. Spiritual growing pains hurt but they are so worth it. Things
are good and I am happy but most of all I am finding more joy than I
have ever felt in my life. Joy doesn't always mean happiness but what
it does mean is satisfaction in doing what is true and right leading
to everlasting happiness :) I love you mom and hope you have a great
week. Send my love to everyone and hugs as well :)

Love your son,

Elder Caleb Coon