Seventh P-Day Email

Hi, everyone! How is life?

Wow, it is so amazing here--I am learning so so much about diligence, obedience, and most of all, relying on the Lord to guide me. This week we had some amazing experiences: we met a kid on the street who is an amazing guy, his name is Nathan. We see Nathan every day. He cleans the streets (London has thousands of street-cleaners, but he cleans this certain area, so we always see him). We have been talking to him and sharing about the gospel, and this has been an amazing experience. We gave him The Book of Mormon and he is out of our area, so he goes with other missionaries. He is loving church now and wants to know more and more--even though we do not get to teach him, he was ready and we prepared him, and showed him what he needs to do. Now he is preparing to be baptised . . . it is so amazing. Now, when we hit up Brickston he loves to stop and talk to us!

Another cool story is about Christopher (he is the one I commited to baptism a few weeks ago). We lost contact with him for about 1 week and a half so it was hard becasue we wanted to see him and share more with him. So, one day we had planned to meet a man by a lamp post in Brickston. We went there, and the man we were suppose to meet was not there, but Christopher was leaning on the lamp post! We talked to him and found out he had been in the hospital with his uncle and he could not call us becasue they won't let you use phones in the hospital! I thought he was lying because a week and a half is a long time, but he wasn't. He invited us in, we talked to him, came back the next day and taught his girlfriend Regina as well! We watched The Restoration DVD, and the Spirit was so strong. They both came to church and are working for the date of June 13th to be baptised and they both are very excited! Now, if we did not follow plans according to the time we were given, then we never would have seen Chris, and who kows what would have happened. He is solid, and a very nice man--he understands all that he is taught and we love him!

We were walking through a park and there was a man sitting in the park drinking. His name is Allen. We talked to Allen and we decided to just sit on the ground with him and teach him. Allen just got out of prison and was just moving into a house near the park, so we were talking and could tell that needs guidance and help. We told him we could help a lot by giving him The Book of Mormon. He does cocaine and weed and drinks, so this is hard for him, but we taught with the Spirit. He read the book and he is working to become sober!

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to help others to come unto Christ--the poor or the rich, the young or the old. It is so exciting and I love to see that change in them! Allen is still trying to quit drugs and working hard. He has a desire now because he read and prayed about the book and he told us he used to never believe there was a God but now he does! He is a very nice man and we hope eventually he will settle down and join. He still is young and can fix his life.

I love the people here and I love serving the Lord! I know that through the Atonement and baptism we are given that right to repent and to be forgiven! When we repent, Christ knows what we went through because he suffered it for us. That way he can plead with our Father in Heaven, and mercy and justice can be given to us. I have the strongest testimony of the Atonement of Christ--we all can be healed, whether spiritually or physically. Just turn to the Lord and cry repentance and you will be forgiven!

I am so grateful for Joseph Smith and his suffering he had to endure. I know he was called of God and he did see God and Jesus appear to him in that grove! How great will be that day in the history of all of our lives! I know my Saviour lives and that He is always with us! I believe that as we keep all the commandments of God, people will see the light of Christ with us and know that we have something special and they will want it.

Strive as hard as you can! Read the Proclamation on the Family and remember Christ will bless you--all you need to do is have faith to know He cares about each and everyone of us! This chrch is true and the kingdom of God will be established throughout the whole earth. I say these things in the name of my Beloved Saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen.

I LOVE YOU ALL! TURN TO HIM!

~Elder Coon

P.S. Everett, happy b-day! And I hope you love the stuff I sent home to you. Thank you so much for being the most amazing brother and always standing up for me and being there when I needed you the most. With love, your lil bro, Eli Jacob Coon

P.P.S. This is Jane--she is a recent convert and for some reason she spoils the missionaries. She is drawing me a picture of two missionaries walking down a lond road and a sweet quote on the back. I will be sending that home when I get it so it is safe, 'cause I have a lot of sweet things I need to send. Jane has a hole in her throat and she breathes through it because of a rough lifestyle. She is very active in the church and cares about all of us--she is very nice lady and has been an example to all of us missionaries!

P.P.P.S. Another girl (Hannah Botah . . . not in these pics) she is drawing me a huge poster of Batman-- haha--so that, too, will be sent home and stored somewhere safe. people are so nice here!!

P.P.P.P.S. Since I have left the MTC, I have shed ten pounds and am gaining muscle back that went to fat in the MTC. Gettin' in better shape since I have been out.

P.P.P.P.P.S. Here are some pics of the week--we went to the river, the big THAMES and saw Big Ben and Parliament and a lot of neat things (hope you like the sweet BATMAN SHIRT I was sportin'--haha. Me and Elder Hanks in front of Parliament and good ol' Parliament itself.

Love you all! MUAH!

Sixth P-Day Email

This week has had a lot of hardships and has taught me a lot. We have been struggling a little this week to have appointments that stick--they've all been falling through. But I know the Lord will provide a way.

So, last night we all got together (four of the missionaries here in Brickston) and we talked about our goals and how we can achieve these goals. We wrote down five big goals to accomplish, and we will accomplish them. Then we decided to have a wrestling tournament. I will send you the clip of it. Haha, I bit my lip all the way through and it does not really hurt but my lip is pretty fat at the moment!

We have had a lot of fun, too. Me and Elder Hanks stopped and talked to many people and met many people from all around the world. A man that we see every day, who sweeps the grounds in London, finally asked what can we help him with, and he wants to learn about the Gospel! He sees us all the time--we talked for a few minutes, gave him the Book of Mormon, and told him to read. He was so happy and he had a huge smile on his face!

I also met a man three weeks ago who has been in recovery from alchohol and drugs. He has been clean for a year now and he is way cool. I saw him the next week and he said if we meet again he will let us teach him! The next week he got on our bus, saw me, sat down, and said "No way! The Lord told me not to hop on that last bus, so I waited for this one and you're on it!" So we got his number and we are going to go teach him this week, as well as three other guys who are going through the same trials! I was so happy I saw him again and that the Lord will answer our prayers. If we write down our goals and what we are doing that day and keep our schedule, then the Lord will put those people in our path! 100 percent obedience leads us to them and helps us learn and grow. If I had been three minutes late from my plans, I would have never seen him again. I know this is true.

I am so grateful for the Lord and the blessings he has given me since I have been here! I love this work and I am doing my best to serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. I love my Heavenly Father, and for Him sending His Son to die for us! The ATONEMENT is amazing and I have felt its cleansing power. We all need to have this, and to take it in our lives, be humble, and admit our faults. The Lord loves the humble, and will willingly give comfort if we turn to him with our hearts and acknowledge the wrong.

I love you all, and all the great help you have been to me. Keep praying and keep staying on the path of righteousness! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

PS- The first picture below is FHE at our new bishop's house--he is the bald man on the left with iPod, haha! The second picture is our investigator, Judith (the young one). She is getting baptized on the 6th of June!

Letters to Eli: Part II

Five Sundays in a row, baby! The boys have had fun writing every week to their favorite Elder, and I thought I'd share a glimpse of the kinds of letters Eli has been getting.

Fifth P-Day Email

On Monday we had Family Home Evening and I was the object lesson! I had to represent the Saviour and I will never forget this lesson--it strengthened my testimony tenfold.

I had to do push-ups. My companion would hand out skittles representing people who do not follow Christ. So there were thirty people and I had to do twenty push-ups for the first person, then 8 for the next, and it kept getting lower and then higher. Whether the person took a skittle or not didn't matter . . . I still had to do push ups. This was a representation of every person who rejected the Lord. I had to do pushups for every person, whether they accepted the Saviour or not--just like He atoned for our sins whether we accept His atonement or not.

I was dying and falling on my face around the twentieth person, but I said, "I need to finish." So I had to do another 50 for the next five people and my arms were so heavy I could not lift my self. I prayed and prayed and when I was to the last pushup I just started to cry! I realized all we ever endure is what Christ had to feel. The Spirit was strong--everyone still talks about how I did all those push-ups and represented the Saviour. My companion said he felt sick giving me the number of push-ups I had to do, but he had to because I had to suffer so the message of the atonement would get across to our investagators and the members. The next four days I could not tie my tie or button my buttons of my shirt because my arm could not lift up, but we still did all our work and we still had amazing experiences throughout the week!

Also, I committed a man to baptism this Sunday and it was amazing. We met him on Saturday-- he had been going to another church for ten years, and they always wanted him to get baptized but he did not believe them so he never did! So, Sunday we stressed the importance of baptism by the proper authority and power to be baptised. This was an amazing experience and I asked him, "So, Christopher, will you follow Christ and be baptised on the 30th of May? We prayed for you and we feel it would be right." He said he would, so this was amazing!

The Lord has been with me and Elder Hanks and I'm so happy for it. I love this gospel and I know it is true without a doubt in my mind. I know the atonement is real, for I have seen it work in my own life! I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the people of LONDON and I'm so grateful for my family--I love you guys so much. And for all of my friends I have, I love you all. This church is so true! In the name of Jesus Christ, AMEN.

I love you all,
ELDER COON (NINJA YAYA)

PS- Keep reading and praying all of you, and know the Lord does answer your prayers and does hear you. BYE.
PPS- Here are some pictures of the cool buildings and area around us.

Fourth P-Day Email

Hello!

So, things that are new: I will send pics, I do not have my hook up with me so you will have to wait patiently for 1 week to get those. But now, let's see, I'm in Brickston and my NEW ADDRESS is this:
Flat C, 233 Streatham High RD
Streatham, London
SW16 6EN
ENGLAND
So this is where the mail needs to be sent. I will tell you my new address after each new move, so make sure you send letters here, otherwise I only get my letters during zone conference and district meetings at the temple . . . so not very often. Remember tesco.com, hahaha.

So, awesome experiences I have had: so, I get on this bus to Brickston to start contacting, and I sit next to this huge, built, intimidating Caribbean guy. I thought, "Okay, here goes." I said hello and asked how he was doing. He answered and said "Very well." So I told him why I was here and what we are doing told him about God! He believed, then talked about prayer! He is Christian, so then I recited The First Vision and the Spirit was with me--both of us felt it, and after I was done, he said "Wow, I knew you had something important to share with me--when you got on the bus I saw a man following you and you had an amazing glow around you." !!! Then he continued to say we did not meet by chance and that he wants to hear more. He was so open with me--it was really amazing, and it helped me out so much to have this experience!!!

Now I got the good out of the way . . . on to the bad! We were in Brickston Street contacting, and this man called us over. He started to bash on us and how we knew nothing about the Lord and Jesus Christ and how we were doing wrong by dressing the same cause it makes us the same, and not independent. He bashed for like thirty minutes, and we said nothing but smiled. Then he pushed us and kept getting mad, and I said, "If you touch me again, something bad will happen" and he did not touch me or Elder Hanks! He turned and walked away and we went down and got on a train in the tube. I do not know what happened, but the Lord is with me always when I'm obedient, so I am not afraid to walk these streets. I feel safer than I ever have in my life, because I know the Lord's angels watch over us!

Across the street from our flat there is a drunk who will always go out of his way to say 'hi' to us and help us with whatever we need help for and what we need to do! He watches over us and keeps in contact with us, and tells us of the things we need to do, so I feel like he is there for a reason--whenever we need him, we can go to him and he helps! He is different, but the same in the Lord's eyes, so we like him a lot! Then there is a kid in Brickston who holds a subway sign all day and gets paid. He is our best friend--he is not a member, but he puts our pass-along cards on his sign for us! He is a cool kid and we hope one day he will let us talk to him and be baptized!

One more, my favorite--there is this old man who always dresses up in an outfit. He is known as the "Jesus Character." He loves us and he says he always tries to help us find people--he loves the Lord and he just is lost, but he is so cool and very nice to us. He always wants to be like Jesus. There are concerts in the streets, and bands that play on Saturdays in town in the street and he is always there contacting people just like we are! He is awesome--not a member, but very nice. We build relationships with these people so fast, and they are already starting to love me!

About my ward: my ward is pretty big, and has many different people here--all sorts of people! Muslim, Indian, Chinese, African, Americans, English . . . all these in one ward, and they are all converts and amazing people!

I will try to send pics when I can--sorry I do not have any yet. I will get some today and next Monday send them home so you can have a lot, kay? I will make sure and do this for you!

So, another cool story: we met this couple who are going to Kingdom Hall (known as Jehovah's Witnesses). They are not yet Jehovah's Witnesses, but they are getting baptized in their church in 1 month. Coincidence we met them? I think not! They are prepared for what we have to tell them, and I know they hear and feel the Spirit with us! We are going to spend more time with them in the Book of Mormon--they both have a copy and wanted us to come back. They are not yet the Jehovah's Witnesses, so we will let them know that this is true and they will be a strength to our church. The guy has studied many religions and they now are two new investigators, and we will be teaching them quite a lot, and we are grateful we met them!

I love the Lord, and the work is going forward here. I will baptize hundreds and work my hardest. I know I got sent where 3 million people are, and I feel the weight of all of them on my head--no one can pass without me feeling that I was given this area to teach and to share the gospel, and I have that authority and power to do so! I will bring many souls to Christ. I'm so grateful for the Spirit, and for the many truths that have been shown me! I have learned more than I knew was possible about the Gospel. Everyone keep reading your scriptures and pray daily and continually. I know the Lord answers prayers and that He is with all of us. I know this is the true church and that Joseph Smith restored it on this earth and was a prophet called upon by God, and given the authority to do this work! We have that priesthood power and with it we can do many miracles.

I'm so grateful for my family, and for how much they mean to me and that we can be together forever!! I know the temple is a place where you can be together forever--work as hard as you can to achieve this if you have not already, and keep learning and growing! The work will go forward, and I say these things in the name of my dear, kind, gracious Saviour, Jesus Christ, AMEN!

I love you all!