Rededication

Wow. what an amazing week we had here in Salisbury! Nyall and his mom both accepted a date to be baptised! Things are looking up here.

I also got to go to the temple this week. Not unprepared, either, because we received a call to rededicate ourselves to the Lord's work and to the Lord's time. We had been fasting and praying to receive inspiration and guidance, and we arrived at the temple with out hearts full of prayers and questions. As the day approached, I asked myself, "Have I done my best this week? Am I worthy to go to God's house?" I immediately felt relief, knowing that I was pure and ready. As I entered the temple, I was excited--it's been a while and I needed a spiritual recharge. Well, answers to all my questions were answered, and I loved the feeling of going there.

Seriously, now I want what I'm going to write next to go through to your hearts to feel and to your ears to hear: I plead with you all to live worthy, and to strive to enter into the Lord's temple. It will bless you beyond your wildest imaginations! The windows of heaven will open and rain down blessings upon you, I know they will.

We traveled back to Salisbury after a long day at the temple, but an amazing one. The Spirit of the Lord was so strong!

The next morning, we woke up at 5:00 to get ready. All the elders and high priests got together and we rededicated the area of Salisbury for missionary work. We climbed to the top of Old Sarum (the grounds where the castle used to be). Picture this: the temperature was 3 degrees, and we were all freezing cold, but we got to the top and sang "High on a Mountain Top" and "Ye Elders of Israel." Immediately the fog cleared up--we could see the entire city and the feeling was beyond imagining. Warmth settled through my whole body--I can't even describe it--all I know is the feeling was from a power beyond this earth.


The stake president offered up a prayer to heaven, and I know now that this area will see changes, for we could feel the power of God on that hillside.

Me and Elder Barker are making sure that we keep each other uplifted and encouraged, and I love him for that! He is a spiritual giant at 3 months out on his mission, and a very good companion--I will not ever complain. We learn and grow so much from each other!

When we got home, I received a call. "Elder Coon, you need to give a talk tomorrow." I was like, "What? Sunday is my b-day--I just want to relax and enjoy it." Haha. Well, I accepted, and prepared myself as best I could. I love the section I was given to speak on--it was section 4 of Preach My Gospel (how to recognize the Spirit), and I have studied it over and over.

When I began to give my talk, I asked the congregation to pray for me as I prayed for them, so that we could both learn from the Spirit. I saw tears over the audience as I shared experiences such as Lorena's baptism, how I met Verona (my first baptism), and the baptism of Antonia . . . and how a simple card made a difference. I spoke of humbling ourselves, and I shared a story of the file room (I encourage you all to look for this short story--it's amazing). When church was over, we had good correlation meeting with our branch president.

Well, we got home and fell asleep--both tired after a long day of work. Then at 2 a.m we received a call from Alpha, "Elders, my baby can't let the food up, and my other daughter is chucking up all over--I need help!" We both said a prayer and got dressed and ran out to the car. Moments later, we were in the house giving blessings to Alpha, Zaria, and Vanessa. Alpha was so happy that we came, and after the blessing we rushed them to the hospital. Miracle after miracle--color came to their faces, and the doctors said "It will flee away and they will be fine."

I tell you all now, I know God exists, and I cannot describe how much more I have learned . . . to hear and to act on the promptings of the Spirit. Because we were prepared this week, we were strongly edified.

If you want to make a change, you can! If you think it's hard, you're right . . . but with the Lord all is possible. Make a difference and change now! God lives, and I know it. I love you all! In the name of Jesus Christ, AMEN.

LOVE your friend, brother, and son,
ELDER ELI COON

Taught by the Spirit

This week has been an interesting one, and a very good one indeed! We went out and visited loads of less-active members. Now, all these less actives are some of the golden people to work with. Some have lost their testimonies and some have just completely forgotten everything about the church, but there are many who just need the hand of fellowship to come back.

Let's start off with some of the weirdos we met and then I will tell you about the awesome, nice people we met.

Well, we knocked into this house where there were loads of dodgy things going on. Tons of people lived there . . . friends, sisters, cousins, and all that sorts of weird things. It was crazy.

Then we got to the next house and a man answered and he started telling us that he knows by numbers how Allah is Jesus Christ. We went in and he started telling all these weird things about the trinity. We stopped him and reminded him that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, and that we have a living Prophet. He totally got all mad and started yelling and saying the prophet is false and all these things. We had to leave--but wow, the Spirit was gone instantly when he said those things! Crazy.

We visited some others who have not been able to contact the church for a really long time. They have forgotten basically everything and we are working with some of them to help them understand and to regain there testimonies. One of the women we are helping has just recently lost a husband (she lost her dog of 10 years right when her husband passed, as well) and she said she feels so alone. We had to talk to her and we are trying to help her understand more fully what and why and where these people go after death.

Well, throughout the rest of the week, some amazing things happened. Some miracles happened and the spirit has been helping me with my new calling. I knew a district meeting was coming up and was trying to think of a good lesson to give. I got to work and studied, studied, studied. I was getting ready for bed, saying my prayers, and then a great analogy about fishing hit me!

The next day I talked about how God is the fisherman and we are the fishing rods. The reel is our testimony: the strength of our testimony determines how far the line will go. The line is the Spirit: how deep it goes is how much can we share and how hard we work! And then the bait can be represented by the Book of Mormon, which contains truths that people are searching for. Wow, the Spirit taught me all this in a matter of seconds. I immediately wrote everything down, and the next day I felt that I gave a powerful spiritual message to the district--they all loved it!

The Spirit is amazing, we truly can have it to be with us all the time, if we:
1 humble ourselves
2 pray for it
3 study about it/read the Book of Mormon

How do we do these things? To be humble, we should count our blessings and our sins . . . that can humble anyone instantly. As far as praying--we should try to always have a prayer in our hearts and pray without ceasing! And when we read the scriptures, we should approach our reading with a specific question. I know that as we do these steps, we will see a drastic change and the Spirit of the Lord will always be with us. Of this I testify in the name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.

LOVE YA!
ELDER COON

Me and my new comp, Elder Barker

Playin' soccer on P-Day

Aim High!

Hey, everyone! I hope all of you are having a great New Year--it's a great time to make some plans and to really push to achieve those wonderful goals this year!

As a missionary in the Lord's hands, I am trying to completely surrender myself--all my actions, thoughts, talents, abilities, qualities, wants, and desires--to the Lord. It's very hard, though. It has not been easy, but the more and more I try and pray, the more and more I find the power to do so, which brings love and light.

I am doing so good! This Sunday, church was cancelled because of ice on the roads, and the car park (parking lot) at the school we meet in was filled with snow. So, we had the wonderful opportunity to take the sacrament around to all the ward members. As we did this, we met and had great discussions with all of these great people here. It was awesome!

We met with one lady in particular. Her name is Roohie, and she is such a sweet older lady from Persia. When we arrived at her place, she said she had problems driving on the snow and that it has not been easy for her to get out. We moved a snowman off her path that some kids built, and it truly was a blessing for her. She said she struggled and could not lift it. She has not seen ward members for a while, and no one has called or stopped by. She had tears as we gave her the sacrament. That truly is what going to church is all about--remembering our Saviour, and the promises we make at baptism. I am so thankful for this experience and opportunity!

Well, on the 23rd on the grounds of Old Sarum (the old castle that was here way back), we are going to re-dedicate the area for missionary work. It will be an awesome experience and I'm looking forward to it--I can't wait! We have met with our branch president and set some goals that we want to accomplish, and we will do our best to see them happen. We are going to try to change this branch into a ward, so that will be a great things to work on! We got lists of all the less-active members in the surrounding areas . . . there are about 180 people, and our job is to find out what they need and how to help.

I am so excited to be out on my mission right now. Our Father in Heaven is blessing me with more and more love as I continue to serve others. I have felt the weight of the responsibility placed upon me, and it makes me push and try harder to refocus my efforts. I want to strive to do all I can, and it is stretching my capabilities and talents. I truly love this gospel!

I have a very strong testimony of the Spirit and all that it does to help me in the work. The Holy Ghost has helped me know what to do, who to see, where to go, and what needs to happen. Always having the Spirit focuses my mind and helps me think about all the things I can do to be a good missionary. The numbers here have changed--I am leading the district right now, and this area has never been to the state it is at now, but I think it still is not close to what it can be. If we can get help from branch members, it will change. This area will boom! We will see success and we will be blessed.
I am so excited and pumped for the New Year. I had a baptism already to start it off, and I can't wait for more and more blessings and miracles to happen!

I want to do all I can to help out here, and I hope it blesses all of you back home. Thanks for all your love and support--truly it has been amazing. I love you all, and pray for your success every day. Set goals! Aim high and achieve them!

Love,

Elder Coon

Alpha and her daughters and friend

Both of these pictures are me and elder barker teaching a woman from the Caribbean named Alpha--she's awesome!

Sweet Picture Post!

The London Temple at 6:30 AM. It was so nice to go there--just peaceful!

At Lorena's baptism--seriously, this was the best day of my life!

Elder Hanks performed the baptism, and me and Elder Cook sang.

Lorena and friends!

Members of the ward--it was so sweet to see everyone!

The Hunts

The Jordans

Beverly and Nyall

Louise and Paul & their fun kids

With our good ol' investogator, Sam

What Heaven Feels Like

Things have been crazy here in England. We all were ready and waiting for moves calls, and we didn't know why, but they made moves a day early. We were driving back from teaching one of the kids we will be baptizing very soon, and all the sudden I received a phone call. "Elder Coon, hey this is Elder Roberts and Elder Binks (the APs). We are going to be having a temple conference and all the missionaries will get to come, but there is one more important thing I want you to know about."

Eagerly I said, "Okay, what?"

"Lorena (my investigator from Chile who has been like a second mom to me) agreed to be baptized, and she wants you and Elder Cook and Elder Hanks to be there!" This was the best news! I was seriously just so happy! So we made plans, so that all of us could go to Lorena's baptism back in Brixton! Haha! I started to get more phone calls, "Are you really all coming back to Brixton? The bishop called and said he would have everyone there--all our recent converts and everyone! I was so happy, seriously beaming with joy!

Then we were getting ready to go to bed that night and yet another phone call came--it was President Shamo.

"Elder Coon?"
"Yes, president?"
"I want you to lead the district there in Salisbury. I know you'll be a great leader and that you can do it. I have faith and confidence in you."

WOW. I told him that I would try my best. So, I am now over 3 Elders and 2 Sisters in my district. I am so happy, but a little scared.

But the night was not over. We had to travel a good long hour down to Christchurch to get ready to leave to the temple the next day. A snow storm hit that night, and President had to think about if we would still be able to do the temple conference. It snowed 1 1/2 feet in London (which is crazy). We received a call saying that the temple trip was canceled! I was going to miss Lorena's baptism--I seriously wanted to cry! Then I went and I prayed for a while for the Lord to provide a way for it to happen. Phone calls were made, and plans were discussed . . . because I know how to drive on the snow, it was okayed!

We all made plans. Cook would leave from Crowley to the London temple to Brixton, and Hanks came clear from the Weston Supermeare area to the Reading Train Station where I would travel to pick him up, then we would go to Brixton together.

Everything worked. We arrived. Smiles, tears, heartfelt prayers . . . it felt like heaven. I kept thinking, "This is what it will be like in Heaven." We all had smiles ear to ear. Members were giving us hugs, and there was laughter and joy all around. Me and Elder Cook sang at the baptism, and Lorena was baptized by Elder Hanks.


This whole experience is the best thing that has happened to me in my life, and all because of the love of two men: our Mission President, and our Father in Heaven.

I am so grateful that Lorena was baptized. She is like my other mom over here, and has such strong attributes of light that will keep her strong in the Gospel.

I love you all, and I hope this experience brings you all joy. Please know that I am so happy and humbled.

Love ya,
ELDER COON

Christmas Miracles

Well, hello everyone! Sorry this email is late. Monday was a bank holiday here in England, so the library was closed and we could not email. But I love you all and I will definitely keep in touch!

Things have been so good here, and I want to tell you about some Christmas miracles. As I sit here, I feel so full of love and gratitude toward our Saviour and his tender mercies.

Last Monday, we decided to apply a new tactic to the work (I thought of it with the Lord's help). We wrote Christmas cards for every single less active in Salisbury, Amesbury, and Andover. There were a lot and we spent a lot of time putting hard work and effort into the cards.

The whole week was packed with visiting less-active members, since finding people on the streets was not working. We started in Andover, where we visited two elderly ladies who were ill. As we taught, the Spirit was there--their eyes were filled with tears and the light of our Saviour Jesus Christ filled their souls.

Then we were off to do some more (we had 20 teaches planned out for each day, so it was crazy). We continued to go throughout the week filled with smiles and hope, and before Christmas we felt as if we had done our all, but we still did not see any difference. What did we do wrong? Why was it not working? The day after Christmas, we were planning and the phone rang. I answered it, and on the line was a lady named Mary Loadman. She said, "I loved the card you gave me. It's been over 30 years since I have come to church, but I want to come this Sunday." We were so happy, and we continued after Christmas to go and do work with other less-active members.

When Sunday came, Mary was in Sacrament meeting. She was the only less-active to come, because half the branch was gone for Christmas. We only had a sacrament meeting that day--it was really short, but spirit-filled! As I approached her, I wondered what to say. Then when I got to her, she said, "Elder, I'm back in the church for good. Thank you so much." She then told us that her son wanted to meet us and wants to know about the church, so we made arrangements to meet him and to teach him. When we did, the Spirit was so strong again--he accepted to be baptised on the 30th of January! So this too was a miracle!

Right after we taught him, we decided to knock a street. People were so rude, but then we got to this little old man (he is 96). We taught him the Plan of Happiness, and he with tear-filled eyes said, "I bet I'm the only one on the street who let you guys in, and I now know I will see my wife again after 24 years of her being gone from my life. You answered questions I have always wanted to know."

The spirit is key, and if we all live worthy to have it, it will truly bless our lives and the lives of others. I can promise that your families will be strengthened and will not slide off that path that they should be on, if we always have the Spirit with us.

I feel like crying with gratitude this morning. We talked to an 18-year-old boy who wants to meet us this week and investigate the Gospel. Mary's son is a 20-year-old, and he wants to be an Elder really bad. I love this Gospel!

There was one more miracle during Christmas! I received a phone call from my Chinese convert, Fiona. She has 4 of her friends investigating the church and preparing for baptism. And also my bishop in Brixton rang and told me that the Chinese girl (her name is Sharon Xiu, and she is from Hong Kong as well) who me and Elder Cook gave a Book of Mormon to, has read it and was baptised, too!

I literally feel so inadequate and unworthy for all these blessings, and yet the Lord pours his blessings out upon the missionary efforts. I want you all to know I love you, and I want you to remember the peace and joy which the Gospel has brought all of you. I challenge each of you to find 1 family for the missionaries to teach. I know that if you do, you will feel peace at this time when money and budgets are tight. Remember, he will richly bless those who share their testimony . . . what is the point of having one if you do not share it? Bear testimony this Sunday as we fast, and see the Spirit richly bless and guide you in 2010.

I love you all, and I say these things humbly in the name of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN.

Love,
ELDER COON

PS- Christmas pictures!

Sweet Batman pajamas from Lorena, I love that woman!

Warm blanket from Sannah--thanks, girl!

Christmas at the Brewers--they are amazing! They spoiled us with a tree, stockings, candy, food, gift cards, all sorts of things--I will never forget their love and hospitality.

On the stairs at the Fagg's house. This is a Christmas tradition in my family--taking a picture on the stairs before we come down and open presents

More Batman PJs

Kids on Christmas morning--that's what it's all about

Opening presents at the Faggs--I trained their son!

Sweet presents from my best friend, Josh Kunde!

Brother Fagg and his daughter Eden