Monday, December 26, 2011

Photos, December 26, 2011

Le District


My three sons: Elder Whitworth, Elder Fullmer, Elder Dawson


Carlie and Preston's Baptism


 
Family Picture


 
Me and Carlie after her baptism


AJ's baptism!

Monday, December 19, 2011

December 19, 2011

Hey Mom and Dad!
 
Love you! You met Elder Hirschi's mom!? Haha that's awesome. I love him. We were in the same district when I was in Daytona. Thanks for the package! It was yummy. And the books will be cool. For Christmas I'll probably call around 11 am your time.
 
So this week was great! We set 4 new dates. One with our investigator Cristal. The other with a family of 5 (three baptism age). Our baptism with Ruby fell through last minute because she got in a fight with her mom and her mom said she couldn't get baptized. We are working on that. This weekend we should have a baptism though with a part-member 9 year old named AJ Baker. We have so many investigators right now. It is hard to keep track of them but the Spirit is doing His job while we aren't there. We had an amazinggg lesson with the Kvitkauskas family (4) on Saturday. We reviewed the Plan of Salvation briefly and then watched "Together Forever". The Spirit was so strong. They were crying, because their family is having some problems. But the mom is living the Word of Wisdon and they are working on fixing the family. They really appreciate what we have tried to do for them. They are a blessing to us. We love them. We were expecting 9-12 people on Sunday and almost EVERYTHING fell through the morning of. Brother Kvitkauskas was our one ray of hope. It was so good to see him walk into the Chapel; a big relief. Things are great though. So great. Love you! Have a great week!

 
A Short Testimony of the Atonement:

Words won't do justice to my testimony of the Savior. He is everything to me. In this world things are temporary, but because of Him, the important things can be eternal. He dealt with the worst so that we could all achieve the most. Throughout the mission, my testimony of the Atonement has grown mostly through seeing it work through other people. But at the same time, Jesus Christ has done so much for me while I've been here in Florida as well. I still have a long way to go, but as I've been here I have learned how to be a disciple of Christ. I know what it takes: you give Him your heart. If He has that, He can mold you and shape you into what He knows you need to be. I LOVE HIM. I know I understand very little of the Atonement, but of what I do understand...I know it's true! I am so humbled to be a missionary, serving the people that He suffered for in the Garden and on the Cross. And not only that, but the people that He lived EVERY day of His life perfectly for. I can't express enough of my devotion or love for Jesus Christ and what He went through for me. I don't know how he did it...but I know he did it! And I am grateful.

--
Elder Austin Gable Engemann

Photos, Dacember 19, 2011

 Santa on his sleigh........on a firetruck? Yeah.


Christmas party time.

December 12, 2011

Hellooo!

You are on a cruise. I bet that is nice. Soaking up the sun.

This week was awesomeee. We set 5 new baptismal dates. One with AJ Baker for the 24th. He is the son of a recent convert that got baptized over a year ago with her 3 daughters. AJ was 7 when they all got baptized. But now he is 8. And he is turning 9 on the 24th, the same day as his baptism. What a perfect way to celebrate Christmas! It's going to be a white Christmas! Then the other four is the Kvitkauskas family for the 31st. They are so great! A family. That is what the gospel is about. We are excited to work with them. Sister Old dropped her date because she needs a little more time to live the word of wisdom. She is trying so hard. The adversary is a tricky little dude. He uses that junk to keep people from receiving the REAL blessings of keeping the commandments. Sister Old has such strong faith and she will get there soon enough. Brother Old came to church again. We have been teaching both of them so we will see what happens. Another girl that we are teaching named Crystal came to church too. We are going to see if she will accept a baptismal date when we teach her tonight. RUBY is getting baptized on Saturday! Right before the ward Christmas party, so hopefully a lot of people will come. She has really strong faith. She told us a story from when she was competing for acting two weeks ago. She felt like she messed up and got really bummed and started to want to just give up everything, including the church. But she recognized that that was the adversary and wasn't going to take it from him. She remembered the great spiritual experiences she has had since she started learning about the restored gospel, so she sat down and popped open the Book of Mormon. Dun-dun-dunnnnnn! God prevailed. It made her feel a lot better and her attitude instantly changed. Awesome stuff. The Spirit is real.

What else...I don't know. Things here are just on fire. Miracles happen every day. Things are going to keep going up. I love you both! Life is great. I can't believe it's almost Christmas haha. Have a great week!

--
Elder Austin Gable Engemann

Monday, December 5, 2011

Decenber 5, 2011

Hey Mom and Dad!

I didn't know that you were going a cruise this week! That will be fun. I got the Books of Mormon with the primary kids' testimonies in them. They are awesome! I think we have already given them all out haha. We showed everyone and gave a little background about what the primary kids did and everyone we gave them to loved it. Sharing the gospel! Good job primary kids!

I haven't gotten my driver's license yet but I should be doing it soon. I tried once a few weeks ago but I needed proof of residence in FL (like a water bill or something).

Mom, good job sharing your testimony in Sacrament meeting. That is great! I shared mine too :) Love it. Every time you share your testimony it grows! Funny how it works.

This week was amazing, as always. The Spirit helped us so much this week. There were many instances where we felt prompted to talk to certain people on the street and we ended up teaching them. I've learned that even if you think a prompting is just something you thought of in your mind...FOLLOW IT! It doesn't matter. As I've applied that in my missionary work I've realized how much it really isn't "just you". It truly is the Spirit. And if it's not...the Spirit will teach you after the fact and you will learn how to better recognize His promptings. It's a win-win situation.

The Lord is blessing our investigators a lot right now. One He is helping to quit smoking. The other He is giving strength to resist the temptations of the adversary through her mother. The others He is helping overcome heartache that has been caused in their family because of unrighteous decisions. And while He is doing all that...He still has time to lead and guide Elder Dawson and me to continue to find more people who are searching for the truth. I don't know how He does it, but He does!

Sister Old and her husband came to church this week. Ruby came. And the Kvitkauskas family came (I don't know if I told you about them but it is Patti and her husband and two daughters). 7 people! It was great! Please pray for these people. They need prayers. We also set a baptism date with our new friend Sam yesterday night for the 31st of December. We will end up handing him off to the Buena Vista Sisters though because he is 21 and it will be better for him in the YSA ward. Things here are moving! I love the Winter Garden ward a lot. The members and leadership are awesome! Last night we went to this thing called the Festival of the Nativity at the stake center across from the Orlando Temple. They featured nativity sets from all over the world. It was really cool. And then after that we watched the First Presidency Christmas devotional. Patti and her two daughters came. Good times. Well I hope everything is going great for you in Utah. I love you and hope you have fun on your cruise! Talk to you next week :)

--
Elder Austin Gable Engemann

Photos, December 5, 2011

Awkward...Jen, Me, and Cindy right before I bounced out of Buena Vista


Gabriella's Baptism! Elder Dawson, Elder Gregson, Gabriella, Me, Elder Vilorio

 
Photo bombed by Elisheva and Kirsten


My new companion, Elder Dawson

The district

Potativity (potato nativity) super funny