Week #53 - ONE YEAR MARK & SOME REVELATION

Howdy y'all!!!! 

Well, on this past Thursday I hit my one year mark and am now halfway through my mission. Words cannot describe the amount of joy, growth, and love that I have felt this past year. I have never had so many struggles and trials but I have also never been so happy. It really has been the best year of my life and I cannot wait for this next one. 

So to start off, this past week I have really been trying to gain more revelation from Heavenly Father. I have been constantly asking him throughout the day where we need to go, who we need to talk to, what they need to hear, and how can I be an instrument in his hands. It has changed my life. I have seen constant miracles. The fear of missionary work has faded. I am able to know and do exactly what he wants me to do. There is power and purpose. I feel changed and at one with my Father. Having an open heart with constant prayer has transformed my way of thinking about revelation. I have had countless miracles and blessing on my mission, but how many of them did I ask for? How many did I let Heavenly Father guide me to purposefully? I have found that when we are doing His work and asking for His guidance, He will provide and show the way. 

That being said, here are some miracles from this past week: 

We found our friend named Chukwudi. He is from Nigeria and a student at Sam. We went out to go tracting and when we got to our prayed about spot, it just didn't feel right. So we walked up the street and Chuks was walking by. We went and said hi to him and started talking. Fast forward to this next week and now he has a baptismal date for March 2nd. The Lord guides His work. He really does. 

Next, we had a friend we are teaching named Carolyn start progressing so well! She has read almost all of 1 Nephi and just loves learning. She is a single mother and even came to church yesterday. She told everyone there how much she loves having us over and teaching her. She is our biggest hype up. We absolutely love our friend Carolyn. She just wants the gospel.  We had her read 2 Nephi 31 about the Doctrine of Christ and when we came back she told us she wants to be baptized so we got that arranged for her :) When we teach her, the spirit tells us what to say and we end up meeting her needs every time. God is good. Carolyn is a Saint. The gospel heals the wounded soul. I love being a missionary.

Our family of girls is all set for this weekend. We are so excited! They cannot wait for it. It really makes my heart full to see the family learning and growing so much. The gospel is made for families and families are made for the gospel. My heart is so full. 

Miracles are everywhere. I had a conversation on an exchange this past week where out of no where the Elder I was with asked a question that had nothing to do with what we were talking about. As we talked more on the subject we both shared stories and feelings and it left us in tears because the spirit was so strong. It was the first time I ever cried from the spirit. All of that happened because he prayed to know what car conversation we needed to have. Miracle. Revelation. 

As John 6:68 says, "... To whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life..." I bear testimony that, that is truth. Christ really does have the words of eternal life. He has all the answers. He knows us individually and can answer any question we have for Him. We just have to listen to the spirit. If we ask, He will give. My mission is changing my life. It is changing my eternity. I love my Savior with my entire heart. This is the Lord's work. I love you all dearly and am praying for you. God bless. 

Elder Jarrett Pinster 

LASER JESUS

REUNITED WITH MY BOYS AT MLC
Elder Smedley, Elder Airth & Elder Pinster

Had to do laundry in the tub this week due to broken washing machine
and we didn't feel like walking 4 miles to the laundry mat.

BUFFALO WILD WINGS!!!

Selfie with my friend Charlie!

Week #52 - LET GO, LET GOD

What's up from Huntsville. This past week was a blast. I love being in Texas and serving my Savior. Elder Potter and I worked this week and I'd be lying if I said we aren't best friends. The work just flows. I absolutely love it. 

So some cool miracles for you this week: 

This week we were teaching a guy that goes to Sam Houston. Before the lesson Elder Potter and I had planned on reading Ether 3 with him. He came to the lesson and started talking about how he wasn't sure he could believe in the Book of Mormon. He told us that he thinks he would make himself believe it. He then saw the Book sitting on the table and told us he would just randomly open it and see if he would read anything that stood out to him. He "randomly" opened it to Ether 3. He then saw he had that chapter written down on our plans which were in front of him. The spirit was so strong as Elder Potter bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon. The chapter even had an exact verse he needed to hear. It was a very cool miracle with the Book of Mormon.

We also had a recent concert that in Huntsville tell us about how much the gospel had changed them. They told us how before they had found the gospel they suffered from depression and just felt alone. They then proceeded to let us know how days before we had found them, they had been praying for some kind of sign or acknowledgement that God was looking out for them. Days later the person ran into us on campus and their life has never been the same. I felt so much joy. I cannot not even explain how much. The gospel lifts burdens. The gospel will heal a wounded heart and let us know that he is there. Heavenly Father will lead you down the right path if we ask for his guidance. 

Another cool miracles. We give out scripture verses on paper sometimes on campus. On Wednesday we gave out some verses and a gave took it. Elder Potter told him it was from the Book of Mormon. The guy said cool and rushed off to class. An hour later he came back and asked for the whole book. He just wanted to read it and see what it could do. It was a cool miracle. 

I also got to go on quite a few exchanges this week with members in my zone. I love learning from other missionaries and the tools that they have. I even got to go to a lesson that was 100% in Spanish so that was pretty fun. I knew/said nothing but all is well. 

I absolutely love being a missionary. I just feel joy. We had a stake Correlation meeting yesterday and we talked a lot about Jacob 1:17. It talks about finding your errand with the Lord. Revelation and asking Heavenly Father will help us know what we need to do. I've tried to ask more, "Lord what will you have me do/say/go" and then let him direct the work. I feel so overwhelmed with his grace. He loves us. He wants what is best for you. The gospel will and does change lives. I know this because it is changing mine. Praying for all of you. Love y'all and God bless. 

Elder Jarrett Pinster 

CONROE ZONE MISSIONARIES
Left to Right Elders: Karren, Bishop, Doelling, Pinster, Dennis, Potter, Johnson, Owens, Darle, Owens, Olsen & Holland
Front Row:  Sister Balloogoie, Fleming, Sister Robb & Elder Robb, Sister Warr & Sister Schmidt

Pinster & Potter chilling after a long day

Polaroid picture of Pinster, Rebekah & Potter at the temple

Week #51 - SIX MORE IN HVILLE!

Good morning y'all. I'm so incredibly happy and full of joy! Last night was transfer calls. I'm staying in Huntsville with Elder Potter and am now a Zone Leader!  I'm way excited and happy to be staying with Elder Potter. I also love Huntsville, so 6 months here sounds pretty good to me. Time is flying by!

This week was such a great one. Campus was in full force and we got to meet and talk to some awesome people. I love being on a campus and Sam Houston State is becoming my home. We have a group come up to campus that we call "The Loud Mouth Preachers." We call them this because they just stand on the brick in the mall area at the university and scream repentance. They are not very nice and offend a lot of people when calling them out. It is crazy to see how people respond to them usually in a negative fashion. The students love us on the days the loud mouths come. We just share goodness and happiness not hate. God is a God of love, not of screaming. 

We also got to go to the temple twice this week!! Once was for ourselves as missionaries and the other was with two people that have been recently baptized, Fernando and Rebekah!! Rebekah couldn't stop smiling because she felt so happy. My heart was full. Man o man is the temple the house of the Lord. The serenity and peace that I felt while I was there is unmatched and made me feel God's love. During my time there, I just got the distinct feeling that all was true. The spirit just reconfirmed to me that the gospel is true. I'm so thankful for the spirit. 

Yesterday we had a fireside where recent converts speak and Dylan (who I helped get baptized in November) spoke! He did an amazing job. He related his life to the story of Peter walking on water. He stated that before he accepted the gospel he felt like he was drowning, and now he feels as if he can walk on water. He told us that he entered the water of baptism with guilt, and it stayed there. I was so proud of him. He is a miracle. 

Our family with all the little girls is doing fantastic. Love having all my best friends there when we go teach. I love being a missionary. 

The gospel is true. The church and gospel has been restored for our day. God loves us and wants the best for us. Jesus' Atonement can fix our wounds and cleanse us to become better. I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to serve my Savior daily.  I love Texas and I love yall. God bless! 

Elder Jarrett Pinster

Week #50 - COASTIN

Hello to all my friends out there. This week was yet another blessed week to be in Texas. The weather was cold, the people were nice, and God guided me daily. I have said it before and I'll continue to say it now, I love being a missionary. 

Sam Houston State started back up this week so it is so good to be back on campus talking to all my friends. I love college kids. I joke that Heavenly Father wants to teach me how to be successful when I get home so he sent me to a college campus for 9 months to help aid me in my future. God is good. We met some fun people and the future is bright. 

Some updates for yall! Rebekah got baptized this past week! She is one of the most prepared and amazing people I've ever worked with. She just loves the gospel. She read almost all of the Book of Mormon in four weeks. She's an allstar. Her baptism was amazing and the spirit was strong. I was able to baptize her and I cannot explain how amazing the spirit is while doing sacred ordinances. 

Another cool update is that a Recent Convert wants us to start teaching his family! They have four girls between the ages of 6-12. Oh my goodness. I have some best friends now! They are seriously my homies. We always make the lessons fun and interactive and they just makes the gospel fun. We also set dates with them and they are set for February! I love the gospel and families so much. 

We also had a couple pretty cool tracting experiences too. One of them was with our guy David. We knocked on his door and he wasn't very interested so we said thanks and moved to the next one (always gotta have a short memory as a missionary). Then seconds after knocking his neighbors door, he called out to us and invited us in for some food. As we ate, we talked with him and he told us that when he closed the door he felt/heard something tell him to invite us in. He had no idea why, but he did it. We taught him the Restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon. We are so excited to see him again. Miracles are real and are still happening y'all. 

We also tracted into a man that has been a life-long member but has stopped coming to church. Two days before we showed up, he got into an accident/scuffle and was badly beaten. He said that he had been crying out to Heavenly Father and was going to call the bishop for a blessing. Well, a day later we prayed about where to go and out of the 100+ apartments in his complex, we knocked on his 5th. We gave him a blessing and when we left he was in tears. The spirit guides this work. God is always aware of you and what you need in your life. 

I love being a missionary. I'm so thankful for a loving and merciful God. His spirit comforts and His words delight. I cannot imagine my life with out Him. 

I feel beyond blessed. I love y'all and God bless. 

Elder Jarrett Pinster 

- Rebekahs baptism

- Pday walks with Elder Potter 

- Blue Sunday with the Sisters 

- Zone conference with the district, my favorite young missionaries, and my boy Elder Airth

Week #49 - COMP DOWN

HI Y'ALL. Happy Monday!!!! This past week was a blessing. I'm so happy and full of joy to be in Texas serving my Savior. I love being a missionary. 

Soooo funny tracting story:  Elder Potter and I were out and knocking on some trailers. There was a trailer with really steep steps. On the way down Elder Potter slipped and landed bad on his ankle/hand. He was a trooper and kept going even though it was a hard spill. Well, two doors later we are talking to a Baptist preacher and while saying a prayer with him, Elder Potter goes down. He was in so much pain that he literally passed out cold--in the middle of a prayer with a Baptist preacher. He fell to the ground and was limp for about 15 seconds. The preacher ran inside to call 911 and I got him into a chair. Needless to say I was freaking out! I quickly gave him a blessing while he was still passed out and the preacher was inside. As soon as I started the blessing he woke up and was completely with it. He had zero swelling in his ankle and hand over the next couple hours. He is and was completely fine after passing out. Heavenly Father was there and it was an experience I will never forget to say the least.

Another cool experience we had was after a lesson with a recent convert and we decided to say a quick prayer and ask which door we should go to. We saw the complex had a certain number or apartments so we stated the range of numbers and prayed. When we finished, we counted down from three and ended up saying the same apartment at the same time. We walked over and met the guy who lived there named Micheal. He is super awesome and we are going to start teaching him this week! 

Campus on Sam Houston is starting up again this week and we couldn't be more excited. Being with young heathens is my niche on the mission. There is no people I'd rather share the gospel with. I love being a missionary on a college campus so much. It's been a great 9 months! 

This week I really studied about Abinadi in the Book of Mormon. He was a courageous man who shared/told the truth no matter what the consequence was. I really admire that. As I read, I began to see that Abinadi never saw the fruit of his labor. He died probably thinking he was a failure. However, Alma became who he was because of Abinadi. Alma changed thousands of lives and continues to do so today through his writing. Abinadi probably had no idea of the influence he had. We too never truly know the impact we have but we can impact more people than we can imagine when we do the right thing. I love the Book of Mormon and it is God's words to us. 

I'm so happy and blessed to be a missionary. I love this divine calling. Heavenly Father is real and He loves us all. I'm so thankful for the joy I can feel while being a missionary.  I love y'all and God bless.

Elder Jarrett Pinster

Week #48 - H O L A

HOWDY Y'ALL. Man o man, was it another blessed week in the great state of Texas! Words cannot describe the joy that comes from serving others around you. 

This week was a ton of finding and searching. We have one more week until all the college kids come back and we are so excited. We prayed about some neighborhoods to visit and let's just say it was an adventure for sure. The neighborhoods taught me Spanish, how to stop dogs from coming at you, that to always lock your bikes, and to never judge anyone you see. The cool part about Huntsville is there are so many humble areas. I absolutely love being around the humble people and they are so receptive to the gospel. Knocking has slowly become one of my favorite things to do. 

On Thursday, we were heading back to our apartment when we both decided to run a new Come Follow Me study book to a person that had been formerly taught. As we went over, we saw a man leaving his apartment. I called out that I liked his jacket and he immediately warmed up to us. He invited us back and we are so excited to start teaching him. We also have the opportunity to teach a recent convert's family who has four girls that are all between 11-7. They love the gospel and it is so amazing to see how excited they get about learning truths. I love this gospel. 

Saturday was probably one of my rougher days as a missionary. I woke up with a cold, then as we went out we didn't find too much success. After that, we had a lesson with a guy who in the middle of it he called the "Secret Service" and we still have no idea why. Needless to say, we kindly excused ourselves and got out of the wacky house. 

Then we biked across town to visit someone who wasn't interested anymore and on the way back to our bikes, I stepped into a huge clay/mud puddle and got it all over my clothes. It just felt like nothing could go right that day. Then Elder Potter taught me a great life lesson. He said, "There's no such thing as a bad day until the day is over." With that comment, we decided to knock the complexes close by. No one was really interested but the day got better. The spirit came as we worked and I felt more happier and at peace. 

Heavenly Father is always there. He loves us all. He cares for each and every single one of us. The gospel is truth and brings peace. I'm so incredibly thankful for what it has done to my life. God bless and I love y'all. 

Elder Jarrett Pinster

in Huntsville, Texas

Week #47 - Miracle SZN (New Years Eve)

Life is too good to me y'all. God is a loving Heavenly Father who loves each of us dearly. I feel overwhelmingly blessed. 

This week we found some awesome people to start teaching. I love Huntsville. It is the most country, ghetto, artsy and fun town in the state. It's easy to say that it is one of my favorite places. 

We had a cool miracle happen yesterday at church. A man who had been previously taught by missionaries came randomly to church. He had left for around 10 years and finally came back. We quickly grabbed him and started talking with him. He told us he knew this was the true church and that he wanted to join. His scruffy and kinda awkward personality made him seem a little confused. We decided to talk with him and find out more about him. As we talking we sat and he started balling his eyes out. He told us he just wants to feel like God accepts him and loves him. As I sat there looking at him eye to eye I could see him in a new light. I wanted nothing but the absolute best for him. We prayed with him and gave him some commitments to keep. God loves all his children. Our man James is going to be a blessing to many lives. 

I have been thinking a lot about the Character of Christ and what it means to us. I've come to understand that the more we understand Christ the more we understand the nature and attributes of our Heavenly Father. If we want to understand who God is, all we have to do is study the attributes of Christ. I'm thankful for a merciful Father and a loving Savior. 

Christmas was pretty cool. We ate Nigerian food with a family we are working with and called our parents. Pretty rad Christmas. 

We also had someone that we are teaching go home to Washington state for break. Shout out to my family for taking her to church and fellowshipping her. It's a family affair and the gospel is so good. 

If you ever feel like you need some love, pray. God is and always will be there for you. I can't even begin to express how thankful I am to be a missionary and to share God's light. It's not always easy, but it is always true. 

Love y'all and God bless. 

Elder Jarrett Pinster

Week #46 - Christmas Eve JOY

HELLO to all of my dearest loved ones!!! This past week has been full of miracles and joy that I hope I can explain it fairly well. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

So this week Elder Potter and I really focused on what we can do to be more and fully consecrated. We decided to start with our schedule. We made a schedule of out by 10 and tracting until 3. Then we come home and have dinner/companion study and then back out until 9! I have never worked as much and been so exhausted in my entire life. We were so incredibly blessed.

We would pick a neighborhood and talk to everyone and knock on every door. We met so many fun people and found 15 new people!!! It was a miracle to see Heavenly Father provide for us. There are like two neighborhoods that we have been working. They are definitely low class but we love it. We've made so many friends and yesterday when we went by to see some people all the neighbors we had met invited us in and we built relationships with several families. I just love being a missionary. 

We also started teaching some new referrals that we had given to us! One of them is named John. We taught him about the apostasy and what the Holy Ghost felt like. We then opened up the Book of Mormon and he read the very first verse. He looked up at us after and goes "Guys, I feel it. It's warm and I can't explain it."  HOLY MIRACLE.  He is now reading and thriving.  We are so excited. 

I'm so extremely excited for Christmas tomorrow. I love the season that is filled with the spirit. I'm so thankful for the Savior and cannot fully explain how much gratitude I have for him. My mission has changed my entire relationship with Him and I can honestly say He is my best friend. I am so thankful and full of joy. I love the mission and everything about it. Have a merry Christmas and I love y'all. God bless. 

Elder Jarrett Pinster 

- Happy

- Trailer park knocking

- Helping someone move

- The Zone

HAPPY

TRAILER PARK KNOCKING

MISSIONARY "MOVERS"

THE ZONE

THE DISTRICT with Christmas treats from Oregon!

Week #45 - KNOCK, KNOCK

This week was a straight up blessing. Elder Potter and I made a commitment to each other that we would be 100% in the week and boy did it pay off. We tracted almost everyday from 1-9 (which is way new to me due to the fact that I've only done campus finding the past 9 months) and Heavenly Father rewarded us with people to teach as well as the spiritual satisfaction that comes from doing the Lord's work. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. 

All of our progressing people unfortunately went home for Christmas so we have been having tons of video calls and lessons to help them keep progressing. They are all doing awesome and it is making me soooooo anxiously excited for January. I think the mission has given me some kind of hyperactive trait now because I can't even sit down for more than 5 minutes without feeling a need to get up and go and I'm always just excited. 

This week as a district we all committed to improve our spiritual side of our conversion. Every night when we got home we took 15 minutes to read from the Book of Mormon, our patriarchal blessings, the Bible and any other resource really and just focus on feeling the spirit and growing. It did wonders. When we take time to sit down and read,ponder, and pray revelation and comfort will come to us in our daily lives. 

On Friday I was on an exchange with Elder Olsen who serves in Madisonville. He came down to my area and we decided to just go find. We tracted a ton and then ran into our old friend OSO who is a barber from Chicago. He told us to come on Monday (today) and he would hook us up with a free cut. To say I'm excited is an understatement because I was more than ready for a free cut by my man Oso. 

Another funny tracting story was we were talking to a woman on her door kinda late Thursday night and her three week old brown lab puppy came waddling over. He was the cutest thing. She picked him up and we continued our conversation. We had her read from the Book of Mormon and could see her feeling the spirit when the dog just decided to throw up out of no where. Then me, seeing the dog throw up made me start gagging so it was just a mess of a situation. She closed the door to clean the mess and never opened it back up. Needless to say, I've never been so excited to start teaching someone then felt on the brink of sickness, which then ended in sad despair as she closed the door. I love tracting so much. You'll never know what you'll see or experience. 

We also had a mission Christmas conference which was the best on Tuesday. We focused a lot on Christ and how a humble Christmas makes for the best Christmas. I truly felt the spirit of Christ there and heard the saying, "The Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit." I'm overwhelmed with joy and loved seeing all my friends there too. 

I'm incredibly thankful to be serving my Savior in the place that I am. Huntsville is really beginning to be my home away from home. The gospel can make everyone family. I'm so thankful for my Savior and the love Heavenly Father shows to me. Merry Christmas and I love you all. God bless. 

Elder Jarrett Pinster