My 4th time being in a trio. . .

I'll start this week's email with some interesting news - Billerica, a neighboring area to Lowell, has been shut down mid-transfer. Elder Butters and I now have a third companion, Elder Griffin, one of the Elders who was serving there. They have an investigator who is getting baptized in a week and a half, and so we'll continue teaching him and preparing him for baptism. But after that, no more missionaries in Billerica. Nothing bad happened, no missionary was drastically disobedient - an area needed to be shut down to make room for a new position and companionship of Elders serving in the mission office, and after praying about it, Pres. Packard felt to shut down Billerica and that the change should happen immediately. And so, here we are in a trio for the next two weeks. Trios are more difficult than a regular two-by-two companionship for a variety of reasons, even if you enjoy both of your companions.

Lots of exciting things are happening in the mission! I mentioned the new office assignment, and we're getting 66 new missionaries over the next couple of months! To top it all off, we're starting the traveling musical fireside, which I'm a part of, and the first performance is in Weston on Feb. 2nd - I'm really looking forward to this chance to bear my testimony through music.

Last Monday, the weather was PERFECT. Upper 50s, no wind chill...an all-around beautiful day! Then, it got cold. REALLY cold...and it's only getting colder. Wish me luck.

Elder Butters and I had the great privilege to speak to the youth of the Lowell ward this last Wednesday evening at their joint activity. The young women's president invited us to come and speak on how we decided to serve a mission, how we prepared, the things we've learned, and the experiences we've had. It was a wonderful opportunity to bear my testimony to those future Elders and Sisters. I hope and pray that something in what I said will inspire them and instill in them a desire to serve the Lord. My mission has changed me, and continues to change me, and I encouraged each of them to pray and ask our Father in Heaven is they should serve a mission so that they can take part in this "marvelous work and a wonder."

The Elders in the Nashua 1st, Nashua 2nd, Littleton, and Billerica wards came to Lowell this last Thursday, and together, we "blitzed" the city for these young single adult names. We all split up as companionships and were able to contact about 85 people, with another 20 or so that we need to go back and follow up on. It was an exciting few hours, knowing that those Elders were helping us to be more productive than we could ever be on our own. I'm so grateful for their help and for the zone leaders' idea and help in organizing this effort.

The Heritage Park ward has started a mission prep class that meets during Sunday School, and is taught by our ward mission leader. We have people from other wards joining our ward for this pre-mission time, and that's an exciting thing! There are 2 sisters in the class as of now - one with her call already, and another working on her papers. We also have a young man who is joining in next week, who just submitted his papers. It's exciting to have these individuals here in the Heritage Park ward and I'm thrilled to be able to help them prepare to serve!

We had an amazing lesson with one of our investigators this last week. She's been investigating for quite some time, and still isn't sure if she's ready to be baptized. The lesson itself was good, but I'll never forget how I felt as our member-present bore testimony to her. It was his first time coming to a lesson with us, and he testified not only of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but also of the divine power and authority which Elder Butters and I hold. He testified that we are not only servants of the Lord but also representatives of Him, and that he knew that we were powerful missionaries. The Spirit was so strong in that lesson, but especially in that moment. It really hit me right then how sacred my calling really is, and I was humbled to know that he thought so highly of us. I'm glad that our efforts and obedience shows through, but I'm more grateful for the knowledge and witness that came to me from the Spirit, telling me that Heavenly Father is pleased with our work. 

Miracle of the week! Story time: Bro. Xiong is a member of the Church from Laos who hasn't been active for several years. He has served in branch presidencies and as the Elder's Quorum President in the Asian branch that used to be here in Lowell. The Elders in this area have been working with him for about 10 years or so, trying to get him to come back. In that time period, he has attended church 3 times, with the most recent time being in 2007...until this week. We've been trying to help him come to a testimony of the gospel again, and something was different this last week in our lesson with him. The change of heart that he had was incredible - and then, he came to church on Sunday! He walked in the doors of the chapel, and my mouth literally fell open. I was so happy to see him there. What's even better is that he came in a nice suit, stayed for all 3 hours, and looked happier than I've ever seen him.

1 Cor. 9:16

Love,
Elder Justin DeLong