Transfers Calls Came and I Am Staying!

Soccer game against the other zone...

Hey everyone! So transfer calls came this week. Our entire zone is staying the same. Which is good. Our zone has had a lot of inspirational meetings and it's actually helping me to be more effective at missionary work.
So, this last Tuesday we had a Suriname-wide district meeting held by Elder Paulson, one of the counselors in the mission presidency. It was on obedience. One of the things that he talked about was how exact obedience brings miracles and how we need to have a willing heart and do what the Lord asks of us. One thing that he said though was somewhat interesting. He asked the group for examples of miracles that had happened on their mission and two missionaries that had served English-side shared an experience from when they served English side. They were amazing stories, and really inspiring. But Elder Paulson made it a point to emphasize that those stories happened on the English-side, and not in Suriname. Which I thought was kinda funny because I have experienced miracles on my mission and I've only been out a couple of months. There are several weeks that I've had to debate what stories I share with you guys because I only get 30-60 mins. to write a long email.
Still the Spirit chastised me a little. The part about a willing heart really got to me. I had been studying about conversion that whole week, and I realized that part of conversion is not only willing to do what the Lord asks of us, but being willing to do it and enjoying it. I realized that for as many of the blessings I have experienced up to this point on my mission, the Lord had to hold some of them back because I was not willing to be exactly obedient, and my attitude was not all the way there.
So after having that lesson we went to follow up on a contact we had made. Before this me and Elder Mercier were having problems teaching baptism by proper authority to our investigators. We had one investigator who said she was baptized by a woman apostle. We had to explain that to her, but it took a couple of lessons. It would have been so much easier had we explained right from the get go that we were there to help her come closer to Christ by baptism by proper authority. So with the goal in mind to make sure that never happened again we began to explain our purpose to this contact, "S." She then asked what was for us the golden question, "Why do I need to be baptized again?" With that we were able to teach the Restoration. Not just the Restoration of the organization of the church, but of the whole gospel. The Restoration of the gospel, authority, and organization. Everything in it's fulness. The Spirit was so strong. She wanted us to come back. We are having another appointment this week. It should be awesome.
That's awesome to hear that Landon is back. I miss that guy. I looked up to him growing up, just a funny, friendly, all around good guy. I know he's probably busy, but I'd like to email him if he gets the chance.
I am staying one more transfer in Wanica. It should be fun, there are a lot of good people here. I don't know if I'll stay after this one, so I want to do the best I can to leave the area better than I found it.
I love you guys! Thanks so much for your letters and emails! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Cole Cooper

Study Every Day

Well this is crazy to think about but I am two weeks away from hitting the 6 month mark. That's insane. This first part has just flown by. I don't know if that's because it's all a little new or if time really is speeding up just for my mission. I swear the month before my mission just felt like forever. I guess that's what happens when you get a really solid routine.

This week was awesome! We were in an bit of a slump for about a month where we could not get investigators to church. We wanted to help "S" ("O's" niece) come to church so that she can get baptized by the end of the month. We were talking about what we could share with them during comp study and we decided that what would help them is to understand their covenants and understand why we ask them to attend church. After that lesson it was just amazing to see a light turn on. They were just like "Oh that's why we come to church." It was really cool. "S" and her sister "A" came to church but "O" couldn't make it because she is going through training to be a nurse. It was honestly a miracle. 

As far as transfers and that sort of thing it's kind of a toss up. I have been in Wanica North for awhile but I have only been with Elder Mercier for one transfer so who knows? If something does happen to me I probably move because I have been here for awhile. I doubt they would pull Elder Mercier out after just one transfer. I like Wanica North and I would be good staying and I wouldn't mind moving either. If I were to guess I think I stay for one more transfer with Mercier. Then I will really be due to move. Transfer calls will come this weekend so I will be able to tell you what happens to me next week.

I don't know if I'm gaining or losing weight. I haven't been on a scale since I came out here. We just don't have one. I feel about the same, and I'm trying to be healthy and work out. Btw, those pills that you sent me are intersting, I actually got a pain in my stomach after taking them and looked to see that one pill has 200mg of caffeine and another has green tea extract. I decided to stop taking them, I still take the protein though. 

The binder grammy sent me is awesome. One thing I will say is that as missionaries we have very few things outside of investigators getting baptized that we can get excited about. One of those things our district in the MTC started getting excited about was being organized. How we marked scriptures, what kind of pens or colored pencils we liked to use, how we wrote in our study journal, all of it. One elder actually asked if he could have one of the pens I got. Grammy gave me plenty, as well as a couple of refills so I saw no problem giving him one. It's coming along. I constantly try and think of topics to study that I can fill it with. They ask us to study every day, at the very least get personal study in. So that's been really nice. It's gotten to the point where an hour is actually not enough time. I'm serious. If I would have told that to myself two years ago I probably would have said you're crazy. But with not much else to do, as well as feeling the Spirit a lot more, you actually enjoy it. I wish you guys would study everyday. 

Lastly, I've heard very little about my new mission president other than that his name is President Egbert and he's from Sandy. I don't know what the split will mean as far as where I go.

Anyways I hope you guys have a great week! Love hearing from you!

Love,

Elder Cooper

Cool Personal Study Moment

Well, this week was a good week. We started off the week really well, having some good lessons and even getting some members to come with us. (Which we have not done enough) Our whole zone wants to get 30 member lessons by the end of this week. For us that means having one member come with us each day. It would be hard, but so worth it to help our investigators come to church.
I did get your guys' packages this week! Thank you so much. Grammy delivered on that package. That was everything I wanted and more. I'm excited to start filling that in. It will probably be one of the greatest things I get to take back home with me.
Funny story from this week. Our zone was going to play soccer against the other zone today, and we were all thinking of ways we could make it more fun. Our zone decided to buy some Suriname polo shirts and then we would have our names printed on them. It would look like a jersey. We found a cool shirt, but the only problem was the print. When we saw what the shirts looked like after they printed them we couldn't help but laugh.  It's fine, we still like them, and have decided we would rather have them that way. The picture I send will explain it all.
I had a cool personal study moment this week. Every night we do phone calls to make sure that people get home safe, and to see how the day went. The district leader called me one night and asked me if I felt like I had magnified my calling that day. I told him that I did. But I wanted to know what his thoughts were on magnifying our calling. We hear that phrase used all the time in the church and it's a commandment for us as priesthood holders to do it. But I kinda wanted to know...what does that look like?
So we decided we would study it together. The results were really interesting. My favorite scripture I have found so far is Heleman 10:4 "Blessed art thou Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people." I love how it says with unwearyingness. I have noticed a difference in the days where I am kind of going through the motions, maybe thinking about home too much or just being back in the apartment again and then times when I am focused, energetic, and willing to work. I think that is one of the biggest ways I can be magnifying my calling right now. I have made it a goal to pray for and be more energetic and engaged so that I can magnify my calling.
I hope you guys all have an amazing week! I love you! And miss you. Thanks so much for your emails. I'm sorry if I can't respond to them all, but I love reading them. Please keep sending them.

                   "This is what happens when 20 YM organize a soccer game..."

Love,
Elder Cole Cooper

Make It An Awesome Week!

A butterfly that flew into the store.

Cole and his companion, Elder Mercier

Hey you guys! It sounded like your week was pretty normal. I have not heard the name Training Table in a long time. That sounds really good. How often do you guys go out with Grammy and Pop-Pops? Seeing that they live really close now I figure it's pretty often. Tell Ledoux I said happy birthday, that guy's a stud. I first off want to say that I do not have good pictures to send this week. I am really bad at taking pictures. I'm going to try and get more creative with pictures from now on.
I have not gotten the package yet.
This week was pretty normal for us. We met with "R" and "D" and they show a lot of potential. We are wanting to take "D" with us to a member's house for family home evening. She was excited to hear about family home evening so hopefully she will want to come with us to this members house.
"R" has had tests and exams this past week so we only got to stop by once, and it was really quick. He is studying to become a judge. He is a talker. We talked a lot about Suriname, the culture, and the people. One thing I've noticed is that the gospel has a way of helping people get their priorities in order. Which is what we talked about with him. When people become converted to the gospel they take hold of their lives, get things in order and begin to work hard. It just shows how much the gospel can give to us. It's more than a feeling of comfort in the next life, but actual blessings in spiritual and temporal matters. The Lord really is in the details of our lives.
This week was area conference. It was cool to see all the members and other elders. I hope I get the opportunity to work in every branch in Suriname because there are a lot of cool members and potential for every area. Even the slower areas are picking up speed right now. Branch presidents are getting excited, and everyone is trying to organize callings and home teaching lists, there are more miracles and wonders on the way.
This email isn't too exciting or long but I want you guys to know that I love you and that I'm having fun. There are little funny moments each day. One time we tried to contact this guy and he just started to go off about how he was a true believer. He was saying stuff like, "I'm a true believer, Ima tell you a story about how I became a true believer. God loves me and you man, your my brothers, I hope you know that. I'm a true believer." The guy was just a little crazy. Kinda funny. There are some awesome people here in Suriname, and more awesome people yet to be found. My testimony grows a little each day, I hope that you guys are having a similar experience.

Cole sent this picture a few weeks ago! Thought it was "awesome" :)

I love you guys and miss you like crazy!
Make it an awesome week!
Love
Elder Cooper

Patience

Hey you guys! How's it going? This week was the second week leading out the area. It was still pretty tough. There were a couple of things though that were cool.
I think the first thing I want to talk about is that even though these past couple of weeks have been tough trying to find new people to teach we have found a couple of cool people.
The first one is "R."In my opinion he is a really cool guy. He is going to college right now studying to become a judge. So he's really smart. He is a deep thinker which means he asks some tough questions. It's different because we have to say we will answer his questions later, or that we will have to look them up, which I have never had to tell someone in a lesson before.
The other is "D." We found her through contacting and she has been really good at listening. We have taught her the Restoration and Plan Of Salvation and she is really good at repeating back to us what she said in her own words. She has a family and so we want to try and work her husband in the lessons. Sorry I can't be more descriptive with these two, we have only had two lessons each with them so I'll let you know how it goes.
"O" is doing good. We are having problems getting them to church. They just live far away and so they have to wake up early and take two different bus routes to get there. We are working on arranging a member to bring them. They are almost done hearing all of the lessons we have so that's exciting. They have done really well in following the commitments we give them, which is awesome.
Today for P-day we played Ultimate Frisbee and a little bit of soccer as a zone. I have a couple of pictures from the guys in the zone so you guys will get an idea of the other missionaries here. One thing I will say is that I feel like this transfer will be really miraculous. Every district and zone meeting we have had has been really inspirational. I have come out of those meetings feeling inspired to do missionary work. This zone is really awesome. We all really want to work hard and try and improve the branches and areas we are working in. It may be tough now but I feel like it will be a good transfer. We just need to be patient.
This email is a little all over the place but I want you guys to know that I love you! Just know that I am ok and that I am having fun. Some days are tougher than others. But it is still fun. I really love the zone and am excited for the things to come. Hope you guys have a good week! Tell Ledoux and Kache Happy Birthday for me!!
Love,
Elder Cole Cooper

A Perfect Effort

Hello everyone! I'm really glad to have gotten your emails. I appreciate them every week.
To start off, this was easily the toughest week of my mission so far. When we went to visit "S" on Friday to do the baptismal interview she came out with some bad news. She explained that she had just gotten into a fight with her mom about us. Her mom had told her that she does not like our church, us meeting with her, or the idea of "S" getting baptized. Her mom told her that if she continued to go to church or meet with us she would kick her out. "S" may be 18 and able to decide for herself, but she has nowhere to go with a year left of school. So she unfortunately has to stop meeting with us, or going to church. She told us we could still call her and text her, and she asked us to do that everyday, which we have. It was incredibly sad to have to say goodbye. The best we could do was to say to continue to pray and read the scriptures. Part of what made it so sad was that I feel like we have more than just a missionary-investigator relationship, but that we are good friends.
On top of that, we had several appointments fall through. We had set up appointments to visit recent converts, a couple of investigators we wanted to follow up on, but almost all of them fell through. Which left us to just do contacting. Also mine, and Elder Mercier's bike had problems, so that kept us from going outside one of the days.
Leading an area is tough. I didn't realize that it could be so tough. I'm trying to plan effective days where we are able to be productive and stay outside, but we need to find a few more people and the people that we do have are not just people we can visit unannounced. It's ok, we have plans this week to visit some members and seek referrals so hopefully we can increase our pool of people to teach.
In the quiet moments that I've had the past couple of days thinking about all that's happened and how rough it's been trying to be effective, there have been a couple of things I've been reminded of.
One is a verse in 1 Peter 1:7 which says "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold which perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:" For me, what this means is that the Lord is refining me a bit. I need to learn and grow from the experiences I'm having, like leading out an area, or going through a rough time with an investigator. The other thing I thought of was one of the last movies I saw before going on my mission, called "When the Game Stands Tall," which has one of my favorite actors, Jim Caveziel, in it. One of the quotes often repeated in it is "Perfection should not be expected, but a perfect effort, through that we can achieve success." Along those lines, but applying it to myself, I can feel successful as long as I'm trying my best and giving "A perfect effort."
I love you guys! Even though times get rough, the Lord is with us and loves us and I testify of that. I know he will help us through all of our trials. And through a perfect effort and through Jesus Christ, we can achieve perfection and exaltation. I hope you guys have an awesome week!
Love Elder Cooper
P.S Don't worry about me, we have made plans to really attack this week, seeking referrals, finding new people, working with members, all that stuff. I love you guys

News

Hey everyone! So the first thing I think I should say is that our baptism with "S" did not work out this week. She wanted to postpone it next week so that she could invite more of her friends and so that her mom could make it. She is still going to be baptized though. It's just this Saturday instead of this last. She is awesome though. I'm happy for her, and I'm glad that she wanted to make sure her mom could come.
Other than that this week was pretty normal. We were able to play basketball on Tuesday, which was fun. Most of the time we play soccer so this was a good change.
Some good news is that "F" has a baptismal date for January 31. We haven't been teaching him but because he goes to our branch and lives so close we hear about how it's going with him. He has come to church I think every single week since we've met him. He will be a really strong member and a good priesthood holder for the branch, when that time comes He's a good guy. My only wish is that we were the ones who taught him! Haha.
"O" and her family are progressing in what ways they can. They continue to read from the Book of Mormon, and ask really good questions. They tried fasting for the first time yesterday. Which was really cool. They have a lot of faith and they are awesome to teach.
In other news, transfer calls came. Elder Beckstrand is going to the Tamenga branch and I'm staying here and leading the area. My new companion is named Elder Mercier. (mer-see-ay).
It's not all bad though. We still have awesome people we work with, and we had a contacting blitz the Saturday before. So we have a lot of people to follow up on, as well as a plan with the branch council to help reactivate some people.
I want you guys to know I love you, and hope that everything goes well this week. I know that Jesus Christ loves us. Every circumstance or trial we run into is for our benefit. Sorry it's a little short this week!
Love you guys!
Elder Cooper
P.S I got Aunt Jenny's package and your guys' package. As well as all of your guys' letters! It was really awesome to read them. As well as all the candy. ;) Please let the Wilson's know I said thanks. And thank you guys!