PETER'S BAPTISM - April 24, 2011

Good Morning!!!!!

Big things happened!! Whooooaaa!!! But before we get to that.....We had Peter's baptism on Wednesday! It was great! I got to baptize him! He is doing great, after I brought him up out of the water we gave each other a big hug! He said thanks... I've been with him through all the good and rough times and to finally get to see him get baptized was great! The Spirit was strong... He bore his testimony, said how he knew this is where he needed or where God needed him to be. Then he talked about his family and how his goal is to get to the temple, and especially get his family to the temple and be sealed there. Now it will take some time, because he has been doing it by himself, but he has great faith and he has a lovely wife that I strongly feel would make a great member of the church one day. So I'm very excited for him and his future as it looks bright!!!

Now for some big news! I went to President Porter's house on Tuesday and he pulled me aside and said those words that make your stomach drop because you know that something big is going down, "Elder Belnap, are you ready for your new assignment?" I said "Yep, what do you want me to do?" He said, "I'm moving you to go to Manukau, to be with Elder Stucki." So I'll give you the background and why all of this is so important.. There are 3 zones that are called the big 3. The mission pretty much rests on these 3 zones to come through each and every month. Then there are 2 zones that are the flagstaff of the mission. Manukau is one of them. So Manukau had some stellar months, baptizing roughly 30+ a month, doing great. Then, the past couple months took a hit baptizing only 12&19 (very low). So President Porter put Elder Stucki in to clean it up and take it to the next level. Which is exactly what he does. He was my zone leader in Henderson when we hit the zone best, then took Tamaki (another one of the big 3) from an under performing zone to performing at a level people never thought (what we did in Gisborne he did in Tamaki). Well he came in and right away cleaned it up and this month. They broke the zone best, and tied the all-time zone best in the mission of 33 baptisms.... And it was just ridiculous what happened and next month is going to be a month that people thought could never happen. So President Porter sat me down and said you will be junior to Elder Stucki, who he said is the best he's ever seen. And he told me that he just wants me to LEARN LIKE CRAZY from him. And then to carry the zone to the next level. So that's my assignment this transfer. Work my butt off and learn like crazy. To be honest, it's going to be hard. But it will be worth it. There is a MAJOR PRESSURE SITUATION. Thus far in my mission. I've never been put in a situation where things are going great and President Porter is just expecting them to get better. I've only been asked to turn zones around and get them pumping, which I have: Gisborne, Hamilton, and Mount Roskill is finally getting on board. Now I'm coming into a pressure situation where even more is going to be required. So I know that President wants me to become great because he wouldn't have stuck me with the best if he didn't. And I'm killing of Stucki this transfer. He is going home. I love him. He's intense. He's very similar to Chase Hart. But even more intense lol! He's good at what he does and everyone knows it. People think he's cocky, but it's just who he is and once you get to know him you realize that's not true, just his personality. It'll be good. He runs things like a business. Like a fortune 500 company, but I've come to learn that it just takes organization and trust from your missionaries and along with that, serious revelation. I've never had a zone planning where we spent literally hours praying, pondering on what God needed us to do to get our zone to the next level. In all, I am blessed to be serving with Elder Stucki. Yes we get along, yes he has a much different personality, BUT we still get along great! And he will help me become a GREAT missionary and leader, what more could I ask for? And in my personal life, he has already helped me, and in business as well.... Elder Stucki is from Las Vegas, and a state champ wrestler. And has a strong testimony of the church!

So a bit about Mount Roskill. In my last area, my ward hadn't baptized in like 3 month, unacceptable. But I baptized the whole time I was there, and left 2 solid people set. And next month my area should be able to baptize weekly for may! Here in Manukau, I love my area. Elder Stucki and I are the ONLY WHITE PEOPLE LOL... Everyone is islander, LOVE IT! We have 5 people set in our area! And our goal is 10! I feel we can get it! Yesterday at church this guy spoke and said how his wife isn't a member and how he wants her to be. We asked if we could come see his family. Last night we saw the Fosio family (Samoan) and had a super powerful Restoration lesson with them. We found 4 new investigators. And the family felt the Spirit super strong, and I feel that they are great prospects for next month! It was just powerful. And last night we helped this family that recently got baptized and it was a powerful lesson we gave the boys blessings. And both of them were incredibly strong. It just feels good to follow the spirit. I was praying for Heavenly Father to bless me with a good pumping area and I got it. Roskill was hard for me, cuz stat wise it was difficult, but now we are teaching 30+ lessons a week and having great success. NOT because of us, but because of the Lord! So I am very happy to be here!

I LOVE YOU ALL HEAPS!!!
HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!!!
OFA ATU (Tongan, Love You)

Elder Belnap