July 10, 2016
Hey Everyone! 

Things are going well! We had a good week. We travelled the mission attending "Get to know you" Zone Conferences for the Badgers. Elder Cox, and myself trained on Chapter 5 from Preach MY Gospel. We talked about the importance of teaching with the Book of Mormon, and helping our investigators to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon. 

We also got to attend the British Pageant on Friday night. It was great. A few of the people we are teaching came to church this week. Patience and Serge were at church. Patience will be getting baptized this Saturday at 11:30. We are really excited for her. She has changed a lot just in the last few weeks. Another recent convert, Marshall just received the Aaronic Priesthood this week. It was great to see. He works all night, but still comes to church after getting off at 8 in the morning. He is a good man.

This week we will go to the temple with all the departing missionaries. Then we will plan for the mission, and transfers on Wednesday, Thursday, andFriday. It should be good. I love the temple. I hope you all have a great week. I gave a talk this Sunday. I was asked to speak on the covenants that we make at baptism. We promise to Take Christ's name upon us, always remember Him, and keep the commandments. I know that if we are always remembering him, it will be so much easier to keep the commandments. We will be motivated by our love for the savior. I know this is Christ's restored church. I love you all! 

I attached a few pictures from Zone Conference,and from the pageant. 

-Elder Lords

New Mission President

July 3, 2016 
Hey, 

This week we said "Goodbye" to President and Sister Jensen. It was hard to see them leave. They have taught me, and anyone who has been around them so much. It was great getting to know them. I will stay in contact with them for a while. 

This week we had a lot of good things happen. We were in our area most of the week. We got to teach a good number of people. We also had a few people at church. I hope that I will be able to help a few more people be baptized in the month of July. 

Justin was given the Aaronic Priesthood today. That was really neat to witness. He is doing well. It will be fun to see him pass the sacrament this upcoming week. I love that the Priesthood Authority has been restored to the earth. It has blessed my life. I know it is God's power to act in his name for the salvation of his children.

We also met a cool guy from Cameroon, Africa. His name is Serge (pronounced Surge) he is a great man. We met him on Wednesday and taught him. He came to church on Sunday, and he bore his testimony. It was great. He was trying to get the audience to be more interactive so he was saying "Amen" and "Hallelujah" from the pulpit. He is very humble. I have learned a lot from him. He has Polio, but he still has a great attitude. He is very successful he works for Wells Fargo as a financial investigator. 

This week we will travel to 4 different Zone Conferences. The mission will get to meet the Badgers. I really like the Badgers. They are very kind and loving. President Badger is a very nice man. He is and will make a great mission President. We also will be in Nauvoo on Friday for the British Pageant. I am excited for that. Have a great week. 

-Elder Josh Lords

Hanna was baptized

June 26, 2016
Hey Everyone, 

Hannah was baptized and confirmed this weekend! It was great to be apart of! She was nervous leading up to her baptism, but she was so happy as she was baptized! It was great to see! Her nephew Justin, the boy that got baptized June 11th, was interviewed today to receive the Aaronic Priesthood! 

This week we also had three Zone Conferences. It was the departing Zone Conferences for the Jensen's. It was a lot of fun to be apart of. It was also a bit sad. I have learned so much from President and Sister Jensen. They have taught me to love everyone. They have taught me numerous different skills, and attributes that will bless my life forever. They have been my parents away from my parents. There time has come, and now they will get to return to be with their family! I am excited to meet President Badger this week. He will come to the mission this Thursday at 12 p.m. It will be nice to meet him. 

This week we will get almost the whole week to proselyte without many meetings! I am really looking forward to it. We have a lot of investigators that we need to see! It will be a great week! I hope you are all doing well! I love you! 

-Elder Lords

900 Miles!

June 19

Hey Everyone! 

We had a good week this week. We travelled around the mission quite a bit. So far this week we drove over 900 miles. It was a lot of driving. We attended Zone Training Meetings in Nauvoo, Cedar Falls, and Iowa City. It was good. The mission seemed to benefit from the training this last week. This week we have Zone Conference that we will be travelling to. It was hard to be gone all week. We just wanted to be back in Des Moines teaching people, but we know that what we were doing was also important. President Jensen has us present our training at three different Zone Training Meetings. 

I want to share a cool story. So on Wednesday we were driving to Cedar Falls, Iowa. We were driving along and we got a call from Hannah. She is the Aunt of Justin. Justin was the boy who was baptized last week. We have been teaching her for a few months, but she has been nervous about being baptized. She is a great lady. She has great faith. She called and said "Can I be baptized on the 20th?" So we talked with her and said that we could come by Friday once we were home, and talk about things. So Hannah will be getting baptized this Saturday at 11 a.m. We are really excited for her. She is super prepared. 

This week we will have a goodbye Zone Conferences for President, and Sister Jensen. I am super sad that they are leaving, but they have been so great for the past 3 years they have been serving. Have a great week! 

Also, Happy Fathers day! I love my Father. I also love my Father in Heaven. I am grateful to be a missionary.

"Perhaps the most essential of a father’s work is to turn the hearts of his children to their Heavenly Father. If by his example as well as his words a father can demonstrate what fidelity to God looks like in day-to-day living, that father will have given his children the key to peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come.9 A father who reads scripture to and with his children acquaints them with the voice of the Lord." My Father taught me this, and so much more. My Mother definitely helped as well! I have great parents! 

"Fathers" By Elder D. Todd Christofferson 

 -Elder Lords

Justin was baptized!

June 12

Hey Everyone, 

Wow, it has been a great week. It has been busy, fun, and stressful. The best part of the week was this; Justin was baptized, and confirmed today! It was great. He was supposed to be baptized this last week, June 4th, but then his date got moved because of his family. Then he was supposed to be baptized June 18th, but his Mother's girlfriend said that he couldn't be baptized that day, but that he could this Sunday. We had to scramble to get the baptism all set up. The ward was a little frustrated that we didn't give them more notice. Of course we would have given them more time, but we gave them as much time as we could. I am sure that Alma didn't give the people a few weeks notice that he would be baptizing people at the Waters of Mormon. Haha, No I know we need to respect, and work with the ward, but Justin was ready and prepared. He needed to be baptized. He was so happy at his baptism. We shouldn't deny him the blessings of the gospel because "The ward needed more notice." I am glad that they were able to understand that, plus the Stake President helped them to see they were being unreasonable. Sorry for my rant. Justin was baptized. It was super great. He was super happy! He kept smiling the whole day. 

This week we will have MLC on Tuesday. Then we will travel the mission Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday giving the same training from MLC. It should be good. Hopefully we can help the missionaries. Have a great week! I love you all! 

June 5

Hey Everyone! 

This week was pretty good! We were busy with going to the temple, and transfer planning! It was a good week. This week was also pretty sad. Justin was supposed to be baptized on Saturday. We called his Mom Friday just to confirm that everything was good to go. She got scheduled to work so she said we would have to move the baptism. We moved it from 11 to 7:30 p.m. We got the font all filled and a few members of Justin's family couldn't make it. His family demanded that we move the baptism. We had to respect his family. So he should be baptized in the next few weeks! He is a great kid. 

This week we will pick up the new missionaries on Wednesday. Then 9 missionaries will depart on Friday. It will be sad! It will be really sad to say goodbye to President and Sister Jensen at the end of this month! I love you all! Have a great week! My emails keep getting shorter and shorter! Sorry! 

-Elder Lords

May 29
Hey Everyone, 

I hope that everything is going well! We had a good week. We taught a good number of people. Things are going well. I just found out who my new companion will be. He is actually one of my previous companions. I trained him when he came to the mission, Elder Davis Cox from Kaysville, Utah! I am excited it will be fun! 

This week we will go to the temple with the Departing missionaries. Then we will transfer plan all week! It should be good! Sorry this is a short one. We are having a baptism on Saturday. It will for sure be Justin. He is a sweet 12 year old. He is super prepared. His Aunt Hannah will possibly be baptized as well if she decides to be. She has been a bit nervous about getting baptized so hopefully she will decide to be as well. She says she wants to wait, but she is thinking about being baptized still. She has already paid tithing so she might as well take the leap of faith and get baptized! Have a good week! 

-Elder Lords