in the "zone"

Haha, why am i not surprised...Joseph somehow just knows how to get around things.I wrote him and Amy letters so you should get them already or be getting them soon. I wanted to write everyone in the family one but the letter writing time is so short i can't get everyone right away.Hopefully i can get to everyone else today. So yea, my third week here is completed and I am so glad I am here. Each day we learn something new for Mongolian and progress in the language. The other day we learned how to write in cursive and man, was that confusing. If there weren't already enough mixed up letters, this cursive system really mixed up letters! It's kinda fun though so i think i'll get used to it fairly soon. Uhm, so last week we had to teach our first discussion in Mongolian and it was CRAZY! We went in and we had about 5 minutes of just regular talking and my companion and I were soooooo lost. Haha, it was a lot of 'uhms' and silent moments. Once we got to the lesson though it was a lot better. We had 35 minutes to do it and my companion and I actually went over! He memorized the 1st Vision in Mongolian and so that took up a good chunk of time haha, but he was the first Elder to ever do it the first weewk so the teachers were impressed. Tomorrow we're doing the same thing so it should be a lot better, I'm really excited to do it because I'm feeling I'mn starting to be able to just bring subjects and verbs together without memorizing scripts. So let's see...as of this Sunday I won't be District Leader anymore. It's kind of sad really because I really enjoyed the opportunity it gave me to get to know each Elder in my district on a personal level. Each Elder is so great and it's awesome to see each one conquer his own challenges and grow in the Gospel and the language. So yea, on Sunday i'l get released from that. But then that same day, they'll call Elder Finuf (my companion) and I to be the new Zone Leaders. haha. No one is supposed to know so don't tell anyone! But yea, I'm just glad I'll still have the oppportunity to serve instead of be served. I'm just so grateful because being in this position has really opened my mind to following the promptings I feel to say certain things. As I've done that, I've had amazing experiences with the Elders in our district and I just hope that continues with the Zone. Uhm...the RC. So we went to the RC the other day and I had two other great phone calls. This one man I talked to lost his son when he was 19 years old while his wife and him were on vacation. It was a really rough part of life for him but he was able to come out of it with a better love for God. I was able to tell him that family can be together and that he will be able to see his son again. He said he believe that and all but he didn't want to switch religions. So then I was kinda at a tough point to be in because i really wanted him to receive the fullness of the Gospel. So i asked him to pray to God about the conversation we had. That was the only thing I could think of to do to get the point across. And I know that if he does go to the Lord in pray he will get that answer, so I'm very excited for him. It's really interesting when it gets to a point like that in the conversation. I had another experience like that in the same day and it basically just comes down to telling the person you're talking to that they have to find out for themselves. I was talking with one lady that had recently lost a nephew to cancer and her faith was shaken to the point that she felt religion and prayer were just things programmed to make us feel good. I bore as fervent a testimony as I could over the phone about my belief in God and his plan for us. Still, as powerful and spiritual as I felt that testimony was, it really wasn't going to sway her to the point where she would become a strong believer. See, we cannot expect to just win people over by telling them our testimony. God has made it so that each person can know the truth and feel it inside them. So while we can set the stage, and plant the seed, even the most powerful testimony might not bring someone into the Gospel. They ultimately have to listen to the Spirit, they have to get on their knees and ask God, because that is the only way anyone can ever know for certainty what is right and what is wrong. In a way, it's kind of sad because I wish I could just go around bearing my testimony and changing people's belief systems just like that, but as i'm beginning to understand Heavenly Father's plan for us, I'm so glad it isn't that easy. Becuase when someone finallys gets it, when they really really understand what God wants for us, and they've found out for themselves, that is a wonderful thing. Something that far exceeds any other spiritual experience I or any other missionary could give them. Oh! another cool thing that happened yesterday is that our Zone got a bunch of new missionaries. And, as luck would have it, my good friend from BYU Jordan Harbor (now Elder Harbor) is in their district! I'm really excited because he is a great Elder and it'll be awesome to work with him for the next three weeks before he ships out to Minnesota. I also got to see Jordan Hatch the other day which was cool. I had been looking for him all week because I knew he had come in but I couldn't find him. Uhm, besides that, I'm not really sure what else to write about. If you want, you should start asking questions and stuff about my being here so I know what you want to here. Haha, maybe peopel could post questions on the website and you could forward them here. maybe that wouldn't be a good idea i don't know. Whatever you do, just know that I love all of you! Especially Joseph because he's my brother. I mean, with sisters, I've got three of them, but with Joseph I've only got one brother! So i love him that much more. The church is true, I can say that without any doubt in my mind or heart. Joseph Smith was the prophet of the Restoration! Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and it is ONLY through faith and obedience to his commandments that we have to hopes of happiness that he has promised us with. This is a wonderful work to be a part of and I am so glad I'm here. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else except for maybe teaching in Mongolia! ~Elder Cappuccio! -----Orig