First Baptism!!!

What a past few weeks it has been! My companion and I have been working super hard and in particular with someone really special, Claudia. This past saturday, she was baptized! Claudia has been such a miracle. We met Claudia through some friends who are members of the church in our branch. We set an appointment to visit Claudia and when we visited with her, it was an amazing experience. Claudia was first introduced to the Gospel about 6 years ago but because of certain circumstances, could never get baptized and become a member of the Church. However, recently her circumstances had changed and she felt that us coming to visit her was her sign from Heavenly Father that it was time to take the next step! The Spirit was incredibly strong and continued all throughout the week as we prepared her for baptism. Those of you who read this blog know that the work in the area I am in right now is really difficult but this is proof that the Lord has people prepared in ALL parts of the world, that the Lord´s timing is not our timing and we never know when someone will be ready to be baptized and become a member of the Lord´s restored church. 

I would like to discuss the importance of baptism. As Christians, we believe in following the example of Jesus Christ in all things. Jesus Christ set the example of baptism by immersion. Two important parts of His baptism we follow today. Jesus Christ, being a perfect man, walked a large distance to find John the Baptist, who had the proper authority to baptize and was baptized by immersion. The Savior taught, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John 3:5. If the only perfect man to walk this Earth was baptized, every human being has need to be baptized. To do otherwise is to say that we do not have to follow the example of Jesus Christ. The two special things I mentioned were 1. The proper authority to baptize and 2. baptism by immersion. Thanks to the restoration of the fullness of the Gospel that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has, we have the authority, or Holy Priesthood, to baptize. Just as Jesus searched for someone who had the proper authority to baptize, we too should be baptized by someone of the proper authority. The second important part to the example of the Savior´s baptism was that of immersion. Baptism is a word derived from the Greek word "baptizein" which means to immerse. Baptism, like many religious ordinances, is symbolic of burying the sin filled spirit and the rebirth of a new clean spirit. The idea that baptism is not necessary, that it can be performed by any person and in any manner is an idea of the adversary (Satan). 

As we follow the Savior´s example in this life, we will receive blessings. Those of you who have been baptized by the proper authority, think about the covenants that you made at baptism. Those of you who have not been baptized in the proper manner, the opportunity and blessings are waiting for you! Think of the importance of baptism. I testify that baptism is an absolute necessary step to return to live with our Father in Heaven. What a blessing it is to have a beautiful opportunity such as baptism to be forgiven and given a new start. I know and see the blessings that baptism brings into the lives of people each and every day. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to help others be baptized. Thank you all for the love and support you give to me while I do this work. 

-Elder Jeppson 

Acts 2:38

For more info about Mormon baptisms, what we believe, and how they are performed you can click here! :)

Claudia's Baptism

Working hard in rain or shine....

Painting a member's home with his companion

Empanadas...yum!

 We love our Elder Jeppson!!!

1.21.14

Hello Everyone! 

It has been a long time since I have written a blog post. A result of the Lord hastening His work is how hard all the missionaries around the world are working! These few weeks we have been working hard. Last week, my companion Elder Fleitas was transferred to be a Zone Leader and I received a new companion, Elder Alvarez. We started working and Sunday we had the privilige to be part of what I would call a miracle! We had tried to visit a few old investigators but we could never get up with them. Sunday, right before Sacrament meeting was about to start, we got a text from the investigators asking what time church started. We replied and about 5 minutes later they walked through the door! They had walked from the bus terminal about two miles away, in the wind and a light rain to come to church. I was in shock but it was a happy moment for Elder Alvarez and me. Many may read this and think "Okay, so what? I go to church every week" but for me, it was an answer to sincere prayers to help this family learn more about this amazing Gospel that we are sharing. We are so excited to help this family work towards becoming an eternal family, a gift only obtained in the Temple of the Lord which is a blessing only found in the true Church of Jesus Christ.

 As missionaries, we spend a quite a bit of time studying. This week, I focused my studies on the topic of change. I tried to learn about change from a gospel perspective. What I found was quite interesting. In the course of being a missionary, I have the opportunity to talk to many different kinds of people from many different backgrounds. As we speak about religion, many bring up the topic of "change" or "progress" which are both great processes, if applied correctly. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the way in which we can change or progress to become more like Jesus himself, the great example. We should change our habits of selfishness to be more chartiable. We should progress every day from prideful to humble. 

Through repentance, offered by the Atonement of Jesus Christ, each day we can be forgiven of our faults and then work even harder to be better. Satan, however, is a master of disguise and perversion. Instead of using change to progress, Satan uses change to digress. He masks disgression of moral values and eternal truths by a facade of "modernization" and so called progressivism. Why does progression mean throwing out values? Progression should be more about trying to do better at what we already have. Take for example the values of humility, chastity and charity. At times are they difficult? Yes. Should we progress within these values? Yes. Are we going to stumble? Yes! But does that mean that we just throw it out and say "Well if I get rid out if, that's progression"? No! That is not change, that is destruction! Now, don´t get me wrong, I am not saying that we should all live like 8th century pheasants to avoid "change". I am an advocate of change! But the right kind of change. The change brought by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. What is easier, to fix something or throw it out? Throwing it out, of course! But guess what? The right choice usually isn't the easiset choice. Usually, the right choice is the hardest choice. To try every day to change for the better is much harder than just throwing out the value. Aristotle said it best, "For what is the most choiceworthy for each indvidual is the highest it is possible for him to acheieve." The highest possible to acheive seems hard, no? Ask yourself, what is more important, what is right or what is easy? I would hope that we would all choose what is right. 

George E. Carpenter once wrote "God does not expect an acorn to be a mighty oak before it has been a sapling." Think about that acorn. Just because it takes a long time to change from that small acorn to a lardge oak doesn´t mean that 3 weeks after the acorn has been in the ground you dig it up and crush it because it didn´t progress all the way. Was that acorn changing? Yes! Little by little, it was moving forward. So why just get rid of it because it had a challenge to overcome? "He that liveth in righteousness shall be changed..." D&C 43:22. 

I invite everyone to think about change and the progression in our lives. I pray that all will apply the Atonement in their lives to change for the better. I testify that no matter how hard the stuggle to change may be, we have been given so many tools to help us. Scriptures, prayers, a living Prophet, are all tools given to us to help us change. I know the message that I am trying to share with the world is true. I know that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and that the full Gospel was restored, that the same church the Jesus Christ created on the earth exists today. If you have the knowledge of this Gospel, don't treat it lightly. Maybe some of you aren't quite sure about all I have written or would like to know more, just ask! This message has the power to change your life for the eternities! 

I am so thankful for all of you who send me emails, read this blog and show an interest in what I am doing in Argentina. I am just a simple 18 year old boy trying to share what I know to be true. I hope everyone has a blessed week! 

Elder Jeppson 

D&C 19:37

12.30.13

Hello Everyone! 

Well I had written a blog post for Christmas and all but never had a chance to send it. My companion and I received probably the greatest Christmas present we could have ever asked for, a new investigator!! We were out working and the wind was terrible, nobody wanted to listen. We were walking on our way home and I asked my comp if we could stop and contact this one last street before we went home. We contacted two houses and they rejected us so we decided to cross the street. A man came out and started talking to us and at first did not really want to listen but invited us in and we got to talk. Turns out his parents were members in a town about 6 hours away but he never joined the church or listened to the missionaries before. We taught about the Restoration and invited him to read and pray about the book of mormon. Then the moment of truth came. We invited him to be baptized in January if he found the things which we had taught to be true to which he said YES!! I know it was an answer to our daily prayers that we were able to be placed in the path of this man to share with him a message that is of the utmost importance. 

As we start the new year, I hope that everyone will look forward to the new year as an opportunity to improve ourselves. The goals to lose weight or to get into shape are great goals but I believe there are even better. We should look to develop in ourselves more Christlike attributes in the coming year. Christ is the greatest example that we have been given in this life to follow. In His mortal ministry, He enveloped all the characteristics of a perfect person, being that He is the only perfect person to ever live on this earth. Let us look for opportunities to help and serve other people around us. If we are members of the Church and have the knowledge of the Gospel, I hope that we will all share the Gospel with those around us. One of my favorite quotes as a missionary is "Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words". We can all prech the Gospel every day without ever even saying a word. I pray that everyone has a great holiday and rings in the new year safely. 

Love,
Elder Jeppson 

12.9.2013

Hey Everyone! 

Well the first week of the transfer was crazy, as always! My companion and I helped the Zone Leaders prepare new pensions for a set of new sister missionaries who are opening an area here. We worked hard last week trying to find new investigators. Our area has streets that are numbered 2  through 46 and one day we worked all the way from 4 to 42 and had no luck. It was a bit disheartening. However, we pray every day that we will find someone to teach. We sat down in Sacrament meeting next to someone we had never seen before. She turned to us and asked "¿Ustedes son los misioneros?" which is Are you all the missionaries? To which of course we replied yes! She told us that she had a friend in the ward who had invited her to church and that she lives in our area and that we should come teach her sometime!! I know without a doubt that Heavenly Father heard our prayers and that this was an answer to our prayers. I know that if you ever need anything, pray to Heavenly Father and if it is right, He will grant it unto us. I am so grateful for prayer in my life and especially as a servant of the Lord. It is such a powerful tool that we should always use, not just when we´re in desperate need of something. I know that many of you pray for me and I feel the strength of those prayers every day. Thank you all for what you do and have a good week!! 

Elder Jeppson

His zone:

 His pension:

 Someone brought them a steak and egg sandwich for lunch...

12.2.2013.

Hello everyone!! 

Well not much to report here in Argentina. This week starts a new transfer here. I can´t believe I´ve been in Argentina six weeks already! Elder Fleitas and I are staying here in San Benito this transfer. The work is still really slow but that´s okay, we´re working hard! This past week we had a conference with Elder Zeballos, a General Authority who is assigned over the South America South Area. It was a great meeting and the Spirit was so strong in the Chapel. Not much else to report this week, just want to encourage everyone to share the Gospel with everyone that they can! It´s such an amazing message that we have, never be afraid to share it with someone! It changes lives! Thank you everyone for your prayers. Stay safe! 

-Elder Jeppson


The chicken they made for Thanksgiving!

Work.

Hello everyone!! Hope everyone has had a good week. It sure was an interesting week in San Benito! My area is pretty barren and desolate but our pension is right next to some really tall transmission power lines. These power lines can be seen from just about anywhere in our area. One day the wind was particulary rough, about 40 miles an hour. We had worked our way through our area and had ended up quite a ways from our house. After a long day of walking against the wind my body was so tired. As we prepared to leave the family´s house that we had been visiting, I knew we had a long way ahead of us back to our house. As we started out, fighting against the wind, in the distance I could see the power lines and knew that was where I wanted to end up. After I looked at the power lines, I looked down at my feet and watched my legs and my feet fight against the wind, step by step. As I focused on watching and working to move my feet, step by step, I didn´t realize how much closer I had gotten to the power lines and to my house by just taking it step by step and working. 

Eventually, step by step, I got home that night. As I thought about this I thought about how it relates to life. In life, we pick many goals but never reach them. Why? I believe it´s because we stare at the power lines and not our working feet. We should pick our goals, set our focus and then look at your feet and go to work. Step by step, no matter how hard the wind is pushing against you. if you keep going, eventually you´ll reach your goal. If I had just focused on the power lines that night, I would have never have gotten home. I had to work for it! The same applies in our life. Goals are great but they require action. As Henry David Thoreau once said, "In the long run, people hit only what they are aiming at. Therefore... they had better aim at something high." We should set our goals high and then WORK for them. President Thomas S. Monson has a saying "Work Will Win When Wishy-Washy Wishing Won´t". No matter how hard I wished I was just back at my house that night, to get there I had to work. The same goes for our goals. We can wish all we want but only work will get us there.  Alma 29:15 says, "Behold, they have labored exceedingly, and have brought forth much fruit; and how great shall be their reward!" Alma and his brothers didn´t get this succcess by wishing something would happen, they worked for it! I hope that we can all find success in this life by finding what is our transmission line and then look at our feet and work.

 I have come to love the work as a missionary. Now this doesn´t mean there isn´t times when Elder Jeppson isn´t tired of constantly being rejected at every house or discouraged because the work is slow in my area. But the feeling at the end of the day to know that I gave the Lord my all that day is priceless. "Even so Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone" James 2:17. Going to church, holding a calling, serving a mission, these are all putting works with our faith. I wish I had cool stories to share with you all about some amazing conversion story or teaching someone but the work is extremely slow in my area. This doesn´t stop us from working though! Maybe next week I´ll have a cool story like that. But that will only happen if I work!

 I want to bear my testimony to all of those who read this that I know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true chruch on the earth today.  It posseses the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ visited a humble farm boy name Joseph Smith and called him as a Prophet. Just as I know Joseph Smith was a Prophet I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true and living Prophet today. I could not imagine what my life would be like without this Gospel. I am so humbled by all of the great people that I have been blessed with in my life. Thank you to everyone who prays for me and supports me while I try my best to be a humble servant of the Lord. 

I close with one of my favorite scriptures, Alma 29:9, "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy." 

-Elder Jeppson

Lovely San Benito

His favorite treat "like a moon pie but so much better!"

11/11/13 Letter

Well another week down in Argentina! Sorry I wasn´t able to write last week, never enough time! This week it has turned off cold. We were walking down the road to go visit some families this past week and all the sudden a huge hail storm started. Thank goodness I had on a big coat because it was so cold but the hail pelting me in the face wasn´t too fun.. Luckily it only lasted for about 10 minutes and then just stopped. The weather here is crazy! The wind is constantly 20 miles an hour or more. I guess that´s just how it is down here in the end of the world! 

There are dogs EVERYWHERE here and most are pretty chill but every now and then some are crazy. This week we were walking to an appointment and all the sudden this huge pit bull tore out at full speed at me. My hands were in my pocket and by mere luck I had my hand on my dog dazzer so I pulled it out real quick and pressed the button and it stopped him in his tracks, my heart was racing though haha it´s always an adventure! 

The work has been a bit slow here. Satan works in many small ways to keep people from listening to our message. At times it can be quite frustrating a missionary but one of the greatest gifts Heavenly has given us is the gift of agency and we are able to use it however we like. There´s a talk called the The Fourth Missionary and it talks about how our will is the object in this world that Heavenly Father does not have and whenever we give Him our will, the blessings will be endless. 

I testify that this is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and at times it is difficult, at times it is not convenient and some Sunday´s sure it would be more fun to just stay home than to go to Church but when we make those sacrifices, we will be rewarded. I am so grateful for the Gospel and all that it has given me in my life. I am so grateful to be able to serve a mission. Let me tell you all, a mission is tough! I knew it would be hard but nothing like this, it is so tough! But I have the greatest help that I could ever have, Heavenly Father. When times are tough, if we turn to Him, it will all be okay! Thank you everyone so much for all of the prayers and support that you all give to me. I am so humbled at the great people that Heavenly Father has placed in my life. Have a good week everyone! 

His pensión.

Waiting for the bus

Delicious pastries