Tag Archives: Florida Jacksonville Mission

Alligators, Snakes, and Trios

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Dear Family and Friends,

Sorry I was silent last week, the pictures are of what I was doing instead of emailing. I hope that you agree it was time well spent, and if you don’t well too bad it already happened.

St. Augustine is a really cool city. It has some really neat attractions, definitely some of the coolest stuff I have ever seen on my mission. I got two items checked off of my bucket list, I saw huge gator, and I held one. Next task is to find one in the wild and poke it with a stick. A really long stick mind you. Okee Fanokee Swamp here I come! haha oh man that would be cool. 

Along with seeing the gator farm we got to see the Fort they had there and it was really cool. It was definitely a lot bigger than I thought it would be looking from the outside. Needless to say it was a really awesome trip! It all could not have happened without Elder and Sister Christensen though, they help finance all us poor missionaries and made the itinerary. I am very thankful for kind people like them!

Another interesting thing that happened this past week was that Elder Frazier went to the temple and I was in a trio for the day. It was an interesting experience. Luckily I got to pick were we go for the day, so I was able to stay in my area and keep the work moving along. Both of the Elders I was with are in full bike areas so they appreciated the break. Exchanges are nice because they mix up the monotony and you learn so much from serving with other missionaries. 

We got a call from President Craig yesterday and Kevin and Lori can get baptized this week so that is incredibly exciting! Also, we had transfer calls last night and every companionship of elders in the zone got changed except for us, and all the sisters in my district got changed, and 2 sisters in the other district. It was a massive change that I did not see coming! That just means that I get to build a friendship with a lot more missionaries though which is very exciting! Wohoo! Friends!

Love ya’ll!
Elder Joshua Cordon

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Double Dunks & Back Flips

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Dear Family and Friends,

Oh the simple joys of life! One of the happiest moments for a missionary is to see someone who you felt came into your life by divine intervention enter the gate to eternal life through the waters of baptism. I am a very lucky Elder to have been so richly blessed. I will take just a few minutes to describe my two brothers who were baptized this weekend!

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Jim, oh Jim. He is honestly the most prepared person that I have ever met in my entire life. Once he knew it was true, which didn’t take long, there hasn’t been anything that has been a struggle for him to give up. Every time we taught him a knew principle he immediately started doing it. He had to get work off for Sundays and his job wouldn’t comply, so he quit! He spends every day serving his neighbors and doing acts of kindness. He is one of the most kind-hearted men I have ever met in my life. It was an honor to be able to baptize him. Sunday after he was confirmed he also got the priesthood and went and did home-teaching right after church! This church is in dire need of more Jims.

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Then you have the good ole Steevo! This brother has made me laugh more than anyone else. He truly understands good humor. He, like Jim, has been so willing to make the changes in his life to come closer to God. His love and enthusiasm for the Gospel has been an inspiration. He just wants this more than anyone I know. He has no problem with telling everyone he meets about the church! Especially via facebook! He has the potential to be a great missionary! I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to meet him and that the spirit softened his heart so that he let us in to teach him.

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This week was just an unbeatable one with that great weekend coming to a close! I am looking forward to helping these brothers down the path of growth and progression in this amazing church! Sadly Kevin and Lori were unable to join them in the font on Saturday but when they get baptized in a few weeks the joy will be just as sweet!

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A quick word of caution for all yall! If you are going to be attempting a back-flip off of a swing at 6:45 in the morning any time soon, don’t tuck your legs too much or you will over-rotate and turn that back-flip into a back-flop. Trust me I know! It is okay though, the swings and I are still on good terms.

Love Y’all!
Have a great week!

Elder Joshua Cordon

Let Bygones Be Bygones

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Dear Family and Friends,

This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 3:13–14]

I decided to write about this topic today because of a trade-off that I went on with an elder earlier this week. To often we spend way to much time living our lives in the past. This is seen in phrases like, “the good ole days,” or “I wish I could just go back.” The beauty of the atonement of Jesus Christ is that because of him we can always be happier tomorrow than we are today if we allow his grace to work in our lives. Life is not intended to have a peak of happiness and then go down hill from there. Men are that they might have joy (2 Nephi 2:22), not men were that they used to have joy. Not only is that wrong doctrinally, but probably grammatically too.

This philosophy of seeing every new day as a possibility to progress rather than regress has changed the way that I look at my mission and at life. I am excited by the fact that through Jesus Christ the future will always be something to look to with eager excitement. This is the case because true lasting happiness is never determined by our circumstances, but instead by our character. Even through Christ, death is not the end, but the pathway to an even brighter and more glorious day, that is of course–like always–if you apply the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Often however, through our own stubbornness and pride we hold ourselves back from progressing by not letting go of the past. This wonderful quote somes up my thoughts on that quite nicely. “When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is not right to go back and open up some ancient wound that the Son of God Himself died trying to heal.” (Elder Holland, ‘Remember Lot’s Wife’)

Anyhow, I hope y’all loved my spiritual thought. I just thought it was a fitting message for Easter. This past week was a great one as always. It started with a wonderful FHE at the mission home, and then we got to see a wonderful ward function for the Messiah by Handel on Saturday. Then Sunday was great when this young guy named Mat who we met the day before came to church and loved it! However, that is the past now 😉 And though it warms my soul like the hot sun on my back, I am more concerned by the beautiful scene ahead of me. I have the blessed opportunity of seeing 4 wonderful children of God enter the waters of baptism this Saturday! Boy the future looks so bright, I might need sunglasses!

I love ya’ll! I hope this week is better than any before, which is your choice by the way 😉

Elder Joshua Cordon

Improvement and Progression – Josh

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Dear family and friends,

So, it was the first preparation day since Christmas that there wasn’t any sunshine. It’s amazing what kind of difference weather makes on attitude. It is not that am not happy but I’m a little more relaxed when it’s dark and gloomy outside. We are going to take advantage of all the rain though and play some sports out in the mud. This should be a lot of fun!

Fun thing that happened last week was that the day of transfers I knew that my old ward mission leader and his wife would be driving the missionaries from the ward to the transfer building. So I arranged ahead of time for us to meet up and get some lunch while they’re here in town. It was great to see them again and hear about how Deepcreek is doing. It reaffirmed the fact that I really want to go back and visit that Ward shortly after my mission. I definitely have a lot of good friends there.

My mission trainee Elder Barcala got transferred here to Jacksonville, and he is serving in the area next to mine. However, it is across the river and it is not in my zone. I don’t know how often I’ll see him but I am happy that he was finally able to train, something he was really looking forward to doing.

While most of the missionaries in my zone stayed put we did however get a new district leader and new sister training leaders in the zone. In order to get the district leaders up to speed with the vision that Elder Hamilton and I have established we got lunch at chipotle with the district leaders. There’s something really nice about having a meeting outside over lunch. It just really makes things feel official, yet relaxed. I feel like there will be a lot of good things happening here in this in the next couple months.

We have been trying to get our companionship more integrated with the ward. After initiating some game plans we came up with to strengthen our relationship with the bishop and with ward members it feels like things are really starting to change. After having nobody sign up for dinner to feed us the first two months of February we filled our calendar for this week on Sunday. We also lined up several service projects throughout the week for the ward members. Some of the advice that we got from the stake presidents meeting we had on Sunday was to befriend ward members so that they could trust us with their friends.

We had already decided to initiate that idea so it was good to see that as we follow the spirit or vision was aligned with there’s just in time for us to see results the very week they suggested it. I hope that by the time I leave here missionaries will be begging to come to this area knowing the members will help them in all aspects of the work.

I guess one thing I never expected a mission would teach me is that of problem-solving and creativity skills. Truly you cannot just go through the work every day doing the same thing. You will have little success and you won’t be very happy. However, when you do your best to come up with good ideas and good ways to create change things really do improve, a lesson and A skill I hope to apply to everything I do for the rest my life. As Winston Churchill put it “to improve is to change to be perfect is to change often.”

More importantly, I have learned that true change comes from centering our lives on Jesus Christ and making an attempt to be more like Him. Not only is He the perfect example of how we should live, but He is also the way that we change. It was His atoning sacrifice that gives us that ability. What a blessing it is to be able to partake of that blessing each and every day! I Love my Savior Jesus Christ, and I know He loves every single one of us.
How can you change this week to improve your life?

Love,
Elder Joshua Cordon

Arrival in the Florida Jacksonville Mission

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We received this letter from his mission today… with a picture of Elder Cordon with his Mission President, President Barry. We are so excited for him! 🙂

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Elder Joshua Cordon’s first day in the mission field. He looks so happy!

Dear family of Elder Cordon,

We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely to the Florida Jacksonville Mission. What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they come off the plane in Jacksonville. The smiles on their faces showed their excitement and readiness to be here.

It is very apparent to us that Elder Cordon has prepared very well for this calling in the Lord’s service. He has come to the mission field with such enthusiasm and love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Your son’s upbringing and additional training in the MTC have provided him with many wonderful tools to help him be an effective missionary. Now he joins us ready and willing to exercise his faith, testify of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and love the people of the South.
Your son arrived with 24 other missionaries and they have enjoyed a dinner together at the mission home, have been interviewed by President Barry and were trained by the assistants. We have taken pictures and we have attached a picture of him with President and Sister Barry. As you can see he is well and happy although a little tired. We also took a group picture which you can view later this week on our blog at: www.floridajacksonvillemissionnews.blogspot.com

You are welcome to check this blog often to catch a glimpse of your missionary and find out what is going on in this mission.

We encourage all missionaries to email home weekly on Preparation Day which is each Monday. He will let you know where he has been assigned to serve. Just a reminder … when Monday happens to fall on a national holiday, those who use the public libraries will not have access to a computer, therefore, they usually email on Tuesday instead. Also Preparation Day moves to Tuesday during transfer week which is every 6 weeks.

We trust you will write to Elder Cordon on a weekly basis also. Please send positive messages that will keep him focused on his work. We hope you will share faith promoting experiences, convey your love for him and describe the blessing you are receiving. Missionaries like to know that your testimonies are growing and that you are strengthening your faith in Jesus Christ. In order to be successful as a missionary, great focus on the work is required. The more he can “lose himself” in the work, the better prepared he will be to teach and testify. Your positive support in weekly letters will help him to do this.

Your missionary is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of others. We hope you will be encouraged and comforted by this quote by President Lorenzo Snow: “There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder [sister] when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children.”

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for all you have done to prepare Elder Cordon to faithfully serve a mission. We look forward to getting to know him as we serve our Heavenly Father here in the Florida Jacksonville Mission.

Please accept our love and gratitude for trusting him to us and more importantly to the Lord.

May God Bless You,

President James W. Barry and Sister Marilyn T. Barry