Dearly Beloved Family, HAPPY FATHERS DAY!
"Called to Serve Him, Heavenly King of Glory, Chosen
heirs to witness for his name, Far and Wide we tell the Fathers story, Far and
Wide his love proclaim,
Transferred you've been Transferred, to a whole new
area!
Transferred, you've been transferred, to a whole new
area."
Last Saturday was transfer calls. Every time we call our
district leaders we start the call singing this. It is the best and it's quite suiting.
Don't worry though, just like our stake president says, "Stability, hmm.... I
wonder what that's like?" I have the privilege of killing Elder Bradford. (mom's note: I guess this is missionary language for getting to be with a companion when they leave for home at the end of their mission....any other ideas?) Never done it before and I am excited. We will be staying together another transfer
and his last transfer. Then he goes home. Also about half the Zone has been either shotgunned or
is training so this next transfer will be crazy. We also gained two more
missionaries, meaning we are still the biggest Zone in the mission :)
Doctors appointment is scheduled for August 1, I believe.
They were booked up until that date, even when I scheduled it early but its still
good. I will send in a heart report though soon because I am getting close to
my three months.
Yay a package, I am excited for that.
This week was an amazing week, one of the best and its just
going to get better!
Monday: So after an amazing P-day hike we went and did some
contacting to some less-actives that we didn't know. When we were there we had
the weirdest experience. We knocked the door of this less-active's home and she
never answered. So as we are waiting, I look over to my left at the van that's
in the driveway to see a lady sitting in the passenger seat. I then noticed
that the side door of the van was wide open and there was stuff all over the
ground. I asked my companion if he thought something was up. The lady in the
car was out of it too, sleeping.
I then noticed there was a guy just hammered
laying on the ground behind the car against the fence. The people at the house
finally answered but just opened the window upstairs. We asked them what
happened or if the two people needed help and they just said, "No don't
worry when they wake up well drag them back inside." My companion and I
just looked at each other. But wait, It gets better.
We walked out back to knock the
apartments there. We got back there to find a bunch of guys drinking in a
circle. There were two of them that were trying to fight but were so hammered
that they just fell over. We then noticed a bunch of other guys just laying all
over with beer cans. It was sad. At first though we thought we walked into a
crime scene.
Later that night we taught our investigator Edgar. He is
doing so well. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he committed to living it.
It is so amazing because Elder Bradford and Elder Hall (before me) had found
him and taught him back in the first weeks of December. They dropped him
because he wasn't progressing at all. As we have been teaching him again, it
is his time; he is living every commandment and is really changing so much. As
we taught him the word of Wisdom he told us that about 3-4 months ago after the
Elders had dropped him he gave up smoking. That is such a testimony to me that
the Lord does prepare people. He committed to living the Word of Wisdom and
there wasn't anything that was keeping him from doing so which was good. He has
been reading so much in the scriptures too. It gets better though later
on.
Tuesday: We had a lot of business items to do today. After
writing emails, we ran up to Berkeley to pick up one of our members, Victor, and
then we went to dinner with another member family. We are trying to reactivate Victor and this family has really been helping him and involving him. Dinner
was great. The lady we ate with Sister Velasco, reminds we a lot of you mom. She
looks like you too, hair color and personality. She teases me a lot because of
my Spanish. Its weird. We left them with a few copies of the Book of
Mormon to write their testimonies in and then to give them to their friends or
family members. We then had to run to a lesson that we set up with the Consuelo
and Marisol finally. We got there, but then Marisol called us and canceled
because family showed up. We changed plans and went to visit two of our ward
missionaries that were just newly called. That was a really good lesson. We
taught them how to teach the restoration lesson with the pamphlet. The lesson
got a little out of hand when they started talking about other church leaders
having golden toilets. We were trying to control the lesson, but I couldn't stop
from laughing. It was so bad though.
Wednesday: Today was amazing. We had our Zone meeting today
and it was such a success. We got there early to get things set up. At
10:00 we started in the baptistery with Brother Fairchild and Elder Packer (our
area 70). They spoke to us for about an hour and it was amazing. They shared
James 1:5-6 with us and said that we must "ask with faith, nothing
wavering" Elder Packer spoke of how the Lord numbers his people. He tied
it to our goals and how in Mosiah 18, there were 204 souls that were baptized.
Why would they have an exact number? The Lord knows and numbers his children.
He really helped me connect our goals to how the Lord numbers his children. It
really opened up a new view on the work. We don't just pick a number and set it
as a goal, but pick a number that represents specific people that the Lord
already has prepared.
Elder Packer told us that we better start praying that we
will stay in this Zone because its about to explode with baptisms. The Lord
will help us achieve our zone/ stake goal. After they talked, we moved into
the assembly room and continued with the discussion and the training on the
restoration. The training went really well and the Zone really was affected by
Elder Packer and Brother Fairchild.
We taught Rosa and Edwin later that afternoon and we just
don't seen any more progress with Edwin. We followed up with him living the
word of wisdom and he said that he gave up. Something just fell apart. He
doesn't want to read anymore or anything. Doesn't want to change. Its sad but
we are still visiting them because we want to help re-active Rosa.
We made
contact with Marisol and tried to set an appointment but she was too busy and
couldn't tell us an exact time. We really want to visit them. The mom Consuelo
has her pain medication so she can visit with us but Marisol won't let us be
there without her. We fasted this last week for them that we can set an
appointment and visit them. We taught and found a new investigator that night.
We had found this guy about 6 weeks ago but he was working out of state. We
finally had an appointment and added him as a new investigator. It was a really
good lesson, we had to be in kind of the lobby area of his apartment complex
because he rents with other people that don't want us there. We hope to see
progress with this brother. We have been focusing a lot more on the Book of
Mormon and this investigator Samuel is interested in learning more about the
Book of Mormon and about baptism. We are studying hard for him to help him
clearly understand the doctrine.
That night we had our first English class. It
was great! We had 6 new people show up from our fliers that we have been giving
out. It was the first time we were teaching so we were learning as we went, but
we based it a lot on how the MTC is. The 3 people in our class were younger
guys. They were great though, we taught them and then practiced a lot so they
could learn. It actually turned out to be a great success. We started an ended
with a prayer and then afterward I wanted to be able to take them over for a
tour of the visitors center. We brought them over there and watched the
Christus display and then the sisters took us for a tour of the VC. The three
brothers really liked it a lot. They all accepted missionaries to visit them
which is awesome.
Thursday: We taught one of our less-active members Victor
first off. It was a good lesson. It was special for me because this member had
packed up all his scriptures and said that he didn't want to believe in God or
anything. Stopped coming to church and wouldn't progress. We have been visiting
him for a while but about 4 weeks ago he told us that he didn't want us to
visit him anymore. That last lesson I left him with a scripture in Alma 37:
33-37. He said that during those 4 weeks even though he had put away his
scriptures that scripture had been on his mind every day. He finally wrote it
down on a piece of paper and carried it with him in his pocket. I didn't even
know or think that my scripture would have impacted him so much. The spirit
really made an impression on him. As we visited him he said that he was ready
to come back and wanted the number of the bishop. It was a testimony to me that
the scriptures have power and also the Lord loves his children and the spirit
can really press on our minds.
At 2 we visited Edwin again. We told him that we
only are going to be visiting about once a week. We watched a simple video with
him about the plan of salvation but he didn't really even pay attention. We
sort of dropped him but because of his wife being a member we still will visit.
It was a sad lesson but he won't do anything anymore. We then made a stop by an
investigator that we hadn't been able to visit in a while. It was really weird
because she asked if we wanted to come in and read the bible with her. She said
that she was "Dando a luz a la biblia." I was super confused but then
not surprised because shes a bit weird. But that means, "I am giving birth
to the bible.".......
The rest of the afternoon we went finding and
contacting people in the streets. We made a Zone focus to use the Book of
Mormon as much as we can. One of my personal goals was to quote or use a
scripture from the Book of Mormon in every contact. I was able to and it
brought a lot more power into the contacts. The Book of Mormon really is the
key to our religion and is the difference.
That night we taught one of our
other less-active members the Rosales. It was good because the son we have
invited to pray about he Book of Mormon to gain his own testimony. He did so
and told us that he received an answer and knows its true. It was awesome! We
taught Edgar again tonight and it was the most powerful lesson I have been in.
We taught him the Plan of Salvation up to about half of it and taught him the
commandment of the Sabbath day. One of our members that came with us really
helped a lot. Edgar feels the spirit so much and recognizes it too. We were
teaching about the Atonement and he said that he loves this church, the gospel
because he has never been to a church that focuses so much on the Savior. He
said that all the other churches he has been too talk so much about Satan and
temptation and all the negative. He also in the first pray thanked the Lord for
the restoration. That is so amazing!! The spirit was so strong as we taught
about the sacrament and about him being baptized. Elder Bradford and I had
created also a new Plan of Salvation drawing display to help the Spanish people
understand better. We are using more visuals in our teaching so that they can
understand.
Friday: This morning Elder Bradford had a temple recommend
interview with President. After they were done President comes out and asks me
to come in and says that I am in trouble. I was a little nervous haha and went
in and sat down. President said, "Elders....I have an assignment for
you." I was relieved. He said that in preparation for the big leadership
training that will take place on the 26th of June he will be inviting 40
missionaries that need a leadership boost. He is also going to be assigning 4
Elders to each Zone leader companionship to be able to do 48 hour exchanges in
July to help train and have one on one experiences. Also in the training itself
on the 26th, he said that as he has talked with the assistants and other
missionaries they decided that we were the best planners in the mission and
they want us to give a short training on planning. I was a little surprised but
it is exciting.
Later that afternoon we had such a miracle happen. We went
to go visit a less-active member and her non-member son. She ended up not being
there and so we had a back-up of another less-active member. We had set a goal
to have 2 member presents and find 2 new investigators that day even though we
only had 1 lesson set. IN the car we reviewed our plans and then prayed with
faith that the Lord would provide a way to reach our goals to find new
investigators. We then acted and went to an apartment complex to knock.
We
talked to a fellow just outside by his car and he wasn't interested but we
asked him if their were any people that spoke Spanish in this apartment
complex. He said yes but that no one would want to talk to us. We went anyway
with faith and the knocked the first door. A younger guy opened it and we
started talking to him. It was a little weird at first and in the middle of us
talking he said, "Yeah and by the way, I am a member too, I was baptized
when I was 11 but haven't gone to church in about a year since I moved
here." He let us right in and we sat down and began to get to know him and
teach him. So thus far the Lord just blessed us with a less-active lesson but
it gets better. In the middle of the lesson his roommate gets home from work
and comes in and sits down. We begin to teach him and the less-active. They are
named Rafael and Giovanni. It was a great lesson and the roommate said that he
didn't have a religion but is interested in learning more from us. What a
miracle. The Lord blessed us with a new investigator, a member present, and
found a new less-active member that wants to get active again! We didn't even
know he existed. It was a testimony to me that the Lord does number his
children and knows them. We just need to "Ask with faith, nothing
wavering." We ate dinner with a recent convert and the other Elders and
had some really good food.
That night was amazing. We taught Edgar at the Visitors
center before English class. He got lost in coming so we were late to start but
it was so awesome. I didn't know all of this but he found the church the first
time back in his country, but when he got here to America, before the Elders first showed up at his door, he found a triple combination in Spanish in the trash at his work. That just
doesn't happen other than a miracle. Because of that we chose to watch the
movie, "How rare a possession" where a priest in Sicily found a copy
of the Book of Mormon with the cover and converted.
Before the video she
sisters explained the movie and then he took out his copy of the triple and
told his story. It was such a miracle. He found it in the trash and had a
strong feeling to read it. He did and then a few weeks later the Elders knocked
the door. What is even more of a miracle is he was telling us that he looked
all over for the name of the person who owned it but only found a label in the
back that said, "Oakland Temple Baptistery." How did a triple from
the temple end up in the trash at a truck repair shop in the middle of West
Oakland??? That is a miracle. And now he is getting baptized hopefully the 30 of
June because he is progressing so quickly. After the lesson we went to English class.
We had 2-3 Guatemalan ladies show up. They parked their llamas over in the
parking lot and carried their baby in their satchel on their back. Ok, the
llama part isn't true, but the rest is. The only part is is that they spoke Mam
more than Spanish so teaching them English from Spanish just doesn't work. It
was a good class though. We then started exchanges with the elders from
Berkeley and I was able to go to their area because they had a car not a
bike!!!
Saturday: Today was full of studies. We had a service
project at a middle school. That was interesting; a little sad too because of some of the
pictures in that school though. We had to clean up computers and set them all
up, put keyboards and things. It was fun, haven't done that in a while. Elder
Bradshaw who I was on exchanges with, reminds me so much of Casin; the way he talks, he rides motorcycles,
and the things he says especially his accent from Idaho. We had an awesome
exchange. We had a lot of studies because of the service, but we learned a lot.
It was the first time Elder Bradshaw ran his own area. He did a good job and I
was able to watch and teach him a lot. We talked to a guy with the last name of
Hill and then the next door guy was named Austin haha. Go figure! Austin was
really interesting. He accepted to read in the Book of Mormon. We taught a
less-active member about tithing and it was interesting. The member that came
with us is handicapped but had just received his endowments that day. He was on
fire. He has so much faith. Later that night we taught a part-member family. He
is the baseball coach of Cal university. That lesson he finally accepted for us
to teach him. Elder Bradshaw was so happy! It was a great lesson and the wife(
a member from Utah) was really happy that her husband is investigating
now.
Sunday: Today was full of blessings. Edgar and Marvin ( the
guy that lives with him, Marvin calls Edgar his grandpa) and Edgar's wife and
her friend all came to church. They showed up early so we went over to a quick
tour of the VC for this wife and her friend. Church was awesome. He had like 4
fellow-shippers that were helping them, sitting by them and they loved it.
Edgar was really happy and told Marvin in one of the lessons on the Holy Ghost,
"Hey when we get back home you are going to throw out all that beer you
have and the cigarettes." That is awesome! It also was Fathers day and so
they gave a gift to the fathers and they really liked that.
That night we also
had some interesting miracles happen. We were contacting in the street and
began to talk to a little family. They were old investigators, had read the
book of Mormon and wanted us to come back. Right after, another guy came up to
us and said that he had read the book of Mormon and also had Elders visiting
him. He was skunk drunk but we could feel sincerity. He told us that he wants
us to come back and that when we called he probably won't remember us but to
tell him his full name and that we are the Elders of the Book of Mormon. Right
after we had another guy talk to us wanting to learn more because he listened
to the guy before. What miracles!!!!
This morning we met with President, the assistants and two
other Zone Leaders in coordination for the leadership training on the 26th. We
got the names of the Leaders we will do exchanges with and two of them are in
San Francisco Chinese so I will be able to go there in July! Also we are giving
a training on planning and we were able to discuss that. We have already put
our s together. We also talked and all discussed how we want to run the 48 hour
exchanges. This is going to be a lot of work but a lot of fun!
Love you all!
Thanks, Elder HIll
No comments:
Post a Comment