Hey Everyone!
This has been a chaotic week, and I am emailing today (Tuesday) due to Columbus Day yesterday. First off, please pray for the family of Elder Andrew Edward Page. He was killed this week when he was hit by an oncoming car on his bicycle. I knew Elder Page personally, and he was in my group that came from the MTC in Mexico to Arcadia to speak Spanish. He was also serving in my zone here in the mission field. Prayers on his behalf would be much appreciated because his father passed away just a couple of years away; his mother is probably struggling immensely at the moment. Also, please pray on the behalf of his companion, Elder Ostler, who was training Elder Page before he was killed. I will have to be brief, as I have an appointment soon.
Thursday, October 10th, 2013:
This morning, we had interviews with President Becerra at the Pomona building. Every so often, President Becerra will interview all of the missionaries to see how everything is going. I LOVE talking with President. He is an inspirational man, and he always knows what each of us needs individually. He even thought to ask me if I had neglected to talk to anyone on the street, after receiving a prompting to talk to them. Of course, I had fallen prey to this mistake. He encouraged me to stop and talk to people, even if my companions were ahead on their bicycles. He is going to come to Chino to help out the work because of how tought the area is. Out of the past 26 baptisms in the last three or four years, not a single person is still active. It is awful. On the 27th, President is going to come to the Chino Spanish Ward to help us out. We had dinner with Sofia Castro that evening, but we were unable to contact anyone else during the day. We have been striking out with teaching appointments lately. Also, today was the day Elder Page was killed. He was hit at 4 PM while riding his bike, and he passed away shortly before 10 PM in the hospital. I can't believe I knew him, and now he is gone. He will reunite with his father and help teach the message to those who are still waiting to hear the gospel in the spirit world.
Friday, October 11th, 2013:
Elder Porter, the district leader, arranged for Elder Smith and Elder Low to swap for exchanges. As a result, it was Elder Low, Elder Knight and I for the day! I love serving with Elder Low; he's awesome. During district meeting in the morning, we really focused on what we need to do as a district to help the work progress. We found out that there are a lot of basic things the ward is missing that we can help fix, such as a ward mission plan. Some very fundamental pieces of missionary work have apparently been lacking for quite a while. We plan to fix that. We are by no means perfect missionaries, but we will be unable to accomplish what we need to do if we don't have support from the ward, too. During the day, we concentrated on visiting members and sharing with them the importance of the hastening of the work and how they can help us share the gospel with others. We hope to get this message out to everyone in due time, but it will not be a quick process.
Saturday, October 12th, 2013:
With relation to the work, today was an exceptionally slow day. It seems like appointments that we have are constantly getting canceled for various reasons. I don't even feel like we have been able to meet very many of our potential investigators. During the day, we got a call from one of the Spanish Assistants to the President (AP), and we found out that Elder Smith is getting transferred tomorrow to Fletcher, CA! He is going to leave us at the memorial service for Elder Page on Sunday night to head over there. I'm really going to miss him. I do, however, hope that he is able to get his visa soon. The only other event of the day was volleyball in the evening. Sadly, only two people came! We had seven missionaries, plus the only other two people, who both happened to be kids. This is part of the reason that we need to help the ward get more active.
Sunday, October 13th, 2013:
This was probably one of the most difficult days yet. We went to church at 11 AM, like usual. The lesson in Elders' Quorum was great because it focused on missionary work! After church, we went to the Moreno's house for lunch/dinner and were able to talk to Hermana Moreno's parents, who aren't members. It was a good visit. That evening was the memorial service for Elder Page. Elder Ostler was fighting back tears as he talked about his beloved companion who was no longer there. It was so very solemn, yet every single person in that room knew that Elder Page was meant to leave this earth when he did. Sister Becerra and President Becerra both shared some very inspirational thoughts. President shared something that Elder Page wrote when he left home on his mission: the mission is a lot like an airplane. As we leave the earth, we are brought above the world to be able to see life from a greater perspective, live "in the world, but not of the world," and grow much closer to God in the process. I just cannot believe he's gone. After the memorial service, we said our final goodbyes to Elder Smith as he headed off to Fletcher. I have since found out that his visa finally came! He will be leaving in two weeks for Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Monday, October 14th, 2013:
I feel weird writing a Monday on here, but it was Columbus Day and I didn't have access to the library. We did everything like usual on P-Day and didn't have time to do anything. However, our district did make an effort to get out and play soccer and frisbee together at a local park for about an hour before being required to leave. It was great to do something together and build some unity. Unfortunately, during the day, I had the second popped tire on my bike in one week! I finally decided to take it into the bike shop. Apparently, the spot where the valve goes was really sharp from when they first drilled the hole and had sliced two different tires. The shop filed it down for me and gave me a new tube. They were really helpful; I just wish I hadn't had so many bike problems in just the first month. For dinner, Elder Knight and I went to the Ramirez family's house for dinner. We shared one of the new Bible videos about the life of Jesus Christ with them and then boldly challenged them to come back to church, in addition to sharing the gospel with their friends. It was a GREAT lesson, probably one of the best with a member since I have been here.
This week has just been immensely stressful with the passing of a fellow missionary in my own mission. I think he was the thirteenth missionary to pass away this year throughout the whole world. The Lord watches over us, but we aren't invincible as missionaries. We must live every single day as though it is our last. This life is shorter than we may often realize, and that means we have to work even harder to make sure that we are living how God would have us live.
Thank you all for all of your support, encouragement and prayers. Also, Elder Karren, you're more than welcome to use my idea! Hopefully it works out for you! My district here is planning to do the family home evening lesson with the Day of the Dead theme on the 27th, and I will be sure to let you know how it goes! I hope everyone is having a fabulous time at home or in their places of service. I love you all and your faithful examples.
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
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