Hey Everyone!
I hope everyone has had a fantastic week! Today was kind of a monumental day because I am no longer in training and am considered "fully up to speed" on everything. I also found out that half of my district was leaving, we are losing two missionaries from Chino, and I will be with Elder Porter, my district leader, to cover two areas at the same time! Due to transfers this morning, I am short on time and will have to be rather brief in my description of each day.
Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013:
Elder Knight and I spent most of the day trying to contact potentials, but we ended up finding some new potentials as we contacted people in between visiting potentials. Our area has really been hurting from a lack of referrals, so we need some new people to teach. I feel like other people don't always have to work as hard for referrals as we do; we have only received three the entire transfer, despite asking every single person we run into for people that would be interested in listening to us, people that need service, people that have experienced a recent death, etc. We try so hard to get referrals, and yet we never are fortunate with receiving them. At night, we taught Enrique and ended up dropping him. He can't progress unless he lives in accordance with God's commandments, so he was actually the one who suggested that we stop meeting with him every week. It was a really friendly and mutual "parting ways," if you would like to call it that. Enrique told us that he knows the Gospel is true and needs to be baptized, but he told us that we can't do a whole lot to help him fix his situation - that is his job.
Wednesday, December 4th, 2013:
Today I was on exchanges with Elder Porter! We do exchanges once per transfer, so today was my chance to spend the day in my area with the district leader (who is now my new companion). It was a day in which we had numerous appointments set up, but nearly every single one of them fell through. I was really excited to go caroling with the Dos Santos family, especially her less-active husband who was a former professional soccer player and is the uncle of Giovanni Dos Santos, but that didn't work out either! Days like today in missionary work are the days in which we show the Lord our willingness to work for future blessings.
Thursday, December 5th, 2013:
We had district meeting in the morning, like usual. District meeting is a great opportunity to be able to learn and grow as a group of missionaries. Our lesson was about missionary health, and no one could take the lesson seriously. Lessons about health and stress are one of those things that are pretty much common sense and useless to the average person. Needless to say, I didn't really take a whole lot from the particular lesson. None of us know exactly why the mission presidency and APs wanted all of the district leaders in the mission to teach that lesson. All of the missionaries here work really hard and are actually very effective at handling stress. With so many things to do as a missionary, it can get demanding at times, but the important thing to remember is that we cannot work effectively unless we are happy and working with the proper amount of stress. The remainder of the day consisted of trying to contact a large number of people with little success.
Friday, December 6th, 2013:
Weekly planning was quite the burden today because of how discouraged Elder Knight and I were with the potential in the area. We really set out to change the people we go by to visit because it seems worthless to go by the same people ten and eleven times when they tell you to just come back another time. We cleaned out our area book and found old potentials in there from as long ago as seven years. It is really important to keep records up to date and organized so that we are able to work at maximum efficiency and not waste time sorting through old names that should have been removed long before. At night, we went to a ward activity that was hosted by the Elders Quorum and High Priests for all of the adults in the ward. It was actually really fun because they made sure to plan games and activities. The better part was that Elder Low and Elder Porter were able to find a golden investigator and bring him to the activity! His name is Ruben, and he has been church-hopping for two years looking for the truth. He even read about 15 chapters in the Book of Mormon during the first week. He had an awesome time at the activity, and Elder Low and Elder Porter were able to teach him more about the Church after the activity.
Saturday, December 7th, 2013:
Pearl Harbor Day made me think about all of the veterans and active military from our country and how blessed we are to live in this great land; despite the problems we may think we have, we are truly blessed to live in the "land of the free and the home of the brave." Elder Knight and I once again devoted most of our day to contacting potentials. We had a lesson set up with the Martinez family, but that fell through again. It's annoying when people tell you to come by but don't call you for three weeks in a row to say that they're unavailable. At night, we spent a little bit of time talking with Camilo Gomez, the only recent convert in the ward. We are helping him through the repentance process, and he is really growing as a result of his actions. I also got the alarming news at night about transfers: Elder Knight is leaving to the El Malino ward in Pasadena to be a district leader, Elder Low is leaving to Covina West, and Hermana Connelly is leaving to Arroyo Central. We will also be getting Hermana Stohlton to be with Hermana Bardsley. The craziest part was that Elder Porter will be with me here in Chino, and we will cover Chino Central and Chino East by ourselves. It's going to be tough, but it will be exciting!
Sunday, December 8th, 2013:
Church was great because Ruben came and had another awesome experience! He is seriously one of those magical three week investigators that should have heard the Gospel a long time ago because he is ready to hear it. All six of us spent time with him and taught him about different things that happen at church. Elder Knight and I then met with the Sazo family to let them wish Elder Knight goodbye. All of us went to the Christmas Devotional in Spanish at the building, and I caught about half of it. I can understand Spanish almost perfectly, but my mind gets exhausted after very long segments entirely in Spanish. In English, the difference in tone of voice helps me focus better, but it is harder to focus in Spanish when the translators sound monotone most of the time. At night, we all went to the farewell testimonies of all of the missionaries in our mission at the Foothill building in Arcadia. It was so weird to see some of the missionaries I know well departing to go home. Elder Mahoney, for instance, has been my zone leader since I got to the field and has been a great friend for me. It just goes to show how short the course of two years is.
Today was a little hectic with moving everything between apartments, but Elder Porter and I raided the apartment I was in for stuff to use. If it's going to sit vacant for at least a transfer, we decided to take some of the wall decorations and cooking utensils for our use. I'm really excited to serve with him; he is a great missionary and leads by example. I am even more excited to see some more improvement in Chino. The only reason I am still here in Chino is because the mission presidency trusts me, and I want to do all that I can to make Chino the "promised land" that it once was for missionary work.
I love you all and am appreciative of your continual support! I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season and remembering that Christmas is a time to reflect on the birth of the Savior of the world. The Spirit of Christ has been given to every man, and it is our job to help those who are searching for the truth come to know their Redeemer.
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
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