Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Monday, September 22, 2014
One Full Year in the Mission Field - September 22, 2014
Hey Everyone!
On September 17th, I completed one full year in the mission field, and
it has absolutely flown by. It is amazing to see just how much I have
changed since getting to California, and I look forward to another
year of service ahead. I also cannot believe just how quickly this
transfer has gone by. We are already beginning week six, and transfer
calls will be on Saturday evening. Our district thinks that we won't
see that many changes because Hermana Covington and I are the only two
out of six that were here at the beginning of last transfer. However,
we never know what happens, so we will find out everything on
Saturday!
Tuesday, September 16th, 2014:
Every Tuesday, Jose Garcia comes out with Elder Crane and I to help us
out with various lessons for the day. All of our appointments in the
morning fell through once again, so we took Jose Garcia with us to
visit with Richie Rios and talk about the Book of Mormon with him.
Richie is now at the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon, so we
talked a little bit about how the Book of Mormon fulfills a number of
prophecies in Isaiah and reemphasized the importance of studying the
scriptures daily. During the afternoon, we talked with Jose Garcia
about how small and simple means of using technology to share the
Gospel lead to great things in the conversion of others to the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. Elder Crane and I helped him post a message on
Facebook about how he follows Christ in his life. He then joined us
for a quick lesson with Silvia Salgado as we reviewed the importance
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how the knowledge of the Restoration
can bless her family. She has a lot of potential, but she will do
better progressing slowly. Elder Crane and I then went to briefly
visit with Paula Lopez and read a chapter out of the Book of Mormon
with her. Hermano Torres then came by to pick us up and pick up Richie
so that we could go to his house for a family history activity. Our
whole district came with recent converts and less-active members to
eat carne asada with the Torres family and learn how to do family
history work. It was a really good dinner and was a really fun
opportunity to get to know everyone a little bit better while at the
same time participating in an activity that will really help with
retention of members. We then began doing exchanges. It was my first
exchange actually doing the evaluating, so I went with Elder Nelson to
his area in Azusa - West, and Elder Nielsen came to my area to be with
Elder Crane in Azusa - East.
Wednesday, September 17th, 2014:
It was a strange feeling today realizing that I have now been serving
in the mission field for an entire calendar year. Elder Nelson and I
(and also Elder Nielsen) all left for the mission at the same time, so
it was weird for all of us to reflect on the past year in California.
Everyone always says that the day will come when we become "old
missionaries" but I refuse to believe it or accept it; I still feel
like I just got here! We began our day of work by visiting a college
student named Anna, who who is looking for the truth and has her
preconceived notions of what real faith it. It was interesting talking
to her because she is clearly looking for something but doesn't quite
know how to receive an answer or a surety of what she is looking for.
We focused a lot on the importance of praying vocally with the intent
of receiving an answer. I wasn't quite sure why she was opposed to
praying vocally by herself, but some people limit themselves by being
too stubborn to experiment with new things and new ideas. We then went
to teach Hermano Brizuela, who is a recent convert. He has gotten a
little lazy with his reading, so Elder Nelson and I read with him from
the beginning again. It amazes me how little people read in the most
important and most correct book on the planet. We then went contacting
and tried to find a number of potential investigators before having a
lesson with another less-active Hermana named Hermana Casarubias. She
has been a member for nearly thirty years but has never had a calling
in the Church. It just goes to show how important callings are for the
progression of a member. The East LA stake president, President
Esquerra, has the philosophy of asking himself the question of what
the member needs to progress in order to determine what calling they
should be assigned. Elder Nelson and I later went to visit the Sarco
family. They were baptized about three weeks ago but have yet to be
confirmed because of various reasons for not being able to come to
church. One of the kids, James, is full of energy, so it made it a
little difficult to have a structured lesson; regardless, they are
progressing and have a lot of potential to be solid members. We
concluded our evening by teaching a new investigator named Arpola
about the Restoration. She lives with Obispo Martinez and seems like
she has a lot of potential. I learned a ton from Elder Nelson about
how to really work with people and establish a relationship of trust.
He is an excellent missionary and is a fantastic leader. I hope that
he was at least able to learn something from the way I work.
Thursday, September 18th, 2014:
It had been well over four months since our past zone conference, and
they are supposed to have every three months. Today was the first zone
conference with our new mission president, Presidente Villanueva, and
was the first time that I have been able to hear him speak to us about
anything Gospel-related (the only other time was a meeting in which he
introduced himself and his family). I enjoyed having the entire
meeting in Spanish because he was able to talk to us without worrying
about the communication barrier. It kind of seemed like a lot of the
messages that were shared were focused on the needs of the English
missionaries from our mission in particular, so it was hard to relate
to and apply a lot of what was shared. I did, however, enjoy listening
to our two new members of the mission presidency, too. It was the
first meeting that I have ever been a part of where the members of the
mission presidency actually spoke and participated in the meeting. The
presidency under President Becerra often did a lot of the work behind
the scenes; it would appear that Presidente Villanueva will begin
using Presidents Nelson and Yen more actively. The major points
discussed at zone conference were obedience, working with less-active
members and online proselyting, with a specific emphasis on Facebook.
I honestly feel like our district is extremely obedient, and we have
all been working very efficiently with our less-actives for the entire
transfer, so it was hard to take a whole lot away from zone conference
to apply that we haven't already been doing. During the evening, Elder
Crane and I taught Irene Gonzalez by going through the baptismal
interview questions. It is apparent that she has great desires to be
baptized and that she is very ready. Irene also said that she will be
able to come to church on Sunday! I love being able to see the changes
in people as they make and keep commitments to follow the Savior more
fully.
Friday, September 19th, 2014:
Elder Crane and I began our day by finally visiting with Nicasio
again. We had a wonderful lesson, and it appears that he is even more
interested in the message than we had originally thought. He began
asking all of the correct questions and appears to have a sincere
desire to learn about what we believe. We later went to visit Richie
Rios again. He had some awesome news to report to us: he has already
been doing missionary work in his family and with one of his friends!
He told his friend about a service project that we will be doing
tomorrow, and his friend, Fernando, now wants to come help out! It was
great to hear, and it is evidence of how much true conversion to the
Gospel really changes the desires of one's heart. Elder Crane and I
later went by Paula Lopez again. She was kind enough to offer us some
pizza. Paula is probably one of the kindest and sweetest older ladies
that I have ever met. I am constantly amazed at how much I learn from
the members as a missionary, especially the recent converts. During
the evening, Hermana Rayas and her son, Arturo, joined us for a lesson
with Irene Gonzalez. It was a fantastic lesson about the Word of
Wisdom. Irene understood everything very well and already had a
testimony of the principles before we even taught the lesson. Irene
clearly has a flame of desire that is continually growing. We
postponed her baptismal date from this upcoming Sunday (September
28th) to October 12th so that she can receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost right after being baptized, as opposed to having to wait two
weeks with General Conference happening the first weekend in October.
We also planned a trip to the Temple Visitors' Center for this
Saturday.
Saturday, September 20th, 2014:
Elder Crane and I woke right up and then went straight to Richie's
house to meet up with him and his friend, Fernando, to go do service
for the Hipolito family. Fernando was interested in helping us take
out the lawn and clean up the whole year for the Hipolito family, so
he came with us for the better part of four hours doing a service
project. There were about a dozen members who showed up to help at 7
AM, so we were able to complete all of the work that had to be done.
After finishing up with the service, we went straight over to the park
to play soccer. It was a decent turnout, and it was much more fun
playing today, seeing that it wasn't so hot outside. Hermano Sanchez
took us all to Costco again to get hot dogs afterwards. He is such a
kind and sincere person who truly understands and lives the Gospel.
During the afternoon, Demetrio and Eligia Gonzalez, a couple of
investigators, dropped us by sending their ninety-four year-old mother
out to the door to tell us that we speak with the tongue of the devil.
It was one of the rudest remarks that I have heard on my entire
mission, and the funniest part about it was that they didn't have the
courage to tell us straight to our face. It's interesting to see how
scared people are of us. During the evening, Elder Crane and I were
finally able to find Gerardo Morales again. We emphasized the
importance of our message by talking about a living prophet and how he
will be able to watch General Conference in two weeks. He was very
surprised and immediately understood the significance of a modern-day
prophet. He prayed at the end of the lesson to know if Joseph Smith
was a prophet. We finished our evening by sharing "The Restoration"
video with Irene Gonzalez and also talking about having a living
prophet. I'm really excited for General Conference in two weeks, and
it is a great tool to use when talking with people about the
significance of the Restoration.
Sunday, September 21t, 2014:
For the first time since the end of May (well before I arrived here in
Azusa), we were able to have an investigator come to church! Irene was
able to come to church, and she loved it. The Maganas spoke, and their
talks were very powerful. Everything at church just seemed to flow
very well today, ward council included. After church, Elder Crane and
I were finally able to go visit Michael Martinez again. We shared a
talk with him about how to study the Book of Mormon. It is entitled "A
Reservoir of Living Water" by David A. Bednar and is very informative.
Michael is doing very well, and seminary is keeping him focused on
reading his scriptures. We then went by Paula Lopez again to watch
"The Restoration" video with her for about ten minutes. Our zone is
really focusing on the importance of conversion right now, and we are
really witnessing the changes day by day of the people that we are
working with. Elder Crane and I then went to eat with the Maganas.
They are such a kind family, and we have a really strong relationship
with them. I have been able to be a part of helping them return back
to church and stay strong; I could see Hermano Magana being called as
the new ward mission leader when Hermano Torres has to leave. True
repentance is a key step in the Gospel, and seeing people live the
Gospel is the greatest blessing as a missionary. We then concluded our
evening by teaching Irene Gonzalez about temples and family history
work as we prepare to go with her to the Temple Visitors' Center with
her in Los Angeles next Saturday. She loves learning and growing, and
I'm really excited to be able to help her progress towards the waters
of baptism on October 12th. I called the rest of the district and also
talked to the zone leaders after daily planning; it was interesting to
hear that everyone has been struggling, even though everyone is
working even harder and being even more obedient. Patience will be the
key going forward.
Today was our celebration of Hermana Covington's birthday; she will be
turning twenty tomorrow. We celebrated by eating Costco pizza at the
park, and the other Elders made a tres leches cake to eat, which was
delicious! It was a fun and relaxing day at the park, which will be
the final P-Day of this transfer as hard as that is to believe. I am
excited to see what happens this next transfer! I appreciate all of
your love and support! I hope that everyone has a fantastic week!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
On September 17th, I completed one full year in the mission field, and
it has absolutely flown by. It is amazing to see just how much I have
changed since getting to California, and I look forward to another
year of service ahead. I also cannot believe just how quickly this
transfer has gone by. We are already beginning week six, and transfer
calls will be on Saturday evening. Our district thinks that we won't
see that many changes because Hermana Covington and I are the only two
out of six that were here at the beginning of last transfer. However,
we never know what happens, so we will find out everything on
Saturday!
Tuesday, September 16th, 2014:
Every Tuesday, Jose Garcia comes out with Elder Crane and I to help us
out with various lessons for the day. All of our appointments in the
morning fell through once again, so we took Jose Garcia with us to
visit with Richie Rios and talk about the Book of Mormon with him.
Richie is now at the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon, so we
talked a little bit about how the Book of Mormon fulfills a number of
prophecies in Isaiah and reemphasized the importance of studying the
scriptures daily. During the afternoon, we talked with Jose Garcia
about how small and simple means of using technology to share the
Gospel lead to great things in the conversion of others to the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. Elder Crane and I helped him post a message on
Facebook about how he follows Christ in his life. He then joined us
for a quick lesson with Silvia Salgado as we reviewed the importance
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how the knowledge of the Restoration
can bless her family. She has a lot of potential, but she will do
better progressing slowly. Elder Crane and I then went to briefly
visit with Paula Lopez and read a chapter out of the Book of Mormon
with her. Hermano Torres then came by to pick us up and pick up Richie
so that we could go to his house for a family history activity. Our
whole district came with recent converts and less-active members to
eat carne asada with the Torres family and learn how to do family
history work. It was a really good dinner and was a really fun
opportunity to get to know everyone a little bit better while at the
same time participating in an activity that will really help with
retention of members. We then began doing exchanges. It was my first
exchange actually doing the evaluating, so I went with Elder Nelson to
his area in Azusa - West, and Elder Nielsen came to my area to be with
Elder Crane in Azusa - East.
Wednesday, September 17th, 2014:
It was a strange feeling today realizing that I have now been serving
in the mission field for an entire calendar year. Elder Nelson and I
(and also Elder Nielsen) all left for the mission at the same time, so
it was weird for all of us to reflect on the past year in California.
Everyone always says that the day will come when we become "old
missionaries" but I refuse to believe it or accept it; I still feel
like I just got here! We began our day of work by visiting a college
student named Anna, who who is looking for the truth and has her
preconceived notions of what real faith it. It was interesting talking
to her because she is clearly looking for something but doesn't quite
know how to receive an answer or a surety of what she is looking for.
We focused a lot on the importance of praying vocally with the intent
of receiving an answer. I wasn't quite sure why she was opposed to
praying vocally by herself, but some people limit themselves by being
too stubborn to experiment with new things and new ideas. We then went
to teach Hermano Brizuela, who is a recent convert. He has gotten a
little lazy with his reading, so Elder Nelson and I read with him from
the beginning again. It amazes me how little people read in the most
important and most correct book on the planet. We then went contacting
and tried to find a number of potential investigators before having a
lesson with another less-active Hermana named Hermana Casarubias. She
has been a member for nearly thirty years but has never had a calling
in the Church. It just goes to show how important callings are for the
progression of a member. The East LA stake president, President
Esquerra, has the philosophy of asking himself the question of what
the member needs to progress in order to determine what calling they
should be assigned. Elder Nelson and I later went to visit the Sarco
family. They were baptized about three weeks ago but have yet to be
confirmed because of various reasons for not being able to come to
church. One of the kids, James, is full of energy, so it made it a
little difficult to have a structured lesson; regardless, they are
progressing and have a lot of potential to be solid members. We
concluded our evening by teaching a new investigator named Arpola
about the Restoration. She lives with Obispo Martinez and seems like
she has a lot of potential. I learned a ton from Elder Nelson about
how to really work with people and establish a relationship of trust.
He is an excellent missionary and is a fantastic leader. I hope that
he was at least able to learn something from the way I work.
Thursday, September 18th, 2014:
It had been well over four months since our past zone conference, and
they are supposed to have every three months. Today was the first zone
conference with our new mission president, Presidente Villanueva, and
was the first time that I have been able to hear him speak to us about
anything Gospel-related (the only other time was a meeting in which he
introduced himself and his family). I enjoyed having the entire
meeting in Spanish because he was able to talk to us without worrying
about the communication barrier. It kind of seemed like a lot of the
messages that were shared were focused on the needs of the English
missionaries from our mission in particular, so it was hard to relate
to and apply a lot of what was shared. I did, however, enjoy listening
to our two new members of the mission presidency, too. It was the
first meeting that I have ever been a part of where the members of the
mission presidency actually spoke and participated in the meeting. The
presidency under President Becerra often did a lot of the work behind
the scenes; it would appear that Presidente Villanueva will begin
using Presidents Nelson and Yen more actively. The major points
discussed at zone conference were obedience, working with less-active
members and online proselyting, with a specific emphasis on Facebook.
I honestly feel like our district is extremely obedient, and we have
all been working very efficiently with our less-actives for the entire
transfer, so it was hard to take a whole lot away from zone conference
to apply that we haven't already been doing. During the evening, Elder
Crane and I taught Irene Gonzalez by going through the baptismal
interview questions. It is apparent that she has great desires to be
baptized and that she is very ready. Irene also said that she will be
able to come to church on Sunday! I love being able to see the changes
in people as they make and keep commitments to follow the Savior more
fully.
Friday, September 19th, 2014:
Elder Crane and I began our day by finally visiting with Nicasio
again. We had a wonderful lesson, and it appears that he is even more
interested in the message than we had originally thought. He began
asking all of the correct questions and appears to have a sincere
desire to learn about what we believe. We later went to visit Richie
Rios again. He had some awesome news to report to us: he has already
been doing missionary work in his family and with one of his friends!
He told his friend about a service project that we will be doing
tomorrow, and his friend, Fernando, now wants to come help out! It was
great to hear, and it is evidence of how much true conversion to the
Gospel really changes the desires of one's heart. Elder Crane and I
later went by Paula Lopez again. She was kind enough to offer us some
pizza. Paula is probably one of the kindest and sweetest older ladies
that I have ever met. I am constantly amazed at how much I learn from
the members as a missionary, especially the recent converts. During
the evening, Hermana Rayas and her son, Arturo, joined us for a lesson
with Irene Gonzalez. It was a fantastic lesson about the Word of
Wisdom. Irene understood everything very well and already had a
testimony of the principles before we even taught the lesson. Irene
clearly has a flame of desire that is continually growing. We
postponed her baptismal date from this upcoming Sunday (September
28th) to October 12th so that she can receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost right after being baptized, as opposed to having to wait two
weeks with General Conference happening the first weekend in October.
We also planned a trip to the Temple Visitors' Center for this
Saturday.
Saturday, September 20th, 2014:
Elder Crane and I woke right up and then went straight to Richie's
house to meet up with him and his friend, Fernando, to go do service
for the Hipolito family. Fernando was interested in helping us take
out the lawn and clean up the whole year for the Hipolito family, so
he came with us for the better part of four hours doing a service
project. There were about a dozen members who showed up to help at 7
AM, so we were able to complete all of the work that had to be done.
After finishing up with the service, we went straight over to the park
to play soccer. It was a decent turnout, and it was much more fun
playing today, seeing that it wasn't so hot outside. Hermano Sanchez
took us all to Costco again to get hot dogs afterwards. He is such a
kind and sincere person who truly understands and lives the Gospel.
During the afternoon, Demetrio and Eligia Gonzalez, a couple of
investigators, dropped us by sending their ninety-four year-old mother
out to the door to tell us that we speak with the tongue of the devil.
It was one of the rudest remarks that I have heard on my entire
mission, and the funniest part about it was that they didn't have the
courage to tell us straight to our face. It's interesting to see how
scared people are of us. During the evening, Elder Crane and I were
finally able to find Gerardo Morales again. We emphasized the
importance of our message by talking about a living prophet and how he
will be able to watch General Conference in two weeks. He was very
surprised and immediately understood the significance of a modern-day
prophet. He prayed at the end of the lesson to know if Joseph Smith
was a prophet. We finished our evening by sharing "The Restoration"
video with Irene Gonzalez and also talking about having a living
prophet. I'm really excited for General Conference in two weeks, and
it is a great tool to use when talking with people about the
significance of the Restoration.
Sunday, September 21t, 2014:
For the first time since the end of May (well before I arrived here in
Azusa), we were able to have an investigator come to church! Irene was
able to come to church, and she loved it. The Maganas spoke, and their
talks were very powerful. Everything at church just seemed to flow
very well today, ward council included. After church, Elder Crane and
I were finally able to go visit Michael Martinez again. We shared a
talk with him about how to study the Book of Mormon. It is entitled "A
Reservoir of Living Water" by David A. Bednar and is very informative.
Michael is doing very well, and seminary is keeping him focused on
reading his scriptures. We then went by Paula Lopez again to watch
"The Restoration" video with her for about ten minutes. Our zone is
really focusing on the importance of conversion right now, and we are
really witnessing the changes day by day of the people that we are
working with. Elder Crane and I then went to eat with the Maganas.
They are such a kind family, and we have a really strong relationship
with them. I have been able to be a part of helping them return back
to church and stay strong; I could see Hermano Magana being called as
the new ward mission leader when Hermano Torres has to leave. True
repentance is a key step in the Gospel, and seeing people live the
Gospel is the greatest blessing as a missionary. We then concluded our
evening by teaching Irene Gonzalez about temples and family history
work as we prepare to go with her to the Temple Visitors' Center with
her in Los Angeles next Saturday. She loves learning and growing, and
I'm really excited to be able to help her progress towards the waters
of baptism on October 12th. I called the rest of the district and also
talked to the zone leaders after daily planning; it was interesting to
hear that everyone has been struggling, even though everyone is
working even harder and being even more obedient. Patience will be the
key going forward.
Today was our celebration of Hermana Covington's birthday; she will be
turning twenty tomorrow. We celebrated by eating Costco pizza at the
park, and the other Elders made a tres leches cake to eat, which was
delicious! It was a fun and relaxing day at the park, which will be
the final P-Day of this transfer as hard as that is to believe. I am
excited to see what happens this next transfer! I appreciate all of
your love and support! I hope that everyone has a fantastic week!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
Monday, September 15, 2014
Hottest Week of the Year! - September 15, 2014
Hey Everyone!
I never understood what people meant when they said that California is
bipolar when it comes to weather, but I think that I now understand!
California seems to be two months behind everyone else. When one would
think that it should be cooling down, of course California chooses to
make it the hottest week of the year. Suffice it to say, Elder Crane
and I are enjoying our AC inside today and trying to prevent being out
in the 107 degree weather as much as possible. The coolest day this
week is supposed to be 103, and we are going to be out on bike during
a lot of it. Elder Crane and I are having a wonderful time together,
and we are continually getting busier and busier, which is exactly
what we want as missionaries. Here is the rundown of the past week:
Tuesday, September 9th, 2014:
Today was full of appointments and lessons, which made for a very
hectic (in a good way) day. Jose Garcia came with us in the morning to
teach Demetrio and Eligia Gonzalez. We weren't sure how solid that
they would be, but the lesson was very spiritual. The Spirit was
present, and I think that Elder Crane and I are really improving in
our abilities to bring the Spirit into our lessons, in addition to
better teaching to the needs of investigators. We then came back to
the apartment for a video call with the zone leaders, sister trainer
(Hermana Perez) and other district leader in the zone (Elder Tovar) to
finalize the plans for zone meeting on Thursday. It is much different
being in on all of the planning that happens to help everyone out in
the zone. The video call was a very effective meeting, and I am quite
optimistic about Thursday's zone meeting. Elder Crane and I then went
back to have lunch with Paula Lopez and teach her about the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. She is such a sweet, older lady and is progressing
monumentally as a result of us coming by to visit her. We then went to
Jose Garcia's house. He took Elder Crane and I to pick up a new bus
pass for me before we returned to teach him about how he can better
use Facebook to share his testimony. He is such a great member and is
always looking to help us. After leaving Jose's house, Elder Crane and
I went to teach Obi Jimenez about "Being Quick to Observe." Part of
the gift of discernment from our Heavenly Father is being observant of
not only our surroundings but also of the commandments of the Lord. We
then went to visit Richie Rios. I always say it, but it is so true
that Richie is the epitome of how much the Gospel can truly change
lives. The final lesson of the day was teaching the Plan of Salvation
to Irene Gonzalez. Jose Garcia came with us again to help us with the
lesson, and it was very powerful. There is a special spirit that
members bring when they testify of what we share.
Wednesday, September 10th, 2014:
Elder Crane and I decided to review the Restoration with Oscar Peralta
today because we felt like he could use a little refresher on the most
basic doctrines of the Church. It was an awesome lesson, and we helped
him answer his own concerns and questions about the need for an
apostasy. We later went to visit Richie again and read out of 2 Nephi
9 with him. He always asks very thoughtful questions and is ready to
learn. Developing a habit of reading in the Book of Mormon daily is
the best way to become converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to
continually become even more converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Elder Crane and I later brought some Book of Mormon audio CD's to
Paula Lopez so that she can listen to the Book of Mormon without
worrying about her glasses that she lost about two weeks ago. She was
very appreciative of our help and was very exciting to begin listening
to the Book of Mormon. Elder Crane ran into some more bike problems
later in the day. I feel so bad for him because it seems like he has
had nothing but problems every single day with his bike since arriving
in Azusa. Fred Peralta took us to the bike store (again) so that we
could pick up some more inner tubes and parts for Elder Crane's bike.
I think the people that work there know us by name now after how many
times we have stopped in there during this transfer alone. Hermano
Torres later came to pick us up and also pick up Richie to do some
family history work with Richie at the church before correlation. We
are trying to help him begin his family history so that he can begin
to prepare to go to the temple and do vicarious work for his
ancestors. We finished off the evening with correlation meeting. Our
district seems to be doing very well, and I love how united everyone
is in our vision to push the work forward.
Thursday, September 11th, 2014:
It was a sad thought to think that it has now been thirteen years
since the terrorist attacks. At zone meeting, we observed a moment of
silence in memory of those who lost their lives. The topic of the
meeting was how we can focus on the conversion of our investigators
more and ensure that they are exercising faith unto repentance, rather
than just stepping past the first two and entering the waters of
baptism. Elder Merrill and Elder Perez did a fantastic job of teaching
the importance of loving our investigators enough to postpone their
baptism, if needed, to ensure that our investigators are truly
becoming converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not just convinced
of what we share or converted to us as missionaries. I think that our
entire mission can improve on teaching to the needs of investigators
and really helping them become converted. On the way back to Azusa,
our district stopped at In-N-Out Burger for lunch to eat together. We
definitely have a feeling and sense of unity that wasn't there at the
beginning of this transfer or at the beginning of last transfer. Elder
Crane and I went to visit Hermano Carmona for a few minutes, and he is
planning to come and help us out tomorrow afternoon with a couple of
lessons. During the evening, all three of the appointments that Elder
Crane and I had set up fell through. I have been doing a forty-day
fast from complaining, trying to use more faith-filled words and being
more optimistic and happy overall, so the evening was definitely a
test of my dedication to my forty-day fast. I am grateful for the
wonderful messages that were shared in zone meeting, and they
definitely helped me be grateful for the difficult day that we had
today after zone meeting.
Friday, September 12th, 2014:
Today was another tough day with appointments falling through. Elder
Crane and I taught Oscar Peralta about the Plan of Salvation and about
1 Nephi 15 after all of our morning appointments fell through. Oscar
understands everything very well and was asking some very intelligent
questions. After our lesson, Fred took all three of us to a Vietnamese
place to eat a popular food called pho. As Oscar like to call pho, it
is kind of like a five-star "top ramen." I didn't know that "top
ramen" and "five-star" could be placed in the same sentence, but pho
makes it happen. Elder Crane and I then went to visit Paula Lopez
again and listen to a couple of chapters of King Benjamin's speech in
Mosiah with her. The more we read and listen with her, the more she
loves learning about the Gospel. She is able to feel the Spirit very
easily, and it really helps her understand so much more. Elder Crane
and I then went to teach Obi Jimenez and read a talk by Elder Bednar,
entitled "A Reservoir of Living Water." It is a talk that I would
recommend that everyone read; it teaches about how to study the Book
of Mormon and get more out of it when we study. All of our
appointments fell through during the evening again, so Elder Crane and
I decided to end our day by visiting with Richie Rios. We answered a
lot of his questions about the organization of the Church and how
everything with the leadership of the Church works. His progress is so
remarkable.
Saturday, September 13th, 2014:
Soccer was a lot of fun to play in the morning, despite the fact that
it was really hot and that it was a smaller group to play than normal.
Hermano Sanchez offered to feed our whole district mole after playing,
so we all joined his family for a big lunch. It was delicious, and I
really enjoyed getting to know all of them better. Their whole family
is really humble and loves the missionaries. As we were getting ready
to leave, Hermano Sanchez gave all of us a compliment that may have
been the most heart-felt and sincere compliment that I have ever
received: he told all of us that we are his "angelitos" and that he
tries to follow our examples because we bring spiritual light into his
life that cannot be purchased with money. I was so humbled and
grateful after hearing him speak such sincere words. People like
Hermano Sanchez are the reason that I choose to do missionary work; if
I can be the means of helping at least some person grow closer to the
Savior, all of my sacrifices and struggles would be worth it. During
the evening, Elder Crane and I were able to have a brief lesson about
the importance of attending church with Gerardo Morales. His wife,
Veronica, apparently talked to her parents about the Church, and her
parents have been trying to persuade her to remain Catholic, even
though the family never goes to mass or practices their beliefs. We
are really hoping to continue working with both of them; they have so
much potential and are extremely prepared. I think that our lesson
about church attendance with Gerardo will really help him build up the
desire to know if the Church is true. Elder Crane and I then concluded
our day by teaching Irene Gonzalez about the importance of attending
church. Her understanding of everything is very good, and it sounds
like she is very close to resolving her problem of not being able to
attend church. She has a great desire to enter the waters of baptism,
and I'm very excited for her to be able to keep continuing forward in
the Gospel.
Sunday, September 14th, 2014:
Church was really good, especially because Elder Nelson and Hermano
Sanchez both spoke during Sacrament Meeting about the importance of
keeping the basic commandments of the Sabbath Day and Tithing. It was
a good reminder about the eternal importance of keeping God's
commandments always. During the afternoon, Elder Crane and I went out
looking for less-active members that no one knows. What made the
afternoon unbearable was the 106 degree heat. We prayed for some kind
of a miracle to help us be able to be more effective doing the Lord's
work, and a couple stopped and offered us a ride. They said that they
were Catholic but that they knew a lot of people who are members of
the Church that are their good friends. Even though we weren't able to
find anyone at home, it was wonderful to see the small miracle when we
really needed it. During the evening, Elder Crane and I visited the
Magana family again. They expressed to us how much they love having us
come over, specifically Elder Crane and I. It is so humbling to see
that members respect us so much and that we are able to build such a
strong relationship with them. We have been able to help the Maganas
in their transition back to church. Hermano Magana came with us during
the evening to try to teach a few lessons to various investigators and
potential investigators, but no one was at home for us to be able to
talk to. It was a tough week with appointments falling through for us.
We returned back to the house, and I then did weekly calls.
Overall, it was slower than we would have hoped, but that was due to
many people canceling appointments. Elder Crane and I are both really
focused and having a wonderful time together. I honestly think that it
has gotten more difficult for us as we have become better teachers,
which just means that the Lord is really pushing us and letting us
grow. We are also both working on developing our talents (or trying to
create a new talent): Elder Crane is learning the guitar, and I am
going to begin learning the ukulele this week. We figure that because
neither of us are musically-inclined, why not try to change that? It
will be fun to begin learning a new skill. I hope everyone is having a
wonderful week and is enjoying football season! Have a great week,
everyone!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
I never understood what people meant when they said that California is
bipolar when it comes to weather, but I think that I now understand!
California seems to be two months behind everyone else. When one would
think that it should be cooling down, of course California chooses to
make it the hottest week of the year. Suffice it to say, Elder Crane
and I are enjoying our AC inside today and trying to prevent being out
in the 107 degree weather as much as possible. The coolest day this
week is supposed to be 103, and we are going to be out on bike during
a lot of it. Elder Crane and I are having a wonderful time together,
and we are continually getting busier and busier, which is exactly
what we want as missionaries. Here is the rundown of the past week:
Tuesday, September 9th, 2014:
Today was full of appointments and lessons, which made for a very
hectic (in a good way) day. Jose Garcia came with us in the morning to
teach Demetrio and Eligia Gonzalez. We weren't sure how solid that
they would be, but the lesson was very spiritual. The Spirit was
present, and I think that Elder Crane and I are really improving in
our abilities to bring the Spirit into our lessons, in addition to
better teaching to the needs of investigators. We then came back to
the apartment for a video call with the zone leaders, sister trainer
(Hermana Perez) and other district leader in the zone (Elder Tovar) to
finalize the plans for zone meeting on Thursday. It is much different
being in on all of the planning that happens to help everyone out in
the zone. The video call was a very effective meeting, and I am quite
optimistic about Thursday's zone meeting. Elder Crane and I then went
back to have lunch with Paula Lopez and teach her about the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. She is such a sweet, older lady and is progressing
monumentally as a result of us coming by to visit her. We then went to
Jose Garcia's house. He took Elder Crane and I to pick up a new bus
pass for me before we returned to teach him about how he can better
use Facebook to share his testimony. He is such a great member and is
always looking to help us. After leaving Jose's house, Elder Crane and
I went to teach Obi Jimenez about "Being Quick to Observe." Part of
the gift of discernment from our Heavenly Father is being observant of
not only our surroundings but also of the commandments of the Lord. We
then went to visit Richie Rios. I always say it, but it is so true
that Richie is the epitome of how much the Gospel can truly change
lives. The final lesson of the day was teaching the Plan of Salvation
to Irene Gonzalez. Jose Garcia came with us again to help us with the
lesson, and it was very powerful. There is a special spirit that
members bring when they testify of what we share.
Wednesday, September 10th, 2014:
Elder Crane and I decided to review the Restoration with Oscar Peralta
today because we felt like he could use a little refresher on the most
basic doctrines of the Church. It was an awesome lesson, and we helped
him answer his own concerns and questions about the need for an
apostasy. We later went to visit Richie again and read out of 2 Nephi
9 with him. He always asks very thoughtful questions and is ready to
learn. Developing a habit of reading in the Book of Mormon daily is
the best way to become converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to
continually become even more converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Elder Crane and I later brought some Book of Mormon audio CD's to
Paula Lopez so that she can listen to the Book of Mormon without
worrying about her glasses that she lost about two weeks ago. She was
very appreciative of our help and was very exciting to begin listening
to the Book of Mormon. Elder Crane ran into some more bike problems
later in the day. I feel so bad for him because it seems like he has
had nothing but problems every single day with his bike since arriving
in Azusa. Fred Peralta took us to the bike store (again) so that we
could pick up some more inner tubes and parts for Elder Crane's bike.
I think the people that work there know us by name now after how many
times we have stopped in there during this transfer alone. Hermano
Torres later came to pick us up and also pick up Richie to do some
family history work with Richie at the church before correlation. We
are trying to help him begin his family history so that he can begin
to prepare to go to the temple and do vicarious work for his
ancestors. We finished off the evening with correlation meeting. Our
district seems to be doing very well, and I love how united everyone
is in our vision to push the work forward.
Thursday, September 11th, 2014:
It was a sad thought to think that it has now been thirteen years
since the terrorist attacks. At zone meeting, we observed a moment of
silence in memory of those who lost their lives. The topic of the
meeting was how we can focus on the conversion of our investigators
more and ensure that they are exercising faith unto repentance, rather
than just stepping past the first two and entering the waters of
baptism. Elder Merrill and Elder Perez did a fantastic job of teaching
the importance of loving our investigators enough to postpone their
baptism, if needed, to ensure that our investigators are truly
becoming converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not just convinced
of what we share or converted to us as missionaries. I think that our
entire mission can improve on teaching to the needs of investigators
and really helping them become converted. On the way back to Azusa,
our district stopped at In-N-Out Burger for lunch to eat together. We
definitely have a feeling and sense of unity that wasn't there at the
beginning of this transfer or at the beginning of last transfer. Elder
Crane and I went to visit Hermano Carmona for a few minutes, and he is
planning to come and help us out tomorrow afternoon with a couple of
lessons. During the evening, all three of the appointments that Elder
Crane and I had set up fell through. I have been doing a forty-day
fast from complaining, trying to use more faith-filled words and being
more optimistic and happy overall, so the evening was definitely a
test of my dedication to my forty-day fast. I am grateful for the
wonderful messages that were shared in zone meeting, and they
definitely helped me be grateful for the difficult day that we had
today after zone meeting.
Friday, September 12th, 2014:
Today was another tough day with appointments falling through. Elder
Crane and I taught Oscar Peralta about the Plan of Salvation and about
1 Nephi 15 after all of our morning appointments fell through. Oscar
understands everything very well and was asking some very intelligent
questions. After our lesson, Fred took all three of us to a Vietnamese
place to eat a popular food called pho. As Oscar like to call pho, it
is kind of like a five-star "top ramen." I didn't know that "top
ramen" and "five-star" could be placed in the same sentence, but pho
makes it happen. Elder Crane and I then went to visit Paula Lopez
again and listen to a couple of chapters of King Benjamin's speech in
Mosiah with her. The more we read and listen with her, the more she
loves learning about the Gospel. She is able to feel the Spirit very
easily, and it really helps her understand so much more. Elder Crane
and I then went to teach Obi Jimenez and read a talk by Elder Bednar,
entitled "A Reservoir of Living Water." It is a talk that I would
recommend that everyone read; it teaches about how to study the Book
of Mormon and get more out of it when we study. All of our
appointments fell through during the evening again, so Elder Crane and
I decided to end our day by visiting with Richie Rios. We answered a
lot of his questions about the organization of the Church and how
everything with the leadership of the Church works. His progress is so
remarkable.
Saturday, September 13th, 2014:
Soccer was a lot of fun to play in the morning, despite the fact that
it was really hot and that it was a smaller group to play than normal.
Hermano Sanchez offered to feed our whole district mole after playing,
so we all joined his family for a big lunch. It was delicious, and I
really enjoyed getting to know all of them better. Their whole family
is really humble and loves the missionaries. As we were getting ready
to leave, Hermano Sanchez gave all of us a compliment that may have
been the most heart-felt and sincere compliment that I have ever
received: he told all of us that we are his "angelitos" and that he
tries to follow our examples because we bring spiritual light into his
life that cannot be purchased with money. I was so humbled and
grateful after hearing him speak such sincere words. People like
Hermano Sanchez are the reason that I choose to do missionary work; if
I can be the means of helping at least some person grow closer to the
Savior, all of my sacrifices and struggles would be worth it. During
the evening, Elder Crane and I were able to have a brief lesson about
the importance of attending church with Gerardo Morales. His wife,
Veronica, apparently talked to her parents about the Church, and her
parents have been trying to persuade her to remain Catholic, even
though the family never goes to mass or practices their beliefs. We
are really hoping to continue working with both of them; they have so
much potential and are extremely prepared. I think that our lesson
about church attendance with Gerardo will really help him build up the
desire to know if the Church is true. Elder Crane and I then concluded
our day by teaching Irene Gonzalez about the importance of attending
church. Her understanding of everything is very good, and it sounds
like she is very close to resolving her problem of not being able to
attend church. She has a great desire to enter the waters of baptism,
and I'm very excited for her to be able to keep continuing forward in
the Gospel.
Sunday, September 14th, 2014:
Church was really good, especially because Elder Nelson and Hermano
Sanchez both spoke during Sacrament Meeting about the importance of
keeping the basic commandments of the Sabbath Day and Tithing. It was
a good reminder about the eternal importance of keeping God's
commandments always. During the afternoon, Elder Crane and I went out
looking for less-active members that no one knows. What made the
afternoon unbearable was the 106 degree heat. We prayed for some kind
of a miracle to help us be able to be more effective doing the Lord's
work, and a couple stopped and offered us a ride. They said that they
were Catholic but that they knew a lot of people who are members of
the Church that are their good friends. Even though we weren't able to
find anyone at home, it was wonderful to see the small miracle when we
really needed it. During the evening, Elder Crane and I visited the
Magana family again. They expressed to us how much they love having us
come over, specifically Elder Crane and I. It is so humbling to see
that members respect us so much and that we are able to build such a
strong relationship with them. We have been able to help the Maganas
in their transition back to church. Hermano Magana came with us during
the evening to try to teach a few lessons to various investigators and
potential investigators, but no one was at home for us to be able to
talk to. It was a tough week with appointments falling through for us.
We returned back to the house, and I then did weekly calls.
Overall, it was slower than we would have hoped, but that was due to
many people canceling appointments. Elder Crane and I are both really
focused and having a wonderful time together. I honestly think that it
has gotten more difficult for us as we have become better teachers,
which just means that the Lord is really pushing us and letting us
grow. We are also both working on developing our talents (or trying to
create a new talent): Elder Crane is learning the guitar, and I am
going to begin learning the ukulele this week. We figure that because
neither of us are musically-inclined, why not try to change that? It
will be fun to begin learning a new skill. I hope everyone is having a
wonderful week and is enjoying football season! Have a great week,
everyone!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
An Emergency Transfer and a New Assignment - September 8, 2014
Hey Everyone!
This week was a little crazy and unexpected! Before anyone asks, yes,
I am still in Azusa. However, I was affected by an emergency transfer
and have now received a special assignment: I was called as the new
district leader of Azusa. It is always very scary when the Assistants
to the President call because the first question I always ask myself
is, "Oh, no, what did I do wrong?" Usually, they only call to correct
mistakes (and I haven't ever been called by them before, except to be
called as a trainer a few transfers back), so I was really scared when
the phone rang. Thank goodness, however, that they said that
Presidente Villanueva has a lot of trust in me to be able to help lead
this district! I felt extremely nervous and unprepared for the
assignment, but I guess the Lord answered my plea for greater faith in
a way that I wasn't expecting. I will now need to exercise faith to
rely on Him to help me be an instrument in His hands.
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014:
I have been working very hard to try to improve my own personality
traits to be able to testify with greater power and conviction of what
we share as missionaries. I stumbled across a talk at lunch entitled
"Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon" that really helped me see the depth
of the Book of Mormon as a Semitic book. I don't really encourage
everyone to read that talk, as it isn't meant for anyone who hasn't
read the Book of Mormon before, but it shows the incredible literary
structure in the book and points out the key messages hidden within
the structure of the writing. I am literally appalled that the Book of
Mormon can be so well understood by everyone and, at the same time,
contain such jewels and treasures as the Semitic literary device of
chiasmus. Suffice it to say, my testimony of the Book of Mormon grew
immensely as a result of reading and then applying the talk. Elder
Crane and I began our day by reading 1 Nephi 13 with Oscar Peralta. It
is crazy to see how vividly Nephi depicts the dream of seeing the
Apostasy of the Church, the colonizing of America and the Restoration.
I even saw a verse that utilized chiasmus within the chapter, which
was really cool to be able to apply what I had just learned from the
talk. We then went over to Richie Rios' house to review the
Restoration of the Gospel with him. We are now trying to go through
the lessons with Richie and Paula again to help them be fundamentally
sound in the Gospel. We went a little more in-depth about the
importance of Priesthood authority, and it finally seemed to "click"
for Richie. We then stopped by Jose Garcia. He is such a humble and
sincere man, and I love working with him. Elder Crane and I shared a
short parable called "Find Me," which describes the divine importance
of missionary work. We then went by Paula Lopez to review the Plan of
Salvation with her. She seems to know and remember the doctrine quite
well. Before heading off to dinner, Elder Crane and I shared a talk
with Obi Jimenez entitled "Remember Lot's Wife." We talked about not
looking back to the past and about having faith that tomorrow will be
a better day. It is always important to remember that the Lord knows
what is in store for the future. Elder Crane and I then went to eat
dinner with Mayra Lopez. It was a delicious meal, and we were able to
share the "Find Me" parable with her, too. We spent the rest of the
evening looking for less-active members and potential investigators
without much luck. We were able to set up a small service project with
Hermana Castillo for tomorrow, though. During the evening, I received
the call that I would become the new district leader. Our new district
will be as follows: Elder Crane, Elder Nelson, Elder Nielsen, Hermana
Covington, Hermana Perez and I.
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014:
During the morning, Elder Crane and I taught Oscar again by finishing
1 Nephi 13 with him. His Gospel knowledge seems a little bit lower
than we had thought before, so we will probably begin reviewing all of
the lessons with him again, too. Elder Crane and I then went to read
in the Book of Mormon with Richie again. He really knows how to ask
good questions and truly understands how to receive answers from God.
We then went to paint a few cabinets for Yolanda Castillo for about an
hour. It was the first time since coming to Azusa that we were able to
even have a service project. We offer and try to go do service for
every single person that we talk to, but no one lets us do service for
them. Hermana Castillo bought us pizza after we finished, so we
enjoyed eating with her and getting to know her a little bit better.
Elder Crane and I then went to talk with Paula Lopez again and read
from the Book of Mormon. She loves having us come by, and we read to
her today, seeing that she misplaced her glasses. Paula is a sweet,
older lady who tells us that she loves us more than her family because
we take an interest in her life and talk to her "about the things of
God." We were delighted to hear that her family has been treating her
better, too, because the family was diametrically opposed to her
getting baptized and wouldn't even talk to her for a long time after
the baptism. The family is now treating her better, however, because
they see the changes that she has made as a result of living the
Gospel more fully. It was a testimony-builder to me of how the Gospel
truly has the power to change lives. We finished off our evening by
sharing the "Find Me" parable with the Gasca family.
Thursday, September 4th, 2014:
The Hermanas both had both of their bike tires slashed last night, so
Elder Crane and I went over to their apartment to help repair and
patch them up as best as we could. It is quite unfortunate and
discouraging to see people do something so harsh to someone who is
just trying to serve others, but that is the world in which we live.
We did our best to patch them up, but they will need to get a little
more maintenance to fill in the holes in the tires themselves. We then
all left for district meeting. I was quite nervous, seeing that I
would be teaching for the first time ever. I was assigned to teach
about how the mobile devices have helped us fulfill our missionary
purpose. I related the story of David and Goliath to the iPads being a
"smooth stone" that adds to our arsenal with which we can slay the
needs of our investigators. It was a fun lesson to teach, and I think
everyone took something positive from it. I also emphasized the
importance of putting faith and repentance at the forefront of
everything that we do, not just the typical commitments we extend with
the lessons. I love what President Becerra used to say: "The best
things that we do in the Church cannot be measured; we cannot measure
conversion, love in the home or testimony, etc." We can't get caught
up in the numbers so much as missionaries because everyone we talk to
is a child of God who knows them by name and knows everything about
them; He doesn't count them as a number in a line. After zone meeting,
Elder Tovar (the Pomona district leader), Elder Merrill and Elder
Perez (the zone leaders) and I all met up for a Skype call to have our
monthly zone leadership meeting. We discussed the needs of the zone
and how we can all improve going forward in the month of September.
I'm beginning to see all of the "behind-the-scenes" work that goes on
to make everything happen. Elder Crane and I then went down to San
Dimas to teach Hector and Rosa about the Book of Mormon again. They
remembered very little to nothing about what Elder Wandry and I taught
a few weeks back. It is very difficult to meet with investigators only
once every few weeks because it is difficult to keep any sort of
consistency with teaching and commitments. We then taught Richie Rios
again and emphasized the importance of reading in the Book of Mormon.
During the evening, Hermano Martinez came with us, but every single
one of our lessons fell through. We did, however, find and talk to a
number of less-active members. Working with investigators has been a
little slow as of late, so we are trying to get to know all of the
members a little bit better.
Friday, September 5th, 2014:
Elder Crane and I had a couple return appointments that fell through
in the morning, but we were able to contact of really solid people on
the street. We also received a referral from the English Elders to go
visit a family named the Morales family that appears to have a lot of
potential. When we returned to the house, we read in 1 Nephi 14 with
Oscar. He seems to be progressing slowly, and it is difficult to get
him to commit to coming to church. Elder Crane and I then commenced
with our weekly planning. We finally got around to making Elder
Crane's birthday cake, which added a little fun into the planning
session. After concluding weekly planning, we went to teach the Plan
of Salvation with Richie Rios. It is always good to review the core
doctrines with everyone because it is easy to lose sight of what the
saving knowledge of the Gospel that we need to know is. Hermano
Morales then came with us as we began to teach Gerardo Morales, the
father of the Morales family. It was a fantastic first lesson, and he
has a ton of potential. We will begin teaching the wife and kids on
Monday evening. We then finished our day by teaching Irene Gonzalez.
We went over the Restoration of the Gospel with her, and it was
apparent that her years of attending various churches mixes up some of
her beliefs. Elder Crane and I helped clear up some of the
misconceptions that she has. She seems to be doing very well, and I am
excited to be able to help her progress towards the 28th of September
for baptism!
Saturday, September 6th, 2014:
Soccer was a lot of fun again, even though it was pretty hot outside.
We normally play upwards of two hours every Saturday, but the heat of
the day wiped out everyone after a little more than an hour of play in
the sun. Elder Crane and I then began our day of work in the heat. It
is so hot working outside on a bike! After a long while of being
unable to get in with anyone to teach them, we went to visit Paula
Lopez. We reviewed the Restoration with Paula, and she actually
remembered it and understood it very well. The progress of both of the
recent converts here in Azusa - East is quite remarkable, and we want
to continue to help them progress even further. Elder Crane and I then
taught Demetrio and Eligia Gonzalez, who we recently contacted on the
street. We taught the first half of the lesson, but it wasn't the best
lesson that we have ever taught before, honestly. They were difficult
investigators in that they wouldn't talk very much whenever we would
ask a question. We then stopped by Silvia Salgada to review the
Restoration with her. We ended up transitioning into a lesson about
church attendance and what happens each Sunday at church. It was a
really good lesson because we taught according to Silvia's needs.
After dinner, Elder Crane and I went over to the bus stop to go down
to Glendora. Irene Gonzalez canceled on us while we were waiting, but
we decided to go down to Glendora anyways to try to visit some of our
backups. The unfortunate part was that the bus was nearly a full hour
late, so it ended up killing our entire night just waiting for the bus
to arrive.
Sunday, September 7th, 2014:
Church was really good, and there was a good turnout of people that
came. Everyone was surprised to see that there were more changes in
the district, seeing that there have been a total of three transfers
in the Azusa district over the course of the past five weeks now.
After church, Elder Crane and I stopped by Obi Jimenez to share a talk
with him by Elder Holland, entitled "The Bitter Cup and the Bloody
Baptism." We, as disciples of Christ, have to be ready to be enlisted
in the Lord's army and be ready to always accept being inconvenienced
by our religious beliefs and standards. It was never convenient for
Christ, so we must not expect anything to be convenient for us. Elder
Crane and I later visited Paula Lopez again and read out of Words of
Mormon with her. We are trying to read with our investigators and
members when they don't read to help them establish a habit of daily
scripture study. Before stopping for dinner, we again visited Richie,
since he wasn't home in the morning for church. He has been visiting
his sister a lot recently and is really developing the relationship
with her; he wants to share the Gospel with her so that she can enjoy
the same blessings that he now enjoys. Richie is doing well, and we
want to continually be there to maintain a positive influence around
him. After dinner, we visited with the Magana family shortly before
going with Hermano Magana to teach Irene Gonzalez about the Book of
Mormon. It is incredible to see how powerful the first chapter of 1
Nephi is and how much one can learn from reading it time and time
again. It was great having Hermano Magana there, too, because he used
to be the bishop in the Azusa 2nd Ward and does a great job with
fellowshipping people. I ended the night by calling the district for
our weekly Sunday night calls and also talking to the zone leaders. It
feels much different being in leadership and offering advice and
suggestions to other missionaries; I need to improve much more than
they do, so I feel as though I am not qualified to be the one leading.
This week has been great, and we are beginning to see the quality
investigators beginning to appear. Elder Crane and I are continuing to
work hard to find miracles. Today, our whole zone went hiking in a
place called Fish Canyon, and it was a ton of fun. It was almost half
of my old zone from my last area, so everyone knew each other quite
well. I hope everyone is having a wonderful time enjoying the tail end
of summer and is enjoying the beginning of the best time of the year
(football season)! I appreciate all of your love and support, and I
hope that each and every one of you is doing well and has a terrific
week!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
This week was a little crazy and unexpected! Before anyone asks, yes,
I am still in Azusa. However, I was affected by an emergency transfer
and have now received a special assignment: I was called as the new
district leader of Azusa. It is always very scary when the Assistants
to the President call because the first question I always ask myself
is, "Oh, no, what did I do wrong?" Usually, they only call to correct
mistakes (and I haven't ever been called by them before, except to be
called as a trainer a few transfers back), so I was really scared when
the phone rang. Thank goodness, however, that they said that
Presidente Villanueva has a lot of trust in me to be able to help lead
this district! I felt extremely nervous and unprepared for the
assignment, but I guess the Lord answered my plea for greater faith in
a way that I wasn't expecting. I will now need to exercise faith to
rely on Him to help me be an instrument in His hands.
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014:
I have been working very hard to try to improve my own personality
traits to be able to testify with greater power and conviction of what
we share as missionaries. I stumbled across a talk at lunch entitled
"Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon" that really helped me see the depth
of the Book of Mormon as a Semitic book. I don't really encourage
everyone to read that talk, as it isn't meant for anyone who hasn't
read the Book of Mormon before, but it shows the incredible literary
structure in the book and points out the key messages hidden within
the structure of the writing. I am literally appalled that the Book of
Mormon can be so well understood by everyone and, at the same time,
contain such jewels and treasures as the Semitic literary device of
chiasmus. Suffice it to say, my testimony of the Book of Mormon grew
immensely as a result of reading and then applying the talk. Elder
Crane and I began our day by reading 1 Nephi 13 with Oscar Peralta. It
is crazy to see how vividly Nephi depicts the dream of seeing the
Apostasy of the Church, the colonizing of America and the Restoration.
I even saw a verse that utilized chiasmus within the chapter, which
was really cool to be able to apply what I had just learned from the
talk. We then went over to Richie Rios' house to review the
Restoration of the Gospel with him. We are now trying to go through
the lessons with Richie and Paula again to help them be fundamentally
sound in the Gospel. We went a little more in-depth about the
importance of Priesthood authority, and it finally seemed to "click"
for Richie. We then stopped by Jose Garcia. He is such a humble and
sincere man, and I love working with him. Elder Crane and I shared a
short parable called "Find Me," which describes the divine importance
of missionary work. We then went by Paula Lopez to review the Plan of
Salvation with her. She seems to know and remember the doctrine quite
well. Before heading off to dinner, Elder Crane and I shared a talk
with Obi Jimenez entitled "Remember Lot's Wife." We talked about not
looking back to the past and about having faith that tomorrow will be
a better day. It is always important to remember that the Lord knows
what is in store for the future. Elder Crane and I then went to eat
dinner with Mayra Lopez. It was a delicious meal, and we were able to
share the "Find Me" parable with her, too. We spent the rest of the
evening looking for less-active members and potential investigators
without much luck. We were able to set up a small service project with
Hermana Castillo for tomorrow, though. During the evening, I received
the call that I would become the new district leader. Our new district
will be as follows: Elder Crane, Elder Nelson, Elder Nielsen, Hermana
Covington, Hermana Perez and I.
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014:
During the morning, Elder Crane and I taught Oscar again by finishing
1 Nephi 13 with him. His Gospel knowledge seems a little bit lower
than we had thought before, so we will probably begin reviewing all of
the lessons with him again, too. Elder Crane and I then went to read
in the Book of Mormon with Richie again. He really knows how to ask
good questions and truly understands how to receive answers from God.
We then went to paint a few cabinets for Yolanda Castillo for about an
hour. It was the first time since coming to Azusa that we were able to
even have a service project. We offer and try to go do service for
every single person that we talk to, but no one lets us do service for
them. Hermana Castillo bought us pizza after we finished, so we
enjoyed eating with her and getting to know her a little bit better.
Elder Crane and I then went to talk with Paula Lopez again and read
from the Book of Mormon. She loves having us come by, and we read to
her today, seeing that she misplaced her glasses. Paula is a sweet,
older lady who tells us that she loves us more than her family because
we take an interest in her life and talk to her "about the things of
God." We were delighted to hear that her family has been treating her
better, too, because the family was diametrically opposed to her
getting baptized and wouldn't even talk to her for a long time after
the baptism. The family is now treating her better, however, because
they see the changes that she has made as a result of living the
Gospel more fully. It was a testimony-builder to me of how the Gospel
truly has the power to change lives. We finished off our evening by
sharing the "Find Me" parable with the Gasca family.
Thursday, September 4th, 2014:
The Hermanas both had both of their bike tires slashed last night, so
Elder Crane and I went over to their apartment to help repair and
patch them up as best as we could. It is quite unfortunate and
discouraging to see people do something so harsh to someone who is
just trying to serve others, but that is the world in which we live.
We did our best to patch them up, but they will need to get a little
more maintenance to fill in the holes in the tires themselves. We then
all left for district meeting. I was quite nervous, seeing that I
would be teaching for the first time ever. I was assigned to teach
about how the mobile devices have helped us fulfill our missionary
purpose. I related the story of David and Goliath to the iPads being a
"smooth stone" that adds to our arsenal with which we can slay the
needs of our investigators. It was a fun lesson to teach, and I think
everyone took something positive from it. I also emphasized the
importance of putting faith and repentance at the forefront of
everything that we do, not just the typical commitments we extend with
the lessons. I love what President Becerra used to say: "The best
things that we do in the Church cannot be measured; we cannot measure
conversion, love in the home or testimony, etc." We can't get caught
up in the numbers so much as missionaries because everyone we talk to
is a child of God who knows them by name and knows everything about
them; He doesn't count them as a number in a line. After zone meeting,
Elder Tovar (the Pomona district leader), Elder Merrill and Elder
Perez (the zone leaders) and I all met up for a Skype call to have our
monthly zone leadership meeting. We discussed the needs of the zone
and how we can all improve going forward in the month of September.
I'm beginning to see all of the "behind-the-scenes" work that goes on
to make everything happen. Elder Crane and I then went down to San
Dimas to teach Hector and Rosa about the Book of Mormon again. They
remembered very little to nothing about what Elder Wandry and I taught
a few weeks back. It is very difficult to meet with investigators only
once every few weeks because it is difficult to keep any sort of
consistency with teaching and commitments. We then taught Richie Rios
again and emphasized the importance of reading in the Book of Mormon.
During the evening, Hermano Martinez came with us, but every single
one of our lessons fell through. We did, however, find and talk to a
number of less-active members. Working with investigators has been a
little slow as of late, so we are trying to get to know all of the
members a little bit better.
Friday, September 5th, 2014:
Elder Crane and I had a couple return appointments that fell through
in the morning, but we were able to contact of really solid people on
the street. We also received a referral from the English Elders to go
visit a family named the Morales family that appears to have a lot of
potential. When we returned to the house, we read in 1 Nephi 14 with
Oscar. He seems to be progressing slowly, and it is difficult to get
him to commit to coming to church. Elder Crane and I then commenced
with our weekly planning. We finally got around to making Elder
Crane's birthday cake, which added a little fun into the planning
session. After concluding weekly planning, we went to teach the Plan
of Salvation with Richie Rios. It is always good to review the core
doctrines with everyone because it is easy to lose sight of what the
saving knowledge of the Gospel that we need to know is. Hermano
Morales then came with us as we began to teach Gerardo Morales, the
father of the Morales family. It was a fantastic first lesson, and he
has a ton of potential. We will begin teaching the wife and kids on
Monday evening. We then finished our day by teaching Irene Gonzalez.
We went over the Restoration of the Gospel with her, and it was
apparent that her years of attending various churches mixes up some of
her beliefs. Elder Crane and I helped clear up some of the
misconceptions that she has. She seems to be doing very well, and I am
excited to be able to help her progress towards the 28th of September
for baptism!
Saturday, September 6th, 2014:
Soccer was a lot of fun again, even though it was pretty hot outside.
We normally play upwards of two hours every Saturday, but the heat of
the day wiped out everyone after a little more than an hour of play in
the sun. Elder Crane and I then began our day of work in the heat. It
is so hot working outside on a bike! After a long while of being
unable to get in with anyone to teach them, we went to visit Paula
Lopez. We reviewed the Restoration with Paula, and she actually
remembered it and understood it very well. The progress of both of the
recent converts here in Azusa - East is quite remarkable, and we want
to continue to help them progress even further. Elder Crane and I then
taught Demetrio and Eligia Gonzalez, who we recently contacted on the
street. We taught the first half of the lesson, but it wasn't the best
lesson that we have ever taught before, honestly. They were difficult
investigators in that they wouldn't talk very much whenever we would
ask a question. We then stopped by Silvia Salgada to review the
Restoration with her. We ended up transitioning into a lesson about
church attendance and what happens each Sunday at church. It was a
really good lesson because we taught according to Silvia's needs.
After dinner, Elder Crane and I went over to the bus stop to go down
to Glendora. Irene Gonzalez canceled on us while we were waiting, but
we decided to go down to Glendora anyways to try to visit some of our
backups. The unfortunate part was that the bus was nearly a full hour
late, so it ended up killing our entire night just waiting for the bus
to arrive.
Sunday, September 7th, 2014:
Church was really good, and there was a good turnout of people that
came. Everyone was surprised to see that there were more changes in
the district, seeing that there have been a total of three transfers
in the Azusa district over the course of the past five weeks now.
After church, Elder Crane and I stopped by Obi Jimenez to share a talk
with him by Elder Holland, entitled "The Bitter Cup and the Bloody
Baptism." We, as disciples of Christ, have to be ready to be enlisted
in the Lord's army and be ready to always accept being inconvenienced
by our religious beliefs and standards. It was never convenient for
Christ, so we must not expect anything to be convenient for us. Elder
Crane and I later visited Paula Lopez again and read out of Words of
Mormon with her. We are trying to read with our investigators and
members when they don't read to help them establish a habit of daily
scripture study. Before stopping for dinner, we again visited Richie,
since he wasn't home in the morning for church. He has been visiting
his sister a lot recently and is really developing the relationship
with her; he wants to share the Gospel with her so that she can enjoy
the same blessings that he now enjoys. Richie is doing well, and we
want to continually be there to maintain a positive influence around
him. After dinner, we visited with the Magana family shortly before
going with Hermano Magana to teach Irene Gonzalez about the Book of
Mormon. It is incredible to see how powerful the first chapter of 1
Nephi is and how much one can learn from reading it time and time
again. It was great having Hermano Magana there, too, because he used
to be the bishop in the Azusa 2nd Ward and does a great job with
fellowshipping people. I ended the night by calling the district for
our weekly Sunday night calls and also talking to the zone leaders. It
feels much different being in leadership and offering advice and
suggestions to other missionaries; I need to improve much more than
they do, so I feel as though I am not qualified to be the one leading.
This week has been great, and we are beginning to see the quality
investigators beginning to appear. Elder Crane and I are continuing to
work hard to find miracles. Today, our whole zone went hiking in a
place called Fish Canyon, and it was a ton of fun. It was almost half
of my old zone from my last area, so everyone knew each other quite
well. I hope everyone is having a wonderful time enjoying the tail end
of summer and is enjoying the beginning of the best time of the year
(football season)! I appreciate all of your love and support, and I
hope that each and every one of you is doing well and has a terrific
week!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
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