Hey Everyone!
As you can probably tell from the title of my email, Elder Crane and I
have been having quite the fun with fixing our bikes. I think we went
into the bike store five different days during a six-day period. Over
the course of a year, bikes, like any other method of transportation,
begin to wear down and need repairs. It wasn't kind to the wallet, but
we are back up and running again. This week has been a little slow, as
far as teaching is concerned, because it seemed like every appointment
that we had set up fell through; however, we were blessed to be able
to see a number of different miracles, including one that may end up
turning into an investigator that will hopefully be ready to be
baptized in the very near future!
Tuesday, August 26th, 2014:
Elder Crane and I began our day by meeting up with Obi Jimenez to
teach a couple of lessons. He first came with us to teach Richie Rios
about the importance of enduring to the end. I am continually amazed
by the changes that I have seen in Richie since I arrived here in
Azusa about two months ago. Richie even prayed at the end of the
lesson to ask the Lord to help him read three more chapters in the
Book of Mormon; he is truly an inspiration to me of how much better I
need to be as a person. Obi then joined us for another lesson with a
lady named Teresa Chavez. It was a really solid lesson about the
Restoration. I was worried we might offend her with how bold we were,
but the Spirit was present to help testify about what we were there to
share. After the lesson, Obi invited us over to eat pizza with him at
his house. His mother felt bad that she hadn't done anything for Elder
Crane's birthday on Sunday (not that she had to, but she is just that
kind of a loving person) and wanted to feed us pizza. Of course, Elder
Crane and I were more than happy to accept her invitation. After we
ate pizza, we discovered that Elder Crane's bike had seven different
holes in the tires; there were three in the front tire and four in the
rear. Jose Garcia took us to the bike store in Glendora to buy some
new tubes. I also took in my bike to get it all tuned up. They
recommend that we bring the bikes in every two to three months as
missionaries, seeing that we put on about one-thousand miles every
couple of months, and I hadn't taken in my bike the entire time that I
have been out on my mission. Suffice it to say that the tune up was
needed. We then taught Jose Garcia about the Plan of Salvation and
asked for his input about how we can present it to his kids, who are
currently investigators. It was really touching to see how much he
loves them and wants them to be able to enjoy the blessings of the
knowledge that comes from our Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness. Our
evening was quite slow, and we were only able to talk to the Maganas
for a few minutes. We ended the day by doing exchanges with the zone
leaders; Elder Perez will be coming to Azusa - East bo be with me, and
Elder Crane will be going to Pomona to be with Elder Merrill and Elder
Crawford.
Wednesday, August 27th, 2014:
It was a really fun day to do exchanges with Elder Perez; I learned so
much from him and I hope that he was at least able to learn something
from me. This is the fourth transfer on my mission that he has been my
zone leader, and we also left home at the same time, so we are very
good friends. We began the day by dropping Teresa Chavez; however, she
did refer us to one of her neighbors. We went by the neighbor named
Nicasio, and he graciously let us right in to teach him about the
Restoration. It was a solid lesson, and we will return next week to
teach Nicasio and his mother. We then went down to Glendora on the bus
to try contacting a few different people in a trailer home park.
Waldemar wasn't home, but we ran into Irene for the first time. She
said that she finally resolved all of the legal paperwork related to
her divorce situation and that she is now willing and ready to be
baptized! It is so great to see miracles come as a result of our
diligence. We then talked to a member named Miguel in the same group
of mobile homes who attends an English ward. He would be much better
off in a Spanish ward, so we invited him to the activity at the church
on Saturday. We may not have seen quantifiable success during the day
through teaching, but we found a lot of potential going forward. After
eating, Elder Perez and I tried going by Richie and Paula, but neither
of them were available. Obi Jimenez then went with us to pick up my
bike from the bike store. It was an expensive visit, but my bike is
now in much better shape than it was before. By the time that we
returned from the bike store, it was time to go to correlation meeting
at the church with Hermano Torres. Correlation was very productive
because we were all able to coordinate the logistics of the activity
that will take place on Saturday evening. To conclude the activities
of the day, we exchanged back. I really enjoyed being with Elder Perez
for the day, and I hope that I can follow his example of how to better
go about doing missionary work.
Thursday, August 28th, 2014:
The zone leaders joined us for district meeting, so our district
meeting was actually quite large. Elder Marchan taught about the
importance of church attendance and receiving revelation by attending
church. It was a great meeting, and it reminded me just how difficult
of a time Elder Crane and I have been having trying to get people to
attend church; there hasn't been a single investigator attend church
since I got here to Azusa, and that isn't from a lack of effort on our
part. While traveling to go visit Paula Lopez, Elder Crane and I
contacted a couple of different people; we are both getting better at
getting the contact information of different people that we talk with
so that we can begin teaching them about the Restoration of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. While visiting with Paula, we talked with her about
the importance of prayer by reading the remainder of Enos with her.
She is such a sweet, old lady who loves having us come by. The
remainder of our day was extremely slow, and it seemed like everyone
that we tried to visit was unavailable or not present. We stopped by
the Gascas for the first time and got to know them a little better. We
shared a Mormon Message video with them about "Moments That Matter
Most." The Gospel helps us understand that the joy and growth that we
experience in our families is central to the Plan of Salvation and
that the family is central to everything in life. We returned to the
house to find Hermana Peralta cleaning the kitchen. Elder Crane and I
thought it would be fun to help her clean, even though she insisted
that we didn't need to help. It was the first time in nearly five
years that any missionary had helped her clean without her asking, and
it really helped us build a good relationship with her.
Friday, August 29th, 2014:
Elder Perez and I had set up five solid teaching appointments in
Glendora on exchanges. Obi Jimenez came with Elder Crane and I in the
morning to attempt to teach all five of those appointments that were
set up on Wednesday; however, the Lord had other plans in mind. Not
only did one or two of the five appointments fall through, but every
single one of the five that we had set up fell through, plus none of
the back-ups were available, either. It was a little frustrating and
disappointing, but that is the nature of missionary work. All three of
us decided to improve our mood by getting Taco Bell for lunch. It was
really fun to sit down and relax for a few minutes as we enjoyed
eating some tacos. Elder Crane and I then returned to the house to
begin weekly planning. After we finished our plans for the upcoming
week, Elder Crane and I were finally able to find Richie Rios again.
We talked with him about family history work and how doing genealogy
allows eternal families to become a reality as we perform sealing
ordinances in the temple. Elder Crane and I then went to teach a new
investigator named Silvia Salgado about the Restoration of the Gospel.
Silvia lives with Mayra Lopez, who is a member of the ward. Even
though the lesson went a little longer than we intended, the lesson
was very spiritual and very powerful. I think that Silvia has some
serious potential to progress in the Gospel. Elder Crane and I then
finished our day by heading down to Glendora to contact Irene Gonzalez
again because she wasn't there during the morning. We strongly felt
that we needed to go out of our way to try to find her, regardless of
how far away she was from where we were working at. Everything worked
out in our behalf to enable us to make it down to Glendora to visit
her and invite her to the activity tomorrow. Everything worked out
perfectly, which was a huge testimony-builder for me as we were able
to see the hand of the Lord guiding us to where we needed to go. The
trial of our faith in the morning was necessary to be able to see the
miracle at night. We do not receive any witness until after our faith
is tested thoroughly.
Saturday, August 30th, 2014:
As always, we had our weekly soccer game at Northside Park in Azusa.
It was a pretty good turnout today, and it was really fun to play. I
never liked soccer until I came to Azusa. There is something different
about playing soccer with Latino people because the game is almost
infused into their culture so much so that it unites everyone that
decides to join and play. When Elder Crane and I returned for lunch,
we made some massive breakfast burritos with Oscar Peralta, and they
were absolutely delicious. We have been getting creative with the
stuff that we have been cooking, and it is pretty fun to experiment
with new things. Elder Crane and I then had to take a couple of
different buses to get down to Roselia Garza's house to visit her and
her mother, which ended up taking up way more time than normal. They
fed us pozole and made us jamaica. They know me all too well and
wanted to make something special for us; they remembered that jamaica
is my favorite drink and that pozole is my favorite food, so it made
me really happy. We then had to head over to the church to have the
"Busca la Piedra Preciosa" activity, which basically translates to
"Search for the Precious Rock." As missionaries, we all played the
part of guardian angels while the people at the activity closed their
eyes and searched for the "piedra preciosa" while it was completely
black inside of the church. The chapel was lit up and had hymns
playing quietly, which was supposed to represent the entrance to the
Celestial Kingdom. We, as guardian angels, made sure that no one
collided or ran into random objects, but we had to let everyone find
the entrance on their own. Any time that we would guide them out of
the way of an object, we whispered in their ear, "Busca la piedra
preciosa." It was a really neat and spiritual activity. It really
helped me realize how important relying on the Spirit is and how
important it is to remember that the Lord knows the way to go, even
when we are often wandering aimlessly. I took a lot from the activity,
and it was great to be able to see how God and our guardian angels are
helping us along the path and just how excited they are for us to make
the right choices to be able to return to their presence.
Sunday, August 31st, 2014:
For the fifth Sunday, missionary work is in charge of the talks in
Sacrament Meeting and the messages that will be shared. Hermana
Covington and I were selected to speak. I began by speaking about the
importance of the Book of Mormon in our conversion to the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. There are only two things that matter in our testimony:
our knowledge of the Savior Jesus Christ and His role in the Plan of
Salvation, and our knowledge that Joseph Smith was the prophet of the
Restoration. If we know those two things, we know that this Church is
true because every other objection falls under those two key facts.
Hermana Covington then spoke about utilizing the faith that we already
have to help us gain and strengthen a testimony. The two talks went
perfectly together, and we didn't plan it. It was a very spiritual
meeting, and I think that the ward was able to take something away
from the messages shared. When we got back to the house, Hermana
Peralta was making steaks for us. She said that she appreciated our
help so much in the kitchen that she wanted to make us something nice.
Elder Crane and I were so grateful that she went out of her way to
make our day better. We left to go teach Michael Martinez about faith
and having faith in the Lord's timing. Michael is a really good kid
and understands the Gospel very well for only being a junior in high
school. We then taught Obi Jimenez about recognizing answers to the
Spirit and how he will have to seek his own answers to questions at
college, even when others won't be supportive of his religious views.
Elder Crane and I then went by a less-active family that we had never
met before. They apparently converted to Judaism because of some very
questionable sources that convinced them that Christ never actually
resurrected. It was really weird to talk to them, and we both decided
that they aren't worth our time to go by again, unfortunately. I wish
people understood the difference between being "convinced" by a
religion and actually being "converted" to a religion; they are not
one and the same. As missionaries, we invite others to come unto
Christ and be converted through their own actions; we do not seek to
convince people of what we share, and we actually invite others to let
God convince them of what we share by inviting them to ask Him and
receive their own, individual answer from our Heavenly Father. We
ended our day by visiting Richie Rios again. Richie is doing well, but
he wasn't at church today because he spent the night at his friend's
house. He could even feel the Spirit telling him in the morning that
he needed to go to church, but he didn't act on it. The Spirit will
always tell us what we need to do; it is up to us to follow it.
Even though this past week was a bit slow, I am optimistic that this
upcoming week will be great! I have committed myself to improve my
faith, and I have begun reading a talk by Elder Gene R. Cook entitled
"Qualifications for the Work." If anyone is interested to see how
missionary work should really be done, please read this talk. He
explains how faith and love are the underlying factors that dictate
everything that we do as missionaries. If we have faith and charity,
we can do anything. Being on the Lord's errand entitles us to the
Lord's help; however, we must actually be the Lord's servants by the
way that we act and treat others. I hope everyone has had a wonderful
week and that everyone is making the transition into the fall pretty
easily! I appreciate all of your love and support, and I hope you all
have a great week!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
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