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
No comments:
Post a Comment