Hey Everyone!
Today, we met up at our house to carve pumpkins as a district. It was
really fun and was the first time in several years that I have carved
a pumpkin! It was also Hermana Perez's first time ever carving a
pumpkin (she is from Mexico City and consequently celebrates the
Mexican Day of the Dead holiday in place of Halloween). The week has
been a little slow without too much to report, aside from too much
food.
Thursday, October 23rd, 2014:
For district meeting, I taught about how we can use our individual
efforts to become better at finding new investigators. Seeing that
every area is different, I decided to focus the topic on using our
individual efforts to help teach our members how to become better
finders. As missionaries, we actually aren't supposed to be doing the
bulk of the finding; rather, we are supposed to be doing the bulk of
the teaching. As we better work with our members to find prepared
investigators through our members, we will be able to better help
those we teach prepare for the covenant of baptism. It won't profit us
to teach someone two lessons and then drop them, leaving us right off
where we started; hence, finding prepared investigators through
members is the best method to find. We went to eat lunch after
district meeting, assuming that the member who wanted to feed us had
forgotten. However, she misunderstood us and thought we told her 2:30
PM, not 12:30 PM. Elder Crane and I already had a dinner appointment
at 6:00 PM, but the rest of the district wanted to reschedule dinner
for 4:30 PM. We rescheduled the other dinner for 7:00 PM, meaning that
we had three eating appointments in the course of six hours. Elder
Crane and I were absolutely bloated, but we love our members for being
so willing to feed us! We have also been teaching more of our
less-active members. After eating so many dinners and nearly puking on
multiple occasions (Latinos will get offended if you don't eat more
than two or three full plates at every meal), I realized that our
physical bloating may be the same feeling that investigators get if we
feed them too much spiritual food at any given moment. It may be
delicious, but too much of it can be worse off than none at all if
they aren't ready for it.
Friday, October 24th, 2014:
Elder Crane and I taught Oscar Peralta again and focused on the
importance of coming to church. It doesn't look like he will be able
to come to church this Sunday, but he has work off next Sunday, and is
optimistic that he will be able to come. We then commenced with weekly
planning. The longer that I serve as a missionary, the more and more
difficult that it becomes to focus on weekly planning for such a long
period of time. I used to be able to keep my focus for three hours,
but now I struggle to maintain my focus for that long. After finishing
weekly planning, Elder Crane and I went to teach Yolanda Castillo
about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and focused on attending the temple.
She hasn't been able to go for nearly a year, due to physical health.
We talked about how she can renew her temple covenants and endure to
the end as she partakes of the Sacrament. Elder Crane and I then
joined Adan and Lucero, who are a less-active couple that we are
working with to help them return to church. They took us out for
Chinese food; it always surprises me how much Latinos seem to love
Chinese food because I think that their own food is better that they
cook at their house. They are both doing very well, and I am
optimistic that they will come to church this Sunday or next Sunday.
To conclude the day, Elder Crane and I went to go visit Irene Gonzalez
and Rosie Garcia. We weren't expecting to eat there, but they ended up
making us some delicious mole. Once again, we became extremely
bloated; however, we aren't getting fat! We read the first chapter of
1 Nephi with them, and Rosie connected the dots by saying that we, as
missionaries, are like the angels coming to give the book of God to
people to invite them to read it so that they can feel of the Holy
Ghost (see 1 Nephi 1:11-12).
Saturday, October 25th, 2014:
The Magana family invited us over for breakfast today since I was on
exchanges two Saturdays ago in Pomona when they had been planning to
make chilaquiles. Elder Crane made some crepes, and Hermano Magana
made some delicious chilaquiles rojos. I love working with their
family, and Carlos seems to be doing a lot better since his baby,
Anthony, was born about a week ago. We then went to soccer with
Hermano Magana. There have been a number of less-active families and
individuals returning to play with us; it goes to show the efforts
that we have been putting towards working with the less-actives here.
After soccer, Elder Crane and I went to teach Nicasio about the Book
of Mormon. We read the introduction with him and emphasized the
importance of really coming to know that the Book of Mormon is true
through the Holy Ghost. If an individual knows that the Book of Mormon
is true, then Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church on the earth. I
have come to obtain a certain conviction of the Book of Mormon and its
truthfulness: the Book of Mormon is the word of God and is true. Later
in the day, Elder Crane and I went to visit Paula Lopez. It sounds
like she is struggling a little bit, so we talked about charity with
her and invited her to pray and look for ways that she can begin to
serve people around her. If everyone had charity, the world would have
no problems.
Sunday, October 26th, 2014:
Church was pretty hectic, only because Elder Crane and I got caught up
doing a number of different miscellaneous tasks that we wouldn't
normally have to do. We spent over an hour in the clerk's office
updating a lot of information that we have obtained about members that
have moved or changed addresses or names. As a district leader, I have
observed that I am involved in a lot more of the work that happens
behind the scenes. After church ended, Elder Crane and I were finally
able to stop by Susana Gonzalez, who is a less-active member. Her
daughter passed away unexpectedly about a month ago, and we have been
trying to get into contact with her to teach her about the Plan of
Salvation. She absolutely loved having us come by and said that she is
very interested in returning to church. It was a great visit, and I am
looking forward to working with her even more often. Elder Crane and I
then went by Paula Lopez again to ensure that everything is going
well. She seemed to be tired and a little sad, so we focused on the
happiness that comes about as we live the Gospel and utilize the
Savior's Atonement in our lives. We ended the day by talking with
Carlos Magana and Arturo Rayas. Carlos is still interested in coming
back to church, but it may be a little difficult with his new work
schedule.
Today was very fun, and I really enjoyed spending the time with our
district. Everyone is really easy-going, and it was fun carving
pumpkins and eating pizza. This has been one of the better districts
that I have been a part of, and I will really miss working with this
particular group at transfers in two weeks (who knows what will
happen?). I hope everyone enjoys Halloween this coming Friday! Have a
great week!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
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