After nine days, I finally have P-Day again! The best part was being
able to get up early this morning to attend an endowment session at
the Los Angeles Temple. As missionaries, we only have privilege of
attending the temple once every six months. I studied for probably
between twenty and thirty hours worth of talks and other materials in
preparation to be taught from on high; I can honestly say that today
was the most revelatory experience that I have ever had attending the
temple. There is not a doubt in my mind that the temple is the Lord's
house, and that His spirit is always present there. Preparation is
essential in order to receive revelation, and I was very grateful for
the opportunity to have the Spirit of the Lord speak to me today.
Tuesday, October 14th, 2014:
Every three months, or so, we have interviews with the mission
president. Today was our second interview with Presidente Villanueva,
which happened to be my first interview ever in a position of
leadership. While talking with Presidente Villanueva, it became
apparent to do more to help the Hermanas visit all of the less-active
members in their area. The distribution of members in this ward is
very uneven; the Hermanas have nearly 80% of the members in their
area, and the other Elders have about 15% in their area, meaning that
our area is very short on members. We are going to begin working to
help the Hermanas cover more of their own ground. After interviews, we
only had time to visit Jose Garcia. He is doing really well and is
continuing to study and learn about the Melchizadek Priesthood. Elder
Crane and I focused on helping him understand how to perform various
Priesthood ordinances. We then concluded the day with our weekly
correlation meeting with Hermano Torres. Jose Garcia had his interview
with Obispo Martinez while we were having correlation. It sounds like
everyone is struggling to find new investigators right now; Azusa is
definitely an area that is difficult with finding new investigators,
so we will keep working on that. It sounds like Jose's interview went
well, though.
Wednesday, October 15th, 2014:
Elder Crane and I have been improving the work that we have been doing
with all of our less-active members, and we had a really busy day
today. We went by Richie Rios' house to begin the day and focused
heavily on the importance of the Church being the only true church. We
showed him "The Restoration" video, and we were extremely bold with
Richie to help him understand. We then went to visit Paula Lopez to
help her understand the concept of "just one" being bad all the time.
I'm not quite sure where people get the idea that having "just one"
isn't against the commandments of God, but it seems to be a recurring
problem that we face as missionaries; that also doesn't just apply to
the Word of Wisdom because that can also be the same thing as "just
not reading for one day" in the scriptures. We then taught a new
investigator named Rene Barrientos the first few principles of the
Restoration. He appears to be fairly interested, although teaching him
can be difficult when he talks as much as he likes to. After teaching
Rene, Elder Crane and I stopped by Hermana Castillo to read a little
with her in the Book of Mormon. She continues to struggle with her
physical health, but we have been able to help her begin reading
consistently in the Book of Mormon. We then went to teach Michael
Martinez for the first time in a number of weeks. Michael has been
really involved with a few different theatrical plays that are being
put on by his high school. We shared a talk by Bruce R. McConkie about
receiving personal revelation. To end our evening, Elder Crane and I
went to the Jimenez's house to eat dinner and brought Richie with us
to celebrate his birthday there. It was a fun evening, and the Jimenez
family is finally beginning to understand the importance of
fellowshipping recent converts and investigators. We are beginning to
see the miracles of conversion amongst our members, "one" person at a
time.
Thursday, October 16th, 2014:
I think that the district meeting that I taught today was the best one
yet. The topic was on revelation through the Book of Mormon, and I
definitely received revelation through the Book of Mormon as I
prepared to teach the lesson. I very much enjoy teaching district
meeting because I am able to open up on doctrines that most members
don't know and aren't ready for. As we better understand the doctrine
and understand it in a more profound manner, we will become more
converted and consequently will be able to teach the same doctrine
with greater power and authority. I focused the meeting on using the
Book of Mormon to help us better understand Christ's divine mission
and helping us establish the vision of making covenants to bind us
back to Christ; no book on Earth teaches those two principles better
than the Book of Mormon. Overall, I feel like our district is very
unified, and we have a great vision of where we want the Azusa Ward to
go. During the afternoon, Elder Crane and I talked to a number of
different people, but it was to no avail. We ate dinner with the
Hernandez family, who are less-active, for the first time since Elder
Wandry and I were companions together. They have been doing well; the
only reason that they are unable to come to church is because of their
busy work schedules. Elder Crane and I finished our evening by
teaching Rosie Garcia for the first time. Obispo Martinez came with us
to teach the lesson, which added a very strong testimony to what we
shared. Rosie talked to the missionaries about a year ago but stopped
talking to them after they got into an argument at one point. She
seems to have a lot of potential, and we focused on the importance of
the Book of Mormon in her conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Friday, October 17th, 2014:
During the morning, Elder Crane and I read in the Book of Mormon with
Oscar Peralta. He had read two chapters since we last met with him a
couple of days ago, and he seems to be doing progressively better. I
gave him a pair of dress shoes, in hopes that he will be able to come
to church next Sunday when he has the day off of work. Elder Crane and
I then commenced with weekly planning. I have begun to notice how well
we plan together and how creative and effective we are with our plans
to help our investigators. After finishing our weekly planning,
however, the remainder of our day was virtually a train wreck. Every
single one of our appointments, every single one of our backups and
every single one of our double back-ups fell through. It was one of
those days that would be better off forgetting, but we have to
experience the tough times to also experience the joyous days.
Saturday, October 18th, 2014:
For the first time in three weeks, I was able to go play soccer with
the ward. We had a huge turnout, and it was a ton of fun. Once soccer
ended, Elder Crane and I stopped by Richie Rios. His reading in the
Book of Mormon is coming along great, but we worry that his friends
still influence him in a rather negative way. Elder Crane and I
reviewed the Plan of Salvation with him and emphasized the difference
between salvation and exaltation. Richie always seems to act like
baptism is the final step of everything that we do, but baptism is
merely the preliminary step that we take to prepare us to make greater
covenants to bind us closer to Christ. After visiting Richie, Elder
Crane and I went to read with Hermana Castillo again. She said that
she has been feeling the truth of the Book of Mormon more as she has
been reading it recently than ever before. It was such a wonderful
experience to be a part of; we have been experiencing miracles with
the conversion of our members, which will help them understand the
importance of helping us out with missionary work even more. We
finished our day by visiting with Irene Gonzalez and talking to her
about the importance of fervent prayer to always have the
companionship of the Holy Ghost. She will be confirmed tomorrow at
Sacrament Meeting, meaning that she will have the right to have the
Holy Ghost with her all the time, granting that she is worthy of it.
Sunday, October 19th, 2014:
Irene Gonzalez was able to be confirmed today during Sacrament
Meeting. Hermano Torres performed the ordinance, and Obispo Martinez,
Hermano Magana, Elder Crane and I stood in the circle. It was a very
powerful spiritual experience that left Irene very happy. All of the
missionaries in our district assigned members of the ward to call
less-active members that they didn't see come to church. The ward has
been much more active since the change of the bishopric, and I am so
happy to be a part of it. After church, Elder Crane and I read in the
Book of Mormon with Paula and Richie again. Our recent converts are
all staying strong, and we are dedicating a lot of time to building up
the ward so that it will be much stronger going forward. When members
and missionaries work together, we begin building the army of Helaman.
The Stripling Warriors weren't the ones who won the battles on their
own; the scriptures say that their parents (or, we can say in this
case that their home ward) prepared them to be successful going into
battle by preaching the Gospel, too. Hermano Magana came with Elder
Crane and I to visit Roselia Garza and her mother. We taught about the
Gospel of Jesus Christ and explained how making temple covenants is
the definition of "enduring to the end." It amazes me how many active
members there are in Spanish work that have never been taught about
the steps following baptism. There are so many people lacking saving
ordinances. Roselia is going to begin taking the temple preparation
classes in the very near future. Elder Crane and I next taught a
less-active man named Eduardo Gomez. He has begun to doubt his
testimony, so we used the Book of Mormon (do you notice a theme with
that book yet?) to help him understand the importance of why the Book
of Mormon is the evidence of everything in the Church. If the Book of
Mormon is true, that means that the Church is true and that Joseph
Smith was a prophet. We finished the day by visiting the Magana
family. Their daughter-in-law is not a member, but she just had a baby
about three days ago, so we went to make some home-made doughnuts for
her and for their family. We have developed such a good relationship
with the Maganas, and I am looking forward to continuing to help them
learn and progress.
Monday, October 20th, 2014:
Elder Crane and I went to talk with Richie Rios about the courage to
stand up to his friends. We shared a Mormon Message clip by President
Monson entitled "Dare to Stand Alone." He is making great progress,
but we want to continue to support him. Elder Crane and I then read in
the Book of Mormon with Hermana Castillo again. She is already into 2
Nephi after less than a week and is loving it. There has been a
completely different feel as we have been working with our members;
the ward seems to have a new motivation and excitement to work with
the missionaries and put the Gospel at the forefront of everything
that they do. We then met up with the other Elders to begin exchanges.
Elder Nelson is staying here in Azusa - East with me while Elder Crane
goes to Azusa - West with Elder Nielsen. Elder Nelson is a fantastic
missionary, and I always love working with him and learning from him.
We visited a number of potential investigators and managed to contact
a few solid people on the street who invited us to come back to teach
them. Elder Nelson and I later taught the Gasca family about family
prayer. They are so solid that they already pray three times every
evening as a family! Hermano Torres came to pick us up for a family
home evening lesson at his house with Rosie Garcia, a current
investigator, and with Irene Gonzalez, our recent convert.
Unfortunately, Rosie had to cancel. Fortunately, however, Roselia
Garza also showed up, so we were able to teach Roselia and Irene
together. We reviewed the Gospel of Jesus Christ again and explained
how preparing for temple covenants by doing family history and other
"small and simple means," we are able to bring about "great and
eternal purposes." It was a wonderful lesson, and Irene is progressing
so wonderfully. I love working with her.
Tuesday, October 21st, 2014:
Elder Nelson and I were pretty bold with Oscar Peralta about ending
his drinking habit and established the blessings that come as a result
of living the Word of Wisdom. He says that he wants to change, but he
is reluctant to stop drinking altogether. We will continue working
with him on that. Paula Lopez invited us over for lunch, so we ate
some delicious food. She used to be a chef at a restaurant in Tijuana,
Mexico, and her cooking lives up to her reputation! We talked to her
about the Spirit World and how people will have a second chance to
hear about the Gospel of Jesus Christ there. Elder Nelson and I later
went to teach Jose Garcia again. He is doing great and is almost ready
to receive the Melchizadek Priesthood. We reviewed about the duties of
the office of an Elder, and he seems to understand everything
extremely well. I am excited to see him progress, too. One thing that
worries me, however, is that he hasn't ever once had a home teacher
come by to visit him during his four years as a member of the Church.
We will need to help the ward also understand how to do home teaching
effectively so that it actually begins to happen. We had a lot of
success with contacting a few different people on the street, so
hopefully they turn into a few solid new investigators. Elder Nelson
and I then went to correlation meeting with Hermano Torres. I love
working with Hermano Torres and with our district; we are really
changing the whole feel of Azusa.
We got up at 3:45 AM this morning to go to the temple with Hermano
Reina, and it was one of the very best days of my entire mission
because I received so much revelation. The more I study, the more that
I have the desire to study even more. The Church is true; I know that
with all of my heart. While it may be possible to prove the Church
true with logic, every honest seeker of truth will have to first take
a leap of faith to be converted, rather than convinced. Christ lives.
His Gospel has been restored in its fulness, and we have all of the
knowledge and tools that we need to follow His example and enjoy the
blessings of His Atonement. I hope everyone has a fantastic week!
Thank you for all of your love and support!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
Here is a picture of Hermana Perez, Hermana Moon, myself and Elder
Crane at the Los Angeles Temple this morning.
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