Hey Everyone!
For the first time since I got to California, it rained nonstop for
three days in a row. The best part was that we saw as much spiritual
success as there was physical rainfall; this week was extremely busy
and yielded a lot of results. I am definitely seeing everything pick
up here in the Belvedere 2 Ward, and it is exciting to be a part of. I
hope everyone had a wonderful week and is getting ready for Christmas
in just a couple of weeks.
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014:
Today was our second mission conference with Presidente Villanueva,
and I learned a ton today. It seems like Presidente Villanueva is
beginning to settle in to his role as mission president, which is
exciting to see. We heard messages from both President Nelson and
President Yen, who are the two counselors in the mission presidency.
Hermana Villanueva then shared an example of how growing pine trees
that are used as Christmas trees is a similar process to our finding,
teaching and baptizing process as missionaries. It was an awesome
analogy that I took pictures of from her chalkboard drawings. We then
listened to the zone leaders, who talked about the importance of
attitude and hope in missionary work. In times past, the assistants
always taught, but Presidente Villanueva is changing the whole outline
of zone conferences. We were then taught by Presidente Villanueva, who
emphasized the importance of family history work when working with
less-active members. He has a huge vision of how working with
less-active members helps us fulfill our missionary purpose, and the
family history work is the key to reactivation efforts. I need to
begin doing mine immediately. Elder Alcaraz and I were then able to
visit a couple of investigators who we haven't seen in a little while.
We first taught Domingo Morales about the true meaning of Christmas
and having faith in Jesus Christ by using the "He is the Gift" video.
It was a very spiritual lesson. That video is now on the front page of
YouTube (so I hear) and is expected to have about 220 million views.
We also taught Ernesto Martinez. Elder Alcaraz bore very powerful
testimony of the healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That
is the fundamental message of all time: Christ suffered, died and then
rose again so that we might be clean and free from the bondage of sin;
everything that we do as missionaries is predicated on that one
crowning event.
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014:
For the third day in a row, it rained the entire day without ceasing.
We were fortunate to have a steady downpour of both rain and success,
however. It was the first time that I had a full day to work here in
my own area in quite a while, and it felt great to be able to get back
to work. Elder Alcaraz and I began our day by visiting an investigator
named Arturo Fierro. He is chronically ill, and we are trying to help
him turn to Christ to get past his depression. He is a wonderful
gentleman with great desires to find happiness in life. We shared the
"He is the Gift" video with him and talked about the healing power
that comes from the "good tidings of great joy." Elder Alcaraz and I
then went to teach Maria Manriquez. We finished going through the
baptismal interview questions with her. Maria is totally prepared and
even admitted that she knows everything that she needs to know before
she is baptized. I honestly have no idea what is holding her back from
entering the waters of baptism and enjoying the companionship of the
Holy Ghost. Elder Alcaraz and I went to go eat with the Mata family.
On the way there, it looked like a flood running down the street of
the hill that we were walking up. A car passed and splashed water all
over Elder Alcaraz and I as it tried passing another car. It felt like
Splash Mountain from Disneyland, and Elder Alcaraz and I had a good
laugh afterwards, despite the fact that we were soaked through from
head to toe. We shared the "He is the Gift" video with the Mata family
and talked about how they can share their testimonies during this time
of the year. That video really invites the Spirit, and I anticipate a
lot of success coming as a result of that short video about the true
meaning of Christmas. Elder Alcaraz and I finished our day by going
with Hermano Lizarraga to visit Hermana Rojo. He talked excessively,
making it difficult for Elder Alcaraz and I to keep the structure of
the lesson. More important than what the investigator hears from us or
from the members is the feeling that they receive; and even more
important than the feeling that they receive from the Spirit that they
feel is the action that the feeling invokes because true change must
come from within.
Thursday, December 4th, 2014:
Elder Alcaraz and I work extremely well together, so much so that
Presidente Villanueva even mentioned to us privately at zone
conference he really likes how well our companionship works. He is
probably my favorite companion that I have had during my entire
mission, and it is because we are each so driven by our purpose and
desire to help others feel the Spirit and accept the Gospel in their
lives. It was great to have another full day to work together, and
better yet was the fact that the rain ceased today. We worked really
hard in the morning and early afternoon to contact. We were able to
later contact a less-active member named Oscar Escobar. He hasn't been
to church in quite some time; however, he instantly realized that he
needs to come back to church after we showed him the "He is the Gift"
video. He felt the Spirit and told us that he will begin talking to
his wife to begin attending church again. Elder Alcaraz and I then
went to eat with Hermana Martinez. David Martinez, Hermana Martinez's
son, will be leaving on his mission to Argentina on December 16th, so
we have been spending a lot of time helping him prepare to serve the
Lord. We also shared the "He is the Gift" video with their family. We
all went down to the church later to teach the Preach My Gospel class.
Everyone in the class commented on how well Elder Alcaraz and I teach
together because each and every member in that room was able to feel
the Spirit testify to them about the truthfulness of the Restoration.
I love teaching with Elder Alcaraz. Daniel Martinez then came with us
after the Preach My Gospel class to teach Ernesto Martinez again. We
began introducing the Book of Mormon and all bore powerful witness of
the truthfulness of the pages that it contains. The Book of Mormon
will change lives.
Friday, December 5th, 2014:
For the first time in a couple of weeks, Elder Alcaraz and I were able
to meet with Jose Antonio Escobar, who we believe has the most
potential out of any of the investigators that we are teaching to
become a great member of the Church. He told us some great news: he
now has a new job and will be able to come to church, at least to
Sacrament Meeting, on Sundays! We were thrilled and look forward to
being able to work with him more. He understands the doctrine
extremely well, and that understanding propels him to act in
accordance to the doctrine. We then went to the church to meet up with
Elder Coca Frias and Elder Turner. Each companionship did weekly
planning before we began exchanges. Elder Coca Frias came with me to
our area, and Elder Alcaraz went with Elder Turner to Belvedere 2 -
South. Elder Coca and I began working by going to teach Art Fierro
again. He really likes to talk, which makes it difficult to keep the
lesson from going off-topic. We taught about the Plan of Salvation,
and Art began to open up about how the Holy Ghost testified to him
that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet.
It was a really exciting moment. We had a few appointments that
canceled before we finished our evening by visiting Alberto
Rivadeneyra. Elder Coca and I went in and planned to teach the Book of
Mormon; however, Alberto began talking a lot, preventing us from
sharing more than a single verse. I need to do better about cutting
people off and helping them understand that the message that we have
to share is the most important message that they will ever hear in the
entire course of their lives. This message affects our personal
salvation.
Saturday, December 6th:
It was interesting to have a day where I was completely in charge of
the area. Every single one of the four previous exchanges that I have
done this transfer resulted in me leaving my area; this was the first
out of five exchanges that I was able to stay in my own area to work.
Elder Coca and I began the day by going to visit a less-active lady
named Erika Ruiz. We shared the "He is the Gift" video with her and
her three granddaughters. We talked about how we can build our faith
in Christ as we pray to him. Elder Coca and I taught everyone there
how to pray, and a ten year-old girl named Ashley said an amazing
prayer at the end of the lesson. It is wonderful to see how our
teaching can make such a monumental difference in the lives of those
that we teach. We then taught a couple of new investigators named
sonia and Francisco. They are a brother and sister who are very
involved in the youth ministry at the Catholic Church, which means
they will make wonderful members when they receive the answer from God
that they should accept the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We shared
the "He is the Gift" video with both of them and began talking about
the importance of service. Elder Coca and I then finished our exchange
together by teaching Jaime Quezada about the Gospel and emphasizing
the role of the Sacrament in the repentance process. Elder Coca and I
then met up with Elder Alcaraz and Elder Turner to finish the
exchange. Elder Coca is progressing very well, and I was able to learn
a lot about street contacting from him. He will be a fantastic
missionary as he continues to work to apply what he learns each and
every day because he is very sharp and observant. The only appointment
that Elder Alcaraz and I had together during the evening was with the
Becerril family. Once again, we shared the "He is the Gift" video and
invited each of them to think of someone that they can share both the
video and their testimony with during the next week. People are more
receptive to a message about the Savior during this Christmas season.
Sunday, December 7th, 2014:
Church was really good today because we had the chance to listen to
Fast and Testimony Meeting. My mission has shown me how bearing
testimony of a principle is he act of faith required to actually gain
the testimony itself. A testimony is a statement of belief, and we are
able to obtain a conviction of the truth through the power of the
Spirit as we declare our testimony, benefiting both the listener and
the person bearing testimony. After church ended, we had a great ward
council meeting. There was a lot discussed, and missionary work seemed
to be at the forefront of almost every matter of business that was
discussed. Missionary work is the fundamental for long-term growth
within a ward, and the Belvedere 2 Ward is beginning to implement a
plan that can be used to hasten the missionary work here. We are
working closely with our ward mission leader, Obispo Mata to help the
ward progress. During the day, we went to visit a few potential
investigators and set up a few return appointments before we returned
to watch the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. I loved Elder
Christofferson's talk about the condescension of Christ and how we
must condescend to also overcome the world. Christmas is truly the
best time to remember our relationship to the Savior. During the
evening, Elder Alcaraz and I went to share the "He is the Gift" video
with the Catillo family. It was my first time meeting them, and they
are very friendly. We also visited the Robles family for just the
second time since I arrived and shared the same video with them.
Working with the members is the key to finding the prepared
investigators. We can work all day long and find investigators who
aren't really that interested, but the members have been here longer
and are able to touch the hearts of the people in a different way than
we are as missionaries. When we come together to perform the work of
salvation as one unified team, that is when we begin to see the
miracles.
Today, we met up as a district to make gingerbread houses. It was a
lot of fun and was a great opportunity to get to know everyone a
little bit better. Everyone is beginning to get into that festive
mood, and it is making me excited for the happiest day of the year. I
hope everyone has a fantastic week!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
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