Hey Everyone!
As the title of this email states, this week has been a huge roller
coaster. It seems like life is normally like that, yet this week has
been even more extreme than normal. We have experienced a number of
very strong spiritual experiences and have seen a number of
heart-breaking occurrences with investigators not progressing like we
were hoping that they would. Nevertheless, the work of Lord will go
forth until God says that we are done.
Tuesday, January 20th, 2015:
We have interviews with our mission president every other transfer,
which equates to roughly four to five times per calendar year. As zone
leaders, we are given the responsibility of planning the interview
schedule and running the interviews. It was fun to have that
opportunity today. We got to the church early in the morning to begin
preparing for interviews with Presidente Villanueva. Elder Crosgrove
and I had to stay at the church building the entire day, and we didn't
even finish all of the interviews until after 7:15 PM. It was a really
long day; however, it was fun to be able to talk to all of the
different members of the zone while each person was waiting for their
companion in the interview. Presidente Villanueva focused the
interviews on family history work and how we can help inspire others
to catch hold of the Spirit of Elijah. I loved being able to talk to
Presidente Villanueva one-on-one because he seems to be really opening
up to me now. My favorite part about being in leadership is that the
leaders are able to see how everything in the mission works and see
everyone as normal people, including the mission president. I received
an immense amount of revelation relating to my future, and I gained
the testimony that Presidente Villanueva holds the keys and the mantle
to oversee the California Arcadia Mission.
Wednesday, January 21st, 2015:
For the second day in a row, Elder Crosgrove and I did not have any
time to be able to work in our own area, due to miscellaneous
meetings. We went to the mission office after lunch to go pick up
supplies for the zone. Elder Hamilton, the mission's vehicle
coordinator, also wanted to hold a meeting for all of the missionaries
that are driving. Elder Crosgrove and I stayed for the meeting, which
basically felt like a Driver's Education refresher course. It was fun
to practice all of the different driving maneuvers in the parking lot
outside of the mission office, but I would have much rather gone to
work in our own area. By the time that we got back, we had to go pick
up Elder Merrill from Boyle Heights so that he could do a couple of
baptismal interviews for us, seeing that Elder Carnahan was
unavailable. Norma and Guadalupe Vargas were both interviewed, and we
determined that Norma will wait a few weeks to ensure that she feels
comfortable with the decision that she is making to be baptized.
Guadalupe is still strong with her desires to be baptized this Sunday,
though. Hermano Cajina, the stake mission leader, later called an
unexpected meeting for all of the district leaders, zone leaders and
ward mission leaders in the East Los Angeles Stake to go over all of
the respective ward mission plans for the year. Elder Crosgrove and I
had to leave to go do exchanges with the El Molino - South Elders, so
we stayed for about ten minutes before we had to leave. Due to the
number of meetings, we have been unable to find much time to actually
help our own investigators and our own area progress.
Thursday, January 22nd, 2015:
For the first time on my entire mission, I had the privilege to go
back to a previous area that I had served in. I spent the day with
Elder Bishop in El Sereno, which was the second area that I served in.
We went to district meeting where Elder Perez taught about the
importance of companionship unity. He always has some very insightful
thoughts to share, and I always love the role plays that he comes up
with. We role played a typical lesson, but we had to alternate between
people speaking every thirteen seconds. It really showed us how often
we get into the habit of talking for too long and how important it is
to make sure that both companions are balanced with how much they each
speak. Elder Bishop and I went to a few different areas within El
Sereno that I had never visited before to look for some people.
Unfortunately, however, we were unlucky with our attempts. After
dinner, we went to talk with a man named Hector. His wife, Silvia,
recently began chemotherapy and has been struggling. We talked to him
about how they can use prayer and the Book of Mormon to be able to
feel the Spirit more during this difficult trial. We ended our evening
by going to visit Erika and Hector, two of my favorite investigators
from my entire mission. I spent months teaching them and helping them
become converted to the Gospel, and it was the first time that I had
seen Hector since I left. They are planning on getting married in the
coming weeks, which means that they should be able to get baptized in
the near future! I was really excited to hear that Hector finished the
entire Book of Mormon and that he has begun rereading it again. It was
the greatest feeling in the world to see how happy they are and to see
how much the Gospel has impacted their lives. Knowing that I could be
of help to them and seeing the fruits of my labors brought me the
greatest satisfaction that I have felt on my entire mission.
Friday, January 23rd, 2015:
Due to how busy Elder Crosgrove and I have been recently, we had a
difficult time focusing during weekly planning. We planned all of the
baptismal program for Guadalupe Vargas' baptism this Sunday and for
Wendi Martinez's baptism next Sunday. It was a productive weekly
planning session, but we are feeling really burnt out and anxious to
go work. I believe that it has been nearly two full weeks since Elder
Crosgrove and I had a full regular day of work together in our own
area. We went to correlation meeting with Hermano Ojeda at the church.
He is really sarcastic, which makes correlation really entertaining.
During the evening, Joel Cortes invited us to go eat dinner with him.
I feel like I am getting to know Joel better. He is one of the best
members in the entire mission because he actively lives the Gospel
every day of his life and has experienced one of the most remarkable
conversion stories that I have ever heard. During the evening, Elder
Crosgrove and I went to go teach Carolina Garcia and Elizabeth
Rundles. We wanted to focus on the ordinance of baptism and how it is
only a step towards a greater goal: everlasting joy and happiness with
our family. Carolina realized that she just needs a bit of a push and
that she is more ready than she initially thought. It was a wonderful
lesson that helped Carolina put everything into perspective. She is
understanding more about how the ordinance of baptism fits into the
Gospel plan, which is helping her desire to learn more continue to
increase.
Saturday, January 24th, 2015:
Elder Crosgrove and I went with Mario Cortes and Wendi Martinez to the
church in the morning to do Wendi's baptismal interview. Elder
Carnahan interviewed her, and everything went really well. She is all
ready for her baptism next Sunday, and I feel very blessed to help her
reach this monumental step in her life. Elder Crosgrove and I went to
go contact a lot of people in their northern part of our area. We
don't work up there very often, but we decided to try working up there
today. We also decided to stop by the Rojas family for the first time
in over a month. We both received the impression that it wasn't the
right time to teach them; unfortunately, however, we neglected the
prompting and taught them anyways. Suffice it to say that it wasn't a
good lesson at all, and it reaffirmed our previous decision to stop
visiting the Rojas family so frequently. Hermano Chavez invited us
over for dinner. He is a wonderful member who is very humble and very
sincere. Elder Crosgrove and I were able to talk to the Vargas family
during the evening and finish the preparations for Guadalupe's baptism
tomorrow. She is doing really well and is very excited to be able to
reach this step in her life.
Sunday, January 25th, 2015:
To go along with the theme of the roller coaster, our pattern of highs
and lows yesterday continued today. As we were walking to church, we
got a call from the Vargas family; they told us that Guadalupe will
have to wait to be baptized because she will need to read more of the
Book of Mormon before she takes the step to be baptized. The Book of
Mormon is the center of conversion, and it is essential for someone to
have a sure testimony of the Restoration by knowing that the Book of
Mormon is true before getting baptized. That being said, it was still
sad to see that Guadalupe will have to wait to receive the blessing of
the Holy Ghost in her life that comes after the ordinance of baptism.
Elder Crosgrove and I made a concerted effort to find some new people
to teach, and we ended up teaching more people in Evaristo and Amalia
Moreno's house tonight. We taught the Restoration to all of them.
Hilario had a tough time believing that the Church fell and then was
restored, but he was really interested in learning more from us. We
ended the night by visiting the Jurado family again. It sounds like
the zone is doing well and that we will all need to work on finding.
We are going to the church to go play volleyball with the Arroyo
district and some members of the Fletcher district. Despite the fact
that I terrible when it comes to volleyball, I am looking forward to
the opportunity to play sports with the other members of our zone.
This is Elder Crosgrove's final P-Day of his mission, seeing that he
will be going home at the end of the transfer. It will be really sad
to see him leave, and it will be really weird to adjusting to a new
companion again, too. By this time next week, I will have more updates
with all of the news relating to transfers. There will be a huge group
going home this transfer, including four zone leaders (between English
and Spanish) and three assistants. Leadership in our mission will also
look very different. I hope that everyone has a fantastic week and is
prepared to watch the Seahawks dominate in a second consecutive Super
Bowl!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
Monday, January 26, 2015
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Preparing for Baptism - January 19, 2015
Hey everyone!
I hope that everyone has had a wonderful week! We have been seeing a
number of different miracles and surprises as we go about seeking to
be exactly obedient and focus everything that we do on the Savior
Jesus Christ, including helping a few different people prepare to be
baptized in the upcoming weeks. It has been hectic and exciting at the
same time, and I am loving the time here in Lincoln Heights.
Tuesday, January 13th, 2014:
Due to the fact that the office will be closed tomorrow, Elder
Crosgrove and I went to go get supplies from the office. I always love
seeing all of the people who work in the office; it reminds me of how
many people are backing us up as missionaries and are helping us
preach the Gospel away from home. When we got back from picking up
supplies at the office, we went to teach Wendi Martinez. She still has
a little bit of a doubt about Joseph Smith as a prophet, but she has
been reading, praying, and attending church. Wendi is progressing very
well towards her baptism on February 1st. The remainder of our day was
relatively slow up until we went to teach the Vargas family about the
principles of tithing and fasting. They are getting ready for baptism
and are committed to being baptized on January 25th. I'm really
excited to be able to help the Vargas family get ready to experience
the joy of making a covenant with God as a family. We then began
exchanges with the Fletcher - East Elders. I went to Fletcher to be
with Elder Meisman, and Elder Crosgrove stayed in Arroyo with Elder
Taylor.
Wednesday, January 14th, 2014:
I was really excited to be able to do exchanges with Elder Meisman
because he is such a great leader and such a dedicated missionary.
Elder Meisman served for four transfers as a zone leader and has a
great understanding of how to do effective missionary work. We set the
goal together to work on focusing all of our lessons on the divinity
of Jesus Christ and His Gospel. We started off our day by going to
teach a man by the name of Lazaro about the Book of Mormon. He was
thinking about dropping Elder Meisman and Elder Taylor, but we decided
to teach about how the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ. It was a
really powerful lesson, and Lazaro began to see the importance of
reading the Book of Mormon and how it will enable him to strengthen
his testimony of Jesus Christ. Elder Meisman and I contacted a lot of
people throughout the day with marginal success. During the afternoon,
we went up to Glendale to do service at an senior home. They ended up
having us run the Bingo game for all of the senior citizens. Service
is one of my favorite things to do as a missionary, and it was a
really fun opportunity to get out into the community. At the end of
the evening, we went to teach a recent convert family named the
Barrios family. They were baptized about three months ago, and they
invited their friend, Jose Figueroa, over to eat with us. We shared
the "Because of Him" video with him. We explained how faith in Christ
will enable Jose to grow closer to his family. It was a powerful
lesson, and the Hermanas in El Molino will be able to begin teaching
him.
Thursday, January 15th, 2014:
We received a call that told us that we would be involved in a
temporary exchange for a few days with the Tujunga Elders; Elder
Israel would be coming to be with Elder Crosgrove and I for a few
days. We dropped him off at the Arroyo district meeting on the way to
the El Molino district meeting. Elder Perez taught the district
meeting about the Atonement and how our purpose as missionaries helps
us to help other people access the Atonement of Jesus Christ in their
lives. Elder Crosgrove, Elder Israel and I all then went to teach
Wendi Martinez about the pattern of calling prophets in every
dispensation to help her understand how Thomas S. Monson was called in
the same manner today. It was a good lesson, but I am not sure if it
was exactly what Wendi needed to progress spiritually. During the
evening, we went to teach a less-active family named the Alvarez
family about the importance of family prayer. They have desires to
come back to church, and I look forward to working with them more in
the future. We then concluded the day by going to teach the Padilla
family about their relationship with God. We shared the "Earthly
Father, Heavenly Father" video to talk more about how they can
understand God better as they come to church every week.
Friday, January 16th, 2014:
We went up to Tujunga in the morning to continue helping the Tujunga
Elders, and it seems like the trip up there made a huge difference.
The majority of our role as leaders is to help strengthen and support
others as they continually make the changes in their own lives as
missionaries to be able to, in turn, help others make those very same
changes. Elder Crosgrove and I were pretty burned out as we did our
weekly planning session, but we got a lot of planning done for the
upcoming baptisms over the next couple of weeks. We then went up to
the church for our weekly correlation meeting with Hermano Ojeda. I
have been really stressed over the past couple of days with so much
happening, and I find that it is hard to focus when we are so
stressed. The highlight of our day, however, was being able to go
visit the Giron family. It was the first time in a little while that
we went to go visit them, and they invited their friend, Omar, to come
listen to us. We shared a short message about the Atonement and how it
can help Omar overcome his smoking addiction. It was a good lesson
that left Omar wanting to learn more.
Saturday, January 17th, 2014:
In preparation for our interviews with Presidente Villanueva on
Tuesday, we need to do a lot of work with our family history. Elder
Crosgrove, Elder Israel and I all used our online proselyting time to
work on our family history workbooks so that we are ready for Tuesday.
We had a number of appointments cancel during the day, which made it
hard to focus on finding. We ate dinner with Wendi Martinez during the
evening. She is doing well and is preparing for her baptism on February 1st.
We then all went to teach the Vargas family about the
Ten Commandments. Norma and Guadalupe are all ready for Sunday,
and Mario will be progressing towards baptism in the coming weeks. We
are growing very close to their family, and I can see the changes that
they have made in their lives to have the Spirit more abundantly in
their home.
Sunday, January 18th, 2014:
Church was really good, and we were able to help four different
investigators come to church. It is really helpful to have it at 11 AM
because it gives us the ability to be able to round everyone up and
get them to church. After church, we went searching for a few former
investigators that we didn't know, and we ended up in an area that we
weren't familiar with. We knocked the doors of all of them to little
avail, and we then ran into an English member. They graciously invited
us in to eat with them, and we shared a message about the Atonement
and how it has blessed our lives. They didn't know anyone who spoke
Spanish, which was unfortunate, but I believe that we fostered the
relationship so that we can work with them to find other investigators
in the future. At the end of the evening, we had a very spiritual
lesson with Evaristo and Amalia Moreno, who are new investigators that
we found recently. They have a lot of potential, and I look forward to
working with them more in the future.
Today for P-day, Elder Crosgrove, Elder Israel and I all went to the
church to play basketball and ping pong with Lalo, Carolina and Liz,
in addition to Elder Flindt and Elder Bautista from the Fletcher
district. It was a lot of fun and was a great opportunity to relieve
some stress by playing a really fun sport. Despite the fact that the
mission changes us immensely, I still have yet to lose my love of
sports! It is also interesting to see how much more effective we are
as missionaries if we keep ourselves physically healthy as we engage
in the Lord's work; we cannot help anyone else if we are unable to
help ourselves. I hope everyone is remembering to strengthen their own
testimony and conviction of the restored Gospel so that we can all
share the "good tidings of great joy" with those who are seeking the
truth. Have a wonderful week, everyone!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
I hope that everyone has had a wonderful week! We have been seeing a
number of different miracles and surprises as we go about seeking to
be exactly obedient and focus everything that we do on the Savior
Jesus Christ, including helping a few different people prepare to be
baptized in the upcoming weeks. It has been hectic and exciting at the
same time, and I am loving the time here in Lincoln Heights.
Tuesday, January 13th, 2014:
Due to the fact that the office will be closed tomorrow, Elder
Crosgrove and I went to go get supplies from the office. I always love
seeing all of the people who work in the office; it reminds me of how
many people are backing us up as missionaries and are helping us
preach the Gospel away from home. When we got back from picking up
supplies at the office, we went to teach Wendi Martinez. She still has
a little bit of a doubt about Joseph Smith as a prophet, but she has
been reading, praying, and attending church. Wendi is progressing very
well towards her baptism on February 1st. The remainder of our day was
relatively slow up until we went to teach the Vargas family about the
principles of tithing and fasting. They are getting ready for baptism
and are committed to being baptized on January 25th. I'm really
excited to be able to help the Vargas family get ready to experience
the joy of making a covenant with God as a family. We then began
exchanges with the Fletcher - East Elders. I went to Fletcher to be
with Elder Meisman, and Elder Crosgrove stayed in Arroyo with Elder
Taylor.
Wednesday, January 14th, 2014:
I was really excited to be able to do exchanges with Elder Meisman
because he is such a great leader and such a dedicated missionary.
Elder Meisman served for four transfers as a zone leader and has a
great understanding of how to do effective missionary work. We set the
goal together to work on focusing all of our lessons on the divinity
of Jesus Christ and His Gospel. We started off our day by going to
teach a man by the name of Lazaro about the Book of Mormon. He was
thinking about dropping Elder Meisman and Elder Taylor, but we decided
to teach about how the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ. It was a
really powerful lesson, and Lazaro began to see the importance of
reading the Book of Mormon and how it will enable him to strengthen
his testimony of Jesus Christ. Elder Meisman and I contacted a lot of
people throughout the day with marginal success. During the afternoon,
we went up to Glendale to do service at an senior home. They ended up
having us run the Bingo game for all of the senior citizens. Service
is one of my favorite things to do as a missionary, and it was a
really fun opportunity to get out into the community. At the end of
the evening, we went to teach a recent convert family named the
Barrios family. They were baptized about three months ago, and they
invited their friend, Jose Figueroa, over to eat with us. We shared
the "Because of Him" video with him. We explained how faith in Christ
will enable Jose to grow closer to his family. It was a powerful
lesson, and the Hermanas in El Molino will be able to begin teaching
him.
Thursday, January 15th, 2014:
We received a call that told us that we would be involved in a
temporary exchange for a few days with the Tujunga Elders; Elder
Israel would be coming to be with Elder Crosgrove and I for a few
days. We dropped him off at the Arroyo district meeting on the way to
the El Molino district meeting. Elder Perez taught the district
meeting about the Atonement and how our purpose as missionaries helps
us to help other people access the Atonement of Jesus Christ in their
lives. Elder Crosgrove, Elder Israel and I all then went to teach
Wendi Martinez about the pattern of calling prophets in every
dispensation to help her understand how Thomas S. Monson was called in
the same manner today. It was a good lesson, but I am not sure if it
was exactly what Wendi needed to progress spiritually. During the
evening, we went to teach a less-active family named the Alvarez
family about the importance of family prayer. They have desires to
come back to church, and I look forward to working with them more in
the future. We then concluded the day by going to teach the Padilla
family about their relationship with God. We shared the "Earthly
Father, Heavenly Father" video to talk more about how they can
understand God better as they come to church every week.
Friday, January 16th, 2014:
We went up to Tujunga in the morning to continue helping the Tujunga
Elders, and it seems like the trip up there made a huge difference.
The majority of our role as leaders is to help strengthen and support
others as they continually make the changes in their own lives as
missionaries to be able to, in turn, help others make those very same
changes. Elder Crosgrove and I were pretty burned out as we did our
weekly planning session, but we got a lot of planning done for the
upcoming baptisms over the next couple of weeks. We then went up to
the church for our weekly correlation meeting with Hermano Ojeda. I
have been really stressed over the past couple of days with so much
happening, and I find that it is hard to focus when we are so
stressed. The highlight of our day, however, was being able to go
visit the Giron family. It was the first time in a little while that
we went to go visit them, and they invited their friend, Omar, to come
listen to us. We shared a short message about the Atonement and how it
can help Omar overcome his smoking addiction. It was a good lesson
that left Omar wanting to learn more.
Saturday, January 17th, 2014:
In preparation for our interviews with Presidente Villanueva on
Tuesday, we need to do a lot of work with our family history. Elder
Crosgrove, Elder Israel and I all used our online proselyting time to
work on our family history workbooks so that we are ready for Tuesday.
We had a number of appointments cancel during the day, which made it
hard to focus on finding. We ate dinner with Wendi Martinez during the
evening. She is doing well and is preparing for her baptism on February 1st.
We then all went to teach the Vargas family about the
Ten Commandments. Norma and Guadalupe are all ready for Sunday,
and Mario will be progressing towards baptism in the coming weeks. We
are growing very close to their family, and I can see the changes that
they have made in their lives to have the Spirit more abundantly in
their home.
Sunday, January 18th, 2014:
Church was really good, and we were able to help four different
investigators come to church. It is really helpful to have it at 11 AM
because it gives us the ability to be able to round everyone up and
get them to church. After church, we went searching for a few former
investigators that we didn't know, and we ended up in an area that we
weren't familiar with. We knocked the doors of all of them to little
avail, and we then ran into an English member. They graciously invited
us in to eat with them, and we shared a message about the Atonement
and how it has blessed our lives. They didn't know anyone who spoke
Spanish, which was unfortunate, but I believe that we fostered the
relationship so that we can work with them to find other investigators
in the future. At the end of the evening, we had a very spiritual
lesson with Evaristo and Amalia Moreno, who are new investigators that
we found recently. They have a lot of potential, and I look forward to
working with them more in the future.
Today for P-day, Elder Crosgrove, Elder Israel and I all went to the
church to play basketball and ping pong with Lalo, Carolina and Liz,
in addition to Elder Flindt and Elder Bautista from the Fletcher
district. It was a lot of fun and was a great opportunity to relieve
some stress by playing a really fun sport. Despite the fact that the
mission changes us immensely, I still have yet to lose my love of
sports! It is also interesting to see how much more effective we are
as missionaries if we keep ourselves physically healthy as we engage
in the Lord's work; we cannot help anyone else if we are unable to
help ourselves. I hope everyone is remembering to strengthen their own
testimony and conviction of the restored Gospel so that we can all
share the "good tidings of great joy" with those who are seeking the
truth. Have a wonderful week, everyone!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
Monday, January 12, 2015
Teaching Zone Meeting for the First Time - January 12, 2015
Hey
Everyone!
I hope everyone has had a wonderful week! This past week here in
Lincoln Heights has possibly been the best week of my entire mission
so far. Despite the fact that our time to work in our area was very
limited, we saw a ton of success as we really focused on placing the
Savior and His Atonement at the center of our teaching. Elder
Crosgrove and I have seen a number of miracles over the past week that
have really strengthened my testimony of the power of the Atonement.
Tuesday, January 6th, 2015:
I love Tuesdays because we always have a full day to work in our own
area. We often get tied up doing other things for the zone, so time to
work in our own area is precious to us. We began our day by reading in
Mosiah 2 with Jose Mendez about the Atonement of Christ and how he can
apply it in his life to gain the necessary strength to overcome his
physical ailments. We had a few appointments cancel during the day, so
we talked with Mario Cortes about how he can continue strengthening
his testimony. Mario was baptized about a year ago and helps us out
with a number of different people that we teach. Recent converts are
some of the best member friends because investigators can see that the
changes that God hopes that they will make are possible; plus, recent
converts have rock-solid testimonies of the healing power of the
Atonement. During the evening, we taught the Vargas family. They
recently had a friend pass away, so we taught them about the Plan of
Salvation. It was a powerful lesson. Guadalupe even asked us after the
lesson about how she can serve a mission and defer her college plans.
It was one of the most exciting moments on my mission because we were
able to see the long-term picture being revealed in minds of the whole
family. It is exciting to see someone get baptized, but it is much
more exciting to see someone continue progressing in the Gospel and
coming unto Christ.
Wednesday, January 7th, 2015:
I was fairly nervous going into my first Mission Leadership Council
(MLC) today in Arcadia. Once per month, the mission president, his
wife, the assistants and all of the zone leaders and sister training
leaders from around the mission meet together for the majority of the
day to have a council about the needs of the mission and to prepare
for zone meeting the following day. It was really neat to be a part of
the core leadership of the mission and to discuss about the needs of
the mission as a whole. It wasn't as much instruction as I was
expecting; the MLC consisted of a topic being presented in front of
the group of thirty people and then everyone discussing
collaboratively about how to help each individual zone understand how
to resolve and improve each respective issue. It was a great meeting,
and it helped Elder Crosgrove and I understand that the key need of
our zone and our mission is deep conversion of the missionaries and
investigators. Truly understanding the doctrine of Christ is vital for
both us as missionaries and for our investigators. After MLC, we only
had a little bit of time before the end of the day to prepare for zone
meeting tomorrow morning. Elder Crosgrove and I planned out our
outline of what we wanted to teach, and we decided that the importance
of how our numbers of the key indicators actually reflect the charity
that we have towards those that we teach. Many people -- myself
included -- often think that statistics behind missionary work aren't
that important; however, the only way for anyone to truly access the
Atonement of Christ is through Priesthood ordinances, such as baptism.
If we don't help people progress towards baptism and focus our efforts
on what will help them achieve that goal, the Atonement can never take
effect in their lives, meaning that they will never be fully clean
from their sins and be able to return to live with God again.
Thursday, January 8th, 2015:
Today was the first time on my mission that I have ever taught zone
meeting. It was a lot different than what I was expecting because I
had become so accustomed to teaching district meeting. As a district
leader, it is a much smaller discussion, and there is no companion to
rely on for teaching the meeting. As a zone leader in zone meeting,
there is a companion to help teach, it is a much larger group of
people, and zone meeting has to be much more flexible with the time
that is actually spent teaching. Elder Crosgrove and I focused on the
conversion process and how the key indicators help us remember that
process. An interesting comment was made that the key indicators are
like the Law of Moses because they help point us towards the higher
law of conversion and give us a specific set of steps to focus on.
After zone meeting, we went to teach Wendi Martinez. She has been
going through some difficult times, so we were able to testify of the
power of the Atonement and the healing power that comes through living
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She will be baptized on February 1st.
During the evening, Joel Cortes came with us to teach the Duarte
family. As we were bearing testimony to them for the first time,
Otulia and Kimberly both began to cry and accepted the invitation to
be baptized. We then went to teach Carolina, Liz and Lalo again. We
centered our teaching on helping them see how their testimonies of
Christ have grown as they have applied what we teach.
Friday, January 9th, 2015:
In the morning, Elder Crosgrove and I went to go teach Jose Perez
about the importance of being baptized by the proper authority. We
read from Moroni 8 with him about how baptism is for the remission of
sins and that it should be done when we have reached the age of
accountability. We then ate lunch with Wendi Martinez before weekly
planning. Hermano Ojeda wanted to have correlation meeting earlier in
the day, so we had to rush through weekly planning. I have come to
learn how important efficient and thorough planning are as I have gone
about doing missionary work. Elder Crosgrove and I went to teach four
new investigators during the evening about the Restoration. We were
looking for a former investigator and ran into Evaristo, Amalia, Maria
and Norma. We began teaching them about the importance of prophets and
then testified of Christ's love for us and how He called another
prophet in these days. As we testified of Christ's love, Amalia began
to cry. It has been such a blessing to be able to see people touched
by the love of God as they come to understand the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Saturday, January 10th, 2015:
Wendi Martinez told us that she wanted to go with us to the Los
Angeles Temple Visitors' Center today, so we made the arrangements to
be able to go with her to the temple in Santa Monica. Mario Cortes
came with us to the tour at the visitors' center, and it was a great
trip. The Sister missionaries at the temple were really good with
Wendi and helped her feel the Spirit there. Wendi particularly enjoyed
the video about the family and how the Gospel helps bring families
together. Overall, I believe that the trip helped strengthen Wendi's
resolve to be baptized. After we got back, Elder Crosgrove and I
taught the Vargas family about leaving behind their weapons of
rebellion as we read Alma 23. Guadalupe and Norma both enjoyed the
lesson and committed to be baptized on January 25th. They are
progressing extremely well, and I am really excited to help them reach
the waters of baptism later this month. We concluded our day by going
to read in Mosiah 3 with Jose Mendez.
Sunday, January 11th, 2015:
I was assigned to speak in Sacrament Meeting by Obispo Diaz last
night, so I had to prepare my talk this morning about fasting. Elder
Crosgrove and I were really stressed during the morning with trying to
help all of our investigators get to church. Arranging transportation
is always stressful, but with church at 11 AM it becomes much easier
to organize everything. We were very fortunate to help five different
investigators come to church today. My talk also went flawlessly, and
I was able to connect fasting with putting off the natural man to have
access to the Atonement of Christ. We, as missionaries, have been
making a concerted effort to focus everything that we do more on the
Atonement of Christ. I received a witness by the Spirit as I bore
testimony of Christ as the Son of God that Christ knows each and every
one of us personally. As we sacrifice our will and seek to follow His
will, we will be blessed. Elder Crosgrove and I had a slow day, as far
as missionary work is concerned, but we did teach the Garcia family
during the evening about preparing to go to the temple. We shared the
"Heavenly Father, Earthly Father" video with them to help them see how
the temple enlightens our understanding about the Plan of Salvation.
It is very exciting to see members preparing to make more covenants
with our Heavenly Father.
For our P-Day today, we went running with Elder Rowley and Elder
Nelson, and we went to Pasadena with Joel Cortes to buy some clothes
for Elder Crosgrove when he goes home. It is interesting to be the
last companion of a missionary because it makes one see how short two
years really is. I love being able to serve the Lord with all of my
heart, might, mind and strength, and I wouldn't trade the opportunity
to give of myself for anything else. Truly, as we lose ourselves in
the service of others, we are able to find who we really are. I hope
everyone has a wonderful week! Thank you for all of your love and
support!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
I hope everyone has had a wonderful week! This past week here in
Lincoln Heights has possibly been the best week of my entire mission
so far. Despite the fact that our time to work in our area was very
limited, we saw a ton of success as we really focused on placing the
Savior and His Atonement at the center of our teaching. Elder
Crosgrove and I have seen a number of miracles over the past week that
have really strengthened my testimony of the power of the Atonement.
Tuesday, January 6th, 2015:
I love Tuesdays because we always have a full day to work in our own
area. We often get tied up doing other things for the zone, so time to
work in our own area is precious to us. We began our day by reading in
Mosiah 2 with Jose Mendez about the Atonement of Christ and how he can
apply it in his life to gain the necessary strength to overcome his
physical ailments. We had a few appointments cancel during the day, so
we talked with Mario Cortes about how he can continue strengthening
his testimony. Mario was baptized about a year ago and helps us out
with a number of different people that we teach. Recent converts are
some of the best member friends because investigators can see that the
changes that God hopes that they will make are possible; plus, recent
converts have rock-solid testimonies of the healing power of the
Atonement. During the evening, we taught the Vargas family. They
recently had a friend pass away, so we taught them about the Plan of
Salvation. It was a powerful lesson. Guadalupe even asked us after the
lesson about how she can serve a mission and defer her college plans.
It was one of the most exciting moments on my mission because we were
able to see the long-term picture being revealed in minds of the whole
family. It is exciting to see someone get baptized, but it is much
more exciting to see someone continue progressing in the Gospel and
coming unto Christ.
Wednesday, January 7th, 2015:
I was fairly nervous going into my first Mission Leadership Council
(MLC) today in Arcadia. Once per month, the mission president, his
wife, the assistants and all of the zone leaders and sister training
leaders from around the mission meet together for the majority of the
day to have a council about the needs of the mission and to prepare
for zone meeting the following day. It was really neat to be a part of
the core leadership of the mission and to discuss about the needs of
the mission as a whole. It wasn't as much instruction as I was
expecting; the MLC consisted of a topic being presented in front of
the group of thirty people and then everyone discussing
collaboratively about how to help each individual zone understand how
to resolve and improve each respective issue. It was a great meeting,
and it helped Elder Crosgrove and I understand that the key need of
our zone and our mission is deep conversion of the missionaries and
investigators. Truly understanding the doctrine of Christ is vital for
both us as missionaries and for our investigators. After MLC, we only
had a little bit of time before the end of the day to prepare for zone
meeting tomorrow morning. Elder Crosgrove and I planned out our
outline of what we wanted to teach, and we decided that the importance
of how our numbers of the key indicators actually reflect the charity
that we have towards those that we teach. Many people -- myself
included -- often think that statistics behind missionary work aren't
that important; however, the only way for anyone to truly access the
Atonement of Christ is through Priesthood ordinances, such as baptism.
If we don't help people progress towards baptism and focus our efforts
on what will help them achieve that goal, the Atonement can never take
effect in their lives, meaning that they will never be fully clean
from their sins and be able to return to live with God again.
Thursday, January 8th, 2015:
Today was the first time on my mission that I have ever taught zone
meeting. It was a lot different than what I was expecting because I
had become so accustomed to teaching district meeting. As a district
leader, it is a much smaller discussion, and there is no companion to
rely on for teaching the meeting. As a zone leader in zone meeting,
there is a companion to help teach, it is a much larger group of
people, and zone meeting has to be much more flexible with the time
that is actually spent teaching. Elder Crosgrove and I focused on the
conversion process and how the key indicators help us remember that
process. An interesting comment was made that the key indicators are
like the Law of Moses because they help point us towards the higher
law of conversion and give us a specific set of steps to focus on.
After zone meeting, we went to teach Wendi Martinez. She has been
going through some difficult times, so we were able to testify of the
power of the Atonement and the healing power that comes through living
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She will be baptized on February 1st.
During the evening, Joel Cortes came with us to teach the Duarte
family. As we were bearing testimony to them for the first time,
Otulia and Kimberly both began to cry and accepted the invitation to
be baptized. We then went to teach Carolina, Liz and Lalo again. We
centered our teaching on helping them see how their testimonies of
Christ have grown as they have applied what we teach.
Friday, January 9th, 2015:
In the morning, Elder Crosgrove and I went to go teach Jose Perez
about the importance of being baptized by the proper authority. We
read from Moroni 8 with him about how baptism is for the remission of
sins and that it should be done when we have reached the age of
accountability. We then ate lunch with Wendi Martinez before weekly
planning. Hermano Ojeda wanted to have correlation meeting earlier in
the day, so we had to rush through weekly planning. I have come to
learn how important efficient and thorough planning are as I have gone
about doing missionary work. Elder Crosgrove and I went to teach four
new investigators during the evening about the Restoration. We were
looking for a former investigator and ran into Evaristo, Amalia, Maria
and Norma. We began teaching them about the importance of prophets and
then testified of Christ's love for us and how He called another
prophet in these days. As we testified of Christ's love, Amalia began
to cry. It has been such a blessing to be able to see people touched
by the love of God as they come to understand the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Saturday, January 10th, 2015:
Wendi Martinez told us that she wanted to go with us to the Los
Angeles Temple Visitors' Center today, so we made the arrangements to
be able to go with her to the temple in Santa Monica. Mario Cortes
came with us to the tour at the visitors' center, and it was a great
trip. The Sister missionaries at the temple were really good with
Wendi and helped her feel the Spirit there. Wendi particularly enjoyed
the video about the family and how the Gospel helps bring families
together. Overall, I believe that the trip helped strengthen Wendi's
resolve to be baptized. After we got back, Elder Crosgrove and I
taught the Vargas family about leaving behind their weapons of
rebellion as we read Alma 23. Guadalupe and Norma both enjoyed the
lesson and committed to be baptized on January 25th. They are
progressing extremely well, and I am really excited to help them reach
the waters of baptism later this month. We concluded our day by going
to read in Mosiah 3 with Jose Mendez.
Sunday, January 11th, 2015:
I was assigned to speak in Sacrament Meeting by Obispo Diaz last
night, so I had to prepare my talk this morning about fasting. Elder
Crosgrove and I were really stressed during the morning with trying to
help all of our investigators get to church. Arranging transportation
is always stressful, but with church at 11 AM it becomes much easier
to organize everything. We were very fortunate to help five different
investigators come to church today. My talk also went flawlessly, and
I was able to connect fasting with putting off the natural man to have
access to the Atonement of Christ. We, as missionaries, have been
making a concerted effort to focus everything that we do more on the
Atonement of Christ. I received a witness by the Spirit as I bore
testimony of Christ as the Son of God that Christ knows each and every
one of us personally. As we sacrifice our will and seek to follow His
will, we will be blessed. Elder Crosgrove and I had a slow day, as far
as missionary work is concerned, but we did teach the Garcia family
during the evening about preparing to go to the temple. We shared the
"Heavenly Father, Earthly Father" video with them to help them see how
the temple enlightens our understanding about the Plan of Salvation.
It is very exciting to see members preparing to make more covenants
with our Heavenly Father.
For our P-Day today, we went running with Elder Rowley and Elder
Nelson, and we went to Pasadena with Joel Cortes to buy some clothes
for Elder Crosgrove when he goes home. It is interesting to be the
last companion of a missionary because it makes one see how short two
years really is. I love being able to serve the Lord with all of my
heart, might, mind and strength, and I wouldn't trade the opportunity
to give of myself for anything else. Truly, as we lose ourselves in
the service of others, we are able to find who we really are. I hope
everyone has a wonderful week! Thank you for all of your love and
support!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
One Full Calendar Year of Missionary Work - January 5, 2015
Hey Everyone!
I hope that everyone enjoyed their New Year! It is crazy to think
about how quickly the time flies by. This past year of 2014 is the
only calendar year of my entire life that has been or likely will be
fully dedicated to missionary service, and I'm really sad that it
ended so quickly. Regardless, 2015 will hold many new surprises and
adventures, and the missionary work this week is just a precursor to
the many exciting times ahead!
Tuesday, December 30th, 2014:
Elder Perez came to our area today to do an exchange. He is now he
district leader in El Molino, so it feels very odd being in reversed
roles after having him as my zone leader for so long on my mission. It
was his first time returning to Arroyo since he left the area before I
left El Molino. Elder Perez is a great contactar, and we talked to
every person that we saw on the street today, which led to a number of
different appointments that we set up with various potential
investigators. We went with Mario Cortes during the afternoon to teach
an investigator named Jorge Perez about the Restoration. He didn't
remember that much from it, so we had to review a lot; however, he is
almost done reading 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon. Elder Perez and I
later went to teach Jose Mendez, who was actually baptized by Elder
Perez. We reviewed baptisms for the dead wih him and committed him to
begin working on his family history. To conclude the day, we taught
the Padilla family. They are a big, less-active family who are very
kind and welcoming. We shared a message about receiving revelation
through attending church, and they committed to giving us a ride to
church this Sunday. I find that assignments are the secret to success
in missionary work.
Wednesday, December 31st, 2014:
Today was the final day of the only full year of missionary service
during my entire life. I was reflecting a lot on how much I have grown
and how much I have changed in just the past calendar year. It is
incredible to see how fast the time goes as a missionary, too; the
past year has felt like only two or three months. During the morning,
we took all of the district leaders in our zone to the mission office
for a district leader training meeting while we got supplies and
talked to some of the other zone leaders. There is a much different
feel to being a zone leader and being a district leader because the
responsibilities related to each calling are very different. Elder
Crosgrove and I also finished making a list of all of the members in
our area, including all of the members that we do not know. We later
went with Mario Cortes to visit the Vargas family. They are all
progressing extremely well, and we began teaching the Gospel of Jesus
Christ with a focus on baptism. They were reluctant to accept a date,
but they did say that they will gladly be baptized when they feel
ready.
Thursday, January 1st, 2015:
Holidays feel like a regular day as missionaries because they are just
regular days to work. Elder Garry, one of the Spanish Assistants came
to my area to do exchanges with me, and I was kind of nervous, seeing
that it was my first exchange with an AP. We went to Elder Meisman's
district meeting, where he taught about following through with
commitments. It was a great district meeting because he involved
everyone in the teaching process to make it more collaborative. Elder
Garry and I then got to work and began talking to everyone we saw. We
didn't really have anything set the entire day, so it was really slow
and hard during the majority of the day. We taught Hermano Giron
during the afternoon about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and discovered
that his wife recently passed away. It was a powerful lesson. During
the evening, Elder Garry and I went to contact a former investigator
named Gloria Ortega. We found out that the missionaries had not been
by in nearly five years, but she let us right in. She seemed really
interested and prepared. Gloria has an uncle who was recently baptized
into our church, and she attended the baptismal service. Elder Garry
and I were both really surprised and excited. We taught the
Restoration, and Gloria prayed at the end of the lesson. We were
unsure whether we should then extend the baptismal invitation because
we both felt like it wasn't the right time; Elder Garry went for it,
and we could then see the gears clicking in Gloria's mind. She
committed to pray to know if she should be baptized.
Friday, January 2nd, 2015:
We began the day by doing weekly planning. Elder Crosgrove and I both
have a hard time focusing in our apartment for that long, so we
decided to eat some food in the middle to give our minds a break. I
have come to realize that working when I am tired and not focused
actually proves to be counterproductive, and that taking a short break
to refocus is actually more time-efficient and healthy. We then went
down to the church to have our correlation meeting with Hermano Ojeda.
Everyone seems to be doing quite well at the moment. It is also a
different feeling as a zone leader because we don't focus on the
missionary-member relationship with the ward like the district leader
does. During the evening, Elder Crosgrove and I went to teach Carolina
Garcia again. She ended up not being there, so we decided to focus our
attention on teaching Liz. We shared a video about New Year's, and Liz
really opened up to us. She began telling us about her life story,
especially about how she came to trust in God so much. It was a
powerful lesson, and she committed to be baptized if she receives an
answer from God that this is the path that Hs wants her to follow.
Saturday, January 3rd, 2015:
During the morning, Elder Crosgrove and I went to go do studies in El
Molino - South. Elder Elm was there with Elder Lane on exchanges. It
was purely to motivate them and inspire them, and we had an awesome
study session with them. At the end of studies, Elder Crosgrove and I
both bore our testimonies of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. It
was very powerful. Once we got back, Elder Crosgrove had to lay down
for a bit, seeing that he was really under the weather. I studied a
number of different talks, and I can see my Gospel knowledge
continuing to grow and strengthen my testimony. During the evening, we
went to teach Jose Mendez about family history work and to follow up
with him about how it is coming along. He is a very sincere man and
loves learning more about the Gospel. We then went to teach Liz,
Carolina and Lalo about how eg can meet all of their New Year's
resolutions as they live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a very
powerful spiritual lesson again where both Lalo and Carolina really
opened up about their religious background and their desires to
change. We have been really seeing the fruits of getting to know our
investigators as people and addressing their needs, rather than
teaching a rote lesson plan.
Sunday, January 4th, 2015:
We had committed seven different investigators to come to church and
confirmed with each one of them last night; however, not a single one
of our investigators showed up to church today, which was a huge
letdown for Elder Crosgrove and I. It was a great day at church, but
we were both really disappointed that none of our investigators were
able to enjoy the blessings that come from attending church every
week. We had church from 11 AM to 2 PM, so it felt a little different
than normal. The majority of our work day was spent trying to find
less-active members and former investigators. We didn't have much
success, but we anticipate that we will see the blessings in the near
future as a result of our efforts. During the evening, we taught David
and Ivette about forgiveness. It was a great lesson, and we left the
talk "Remember Lot's Wife" by Jeffrey R. Holland for them to read. We
concluded the evening by eating with the Jurado family. They are a
really nice family who attend the Fletcher Ward but allow us to update
all of our records on Sunday nights.
Today for P-Day, Elder Crosgrove and I are going to the church to have
a two-district wide P-Day activity. We are having a big Arroyo vs.
Fletcher tournament of volleyball and basketball at the church. There
will be about 14 or 16 missionaries who will come play, so I am really
excited to spend the day with most of the zone. It's hard to take
sides as a zone leader because I feel like everyone is on my time, but
we will still do our best to win, regardless of whose team that we end
up playing for! It will be a fun day, and it should be a great start
to the week! I hope that everyone has a fantastic week! Thank you for
all of your love and support!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
I hope that everyone enjoyed their New Year! It is crazy to think
about how quickly the time flies by. This past year of 2014 is the
only calendar year of my entire life that has been or likely will be
fully dedicated to missionary service, and I'm really sad that it
ended so quickly. Regardless, 2015 will hold many new surprises and
adventures, and the missionary work this week is just a precursor to
the many exciting times ahead!
Tuesday, December 30th, 2014:
Elder Perez came to our area today to do an exchange. He is now he
district leader in El Molino, so it feels very odd being in reversed
roles after having him as my zone leader for so long on my mission. It
was his first time returning to Arroyo since he left the area before I
left El Molino. Elder Perez is a great contactar, and we talked to
every person that we saw on the street today, which led to a number of
different appointments that we set up with various potential
investigators. We went with Mario Cortes during the afternoon to teach
an investigator named Jorge Perez about the Restoration. He didn't
remember that much from it, so we had to review a lot; however, he is
almost done reading 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon. Elder Perez and I
later went to teach Jose Mendez, who was actually baptized by Elder
Perez. We reviewed baptisms for the dead wih him and committed him to
begin working on his family history. To conclude the day, we taught
the Padilla family. They are a big, less-active family who are very
kind and welcoming. We shared a message about receiving revelation
through attending church, and they committed to giving us a ride to
church this Sunday. I find that assignments are the secret to success
in missionary work.
Wednesday, December 31st, 2014:
Today was the final day of the only full year of missionary service
during my entire life. I was reflecting a lot on how much I have grown
and how much I have changed in just the past calendar year. It is
incredible to see how fast the time goes as a missionary, too; the
past year has felt like only two or three months. During the morning,
we took all of the district leaders in our zone to the mission office
for a district leader training meeting while we got supplies and
talked to some of the other zone leaders. There is a much different
feel to being a zone leader and being a district leader because the
responsibilities related to each calling are very different. Elder
Crosgrove and I also finished making a list of all of the members in
our area, including all of the members that we do not know. We later
went with Mario Cortes to visit the Vargas family. They are all
progressing extremely well, and we began teaching the Gospel of Jesus
Christ with a focus on baptism. They were reluctant to accept a date,
but they did say that they will gladly be baptized when they feel
ready.
Thursday, January 1st, 2015:
Holidays feel like a regular day as missionaries because they are just
regular days to work. Elder Garry, one of the Spanish Assistants came
to my area to do exchanges with me, and I was kind of nervous, seeing
that it was my first exchange with an AP. We went to Elder Meisman's
district meeting, where he taught about following through with
commitments. It was a great district meeting because he involved
everyone in the teaching process to make it more collaborative. Elder
Garry and I then got to work and began talking to everyone we saw. We
didn't really have anything set the entire day, so it was really slow
and hard during the majority of the day. We taught Hermano Giron
during the afternoon about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and discovered
that his wife recently passed away. It was a powerful lesson. During
the evening, Elder Garry and I went to contact a former investigator
named Gloria Ortega. We found out that the missionaries had not been
by in nearly five years, but she let us right in. She seemed really
interested and prepared. Gloria has an uncle who was recently baptized
into our church, and she attended the baptismal service. Elder Garry
and I were both really surprised and excited. We taught the
Restoration, and Gloria prayed at the end of the lesson. We were
unsure whether we should then extend the baptismal invitation because
we both felt like it wasn't the right time; Elder Garry went for it,
and we could then see the gears clicking in Gloria's mind. She
committed to pray to know if she should be baptized.
Friday, January 2nd, 2015:
We began the day by doing weekly planning. Elder Crosgrove and I both
have a hard time focusing in our apartment for that long, so we
decided to eat some food in the middle to give our minds a break. I
have come to realize that working when I am tired and not focused
actually proves to be counterproductive, and that taking a short break
to refocus is actually more time-efficient and healthy. We then went
down to the church to have our correlation meeting with Hermano Ojeda.
Everyone seems to be doing quite well at the moment. It is also a
different feeling as a zone leader because we don't focus on the
missionary-member relationship with the ward like the district leader
does. During the evening, Elder Crosgrove and I went to teach Carolina
Garcia again. She ended up not being there, so we decided to focus our
attention on teaching Liz. We shared a video about New Year's, and Liz
really opened up to us. She began telling us about her life story,
especially about how she came to trust in God so much. It was a
powerful lesson, and she committed to be baptized if she receives an
answer from God that this is the path that Hs wants her to follow.
Saturday, January 3rd, 2015:
During the morning, Elder Crosgrove and I went to go do studies in El
Molino - South. Elder Elm was there with Elder Lane on exchanges. It
was purely to motivate them and inspire them, and we had an awesome
study session with them. At the end of studies, Elder Crosgrove and I
both bore our testimonies of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. It
was very powerful. Once we got back, Elder Crosgrove had to lay down
for a bit, seeing that he was really under the weather. I studied a
number of different talks, and I can see my Gospel knowledge
continuing to grow and strengthen my testimony. During the evening, we
went to teach Jose Mendez about family history work and to follow up
with him about how it is coming along. He is a very sincere man and
loves learning more about the Gospel. We then went to teach Liz,
Carolina and Lalo about how eg can meet all of their New Year's
resolutions as they live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a very
powerful spiritual lesson again where both Lalo and Carolina really
opened up about their religious background and their desires to
change. We have been really seeing the fruits of getting to know our
investigators as people and addressing their needs, rather than
teaching a rote lesson plan.
Sunday, January 4th, 2015:
We had committed seven different investigators to come to church and
confirmed with each one of them last night; however, not a single one
of our investigators showed up to church today, which was a huge
letdown for Elder Crosgrove and I. It was a great day at church, but
we were both really disappointed that none of our investigators were
able to enjoy the blessings that come from attending church every
week. We had church from 11 AM to 2 PM, so it felt a little different
than normal. The majority of our work day was spent trying to find
less-active members and former investigators. We didn't have much
success, but we anticipate that we will see the blessings in the near
future as a result of our efforts. During the evening, we taught David
and Ivette about forgiveness. It was a great lesson, and we left the
talk "Remember Lot's Wife" by Jeffrey R. Holland for them to read. We
concluded the evening by eating with the Jurado family. They are a
really nice family who attend the Fletcher Ward but allow us to update
all of our records on Sunday nights.
Today for P-Day, Elder Crosgrove and I are going to the church to have
a two-district wide P-Day activity. We are having a big Arroyo vs.
Fletcher tournament of volleyball and basketball at the church. There
will be about 14 or 16 missionaries who will come play, so I am really
excited to spend the day with most of the zone. It's hard to take
sides as a zone leader because I feel like everyone is on my time, but
we will still do our best to win, regardless of whose team that we end
up playing for! It will be a fun day, and it should be a great start
to the week! I hope that everyone has a fantastic week! Thank you for
all of your love and support!
Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley
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