Missionary Work in the Digital Age - March 9, 2015

Hey Everyone!

After an amazing mission conference this past Tuesday, we have all
received the preliminary training about how to commence with
missionary work in the "digital age." There will be massive changes to
how the Missionary Department begins training and transitioning
missionaries all around the world to using technology to further
Hasten the Work of Salvation. All of the zone leaders and sister
training leaders in the Arcadia Mission will be receiving brand new
iPads to replace our current iPads when we have our Mission Leadership
Council next Thursday. We are looking forward to continuing to learn
more about how to use technology to improve missionary work.

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015:

Presidente Villanueva announced last week that there would be a
mission conference today. It was one of the very best meetings that I
have ever been to because Elder Nielsen of the First Quorum of Seventy
and Brother Heaton, the director of administration at the Provo
Missionary Training Center, came to instruct us from on high. They did
just that. Elder Nielsen was throwing around some very heavy doctrine
left and right, and our mission was ready to receive it. He opened up
the heavens about the gravity and longevity of covenants with their
relation to our agency. I love learning about doctrine, and he
quenched our mission's spiritual thirst. The Missionary Department of
the Church and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are taking a huge
stand against Satan's initiative on the internet. They all presented
the idea of taking the internet back and promoting uplifting messages
in order to counteract the deteriorating material that is strewn all
over the internet today. The monumental changes that were introduced
relate to the conversion of the missionaries more than the manner in
which we perform our labor; the mission will now be set up in such a
way that missionaries will learn how to use technology to share the
Gospel for the remainder of their lives. I am very excited to continue
learning to how to improve our methods to continue reaching out to
those who need the Gospel. We had a few lessons set up during the
evening, but we ended up having to cancel them to attend our monthly
stake correlation meeting. We met with the stake presidency and the
East Los Angeles - South zone leaders to discuss the needs of the
stake, with regards to missionary work. I enjoy working with the stake
president, President Esquerra, because he has such a drive and passion
for preaching the Gospel. It was also his secretary's birthday, so we
ate cake in the middle of our meeting. Food always makes meetings more
fun.

Wednesday, March 4th, 2015:

Elder Corbett and I discussed a lot about how we can find the "elect"
who will accept the message of the Gospel, and that was the main focus
of our studies during the morning. We then went to Arcadia to the
mission office. We go every Wednesday to pick up the supplies for the
zone. Elder Corbett and I then went to go visit Wendi Martinez with
Mario Cortes. They are both doing very well, and we shared the story
in John 2 about Jesus turning the water into wine. We explained that
Jesus chose that to be His first miracle that He performed in public
because He wanted to show that He can change our hearts through His
atoning blood (which is almost the same color as wine), just like He
physically changed the water. During the evening, we went with Mario
to give a church tour to an investigator named Eric. He is a wonderful
person to teach because he has so many thought-provoking questions.
The chapel was a perfect place to teach about the Restoration because
the Spirit was very strong in the room. He accepted the invitation to
be baptized. Elder Corbett and I are both very excited to continue
working with him.

Thursday, March 5th, 2015:

For the first time this transfer, Elder Corbett and I were able to go
to the El Molino district meeting. Elder Stuart taught about the
attribute of charity and asking inspired questions. It was a great
meeting in which Elder Corbett and I received a lot of revelation
during the role plays. We drove Elder Flindt and Elder Garcia to the
doctor during the afternoon. It was fun to be able to talk to them for
a while; they are both excellent missionaries who know how to be
guided by the Spirit. During the afternoon, we found a new
investigator named Jose Garcia while we were looking for a former
investigator. Jose let us right in, and we began teaching him about
the repentance process. The Spirit testified to Jose that he needs to
change his nature, and he was very open to forsaking his sins and
following the example of Jesus Christ more in his life. It was a great
lesson. We ate dinner at Hermana Estrada's house. Her daughter will be
returning from her mission in about a week, and the craziest part is
that Hermana Estrada's daughter met Elder Corbett in the MTC and told
him that she was from the Arroyo Ward. It is a small world. Elder
Corbett and I concluded our day by going to teach Carolina, Elizabeth
and Hilario about the Plan of Salvation. Hilario showed a lot of
desire and interest as he committed to read the scriptures and pray
every day in order to see if that would increase his desire to attend
church on Sundays. Carolina told us that she was no longer interested
in learning from us, which was really sad to see. We have had so many
spiritual experiences while teaching her, and she knows that the
message is true. It is the most heart-breaking thing in the world to
see someone turn away from the truth after they have received an
answer that it is true.

Friday, March 6th, 2015:

Elder Corbett and I went to go teach Jose Mendez during the morning.
We talked to him about maintaining the desire to keep the Word of
Wisdom because he mentioned that he has struggled lately. Once we
returned back to our apartment, we began our weekly planning session.
We both felt like weekly planning was not as effective in the past, so
we decided to change the way we went about weekly planning so that we
would both be more engaged and excited to plan. I would love to say
that I enjoy planning, but it isn't exactly my favorite part of the
week; it is something that I am working on changing. We then went to
our weekly correlation meeting with Hermano Ojeda. We all stayed to
help clean the church and then ate burgers with the Ojeda family.
After finishing up at the church, we went to visit the Jaimes family.
They are all progressing well, and we really enjoy working with them.
Elder Corbett and I then taught the Padilla family about the
importance of reading the Book of Mormon every day. We shared Alma
17:2 and talked about how to diligently search the scriptures. They
have been seeing their questions answered as we read together. We
concluded our day by going to give Joel Cortes a blessing. He wanted
me to give the blessing, and it was the most spiritual blessing that I
have ever been a part of. I was guided word by word to say exactly
what the Lord wanted Joel to hear. Elder Corbett and I later found out
that Joel had a huge spiritual experience with a dream that he had
that evening, and he was able to then come to church on Sunday for the
first time in nearly eight months. The Spirit changes people's hearts.

Saturday, March 7th, 2015:

In preparation for ward council tomorrow, we did visits with all of
the leaders from the stake. One of them went with each missionary, and
the remaining people formed groups. We all went out to teach
investigators and visit less-active members. I went with the stake
mission leader, Hermano Cajina. It was a great experience because we
were able to teach the family of a lady named Leticia Preciado who
recently passed away. She was baptized about a year ago, so we went to
teach the family about the Plan of Salvation. None of them were
members, but they all felt the Spirit very strong as they learned
about the role that Jesus Christ plays in helping them be united
forever as a family. Elder Corbett and I then met with all of the
district leaders in our zone to discuss the strengths and weaknesses
of the zone, in addition to planning how we can all help each of the
individual missionaries and investigators progress in their conversion
to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We like to meet with the leadership in
our zone before Mission Leadership Council so that we can receive the
proper revelation for the zone. Elder Corbett and I later began
teaching a man named Telesporo Avila. He was receptive to our message
and had been taught in the past. I believe that he has a lot of
potential. During the evening, we went to a stake training meeting
with all of the Elders Quorum Presidents, Ward Mission Leaders and the
zone leaders from East Los Angeles - South. The meeting addressed a
lot of the issues related to the retention of recent converts.
Retention of recent converts seems to be an ongoing problem, so we
were trained on how to utilize the tools that we currently have to
ensure that recent converts are given a responsibility or calling and
that they are visited regularly by other members of the Church, not
just the missionaries. I often say this, but the work can only
progress as fast as members and missionaries begin to work together in
every facet of the Work of Salvation.

Sunday, March 8th, 2015:

It has been a little bit of a struggle to get investigators to church,
and today was no exception. We are working with a lot of new
investigators who are almost to the point of doing a church tour or
coming to church, so Elder Corbett and I are very optimistic that we
will be able to change this in the near future. Today was Arroyo Ward
Conference, so the leaders of the East Los Angeles Stake came to our
ward. The main theme of the day was the Sacrament and the importance
of the Sacrament. I really enjoyed listening to the stake president
break the legs of people who are involved with gossip. For those who
are not familiar with Spanish wards, gossip ("chisme" as it is
referred to in Spanish) is one of the most destructive things in the
Church. The stake president addressed the problem, which has been the
culprit of many people becoming less-active in the Arroyo Ward. Elder
Corbett and I went to go teach a lady named Malena during the
afternoon, but she ended up being very hostile. She used to be
Christian and then changed religions to some form of Islam or Judaism
(we aren't quite sure). It ended up turning into a bash when she began
attacking our religion, and Elder Corbett and I completely tore her
apart. We avoid bashing at all costs, but in the words of Bruce R.
McConkie, "Don't bash. Don't bash. Don't bash, but if you do bash,
win." I would say that we won. It goes to show that proving that the
Gospel is true will not do absolutely anything; the Spirit is the only
teacher. The Lord counsels us that "[we] shall not teach" if we don't
have the Spirit. We were able to contact a few potentials who seem to
be very interested, so we are looking forward to a lot of success in
the following week.

Elder Corbett and I are enjoying our P-Day today, and he is currently
working on his college application. It is crazy to think that college
is just around the corner; I will be working more on my housing
details for the University of Michigan in the coming week(s). It just
goes to show that there is always something new in life that lies
ahead, and our eternal progression means that we will never cease to
learn something new. I hope that everyone is enjoying the
near-commencement of Spring and that everyone is beginning to think of
the Savior as we begin to approach this Easter season. That single act
was the greatest act in all of history, and I will be forever indebted
to my Savior for His unfeigned love. I hope that everyone has a
wonderful week! Thank you for all of your love and support!

Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley