Week 52: Reunited with my MTC companion

Monday, June 26th, 2017

We had a very relaxed p-day today.  Elder Clayton had to pack, so we stayed in the apartment after doing our regularly needed things.  Elder Mushet spent the day with us as his companion had to leave already.  He was fine already--he didn't have anything he needed to do--so he stuck around with us for the night.  We made a four-square court using twine I bought earlier, so now it's all measured out and ready to go.  I don't know when I'll be able to use it.

After p-day, we visited Suaad, Abdul, and Mohammed, but they weren't home.  Elder Clayton never got to say his goodbye.

Elder Clayton is going to Rock Springs!

The last thing we did was unexpected; a man pulled over in his car and asked if we could help his friend.  She had just found out she was pregnant and her boyfriend became violent, so she and some of her friends were going to move her stuff out from their apartment.

Last of all, we found out who our new companions were going to be.  Elder Clayton is heading off to Rock Springs with Elder Ma'u while I'm getting Elder Wagley!  I'll be back together with my MTC companion.

Tuesday, June 27th, 2017:

We started out by conducting the actual transfer today.  In addition to the normal chaos and confusion that transfers bring, I was told that our area was taking over the other half of the stake.  We now cover the whole Winder West stake, which I am sure will throw me for a loop.

On pondering how I wanted this transfer to go with Elder Wagley, I made a goal to not be so "at" him.  It would require a lot of humility, but I understand what I need to do.

Elder Wagley took some time to get settled, so while he did that I made some calls.  Most of the afternoon was just calling people, as we had to coordinate a lot of things.  Unfortunately, we don't have access to the other elders' apartment just yet, so we have no contact information for the other area.  It'll take a while to get all settled in.

In the evening, we held a small lesson with five of the six people who will help a sister in their ward quit smoking.  It was amazing to have everyone come to the meeting and note how willing they were to help out.

On a small side note, I learned how to tie a trinity knot from the brother who gave us a ride to the mission office.  It's simpler than I thought, so I've remembered how to tie it.

Wednesday, June 28th, 2017:

We did another round of phone work today.  There were a lot of people we wanted to contact, things to sort out among the ward mission leaders concerning dinner and correlation meetings, and some district leadership items to take care of.  Elder Wagley is the district leader and our area is now in the Holiday zone (the same zone the other half of the stake was in).

Due to the fact that Suaad and her family missed church this Sunday, we had to move their baptismal date.  They agreed to the fifteenth.  In the lesson, we had proposed the idea of Suaad staying on date for the eighth, but Suaad insisted that she be baptized with her children.  Only then did I remember a few lessons back when we had urged Suaad and her kids to progress together in the gospel.  I realized I hadn't stayed true to a principle like that.  It was only when I suggested it to Suaad that I realized it didn't feel right.  We really should roleplay more.

I've set an OYM goal for myself.  OYM stands for Open Your Mouth; it refers to contacting people by talking to them when they're around you, like on the street, in a business, or so on.  One thing I need to do is get in the habit of talking to everyone I meet, so I hope to be doing that by the end of the transfer.

Thursday, June 29th, 2017:

Today was a very full and thus very crazy day.  We had to ask many people for rides just so we could make it to everywhere we needed to be.  It all worked out in the end, but going that fast can feel unstable.

For example, we had a DL/ZL review (district leader zone leader review--a missionary leadership meeting). Here is a sketch from Elder Moe on how we can be like sheep (in a good way):

I realized after the DL/ZL review that we didn't see a service event in our plans at the same time.  We checked back at the complex the man lived in, but the landlady told us he had moved the day before.  While it wasn't disastrous, it's worrisome to miss things like that.  Normally, if something is in our plans we're guaranteed to put our part in as we can; not having that assurance can make me very unsettled if it goes for too long.

We helped a man mow his lawn.  They were signed up to feed us for dinner but had to cancel, so we came over to mow and he gave us money.  It's a combination of someone giving us money to get dinner and us asking how and helping with anything they need help with, as we normally do during dinners.  It still felt weird, like a small job.

The sister we were going to help stop smoking told one of the people who was going to help that she was going out of town on a trip next week.  We had to move the program and tell everyone about it.  I don't think she knew she needed to be home for the program to work...

We met some of the WMLs from the other half of the stake.  It's going to be a process to fully integrate the other half of the stake, though.

I had a small crash on my bike.  I hurt my knee, but not too badly.  Gloves saved my hands for the second time and my pants weren't ripped, which I'm grateful for.

I'm getting along with Elder Wagley more than I anticipated.  I'm glad, too, because I don't know if I could take a transfer like we were at the MTC.

Friday, June 30th, 2017:

Our district meeting was on baptism.  Some of the elders there knew about the investigators we inherited from the other elders, so they gave us tidbits of information.  It helped a lot, like knowing to not go to one person's house unless the gate was open (or we could be chased out with a gun).  Her husband may be a little aggressive, but that's how he is with everyone.

I practiced some of the hymns as I could.  I'm not giving it a lot of attention, but I'm improving on playing Baptism from the Children's Hymnbook.

The family that had us over for dinner was actually a convert family.  They aren't married, but the girlfriend moved in a week ago.  She is solidly converted to the gospel and wants to help us out in our lessons.  She speaks Arabic, so she can help with Suaad and her kids.  It's notable just how excited she was over the gospel.  I made a mental note of how anyone we teach really should feel before they are baptized.

Elder Wagley is working on his anger.  We argued and made up today.  Because he shared some of how he felt and what he's working on to me, I could see him in a different light.  I find I appreciate the things he tries to do.

Near the end of the day, we stumbled into a man Elder Wagley knew from his last area, Tyson.  He happens to be a master bike mechanic, so he took a look at both of our bikes.  Elder Wagley's has been slipping out of high gear, but within five minutes he realigned the part and it worked smoothly enough.  He raised my bike seat and showed me how to tighten it.  Also, he taught me how to get on my bike properly now that the seat was so high.  It feels different, but now I'm pedaling properly and can go faster.  I just have to re-learn how to get back on my bike (and how to get off, but that happens when I stop moving whether I am ready or not).

Saturday, July 1st, 2017:

I made a stew last night.  Tyson broke his jaw, so he could only eat soft foods.  He wanted to properly tune-up our bikes today, as he has work off, so I thought I should bring him some food as a way of saying thanks.  He had some other work come up, so we never went over, but I still have a portion sitting in the fridge for him.  Meanwhile, the zone leaders asked us to gather the district's DVRs (car usage reports).  In the process, they didn't realize we don't have a car, so they came over to our apartment complex while we waited for everyone.  We're going to get the keys to the other half of the stake.  We also worked out a few other things with them and I gave them some soup for lunch.

I liked that soup.  It's beef stew meat, frozen vegetable medley, canned beans, two potatoes, some tomatoes, and enough water to cover it.  I added a mix of beef and tomato bouillon.  It turned out well.

I had a really good personal study today.  It's hard to describe what happened and both not ruining its personal nature and describing it well enough.  It was stunning, though.

We argued today.  It wasn't good this time.  It based off how our plans didn't make much geographic sense--well, they did, but it went in a circle and our plans changed enough to where they got shuffled.  Anyway, ignoring the actual subject of it I realize Elder Wagley and I are good at getting along.  Whenever we start talking about theory, however, we start to argue.  So we just have to focus on specific people and things and not really get drawn up into "why did you do this?  This makes more sense."

Really, our disagreements are different in nature than some of my other companions.  Elder Wagley and I both want to do what's right as far as we believe.  We argue so much more over how to do certain things than my other companions.  Noting how our missions have gone so far, humility is something we could both use practice on--it's not just one person or the other.  We both want to do missionary work and be obedient, faults aside, so we can get along.

I thought I was going to stay in the church bathroom for the rest of the night.  I eventually made myself go out and go with Elder Wagley.  We met perhaps the most promising of the other area's investigators and helped him pick strawberries.  It was very therapeutic, plus he gave us a lot of mint and the strawberries.

Sunday, July 2nd, 2017:

This was perhaps the longest Sunday I've had on my mission.  It was a fast Sunday [haha wordplay], but additionally it was the first time in the other area so we met many people.  The highlight of the day was when we got an avalanche of referrals (especially from the 7th ward's bishop).  There's at least five different groups of people who want to be baptized, though that doesn't guarantee anything.  Still, it was amazing.

Suaad, Abdul, and Mohammed didn't make it to church.  We don't know why, but that means they're off date.  I have no doubts about their desire to join the church, but both we and their neighbors don't know why they didn't come.  We haven't gotten in contact with them yet.

Meanwhile, this evening we contacted one of the referrals from today.  There are two daughters in the family; the rest of the family was baptized when missionaries worked with them in the past but one just didn't listen and the other had to work too much.  They moved into our area and both were interested.  They became new investigators and one of them is on date for the 29th!

We are absolutely booked.  Every evening has two or three lessons to it, most all with investigators.  I think.  My head is still spinning a little bit from what just happened today.  Both Elder Wagley and I agreed that we felt like we were in Wyoming, not the valley.

We met with the stake president as well.  He presented his vision and goal for the stake in terms of inviting people to come to Christ.  At one point I distinctly felt that same "force of water/burning fire" that I described once before [it has to do with being set on a goal with pretty much every fiber in my being, I think.  I'm still trying to understand it].  I'm really excited to work with him now.

Elder Wagley and I have amazing potential together if we can get along.  I can see that now.  Hopefully we'll both just be able to get along!