Week 79: 5 stakes, 33 wards, 2 branches, 10,000 members, and 8 investigators

Week 79 Journal

Monday, January 1st, 2018:

This was an odd week; I’m still not sure how I want to approach writing out my journal for this week.  I guess I’ll start by typing up what I did write and remarking on some major events before I reflect on more general themes of the week.

For p-day, we cleaned with a borrowed vacuum cleaning that worked far better than any other vacuum that I have ever encountered before.  Our floor hadn’t been vacuumed in a few weeks, as the old vacuum in our apartment has no filter.

My white elephant gift

We had a white elephant gift exchange among 14 missionaries in the zone for our p-day activity. I unwrapped my gift fourth of fourteen.  All the elders who went before me got a perfect match for them–candy, sports equipment, and Star Wars toys–so I was hopeful when I saw Elder Martin had brought a large, heavy item about the same size as the karaoke speaker.  When I opened it, I was surprised to find 16 12-packs of ramen noodles (192 packs total). Yaaaaay?

It was still fun.  No one stole the ramen from me, but the one person who was considering showing some mercy by taking it from me chose to instead open a gift and got two 12-packs of ramen.  Besides, my goal for the activity was to selflessly share and help someone else have a good time at the activity. I ended up giving my ramen to other elders, and gave most of the rest to refugees in the Swahili branch.  They really appreciated it.  So I considered it a success.  Elder Heyward cooked some for dinner; I also used some of the ramen in stir fry for Saturday lunch.

That evening, we tried looking up what we hoped were promising contacts, but hit lots of dead-ends tonight.

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018:

During basketball, I strained a group of muscles that connect my sternum to my rib cage.  They are small muscles and should be better in a few days; for now, it just bothers me a little to breathe deeply. Elder Heyward also re-sprained his finger, so he now gets to wear a brace for a week or so.

We had a session of time where we straightened out our unresolved event records.  We got behind in our area book reports, which can become a chore.  There was also a mission survey we needed to complete; those, plus a lunch at Shiver’s with Elders Shafer and Martin, made a slow mid-morning.

The survey had a discouraging note to it.  It was sent out by the mission department; part of it reviewed how our mission leadership motivates us.  They do a good job of not putting out directly negative things, like making it a competition for baptisms or shaming, but I don’t think we (missionaries in our mission) have the principles of leadership down.  I think that we need to do better. 

We got more dead ends today–Simeon texted saying he wouldn’t like to take the lessons again, Timmy’s family is extremely busy for a month, and two of our more promising potential families said no–but we found a new investigator tonight!  Roland has been on our radar for a while, but we were only able to find him home tonight.  He’s an odd kid–he taught us how to flip out butterfly knives (trainers/practice “knives”) and was confused about why God would be so selfish in pushing away the goddess Venus in the first of the Ten Commandments.

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018:

Elder Shafer joined us today, as his companion just decided that he didn’t want to stay on his mission and has gone home.  So we’re now a trio. Our transition has been unusually smooth, as we already have the extra mattresses and other temporal things taken care of.  Elder Shafer already knows both of us well, too.

Our area now covers 5 stakes–33 wards, 2 branches, and over 10,000 members–and we have eight investigators total.  We’re handling it. It hasn’t been chaotic, nor do I think it will be as much of a challenge as it could be.  We’ll work with leaders as needs arise, correlate minimally, and use the car–we were given a car, by the way–to get around when we don’t have anyone driving us around already.  We’ll have to see how it goes, but I don’t believe the areas need to be split back up at the transfer.

After calling/coordinating a few things, we visited some investigators, taught at a mutual meeting, and attended two stake-level WML meetings.

Staci took a jump forward today.  She talked with Tristyn about how Staci has gone to church without her five of the seven most recent Sundays.  It is true; Tristyn’s attitude seems to have dropped regarding true commitment in the missionary lessons.

Thursday, January 4th, 2018:

We had an afternoon today: our planning wasn’t focused, so I studies in the bedroom while because the other elders were texting people, and so on.  We concluded by talking.  When I know enough of the situation, I can perceive when things aren’t right.  It felt like that between Elder Heyward and me.  The problem is, we can’t seem to adequately share our feelings when we try to talk about it.

Friday, January 5th, 2018:

We met with the Sorensen’s and Shephard’s for the first time in weeks.  Both couples were taking a break from missionary work as they spent time with family.  We checked up with who they have in mind and reviewed the names of various people we had been asked to visit that we forwarded to them.

Our district meeting this Friday was on using technology well, baptizing, and our callings as missionaries, explained in sections from the doctrine covenants.  Usually, I dislike when anyone focuses so much on baptism.  This time, I tried to see what the zone leaders were getting at.  I had to push aside not only the motives I incorrectly perceive but also the perspective I know the zone leaders have.

If our investigators understood our purpose in visiting them, we would help people progress in a much better fashion.  Our purpose is to help people follow the example of Jesus Christ, in part through baptism.  I thought back to Tristyn and our other investigators and knew we could improve with that.  This is not a new thought, but I do not know why I do not internalize it as I should have.

Saturday, January 6th, 2018:

Martin was baptized today!  I met Martin more than a month ago, but during his whole time investigating the gospel his mom and dad have been right by his side to support him.  He and his sister Lucy understand the gospel better than any other primary children I've met.  It was a privilege to work with him.  His mom and dad, Kat and Charles, are working to return to activity.  Charles performed the baptismal ordinance and Martin's grandfather confirmed him.  We got to present the restoration at the baptismal service itself.  Many of Martin's extended family attended.  Many of them spoke about how overjoyed they were to see the family's return to the gospel.

Martin is a very active climber.  He loves rock-climbing and can outpace many well-trained adults on mountain hikes.  His sister Lucy loves to draw and is often running around with Martin.  Martin is nine, while Lucy is seven.  She will be baptized when she turns eight in July.

Another crucial part of the lessons was the couple that attended every lesson with us.  We couldn't have done it without their help.

We blitzed the sister's area, which is that the whole zone of missionaries worked in their area for an afternoon.  It really helped them out, as they found a lot of people through it.

Elder Heyward injured his right index finger about four weeks ago and put a splint on it to help it heal.  The mission nurse checked in with him and took him to get x-rays today.  The diagnosis is that he hyper-extended his first knuckle; the doctors gave him a better cast and told him to keep it on for at least a month.  Elder Heyward really likes to play basketball (it's why he found the group we play with Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays), but since his finger has been in a cast he doesn't want to go because he feels like he would play when he shouldn't.  I don't want to make him wake up early so the three of us can go and Elder Shafer didn't have a preference, so we've stopped going until his finger gets better.

Sunday, January 7th, 2018:

We went to mostly our sacrament meetings today.  Martin was confirmed and the wonderful feeling of the baptismal service continued as many of his family members showed up.

During one part of the day, we searched the other apartment to try to find the keys Elder Martin and Elder Shafer misplaced.  We're working on getting replacements from the stakes.

I focused on how to be more focused and a better missionary this fast Sunday.  I'm trying to figure out how to move forward from where I am now.  I still feel like I can't get a full grasp in the present, which has been a challenge.