Week 81 Journal
Monday, January 15th, 2018:
It’s my birthday–I’m 20 now! Sister Zenger brought by
shepherd’s pie. It was delicious, but we only got to eat for 20 minutes due to
a crammed schedule.
Our p-day wasn’t overpacked; it was a pretty normal busy. We
had a longer planning session this morning. I can tell Elder Heyward is
bothered by how I want us to take time on preparation day to coordinate things
from our area we normally would do on other days. I feel that it is
pretty important to do.
We
shopped, cleaned a bit, and did our laundry/emailing. We got a shoe rack
at Walmart. It’s pretty cool. The zone leaders asked me what activity I would
like to do for my birthday. I told them I would like everyone to bring transfer
journals (think yearbooks for other missionaries to sign) and also play scatter-ball
or volleyball. With Elder Heyward’s finger in a splint, we haven’t been
going to basketball. I need some real exercise.
We did another new member lesson with Martin. The lesson started
at 3:00, but it was shorter, so we got to the zone activity at 3:45. The zone
activity went well. We played volleyball and a form of dodgeball. I noticed
that another missionary in the zone who had been a bit of a jerk was intentionally
trying to be kinder to me. I’m glad for it, despite feeling weird that it might
not be 100% sincere. I’ll accept that he has good intentions and is trying being
nice, but it might not be heartfelt.
We
had dinner with Nai and Carly and shared the Restoration. Carly’s mother and
sister were there; all four are less-active members. We went on splits; I gave
a blessing with the bishop to Roland’s father. We stayed for a while–the bishop
talked with Sean–which helped me realize the importance of staying and visiting
with people, at least for later in life. It’ll help my other callings, my
career, being a father, and so on; it’s a little different as a missionary. The
timing worked out, as Elders Heyward and Shafer finished their lesson as we
finished our visit.
My
parents sent me a new bag for my birthday. I would have carried through with my
old one, but it’s literally falling apart. Thank you, mom and dad.
Tuesday, January 16th, 2018:
My
new bag works well. My Bluetooth speaker fits, which gives better sound when we
show videos while teaching. I was able to use today.
Basketball
was fun this morning. I’m somewhat mediocre, but who cares! At one point, I
started running around in circles yelling “just give me some space!” with Elder
Shafer chasing me, as he liked to guard me closely. It was fun.
The
new first presidency was announced in a worldwide broadcast at 9:00, followed
by a press conference at 10:00.
We
had lunch with Jeremy. He told Elder Heyward his backstory while Elder Shafer
and I ate sushi. The sushi place on 33rd South is pretty good. We got air for
our tire, as it was slowly losing air through the week. The air was free, and
the man at the gas station gave us free doughnuts.
We
talked about what we wanted the meeting with the three high councilors to do
this afternoon. I felt like I took over the discussion. I wanted to involve
Elder Heyward and Elder Shafer more, but I need to reason through things by
talking through them. I usually then reach a very solid conclusion by myself… I
don’t know what to do differently in matters like this.
We
helped Kalieanne and her brothers take down most of their Christmas lights
today. Then, we helped Damion and Landon (the older of the three brothers) make
a giant paper clip chain. They didn’t tell us that they wanted to lay it across
the road to prank cars; fortunately, the prank didn’t work out. We sang some
primary hymns with them as we left, but Landon continued to follow us on his
bike for three miles to talk to us as we walked to dinner. It was odd; given
their family situation, I’m not sure what of their needs we’re filling.
We
had an hour-long visit with Tristyn. We tried to just be her friends by talking
and laughing with her and Staci. It felt weird, but she’s “planning” on being
baptized this Saturday and it’s such a fragile situation that we don’t want to
upset it. Still, we spent too long there. We couldn’t believe it had been an
hour!
The
meeting with all three high councilors over missionary work went well. At the
meeting, we gave out the donuts from the gas station guy. Church meetings are
better with donuts. We sorted out what President Hillier and the stake
presidents talked about; we’ll implement it soon. It would be nice to want to
stay in this area to see this through, but I’m likely to be transferred next
week.
We
forgot to pick up our dry cleaning on Monday; whoops. We’ll have to pick it up
tomorrow, as the store is moving (it was in Dan’s, but Dan’s closed).
I
feel good! Yay! I’m pretty happy and have been happy this past week or so.
Wednesday, January 17th, 2018:
We’ve
started working on a chart to record all the sacrament meetings, ward councils,
bi-weekly meetings, and so on for the entire coming year. It’s a very large
chart, but it should prove useful. Last year’s did.
We
went on exchanges with the zone leaders. Elder Meer went with us. He’s pretty
bold; I still do not know if that is a good thing or not. There are a lot of
instances where being bold is good, but also a lot where it’s bad. The biggest
area, though, is the in-between. I don’t know if I should change to be bolder
or not, but I feel like I wouldn’t change until I understood it better.
We
taught Kalieanne and her siblings at a member’s house. It’s hard to teach her
siblings, as they don’t focus for very long.
Tate
had his baptismal interview. He’s nine years old; Elder Shafer taught him for a
while. His family seems to be returning to activity.
We
had a monthly WML meeting in the Wilford stake.
Thursday, January 18th, 2018:
We
helped clear out our neighbor’s apartment. She was a senior member of the ward,
but passed away in the hospital a week or so ago. Life changes so much. It was
odd to see her kids sorting through her belongings.
Our
lesson with Alex and Taylor went well. They’re well on their way to being
fully-active.
We
didn’t weekly plan today. We did call a lot of people in the evening to invite
them to Tate’s baptism on Saturday.
Friday, January 19th, 2018:
We
had snow! Lots of snow! We had breakfast with the Sorensens instead of lunch.
We
helped Tristyn with her baptismal program. Eventually, she decided to move her
baptismal date to next Saturday. When we told the WML and bishop that Tristyn wanted
to be baptized tomorrow, they were unsure, as she hasn’t attended church for
weeks. Tristyn and Staci had insisted that we not tell the ward about her
planned baptism until today. I was unsure, leading up to today, about keeping the
baptismal date from the ward. As we talked about it, I realized that we should
have told the ward.
They were understanding as we described how Tristyn felt
about her baptism and wanting to make her own choices; we could have trusted
them to give the space Staci requested for Tristyn.
District
meeting: roleplays about Kalieanne. We don’t know what’s going on with their
family; it doesn’t feel right. We keep pushing a baptismal date, but the other
members of the district noted how they wished we had asked how they felt or how
they were doing.
Saturday, January 20th, 2018:
I have found three things that bring strong spiritual
experiences:
- Finishing the Book of Mormon: the two times I’ve done it have been near some very strong spiritual experiences. Reading the scriptures in general, along with going to the temple, are two other things that at least help consistently in drawing me closer to God.
- Going to sacrament meeting prepared: reflecting on the Savior and other deeply meaningful topics during the sacrament.
- Praying, in the morning or especially the evening, but not close to getting up or going to bed: taking 15 minutes to pray at least half an hour before going to bed can be amazing.
I prayed from 9:15-9:30 (ish) and realized I hadn’t had a
really good, heart-to-heart with God in a while. This was that. I talked (well,
“talked”–but I did say it out loud) about feeling like I should be more of a
support to Elder Heyward, about how I am frustrated in being unable to focus
and in overcoming my weaknesses, about my love for my family, about how I feel
like I’m not a very effective missionary and how I don’t think I’m not trying
my best because I’m not fully exerting myself, about my gratitude for the
growth I’ve had since I started my mission, and so on. It was a good check-in.
Other things from today:
- More snow
- Snowball fight with Kalieanne. We took an hour and a half there; Sebastian is the youngest brother and kept getting upset that he couldn’t build up his snow fort, so I helped him. He has autism. I could see how he was frustrated in communicating with his brothers. I felt it was right to help him, but didn’t know it took so long.
- Transfers: I learned that I’m being transferred on Tuesday. I’m leaving. The others are staying. Elder Shafer still has to pack, as he is getting a new companion and moving back to his apartment.
Sunday, January 21st, 2018:
Tristyn
didn’t make it to all three hours of church. We don’t know what will happen with
her planned baptism on Saturday.
We
taught two children of a single mom returning to church. They accepted a
baptismal date; they’re pretty open to us. I don’t think they have much of any
background in religion.
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