Week 93: answers to prayers

Monday, April 9th, 2018:

During p-day, I was praying about which college to attend. I had a stupor of thought and put it off for a week. I'll have to finish my decision – and praying – on my next preparation day. I’m not going to use mission time to think about it.

We had a short zone hike today. I liked it. My knees held up well enough, which is what I was worried about.

Elder Vandehei and I clicked on time management. He noted that we both just seemed to reach what agreement worked. I still want to learn better time management.

In the evening, we biked with two Armenian kids to a dirt bike path with some bumps on it. They really wanted to show us it, as they had found it just yesterday. We rode around with them. Elder Vanderhei got a flat tire, but none of us turfed it. Then, a couple we’ve been teaching (less active guy, investigator girl) took us to Walmart to get slime and a bike pump. We had an unplanned lesson with them on the way there and back. We shared about how families can be together forever. They were receptive. We invited them to the Jordan River temple open house, but the boyfriend didn't consider himself worthy to go inside a temple, even with it being an open house.

Tuesday, April 10th, 2018:

During exchanges, I went with Elder Hardt in our area to contact a lot of people while Elder Vandehei went with Elder Haight in their area. Once couple we contacted was Noah and Shelley (the other two people living with them are Michelle and Kimberly). We saw them at church this Sunday but weren't able to set up an appointment; in talking to them, we found Kimberly got a very busy new job.  Shelley, a less-active member, bore her testimony on spiritual promptings when we asked her why having the Spirit with us is important. 

For more than an hour we walked and talked with Dawnette as she picked up her kids, Daegon and Hunter.  As we talked, I was able to see that Dawnette tries her best to help her children but, being a single mom with kids who need to be picked up regularly early from school, she hasn't been able to hold a job (or do many other things). She's been going to church regularly. She’s needed someone to invite her and offer to help tend her children. I really don't know why she's ended up where she has in life, as she has proved she is able to do a lot more than most in her position.

We spent our evening visiting two widows for ministering night. Henrique, a priest from the Midvale East 1st ward, accompanied us.

Wednesday, April 11th, 2018:

After ending exchanges, we picked up Elder Vandehei's new bike – the adolescent loaner bike is no more. We can go a lot faster now!  Yay!

We had a lesson with a single woman in the afternoon, and repeatedly tried to find a third person to go with us, but no luck. We would have met outside – it was a very nice day – but she couldn’t hold the appointment.

Later in the day --after dinner -- we bike-sprinted across our area to barely catch a WML at the end of his ward's missionary coordination meeting. We're trying to support him as much as possible, as he's had a frustrating time in his calling.

In the evening, we met Eddie.  He's a tall, heavy-set black guy from New York who wound up in Utah for some strange reason (as he described himself). He's great to talk to (besides the cursing) as it seems like he just walked out of a book.  His family is most all marines or cops, but he's a really good chef. He also studies in psychology and law. He’s got a temper and will take anyone on, so at times it’s a little scary to talk to him at times because we don’t know if he’s going to get violent. So far, so good.

Thursday, April 12th, 2018:

We spent our whole evening with Dawnette, Daegon, and Hunter.  The boys really wanted to play basketball. We’d promised them that we’d play with them. We walked with them to their local ward building but found that the gym in use. So we kept going to the stake center and found the gym open. We hoped that they would pay attention better after basketball so we could teach them, but Daegon just wanted to keep playing and refused to listen. We don't really know how to help them. The only thing that comes to mind is a good friend from the ward who could spend a lot of time helping Daegon and Hunter learn outside of the lessons. That’s a big ask, and may not be reasonable. We hope to help them behave well enough that Dawnette can actually do scripture study and prayer with them. That would also greatly benefit Dawnette.

Friday, April 13th, 2018:

We prepared well for a lesson with Ardash this morning; it took a lot of time, but we felt pretty good about it. We went to the appointment but they were not home. The fellowshipper, Mohammed, later told us Ardash and Marzi weren't able to make it.

It occurred to me that I should pray and ask for divine help so I can talk to people and determine their needs.  I never before thought of involving God in the things I took on myself, like getting to bed on time, talking to people well, truly being a kinder person, or other things. They felt like the things I had to do before God helped out, but I forgot how grace works.

District meeting involved a training by the Spanish-speaking sisters in our district on PMG chapter 7.  The big thing I got was how the chapter started with spiritual preparation, even though it deals with how to learn a foriegn language. Throughout, the Spirit's direction always was primary over skill in the language. It made me think of the general conference quote from this most recent session on how God often commands us to do something for many reasons.  The assignment is to trust in and rely on the Spirit, while the specifics happen to involve a language.  I realized how more than just a language is being developed through that process. I thought about the many reasons God would have a missionary like me (soon to be an RM and YSA) learn to trust in and rely on the Spirit.

We went to the Jordan River temple open house with Kelly, Sheerine, Darla, Danica, and Christian. Christian is a new investigator, Danica is his girlfriend, Kelly and Sheerine are his father and step-mother, and Darla is Sheerine's sister. Christian met with missionaries before, but was still a minor -- his biological mom wouldn't give permission for him to be baptized.  The temple open house, though crowded, was amazing.  We were able to explain everything we could have wanted with how the timing of the rooms worked out.  We sat in the pews facing the baptismal font and talked about baptisms for the dead. The best part is the ushers gave us special permission to go to the opposite side of the temple when we went to the sealing rooms so they could sit and ponder in near-quiet. They were beaming afterwards.  It took all evening, but it was worth it.

Saturday, April 14th, 2018:

We had a lesson with Tyson on faith. He kept getting off on tangents, so at one point -- using different objects in the room to represent different subjects, with an orange being faith, viewed from different angles to represent the different facets or applications of faith -- I asked him if he wanted to talk about faith.  He got angry at me, misunderstanding my question as questioning whether he had faith.  Fortunately, we were able to explain, and once he realized his error, he was embarrassed and a bit humbled. We were able to teach the idea from Alma 32 of faith being like a seed. It may be slow progress for him.

Kelley (from yesterday) took us out for a sushi lunch.  It was a good chance to understand more of the whole family's background.  Plus, sushi is always a bonus. 

We saw Dasha today.  We asked if she would go with us to church tomorrow, but she was tired from letting her dog go out all night, as it had the runs.  She was a little sick herself.  After, we picked up some trash around the area -- someone's trash bag must have ripped up.

My digestion wasn't doing well, so before bedtime I soaked in the tub to try to settle it down. Maybe it was the sushi? While I was in the tub, Elder Vandehei took the call for transfers, then fell asleep before I got out of the tub, so I I went to bed not knowing if either of us were being transferred.

Sunday, April 15th, 2018:

This morning I found out about transfers. Both Elder Vanderhei and I are staying. Elder Haight was transferred out of the district along with Sister Nash. Elder Hardt is training. President Hillier called me to be a district leader. I didn't expect it to happen, but it was like my mission call: once I found out, I had no negative emotions. Pres. Hillier gave me some brief advice in the phone call, primarily about my example and the principles of leading a district. It helps that I know the district pretty well, since I’ve been here for several months. My first impression was that I need to follow the Spirit well so I don't overexplain myself in trying to meet the needs of the district. I'll have to be more effective with time.

We were glad to see Michelle, Christian, and MJ at church. Ty also went to church, which was a big step for him!  

Among our many different church meetings, the Union Park stake president gave us a lot of good advice on our investigators.  He's a very young stake president, probably under 40.  We appreciated his help.

We gave talks today.  The bishopric of the first ward asked us to speak on missionary work and ministering.  Elder Vandehei toned his toward missionary work and I toward ministering, so it worked well.

We tried to contact Jeremy and Vanessa, but could not reach them. We met with Pedro, a less-active member, who described his situation. He wants to return to activity but struggles to overcome the immediate feeling of not wanting to read the scriptures anytime he tries.  We gave him a priesthood blessing.

A family from the Union Park first ward came by to drop off cookies.  It was a thank-you gift for helping with the MTC activity they had a few weeks ago.  We got their son to sign up for a night with us with his mom standing right there, so we're pretty sure he'll go with us.

Monday, April 16th, 2018:

We got up at 6:00 to ensure we planed by 7:00, studied by 7:30, and started preparation day at 8:00.  It worked well, so we got a good start.

I’ve prayed about colleges. And got an answer! Yay!  Sorry about all the cliffhangers. Last week I got a weak feeling to go to one college, but felt that I hadn't considered it enough.  In pondering today, I listed out the pros and cons (again) to summarize things.  I then thought to consider what would really matter. I tried to be under the direction of the Spirit. I concluded that Carnegie Mellon had academics and career advantages, while BYU had the temple close by, family and friends close by, pre-existing network connections for me, and a built-in LDS atmosphere which makes my perspective of not seeking for wealth more understandable.  Yet I also concluded BYU didn't necessarily have a spiritual edge over CMU; the presence of a spiritual state of mind was more up to my own efforts.  Now, it would be an LDS environment at BYU, but that's more of a a social guarantee.

The biggest realization came as I considered my options: deciding to attend BYU for 4 years, CMU for 4 years, or attending CMU for one year to see if I liked it, with the option of transferring to BYU if I didn’t like CMU. I thought hard about giving CMU one year, then deciding whether I should transfer to BYU. After careful consideration, I realized that I should get my undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon. If after I graduated I felt I should move to Utah, then I’d get a job there after school. While at CMU, I would call my family often. On the weekends that I didn't go to the temple, I would do family history and ask some of my family or friends to perform those ordinances. If I didn’t meet my spouse while at school, I could date in Utah (or where ever I live). I could find coworkers or business partners who understand or even share my perspective of the gospel and a developing cautious disregard for wealth.  If done properly, I could maintain the relationships I made on my mission. Half a moment later my decision to attend CMU was confirmed by the spirit.

I know that I might change my mind about moving to Utah after I graduate. I think that my current idea of moving to Utah after I graduate may mainly be for me to commit to CMU for all 4 years, so I didn't keep a foot in both colleges.  I know that if CMU is unbearable, I could transfer to BYU. But it feels good to have made that decision. Yay!