Today
I learned that four visa-waiting missionaries who were temporarily our
mission all got their visas, so they have gone on to their missions
overseas, and our mission lost four missionaries. So Elder Hardt has
been transferred and his area has been broken up into the surrounding
areas. That means that my companion and I received the rest of the
Midvale East stake (2nd, 4th, and 6th wards). So now the two of us cover
two complete stakes. It also means we need to rapidly come up to speed
on the missionary work in those wards.
Walking
out of emailing today, there were high winds and lots of dust blocking
the sun. We almost thought there was a tornado because it was so windy
and dark. From what we could gather, a storm was blowing through. It
cleared out the valley in one massive sweep.
Tuesday, April 17th, 2018:
Elder
Vandehei coordinated many things on the phone this afternoon while I
handled some things for the district. I found and fixed up some files to
hold all the district-leader-related papers. We'll see how district
leader thing goes. I got my first request for permission today. This
still feels weird. In talking to a returned missionary who served as a
district leader for more than a year, I realized that it's more
important that I care about the missionaries in the district than that
logistical details work out. I know it's more important to minister than
administer, but the crux is that the little things of caring take
precedence over the little things of managing.
We
went by the Hillcrest Care Center for special needs patients, as we had
two people to visit. We realized the first person doesn't actually
have anything to do with the care center; she was wrongly assigned to
that care center in our area book. The other person didn't remember
having any questions or conversations where we would be involved. As I
looked around the care center, though, I realized the nurses there put a
lot of heart and soul in caring for their patients.
In
the evening, we went out with Hyrum (a priest). We contacted briefly,
then introduced Daegon and Hunter (and Dawnette) to the cub scouts
(instead of having a lesson), then met with a WML to close the night.
One
of the sister companionships, Sisters Coleman and Marenco, put someone
back on date again. Alberto keeps bowing out of his commitment to be
baptized. Sister Morenco also got sick. The other sisters, Sisters
Blanco and Mendoza, are new in the district. They went from 1.5 to 2
stakes as well.
Wednesday, April 18th, 2018:
It was a busy day for us:
1.
We had a zone leadership meeting in the morning. Leadership is so
complex, as they try to help so many missionaries with their needs, but
also a beautiful thing. I realized that through each of the trials I
went through on my mission, there was probably someone else praying for
me, trying to figure out how to help me in my needs.
2. We brought chicken noodle soup by the sisters, as they are both sick.
3.
Lesson with a less active young man. It was a solid lesson. He
doesn't know anything about the church, or what he did know, he forgot.
We asked if he would invite someone else to join us at the next lesson,
if he thought of anyone who would also be interested. That's one of the
first times I felt I've effectively sought referrals from working with
less-active members, because I really had his best interest in mind.
4.
Lesson with Arash and Marzi. They asked questions and we tried to
answer; we unknowingly let them control the teaching environment and
they didn't learn as much because of it.
5.
A good lesson with Christian. We talked about the gospel of Jesus
Christ. From our start of determining what Christian expects from the
lessons, baptism came up many times. The way it happened, however,
didn't put Christian on edge.
6. Meeting with a ME 5th ward missionary, as the WML wasn't able to attend.
7. Contacting.
Thursday, April 19th, 2018:
I
had a bit of a hard afternoon. As we haven't reorganized the WML
meetings, done an excellent weekly planning session in a while, or
managed to keep on the ball with all our investigators, it was easy to
feel discouraged. I have also felt that I have wasted time because we
haven't kept well to the morning schedule. The best remedy I've found
for discouragement is to just do it anyway and stop thinking about it.
The
rest of the day was better, even though all our lessons and plans fell
through (a blessing to a less active member, helping a potential
investigator do some cleaning, and attending the Jordan River temple
open house with Cyrus). We mainly just contacted.
We
explored the new portion of our area as we tried to contact the
potential investigators Elders Haight and Hardt left in their area. The
feeling of not quite knowing where we were was kind of strange.
Friday, April 20th, 2018:
District
meeting happened at 1:00 today. A long story short: the third
companionship of sisters in our zone could do 1:00, so the zone leaders
asked everyone to move it to 1:00 so the MLS couples could meet
together. When I told them the two sister companionships in our
district were at the temple open house until 3:30, we determined that it
would be worse to move district meeting again. So we did it at 1,
joined Elder Opificius's district, and discussed on how to work with
members.
The
Prices had us over before that for lunch and a meeting. I was glad, as
I hit the wall where I was too hungry to want to cook but didn't have
quick meal fixes.
Elyse
(a new referral from the YSA elders) told us she could meet this
evening. After calling four people, the brother who accompanied us was a
perfect match. Elyse spoke Spanish (which the YSA elders somehow
forgot to mention), but the brother who joined us served as the high
councilor over the Spanish ward for seven years. I would have been okay
enough with my broken Spanish, but he was able to talk very well with
her. Elyse, by the way, was anxious when we visited, so she kept
switching back from English to Spanish unconsciously.
Saturday, April 21st, 2018:
We
attended a dinner with the third ward. The whole ward came together,
with many different tables headed by a hosting family. Each table had
food from a city or country with a temple in it. We sat at the Peruvian
table, invited by the recent convert from that ward. Not only was it
an amazing time, but we met one couple we referred to the Spanish
sisters and another we taught on Sunday.
As
per the zone leader's request, we exchanged in the evening so one of
them could come with us to a lesson with Daegon, Hunter, and Dawnette.
Elder Pearson was very good at teaching them. He kept their attention,
drawing things back together before they could get too distracted or
start fighting. He showed them the "Holy Ghost ball," which involved an
empty paper bag and a sleight-of-hand trick to make a sound with the
bag. They loved it. Dawnette will have a dental operation Monday which
puts her out for about a week, so hopefully they'll soak in and retain
what they learned by the time we can meet with them again.
Sunday, April 22nd, 2018:
We
hopped between our new wards in our area (the Union Park 1/5 ward
building and UP 2/4 building). We helped with primary, which had asked
us to talk to several classes about the Aaronic Priesthood. We had a
great lesson with Chelsea and EJ in the evening. They were very kind;
Elder Vandehei connected well with EJ about skateboarding and I talked
to Chelsea about her cultural roots. The thing about Chelsea is that
Elder Hardt and I had contacted her much earlier to give her a copy of
the Book of Mormon and see if we could help her. That visit was at the
request from the relief society president, who also visited a few
times. Due to the support she felt, Chelsea wanted to return to the LDS
church. Her husband approached her soon after saying that he, too,
felt he needed to get a better connection with God. Whatever source
that came from, he would take it; if that meant investigating the LDS
church and going with his wife, he would. This was a big turnaround from
what Chelsea had told us earlier – that she and her husband both had
their religions and didn't push each other. It’s wonderful to see a
husband and wife bonding over a shared religious interest.
Monday, April 23rd, 2018:
We
went to WinCo to shop after cleaning. I found even more wonderful
things in the bulk food section. We dropped the food off at our
apartment and headed over to email. During emailing, I chatted with an
elder who transferred into to Evanston (my first area) after I was
transferred out. He gave me some updates on the people I had taught. I
asked how Jose was able to be baptized, since he was never able to come
to church due to his work. He said Jose took his lunch break from work
to attend church and take the sacrament. I also found out that Ramon
and Sahyra are no longer active. Apparently they talked to a person
antagonistic toward the church, and his feelings have changed. The elder
told me that Ramon had requested to have his record removed from the
church. He’s also renewed his and dream of starting a marijuana farm in
Colorado. We don't know if they still live in Evanston. We also don't
know if he got his records removed. I think I might visit Evanston after
my mission.
I've
also reviewed some more information from my dad about Carnegie Mellon,
now that I've made my college choice. I like the idea of living in the
dorm where everyone had committed to holistic living, which spiritual
and physical activities balancing school work, and no alcohol, drugs,
etc. I'm also reviewing the options for my first year of classes. It's
weird to think about my post-mission life, but kind of exciting too.
No comments:
Post a Comment