Week 103: Learning meekness

Monday, June 18th, 2018:

Hello everyone!

This past week was the third-to-last week of my mission, but it hasn't felt like it.  Besides, of course, deciding on college arrangements and discussing plans for when I get back, which consistently takes a chunk of my emailing time. Lately, however, I have woken up tired every day.  Elder Vandehei and I talked about it and we changed our morning routine around, which has helped bring our morning schedule back in order.

For p-day shopped early; we finished most things (like emailing) by 2:00 or so.  We really wanted to go exercise, not sit and write in our journals, polish shoes, or study out the "yes" list.  We went to a park as we walked back to our apartment; Hunter and Daegon were there, so we played with them.  We arranged with Elders Goold and Mbambu to take us to the Union Park stake center after that, where we played soccer with some of the youth from the Spanish ward. I played all-out in soccer.  I loved it, but I wore myself out. It took a little while for me to recover and for us to get out of the apartment in the evening.

While we were out, a hailstorm with nickel-sized hail pieces and constant thunder swept over our side of the Salt Lake Valley.  It was intense, especially given how I never experienced a serious hailstorm before my mission. They just don’t happen that often in the DC area.

With Hunter's baptism drawing closer, Dawnette has agreed to let us come over regularly to read and share a scripture with him every day.  As I look back on the week, I see that we need to make these visits shorter; normally, just starting our visit takes 20 minutes.  Hunter also didn't pay attention during the second half of our lesson, which is another reason to keep it short.  On the other hand, he remembers the pictures with mini-lesson-descriptions really well.

Tuesday, June 19th, 2018:

The big thing from today was sorting out a plan for helping Hunter get baptized.  We weren't sure before today if we were moving forward with it, but today solidified it.

In the afternoon, we tried contacting, but no one was home. We did teach some lessons in the evening.

Wednesday, June 20th, 2018:

This morning, the zone leaders invited me to a zone leadership review.  We are trying to keep emphasis on the mission tour; aside from having powerful promises for our mission, it will probably be more than a year until the next one.  The longer we can keep everyone motivated from it, the better.

In our visit with Hunter today, I learned yet again how fragile the attention span of a child can be.  Not that Hunter was all over during this lesson.  It was hard for him to grasp some of the simple concepts we taught because he wasn't focused.  I can see why "teaching moments" are so cherished.  I wonder how Heavenly Father thinks of us.

During our lesson with Michael, I thought I felt a need to switch topics. While I didn't talk too much this time, we didn't teach enough doctrine. While Michael enjoyed the visit, Elder Vandehei and I talked about it and decided that we'll teach the rest of the missionary lessons, then ask either the Fergusons (the senior couple) or some people from the ward to continue teaching him. His regular participation in church will help.

We contacted the people we planned for and went back to our apartment to plan for Sunday.  While there, I couldn't think clearly. It was like trying to get a bike to move forward up a steep hill, rather than moving through molasses. Things weren't really moving in my head (the next thought wouldn't come along), rather than all my thoughts moving slowly.  I talked to Elder Vandehei about it.  We think it's probably because I was tired or the like and agreed I shouldn't worry. He was able to plan out our Sunday. 

After dinner, we went to an activity. The sisters asked us to participate in a Q&A with the youth of one of their wards, so the four of us answered questions about missionary work. We then asked the youth write their testimonies in the Book of Mormon. They'll later pass out those copies to investigators.

Last of all, we visited Omer, an recent convert. Two brothers from the ward were finishing their visit as we came in. We learned that Omer still needs to work on some things before being ordained to the Melchizedek priesthood, but he taught me something while we were there.  Jesus should never be just a word.  Like the name for an apple calling to mind the idea of an apple, “Jesus” should call to mind the idea, the essence, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thursday, June 21st, 2018:

Weekly planning. Deciding who to teach and who to drop. With the time we had, making our plans translated into some solid things to do during the week.

We had a lesson with the Vietnamese family in our neighborhood. President Hillier told us their grandson, Justin, would be a convert, so missionaries would teach him.  But in cooperation with the bishop, we decided that the best course of action is to have Justin go to church with his grandparents. He can listen in English and they can listen in Vietnamese. He'll have a lot of social involvement locally, but his religious involvement will be much stronger with his family.

We met McKayla, the granddaughter of the couple who asked to have us over tonight.  She hasn't heard a thing about God because her parents decided to let all their kids choose religion. As a side note, I've learned that the choice of a child's involvement in religion depends on his or her parents until at least 12, with continued guidance needed until 18 or so.  A child cannot fully act independently for him or herself for temporal things; spiritual things are a like matter. I used to have concerns over a child's ability to choose the gospel, but I learned that the commitment to the gospel is ongoing and means a different thing with different stages of life.

As McKayla's parents decided to not take her to church, she never got the chance. Having never really looked into religion, she was open to the idea of meeting with us when we asked her. Her grandparents didn't want to force anything on her; they gave loose invitations to go to church, but hadn't asked her to meet with missionaries. They were surprised that she was okay with meeting with us.

On the way home, we checked Dawnette's door, as her house was being sprayed and she stayed at her sister's.  The exterminators had left the door unlocked last time, but this time they locked it.

We had meetings with bishops and WMLs today as well.

Friday, June 22nd, 2018:

We had zone meeting instead of district meeting today.  The trainings, based on the mission tour, were conducted by the three district leaders.  Elders Goold and Opificius taught about the Yes list and the worth of souls.  I taught about Teaching in the Savior's Way. In preparing and giving the training, I learned that to teach boldly does not mean being in-your-face but to clearly state doctrine. Relying on the Spirit means to not only teach the pleasing things ("God loves us") but to also teach the consequences of sin, relying on the Holy Ghost to help whoever we're talking to accept the message instead of cutting out or hiding the potentially disagreeable parts.

I need to be more meek. Or humble, but I think it's meekness I'm looking for. I had already realized that I sometimes turn aside what my companion says in weekly or daily planning because it doesn't fit in with my thinking process. I realized this relates to my inability to improve from trainings and related commitments from the trainings. I don't retain (remember) a lot of those commitments for the same reason -- I'm usually not able to integrate it into my thought process, so I unwittingly discard it, letting it disappear in the flow of daily routine. Usually, I turn inward to try to improve, but I've found it slow and unrewarding to do so. (I’ve grown at a very accelerated rate while on my mission, but I sense it is slower than I could go). I need God's help to develop meekness, which is being able to learn wisdom from a wide range of sources.

The family who wanted to have us over for dinner took us out to a restaurant instead, which normally takes more time, so they drove us directly to the Bryants after. But they weren't home, so the family dropped us off at our apartment. We biked over to Hunter, Daegon, and Boston's, where we spent the rest of the evening.  We had a small lesson with Boston, which went well, but our plans to have a lesson with Hunter and Daegon didn't go so well, as they started playing.  We're trying.

Saturday, June 23rd, 2018:

A new version of Preach My Gospel has been released. It has updated terms and principles throughout all the chapters.  One thing I like is in the last paragraph of the introduction. It states simply that PMG is for both members and missionaries.  Members can learn how to share the gospel with their friends, especially by knowing how to answer their questions in a basic way. We all often have situations where sharing the gospel comes up.  Or could come up.  I hope everyone can be ready to answer well.  The talk "The Powers of Heaven" by Elder Bednar in the April 2012 general conference relates somewhat to this, especially to the story of Elder Bednar's father.

Today we helped sort through Dawnette's house. People gave her more things than what she needs. We helped her put things away and figure out what to donate to DI. I mentioned this in passing to Pres. Hillier. After we spoke to him about something else, and he said that missionary service was strictly to be on weekdays unless advance permission was granted. I had thought that was a guideline. I may have to actually go through the missionary handbook and figure out what other things I honestly thought were in the attitude of guidelines. My dad says that as soon as we figure out how to do a calling we get released. I’ve got two more weeks to figure it out.

We visited Eddie outside on his porch on our way to a lesson.  We ended up having to reschedule the lesson, because Eddie basically opened up his heart to us. He relating things about his wife and how much she helped him with flaws of character he saw in himself yet couldn't do a thing about, him wanting to find peace, and so forth.  It wasn't "Elders!  Teach me.  Baptize me.  Please."  But still, it was a unique experience.  I learned a lot about what it means for a husband and wife to love each other by it.

Sunday, June 24th, 2018:

We attended church with Daegon and Hunter. We met with four bishops today. Sundays are a popular time to meet because everyone's available. With all our meetings with ward leaders, some new names came up.  Most of the names were people we already knew about, but each person we were referred to was exciting because the information of the ward's efforts with the family refreshed the potential for each of them.

Elder Vandehei had some hard news.  His dog died this week of an unknown cause; she was 10 and should have lived a few more years at least. Also, he learned that his family is going to move to Chicago this summer.  But he's kept constant and hard working. I finished my entry in Elder Vandehei's transfer journal this evening.

We're still working with Arash and Marzi, as they might be able to be baptized soon.  It's a long shot, though.  Besides that, Hunter will be baptized this Saturday!