Dear the Irvine Family:
I got the package...I can't wait to give the stuff out! Thank you so much Mom! Well, the baptism fell through but it was for the better. Back to that later. But, all is well. The weather has taken a dive down to rain and cold weather, the usual Maryland stuff, and it is just a great blessing to be here in this Santa Clarita Valley. That's so funny! Oh Auntie Sung, the weather reports... she ought to work for the Weather Channel at this rate.
Sorry, but I didn't send a card to Mom. Just slipped my mind....but...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!
How old are you now? ;-)
So about the baptism. We were going to have a baptismal interview, but we got there late because my companion decided to take a little longer in the lesson right before the interviews. Not only did the ZL's go there, but the family was there too waiting for half an hour. What made it worse was that my comp forgot the keys to unlock the chapel and so we took even more time to get the keys from the apartment. Ah, what a scatterbrain! But, it's all good...now. So the family drove away, and we didn't get the baptismal interviews done. And so the ZL's had to drove 30 minutes back home without an interview. It was really depressing and discouraging, and deep inside I blamed my comp for it. I couldn't stand him after that, but it turned out for the better.
The familia Jaimes, in our next visit, basically scolded us for being late, and I'm like, well, you really screwed it up big time Hansen. And I felt terrible too, because I'm his comp and I do have some responsibility about that too. So we felt terrible, and then the father said he's reconsidering baptism (gasp!) but only to delay his baptismal date. That was a close one. He had a doubt about keeping the sabbath day holy, because he works washing cars on his own and there's a lot of work on Sunday. So it was good that the interview fell through, but man, I was super stressed and a bit mad at my comp for almost always being late to appointments.
The reason why we were late was because we had a sweet appointment with this great couple, the Cardenas-Gil. They're going to get their marriage license ASAP and want to get married! We went through with them in their individual reading of the Book of Mormon (which is amazing) and answered their questions. Then, we went over the pre-existence, the creation, the fall. It was a lesson guided by the Spirit. Hno. Cardenas asked great questions, as did Hna. Gil....about everything. They asked about the nature of God (that Jehova is not the father of Christ but is Christ before he was born), and then they asked us, "Who is the father of God, then?" I froze and looked at my comp, and he was like, 'we don't know because we haven't received an answer, but...' It was a great lesson. They had the greatest questions...guided by the Spirit and so that's why we were late. It was one of the best appointments I have ever had in the mission field. I am so blessed to be teaching them right now. They have come to church every Sunday, and except for last Sunday they have stayed for all three hours. They don't take the Sacrament because they aren't married (said that themselves and took me by surprise) and therefore aren't worthy of it. I was stunned, and then I realized, they are super golden and this is probably my only golden family in the entire two years that I serve. As the second counselor Hno. Umana says, they don't come around very often. Wow. The blessings of being obedient. The greatest things is, is that they already have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, they just need to develop a testimony of Joseph Smith, get married, and be baptized! How golden is that? They even count that day when we found them, a turning point in their lives. Can you say golden louder than that?
This week was a blur, considering we're getting our footing down as a new companionship between a transfer due to an ET, and it was really hectic. My comp is pretty much a scatterbrain, more than me, and so it makes it really hard to be organized and get things done. He's a great teacher, and has a great command of Spanish. Sometimes I felt like I was the senior companion/district leader because he's...Elder Hansen. It's how he is, and I've come to accept it. We get along great, but I'm toning down my intensity about getting things done this way and that way now that he knows the area pretty much. We teach with power, in unity, and we have a lot of fun too. I've always had a lot of fun, but he's really relaxed and we get a lot of work done. It's starting to pick up again.
We just had president interviews, and I was not very nervous until I walked into the room with Pres. Goodrich and he asked me, 'what are the desires of your heart?' That was the first time he's asked me that, so I was a bit preoccupied with it. Transfer? But I know the area ten times better than my comp! But I know the people well! My comp just got ET'd and I'm here to pick up the pieces for 3 weeks then leave? Actually, never thought of the latter option because I had a feeling it was just a probing question. So we talked and I asked to stay since we have some baptisms coming up and a marriage. I probably will stay, but who knows for sure. We talked about the ET, that it was more to help Burbank out and it wasn't Neira's fault at all. He can't stand gossip because some missionary in another area made a minor mistake and two members are demanding to the stake president to move him out instead of going through the bishop. Members...they can be so narrow-minded sometimes because an ET just upsets the work big time (as in my case- getting to know a new comp and teaching with him). And he said to continue to push Elder Hansen along as DL, so I will. And then hinted that I'll have leadership before it's all said and done because he said I'm a 'natural leader'. Direct quote. But, we'll deal with that when we get there because leadership just means more phone calls and counting numbers. I think I'll at least stay for one more transfer, because I got the feeling that President might want to move me out soon. One of those strange premonitions that actually are true half of the time. And I am still a bit nervous of going to English work, because I haven't taught in English very much in the mission field. But, it's the Lord's will. If 1 million missionaries have done it, so can I.
No matter how hard I try, p-day never works out! We planned it all out, two movies and a lot of free time to sleep and do stuff, then, we got a phone call from the senior couple asking us to help move things for a local member, Sister Flick. Sister Flick lives 5 minutes away so we zipped over there, and we were there for 3 hours moving things around, bookcases, armoirs (I don't know how to spell it to be honest) and storing a desk at a local storage place. 3 hours spent doing service, on p-day. Not typical at all, but I love Sister Flick so I'd do it again if she needs help. As for my comp and another elder, they were very unhappy and wanted more time on another day to make up for the moving time. What came to my mind? The service scripture of course! Somewhere in Mosiah. I just love being an instrument in the Lord's hands, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. I can just see the change in people's lives, it's amazing.
We had some great lessons with some less actives, including one who is preparing to enter the temple. Fidel Zaldana. He's just a mellow, very kind person. He lives with his niece and her husband, and is just a great person. He has finally gotten over being offended by members in Guatemala that threatened to kill him, and it's just great! We shared the first lesson with him last night, and he felt the Spirit as did we. He was crying when we shared the First Vision, and we all know it is true. That's the beauty of it. There is no doubt in our minds or hearts that it is true. I love it. I wish I could go with him into the temple when he's ready, but that's a rare exception unless they're getting sealed. I just love this area. I love the people here, and I love missionary work.
Well, I hope you all had a great MLK Jr. day back in the East, because it was just another p-day for me.
I love you all, I wish you all well, and most of all, I hope that all of you are safe and happy.
Love,
Elder Irvine
Monday, January 28, 2008
January 14, 2008
Dear my wonderful Irvine family:
This has been one of the worst weeks in my mission, numbers-wise, but it's not all about numbers. It's just been frustrating too. Monday, a few lessons. Tuesday, we went all across the valley to say good-bye to everyone for Neira, and we drove down to find the apartment and got lost in Studio City and North Hollywood for an hour. So we unpacked and then loaded my new comp's stuff on, and got back home wayyyy late at 11:20 pm. I was so tired! I really like my new comp, Elder Hansen. I'm going to 'kill' him because he has a transfer left, so basically 8 weeks. He's not trunky at all, and I'll push him hard if he goes trunky on me. Everyone is human. So we got to know all the investigators and members all over again, and it's really frustrating. It's like we're starting from ground zero and working our way back up, and the ET really made me feel a bit strange. Starting brand new in the middle of a transfer really can mess with a missionary's state of mind. I felt a bit trunky, like why am I here, why does this stuff always happen, why am I going to have to show my comp the area, etc. I was really stressed. I couldn't sleep well Sunday night, or Monday night, or Tuesday night, so I'm still recovering a bit from that. Now I have to drive in crazy California, and I feel like I'm learning to drive again because there are so many crazy people and it scares the heck out of me. But, the work is slowly progressing again but it was really a waste of the Lord's time to readjust to everything.
Elder Hansen is from Corpus Christi, Texas, but his family moved to Utah when he went into the field, and now his family is thinking of going back to Texas. He's a really funny kid, but frustrates me at times because he is easily distracted and goes off tangents a lot. As you know me, I am direct and I can't stand distractions. So it's an adjustment. I felt like the DL for a bit because he's never been DL and I've been stuck with two of them, so I was showing him some of the stuff (he's seen all the paperwork before so he's good with that). It's weird for him because he served here in English work in my area, in Valencia. This past Sunday he shook so many hands welcoming him back to Santa Clarita. It's going to be really good here. We actually might eat dinners now, because Neira would always not plan to eat dinner.
The Jaimes are progressing very well, and they are golden! They're going to be baptized this coming Sunday, and I just have to organize the program as well as arrange the interviews with the ZL's. Not too much. They have a great fellowshipping couple, the Ceja's, and everything is going well. They miss Neira, so he's going to come back to baptize them. We gave Hno. Jaimes a blessing before Neira got ET'd, so he'd get better becase he had a bad cough that hurt his back and chest, and our next visit he said that nothing hurt, that he slept like a baby. He realized the power of faith, and of the priesthood. I'm so excited, my first actual baptism of someone that I've taught and have come to love. I can't wait to see their expressions of joy when they come out of that baptismal font...I'm so blessed right now! They're so great, and we get along really well. They always make fun of the fact that I'm Asian, they understand me pretty well and...pretty much make fun of me because I'm Asian. It's so great! I love them so much, and I'm happy they're taking this step. When they get baptized, I'd love to see Hno. Jaimes receive the priesthood to baptize his son, Jose, when he gets back from Mexico in six months. That'd be sweet!
Another investigator, Lesley, is going to be baptized (but we'll push the date back again because she couldn't make it to church this Sunday). She's really smart! Basically we review what we've taught and she spits it back at us, but simpler, better, and with a touch of a 10 year old girl. Makes it interesting at times. "Joseph Smith made his church and Christ made his"...what a funny girl. We're planning to extend the baptismal commitment to her non-member father, who is just a fantastic person, really soon. I could possibly see three temple sealings by the end of my mission...how exciting!
Our other golden ones, the Cardenas-Gil, are pretty much the most amazing people I've ever met in my short time here. Hansen loves them already, and recognized how golden they really are. We're fixing out the kinks about getting them married, finding a marriage license for undocumented immigrants, but it should be easy enough. I'm actually going to look it up after I send this e-mail. Then, fix a date, schedule it with the building coordinator, and get the Relief Society involved. Probably next transfer in February, in time for my birthday! They're ready to be baptized, they just have to get married first. And I love their little twins, who are five years old, Jeffrey and Adelay, they're so cool! They could (and will) be my third temple sealing if it all goes well...I am very blessed to be here right now!
Elder Hansen has pushed me to do language study, because Sandoval didn't really care and didn't push me and Neira just didn't do it. So I'm recognizing my faults even more, when before I was like 'well, I'll fix it later' but later never came. So it's really good that I'm now pushing myself. It's kind of a problem because Spanish comes easily to me, so it's hard finding the motivation, but Hansen has really made it clear to me by his example, that language study blesses the missionaries so much. I am blessed to be his last companion.
Neira told me before we had to split, that he is pushing me to be the next DL and possibly a trainer after Hansen goes, but I don't want to! Yeah, it'd be sweet to go to a lot of meetings and talk about stuff, but I'd rather just do my own thing. Oh well, I'll do whatever the Lord wants, as Mom said on the phone.
There have been some really spiritual moments in this 'new' transfer. The value of planning a lesson before has really helped us teach with the Spirit. Hansen knows a lot of Spanish, and I was surprised, but I was even more surprised when he went off the beaten path to talk about repentance. When he was done, I knew what to do, just continue with the lesson plan. And the Spirit was guiding us, for sure. Too bad these investigators, the Murcia's, won't get married or come to church. We're going to drop them soon if they don't go to church, even though they want to learn more. Oh well. We taught the Jaimes with the Ceja's, and it was great! We finished the Commandments lesson, so all we have to do is plan the program and get them ready for the interview questions, and Hno. Ceja even showed them (by using me) how we baptize so the Jaimes wouldn't be afraid of it. It was just great! The Ceja's bore their testimony about the importance of fasting, of following the laws of the land, and it was just amazing! I loved it! The Jaimes gave us hot chocolate (nearly burned my tongue) and some pan dulce...they have changed so much! They can't deny the Spirit now! They can't deny the Gospel from blessing their lives! The only barrier right now is Father Hans, a Catholic priest who is a dry Mormon. He wants to interfere, yet again, but we're not going to let him. He stopped a baptism from happening a while back, so the elders don't trust him at all. So, we're not going to talk to Father Hans for the rest of this transfer and probably the next one too. He'll learn from this. The Cardenas-Gil are excited about getting married, and they're reading the Book of Mormon on their own. When Hno. Cardenas bore his testimony about the Book of Mormon two weeks ago, in priesthood testimony meeting, I nearly cried (I don't remember if I said that before). He said he feels it is right, and feels that this is the right church. Sometimes I just want to die of happiness. As Elder Holland said, "Lord, it is enough." Obedience leads to great blessings, to greater things. There is nothing better than missionary work.
I love this work! I love how the Lord is preparing people for us to teach, how he is so merciful to bless us at this time. I am very nervous about the baptisms, but I know that the Lord will give me strength. This is my first baptism after all. I know this church is true, and I know Christ lives and is with us.
May you all be safe and protected.
Love,
Elder Irvine
This has been one of the worst weeks in my mission, numbers-wise, but it's not all about numbers. It's just been frustrating too. Monday, a few lessons. Tuesday, we went all across the valley to say good-bye to everyone for Neira, and we drove down to find the apartment and got lost in Studio City and North Hollywood for an hour. So we unpacked and then loaded my new comp's stuff on, and got back home wayyyy late at 11:20 pm. I was so tired! I really like my new comp, Elder Hansen. I'm going to 'kill' him because he has a transfer left, so basically 8 weeks. He's not trunky at all, and I'll push him hard if he goes trunky on me. Everyone is human. So we got to know all the investigators and members all over again, and it's really frustrating. It's like we're starting from ground zero and working our way back up, and the ET really made me feel a bit strange. Starting brand new in the middle of a transfer really can mess with a missionary's state of mind. I felt a bit trunky, like why am I here, why does this stuff always happen, why am I going to have to show my comp the area, etc. I was really stressed. I couldn't sleep well Sunday night, or Monday night, or Tuesday night, so I'm still recovering a bit from that. Now I have to drive in crazy California, and I feel like I'm learning to drive again because there are so many crazy people and it scares the heck out of me. But, the work is slowly progressing again but it was really a waste of the Lord's time to readjust to everything.
Elder Hansen is from Corpus Christi, Texas, but his family moved to Utah when he went into the field, and now his family is thinking of going back to Texas. He's a really funny kid, but frustrates me at times because he is easily distracted and goes off tangents a lot. As you know me, I am direct and I can't stand distractions. So it's an adjustment. I felt like the DL for a bit because he's never been DL and I've been stuck with two of them, so I was showing him some of the stuff (he's seen all the paperwork before so he's good with that). It's weird for him because he served here in English work in my area, in Valencia. This past Sunday he shook so many hands welcoming him back to Santa Clarita. It's going to be really good here. We actually might eat dinners now, because Neira would always not plan to eat dinner.
The Jaimes are progressing very well, and they are golden! They're going to be baptized this coming Sunday, and I just have to organize the program as well as arrange the interviews with the ZL's. Not too much. They have a great fellowshipping couple, the Ceja's, and everything is going well. They miss Neira, so he's going to come back to baptize them. We gave Hno. Jaimes a blessing before Neira got ET'd, so he'd get better becase he had a bad cough that hurt his back and chest, and our next visit he said that nothing hurt, that he slept like a baby. He realized the power of faith, and of the priesthood. I'm so excited, my first actual baptism of someone that I've taught and have come to love. I can't wait to see their expressions of joy when they come out of that baptismal font...I'm so blessed right now! They're so great, and we get along really well. They always make fun of the fact that I'm Asian, they understand me pretty well and...pretty much make fun of me because I'm Asian. It's so great! I love them so much, and I'm happy they're taking this step. When they get baptized, I'd love to see Hno. Jaimes receive the priesthood to baptize his son, Jose, when he gets back from Mexico in six months. That'd be sweet!
Another investigator, Lesley, is going to be baptized (but we'll push the date back again because she couldn't make it to church this Sunday). She's really smart! Basically we review what we've taught and she spits it back at us, but simpler, better, and with a touch of a 10 year old girl. Makes it interesting at times. "Joseph Smith made his church and Christ made his"...what a funny girl. We're planning to extend the baptismal commitment to her non-member father, who is just a fantastic person, really soon. I could possibly see three temple sealings by the end of my mission...how exciting!
Our other golden ones, the Cardenas-Gil, are pretty much the most amazing people I've ever met in my short time here. Hansen loves them already, and recognized how golden they really are. We're fixing out the kinks about getting them married, finding a marriage license for undocumented immigrants, but it should be easy enough. I'm actually going to look it up after I send this e-mail. Then, fix a date, schedule it with the building coordinator, and get the Relief Society involved. Probably next transfer in February, in time for my birthday! They're ready to be baptized, they just have to get married first. And I love their little twins, who are five years old, Jeffrey and Adelay, they're so cool! They could (and will) be my third temple sealing if it all goes well...I am very blessed to be here right now!
Elder Hansen has pushed me to do language study, because Sandoval didn't really care and didn't push me and Neira just didn't do it. So I'm recognizing my faults even more, when before I was like 'well, I'll fix it later' but later never came. So it's really good that I'm now pushing myself. It's kind of a problem because Spanish comes easily to me, so it's hard finding the motivation, but Hansen has really made it clear to me by his example, that language study blesses the missionaries so much. I am blessed to be his last companion.
Neira told me before we had to split, that he is pushing me to be the next DL and possibly a trainer after Hansen goes, but I don't want to! Yeah, it'd be sweet to go to a lot of meetings and talk about stuff, but I'd rather just do my own thing. Oh well, I'll do whatever the Lord wants, as Mom said on the phone.
There have been some really spiritual moments in this 'new' transfer. The value of planning a lesson before has really helped us teach with the Spirit. Hansen knows a lot of Spanish, and I was surprised, but I was even more surprised when he went off the beaten path to talk about repentance. When he was done, I knew what to do, just continue with the lesson plan. And the Spirit was guiding us, for sure. Too bad these investigators, the Murcia's, won't get married or come to church. We're going to drop them soon if they don't go to church, even though they want to learn more. Oh well. We taught the Jaimes with the Ceja's, and it was great! We finished the Commandments lesson, so all we have to do is plan the program and get them ready for the interview questions, and Hno. Ceja even showed them (by using me) how we baptize so the Jaimes wouldn't be afraid of it. It was just great! The Ceja's bore their testimony about the importance of fasting, of following the laws of the land, and it was just amazing! I loved it! The Jaimes gave us hot chocolate (nearly burned my tongue) and some pan dulce...they have changed so much! They can't deny the Spirit now! They can't deny the Gospel from blessing their lives! The only barrier right now is Father Hans, a Catholic priest who is a dry Mormon. He wants to interfere, yet again, but we're not going to let him. He stopped a baptism from happening a while back, so the elders don't trust him at all. So, we're not going to talk to Father Hans for the rest of this transfer and probably the next one too. He'll learn from this. The Cardenas-Gil are excited about getting married, and they're reading the Book of Mormon on their own. When Hno. Cardenas bore his testimony about the Book of Mormon two weeks ago, in priesthood testimony meeting, I nearly cried (I don't remember if I said that before). He said he feels it is right, and feels that this is the right church. Sometimes I just want to die of happiness. As Elder Holland said, "Lord, it is enough." Obedience leads to great blessings, to greater things. There is nothing better than missionary work.
I love this work! I love how the Lord is preparing people for us to teach, how he is so merciful to bless us at this time. I am very nervous about the baptisms, but I know that the Lord will give me strength. This is my first baptism after all. I know this church is true, and I know Christ lives and is with us.
May you all be safe and protected.
Love,
Elder Irvine
January 7, 2008
Dear the Irvines:
I am blessed to be in this mission, but I have to admit I am blessed to have a great family like you! And I really don't need more long sleeves, I feel that the cold is going to go away soon and this coat you send me is the best! And the gloves! It's so warm...it's great!
It's strange because the work is progressing and the work is going well, better than expected sometimes, but my companion is ET'd. Yup, emergency transfer due to uncontrolled gossip and false accusations against him. I never realized how damaging a small little thing can be, but it's going to set back the work a bit, and we might lose a few investigators as a result of this fiasco. Let me tell the story from my point of view.
Friday night, we always eat dinner with this (previously) wonderful family, the Dubon's. We're trying to teach the non-member father. So we ate dinner, played around, joked around, the usual, and had a good spiritual thought and went on our way. Then came Sunday. The mother came and told us that we said some bad and innapropriate words to the children on Friday, and then another sister came and told us that same thing. The word is mendiga, which is apparently not a good word in Mexico. The thing is, Neira is from Peru and never heard of the word before, and neither had I. Then, the youngest son apparently said that Neira dropped the F-bomb, false because it's not how he speaks. So what happened was that the kids and the mother ended up telling the other sister, and then it got to the first counselor (who hates us anyways because we found him flirting with a younger member of the ward and he got reprimanded by the stake presidency) who then told bishop who then called mission president. It was like the game 'telephone', where the rumor goes from one to another, getting changed along the way, and eventually it is completely wrong from what was really said before. Frustrating, because I know Neira didn't say either thing, and he knows, and most of all, God knows. So the first counselor, Hno. Portillo, was looking out to get us from the start, and used this and made it a big deal. Just a few little words, just a little joke from the kids to get attention, and it lead to a district leader being ET'd. It's been building up, the tension between us and the bishopric, and the first counselor and the bishop used it to ET my comp, when we did nothing wrong. The thing is, the kids never even told us what we said, and we haven't even talked to them at all. All hearsay, and we get split. Poor Elder Hansen has to come up here now from Burbank to replace Neira as DL. And I have to take care of the area. All because of some ignorant and childish 12 and 10 year old that wanted to get attention and start a fuss. We couldn't even defend our name, and the sad thing is that Neira gets moved just when the work was turning the corner, so to speak. Now I get burdened with taking care of an area, trying to work with the bishopric that ousted my comp, and build up the kingdom of God. It's just too much at one time, and it only took 1 day to go from all is well, to an ET. If the Lord loses an investigator, those poor kids will be to blame, as well as the leaders. At least we have a voice in the bishopric, Hno. Umana, who wanted to talk it out but was overruled by the other two. Something might happen here, something bad. Since the bishop went straight to mission president, he bypassed the local rule to first call the stake president to figure things out, so the stake president can go and even things out. So the bishop broke the rule and I hope he gets booted or something because he isn't doing much to help us anyways. Hno. Umana says that he wishes he could be useful since all they do is plan and do nothing with the plans, he asked the stake presidency to be released from the bishopric so he could be useful elsewhere. So, it is utter confusion and chaos here, at least for me. It didn't help that we learned this right before we went to bed last night, and I couldn't sleep very well because I'm a bit mad at the bishopric and the Dubon's, and since I am in charge of taking care of the area halfway through a transfer. This is utterly ridiculous! I can't believe these members! They're stopping the work of the Lord for some little discrepancy. I can't believe it. I called mission president and he said that he trusted us, he just wanted to move Neira out because he didn't want anything else to happen to him and to the missionaries. It's only because Neira pushed the bishop to fulfill his responsibilities, and he didn't like getting pushed a little. How can I trust the bishopric? Two of the three went behind our backs, didn't give us the chance to explain what happened (or what didn't happen), and now we're split up. This is incredulous! I'm running out of words to describe it! Just to say, I was very angry and upset last night, especially since this has eternal repercussions. This could offend the non-member father and result in not listening to the missionaries. Oh well, condemnation on their heads for lying. See you, never.
So that's the low-down on the ET. Very frustrating, but I know it's just a learning experience for the both of us. I feel bad for Neira because he's innocent, and he got ET'd before because he let his guard down. It just upsets our plans for the work. Oh well, the work goes on. But I am just angry at people, and I find it hard to trust anyone. It doesn't help that the bishop talked to the ward about not making gossip, but then he goes the opposite way and believes what some little kids say about what we said without asking our side of the story. For me, there is no forgiveness that is going to come from me, because he's messing with the Lord's servants and with His work.
But other than that, the work is going well. We got to celebrate New Year's in our apartment, and we got to watch movies! Happy Feet (it's really funny in Spanish), Ratatouille (really good movie), Meet the Robinson's (super confusing, but good message), and part of the Pacifier. So it was relaxing.
A lot of people went to Mexico for the holidays, so we tried to find as many people as we could and did a relatively good job. We have many progressing investigators, and I think we have 7 baptisms this transfer including a wedding (which I also have to organize since the Relief Society President said she won't help). It's going to be a hectic end to a busy transfer! I really feel sorry for Hansen to come into a situation like this! But, the Jaimes are ready to get baptized, as are the Cardenas (we have to get them married first) and Lesley (daughter of a member). I'm so excited, but bummed that this had to happen. What a damper on our week!
I am going to miss Elder Neira, because we complement each other well, we work hard, and get things done. Hansen is 1.5 transfers away from going home, so it's going to be a change. Please, pray for me to have enough motivation to continue this transfer, because I want to give up and move to another place. I'm sick and tired of gossip. I'm sick and tired of the lame bishopric. I'm sick and tired of being punished for being obedient. I'm sick and tired of it.
The work is going up, but this could really bring it down...I hope not. Wish us luck, as I adjust to a gringo comp and take control of things. Sorry it's not very uplifting, but I'm depressed about this entire fiasco. Maybe next week things will look up. I hope so. I just don't have the energy to write any more, I'm just tired.
I love you all, and it's great to hear all is well.
Love,
Elder Irvine
I am blessed to be in this mission, but I have to admit I am blessed to have a great family like you! And I really don't need more long sleeves, I feel that the cold is going to go away soon and this coat you send me is the best! And the gloves! It's so warm...it's great!
It's strange because the work is progressing and the work is going well, better than expected sometimes, but my companion is ET'd. Yup, emergency transfer due to uncontrolled gossip and false accusations against him. I never realized how damaging a small little thing can be, but it's going to set back the work a bit, and we might lose a few investigators as a result of this fiasco. Let me tell the story from my point of view.
Friday night, we always eat dinner with this (previously) wonderful family, the Dubon's. We're trying to teach the non-member father. So we ate dinner, played around, joked around, the usual, and had a good spiritual thought and went on our way. Then came Sunday. The mother came and told us that we said some bad and innapropriate words to the children on Friday, and then another sister came and told us that same thing. The word is mendiga, which is apparently not a good word in Mexico. The thing is, Neira is from Peru and never heard of the word before, and neither had I. Then, the youngest son apparently said that Neira dropped the F-bomb, false because it's not how he speaks. So what happened was that the kids and the mother ended up telling the other sister, and then it got to the first counselor (who hates us anyways because we found him flirting with a younger member of the ward and he got reprimanded by the stake presidency) who then told bishop who then called mission president. It was like the game 'telephone', where the rumor goes from one to another, getting changed along the way, and eventually it is completely wrong from what was really said before. Frustrating, because I know Neira didn't say either thing, and he knows, and most of all, God knows. So the first counselor, Hno. Portillo, was looking out to get us from the start, and used this and made it a big deal. Just a few little words, just a little joke from the kids to get attention, and it lead to a district leader being ET'd. It's been building up, the tension between us and the bishopric, and the first counselor and the bishop used it to ET my comp, when we did nothing wrong. The thing is, the kids never even told us what we said, and we haven't even talked to them at all. All hearsay, and we get split. Poor Elder Hansen has to come up here now from Burbank to replace Neira as DL. And I have to take care of the area. All because of some ignorant and childish 12 and 10 year old that wanted to get attention and start a fuss. We couldn't even defend our name, and the sad thing is that Neira gets moved just when the work was turning the corner, so to speak. Now I get burdened with taking care of an area, trying to work with the bishopric that ousted my comp, and build up the kingdom of God. It's just too much at one time, and it only took 1 day to go from all is well, to an ET. If the Lord loses an investigator, those poor kids will be to blame, as well as the leaders. At least we have a voice in the bishopric, Hno. Umana, who wanted to talk it out but was overruled by the other two. Something might happen here, something bad. Since the bishop went straight to mission president, he bypassed the local rule to first call the stake president to figure things out, so the stake president can go and even things out. So the bishop broke the rule and I hope he gets booted or something because he isn't doing much to help us anyways. Hno. Umana says that he wishes he could be useful since all they do is plan and do nothing with the plans, he asked the stake presidency to be released from the bishopric so he could be useful elsewhere. So, it is utter confusion and chaos here, at least for me. It didn't help that we learned this right before we went to bed last night, and I couldn't sleep very well because I'm a bit mad at the bishopric and the Dubon's, and since I am in charge of taking care of the area halfway through a transfer. This is utterly ridiculous! I can't believe these members! They're stopping the work of the Lord for some little discrepancy. I can't believe it. I called mission president and he said that he trusted us, he just wanted to move Neira out because he didn't want anything else to happen to him and to the missionaries. It's only because Neira pushed the bishop to fulfill his responsibilities, and he didn't like getting pushed a little. How can I trust the bishopric? Two of the three went behind our backs, didn't give us the chance to explain what happened (or what didn't happen), and now we're split up. This is incredulous! I'm running out of words to describe it! Just to say, I was very angry and upset last night, especially since this has eternal repercussions. This could offend the non-member father and result in not listening to the missionaries. Oh well, condemnation on their heads for lying. See you, never.
So that's the low-down on the ET. Very frustrating, but I know it's just a learning experience for the both of us. I feel bad for Neira because he's innocent, and he got ET'd before because he let his guard down. It just upsets our plans for the work. Oh well, the work goes on. But I am just angry at people, and I find it hard to trust anyone. It doesn't help that the bishop talked to the ward about not making gossip, but then he goes the opposite way and believes what some little kids say about what we said without asking our side of the story. For me, there is no forgiveness that is going to come from me, because he's messing with the Lord's servants and with His work.
But other than that, the work is going well. We got to celebrate New Year's in our apartment, and we got to watch movies! Happy Feet (it's really funny in Spanish), Ratatouille (really good movie), Meet the Robinson's (super confusing, but good message), and part of the Pacifier. So it was relaxing.
A lot of people went to Mexico for the holidays, so we tried to find as many people as we could and did a relatively good job. We have many progressing investigators, and I think we have 7 baptisms this transfer including a wedding (which I also have to organize since the Relief Society President said she won't help). It's going to be a hectic end to a busy transfer! I really feel sorry for Hansen to come into a situation like this! But, the Jaimes are ready to get baptized, as are the Cardenas (we have to get them married first) and Lesley (daughter of a member). I'm so excited, but bummed that this had to happen. What a damper on our week!
I am going to miss Elder Neira, because we complement each other well, we work hard, and get things done. Hansen is 1.5 transfers away from going home, so it's going to be a change. Please, pray for me to have enough motivation to continue this transfer, because I want to give up and move to another place. I'm sick and tired of gossip. I'm sick and tired of the lame bishopric. I'm sick and tired of being punished for being obedient. I'm sick and tired of it.
The work is going up, but this could really bring it down...I hope not. Wish us luck, as I adjust to a gringo comp and take control of things. Sorry it's not very uplifting, but I'm depressed about this entire fiasco. Maybe next week things will look up. I hope so. I just don't have the energy to write any more, I'm just tired.
I love you all, and it's great to hear all is well.
Love,
Elder Irvine
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
December 31, 2007
Dear the Irvines:
This week has been a bit crazy with Christmas and all...it set me off a little bit talking to all of you (especially on two occasions- shh don't tell President Goodrich that). I did get the package from Chris and Kim (with another note from my friend also out at BYU), a fudge brownie and some cookies that were crushed en route. Go figure. But, the thought counts. It was a bit weird to be here during Christmas, but not really celebrating the American consumer way. It was really nice though.
We went to a member's house, who is the stepmom of the mission in my opinion. Sister Flick from Sweden! She's so awesome! So she gave us presents, a tie, some socks, and the usual things we actually need. And we had some swedish meatballs and potatoes and ham afterwards. It was really nice and felt like home. One of the elders that went home is back with his family, the former Elder Fischer (way trunky elder his last few transfers). It was weird to see him not in proselyting, and I only saw him twice anyways. But still. We had some good lessons, and it was just great knowing that the best way to celebrate Christmas is to go out and preach his Gospel. I loved it! But, the next day, I was super sick. I was in bed all day. Pres. Goodrich and his wife came to inspect our apartment and we passed with flying colors! She was so happy she took a picture with us, but I was sick and in bed so I wasn't in the picture. The thing is that Elder Neira and I cleaned the apartment basically on our own and yet she thanked the other elders for helping. Man, all that work for nothing? Pssh, at least it's sparkling clean now. I really appreciate what you do Mom, it's a lot of work! It took us three days, two hours each, to adequately clean the bathroom and kitchen. Phew! So I was sick all day, barely conscious, with bad diarrhea. So I called up Sister Flick and she brought me pills to drink with Gatorade. I don't even know what they were, but they worked! Sister Goodrich told me to ask what I was taking before I took it...but you know me as long as you are trustworthy I won't ask. I wasn't even in the mood to ask because I was so sick. But I'm better now. Thank goodness to those pills!
This week has been a blur! So Thursday, we went up to Castaic to proselyte. A 20 minute drive that eats up a lot of our miles! It went relatively well. We got dropped by an investigator that said he already knew Jehovah was our Father and Christ his son so he was good. Right, you got the whole Trinity thing wrong. But, we were able to teach another potential Andres Aldae with an amazing member, Hno. Jose Luis Bustos Hernandez. He taught better than me, it was really a reality check on how I can teach better. I'm just a little passive now, but it was a wake-up call. He was going to serve a mission, but he got married with a non-member instead. Oh if he had served! Now his wife doesn't want anything with the church, and he's been endowed. Choose the Right! It was a great lesson! And we're training not only Jose Luis, but 4 other members to be better member-missionaries to help us out each week. It's Elder Neira's Preach My Gospel program, and it looks like it'll work really well here. Friday, combined district meeting on how to present Preach My Gospel (already did it, I really didn't think I needed to go to it but I'll understand their purpose in doing it). A review, then we had a sweet visit with the part-member family Vicenzio. Hna. Emma is so awesome! Her non-member husband really likes us, and he's really attentive. We used several analogies to ram home the point that the church was destroyed and all that stuff, and it worked! We're planning to baptize the daughter Lesley (who turned 10 recently), then so we can eventually get the father excited enough to hear the lessons and be baptized. Sweet family! Saturday was sweet! We trained the Ward Mission Leader on Preach My Gospel, because we haven't had correlation meeting since I got here, and even before when Neira arrived a transfer earlier. I felt bad, because he was like well I know that I am not fulfilling my calling, but we ended up encouraging him and he was getting really excited. He used to be the branch president, Hno. De La Cruz. He's way cool! So we went up to Castaic again and had mixed results, but we did pick up a sweet investigator. We prayed to find an elect. We were at a state park of some sort and no one was there. A bunch of punk Koreans that played basketball. No one else until they showed up. Her name is Dulce Avalos, and she had the question, which church is the right church? What a great question! So we taught her about Joseph Smith, and got a return appointment. She wanted to know more! It was a reality check for me, just have more faith and they will come, just be faithful and obedient. I have a problem with that, when I don't see the results right then and there. Sweet! And, we taught familia Jaimes the Word of Wisdom, and they accepted to live it. They are going to be baptized! All but 1, since he's going to Mexico to play soccer for 6 months. But, as Neira was inspired, if Hno. Jaimes is worthy and works for it, he could baptize his son when he gets back. I love that family so much! Then, Sunday. We had correlation, the first time ever! I was really excited and happy we got back on track. It helps knowing we have leaders that want to help us, and know that our bishop is a chatterbox but does nothing. We went to visit some people, called people, but no one came to church. Just 4 investigators this time. But, familia Jaimes came, so it was great! Everyone is going to Mexico to party so this week is going to go downhill lessons-wise, but we're still going to push on! We go to church, the bishop irritated the heck out of me again for the gazillionth time, and had a relatively good day. The problem is that this church isn't uplifting, so I'll have to deal with it for now. The bishop loves to talk about himself, and yet he doesn't understand that he is the bishop, not the focus of attention. Family this, family that. My family comes first. Then he leaves everyone else behind. Oh well, condemnation on his head, poor guy. I'll just baptize and leave everything to the Lord.
Familia Cardenas rocks! We had our appointments fall through yesterday so we went to see what's happening with them since they were busy all week prepping for the parties. We found out that Hno Cardenas was sick, really sick, so he was in the hospital. We gave him a blessing right then and there, and he changed a bit it seemed. He had faith, and we could tell that he was feeling just a little bit better. We taught about authority, how Christ's church is the only one that has His power on the earth. It was one of the best lessons I've taught without preparing. We didn't even expect to teach that, but we were guided by the Spirit to say what was needed, and to use the right scriptures. It was flowing, and I knew that it was meant to be. They understood it perfectly and that they needed to be baptized in Christ's church, not in any other church. They understood that there was only one church that was of God that has His truth. It was beautiful! Then, Neira asked them to be baptized, and they were like ok, we will. Ok, date is January 13th. Ok, good. But, Neira said they had to get married before being baptized. How about the day before the baptism? How about a date? January 12th, before the baptism. Their facial expressions were like, wow what'd he just say? But we explained that it could be done, and it is the right thing. They asked if they could invite anyone, and we said of course we love to invite anyone to our church. Then Neira said, the Lord has told us that this is the day for you to be baptized (and also married he meant). They thought about it for a second, and said yes. I was elated to say the least! I am so very happy! My first wedding! Haha that sounds funny. My first...wedding in the mission. So we were served some hot chocolate, some pan dulce (sweet bread) and chatted a bit. I love that family so much, I know they were sent from God to us! We prayed, and during the prayer I said, 'God thank you for blessing us with them, thank you so much' and we left. I have never felt so blessed and yet unworthy to receive these blessings. The heavens are opening and pouring out upon us it seems. This will be one amazing transfer, I know.
Well, the elect are out there waiting for me to find them. I hope all is well, and that you're all enjoying the wonderful weather of Maryland for me!
Love,
Elder Irvine
P.S. The Cardenas lived in Laurel for a bit, and man we got to talk about how pretty it is and how wonderful it is...oh how I miss the green! I couldn't believe it! What a coincidence?
This week has been a bit crazy with Christmas and all...it set me off a little bit talking to all of you (especially on two occasions- shh don't tell President Goodrich that). I did get the package from Chris and Kim (with another note from my friend also out at BYU), a fudge brownie and some cookies that were crushed en route. Go figure. But, the thought counts. It was a bit weird to be here during Christmas, but not really celebrating the American consumer way. It was really nice though.
We went to a member's house, who is the stepmom of the mission in my opinion. Sister Flick from Sweden! She's so awesome! So she gave us presents, a tie, some socks, and the usual things we actually need. And we had some swedish meatballs and potatoes and ham afterwards. It was really nice and felt like home. One of the elders that went home is back with his family, the former Elder Fischer (way trunky elder his last few transfers). It was weird to see him not in proselyting, and I only saw him twice anyways. But still. We had some good lessons, and it was just great knowing that the best way to celebrate Christmas is to go out and preach his Gospel. I loved it! But, the next day, I was super sick. I was in bed all day. Pres. Goodrich and his wife came to inspect our apartment and we passed with flying colors! She was so happy she took a picture with us, but I was sick and in bed so I wasn't in the picture. The thing is that Elder Neira and I cleaned the apartment basically on our own and yet she thanked the other elders for helping. Man, all that work for nothing? Pssh, at least it's sparkling clean now. I really appreciate what you do Mom, it's a lot of work! It took us three days, two hours each, to adequately clean the bathroom and kitchen. Phew! So I was sick all day, barely conscious, with bad diarrhea. So I called up Sister Flick and she brought me pills to drink with Gatorade. I don't even know what they were, but they worked! Sister Goodrich told me to ask what I was taking before I took it...but you know me as long as you are trustworthy I won't ask. I wasn't even in the mood to ask because I was so sick. But I'm better now. Thank goodness to those pills!
This week has been a blur! So Thursday, we went up to Castaic to proselyte. A 20 minute drive that eats up a lot of our miles! It went relatively well. We got dropped by an investigator that said he already knew Jehovah was our Father and Christ his son so he was good. Right, you got the whole Trinity thing wrong. But, we were able to teach another potential Andres Aldae with an amazing member, Hno. Jose Luis Bustos Hernandez. He taught better than me, it was really a reality check on how I can teach better. I'm just a little passive now, but it was a wake-up call. He was going to serve a mission, but he got married with a non-member instead. Oh if he had served! Now his wife doesn't want anything with the church, and he's been endowed. Choose the Right! It was a great lesson! And we're training not only Jose Luis, but 4 other members to be better member-missionaries to help us out each week. It's Elder Neira's Preach My Gospel program, and it looks like it'll work really well here. Friday, combined district meeting on how to present Preach My Gospel (already did it, I really didn't think I needed to go to it but I'll understand their purpose in doing it). A review, then we had a sweet visit with the part-member family Vicenzio. Hna. Emma is so awesome! Her non-member husband really likes us, and he's really attentive. We used several analogies to ram home the point that the church was destroyed and all that stuff, and it worked! We're planning to baptize the daughter Lesley (who turned 10 recently), then so we can eventually get the father excited enough to hear the lessons and be baptized. Sweet family! Saturday was sweet! We trained the Ward Mission Leader on Preach My Gospel, because we haven't had correlation meeting since I got here, and even before when Neira arrived a transfer earlier. I felt bad, because he was like well I know that I am not fulfilling my calling, but we ended up encouraging him and he was getting really excited. He used to be the branch president, Hno. De La Cruz. He's way cool! So we went up to Castaic again and had mixed results, but we did pick up a sweet investigator. We prayed to find an elect. We were at a state park of some sort and no one was there. A bunch of punk Koreans that played basketball. No one else until they showed up. Her name is Dulce Avalos, and she had the question, which church is the right church? What a great question! So we taught her about Joseph Smith, and got a return appointment. She wanted to know more! It was a reality check for me, just have more faith and they will come, just be faithful and obedient. I have a problem with that, when I don't see the results right then and there. Sweet! And, we taught familia Jaimes the Word of Wisdom, and they accepted to live it. They are going to be baptized! All but 1, since he's going to Mexico to play soccer for 6 months. But, as Neira was inspired, if Hno. Jaimes is worthy and works for it, he could baptize his son when he gets back. I love that family so much! Then, Sunday. We had correlation, the first time ever! I was really excited and happy we got back on track. It helps knowing we have leaders that want to help us, and know that our bishop is a chatterbox but does nothing. We went to visit some people, called people, but no one came to church. Just 4 investigators this time. But, familia Jaimes came, so it was great! Everyone is going to Mexico to party so this week is going to go downhill lessons-wise, but we're still going to push on! We go to church, the bishop irritated the heck out of me again for the gazillionth time, and had a relatively good day. The problem is that this church isn't uplifting, so I'll have to deal with it for now. The bishop loves to talk about himself, and yet he doesn't understand that he is the bishop, not the focus of attention. Family this, family that. My family comes first. Then he leaves everyone else behind. Oh well, condemnation on his head, poor guy. I'll just baptize and leave everything to the Lord.
Familia Cardenas rocks! We had our appointments fall through yesterday so we went to see what's happening with them since they were busy all week prepping for the parties. We found out that Hno Cardenas was sick, really sick, so he was in the hospital. We gave him a blessing right then and there, and he changed a bit it seemed. He had faith, and we could tell that he was feeling just a little bit better. We taught about authority, how Christ's church is the only one that has His power on the earth. It was one of the best lessons I've taught without preparing. We didn't even expect to teach that, but we were guided by the Spirit to say what was needed, and to use the right scriptures. It was flowing, and I knew that it was meant to be. They understood it perfectly and that they needed to be baptized in Christ's church, not in any other church. They understood that there was only one church that was of God that has His truth. It was beautiful! Then, Neira asked them to be baptized, and they were like ok, we will. Ok, date is January 13th. Ok, good. But, Neira said they had to get married before being baptized. How about the day before the baptism? How about a date? January 12th, before the baptism. Their facial expressions were like, wow what'd he just say? But we explained that it could be done, and it is the right thing. They asked if they could invite anyone, and we said of course we love to invite anyone to our church. Then Neira said, the Lord has told us that this is the day for you to be baptized (and also married he meant). They thought about it for a second, and said yes. I was elated to say the least! I am so very happy! My first wedding! Haha that sounds funny. My first...wedding in the mission. So we were served some hot chocolate, some pan dulce (sweet bread) and chatted a bit. I love that family so much, I know they were sent from God to us! We prayed, and during the prayer I said, 'God thank you for blessing us with them, thank you so much' and we left. I have never felt so blessed and yet unworthy to receive these blessings. The heavens are opening and pouring out upon us it seems. This will be one amazing transfer, I know.
Well, the elect are out there waiting for me to find them. I hope all is well, and that you're all enjoying the wonderful weather of Maryland for me!
Love,
Elder Irvine
P.S. The Cardenas lived in Laurel for a bit, and man we got to talk about how pretty it is and how wonderful it is...oh how I miss the green! I couldn't believe it! What a coincidence?
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