Dear Mom,
I guess that I am getting used to this darn heat. The dryness...not so much. But I'll have to deal with it for at least ten more months. How strange is that? I will be going home in less than a year! I feel I just started...and time does truly fly after you hit your one year mark. I love being a missionary, and I know this is the best thing for me!
I'm happy to know you made it safe over there in Utah, the so-called Zion of the West. I feel that SoCal is Zion in the midst of Babylon, because there is so much stuff going on here it is truly saddening. The members have been asked to contribute financially and also with time to the new amendment, proposition 8, that is for protecting the sanctity of marriage. A member made a fuss about it in Elder's Quorum class and one of our other members, good Bro. Ballard, shut him up with scriptures and just common sense. It was the best thing ever! I loved it! As you can tell this member is just an attention hog BUT at least he got his voice heard...which annoyed me. But, we're hopefully going to see this through and see the gay community defeated. The members here, if they're active, they're really strong. I feel inadequate among such humble followers of Christ. I love the Filipino people, and I especially am glad for this chance I have to serve them. Talking about Filipinos, we got two referrals in Tagalog so we're going to visit them tomorrow with a member that speaks Tagalog. Two new investigators! We're going to have to rely on the gift of tongues to teach them! Isn't that nuts? Who would have thought? Tagalog? We ordered a book to learn Tagalog through the mission office, hopefully we'll get it soon or we'll be floundering.
We had a miracle! Seven investigators to church yesterday with two potential investigators, so a total of nine non-members. That was such a blessing. Miracles are in the works...I was sent here for a reason. Why does the Lord always bless his most inadequate servants with work? All Woods and I do is put our faith in Him, and he just blesses us immensely. We are very fortunate to be here. Our members are getting excited, the bishopric is glad we're bringing people to church...it's just going up! President Goodrich asked if I wanted to go or to stay, to which I said 'stay'. Too much is happening for me to leave here. But, if President needs me to go Spanish, I'll go. I'll want to finish in Spanish, but right now I need to help the people in Van Nuys 1st ward. Three teenagers came to church- Enrique, Crystal and Franky. They're siblings, and we feel that all will be baptized soon, probably in the next seven weeks. They're awesome! They loved church a lot, and are so excited to learn! Crystal was a bit taken aback when our high councilman was frank, saying a marriage is between a man and a woman. She was accepting of everyone, but I just reiterated that there's no gray area. She took it well I suppose. Mike came, again. Susan Lar finally came to sacrament meeting and sat by one of our Filipino members. Gye Choi, who is our English student, came to church. A potential named Hadi came too. Too bad our less actives didn't come, but there's always next time. So, we had a really busy church! Lots of investigators! The Young Men's and Young Women's people were so excited to see the three...it was really cool! I love the work! It was funny because I forgot to fill up the tank on Saturday so we had enough gas to get to church, get home, then go out to contact just down the road, and back home again. In the meantime we finally got to do our weekly planning...which wasn't done for the past three weeks because we have been very busy! That's awesome. We're so busy we couldn't get our weekly planning done...I never would've thought that in all my life as a missionary, especially in English work! Talking about goals, we decided to set a goal for twelve investigators to church next week, if we just get rides it'll be done! I'm super pumped for this last week of the transfer!
This week was a blur. Highlight reel!
Saturday we had a very spiritual lesson with our less active, Betsy Miller. She really loved our testimonies, and we all shared the Spirit's love in her home. Our Relief Society President Sister Ballard came with us, and we all got along. Betsy said she'll do her best to come to church, but I believe her work called her in (she's an accountant's assistant and they're going through several lawsuits right now- super busy!). But, we testified of how we have been blessed by obeying some of God's commandments that we went over with her...I can say that it was a blessed visit. I was very grateful to hear her tell me, 'I really liked your testimony, because I know it is sincere. I can tell you really mean it'. It's one of those...'Oh yeah...that's why I am here' moments. Truly a blessing. We went to Susan Lar and Woods straight up committed her to baptism. We started, prayed, and then he was talking about big steps and stuff then BAM! "Susan, will you be baptized by God's authority on September 7th?" She was like, huh? It was hilarious! But, she said she'll think about it, which we wanted to tell her to pray about it. She knows it's true, we just gotta ram it down her throat. She's one of those indecisive people...if you're bold she'll do it. So that's our new approach. She'll be baptized soon enough. We came home and I took a brief nap that turned into a longer than expected one. I am so dead tired...I couldn't operate without a nap. I know the Lord understands how stressed I have been and how tired I am. Sweet day!
Friday went well. Problem was at district meeting my district tuned out on my training...but it was my fault because I felt they needed a second training on commitments...so they tuned me out. But, our ward missionary came and she got to learn by teaching. It was good for that. We ended up spending an hour driving on a road to get to a place to switch our car...ours had scratches on it from a few months ago so they're repairing it. Traffic stinks down in the south part of the Valley...wow, never going that route again! But, Mike read his assignment and loved it. We testified that as he prayed he would receive an answer to his prayers, that it is our weapon. Elder Woods is a great teacher. Simple, blunt, to the point. Gye really enjoyed our English lesson. Heck, I learn something new everytime we teach her. She has really good questions. She's super open to us, we just have to find the right time to teach her the Gospel. I'm feeling that it'll come really soon. We had a sweet day though! No better call...no greater time in my life!
Thursday was super busy! Appointments, one after the other. Taught a member's daughter (he's divorced, his wife is less active so we're teaching his daughter so she'll get baptized). Then lunch. Then off to Van Nuys to find Shenice- not home, so we went contacting. Took the local bike elders to get something really quick at the local 99 cents store, then back to work! Dinner with a less active family, the Solis's, whose father is a jerk and just wants to fight the bishop over some hurt pride. Thank goodness he wasn't there...not good for the Spirit. But, as long as the bishop is bishop, they won't go back. Oh well, they're denying salvation and exaltation to themselves. We met with good ole' Bruce, who always is a load of fun and really teaches us something, that we must treasure the words of the Lord. He loves us, and we love him. A great jolly old man. I was surprised to find out he's almost seventy. He looks barely sixty.
Wednesday was my second ZDM meeting! I recommended some changes in my district, which I hope will happen for the sake of Encino ward. But, we had fun, shared jokes, some stories, but we got the job done. It was funy though! We got to stop by June, but he's really struggling to read the scriptures with his two little girls. The youngest is always sick...it's not good at all. But, I believe we'll get to him and teach him with boldness and power...he just needs help realizing how it applies to him. But, he'll get baptized, he just doesn't feel ready. We're going to commit him to baptism in the near future. We stopped by one of Woods' converts and went on our way. We had a bunch of success with our less actives going on splits, I went with the very loud Bro. Ludovico, a Filipino member who has nine kids, half of them are here, the rest are back in the Phillipines. Really cool member. Very outgoing. We got to meet a Filipino member who just had quadruple bypass surgery, and he's doing well it seems. Tagalog is super fast! Didn't understand a thing!
Tuesday was interviews, and Sister Goodrich told me to relax. I feel stressed with all this responsibility, but she reiterated I must relax, and realize it's just another bump in the road. And she mentioned, as did my ZL's Boyce and Wilcox (who is the new AP), that my stake president here, President Jex, really liked what I did when I taught an investigator at his house. So, she said that everyone trusts me, and especially President Goodrich. That was a morale booster! My life is great! I just needed a shot in the arm! Woohoo!!! Tuesday was pretty cool...I can't remember much from it. Except we did teach Enrique, and it went really well. I love being a missionary. We reviewed the Restoration with him, and his family really got interested in it. Especially Crystal. But, he loves to read and he really likes to pray. He's going to do very well in the next few weeks. I love this! I felt the Spirit testify to me, and to all, that there was a Great Apostasy, that Christ did truly die for us, and that His apostles were taken away, yet again. I felt that sorrow...how could God 'abandon' us? But, I felt that joy when we testified of the Restoration. They felt weird, they said. They felt good. They felt at peace. That's the Holy Ghost...what a great lesson indeed. We contacted afterwards, met a really interested man, and got to eat T-bone steak with the Albin's, a great member family. Bro. Albin was funny because he met his wife back home in Sacramento (he's a big Kings fan) and she was ready to go on a mission. He said he offered to help her study for the mission, and quickly mentioned, 'and soon it became make-out sessions' to which she said, 'James, don't say that!!!!' Absolutely hilarious! I loved it! We got along, had a good time, got to know them. They're a great family.
That's the week in a nutshell! Hope you enjoyed it!
I love you all, I'm so happy to know I have my family behind me cheering me on! I'll make you proud, like that song goes, 'do I make you proud?' I love my Lord, and I know without a doubt that He lives again. What joy does that bring to me? So much, I could someday collapse like Ammon meeting Alma by Zarahemla...I love this work!
May you stay safe. I love you all.
Love,
Spencer
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
August 11, 2008
Dear Mom,
The work is picking up here in Van Nuys! This week went by so fast! The only reasons why I know a week has past is a) church is on Sunday and b) p-day. It's absolutely fun! I'm loving it here in the ghetto/rich sanctuaries over here. It's a great experience!
As for things for the trip...I don't need anything in particular I think. But thanks!
It was a really fast week! I can't even remember all that happened! But we worked...for sure! Let me try to sum it up as best as I can!
Well...I don't know where to start. How about...yesterday! So yesterday both of us had to give a talk, Woods gave one on prophets and I gave one on how to gain a testimony and then how to maintain it. I really enjoyed preparing for the talk. I ended up listening to a few conference talks that Dad sent out to me, and it really was the core of my talk. From October 2004, Elder Ballard and Elder Staheli (of the Seventy) gave back to back talks on testimony, and I used quotes and elements of their talks for mine yesterday. I really felt the Spirit as I prayed to know what the people of Van Nuys First needed to hear. Everyone loved it apparently...I know a few people actually did listen to what I had to say. Didn't see many 'nodders' so I guess it was pretty good. We went to eat dinner with the Relief Society President and her husband and her are quite the pair! They're always fun to be around! They cooked a mean dish of german potatoes and bratwurst, coupled with a side of cantaloupes and 'sloppy corn' as the husband called it (it's actually cream style corn and his wife didn't like he called it sloppy- really funny to see how it played out). Poor Woods felt sick so we went home early and he was OUT! Out cold like that! It was a really good Sunday, spiritual, enlightening, and fun at the same time. I love Sundays.
I feel the ward's enthusiasm for the work! We are having members ask when they can come out and visit with us, and so we'll have to accomodate them. I'm not used to having members come out with me, because in Spanish work it's a high risk factor- you don't know what they're going to say even though you tell them to stick to the script. I really can see a lot of success coming soon.
Saturday was a very long day. We stopped by one of Woods' recent converts in a Spanish ward, and she was hilarious! My cheeks were tired from laughing so hard! But, she's hitting a rough patch and she knows it's not easy, but it's the right thing to do. We were there for an unusually long amount of time, only because she was still preparing the food when we got there. We also had to keep tabs on her little four year old which was quite an experience in itself. But, her testimony is very strong. We taught Susan Lar, and she keeps on going on tangents or unrelated things. Her learning curve is pretty...slow but she's learning pretty well. We're delaying the baptismal commitment until she really shows the commitment to come to church, but she knows it's true. We have to bring a Filipino fellowshipper to get her extra motivation to come. She's awesome though! She already knows that the Book of Mormon is true...and Joseph Smith is a prophet. We just have to get her to do the little things.
Our English student, Gye Choi, asked us how can we do missionary work when people are so mean to us? Instead of teaching English, we taught parts of the Restoration to her that she could understand. That was sweet! She's really grown to like us, and I think if we get her a Korean friend she'll probably want to take the lessons. She's very open, which is highly unusual for Koreans here in the Valley.
We found out on Thursday that our investigator Shenice and her boyfriend, Lamar, want to get married. That was a surprise! It was also great to have Lamar sit in and listen to our point of view on the Fall of Adam and Eve. He really liked it. He said it made sense, and that it's brand new to him. He was kind of wondering, why haven't I heard this before? It was funny because he's smart, and Shenice was a little behind the ball on it. But, they learned together. He even stayed longer than expected because Shenice asked him to wait a little longer...that was really kind of him. So, we'll be organizing a marriage soon! Again?! But I feel that they have great potential, and I really think that this will help their family become an eternal family. I'm really pumped!
June was a bit lukewarm the last time we visited him. The only thing that's really stopping Shenice and June is that they don't read. How can they know this is good if they don't read? We'll have to lay down the law the next time we visit...it's a bit frustrating but no one is as perfect as the Cardenas. They're my golden standard, because they were and are so golden to me...I miss them a lot. So we went through a lesson, trying to bring the Spirit but for some reason...it didn't come in a great amount as I had wished. I just feel now that June likes it, but we have to apply it to him. And get past the language barrier. He is very close, but I think we'll have to be patient and help him along at his learning level. It's frustrating though.
Thursday afternoon we took two of the youth out to visit with us and try to find people to teach. RJ Black, who is very close to starting his mission papers, went to teach Susan with Woods and I went with his brother RJ to find referrals. Not much luck that day, but we got to enjoy their company and they got to see how the work goes most of the time. It was fun! RJ taught really well, according to Woods. And AC was enjoying talking to people about the Gospel, from what I could see. It was loads of fun!
Wednesday we went on splits with the elders and high priests, and it went alright. Problem is they never set home teaching appointments...so we go from place to place trying to find people. But at least we do it...we even found out that a former investigator got locked up again. His poor daughter was tearing up telling us...and I was a little sad to see her in that situation. Well, you have to learn from your mistakes. It's too bad. But, life goes on!
I got to interview my district, and I did my best. The best one was when I was interviewing an elder who was having a lot of family issues back home. I felt the distinct impression for him to bear his testimony...and he did. It was an easy invitation for the Spirit to enter, and it gave me a boost as did he. I could only do so much, but the Spirit is that lightning rod for us. God is too nice sometimes.
Highlights...pretty much it. It's been so very busy. I love this ward, and I love life!
I love you all!
Love,
Spencer
The work is picking up here in Van Nuys! This week went by so fast! The only reasons why I know a week has past is a) church is on Sunday and b) p-day. It's absolutely fun! I'm loving it here in the ghetto/rich sanctuaries over here. It's a great experience!
As for things for the trip...I don't need anything in particular I think. But thanks!
It was a really fast week! I can't even remember all that happened! But we worked...for sure! Let me try to sum it up as best as I can!
Well...I don't know where to start. How about...yesterday! So yesterday both of us had to give a talk, Woods gave one on prophets and I gave one on how to gain a testimony and then how to maintain it. I really enjoyed preparing for the talk. I ended up listening to a few conference talks that Dad sent out to me, and it really was the core of my talk. From October 2004, Elder Ballard and Elder Staheli (of the Seventy) gave back to back talks on testimony, and I used quotes and elements of their talks for mine yesterday. I really felt the Spirit as I prayed to know what the people of Van Nuys First needed to hear. Everyone loved it apparently...I know a few people actually did listen to what I had to say. Didn't see many 'nodders' so I guess it was pretty good. We went to eat dinner with the Relief Society President and her husband and her are quite the pair! They're always fun to be around! They cooked a mean dish of german potatoes and bratwurst, coupled with a side of cantaloupes and 'sloppy corn' as the husband called it (it's actually cream style corn and his wife didn't like he called it sloppy- really funny to see how it played out). Poor Woods felt sick so we went home early and he was OUT! Out cold like that! It was a really good Sunday, spiritual, enlightening, and fun at the same time. I love Sundays.
I feel the ward's enthusiasm for the work! We are having members ask when they can come out and visit with us, and so we'll have to accomodate them. I'm not used to having members come out with me, because in Spanish work it's a high risk factor- you don't know what they're going to say even though you tell them to stick to the script. I really can see a lot of success coming soon.
Saturday was a very long day. We stopped by one of Woods' recent converts in a Spanish ward, and she was hilarious! My cheeks were tired from laughing so hard! But, she's hitting a rough patch and she knows it's not easy, but it's the right thing to do. We were there for an unusually long amount of time, only because she was still preparing the food when we got there. We also had to keep tabs on her little four year old which was quite an experience in itself. But, her testimony is very strong. We taught Susan Lar, and she keeps on going on tangents or unrelated things. Her learning curve is pretty...slow but she's learning pretty well. We're delaying the baptismal commitment until she really shows the commitment to come to church, but she knows it's true. We have to bring a Filipino fellowshipper to get her extra motivation to come. She's awesome though! She already knows that the Book of Mormon is true...and Joseph Smith is a prophet. We just have to get her to do the little things.
Our English student, Gye Choi, asked us how can we do missionary work when people are so mean to us? Instead of teaching English, we taught parts of the Restoration to her that she could understand. That was sweet! She's really grown to like us, and I think if we get her a Korean friend she'll probably want to take the lessons. She's very open, which is highly unusual for Koreans here in the Valley.
We found out on Thursday that our investigator Shenice and her boyfriend, Lamar, want to get married. That was a surprise! It was also great to have Lamar sit in and listen to our point of view on the Fall of Adam and Eve. He really liked it. He said it made sense, and that it's brand new to him. He was kind of wondering, why haven't I heard this before? It was funny because he's smart, and Shenice was a little behind the ball on it. But, they learned together. He even stayed longer than expected because Shenice asked him to wait a little longer...that was really kind of him. So, we'll be organizing a marriage soon! Again?! But I feel that they have great potential, and I really think that this will help their family become an eternal family. I'm really pumped!
June was a bit lukewarm the last time we visited him. The only thing that's really stopping Shenice and June is that they don't read. How can they know this is good if they don't read? We'll have to lay down the law the next time we visit...it's a bit frustrating but no one is as perfect as the Cardenas. They're my golden standard, because they were and are so golden to me...I miss them a lot. So we went through a lesson, trying to bring the Spirit but for some reason...it didn't come in a great amount as I had wished. I just feel now that June likes it, but we have to apply it to him. And get past the language barrier. He is very close, but I think we'll have to be patient and help him along at his learning level. It's frustrating though.
Thursday afternoon we took two of the youth out to visit with us and try to find people to teach. RJ Black, who is very close to starting his mission papers, went to teach Susan with Woods and I went with his brother RJ to find referrals. Not much luck that day, but we got to enjoy their company and they got to see how the work goes most of the time. It was fun! RJ taught really well, according to Woods. And AC was enjoying talking to people about the Gospel, from what I could see. It was loads of fun!
Wednesday we went on splits with the elders and high priests, and it went alright. Problem is they never set home teaching appointments...so we go from place to place trying to find people. But at least we do it...we even found out that a former investigator got locked up again. His poor daughter was tearing up telling us...and I was a little sad to see her in that situation. Well, you have to learn from your mistakes. It's too bad. But, life goes on!
I got to interview my district, and I did my best. The best one was when I was interviewing an elder who was having a lot of family issues back home. I felt the distinct impression for him to bear his testimony...and he did. It was an easy invitation for the Spirit to enter, and it gave me a boost as did he. I could only do so much, but the Spirit is that lightning rod for us. God is too nice sometimes.
Highlights...pretty much it. It's been so very busy. I love this ward, and I love life!
I love you all!
Love,
Spencer
Monday, September 8, 2008
August 4, 2008
Dear Mom,
I didn't hear about that Uncle David lost his job...I just assumed due to all that you've written. But I didn't know he got laid off from BD, I thought he quit or something. But Northrop Gruman? That's a good job! What is he going to be doing as a defense contractor? What are the requirements to be a contractor? Eventually someone loses a job, it just depends who and when. This economic situation is making it difficult for my investigators and also a lot of potential investigators because they have to work almost double and so we don't see them as much. But, life goes on.
About that I don't have much time to write anyone anymore, let alone write in my journal. I'm finally getting around to writing Chase and Teri back (my BYU buddies) so I really feel bad...Kristy's written me twice since I wrote her. I just can't find much time as DL, it's about getting numbers every Sunday night, giving my district a call every night to see how it's going, and hardly any down time. At least I'm busy, but I'll make the extra effort to write Kristy back. I'm glad the mission is helping her out, but it does get annoying when sister missionaries go 'anal' or extreme on us. One of them called out President Goodrich during zone conference so I have mixed feelings about sister missionaries. I'm happy to hear she's doing well.
As for the cell phone, I'll be calling once in a while, not too much to eat up minutes. But I'll do the majority of my calls after 9 pm West Coast time. But, it's really liberating to be mobile, I love it!
By the way, I love my comp Elder Woods. A down-to-earth Southern boy, and he keeps me going. I truly know God knows when to give us companions to help us. And boy did I need him! I really hope we stay together for six more weeks! Because of him, this transfer has FLOWN by...does time fly!
This week was very busy. So busy I don't even know if I have enough time to describe it to you. But I'll do my best.
So as DL, we have to go on exchanges with our district members. I have 3 other companionships, so that makes 3 exchanges plus exchanges with the ZL's. Super busy! Our p-day was nice...I liked it even though we played Risk for a few hours (it was INTENSE!). Tuesday, zone conference. We had great trainings and I learned a lot. I'm excited to apply what I learned to Van Nuys 1st. We felt an earthquake because one hit somewhere south of us and came all the way up to us in Northridge. I was talking to an elder during the break and all of a sudden we both froze. We were moving up and down, so he asked me, 'are you jumping?' I said no, then we turned and saw the chalkboard in the middle of the gym was going up and down. 'A California welcome' said Elder Boyce, my ZL and fellow East Coaster. Wow, that was weird. We ate dinner with a Filipino member in her place, and her entire apartment complex is full of Filipinos. A good place to tract...
Wednesday was exchanges and that was interesting. I was paired with Elder Satuala, who is an interesting person. He's Tongan, but he's a 'bump on the log'- he's pretty nonchalant about everything. Good kid though. We had to get some things done to the car, so we got the oil changed and got an estimate for what Erickson did- he scraped up the side of the car really bad. Let's just say the paint job is going to cost under $2K plus replacement of some things. But, I gave a blessing in Spanish because the Arleta elders had zone conference that day. That was awesome. I felt bad because I had a gut feeling while I gave the blessing that this woman was going to die. I couldn't bear to say it to her, I just mentioned that she must strengthen her faith and accept God's will. Rather vague, but I couldn't do it. It scared me, honestly. I hope God will forgive me for neglecting to warn her, but I couldn't bear to do it. Did I do something wrong? I was scared! I hope it'll turn out alright. We didn't have much to do because it was mid-day, so we visited people and saw how they were. A super spiritual appointment with June. We watched the Restoration DVD in Tagalog so he could understand it, and he loved it. He felt the Spirit. He said he felt goosebumps when he saw the First Vision...and I know he knew it was true. He'll be our soonest baptism I believe. That was super spiritual...it set the tone of the rest of the evening! I still get goosebumps when I see the First Vision...no matter what I find myself tearing up at that point. This Gospel is true! We visited Satuala's recent convert, and the poor elder couldn't understand what he was saying to him (he was a convert in the Spanish ward and this elder's Spanish is super rusty). We felt his great Spirit, he's excited to be a member. We ended up going on splits with one of the high priests, and we had a good time visiting both active and less active members. Filipinos love to cook for guests, and we ate there the night before! We rushed over to the other apartment and switched again for a second consecutive exchange...my third day on bike in almost fourteen months...an interesting experience.
Thursday! Exchanges again! On bike! We did area book work, plotting member's homes on the maps in the area book, and it was tedious. I didn't like it. I started to fall asleep doing it. So we took a break and went back at it. Then, we left to go to our appointments. We get a member's house, the mom's active and the rest aren't, and there's this fat drunk Latino standing outside yelling. I thought, oh man this is the husband? I didn't know there is no man in the house, Sister Jimenez is single. So Elder Tayler talks to him, asks for his wallet and looks through to see what's up. The man was blabbing, 'I'm CIA and they don't know it. They just think I'm just a cop...but I'm CIA' while drinking a Budweiser. He had several licenses to carry four kinds of firearms on him as well as a baton. Makes you think, this guy is working to protect us? Tayler talked to him, calmed him down and he walked away cursing the FBI for all to hear and see. He's been harrassing the Jimenez's for some time, he wants to date Sister Jimenez- she said no so he's angry. And drunk. Poor family. We had a great time there though. I was sweating up a storm because I just raced there on bike for the first time in about four months. We ended up reading Nephi's description of the Tree of Life, and we all learned. That was cool. I really enjoyed their company. Off again on bike! We raced to a referral, whose daughter tried to chew us out saying that her dad didn't know he ordered a Bible from the Mormons and he'll never be a Mormon, etc. We ended the conversation (or one-sided mean contest) and went around to contact people. I nearly hit people biking so slow, almost losing my balance and I just gave up and went super slow. We contacted some really receptive people, including a Jewish family. I passed the mom and said hi, then the Spirit said TALK TO HER in a whispering but strong feeling. So we did and had a good conversation. Even talked to a black lady who lived in Ethiopia for a bit and we got along well. Poor Elder Tayler and I had to go to the bathroom so we zipped from a less active's house that didn't answer the door (it looked like they were moving) to Ralph's. We realized that we had to be at a less active's house in less than fifteen minutes after we came back out. Zoom! That was crazy being on bike and going fast! I swear I could've died several times zooming into intersections as the walk icons were fading. Phew! We were almost there, Tayler said we were almost there, and I had the impression to contact a Latina selling roses on the corner, so I did. I found out she had been contacted before, like Tayler said, but she didn't know that we gave her a card to receive a FREE video of Jesus Christ. She thought she had to pay for it. That was good. This less active, Sister Frahner, has two super active kids, and it was nuts! Wow! All over the place, screaming, etc. But, we had a good spaghetti dinner, and a good spiritual thought in which we committed her to continue to read and study the scriptures. She's loving it! She just came back into activity, and she loves it! She was cool! What was not cool was riding home. I was full, I was tired from being on bike, and I was at the end of my rope. So Tayler smoked me going back home. A good day, and I loved being on bike!
That was crux of my week. Friday was district meeting, and two of our elders didn't come because one of them decided to be dramatic and to look depressed and cut himself with a glass chessboard so he went to the ER to get stitches. The ZL's told me that so I was a bit angry, but as time has gone on...I understand what happened more. He just wants to find a reason to get moved somewhere else. A good district meeting, because Elder Cotter made us do a role-play- teach someone in 2 minutes and do certain things such as ask a direct question, commit to do something, introduce a scripture. Kept me on my toes! Had a good time with Gye, our English student, with Mike, who wants to be baptized but we'll wait a bit so he can move out, and with our members the Picketts. The wife's dad cooked a mean steak, medium rare...absolutely delicious! He found it offensive if one put steak sauce on it so I didn't, and it was quite tasty! I love that family so much, they're so gregarious and they have a great spirit! My Friday went great!
My Saturday was nuts. I conducted my first baptismal interview, and I really enjoyed it. The girl, Stephanie, was ready. She did say she didn't get an answer if Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today, but she knows everything else is true. She already had received answers to everything else so I knew she'd get a response soon. How sweet is that? I got to sign a baptismal white! YAY! I was super nervous but it went well. Then we were out and about finding less actives and verifying addresses with a member, Kelby Thwaits, who is a stage actor in Glendale. He's so cool! And his Spanish is still sharp! Ten years he was in Monterrey on a mission- he's kept it up! It was a great day, worked hard, ate with the first counselor Eric Miele and we got along great. The ward loves us, and I know we'll have miracles here. I can feel it. I just have to be patient and more obedient. We had a great time with Bruce Sayler, a member who is prepping to go to the temple soon. I read a scripture chain of Isaiah's prophecies of Christ, and Woods finished off with Doctrine and Covenants. Thing is, we didn't plan it, but it all testified of Christ's Atonement. That was pretty nifty.
Yesterday was interesting, but ended well. So we had a discussion in elder's quorum on gay marriage, and one member was being a dope and was complaining of why aren't we doing more than being against gay marriage, to which one member, the always stalwart Bro. Ballard, reproved him sharply with the scriptures. That was cool. A bad, contentious spirit was with us, because I was offended a member could complain about the inactivity of the Church on moral issues, so we said a prayer before we got out of the car to contact. It really helps, prayer does. We had a great dinner with some members, the Duttons, and really felt the Spirit there. They're great! They have a strong testimony of the Gospel, they've seen God's hand take Bro. Dutton and literally give him back to them. Wow! We went around to find less actives in my old stomping grounds of Arleta, no one was home so I took the liberty of visiting less actives from the Arleta ward, and I felt at home. The Castillo's were home, at least the mother, and I was happy to see her again. The Jarquin's, it was good to see them again. We visited some more people, and had to head home. It was feel good day, and I absolutely love the work!
God knows us, and he loves us. I wanted to bear my testimony during the meeting yesterday, but I might as well share it with you. I know that Christ suffered for us, he died for our sins. He was wounded for our transgressions, a man of sorrows, we hid our face from him as it were. He descended below all, are we greater than Him? I know he is my Savior, my Elder Brother, my everloving Friend.
I'm happy to hear from you, and I hope all is well in Zion!
Love,
Spencer
I didn't hear about that Uncle David lost his job...I just assumed due to all that you've written. But I didn't know he got laid off from BD, I thought he quit or something. But Northrop Gruman? That's a good job! What is he going to be doing as a defense contractor? What are the requirements to be a contractor? Eventually someone loses a job, it just depends who and when. This economic situation is making it difficult for my investigators and also a lot of potential investigators because they have to work almost double and so we don't see them as much. But, life goes on.
About that I don't have much time to write anyone anymore, let alone write in my journal. I'm finally getting around to writing Chase and Teri back (my BYU buddies) so I really feel bad...Kristy's written me twice since I wrote her. I just can't find much time as DL, it's about getting numbers every Sunday night, giving my district a call every night to see how it's going, and hardly any down time. At least I'm busy, but I'll make the extra effort to write Kristy back. I'm glad the mission is helping her out, but it does get annoying when sister missionaries go 'anal' or extreme on us. One of them called out President Goodrich during zone conference so I have mixed feelings about sister missionaries. I'm happy to hear she's doing well.
As for the cell phone, I'll be calling once in a while, not too much to eat up minutes. But I'll do the majority of my calls after 9 pm West Coast time. But, it's really liberating to be mobile, I love it!
By the way, I love my comp Elder Woods. A down-to-earth Southern boy, and he keeps me going. I truly know God knows when to give us companions to help us. And boy did I need him! I really hope we stay together for six more weeks! Because of him, this transfer has FLOWN by...does time fly!
This week was very busy. So busy I don't even know if I have enough time to describe it to you. But I'll do my best.
So as DL, we have to go on exchanges with our district members. I have 3 other companionships, so that makes 3 exchanges plus exchanges with the ZL's. Super busy! Our p-day was nice...I liked it even though we played Risk for a few hours (it was INTENSE!). Tuesday, zone conference. We had great trainings and I learned a lot. I'm excited to apply what I learned to Van Nuys 1st. We felt an earthquake because one hit somewhere south of us and came all the way up to us in Northridge. I was talking to an elder during the break and all of a sudden we both froze. We were moving up and down, so he asked me, 'are you jumping?' I said no, then we turned and saw the chalkboard in the middle of the gym was going up and down. 'A California welcome' said Elder Boyce, my ZL and fellow East Coaster. Wow, that was weird. We ate dinner with a Filipino member in her place, and her entire apartment complex is full of Filipinos. A good place to tract...
Wednesday was exchanges and that was interesting. I was paired with Elder Satuala, who is an interesting person. He's Tongan, but he's a 'bump on the log'- he's pretty nonchalant about everything. Good kid though. We had to get some things done to the car, so we got the oil changed and got an estimate for what Erickson did- he scraped up the side of the car really bad. Let's just say the paint job is going to cost under $2K plus replacement of some things. But, I gave a blessing in Spanish because the Arleta elders had zone conference that day. That was awesome. I felt bad because I had a gut feeling while I gave the blessing that this woman was going to die. I couldn't bear to say it to her, I just mentioned that she must strengthen her faith and accept God's will. Rather vague, but I couldn't do it. It scared me, honestly. I hope God will forgive me for neglecting to warn her, but I couldn't bear to do it. Did I do something wrong? I was scared! I hope it'll turn out alright. We didn't have much to do because it was mid-day, so we visited people and saw how they were. A super spiritual appointment with June. We watched the Restoration DVD in Tagalog so he could understand it, and he loved it. He felt the Spirit. He said he felt goosebumps when he saw the First Vision...and I know he knew it was true. He'll be our soonest baptism I believe. That was super spiritual...it set the tone of the rest of the evening! I still get goosebumps when I see the First Vision...no matter what I find myself tearing up at that point. This Gospel is true! We visited Satuala's recent convert, and the poor elder couldn't understand what he was saying to him (he was a convert in the Spanish ward and this elder's Spanish is super rusty). We felt his great Spirit, he's excited to be a member. We ended up going on splits with one of the high priests, and we had a good time visiting both active and less active members. Filipinos love to cook for guests, and we ate there the night before! We rushed over to the other apartment and switched again for a second consecutive exchange...my third day on bike in almost fourteen months...an interesting experience.
Thursday! Exchanges again! On bike! We did area book work, plotting member's homes on the maps in the area book, and it was tedious. I didn't like it. I started to fall asleep doing it. So we took a break and went back at it. Then, we left to go to our appointments. We get a member's house, the mom's active and the rest aren't, and there's this fat drunk Latino standing outside yelling. I thought, oh man this is the husband? I didn't know there is no man in the house, Sister Jimenez is single. So Elder Tayler talks to him, asks for his wallet and looks through to see what's up. The man was blabbing, 'I'm CIA and they don't know it. They just think I'm just a cop...but I'm CIA' while drinking a Budweiser. He had several licenses to carry four kinds of firearms on him as well as a baton. Makes you think, this guy is working to protect us? Tayler talked to him, calmed him down and he walked away cursing the FBI for all to hear and see. He's been harrassing the Jimenez's for some time, he wants to date Sister Jimenez- she said no so he's angry. And drunk. Poor family. We had a great time there though. I was sweating up a storm because I just raced there on bike for the first time in about four months. We ended up reading Nephi's description of the Tree of Life, and we all learned. That was cool. I really enjoyed their company. Off again on bike! We raced to a referral, whose daughter tried to chew us out saying that her dad didn't know he ordered a Bible from the Mormons and he'll never be a Mormon, etc. We ended the conversation (or one-sided mean contest) and went around to contact people. I nearly hit people biking so slow, almost losing my balance and I just gave up and went super slow. We contacted some really receptive people, including a Jewish family. I passed the mom and said hi, then the Spirit said TALK TO HER in a whispering but strong feeling. So we did and had a good conversation. Even talked to a black lady who lived in Ethiopia for a bit and we got along well. Poor Elder Tayler and I had to go to the bathroom so we zipped from a less active's house that didn't answer the door (it looked like they were moving) to Ralph's. We realized that we had to be at a less active's house in less than fifteen minutes after we came back out. Zoom! That was crazy being on bike and going fast! I swear I could've died several times zooming into intersections as the walk icons were fading. Phew! We were almost there, Tayler said we were almost there, and I had the impression to contact a Latina selling roses on the corner, so I did. I found out she had been contacted before, like Tayler said, but she didn't know that we gave her a card to receive a FREE video of Jesus Christ. She thought she had to pay for it. That was good. This less active, Sister Frahner, has two super active kids, and it was nuts! Wow! All over the place, screaming, etc. But, we had a good spaghetti dinner, and a good spiritual thought in which we committed her to continue to read and study the scriptures. She's loving it! She just came back into activity, and she loves it! She was cool! What was not cool was riding home. I was full, I was tired from being on bike, and I was at the end of my rope. So Tayler smoked me going back home. A good day, and I loved being on bike!
That was crux of my week. Friday was district meeting, and two of our elders didn't come because one of them decided to be dramatic and to look depressed and cut himself with a glass chessboard so he went to the ER to get stitches. The ZL's told me that so I was a bit angry, but as time has gone on...I understand what happened more. He just wants to find a reason to get moved somewhere else. A good district meeting, because Elder Cotter made us do a role-play- teach someone in 2 minutes and do certain things such as ask a direct question, commit to do something, introduce a scripture. Kept me on my toes! Had a good time with Gye, our English student, with Mike, who wants to be baptized but we'll wait a bit so he can move out, and with our members the Picketts. The wife's dad cooked a mean steak, medium rare...absolutely delicious! He found it offensive if one put steak sauce on it so I didn't, and it was quite tasty! I love that family so much, they're so gregarious and they have a great spirit! My Friday went great!
My Saturday was nuts. I conducted my first baptismal interview, and I really enjoyed it. The girl, Stephanie, was ready. She did say she didn't get an answer if Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today, but she knows everything else is true. She already had received answers to everything else so I knew she'd get a response soon. How sweet is that? I got to sign a baptismal white! YAY! I was super nervous but it went well. Then we were out and about finding less actives and verifying addresses with a member, Kelby Thwaits, who is a stage actor in Glendale. He's so cool! And his Spanish is still sharp! Ten years he was in Monterrey on a mission- he's kept it up! It was a great day, worked hard, ate with the first counselor Eric Miele and we got along great. The ward loves us, and I know we'll have miracles here. I can feel it. I just have to be patient and more obedient. We had a great time with Bruce Sayler, a member who is prepping to go to the temple soon. I read a scripture chain of Isaiah's prophecies of Christ, and Woods finished off with Doctrine and Covenants. Thing is, we didn't plan it, but it all testified of Christ's Atonement. That was pretty nifty.
Yesterday was interesting, but ended well. So we had a discussion in elder's quorum on gay marriage, and one member was being a dope and was complaining of why aren't we doing more than being against gay marriage, to which one member, the always stalwart Bro. Ballard, reproved him sharply with the scriptures. That was cool. A bad, contentious spirit was with us, because I was offended a member could complain about the inactivity of the Church on moral issues, so we said a prayer before we got out of the car to contact. It really helps, prayer does. We had a great dinner with some members, the Duttons, and really felt the Spirit there. They're great! They have a strong testimony of the Gospel, they've seen God's hand take Bro. Dutton and literally give him back to them. Wow! We went around to find less actives in my old stomping grounds of Arleta, no one was home so I took the liberty of visiting less actives from the Arleta ward, and I felt at home. The Castillo's were home, at least the mother, and I was happy to see her again. The Jarquin's, it was good to see them again. We visited some more people, and had to head home. It was feel good day, and I absolutely love the work!
God knows us, and he loves us. I wanted to bear my testimony during the meeting yesterday, but I might as well share it with you. I know that Christ suffered for us, he died for our sins. He was wounded for our transgressions, a man of sorrows, we hid our face from him as it were. He descended below all, are we greater than Him? I know he is my Savior, my Elder Brother, my everloving Friend.
I'm happy to hear from you, and I hope all is well in Zion!
Love,
Spencer
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