Dear Mom,
I'm going to send Grandma's card today, I was thinking of sending it this week because I didn't want to send it too early. By the way, transfers are coming this way this coming weekend so I'll know either Friday night for leadership calls or Saturday morning as usual. So I'm still in Northridge.
Right now I'm having mixed emotions. This past week we had some issues meeting with investigators, and as a result I felt a bit stressed. How can I be an example to the district, show Pres. Goodrich I'm doing my best, show the Lord I want to work here, and double convert baptisms? The first half of the week went great and then slowed down, then picked up again. Just up and down like a roller coaster.
Monday we ended up ending out p-day early to visit a media referral that needs help with overcoming alcohol. She has tried before and nothing has worked. She goes sober for a week at a time then she goes back to drinking. So Woods went over the whole addiction recovery program with her, and then we talked about faith and the Atonement of Christ. It led to the Spirit being able to enter her apartment...and then we put Finding Faith in Christ in...wow. I think, every time I watch it, of how much I don't understand about the Atonement. Wow, I really don't get it at all. I take it for granted. It was a great experience, then we went to play basketball with the Blacks, a member family. We played the game 'around the world', Woods was first, AC got second, I got third, and Bro. Black got last. We ate some sweet hamburgers at their house then went home to shower and change (yet again). We went out to contact people, and ended up teaching our less active Betsy Miller at home. She called us to cancel, but we didn't get the message until we were at her door. She really likes us coming over, and she's willing to stick to her guns and continue to go to church. Too bad her ride was out of town and didn't tell us, she didn't make it to church. A sweet start to the week!
Tuesday was alright. We dropped our baptismal date because he was smoking weed, oh well he didn't want to change after all. Our member then ripped into us on how we need to be bolder, which offended me a little because he was never a missionary and he came down on me pretty hard. I know I need to be humble, but he didn't understand that even if we were bold to Tim, Tim wouldn't have listened. A bit frustrating to me, but oh well! It was a good day though. Got rid of a flake.
Wednesday was alright...we had our pre-training meeting as usual and it went very well. I had never thought of asking several kinds of questions that provoke thoughts and good answers. I learned a lot. We met a Baptist referral and we're probably going to drop him. He didn't accept our point of view on the Trinity. We used scripture after scripture, but he rebuffed us with random scriptures without explaining the background or context. Typical Baptist. Wasn't a bash, but was very close. We testified, closed with a prayer, and left. His friend, Howard, got it though. I explained it this way. So if we say we're on our Father's errand, are we actually the Father or one of his sons? Howard's like yeah I get it. George...darn Baptist. Bill Cox, a long time investigator, finally realized his baptism meant nothing. Finally! It took him this long to realize what we preach! Old man...but he's still open to us coming back! Sweet apostasy lesson! Woods did mention to me he was amazed at how many scriptures I shared on the gift of the Holy Ghost. I learned a lot, because I had to deal with 7th Day Adventists...they can't argue against that! Book of Acts! Prove me wrong!
Thursday was long. Weekly planning, then we had some Preach My Gospel presentations and...can't remember much more. It was good day though!
Friday went pretty well. I loved the training for district meeting. Thought provoking questions. Our role plays went so well. I learned a lot from them. How to begin a lesson better, what kinds of questions to ask...I loved it! I felt uplifted, as our zone goal is to be spiritually uplifted at district meeting. If one doesn't walk out of there uplifted, one isn't prepared to learn. I was so pumped to go preach the word! We got to meet with Bonney, an on-and-off investigator, and she really wants to learn more about the Gospel to help her family. Single mom, working, going to school, and her daughter (who is the voice of a Backyardigan) is being a rebel. She really wants to learn more, and that really touched me. After dealing with so many flakes, this was a welcome relief. She said she'll come to church, and I believe her (she did too!). Mike was doing pretty well too, he's so pumped to spread the Gospel at work and he's loving the scriptures. He even showed us a Doctrine and Covenants scripture talking about overcoming the world. I was stunned in amazement. He's moving along at his pace, he's waiting for more money to come in so he could move out, be baptized, and support this less active girlfriend of his from far away. Good intentions, good man. We had a great coordination meeting and got a lot done there. Voila! Our day!
Saturday was the best day ever! Well, it was a little slow, but we got a lot of work done. Half of our appointments fell through, but we persevered and we had a spiritual lesson with Raul Espinoza, with his active member parents, and Raul's girlfriend Lesley. They're so awesome! We love them, and they love us! We go over the Plan of Salvation, and we planned to commit Lesley to baptism. I was a bit uneasy about it, but I knew God willed it so we went ahead with it. Woods said, 'what do you know about baptism?' She admitted she knew it was necessary, but a bit fuzzy on the details. He explained it a little, then boldly said, 'Lesley, will you be baptized?' She quickly said 'Yes', with a big smile on her face. I knew the Spirit was invited as she said yes. We all promised blessings of baptism, and delved into the Atonement, which makes it all possible to return to God. I shared Luke 22:42-44, and every time I nearly (or do) shed a tear, knowing Christ paid for my many sins. One by one, we bore testimony of the Atonement. Heartfelt, honest, and sincere witnesses of Christ's supreme sacrifice. I felt the Spirit so strong I felt tears (man, I'm a crier), and had to suppress them a little. It filled the room...just one of those really great spiritual moments you know? I'm filled with awe knowing God blessed us with the Spirit to encourage Lesley to go forth with this. We walked out of there, and Woods turns to me and says, 'I wouldn't want to change a single thing from that lesson!' I completely agreed...we were truly blessed that cold, Saturday evening. One more baptismal date!
Sunday was icing on the cake! So I fasted so I could be more spiritually in tune to do the work and to find new investigators, and we got so many blessings. Our other less actives, the Togiola family, all came to church! They realized they needed to come to church and they called us to get them all a ride. Woods did a great job with that. Lesley and Raul came to church, and wow! It was so awesome! The talks were spiritually uplifting, one by the great Sis. Teresa Pickett about the importance of raising children to the Lord, and BJ Strand, an RM who spoke about Jesus's parables. I learned a lot, and I loved being edified by His word. I really took sacrament meeting for granted back home. Bro. Strand made it very personal. How many of us would go and help the Samaritan? It was a very dangerous road. It's unsafe. Martin Luther King, Jr., who Bro. Strand quoted, said he could understand why the Levite and the priest passed by the injured man. But, he said, we must change from a 'what'll happen to me?' attitude, to a 'how can I help others?' attitude. It just hit me. I have to stop having self-pity and just step it up this last week of the transfer! Yes sir! The funny thing about it was that the two youngest Luna girls, Rachel and Stephanie, came and sat with us during sacrament. Woods was, needless to say, a little distracted by their constant petitions for attention. We went home to take a break, and I got to talk to my recent convert Alberto Cardenas. All is well up there, except it rained recently. Apparently this Californian weather is like Mexico, no wonder Mexicans come over here in droves! We had nice chat. He's awesome! I'll have to push the bishopric or elders up there to give him a calling. We went out to contact people, and it was hard because it was A) dark at about 5 o'clock p.m. and B) it was windy and my eyes were drying up, thus it was hard to wear contacts. But, we talked and were rejected by everyone. Such is the work. We had a great dinner with the Playsteads, and we had a great time with the Lunas. We can't stop joking around with members...they're so funny in their own ways. I love both of their families! With the Lunas we talked about temples, reviewed just a little bit in preparation for the temple prep classes they're going to take soon. I'm so excited for them! Then, we spoke of patience. It was a great evening discussion on patience. Their example, Bro. Luna's dad, patriarch Luna. I've met him before, and he's very patient and Christ-like. Their goal is to make their home almost as welcome as Bro. Luna's childhood home. Full of love and care. It was great to feel that soft, sweet Spirit as we spoke of patience. As usual, they fed us some dessert, a delicious pumpkin pie/pecan pie. Just a great end to an up and down week!
It was a great week! A good start, a medium middle, and a great finish! We got to find some less actives, contact them, get more information for the ward, as well as our investigators. Just a great week. We reached our goal of twenty lessons in a week...the Lord is preparing this area for something, I just don't know what.
More and more I am grateful for you all and what you have done for me. Rooting and cheering me on while I'm out here, updating the important family issues, and most of all, showing your love. Electronically. Haha. But, I know this Church is true. There is no doubt in my frame that the Church has been restored (double negatives, confusing!). Families are forever together. We have that power to seal for the eternities. I wish more people would understand that.
As I studied yesterday morning, I looked over the temple prep pamphlet that I was supposed to read over before I entered the temple (I barely glanced at it- oops!). I felt the Spirit touch my heart and tell me all that is in there is true. I admit I cried reading D&C 110, when Christ accepted the Kirtland temple as His Holy House. Why is God so merciful to grant us so many temples? As the pamphlet said, each cornerstone that is laid for a temple weakens Satan's power on earth. I am truly grateful for temples and their purpose to bring us all back to Him. Without the temple, no priesthood holder can achieve the fulness of the priesthood. That hit me hard. Wow, I took it for granted.
All is well! All is well! Though hard to you, this journey may appear, great shall be, as your day!
May God keep you all safe!
Love,
Spencer
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
November 3, 2008
Dear Mom,
This week has been incredible! Well, last week was exhausting, but this week went pretty well. I do admit I'm getting a bit testy with Elder Woods, but that's only because we've been together for three transfers and I feel I need a change soon. Don't know what kind of change, but I'll need one soon enough. The work is still progressing!
I never thought I'd see the house glowing orange! Thanks for the card, I really appreciated it! I'll send Grandma a birthday card soon enough...in a week. I bought the card. I can't remember where I put it though. I'm just a mess right now.
HAHA! Dad got hit by you? Oh boy...just make sure you jog his memory right- oh you remember, you got in my way! Hope he's doing well. As for Rod, I really hope he'll do alright...that's the last thing that poor guy needs. Eesh...I'll keep him in my prayers as well as Prop 8 and McCain. Our stake had our bishops give the closing prayers to the sacrament meetings for Prop 8. Did you all do that too? I know it's California, but still. It'll affect everyone! I hope for the best.
Now onto the week!
Monday was a good p-day. Very relaxing (notice a recurring theme? I'm super tired nowadays) and our district-mates Sara and his greenie Frei played Risk 2210 with us. Pretty intense game, and much better than the original. One time Woods was making fun of Yu Gi Oh and stuff by quoting it and what not. It was funny when he attacked Frei and Frei responed with a card, slamming it down and saying, 'LAND DEATH TRAP!' and thus cutting Wood's invasion force by half. Absolutely hilarious and dorky at the same time. Loved it. Our week went fast! Tuesday I went with the zone leaders and up to Northridge with Elder Boyce. He's the man. We had some great appointments and we got along great. He's definitely AP material. I feel empowered when I teach with him. I'm still struggling to find how to motivate my district members, and he just knows how to motivate, period. It's not as easy as I had thought. I thought people could be motivated like me to do things. I just don't get it. So we had some really great visits. One less active and part-member family basically told us they wanted to go back to church, and the part member sister wanted to take the lessons to be baptized. We didn't even really invite the Spirit, they invited it in long before we came into the house. Wow! And we got great Thai food for dinner. At a Tongan house...the less active sister said her non-member sister cheated on dinner cuz she didn't cook. Whatever, it was good curry chicken and barbeque pork. Wednesday was a bit slow. We had a great training on how to train our districts, had some pizza for lunch and went out to work! Problem was, I was a bit tired and I felt just a tad sick from the greasy pizza...so I was slow in getting out. As a result, we didn't have a blessed afternoon as much as I had hoped. My fault. But, we contacted some really cool guys and they're were so pumped to receive the lessons! I was excited! We went on splits for home teaching and got a little miffed at our high priest because he expects us to do it all. Fat chance! But, our elder guy was all gung-ho about it all and I just wish every week we could go with him. His list would be done in a jiffy! It was sweet! Thursday was pretty good. The highlight was our media referral Tim McWilliams! The absolute highlight! We planned, going in, on extending a baptismal date for the 30th of November. We got a member to come along, good old Bruce Sayler. I love that guy. Goofy old guy. So we go in, Tim is quite a talker, only because it's more of a therapy for him. He's alone, never been married, has two cats, is quite the pack rat, but a great man. We talked a little, had to interrupt him a bit, but he understood us that we were trying to teach him. We asked him to be baptized, and he cried. He felt he was out of the group. He felt very included and honored to be baptized. So we'll go over the details with him later. He felt that love of the Gospel...I love those recognizing moments in teaching situations. Then the Lunas! Fun times, and we taught them about the Atonement, in preparation for a more elaborate lesson of the Atonement and faith. Friday was Halloween! Got to see the Lunas in their Halloween outfits! Hilarious! They're like family to us! Saturday was a bit dreary due to the weather, it seems to depress me a bit. Reminds me of home. Sunday was great, I love fasting. I receive great strength from it. The best part was our lesson with the Lunas. We get there, pray, follow up on their reading. We start off where we left off...and we spoke of faith. Shared Peter's story when he walked on water. They liked it. We watched Finding Faith in Christ. Great movie. We prayed to leave and bless our dessert, and I felt the Spirit to move me as did Cindy's request to say a few things, mostly to bless their daughter to find her way home...Junior was crying and we all really felt that love and bond in that home at that moment. How beautiful is the Spirit! It is true, isn't it? He exists, doesn't he?
Well, out of time. I love you all. Stay true, stay faithful, God is here to help us. His church is true. We do have prophets here today. I love my Savior and His Atoning sacrifice for me, a sinner.
Love,
Spencer
This week has been incredible! Well, last week was exhausting, but this week went pretty well. I do admit I'm getting a bit testy with Elder Woods, but that's only because we've been together for three transfers and I feel I need a change soon. Don't know what kind of change, but I'll need one soon enough. The work is still progressing!
I never thought I'd see the house glowing orange! Thanks for the card, I really appreciated it! I'll send Grandma a birthday card soon enough...in a week. I bought the card. I can't remember where I put it though. I'm just a mess right now.
HAHA! Dad got hit by you? Oh boy...just make sure you jog his memory right- oh you remember, you got in my way! Hope he's doing well. As for Rod, I really hope he'll do alright...that's the last thing that poor guy needs. Eesh...I'll keep him in my prayers as well as Prop 8 and McCain. Our stake had our bishops give the closing prayers to the sacrament meetings for Prop 8. Did you all do that too? I know it's California, but still. It'll affect everyone! I hope for the best.
Now onto the week!
Monday was a good p-day. Very relaxing (notice a recurring theme? I'm super tired nowadays) and our district-mates Sara and his greenie Frei played Risk 2210 with us. Pretty intense game, and much better than the original. One time Woods was making fun of Yu Gi Oh and stuff by quoting it and what not. It was funny when he attacked Frei and Frei responed with a card, slamming it down and saying, 'LAND DEATH TRAP!' and thus cutting Wood's invasion force by half. Absolutely hilarious and dorky at the same time. Loved it. Our week went fast! Tuesday I went with the zone leaders and up to Northridge with Elder Boyce. He's the man. We had some great appointments and we got along great. He's definitely AP material. I feel empowered when I teach with him. I'm still struggling to find how to motivate my district members, and he just knows how to motivate, period. It's not as easy as I had thought. I thought people could be motivated like me to do things. I just don't get it. So we had some really great visits. One less active and part-member family basically told us they wanted to go back to church, and the part member sister wanted to take the lessons to be baptized. We didn't even really invite the Spirit, they invited it in long before we came into the house. Wow! And we got great Thai food for dinner. At a Tongan house...the less active sister said her non-member sister cheated on dinner cuz she didn't cook. Whatever, it was good curry chicken and barbeque pork. Wednesday was a bit slow. We had a great training on how to train our districts, had some pizza for lunch and went out to work! Problem was, I was a bit tired and I felt just a tad sick from the greasy pizza...so I was slow in getting out. As a result, we didn't have a blessed afternoon as much as I had hoped. My fault. But, we contacted some really cool guys and they're were so pumped to receive the lessons! I was excited! We went on splits for home teaching and got a little miffed at our high priest because he expects us to do it all. Fat chance! But, our elder guy was all gung-ho about it all and I just wish every week we could go with him. His list would be done in a jiffy! It was sweet! Thursday was pretty good. The highlight was our media referral Tim McWilliams! The absolute highlight! We planned, going in, on extending a baptismal date for the 30th of November. We got a member to come along, good old Bruce Sayler. I love that guy. Goofy old guy. So we go in, Tim is quite a talker, only because it's more of a therapy for him. He's alone, never been married, has two cats, is quite the pack rat, but a great man. We talked a little, had to interrupt him a bit, but he understood us that we were trying to teach him. We asked him to be baptized, and he cried. He felt he was out of the group. He felt very included and honored to be baptized. So we'll go over the details with him later. He felt that love of the Gospel...I love those recognizing moments in teaching situations. Then the Lunas! Fun times, and we taught them about the Atonement, in preparation for a more elaborate lesson of the Atonement and faith. Friday was Halloween! Got to see the Lunas in their Halloween outfits! Hilarious! They're like family to us! Saturday was a bit dreary due to the weather, it seems to depress me a bit. Reminds me of home. Sunday was great, I love fasting. I receive great strength from it. The best part was our lesson with the Lunas. We get there, pray, follow up on their reading. We start off where we left off...and we spoke of faith. Shared Peter's story when he walked on water. They liked it. We watched Finding Faith in Christ. Great movie. We prayed to leave and bless our dessert, and I felt the Spirit to move me as did Cindy's request to say a few things, mostly to bless their daughter to find her way home...Junior was crying and we all really felt that love and bond in that home at that moment. How beautiful is the Spirit! It is true, isn't it? He exists, doesn't he?
Well, out of time. I love you all. Stay true, stay faithful, God is here to help us. His church is true. We do have prophets here today. I love my Savior and His Atoning sacrifice for me, a sinner.
Love,
Spencer
Thursday, March 5, 2009
October 27, 2008
Dear Mom,
I'm still holed up here in Northridge...and your package was incredibly huge! I've been so busy I haven't been able to really 'dive' into it yet. Thanks...but I really didn't need that much stuff!
I'm exhausted. We pumped out lessons like champs this past week! Twenty-five in total...and I believe that just showed how dedicated we are. I'm really proud of ourselves in working that hard. It was hard to get our 10 random people contacts in some days because we were flying between areas! It's one of my best weeks numbers-wise ever...and we didn't really have any slow days so far. Busy! Work, work, work!
So last p-day we washed the car...that was about all we did last p-day. I'm so tired...I really hunger for a good nap these days. I might have the time to do so today. I hope. Tuesday was zone conference! We're the guinea pig zone because we are the first zone to have ZC in the entire mission, and we had a great day! Our heads hurt a bit because they kept switching the lights on and off, and poor Elder Woods is a bit sensitive when it comes to that. I had to brush it off or I couldn't really get around later that evening because I'm the driver. I'm tired of driving...but it's only because the drivers don't know what they're doing over here. Our evening was quite busy, with a recent convert to teach and a less active to visit. It was fun though! Each night we got back at about 9:30 pm, the curfew time. Planned, called the district, and slept. Not easy at all. Wednesday wasn't much easier. We zipped around the Valley like crazy!
Thursday we did our weekly planning, afterwards we did the same. Out and off to another appointment, after another...till evening. We found out our investigator June really knows he wants to be baptized...but he isn't ready to give up his social group of friends. He knows it's right, we just have to push him a little to give it up for the sake of his family. Old habits die hard. Our recent convert, Susan, is as good as ever. She loves having 'Bible study' when it's really the 'Best Book on Earth study a.k.a. The Book of Mormon'. We're doing our best to get the ward missionaries to come with us so they can teach her and we can go on our merry way. We move a lot, so it's not good if we ditch our converts and they have no friends. The other convert we have here that I inherited is still resisting friends from church and I'm sick of dealing with it. But, we have to give her a push. We stopped by the Lunas and we just feel at home with them. We're trying to play that delicate balance of being friends, but not too friendly. We get along just great! Junior, the husband, read all of Doctrine and Covenants 84 and 107 within a week and a half so he's pumped to get the Melchezidek Priesthood. I'm excited for that! Their oldest two girls are causing them headaches, but they way they see it, when they do something good something bad is bound to happen. It's how Satan is. They're great as ever!
Friday...same deal. Busy. A good district meeting, and I took a lot out of it even though I was training. I realized that I need to prepare myself better when I teach. Sometimes we extend commitments and they surprise our investigators. Duh, I told you when we started what we're going to talk about. I have to do better. We got the not-so-great companionship to do the practice, and the senior comp wasn't very enthusiastic as usual...I wish I could've served later when there are better missionaries out here. But, I got a lot out of it and I'm doing my best to apply it. We picked up a member, Bruce Sayler, and took him to two of our appointments and he hit it off with our investigators. One, Tim, is a Vietnam Vet and is really open-minded to the Gospel. He got a ride from Bruce to go to church too! The other, Mike, was excited to see us. He's ready, he just has to take that extra step to move out and get baptized! Jessica, the other convert, came and taught another investigator with us named Bonney. They live in the same complex. She taught us the Pre-Existence. We haven't even taught her that! Haven't really taught her period. But, she got Joseph F. Smith's Doctrinal Answers book and basically told us about the Pre-Existence. We did have to correct her kindly on Adam and Eve, since she had her Catholic or whatever belief that it was a sin. We'll have to go over transgression vs. sin the next time we teach her. But, we felt the Spirit as we testified of how great it is to know this plan was prepared before the world was. Got stuck in traffic on the way to dinner. A fender bender, just great. We ate dinner with Betsy, our less active, and we had a good evening sharing scriptures...oh how beautiful are the feet of those who preach His word! Haha, tyring to paraphrase Abinadi.
Even Saturday was super busy. We are pushing a less active, James Warner, to pray vocally, but he resists such encouragement. Old fart. He's terminal with cancer so we'll see how it turns out. Visited Susan and she was excited as usual. She tells us weird stuff, but this is Van Nuys so I'm used to it right now. She does have a strong testimony of the Gospel though. She basically can teach a class if it was on the Plan of Salvation. We give the sister missionaries a ride home because their car's brakes were shot up and went to our appointment. A good reading from Moroni 10 with Delilah's kids (she was out doing errands) and they're just absorbing the Gospel. They love it! Then, we took the sisters back to Pep Boys. We had the Espinoza's join us to teach their less active son Raul who is living with his girlfriend Lesley and we had a great spiritual experience. We were a bit out of sync all weekend, even though we planned well. I was out of it and I couldn't focus because I was exhausted. I feel bad, but the Lord provides for His inadequate servants like me. I briefly explained the Restoration, then we popped in the DVD and we were all touched by the Spirit. Raul asked, as we stopped at the end, why isn't it longer? He wants to come back and be happy. His girlfriend wants it too. She's so open, and we just get along great. They still havne't prayed to know it's true, but they've felt it's true. The Espinoza's testified with power and simplicity. I love the manifestations of the Spirit! We ate dinner at a Filipino's house (they got us really good chinese food, which reminds me of home. One of the food items was a white dumpling that we eat at home, with a fluffy white covering. So good!)
Our Sunday was out of control. Primary program went very well, and I was impressed by the preparation of it all. Much better than the Spanish wards I've been in. Heart-warming time. Our Gospel Principles class was boring, our WML made it a ward missionary training class. He ended up confusing our investigator there...just great. But, we had a great priesthood lesosn on Sis. Tanner's talk. Ended on a high note. Contacted people in the streets, went home to rest a little. Woods made pumpkin bars for Sis. Lunas' birthday (she didn't tell us it was Saturday!) and we were late to our next appointment for dinner with the Playsteads. We called to ask for more time...they were really cool about it. We eat a great skewered shrimp dinner, joked around, and challenged them to place a Book of Mormon. They took it up. We could've done better, but we were short on time. No one showed up for President's Fireside except for Susan. So President gave her a 10 minute lesson on the Plan of Salvation and it was great! I loved it! I wish he could've had the full time to do it! I wonder what he would teach in a longer time setting. Alas, we went to the Lunas, and Zoomed home to put the icing on the pumpkin bars...to the Lunas! A bit awkward teaching the Law of Chastity in front of two little girls...but it went well with the Ten Commandments. Again I felt awkward. I wish I would've let the parents teach...but I don't like putting them on the spot. Oh well, we got it over with. So, we told Cindy we had a game for her. I pick up the covered pumpkin bars, and sung "Happy Birthday" to her with everyone joining in. It was actually good to eat! Surprising since Woods guessed on all the measurements with the limited time he had to cook it. We ate, joked around, and parted ways. I love that family so much!
Busy like a bee! But, what I love most about being a missionary is the fact that the Spirit works through you to touch people's lives. There was a lot to do, but in each and every appointment we testified with power. They felt the truthfulness of this message. We just have to get better to nourish that good desire to follow these good feelings towards baptism. We're working on that. But, there is no greater cause!
I love the Book of Mormon. When I feel down, I turn to it. When I want to have that enthusiasm, I turn to it. I learn so much out of it. I can read King Benjamin's talk over and over and over again, and get something new out of it each time. There is no other name whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is my Savior, as He is yours. He is our Lord Omnipotent. This I know with a surety.
I'm happy to hear all is well!
Love,
Spencer
I'm still holed up here in Northridge...and your package was incredibly huge! I've been so busy I haven't been able to really 'dive' into it yet. Thanks...but I really didn't need that much stuff!
I'm exhausted. We pumped out lessons like champs this past week! Twenty-five in total...and I believe that just showed how dedicated we are. I'm really proud of ourselves in working that hard. It was hard to get our 10 random people contacts in some days because we were flying between areas! It's one of my best weeks numbers-wise ever...and we didn't really have any slow days so far. Busy! Work, work, work!
So last p-day we washed the car...that was about all we did last p-day. I'm so tired...I really hunger for a good nap these days. I might have the time to do so today. I hope. Tuesday was zone conference! We're the guinea pig zone because we are the first zone to have ZC in the entire mission, and we had a great day! Our heads hurt a bit because they kept switching the lights on and off, and poor Elder Woods is a bit sensitive when it comes to that. I had to brush it off or I couldn't really get around later that evening because I'm the driver. I'm tired of driving...but it's only because the drivers don't know what they're doing over here. Our evening was quite busy, with a recent convert to teach and a less active to visit. It was fun though! Each night we got back at about 9:30 pm, the curfew time. Planned, called the district, and slept. Not easy at all. Wednesday wasn't much easier. We zipped around the Valley like crazy!
Thursday we did our weekly planning, afterwards we did the same. Out and off to another appointment, after another...till evening. We found out our investigator June really knows he wants to be baptized...but he isn't ready to give up his social group of friends. He knows it's right, we just have to push him a little to give it up for the sake of his family. Old habits die hard. Our recent convert, Susan, is as good as ever. She loves having 'Bible study' when it's really the 'Best Book on Earth study a.k.a. The Book of Mormon'. We're doing our best to get the ward missionaries to come with us so they can teach her and we can go on our merry way. We move a lot, so it's not good if we ditch our converts and they have no friends. The other convert we have here that I inherited is still resisting friends from church and I'm sick of dealing with it. But, we have to give her a push. We stopped by the Lunas and we just feel at home with them. We're trying to play that delicate balance of being friends, but not too friendly. We get along just great! Junior, the husband, read all of Doctrine and Covenants 84 and 107 within a week and a half so he's pumped to get the Melchezidek Priesthood. I'm excited for that! Their oldest two girls are causing them headaches, but they way they see it, when they do something good something bad is bound to happen. It's how Satan is. They're great as ever!
Friday...same deal. Busy. A good district meeting, and I took a lot out of it even though I was training. I realized that I need to prepare myself better when I teach. Sometimes we extend commitments and they surprise our investigators. Duh, I told you when we started what we're going to talk about. I have to do better. We got the not-so-great companionship to do the practice, and the senior comp wasn't very enthusiastic as usual...I wish I could've served later when there are better missionaries out here. But, I got a lot out of it and I'm doing my best to apply it. We picked up a member, Bruce Sayler, and took him to two of our appointments and he hit it off with our investigators. One, Tim, is a Vietnam Vet and is really open-minded to the Gospel. He got a ride from Bruce to go to church too! The other, Mike, was excited to see us. He's ready, he just has to take that extra step to move out and get baptized! Jessica, the other convert, came and taught another investigator with us named Bonney. They live in the same complex. She taught us the Pre-Existence. We haven't even taught her that! Haven't really taught her period. But, she got Joseph F. Smith's Doctrinal Answers book and basically told us about the Pre-Existence. We did have to correct her kindly on Adam and Eve, since she had her Catholic or whatever belief that it was a sin. We'll have to go over transgression vs. sin the next time we teach her. But, we felt the Spirit as we testified of how great it is to know this plan was prepared before the world was. Got stuck in traffic on the way to dinner. A fender bender, just great. We ate dinner with Betsy, our less active, and we had a good evening sharing scriptures...oh how beautiful are the feet of those who preach His word! Haha, tyring to paraphrase Abinadi.
Even Saturday was super busy. We are pushing a less active, James Warner, to pray vocally, but he resists such encouragement. Old fart. He's terminal with cancer so we'll see how it turns out. Visited Susan and she was excited as usual. She tells us weird stuff, but this is Van Nuys so I'm used to it right now. She does have a strong testimony of the Gospel though. She basically can teach a class if it was on the Plan of Salvation. We give the sister missionaries a ride home because their car's brakes were shot up and went to our appointment. A good reading from Moroni 10 with Delilah's kids (she was out doing errands) and they're just absorbing the Gospel. They love it! Then, we took the sisters back to Pep Boys. We had the Espinoza's join us to teach their less active son Raul who is living with his girlfriend Lesley and we had a great spiritual experience. We were a bit out of sync all weekend, even though we planned well. I was out of it and I couldn't focus because I was exhausted. I feel bad, but the Lord provides for His inadequate servants like me. I briefly explained the Restoration, then we popped in the DVD and we were all touched by the Spirit. Raul asked, as we stopped at the end, why isn't it longer? He wants to come back and be happy. His girlfriend wants it too. She's so open, and we just get along great. They still havne't prayed to know it's true, but they've felt it's true. The Espinoza's testified with power and simplicity. I love the manifestations of the Spirit! We ate dinner at a Filipino's house (they got us really good chinese food, which reminds me of home. One of the food items was a white dumpling that we eat at home, with a fluffy white covering. So good!)
Our Sunday was out of control. Primary program went very well, and I was impressed by the preparation of it all. Much better than the Spanish wards I've been in. Heart-warming time. Our Gospel Principles class was boring, our WML made it a ward missionary training class. He ended up confusing our investigator there...just great. But, we had a great priesthood lesosn on Sis. Tanner's talk. Ended on a high note. Contacted people in the streets, went home to rest a little. Woods made pumpkin bars for Sis. Lunas' birthday (she didn't tell us it was Saturday!) and we were late to our next appointment for dinner with the Playsteads. We called to ask for more time...they were really cool about it. We eat a great skewered shrimp dinner, joked around, and challenged them to place a Book of Mormon. They took it up. We could've done better, but we were short on time. No one showed up for President's Fireside except for Susan. So President gave her a 10 minute lesson on the Plan of Salvation and it was great! I loved it! I wish he could've had the full time to do it! I wonder what he would teach in a longer time setting. Alas, we went to the Lunas, and Zoomed home to put the icing on the pumpkin bars...to the Lunas! A bit awkward teaching the Law of Chastity in front of two little girls...but it went well with the Ten Commandments. Again I felt awkward. I wish I would've let the parents teach...but I don't like putting them on the spot. Oh well, we got it over with. So, we told Cindy we had a game for her. I pick up the covered pumpkin bars, and sung "Happy Birthday" to her with everyone joining in. It was actually good to eat! Surprising since Woods guessed on all the measurements with the limited time he had to cook it. We ate, joked around, and parted ways. I love that family so much!
Busy like a bee! But, what I love most about being a missionary is the fact that the Spirit works through you to touch people's lives. There was a lot to do, but in each and every appointment we testified with power. They felt the truthfulness of this message. We just have to get better to nourish that good desire to follow these good feelings towards baptism. We're working on that. But, there is no greater cause!
I love the Book of Mormon. When I feel down, I turn to it. When I want to have that enthusiasm, I turn to it. I learn so much out of it. I can read King Benjamin's talk over and over and over again, and get something new out of it each time. There is no other name whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is my Savior, as He is yours. He is our Lord Omnipotent. This I know with a surety.
I'm happy to hear all is well!
Love,
Spencer
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
October 20, 2008
Dear Mom,
Goodies? What goodies? Man, that was a lot of goodies! I won't be able to eat it all! Sharing? Pssh, that was the Mosaic law! Just kidding. I've been so busy I haven't had time to eat the snacks or anything...just busy as a bee!
This week was nuts! I was so busy, and it looks like I'll be up for a busy week yet again! At least I'm not like, 'so elder, what should we do today?' 'Uh...knock doors?'
Recap!
Smokey Monday. Not much fun. I was so tired and stressed from all the stuff I have to do, but it turned out okay. Tuesday was pretty busy and I really enjoyed it. Wednesday was busy. Thursday and Friday and Saturday and Sunday...
Tuesday we met with an old investigator Delilah Thompson and her family of four. Her kids loved the elders almost two years ago but they got whitewashed so they stopped the discussions. They admit it wasn't the same without the elders they grew to love. The elders even told them, don't base it off of us, but I guess they didn't introduce members to be their friends. They were serious about listening to us this time. They even re-scheduled our appointment when they couldn't do it the Saturday before! That's really unusual. They're golden.
The middle of the week was a blur to be honest. All I remember is that we re-taught the Plan of Salvation to Susan, our recent convert, and she spat it back at us. She knew that plan very well. She testified that it made sense. God wouldn't condemn those who didn't hear the Gospel. She hopes her mother will receive the Gospel in the spirit world, because she was a good person. She has that hope, and that's what converted her. Really amazing how the Lord prepares his Chosen. Later that evening we taught a lesson to the Lunas, or tried to. The dad came late due to Back to School Night, so we ended up waiting forever for him. Not his fault that his daughter (Cindy's step-daughter) was failing classes. But, we had a short and powerful lesson on the law of the fast...and they committed to keep it. But, the greatest thing was, that as we waited with Cindy...she said she knew it was her time. Everything is falling into place. She felt we weren't counting them as a 'number'. The Lord prepares us to be instruments in His hands, we just have to put our trust in him and grin and bear it...to do His work.
Friday was busy. Our district meeting went pretty well, too bad my elders didn't take it seriously. But the sisters did, as usual. They know what's up. We get home from lunch (we ate at a local Chinese joint) and we get the call from the zonies to help out a move. The Sherman Oaks elders, the zonies, and this member and her daughter were moving since 9 AM, and the S.O. elders came to district meeting a bit late due to that and the zonies took over. It's about 2:30 and so we zip over there so the zonies could go to their appointment. We end up being there, helping her move, until about 8:40 pm. A long day indeed. We canceled our appointments because Elder Sara (the Sherman Oaks senior comp) told us earlier that it was dire. We had to finish the move that day so the member could get out of a bad situation. We did, and I enjoyed it. I was dead tired, but it was good to help someone out. We were super thirsty though because she didn't have water on her or in her new place....but her daughter came to get us water (long after the member promised us some...oh well no one is perfect, right?). A really good service opportunity. Afterwards, we stopped by Target on the way home and then by the Luna's softball game. The parents are really tight with us and they tell us a lot of jokes. So Cindy, the mom, is out of shape and Junior, the dad, is out of shape too. They joked before that Cindy saw some Icy Hot muscle rub in the medicine cabinet and said it was Junior's. Junior said I don't know what you're talking about. So at Target, we get some muscle rub and put it in a toothpaste box to give to Junior. We stop by their softball game and say hello and stuff...then we hand Junior the toothpaste and he's like 'what, does my breath stink?' He opens it, sees the muscle rub and just laughs. He's the third base coach, and while he's laughing one of his teammates hits a single, first baseman bobbles it so she runs to second...and he's still laughing. Not paying attention. Just made my night to see him almost die of laughter. We called later to see if we could use some, jokingly, and Junior said Cindy used half of it by now so it's almost gone. Hilarious! To make it worse, it's menthol so it smells pretty funky. We bought it on purpose for fun. Haha! She really liked it because it worked, but she didn't really like the smell. We were in our moving clothes and so as we were walking up in normal clothes, Junior's sister-in-law said, it's the elders. Cindy's like...huh? Where? We walk up and say hello...she said to her daughters, 'look the elders are here!' and they look to the parking lot side as we are right in front of them. So funny!
Saturday was super busy! Appointments and busy things to do every hour. We had correlation meeting, followed by knocking doors around a media referral (we got some good potentials there), a twenty minute lunch followed by Bill Cox, a old black man who loves reading Captain Moroni's story, June Hinahon, who we surprised by committing him to pray for a baptismal date (he was visibly surprised...it was quite a sight to see!) followed by Raul and girlfriend Lesley, who both absorbed the Restoration lesson and Lesley really felt the Spirit. Raul is a son of a member, he's less active. Followed by members taking us out to eat at Sizzler's, then a little run through of some games for FHE with the Luna's. Lots of fun. We were so busy though!
Sunday was nice. If you pray for the Spirit, the Lord will provide it for us. I prayed for it, and was edified at church. One of the high council speakers portrayed Jesus Christ in the Lamb of God, Brother Mark Deakins. I love hearing him speak. He speaks frankly and boldly, but with the power of the Spirit. He pointed out, that in Christ's coming to the Nephites, that the voice was heard thrice. The third time was when the people looked and opened their ears to the sound...and they saw Him coming from heaven. We must physically turn to Christ so he can come to us. I never really thought much about that. An edifying lesson indeed. Also, our priesthood class went great. Bro. Dave Pickett gave a great lesson on the Kingdoms of Glory from the Joseph Smith book. What stuck out to him was that we must be diligent to obtain the highest, and only in the highest kingdom reside those who made the new and everlasting covenant. No other kingdom has that. And, in the telestial, they 'deny not the Holy Spirit'...they just choose not to follow these spiritual promptings. That's why Cain would be in the telestial world. Heavenly visitations, but refused to follow such divine counsel. You learn a lot if you open your mind to the lessons. I love the Spirit, and I love the Gospel! Later that night...we gave Cindy a blessing of health and comfort...and she cried. She gets up to shake our hands and said, 'I'm not a crier'...I just remember feeling that they all will be sealed together forever in the temple. Jessica and Jiselle, the oldest two, were from Junior's previous marriage and right now need permission to be sealed to Cindy by the first wife...and I had a feeling during the blessing that all of them will be sealed as a family. A comforting feeling indeed.
This church is true. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is God's word on earth today, and is better than the Bible.
Stay safe, and I love you all.
Love,
Spencer
Goodies? What goodies? Man, that was a lot of goodies! I won't be able to eat it all! Sharing? Pssh, that was the Mosaic law! Just kidding. I've been so busy I haven't had time to eat the snacks or anything...just busy as a bee!
This week was nuts! I was so busy, and it looks like I'll be up for a busy week yet again! At least I'm not like, 'so elder, what should we do today?' 'Uh...knock doors?'
Recap!
Smokey Monday. Not much fun. I was so tired and stressed from all the stuff I have to do, but it turned out okay. Tuesday was pretty busy and I really enjoyed it. Wednesday was busy. Thursday and Friday and Saturday and Sunday...
Tuesday we met with an old investigator Delilah Thompson and her family of four. Her kids loved the elders almost two years ago but they got whitewashed so they stopped the discussions. They admit it wasn't the same without the elders they grew to love. The elders even told them, don't base it off of us, but I guess they didn't introduce members to be their friends. They were serious about listening to us this time. They even re-scheduled our appointment when they couldn't do it the Saturday before! That's really unusual. They're golden.
The middle of the week was a blur to be honest. All I remember is that we re-taught the Plan of Salvation to Susan, our recent convert, and she spat it back at us. She knew that plan very well. She testified that it made sense. God wouldn't condemn those who didn't hear the Gospel. She hopes her mother will receive the Gospel in the spirit world, because she was a good person. She has that hope, and that's what converted her. Really amazing how the Lord prepares his Chosen. Later that evening we taught a lesson to the Lunas, or tried to. The dad came late due to Back to School Night, so we ended up waiting forever for him. Not his fault that his daughter (Cindy's step-daughter) was failing classes. But, we had a short and powerful lesson on the law of the fast...and they committed to keep it. But, the greatest thing was, that as we waited with Cindy...she said she knew it was her time. Everything is falling into place. She felt we weren't counting them as a 'number'. The Lord prepares us to be instruments in His hands, we just have to put our trust in him and grin and bear it...to do His work.
Friday was busy. Our district meeting went pretty well, too bad my elders didn't take it seriously. But the sisters did, as usual. They know what's up. We get home from lunch (we ate at a local Chinese joint) and we get the call from the zonies to help out a move. The Sherman Oaks elders, the zonies, and this member and her daughter were moving since 9 AM, and the S.O. elders came to district meeting a bit late due to that and the zonies took over. It's about 2:30 and so we zip over there so the zonies could go to their appointment. We end up being there, helping her move, until about 8:40 pm. A long day indeed. We canceled our appointments because Elder Sara (the Sherman Oaks senior comp) told us earlier that it was dire. We had to finish the move that day so the member could get out of a bad situation. We did, and I enjoyed it. I was dead tired, but it was good to help someone out. We were super thirsty though because she didn't have water on her or in her new place....but her daughter came to get us water (long after the member promised us some...oh well no one is perfect, right?). A really good service opportunity. Afterwards, we stopped by Target on the way home and then by the Luna's softball game. The parents are really tight with us and they tell us a lot of jokes. So Cindy, the mom, is out of shape and Junior, the dad, is out of shape too. They joked before that Cindy saw some Icy Hot muscle rub in the medicine cabinet and said it was Junior's. Junior said I don't know what you're talking about. So at Target, we get some muscle rub and put it in a toothpaste box to give to Junior. We stop by their softball game and say hello and stuff...then we hand Junior the toothpaste and he's like 'what, does my breath stink?' He opens it, sees the muscle rub and just laughs. He's the third base coach, and while he's laughing one of his teammates hits a single, first baseman bobbles it so she runs to second...and he's still laughing. Not paying attention. Just made my night to see him almost die of laughter. We called later to see if we could use some, jokingly, and Junior said Cindy used half of it by now so it's almost gone. Hilarious! To make it worse, it's menthol so it smells pretty funky. We bought it on purpose for fun. Haha! She really liked it because it worked, but she didn't really like the smell. We were in our moving clothes and so as we were walking up in normal clothes, Junior's sister-in-law said, it's the elders. Cindy's like...huh? Where? We walk up and say hello...she said to her daughters, 'look the elders are here!' and they look to the parking lot side as we are right in front of them. So funny!
Saturday was super busy! Appointments and busy things to do every hour. We had correlation meeting, followed by knocking doors around a media referral (we got some good potentials there), a twenty minute lunch followed by Bill Cox, a old black man who loves reading Captain Moroni's story, June Hinahon, who we surprised by committing him to pray for a baptismal date (he was visibly surprised...it was quite a sight to see!) followed by Raul and girlfriend Lesley, who both absorbed the Restoration lesson and Lesley really felt the Spirit. Raul is a son of a member, he's less active. Followed by members taking us out to eat at Sizzler's, then a little run through of some games for FHE with the Luna's. Lots of fun. We were so busy though!
Sunday was nice. If you pray for the Spirit, the Lord will provide it for us. I prayed for it, and was edified at church. One of the high council speakers portrayed Jesus Christ in the Lamb of God, Brother Mark Deakins. I love hearing him speak. He speaks frankly and boldly, but with the power of the Spirit. He pointed out, that in Christ's coming to the Nephites, that the voice was heard thrice. The third time was when the people looked and opened their ears to the sound...and they saw Him coming from heaven. We must physically turn to Christ so he can come to us. I never really thought much about that. An edifying lesson indeed. Also, our priesthood class went great. Bro. Dave Pickett gave a great lesson on the Kingdoms of Glory from the Joseph Smith book. What stuck out to him was that we must be diligent to obtain the highest, and only in the highest kingdom reside those who made the new and everlasting covenant. No other kingdom has that. And, in the telestial, they 'deny not the Holy Spirit'...they just choose not to follow these spiritual promptings. That's why Cain would be in the telestial world. Heavenly visitations, but refused to follow such divine counsel. You learn a lot if you open your mind to the lessons. I love the Spirit, and I love the Gospel! Later that night...we gave Cindy a blessing of health and comfort...and she cried. She gets up to shake our hands and said, 'I'm not a crier'...I just remember feeling that they all will be sealed together forever in the temple. Jessica and Jiselle, the oldest two, were from Junior's previous marriage and right now need permission to be sealed to Cindy by the first wife...and I had a feeling during the blessing that all of them will be sealed as a family. A comforting feeling indeed.
This church is true. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is God's word on earth today, and is better than the Bible.
Stay safe, and I love you all.
Love,
Spencer
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