2010-10-22 Still Sharing the Plan.

Tuesday: Today was a decent day. We had our district meeting and we have a new companionship in our district. They split an area because it was so huge! We had that and then we had divisions. I was with Elder Truelove. We went to lunch and then hit the streets. We found this guy and it was weird. He invited us in and he and his brother were smiling. The spirit did not tell me we were in danger so we went in. We got to talking and people have weird ideas here. His point of view was that he is Christian but he was trying to deny that Jesus is the Christ and basically trying to disprove everything. He started to throw random scriptures out. He threw out Matthew 16 which basically testifies purely of Christ and he was trying to deny it and then he threw out a random scripture in revelations trying to use it but I later read it and all it talked about was the beasts and the sea of glass so his story was not making sense. We decided to leave but he wanted to keep talking so we bore our testimony and left.  

Wednesday: Today we talked to a lady and at first she was apprehensive. Her name is Norma and she did not want to let us in at first but we kept talking and later she said her niece died and we then talked about the plan of salvation and eternal families.  All of a sudden, she calls her grandchildren to get the key for the gate. We were shocked and we stepped in and talked more with her. We taught lesson 1 right there with her and it was so great!  She even prayed at the end when we asked her.  We gave her the Book of Mormon and I hope that she is reading it and waiting for us to come back.  It’s pretty good!

Thursday:  Today we went to paint the house of the Zone Leaders and Barrio 5. It was good and fun. The only thing that bothered me was that we committed to go and help the family at their house since it burned down but we decided to go paint. I felt like I let the family down because they called the day before asking for help and I said yes. Later my comp said we have service with the other elders and we should have gone to help the family.

Friday:  It was a normal day in the mission.

Saturday: Today we taught Ruben lesson 2 and it was really good.  I really hope that he can see and feel the spirit and gain a testimony of the resurrection.  That someday he can live with his family and his wife again.

Sunday:  In priesthood class they were talking about giving service to someone.  I hope we all can work together to be able to serve and minister to those who are in need.

2018-10-15 Moving Forward and Upward.

Tuesday: We worked a little today and we made 4 new friends. We talked with a family and we did not know their house burned down a week before. While we were talking, we found out that the bishop knew that the house burned down on Thursday and he did not say anything during ward council.  It was so sad!  This family needs our help to move their stuff out. So tomorrow we plan on coming back to help them.

Wednesday: Today was good. We woke up and went to do service.  We helped move whatever was left of their belongings from the burned house.  It is sad when something like this happens.  After that we then went to our cita (appointment) with Ruben. We were talking with him and his story is that he has two daughters.  His wife passed away about 2 or 3 years ago.  It is really sad and we are teaching him right now.  He used to take the lessons from the Hermanas but was not really receptive. We taught him lesson 1 and it was really good.  We watched the video of the restoration with him and the spirit was so strong especially when we were testifying to him of the restoration of the gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith. We invited him to be baptized and put in a date with him.  I really hope he can come unto Christ.  

My companion and I were talking later that night about how his wife has passed on.  I hope that his wife being on the other side of the veil that she may see the blessings of the gospel and she wants him to follow the true gospel path.  It could be the reason why he is accepting us and progressing.  Ruben is super amazing and it shows there is work on both sides of the veil.  I know if he continues to keep on this path and allow us to help him, he will be able to see and be with his wife again.

Thursday: We got invited to an activity in barrio 5 and we have to make food for everyone.  It is any food from your country.

Friday: Today we cooked for the activity. I made Loco Moco (a favorite in Hawaii) or Moco loco here. It actually means something gross.  It means crazy snot or crazy mucus jaja.  So at the activity, I introduced the food to all those that came by and everyone without fail had to ask me twice to what I said.  It was very funny!  They all cringed and some did not even try it but the jovenes (young boys) loved it!  I did not have gravy but Elder Gappmayer had some powder that his mom sent him so I used that and it turned out really good.  Too bad the name Loco Moco turns noses jaja.

Loco Moco-Stage 1: Rice

Loco Moco-Stage : Cover the rice with hamburgers.  This is then covered with fried egg(s) and then smothered in gravy.  Soooooooooo Ono.

 Saturday: We talked with an antiguo (old) lady today and her name is E. She has had a hard life. She grew up in a violent environment in the home and then when she got married. We miraculously showed up looking for a reference named Sebastian but we found her instead.  It’s just really sad to know her life and what she had to go through. It must have been so hard for her. We talked and her stance right now is that she believes in God and she has amazing faith but she is just so mad with her husband because all the things that happened.

Because of all the things that happened to her, she thinks that God is not a just God and she reads on facebook that people are thanking God for all that they have and she said she is hurt because she is not able to say the same thing.  We tried to let her know that God loves her and that she may not know why sometimes things happen in life and that life is not perfect.   We told her that our lives may not be perfect but with the Savior, life can be made perfect.  I loved the quote in conference that talked about struggles in life.  It says, "Your dark nights will pass because the Son rose with healing in his wings".  That is so amazing and comforting to know.  We can have a terrible day, week, month or year and sometimes a hard life like E but with Christ taking all our struggles and problems, it is all possible to be healed and we can find true happiness through our savior Jesus Christ by obeying his commandments and accepting Him as our savior and redeemer.  I hope E can find the Savior in her life.

Sunday: Church was good!  One of my goals this transfer for the plan of conversion is to do my best to listen with my heart and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  I want to be able to recognize the Spirits promptings.  I have my goals and it seems to be helping me a lot on the mission.

Aloha for now.

2018-10-08 Conference Growth and Opportunities

Tuesday:  Today was decent. We went throughout our day and we had citas pero they fell through. We worked hard but there were not very many people outside. We got home and there was a funny concept that Elder Scott shared with me and Elder Taylor. It made sense and in his words, it is a straight testimony builder. So the girls here are normally not very modest. They say when they wear the crop tops and they have their belly hanging out, they tend to just talk with everyone and it doesn’t matter who they talk and don’t mind anything. But then as soon as 2 missionaries come by and talk to these girls, give it 10 seconds and they will fold their arms up and cover her belly.

It is the light of Christ working and it really shows that this church is true. It shows we all have that light of Christ and that when we talk to people, they receive that remembrance that they should not really be dressed like that or be doing certain things. It was a good thought and it makes sense. They will cover up because the light of Christ.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday:  We helped an investigator with his roof. We helped him put up sheet metal and bricks and membrillo. Other than that, we did not do much. Week 6 of transfers is sad. No one wants to do anything and I really wanted to go out and work but my comp didn’t want to.

Saturday: Dang conference was Amazing! The new program that is coming up will surely help build the family and the testimonies of the members. Many people do not have a testimony or actively engage in the gospel so they never really strengthen or further along their spiritual growth. It is important to set goals. We had a personal goal setting thing in our zone. It is called our plan of conversion and we set up our own timelines and we choose three things that will allow us to convert ourselves better to the gospel. It is really helping me and I can see it making a difference. I have chosen three goals and for each goal, you choose steps that will allow you to further your conversion. I will take a picture and send it next week!

Sunday:  This conference has been great. The huge theme for me was that we need to take his name upon us. It was stated repeatedly in a lot of the speakers and that life is hard. It’s true, life is difficult but when we take his name upon us, it gets easier and we can bear more people up and we become better sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. When we take his name upon us, we are being like Christ and we need to draw near to him. I was reminded of a scripture that we should not draw closer to him with only our lips, but we need to get closer with our heart and soul. It was a great conference and I love the one quote that says, "When we take His name upon us, He takes our sins, our infirmities, and our burdens". This is so true! Just serving the people here, I can see that my burdens and troubles get easier. I don’t worry too much about myself but I am more worried or concerned about the person next to me or the people we are teaching. We also need to have that mindset he talked about. We should approach people as if they have a problem and usually, we are right 100 percent of the time. We need to listen and talk to all because our Heavenly Father will guide us to those that need our help. He will help us get to those that want to hear the gospel and need a friend. I really love the talk from Elder Jeffrey Holland.

 Where we watched conference.

2018-10-01 Meeting New Friends, Trying New Things, Seeing New Places.

Made a new friend. . . . .

. . . . . and met some others.

Tuesday: It was a good day. We had our district meeting. We set goals for our district and we started this group prayer call. Every night before we go to bed, we call and have a prayer for our investigators to attend church. We did this because all of our numbers for assistencia (attendance) are super low and we need to get it up. After the meeting ended, we had our final goodbyes because there are a couple hermanas in our zone that are dying so we said bye and that was it. Right after, we had divisions with Elder Rasmussen and Elder Apaz. They are from Castex and their bus didn’t come until the following day so they came into our area to proselyte with us. It was great! Me and Elder Rasmussen got 6 new investigators and it was good. I learned how I need to handle certain situation I did not know how to get out of and it is all good.

 

     District activities.  We had so much fun!

 

Wednesday: Today was divisiones con Elder Taylor again.  We were in his area.  For lunch, we made grilled cheese sandwiches!!! Super piola (cool) and we were so glad we made them. We haven’t had them for a while.  We later went out and had a lot of success in his area.

Thursday: Today was an ugly day. It rained and poured and there was literally no one outside. We helped the zone leaders paint a room in the house because it was really bad. Hermana Bentley made them paint it so we helped with that.

Friday: We had a good day. We had a lesson with one of our investigators and it was really good. He let us in and we talked for a little and it was good. He has a lot of questions of the soul and we tried to answer them as best as we could. They were all from Lesson 2 but we did not give the pamphlet for it last time so we taught lesson 1.  It was a great lesson! He is super piola (smart) and I can tell he has been prepared for us by Heavenly Father. He is super open and I can tell he is trying to find the truth and the way and we are here to help!  Hopefully we can continue to progress with him and he can come to church!

Saturday: Today, we went to Castex for their Capilla Abierta. It was about a 2 hour bus ride to there and we hung out at the chapel and helped out. We did good. We found a group of jovenes (youth) and they all came! It was genial (very good)! Their chapel was super weird and chico (small). It was like a small church like and evangelico iglesia that looks like a tienda (store) turned into a church.  Their pila bautismal (baptismal font) was even a pop up pool! 

Sunday: We went to church and then we celebrated a birthday of a Hermana. She is 86! dang! It was good. They had a lot of food and a muy rica torta (very rich cake) with candy and a whole bunch of stuff on it!

Monday: We made pizzas with the other Elders and they were so good!  Barbecue chicken pizza!  Yummy!

Learning to make pizza from scratch-pizza crust in the tool box, other breads to follow.