Late Email! Most of the week, we helped our friend Teresa progress towards her baptism and taught her the rest of the things she needed to know! This is going to be a bit of a shorter email since it's coming out so late. My emails are already super long as they are though haha!
WEDNESDAY (4/3/24): We went to the Oakland Temple and did baptisms for the dead. I was asked by one of the temple workers if I'd be willing to record the names at the font and confirm each name. I had never done it before, so it was a pretty cool experience. I was also able to help confirm afterwards. Going to the temple always takes up our whole P-Day due to the drive and traffic; I always love going to the temple!
THURSDAY (4/4/24): I went on exchanges with Elder Morris. I was able to go over to their area for the day. I taught and helped some of their friends/members they were currently teaching. It was a really fun day with Elder Morris! We ended the night by going to the Pajaro Dunes, the beach right next to us, to get some pictures. It was pouring pretty hard, and the winds were out of control; In fact, the winds were so strong that my umbrella broke! All in all, it was a good exchange, and I learned a lot.
FRIDAY (4/5/24): Back in my area! We stopped by Nora for a second. She didn't read the part we left her with in the Book of Mormon, so we told her we'd come another day when she had. She was down! After, we tried visiting a referral we had received. We tried talking to her, but she told us how she didn't want to become a "Mormon." We were confused on why she sent a referral, but we just laughed it off. After, we had a good lesson with Terresa and Lucio. We taught them about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and read from the Book of Mormon. They really enjoyed it and were retaining what I was saying to them.
SATURDAY (4/6/24): We watched the morning session of Conference w' the Daleys, the afternoon session of Conference w' our Zone, and the Evening Session of Conference w' Orlando. Conference was amazing! I had never taken so many notes before in my life! One of my favorite talks of the day was Elder Bowen's talk titled: "Miracles, Angel's and Priesthood Power." His story about his patriarchal blessing and how it tied into him being put into a prison cell while on his mission, the importance of the Priesthood, and how we can still experience miracles in our lives today really caught my eye. I learned something new from every single talk!
SUNDAY (4/7/24): Conference was amazing once again! We watched the morning session together as a district and the afternoon session with the Durans. Every single talk given was amazing once again! The talk that stuck out to me the most that day was Mathias Held's talk titled, "Opposition in All Things." Choosing how we use our agency is so important! Without the hard and difficult times, we'd never be able to appreciate and enjoy the good things in our lives. Jesus Christ is the only person that will ever know what we are truly going through! This was definitely the most attentive I have ever been during a conference before! Being able to hear and listen to our Prophet, Apostles, and other General Authorities is such a blessing! We can learn so much from them and the Spirit if we're willing to listen and put in the work.
MONDAY (4/8/24): We stopped by Teresa, but she wasn't home. Lucio (her husband) told us she was shopping and told us to come back a little later. We tried seeing if our friend Marvivel was home, but her mother wouldn't let us speak with her. She's a pretty hardcore Catholic and began telling us how we don't follow the commandments, how we don't believe in the Bible, and how we are of "Satan." We bore our testimonies on the Book of Mormon and us being follows of Jesus Christ and the scriptures and left it at that. After, we went to an apartment complex and knocked some doors up. We found a really cool lady named Xochild. We talked about the Atonement w' her and read some verses from the Book of Mormon. We explained to her what the Book of Mormon was and left her 3 Nephi 11 to read. She found it really interesting how Jesus Christ visited those outside of Jerusalem after his death and resurrection. We ended the night by having a really good lesson w' Terresa. We taught her about prophets again and Joseph Smith's role in the restoration. We invited her to be baptized this Saturday and she said yes!
TUESDAY (4/9/24): We stopped by Norah's house and had a pretty solid with her. She has difficulty reading small font, so we helped her download the Book of Mormon app. She told us she really enjoyed the chapter that we had left her with and that she could feel the Spirit while reading it. We explained to her how every single person in our church has the opportunity to speak and share their testimonies during sacrament meeting. We finished the lesson by reading 2 Nephi 26:33 and talked about how all are alike unto God (one of my favorite scriptures). We also talked about how for us to receive the truth through the Holy Ghost, we have to have faith and act upon that faith by reading the scriptures and praying about it. We did some contacting and then had Soccer Night! Elder Copeland
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