WEDNESDAY (5/22/24): After working out, doing our laundry, and going shopping, we went up to Soleded to get haircuts. I got a really good haircut from a really cool barber; we talked about my mission, what we do as missionaries, and I was able to explain to him our church and some of the beliefs we have! He asked me if I could describe our religion in a couple words and I said, "extremely family oriented." He thought that was really special as he had a wife and kid himself; I gave him a card for church, so we'll see if he comes. After, we were able to go the Soledad mission; it was a pretty cool Catholic chapel! They had some pretty cool artifacts and relics! In the actual chapel itself, they had a pretty interesting statue of Mary dressed in black; it was to represent Mary after the death of Jesus Christ. I know everything the Catholics do is with good intention, but I still find a lot of the things they do very strange haha. But hey, I'm sure that's how a lot of people feel about our religion. It's extremely important we love and respect everyone regardless of their religion, gender, race, etc. At the end of the day, we're all sons and daughters of God! After going to the mission, we went window shopping in Gonzales. I was able to find some knockoff Airpods for $20 and they worked surprisingly really well! We ended the night by teaching English class.
THURSDAY (5/23/24): We found a lot of people again today; some more interested than others. We're going to see how far we can progress with the people we find this week! After, we had a lesson with Natalia and her sister; we talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation. Right now, me and Elder Candia are trying to share our missionary purpose (invite others to come unto Christ through Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to The End) and then asking people afterward if they'd like to receive the blessings that come from following the Gospel that Jesus Christ has given us: and it's working really well! Susana, the sister of Natalia, said, "I've never thought about it that way." We're going to help them progress! We had a lesson with Freddy. We taught him about temples, the Covenant Path and progressing towards receiving the Priesthood, and Tithing. He wasn't sure if he would be willing to keep the Law of Tithing; we talked about the blessings of the law of Tithing and the benefits that come from paying your tithe, but he still wasn't sure: please keep Freddy in your prayers! I know that if he's able to be baptized June 1 and receive the Holy Ghost, he'll start to see a fabulous change in his life. After, I got to chill with Cesar for a bit. After, we tried teaching Adan, but he was recovering from another eye operation he had to have. We instead taught a man from the Dominican Republic and wife: I couldn't understand a single the guy was saying haha; his accent was impossible to understand. We ended the night by teaching Sheila and her sister about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After, we drove up to to Soleded to start exchanges with Elder Isaacson.
FRIDAY (5/24/24): Today was a really fun day! I got to spend the day with Elder Isaacson up in Soledad. I pray that one day I'll get to serve with Elder Isaacson because he's an absolute blast to be around. We were able to help and serve a man living in their apartment complex move their belongings out of their house as they were moving to Solenas! We explained to the man what we do as missionaries and even gave him a Book of Mormon with our information. After, we were driving along a road and saw a couple of field workers taking a lunch break; me and Elder Isaacson decided to jump the fence and go talk to them: they were cool! We found a couple more people after and then went and visited a recent convert of theirs named Zarate: he's crazy haha! He's from Mexico but served in the French Military for a couple years. He's never been very active since he doesn't have a ride to church. We watched a couple Book of Mormon videos with him. Right as we were leaving, he taught me self-defense from his time in the military. I got taken down by him on his couch haha; it honestly kinda hurt. After, we visited Johny, a member in our ward who speaks ASL, and watched a couple ASL music videos with him. After, we went and found five more people with a member in our ward, Kevin, as he's preparing to go on a mission soon! We found a lot of cool people! I had a great day with Elder Isaacson: We saw some great sights and met some pretty awesome people! I really hope I get to serve with him one day!
SATURDAY (5/25/24): We had another good day today! We started the day by finding a couple more people! After lunch, studying and doing our daily contacts, we went back to work! We tried visiting our friends Facundo, Arlene, and Celso but none of them were home sadly. After, we visited a recent convert named Consuelo; she's really cool! She comes to church every week and is doing really well. We asked how we could help her sisters and the rest of her family progress and be taught as well; she said we'd have to take it slowly with them as they weren't sure how they felt about being taught: we're going to try our best with them! We were able to have a lesson with them and talk about Jesus Christ's mortal ministry in the New Testament. After, we had a good lesson with Susana and Natalia; we're helping them prepare for their baptism on June 4th. We still have a little way to go with them, but with faith and diligence, I know we'll get them there. We showed them the parable of the lost sheep and explained to them how we're always welcomed back into the fold of God and His only Begotten Son. We tied it to the Book of Mormon and read 2 Nephi 26 with them. We ended talking about faith and how we can grow our desire and faith through reading the scriptures, praying. etc. After, we had a really good lesson with Freddy. We talked about the Priesthood and how we have the opportunity to receive the Power of God here on the earth today! We talked about how we can overcome the adversary and temptation through Jesus Christ, the Priesthood, the Holy Ghost. etc. We also read through Mosiah Chapter 2 and talked about the blessings that come spiritually and physically when we keep the commandments (verse 41); we laid out every commandment that we have to keep when we're baptized, and he said he's willing to keep them! Keep Freddy and his family in your prayers; I'll keep having faith in him that he'll be able to be baptized! After, we played some Uno/football with Cesar and the kids. We ended the night by finding in King City to help the sisters out and then ate dinner with Tony. Tony's mother is a J.W but she was interested in learning more about our church! We taught her about the restoration, the priesthood, and Joseph Smith.
SUNDAY (5/26/24): Today was a really good Sunday! After helping Hermano Villa get to church, we saw that our friend Luis came! He was the one who we had a lesson with outside of his house who was shirtless, pulled up! He was dressed in cowboy boots, a cowboy hat, and was introducing everyone walking in! He had to leave early, but it was good to see him there! Natalia and Susana also came which was awesome to see! It was a really good sacrament service as well! There was a baby blessing, great talks about gratitude, and a really powerful musical number performed by Sister Maxwell on the piano; they could definitely feel the difference between our church and the church they had been attending in the past. After English Sacrament, a family was outside asking if they were in the right place for church! Their names were Irma and Clemente and they had received information by a card we had left. They really enjoyed their time! During our class, we talked about the temple and covenants and they loved it! Cesar and Brian came as well! They were absolutely crazy today; apparently, they had drunk coffee before coming. We took them out after the bread and water, watched a Book of Mormon video and let them go play football outside. Once church was over, we were able to get pictures with Johny. Johny loves SpongeBob and bowties, so Elder Isaacson's mom made us SpongeBob bowties for us to wear with him. I love Johny so much! After, we had to go up to Solenas for Elder Candia to give an Interview for a friend that the Solenas Elders were teaching. We ended the night by going down to King City to find a couple more people and had night church and dinner with Tony and Adri.
MONDAY (5/27/24): Today was such a good day! We started off by having district council! We talked about the importance of fulfilling and completing any goals we set for ourselves! We also talked about the importance of talking with everyone! We had such a good week; me and Elder Candia were able to find 42 new people this week! After, we went contacting and found some new people! After, we had a really good lesson with Freddy! We went over the baptismal questions with Freddy and he was able to pass them all! He'll be interviewed this Friday, baptized on Saturday, and receive the Gift of The Holy Ghost on Sunday: I'll be the one baptizing him and Elder Candia will give him the Gift of The Holy Ghost. After, we played Uno with Brian and Cesar and talked about prayer with them; every single time we end our lessons they both say prayers and they're amazing every single time; they know how to pray so well and are learning more and more each day! I keep praying that their father will let them get baptized soon! After, we had an amazing lesson with our friends Irma and Clemente (our friends who came to church). The way they were able to get the information for our church was when me and Elder Candia were going finding a couple days ago. One day while walking, we felt inspired to knock this apartment complex. While no one answered the door, we made sure to leave a card at every single door. It turns out that Irma and Clemente were able to use the card that we left at their door to come to church and start taking lessons from us! Our lesson went incredibly well! They talked about how they've been trying to find a church for a while now and felt at home at ours! We explained to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 2 Nephi 26 and how all are welcomed into our Church and salvation through Jesus Christ, commandments and the blessings that come from keeping the commandments (Mosiah Chapter 2) and covenants! They loved it and said they want to progress towards getting baptized! Seriously, such a cool miracle!
After, we taught Sheila about the Sacrament and watched a Book of Mormon video with her. After, another really cool miracle happened. On the way to Natalias house, we walked into a man named Jerry walking. He knew about a church; I began talking to him in Spanish but while doing so he said, "You're from Utah man, aren't you!" I got a good laugh about it. He had questions about the Plan of Salvation, the Spirit World, and the Kingdoms of Glory, Polygamy, and Joseph Smith: we explained it to him clearly. After, he told us wanted us to say a pray with him. While during my prayer, I felt inspired to say, "Please help us to be peacemakers and examples to those around us," and he stopped me mid-prayer with tears in his eyes asking me how I knew to say that. He explained to us some difficult things that he was going through and how he's been trying so hard to be a peacemaker during his difficult time. We tried getting his contact information, but he didn't feel comfortable sharing it with us quite yet. We left him with a Book of Mormon and our information; this was definitely one of the coolest experiences on my mission. I may never get to teach him, but the fact that I was able to help him feel the Spirit during a difficult time in his life makes the mission so worth it, even if it's so incredibly hard. Definitely one of the best days on my mission so far!
TUESDAY (5/28/24): We started this morning by having a lesson with Facundo. After talking with him for a bit, we jumped straight into reading the Book of Mormon; he wants to read the whole Book of Mormon! We read through 1 Nephi 3 and explained to Facundo the events taking place. After, we talked about the fall of Adam and Eve and how it ties into the Atonement and the Plan of Salvation. After, we found some more people! We'll see where it goes with the people we've been finding. After, we went to the church to work on some pamphlets that we are working on. We're planning on handing them out and posting them around Greenfield: we'll see if we actually get people to call us or show up to church! After finishing some things up, we actually met a really cool guy! We were driving and I felt inspired to stop at this apartment complex. While walking around the apartment complex, we met a man named Abraham. We explained to him the Book of Mormon and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was really interested. After, we had a lesson with Natalia and Susana. We talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how we are saved from spiritual and physical death. We explained to them the Fall and how a Savior was prepared from the beginning; we also talked about how the sacrament and covenants work. After, we met with Freddy and made sure he was doing well! He's prepared to be baptized this Saturday! We talked about President Nelson and the importance of a modern-day Prophet and Apostles; we also talked about temples and the Priesthood. We ended the night by having sports night with the kids: they were absolutely crazy today!
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