Sunday, August 25, 2024

Week 48 - August 14, 2024

 WEDNESDAY (8/7/24):  Pretty good P-day!  We woke up pretty early and went to the Green Bridge next to our apartment.  We threw an old guitar off the bridge and got some pictures!  We also drove through a vineyard which was pretty fun!  After getting some things done at the apartment, we drove up to Seaside and visited the Pier.  We saw some guys selling some Trump Flags and some Trump magnets.  I, of course, had to support this man; I bought a flag and some magnets!  I was also able to get some Virgen Maria socks and some Horachas for Zone Council Monday 🤣.   After walking around the pier and looking at the sea lions, we headed back to Greenfield!  

Once P-day ended, we taught our friend Camilo about the restoration of the Priesthood keys, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and Repentance.  Camilo is way cool; he invited us into his house, and we got to meet his family as well!  They were all present during the lesson.  After, we taught Clemente and Irma about covenants and the Priesthood; Elder Paxman used a great analogy of rubber bands to show how our relationship with Heavenly Father strengthens as we make and keep further covenants.  We also taught them about the Kingdoms of Glory.  We invited them to pray about covenants together.  To end the night, we visited Susana to see how she was doing.


THURSDAY (8/8/24):  We started the morning by finding a place near our apartment; we walked with some lady named Aurora until we met Christian.  He was on his way to the gym, so we just introduced ourselves to him/our purpose as missionaries and got his information.  After, a little Oaxacan man named Magdaleno came up to us and asked us to come teach him at his house; we walked with him and taught about the Priesthood and the Restoration.  He was a little drunk, but he was genuinely interested!  He also asked us if he could get a picture with him which was pretty funny 🤣; after, we taught one of our friends named Francisca.  We taught her about miracles and read from Moroni 7:27-31.  She was a super nice lady, but she wasn't interested in committing as she's always busy.  After finishing studying and daily contacts, we went and visited Freddy.  We helped him fill out his job applications and talked/taught him a little more about prayer!  We left Moroni 7 to read and sent him, "Motions of a Hidden Fire" by Jeffrey R Holland to read.  After, we hung out with Adan and Cesar; Brian was sleeping haha.  We talked about how school was going, we looked through some old photos of us and we explained to them what/how our missions are like. We read a little from 3 Nephi 11, very surprised they listened haha, and then Cesar said a prayer.  After the prayer though, Cesar and Adan started swinging 🤣. 
We talked to a lady named Dolores (nice lady who wasn't too interested) about the Book of Mormon. Afterwards, we had a really good lesson with Andreas. He showed his chickens (he has around 40 of them), his bunnies, and his dogs.  He told us his dream was to one day own a farm.  He's currently going to school to become a vet which is pretty cool!  I love learning more about people's passions; you never know what a person is truly passionate about until you get to know them.  We taught him about the Atonement and death of Jesus Christ, he had not heard of it before, and the nature of God.  We also taught him how to pray and what repentance means.  

 

 

 

Afterwards, we taught one of our friends named Yolanda about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how we can change and become better through the process of Repentance.  She was kinda interested: we just invited her to read from the Book of Mormon and testified of it.  We ended the night by re-teaching Susana about the Gospel of Jesus Christ; she actually remembered the whole thing without us having to tell her, which was pretty cool!

FRIDAY (8/9/24):  We started the day by doing service at Tony's house.  We helped them lay bark and set up barriers around the yard.  While doing so, Tony was telling us more about his conversion story and some of the experiences he has had as a convert to the church. He was telling us of experiences of members in the ward being pretty judgmental and uncaring towards members, missionaries, and friends in the ward.  From the time I've been down here, I totally agree with him!  I really want to help this ward and now the branch to become more unified and loving.  They haven't been open at all to the missionaries, our friends, recent converts, etc.  There are of course members who are absolutely amazing (Hermano Mateo, Tony, etc.)  For medical reasons, Tony uses medical marijuana for his joint problems; he told us how he was able to get First Presidency approval to be able to use marijuana.  He showed how a bong works which was super entertaining 🤣.

 

Afterwards, we helped move their pool table to their backyard; the thing was massive, so we had to break it up into slabs and move it piece by piece.  
After doing service at Tony's, we did our daily contact and then went to work!  After some unsuccessful contacts, we met a pretty cool girl named Jocelyn.  She didn't know much about God, Jesus Christ, etc.  So, we explained to her who God was and why Jesus Christ was important.  We left her Alma 18 to read. Afterwards, we did some more searching and found some pretty solid people.  To end the night, we had a long but effective lesson with Clemente and Irma; Hermano Mateo and his wife were able to come as well!  We talked about Joseph Smith and the first vision, the importance of the Priesthood, the importance of making Covenants, and the importance of receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  The lesson was kinda all over the place, but it went well!  They told us they're definitely planning on getting baptized soon; they just had some concerns about the classes and the members.  They told us that they felt like the members weren't really welcoming toward them and that they didn't understand anything they were being taught in the classes!  We told them that we absolutely agreed with them about the members needing to be better (which they do) and we showed them how to use "Come Follow Me" before coming to class every Sunday!  Hopefully with the Branch now, the members will become more unified!  Clemente and Irma will get there!  They are so solid; I was also able to bring Caleb, their 2-year-old son, a color book with crayons which he loved!

SATURDAY (8/10/24):  We started the morning by teaching our friend Magdaleno about faith!  We read from Alma 32:21 and explained to him what faith was! We invited him to have faith throughout the week and continue to read and pray in the scriptures!  After saying a quick prayer with our friend Aurelia, we visited Eduardo and his mother (Vilma).  We read from 2 Nephi 31:20 and Mosiah 3:17 and talked about the importance of following Jesus Christ through our faith and action.  After doing our daily contact, we visited with Simon and Francisco.  While I massaged Francisco's shoulder, he and Simon watched the Alma 17 Book of Mormon video which talks about the nature of God.  Simon said the sweetest prayer to end the lesson; he speaks very little Spanish, so he read from a paper that a past missionary had written for him.

Afterwards, we met a man named Adan and talked to him about the Book of Mormon.  After, we visited with our friend Roy.  Roy has a little kid named Koda, who has severe ADHD, and he was going crazy the whole time; he really likes aquatic animals so for 45 minutes straight, he kept talking about sharks, whales, fish, etc. You could tell Roy was mentally and physically drained: he loves Koda, but he is a lot of work.  I'll definitely be praying for him and his family.  We ended the night by having dinner with Adri and Tony and talking about the Restoration with Susana once again.

SUNDAY (8/11/24):  We had a Stake Conference today down at Seaside.  We started the morning by helping Hermano Villa out of his bed and into his chair.  At the Stake Conference, a Seventy (I forgot his name) came and talked to the English and Spanish members of the Monterey Stake.  If I'm being honest, most of the time I was journaling during the sessions, so I wasn't really paying attention. 

 

After getting back from Seaside, which took up most of the day due to the distance, we came back and did some daily contact.  We also had to help put Hermano Villa back in his bed.  Afterwards, we tried visiting some people but didn't have much success.  After, we headed to Night Church and taught some of the Sisters' friends about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  We ended the night by having dinner with Tony and Adri.

MONDAY (8/12/24):  We had Zone Council today up in Salinas; It was a bit of a drag if I'm being honest: The whole time, we talked about making sure we use proper titles, not listening to music, the need of being more consecrated, and making sure we follow the Standards.  Listen, I'm one for being obedient but making a 3-HOUR Zone Council about it was pretty miserable.  Afterwards, we had a good District Council and talked about the importance of Christlike Attributes.

 

 

 

After getting back to Greenfield, we had to go help some members in King City move a metal tent to another part of their yard.  It was pretty hard, but we managed to get it down.  The member was a really cool guy; he had workout equipment for me to use and he explained to us his passion for riding unicycles and motorcycles.  After, we taught our friend Jocelyn about prayer and the importance of prayer; we taught her how to pray and left her 2 Nephi 32 to read.  After, we visited with Freddy and talked to him about his job applications, and we re-taught him the restoration.  We testified of the Book of Mormon and left him Moroni 7 to read.  Afterwards, we went around inviting as many people to Noche de Hogar, the activity that would be taking place the next day and found some people as well!  We ended the night by saying hi to Susana and talking to our friend Manuel Garcie about paranormal activity haha.

TUESDAY (8/13/24):  We started the morning by finding six people; we knocked on an apartment complex near us and found some cool people, some cooler than others haha.  While searching, our friend Jocelyn called us and asked us to pray for her and her family!  After praying for her, we set up a time to go visit her this Thursday.  After eating, doing daily contact and finishing up our studies, we tried visiting our friend Magdaleno, but he was sleeping.  We found a cool kid named Jessie though and talked to him about the Book of Mormon.  After, we had Noche De Hogar and the Branch President taught us about the Holy Ghost.  We also played a game with the kids where we had to lie which was pretty funny.  Brian, Cesar and Adan were being crazy: they were trying to hit each other, and they were cursing like CRAZY!  Susana and Freddy, my recent converts, came through which was sick!  We ended the night by finding a referral we had been trying to contact named Hilpolito, which was a miracle, and also reactivating a lady and her family who we had previously talked to in the past (but had lost contact with).  She came up to us without us noticing in the evening and gave us her phone number and address! We are going to try and set something up with her this week!  We ended the night by heading up to Soledad to have a sleepover with Elder Isaacson and Elder Morris.   Elder Copeland

 

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