For P-day, we cleaned up our apartment and talked to our families for a while! It was pretty crazy getting to talk to my parents who were in Dubai! Pretty random but it's pretty amazing how technology allows us to communicate and speak to those all over the world! I'm very grateful for technology because it allows me not only to talk to my family, but it'll allow me to continue to talk to those I met on my mission after my mission ends! I'm trying my best to look for little things to be grateful for! It truly has allowed me to be happier and realize and understand all the many blessings I have received!
After talking with our families, we headed up to Gilroy to go hang out with Elder Rushforth and Elder Astle! It was good to see Elder Rushforth! After chatting with the Elders for a while in their apartment, we went and got food at Chipotle! I was also able to buy some David Protein Bars (the best Protein Bars) and some Pre-Workout at the Vitamin Shoppe! After, we headed over to the Gilroy Chapel to play volleyball with the rest of the Zone! After playing volleyball, we walked around the shops of Gilroy! While walking around, I found something AMAZING for my dad! I'm going to give it to him when I get home but I'll leave it as a secret for now just in case he reads this haha! To end the day, we headed back to Hollister to finish writing our emails, briefly going over the Restoration with Mitchell, and talking with the Lepe Martinez family about a lot of things (we always have long talks with them; they treat us like we are their family haha) and about the importance of sacrifice and the blessings we receive when we follow Jesus Christ and his Gospel!
On Thursday, we began the day helping set up for the Cinco de Mayo festival that the Relief Society was having later that day! We had to set up all of the tables and organize the cultural hall for the members! We also helped decorate! It took quite a bit of time, but we were able to get it done! Afterwards, we headed back to the apartment and got ready for the day! Thursday was weekly planning, so we planned out our week and made sure to contact all of our progressing friends! Afterwards, we decided to venture out of Hollister and try to find San Juan Bautista! San Juan Bautista is a little town located 15 minutes outside of Hollister! It was actually a really cute little town! It felt very foreign which was fun! We found a couple people, named Victor and San Juan, and we taught them about the Book of Mormon and the Plan of Salvation! We tried looking over there for a while, but it was kind of a Ghost Town; they have a cool Catholic mission up there which we might go visit one of these P-days!
Afterwards, we headed back down to Hollister to visit Javier and Veronica; Veronica wasn't feeling too well but we were able to visit Javier and talk with him for a while! We are trying to slowly ease and begin to teach Javier more and more! We are trying our best to get him to progressively start coming to church more so that his desire grows more! It might take some time with him, but I have faith he can get there! Afterwards, we tried and knocked on a couple of our friends' houses but none of them were home; I always leave cards though so that I don't feel like I'm wasting my time! After dinner, we went over to the chapel to help with the Cinco De Mayo celebration! Dora was able to come so we were able to talk with her for a while! It was a good party! Henry was there as well so we talked with him for a while! After getting pictures, dancing and listening to some of the Hermanos of the branch sing, we ended the night by helping clean up the cultural hall.
Friday was a bit of a slower day since Elder Isaacon wasn't feeling too good! He had a pretty bad headache for most of the day; I felt great as usual! We were able to get some things done! We helped Sister Cruz break down an old desk and move it to the back of her yard! We also helped clean up chicken wire and other junk she had laying in the yard! She was super appreciative of us and sent a super nice text afterwards! After finishing, I let Elder Isaacson rest most of the day since he was in a pretty good amount of pain! I was able to text and call a bunch of people while also finishing up my emails!
We were able to meet up with Diego today! He's been really well and is preparing to receive the Priesthood and his temple recommend this Sunday! We talked about how his week had been; we also had him explain to us a little more about his ranch where he keeps his roosters/chickens! We're going to make a trip up there with him today! Afterwards, we explained to him the importance of the Priesthood and baptisms for the dead! We showed him a video, and we read in the scriptures with him! We're going to plan a trip with him and take him up there! After Diego, we had an excellent lesson with Juan and Dora! We went over all the commandments with them and they were good with all of them! Dora told us she wants to be baptized May 18th now instead of the 25th which we were super excited to hear! She is SO awesome and I'm so excited to help her get baptized! Juan is still not entirely sure quite yet so he's going to wait and see how the baptism goes! We are almost POSITIVE he'll get baptized right after she does! After she experiences a baptism and after he sees how happy Dora is, he'll get there! We are going to keep praying and working with both of them! Hermano Arrington was able to come and help us out SIGNIFICANTLY! He's a really good guy! To end the night, we went and contacted a couple people, and we talked to a couple inactive members: it was pretty successful! We were able to set up some return appointments!
On Saturday, we began the day by talking to our friend Eric on the phone for a while! Eric came up to us a couple weeks ago while we were at Safeway! He watched us teach and find a couple people and then asked us if he could learn more! (This was the guy that has supposedly written a bunch of books about Christianity) Anyways we had referred him over to the English Elders since he doesn't speak Spanish! Well, for some reason, the Elders were finally able to get into contact with him and Eric went on a total rant! We are pretty sure he was drunk or on something, but he was harassing the English Elders for a while! He REALLY wanted to talk more about Jesus and Christianity and the fundamental belief of Christianity and what we believe as members of the church, but he was so irrational to the point where he would not let us talk or say anything! I eventually took over the phone call since I was the one that had talked with him, but he was continuing to do the same thing to me! I tried teaching him about Salvation vs Exaltation, the Atonement and the Priesthood but he was not allowing us to talk/explain ourselves to him! We tried setting something up at the church, but he refused to do so haha; when we tried ending the call (because it had been going on for so long) he kept claiming that we didn't want to talk about Jesus! I got the interaction on video haha but the guy was pretty crazy! I was super surprised how he was acting towards us on the call because in person he was acting pretty normal! Anyways after the long call, we were able to go out and visit some people! We taught Diania about the Plan of Salvation and the importance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and his Resurrection!
Today was Mexicans Mother's Day so we went around wishing everyone a "Feliz Dia De Las Madres." We stopped by Erika's and said hi to her and she let us know that she was coming to church! After daily contact and making sure our friends were invited to church, we went and visited a bunch of people! We tried to teach the people that we had found in San Juan Bautista but none of them were home! Afterwards, we were able to go and visit Javier and Veronica! Today was their day off so we were able to talk with them for a while and continue to grow our relationship with them! We are basically just their friends at this point! We talked about Mexico and the best places to visit in Mexico, our vacations to Hawaii, our time as missionaries, and what we have learned serving, and a bunch of other things! We went over the importance of going to church as well and invited them to church again, so hopefully they come! After, we went and got Dora a card and some macaroons for Mother's Day! Me and Elder Isaacson are super grateful for Dora, and we are both so excited to see her get baptized the following Sunday! After, we tried visiting the Lepe Martinez family, but they weren't home; we ended the night by ministering to the English Sisters (they were having some companionship problems haha).
We had a pretty good Sunday! It was also Mother's Day! I was able to talk to my mom for a little bit! I could write a whole paragraph on how grateful I am for my mom and how much I love her! If there's one thing the mission has helped me with and taught is how amazing my parents are! I should have been more grateful and loving to them before my mission! They truly are the most important people in my life! I am blessed beyond words!
At church, Juan, Dora, Erika and Eddy were all able to come. Erika is such an inspiration to us! Her car wasn't working so she walked to Church instead! Hermana Kratzer was able to sit next to Erika and continue to befriend her! We are helping her to continue to be integrated in the Branch! Juan and Dora continue to be awesome! Dora is continuing to prepare for her baptism the following Sunday! It's only a matter of time before Juan gets in the fount as well! It's pretty hard to set anything up with Eddy since he had a stroke and isn't there entirely, but he loves the church and attends regularly! After the service, we went home and got ready for the day! We went on a drive, visited members of the branch, and went to the hospital to give Brother Olsen a blessing! Hermana Boothe had let us know that he was in the hospital due to problems with his diabetes, so we were able to go over and give him a blessing of health! He was very grateful for it, and he was in high spirits afterwards! It was a pretty slow day but a good day regardless! We were also able to go take some outbound photos for Elder Isaacson!
On Monday, we had to head up to Gilroy for Zone Council and District Council! We talked about the importance of gratitude, sacrifice, and looking at what we have been blessed with in our lives! We also talked about the importance of compassion and acting and thinking as the Savior would! After our meetings and lunch, we headed back to Hollister to begin the day! We spent most of the day tracting and trying to have a lesson with Laura Gladys! We talked with Hermana Kratzer for a while, but Laura never showed up! Later she let us know that she was sick and that's why she wasn't able to come! We ended the night by visiting the Lepe Martinez Family and talking with them for a while! We shared Moroni 7:12-14 with them and explained to them how the Spirit allows us to discern truth from error and how anything that is good comes from God while everything bad comes from the Devil! We also explained to them how grateful we were for them and how much they have helped us out! They have practically taken us in as their family and love hearing what we have to say! We bore our testimonies on the restoration and how the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ has changed our lives! There are going to be some who take a while to progress (just because of how much they work and how getting to church is difficult for them) but I have complete confidence that down the line they will get baptized! It'll most likely not be when me and Elder Isaacson are missionaries, but we are definitely planting seeds right now!
We had a pretty good Tuesday! We began the day by helping members of the Branch clean up the chapel! Klaudia had asked us to help the following day so of course we said yes! We had to clean up the bathrooms and organize the closets! Afterwards, we were able to have a really good lesson with Erika! Herman Kratzer was able to come with us, and we went over the commandments (Word of Wisdom, Law of Tithing, Law of Chastity, etc.) and she seemed good with all of them! Hermana Kratzer was able to give valuable insight as well! We went over her baptismal date with her and she wasn't 100% sure yet but that she was leaning towards doing so! She's going to come to the baptismal service the following Sunday to see the service of Dora! I'm very confident that after she sees the baptismal service (we are making this service special) that she'll be set on being baptized! After Erika, we tried visiting Eddie and a couple other people but none of them were home! We are trying VERY hard to set something up with Eddie! We want to see if he is accountable or not because if he is, he could be baptized very easily since he loves the church so much; we will see!
Afterwards, we went and taught a bunch of new people down a street called Line Street! It felt like we were in Mexico haha! After teaching a bunch of people down there, we talked to a couple people at a little market named Lupitas! We talked to a really nice man from Jalisco named Fabian and a nice little couple from Oaxaca! I t's crazy how people from Mexico can be from the same country yet look so different! The Oaxans are way shorter and a little more stump while people of Jalisco are a lot taller/skinnier, have lighter skin, blue eyes and shorter hair! It's been really a cool experience being able to meet and talk to people from all over Mexico and South America! That's one of the cool parts of serving in the United States! To end the night, we went and had Chipotle with Hermana Booth and we helped teach English Class! I really enjoy helping with English Class and it's one of my favorite things I love doing every week! Dora came and even brought presents for the teachers! She is the BEST and I am so excited for her to be baptized this Sunday! Elder Copeland
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