For P-day today, we went up to the temple! Since Elder Isaacon's recommend had expired (and he wasn't able to meet with President Larson until this Friday for interviews), we weren't able to go inside the temple! We still went up to Oakland though to visit the Visitor Center and take pictures with the Zone and the District! It was a long drive up, but it was worth it! We were also able to go to Downtown Oakland and go to some macaroni restaurant with Elder Astle and Elder Rushforth! I didn't eat anything, but it was still fun to spend time with them!
Afterwards, we headed back to my old area of Las Colinas to visit Gabino while he was working! The following day, I had planned something to meet up with Gabino since we were driving back through San Jose after finishing up at the temple! It was really good to see him again! Gabino has probably been the biggest blessing I have seen/received on my mission! I'm so grateful I was able to teach and help Gabino be baptized! He is one of my best friends! I love seeing him thrive in the gospel and how much of an impact the gospel has made in his life! He's preparing to receive his temple recommend, so I'm hoping I get to go up with him when he goes! He's also been able to help teach Noche De Hogar! Gabino truly has a special place in my heart, and I am so grateful for him! He was able to give us some strawberries since he was selling them, and they were absolutely delicious! It reminded me of my days in Watsonville! (I have been out here for so long haha).
Afterwards, we had to head to the Mission Office to pick up a package for Elder Isaacson and then head back to Hollister! The traffic was absolutely terrible and took up the whole day! Luckily, we were able to make it in time for Dora! We had a really good lesson with Dora! We went over the baptismal interview questions with her and she was good on every single one of them! We showed her a video on the baptismal service and how it'll go! She is so prepared and ready to be baptized this Sunday! It took a lot of work to get her there, but it was well worth it!
To end the night, we had to go help and minister to an English Sister in our district; she was going through a very hard time (I'm going to keep it confidential), but she had basically gotten a call from President Larson saying that he thinks she should go home! She definitely wants to/needs to stay out here as a missionary! She has so much potential to be an amazing missionary; she has only been out for 6 months, and she has a lot left in the tank! We talked with her for a while and gave her advice and how to overcome this! Me and Elder Isaacson have been out here for a while, so we know a thing or two about how hard the mission is! We are really trying to help these sisters out with their companionship issues! Luckily, I've gotten along with every single one of my companions (which I'm very thankful for)! Also, while stopping at the gas station we got called out by some dude telling us to "F" off and how he was off the devil! Me and Elder Isaacson were very confused, but we just laughed it off!
On Thursday, we began the day by preparing for a service project for one of the members of the English Ward! However, right as we went to go, they canceled sadly! Since I wasn't in the pros and I wasn't able to get my haircut the day before due to the temple, we went and got a haircut at a local salon next to our apartment! I got a pretty bad haircut sadly hahah! It's alright though, it'll grow back! I'm going to have Sister Nosack fix my hair! The lady who cut my hair was super nice though! She was an older Southern lady, and we talked about our church, what it's like being a missionary, and how I got "unlucky" serving here in the states while others get to go Europe and countries like that 🤣; she also explained how members of our church are always kind and shove the gospel down people's throats who aren't interested haha! I totally can see her perspective!
Anyways after my haircut, we went and looked for the whole day! While at the park, some homeless people got into a CRAZY fight! Fists were getting thrown and there was a full-on wrestling match! They eventually stopped but it really threw me and Elder Isaacson off guard! We were just laughing! We also went and visited Veronica and Javier! They were busy cleaning up and organizing outside of their home, but we actually had a really good lesson with them about the Plan of Salvation! They began talking about how they'd like to get married, so we explained to them temple marriage and how we can get sealed to a spouse for time and all eternity! We were able to go over the first half of the Plan of Salvation and the importance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ! I read 2 Nephi 2 with them and showed them the importance of reading and studying the Book of Mormon to better understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation! We invited them to come to the baptism the following Sunday and they said they would! They really like when we come over and they let us know that they feel something different when they are around us! They expressed to us that they feel good listening to what we say as well! We helped them better understand the importance of the Holy Ghost! They have so much potential to progress and I know the Gospel would make such an amazing impact on their life! We are going to keep visiting them often!
After Veronica and Javier, we tried visiting Perla and Mitchell, but they weren't home! We ended the night by having to minister to Sister Nosack again; apparently, she had a pretty serious call with President Larson about going home! It's a pretty serious/complicated situation that I'm not fully informed about! We are ministering to her and her companions and helping them out in any way possible! Me and Elder Isaacson have definitely been able to help her out a lot! We want the best for her because she is such a great person!
On Friday, we had Interviews with President Larson! We had to go up to Gilroy to have Zone Training with the Zone! We of course had to stop by the gas station on the way up! At the Zone Training, we talked about the Priesthood and differences between Priesthood Keys, Offices and Authority! A bunch of the missionaries were asking a bunch of random questions, so it took up a LONG time! I've come to understand Priesthood pretty well from my time as a missionary! It's the reason why our church is the true and only living church on the planet! It's definitely something I'm going to continue to study and learn! Afterwards, we had to wait a little for our interviews with the President! I had a really good interview with President Larson! We talked about how I've matured and grown as a missionary and the valuable lessons and experiences I've had as a missionary! We went over the importance of meeting people where they are all at and how the characteristics of Christ bless us! I've truly been blessed to where I've been able to get along with all of my companions! Of course, I've had comps who I've enjoyed more and who I'll hang out with after the mission, but I've been fortunate enough to be able to get along and help every companion I've had! I'm truly grateful for every experience I've had as a missionary (regardless of the good or bad)! It's definitely shaped me into the person I am today! We also talked about the sister situation and how we can continue to minister to them! Overall, it was a good interview and I'm very grateful for President Larson!
After our interviews (which took up most of the day), we headed back to Hollister! I started feeling pretty sick, so we weren't able to get much done. We still went out and tried our best! We were able to go and help one of the members out in the branch! His name is Jose Rodriguez and he's been a member for most of his life! He had called us the day before asking us if we could come over and share a spiritual thought about the Plan of Salvation and give a blessing to his daughter's mother-in-law! He's unable to come to church though because he works every Sunday, but he's a really good guy! His daughter's ex-husband's grandmother had passed the day before and the family was pretty distraught! Jose invited them over for us to help them out! So, the daughter's, ex-husband's mother and his family were able to come and hear what we had to say! It was a very weird situation that we had been put in, but it was good regardless 🤣. He had invited Brother Carter over as well, so he was there too! We went over the Plan of Salvation with them and how knowing about this plan gives us peace and strength in times of loss! We read from Alma 42 and explained to them the spirit world, the resurrection, and the Atonement! Afterwards, since my throat was hurting pretty hard, Elder Isaacson gave a blessing to the mother-in-law of Jose's daughter! She could really feel the Spirit and was crying during Elder Isaacson's blessing! It was a very Spirit-led lesson, and I'm so glad we were able to help this family re-understand the Plan of Salvation and how families can be together forever through Jesus Christ!
On Saturday, we had a pretty bad day! It started off really well though! Elder Forysth was able to come down and do Dora's baptismal interview! She passed very easily, and she was more than ready for her baptism the following day! Right after her interview had concluded, Hermana Cruz showed up unexpectedly because she was waiting for the Sisters to have a lesson! She bore a super powerful testimony to Juan and Dora and explained to them how the gospel has changed her life and how it has helped her through challenging times! It was a really sweet moment, and Hermana instantly brought the Spirit! I love her--she is the best! After is when the day turned sour! We went to go visit Erika and let her know that we'd be having the baptism the following day! However, right as we got there, the first thing she said to us was that she wasn't paying tithing and that she wasn't going to come to the church anymore; we tried to talk to her, and we tried to explain to her that she should keep coming to church regardless whether she's baptized or not! She wasn't really having it and was basically telling us to go away; I bore my testimony to her on the commandments and how they are a sign of love from God before going! Let's just say, me and Elder Isaacson were pretty depressed for rest of the day; it ruined the day! We were both pretty upset most of the day! It was by far one of the worst days of my mission and that's saying something! We spent the rest of the day moping, finishing the baptismal pamphlet, and helping Klaudia with some service! She wanted us to go pick up an exercise bike for her, so that's what we did! At least, we were able to get some service done!
Sunday was a VERY good but interesting day 🤣; we had Stake Conference in Morgan Hill which is about 35 minutes away from Hollister! President Larson and Sister Larson came and even spoke at it! There were actually a lot of good talks given! Diego was able to come and sit by us! After conference ended, Diego was able to meet President Larson and talk to him! It was a pretty cool moment! After Stake Conference, we headed back to Hollister to set up the baptism for Dora! We had to set up all the chairs, tables, fill up the fount, and help prepare the gym for the food! We also had to finish printing and preparing the pamphlets! The service went really well! Hermana Cruz gave a really good talk on baptism and how baptism is essential for our salvation! Elder Isaacson was able to baptize Dora, and it went really smoothly! She was so excited to be baptized that she tried going under the water before the prayer was said! Hermana Maggie gave a talk on the Holy Ghost! She had asked me for help preparing the talk, so I was able to share some scriptures with her and help her prepare the talk! Sister Maxwell and Sister Carlton were also able to perform a musical number for the service! Sister Maxwell played the cello while Hermana Carlton played the piano; they are basically pros! Everyone was loving the musical number, and the Spirit was strongly felt! It was all going really good until the final prayer! We had invited Morris to come say the closing prayer, but he never came! So instead, President Starkweather asked Diego to say the prayer. Well, since Diego grew up in a very Catholic/Christian background, he still prays in a VERY passionate way haha! He said a very LOUD and POWERFUL prayer hahah! He was basically shouting out the top of his lungs and he was extremely passionate during his prayer; he was even throwing his hands up during it! I was biting my lip the whole time trying not to laugh because of how embarrassed I felt. It wasn't what he said in his prayer that was wrong (it was actually quite a good prayer he offered) but it was the way we offered it! The members of the branch enjoyed it though! Us and the members of the Branch love the energy and the enthusiasm that Diego has for the gospel, but we just have to help him understand the importance of reverence and how we truly pray! It was quite the experience! Juan enjoyed the service as well! He was very happy seeing Dora get baptized and confirmed! We are going to meet with him on Wednesday and put him on date! Hopefully, him being able to see a baptism helps him have the desire to now get baptized for himself! He really needs to get in the fount! In addition to that, President Larson was able to stop by and congratulate Dora on her baptism! I guess he had some meeting at the chapel!
After helping with the afterparty, we went over to Hermano Villa's house to eat with him and gave his "roommate" a blessing! He had just gotten in a pretty bad car accident, and he's grown up being in trouble with the law for most of his life! He's interested in weightlifting and dieting, so I was able to talk with him for a while about that! Afterwards, we shared a message of Hope and Peace and the blessing that we receive when we follow Jesus Christ in the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ! We introduced the Book of Mormon to him and invited him to start meeting with the Sister Missionaries since they live in his area! I gave a really good blessing to him in Spanish, and I could definitely tell that he was feeling the Spirit! Hopefully the Sisters are able to teach him and help him out! We ended the night by ministering with the Missionary in our District!
Monday and Tuesday were pretty bad; we had District Council but the sisters were sick so none of them were able to come! We talked about the Restoration, why it was necessary, and how we have been blessed because of it! No one was really wanting to talk, so me and Elder Isaacson did most of the talking! One of the things I've learned most about the restoration is how important it is to have modern day prophets and apostles who can guide us/teach us and who can interpret the scriptures for us correctly! There're so many reasons why the restoration is so important! But for these two days, basically nothing happened; our motivation was pretty low, and I still wasn't feeling the best. We went and found a little supermarket next to where we live, and we tried our best to invite as many people as we possibly could to English Class! Of course, none of them came so the class was pretty small, but we still helped teach the class! We were also able to order Henry (the son of Maggie) a mission belt! He had been playing with my belt since I had gotten here, and he's been wanting one since! He was super happy that we were able to get him one; he was beyond excited! We taught Maria on Tuesday about the sacrament and explained to her the reason we need to go to church! She was kinda pulling the, "God can be worshipped anywhere" card so we explained to her why we need to go to church and make covenants! I was pretty bold with her and shared how our church is the only full true church on the earth and how through the Priesthood (which only our church has) we can make covenants! I was pretty frustrated with no one listening to us, so I've just started to become as bold as I possibly can: lovingly of course! She seemed to like what I was teaching her! Hopefully she can come to church! We tried knocking Erika's door on Tuesday, but she wouldn't open the door; I'm still pretty heartbroken about her and her situation! We are going to try and visit her one more time, but it's looking like we'll have to drop her sadly!
Also, the Lepe Martinez family moved into a new house closer to the church! We had tried visiting them on Monday, but we saw that there wasn't any furniture left in their house. Me and Elder Isaacson were pretty heartbroken that they had left us without saying goodbye; right after, I sent Martha a text thanking her for everything she had done for us and how grateful we were for her and her family! Right after, she let us know that they had only moved down the street into a new home! So, Tuesday night, we were able to go see them at their new crib! They live next to a ranch now where horses are, so we were able to go see them and pet them (I'm going to bring some apples next time and get a picture with them)! They were needing help fixing their sink, so Elder Isaacson was able to do it for them! Elder Isaacson is basically a certified plumber and it's what he's going to do after his mission!
While standing there after helping them fix their sink, the chandelier in their living room fell off the room for some reason! It scared the heck out of everyone (I somehow wasn't phased by it), but it shook Alfredo Lepe Sr pretty badly! Due to the stress and the anxiety from him and his family moving, his work and his asthma, he had a pretty bad asthma attack. Luckily, he had his inhaler, and he was able to get fresh air! The whole family got pretty scared by it but luckily everything was ok! I was able to clean the shattered chandelier which they were grateful for! We ended with a prayer, which helped, and let them know that we were there to support and help them in any way possible! They are going through a lot right now and we are going to help them out in any way possible! Elder Copeland
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