WEEK 76 (CORRECT) *79

For P day, we got to go to the Temple! I always love going to the Temple! It really is a blessing that we are able to go to the Temple once a Transfer! We were able to do initiatorys  and go to the Celestial Room! I can't wait to take my family and friends to the Temple after my mission! It really is one of the most incredible Temples in the world! After, we got to go to Texas Roadhouse which was fun! After, we headed down to Palo Alto to visit Stanford! Elder Rushforth, my companion, has a buddy who was attending Stanford! We got to meet up with and walk around the campus with him for a sec! I can see why it's the third ranked university in the United States: it was absolutely amazing! I don't know if I could ever go to Stanford since it's so liberal, but it truly is an amazing place! After heading back from Stanford (the traffic was terrible coming back) we headed over to Edmonds house to help him continue to fill out his papers for his court case the following Monday! We had to translate the questions into English so he knew what to write; we ended up helping him out a lot! I seriously don't know what he would have done without us! We helped him answer all the questions and gave him advice for his court case the following Friday  

On Thursday, we had a couple of lessons fall through unfortunately but we had another good lesson with Alexandra! We read from Alma 5 and talked about the importance of repentance and the power we can and have recieved through the Atonement of Christ! We helped go over the Baptismal service with her and answered any further questions she had! Her kids were out of control once again but it was alright! After working for a little more, we visited Edmon and reviewed some things with him, helped him with his papers and prayed with him for continue success and blessings! After, we went to English class where two of our Referrals came! We had a friend named Valencia and another friend named Jordan come! We were able to find them through referrals on Preach my Gospel! After English class, we gave a spiritual thought about the Commandments and how the commandments are a blessing given to us from God! 

On Friday, we had Zone Conference! Before Zone Conference, we had to go get our car washed! It was actually a really good Zone Conference! We talked about the importance of Lifelong discipleship, working through trialing and difficult times, putting your faith in God, etc. It was one of my favorite Zone Conferences President Larson has given us; since Zone Conference took up most of the day, we ended the day going to the Chapel to gave a baptismal interview for one of the Sisters friends named Israel! It was a pretty long discussion; he was telling me how he didn't feel prepared to be baptized/how we wasn't sure if he was willing to keep the commandments, his testimony, etc. He didn't end up passing his interview but that's not to say he wasn't going to be baptized; we just pushed off his baptism for a couple weeks later so that he could a little more time to prepare! We ended the night by playing some sports to lift our spirits up; 

Saturday was one of the most interesting days of my mission! We had a really good lesson with Alexandra! We went over any last questions she had about her baptism and talked about the importance/blessing it us for us as disciples of Christ to make and keep sacred covenants with God! We read Moroni 7:25-32 with her and talked about the importance of putting faith in God to recieve Miracles! After, we had to go to do a MASSIVE service project for a members neighbor! She was moving apartments and needed help moving her furniture from her apartment to her uhaul! She lived on the fourth floor of her apartment and her elevator was out of order; so me and Elder Rushforth spent the whole day moving/carrying couches, bed frames, mattresses, chairs, desks, etc. from the fourth floor of her apartment down to her uhaul; we had to carry everything down the stairs and it was quite the task! It was hard but I seriously enjoyed doing it! It took a couple hours, but we were able to do it! The hardest part of the whole thing was trying to unscrew the nails of her bed frame; we only had a little screwdriver as well which meant it took twice as like to do so; one of the nails was so stuck! The craziest part is while moving her furniture, apparently multiple people had called the cops saying that their was a drunk or dead person in the apartment complex where she had lived! So while moving furniture, the cops were looking around the apartment for the body; I don't know what exactly happened but I'm pretty sure it was just as miscall ; since that took most of the day, we ended the day by going to the church to make Alexandras baptismal pamphlets and plan her baptism the following day ! 

However, Sunday did not go as plan! While preparing to go to church, we received a text from Alexandra saying that she wasn't going to be able to be baptized ; she told us she wasn't sure if she was willing to keep the Law of Chasity and commit to the covenant of Baptism; I was devastated! We had to push the baptism off a couple weeks! I was so beyond frustrated/mad! Our friends Rigo and Jose came to church but regardless it was a pretty miserable Sunday for me; I was so mad/aggravated that we ended up leaving church a little early since I was so upset; we were able to go to the apartment for a little bit, take a a nap and then go out and work! Instead of feeling sorry for myself we went out and worked! We were able to visit Edmond and go over the Baptismal interview questions with him! He knew them super well and was now ready to be interviewed and baptized the following Sunday! He also let us know that we had helped him out tremendously with his court case; they pushed it off until September now! Me and Elder Rushforth seriously helped Edmon not get deported! After, were able to go finding throughout the day and found some pretty cool people! We also visited Carlos! He let us know that he was moving to Santa Clara and that he wouldn't be living in San Jose anymore; he was pretty sad when we told him that other missionaries would be reaching out to him instead us: apparently he really liked us . For night church, we had a pretty cool referral come to Night Church named Manuel! He was from Nicaragua and was interested in learning more about our Church! We explained to him our fundamental beliefs as members and the importance of the Book of Mormon! He was a pretty witty man; definitely one of the most interesting people I've met on my mission so far! We set up a time to meet up with him again! We also learned that the service missionary who pasted out a couple weeks ago during night church was ok! I didn't include in my email but a couple weeks ago, an older gentleman of the ward, who was a service missionary, had passed out and hit his head on the door! Everyone rushed over to him to check up with him and see if he was ok! The paramedics had to come and check up with him; it was good to learn though that he was only low on blood sugar! I was super happy to learn that he was ok! 

On Monday, we had District council! We listened and talked about Dallas Jenkins "5 loaves and 2 fish" talk that he gave at a BYU devotional! It's one of my favorite talks ever given; it especially relates to us as missionaries because our job is to not feed the 5000 but to provide the 5 loaves and 2 fish (our efforts). It's one of the best District Councils I've given; after District council and lunch, we went and visited some inactive members! We talked a member named Lituania for a little while about her experience in the Church, her testimony of Christ and the importance of keeping our covenants with God! We read from the Book of Mormon with her to help her understand the importance of Enduring to the End! She told us she works Sundays so we invited her to Night Church! Hopefully she's comes; after finding a couple new friends, we went over the Anahis apartment and taught her about the Temples! She had a TV so we showed her the Rome Temple open house! We tried to get her husband to join us but he wasn't interested sadly: we going to keep trying with him! After, we were able to teach a lady with the cutest puppies! It seriously made me miss Luna haha! After a couple more contacts (and a very dramatic drop text from our friend Manuel: the guy who had come to church the night before: he was not interested in learning anymore for some reason) we ended the night by going to Noche de Hogar with a couple of referrals that we had received and invited! One of them was not interested in learning more and only came to see what the church was like while the other guy (Alfredo) said that he would be down to come to English Class! We've also been able to get into Lucas! He's beee texting us throughout the weeks! He's currently living/working in Modesto! He told us that he has been able to attend the church up their which was really good to hear! I hope I'm able to say goodbye to him before I leave next transfer! 

On Tuesday, we spent most of the day downtown! We went and tried to visit a couple people but nothing to excited happened until our discussion with Jesus! We had like a 2 hour conversation with him about aliens, evolution, the purpose of life, the gospel and variety of other topics! He's pretty smart but pretty set in his ways; Hermana Rica was able to bear a powerful testimony to him! He invited us to come back and have another discussion! He runs the supermarket where he works so he gives us free snacks and drinks haha! He's actually a really good guy! He's just not really set on religion! After, we had dinner with Hermana Ivette! We hung out with her and her little kids, they are hilarious, and I even got to help her make tortillas! I had no idea what I was doing but it was fun regardless! We ended the night by going to missionary correlation meeting and ministering to the Sister Missionaries! 

-Elder Copeland