To be a rock and not to roll - 04/07/14

And then there was one. Last week. I get to spend it with the Office Assistants, running errands all over the mission and taking care of business inside the office. Apparently we are actually assigned to a ward, too, but not a whole lot happens there, and since we share the ward with Sisters, they get most of the good stuff. I got to spend my last weekend in Hemet in a beautiful Zone meeting, watching conference with all my missionary friends, and baptizing "D" on the anniversary of the official organization of the restored church. I don't think we ever explained that part, though. Maybe "J" will tell him.

She's such a sweetheart, "J". She's not actually  "D's" daughter, but she's basically being raised by him and his wife. She goes to seminary every morning, she's soaking up everything being taught to her like a sponge, and she wants to serve a mission in a couple years. Unfortunately her biological parents are so against the church that she's going to have to wait until she turns 18 in November to get baptized. But right now she's making us so proud because she can answer questions about the gospel better than some of the kids that have been raised in it. Can't wait until she follows "D" and his wife into the waters of baptism. Being able to dunk "D" was a great way to cap off my weekend and my stay in Hemet.

Buying stuff at Walgreens is usually an act of desperation, under impaired judgment. As a result, I have far more cough drops and chloroseptic spray than I will ever use in the remaining 7 days. But I got a ridiculously sore throat on Tuesday morning and have been fighting it off ever since. My fever broke Wednesday night and it's been more manageable ever since, but I'm still pretty snotty. Thank goodness for Sudafed. 

A detail I almost forgot to share:  I'm still shocked that we managed to hit the Standard of Excellence for the third week in a row, in spite of taking time off for zone meeting, conference, and being sick all day for most of the week. Seriously, we didn't leave the house to teach until dinnertime on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I call that a miracle. My companion is super proud. I'm glad that everything worked out so well. Only 10 hit the standard this week. We feel like champs.

Stare at CNN for long enough and I'm sure you'll go crazy hearing the same story of nothing happening over and over and over. I was stuck in that predicament on Thursday night, when my good friend Elder "Mc" and I were told to go to the emergency room. "Mc" had a killer headache, and every doctor that he'd visited in the past six months had failed to solve the problem. Well, the emergency room doctor didn't really fix anything, either. And we got to be in the emergency room from 8:30pm to 2am. That was entirely too much CNN in the waiting room for my poor brain to handle. But I was still more sane than poor Elder "Mc".  He was so mad by the end of the ordeal. 

Way back at the beginning of my mission, I remember how exciting everything was, and how much enthusiasm I had for everything. Now that's replaced with the wisdom of experience and being so used to these things it's almost like second nature. I almost feel a bit jaded, honestly. But every time I see the spark in someone's eyes, it's like it's brand new all over again. Or being able to participate in any ordinance of any kind, whether it's a blessing, the sacrament, or a baptism. I was told by Bishop that he really liked how I looked right at "D" the whole time I was saying the words of the ordinance. It never gets old. 

To say that the mission was the hardest thing I've ever done may not be entirely true. But it is definitely the best thing I've ever done for myself. The mission has shown the greatest return on investment for any significant chunk of time I can think of in my life so far. I've grown so much and I'm so grateful for it, crazy companions and dead areas and all.

Heaven must be like this: love and service. I am surrounded by people that I love and I get to serve God's children in fantastic ways every day. Soon I'll be doing different service, and not be a full-time missionary. But I'll still be able to progress and learn in ways that I haven't yet. I'm looking forward to it and hope to see all of you soon. My last thought is 2 John 2:12. Stay true to the church and to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I know that God will bless us all in ways we can't even imagine.

When all is one and one is all - 03/29/14

You may have noticed that all my subject lines are song lyrics. And if you listen very hard, the tune will come to you at last. 

This week was pretty fantastic. We hit the standard of excellence and got our names on the email again. Our investigator "M" is still on date and she's quitting smoking cold turkey right now. Our investigator "D" is on date to be baptized this coming Sunday. In terms of the missionary work, there's a lot to be proud of. I won't be leaving the area in worse condition than I found it when I arrived. 

My funny stories this week basically all have to do with moving heavy things. We had five moves this week, three during the week and two on Saturday. So I've been loading trucks and carrying really heavy furniture all week, and I'm flipping exhausted. And I've had to play therapist two or three nights this week, so I haven't been getting to bed on time. But I'm okay with it, because my lovely companion is doing way better at the moment. We had a couple sessions of passive-aggressive repartee, but mostly he's been far more upbeat than usual. 

I was pretty scared, though, when he told me he didn't want to go to dinner because he was scared of the dad in the family that was feeding us. He was really, really stressing out. Apparently he reminds him so much of the jerks that teased him in high school, that he was getting ill at the thought of eating in his house. But I convinced him to man up and grit through it so that I would be able to eat. And in the end, he came away smiling and saying, "I hate it when God proves me wrong on these things." The guy he was so scared of sat down with him one on one and gave him a good pep talk. Then the other guy in the home, our second counselor in the bishopric, did the same thing. They really helped him out. 

I'm also really glad that I was on exchanges on Friday when the other elders finished moving the guys that had a roach problem. One of the elders told me he felt like Moses parting the Red Sea when he leaned back the refrigerator and a sea of cockroaches swarmed out from underneath it. I would have freaked out. Instead I was running around San Jacinto with my buddy Elder "S". 

Oh, I went hiking this morning with my companion and another elder. I'm actually really impressed that we made it all the way to the top without losing my comp, but he was a trooper and made it all the way, as long as we went slow and took lots of breaks. Again, he can do things that are harder than he thinks he is capable of, and I'm trying to help him realize that. 

With all the moving stuff going on, I'm actually pretty impressed that we managed to hit the standard of excellence. But I know that God blesses us when we do service projects for people that really need it. So I shouldn't be too surprised. 

I'm running out of brainpower for this, and I'm not nearly as witty as I'd like. Have a wonderful week, and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Bound by the surprise of our glory days - 03/24/14

A lot happened this week. Let me just preface all this by saying that I am really, really looking forward to my final week in the mission, the week that I extended past transfers in order to see my convert sealed in the Newport Beach temple. In my last face-to-face conversation with President Smart, he told me that my last week in the mission would be fun. So I'm expecting a change of pace for that final week. President knows full well that he's sent a lot of tough companions my way, and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

From today's encouraging personal email from Pres: "You are a wonderful companion and a tremendous resource for our mission. I have relied on you many times. Thanks for being willing and able. Your good attitude has really helped me."

From the email that everybody gets from Pres: "PS - Those achieving the Standard of Excellence this week are: ... Elders Hansen and "P", .... In addition, 60 other missionaries achieved the Standard in all but one category. Thanks to all of you for your dedicated service. Have a great week!"

Nineteen other companionship hit standard, but I don't think any of them treasured that achievement as much as Elder "P". He was calling all his past companions and sharing the news last night until he fell asleep. 

For those keeping score at home, the Standard of Excellence is our mission's goal for what an excellent missionary can accomplish in a week. For us, it's four investigators at sacrament meeting, seven lessons to investigators with a member present, twenty lessons in total, and a full week of twenty street contacts a day. 

The thought never really crossed my mind that we could hit that goal and get our names in the email (that's our fame and glory, woohoo). But on Thursday, after three member-present lessons fell in my lap, and I realized that we had a handful of non-members that came to church just about every week (I didn't know a couple of these people were unbaptized before!), Elder "P" and I decided to go for it. And we exceeded it. We ended up with 28 lessons, 8 of which were member-present, and 7 investigators at church. I don't think he's ever had a week that good in his life. 

I 100% believe that the prayers of people back home made this entire week possible. Can I make it happen again? I sure can. I just hope that "P's" abundant joy and enormous pride doesn't turn into the kind of arrogance that will get us struck down and humbled by God.  You see, because the whole reason Elder "P" performed well this week is because he thought he was in danger of being sent home. That kind of attitude is what really rubs me wrong about this guy. 

Tuesday was a bad day. We had a district meeting, and my companion threw a fit. Well, he doesn't like that phrase, so I will be more precise: he threw his scriptures, his coat, and his name tag at the car in anger, punched the car a few times, and ran off on his own behind the church building. Two elders went after him. I just stood there. As far as I can tell, after talking to him about it, the thing that triggered that explosion was that six of our elders (the ones living together because they are avoiding the stalker) all decided to wear yellow ties to district meeting, and my companion felt left out of the cool kids club and thought they were bragging about how much cooler they were. So yeah, he punched the car in anger over a yellow tie. 

I was advised by my zone leader/best friend to call Pres and get this kid 5150d. First I had to deal with the fact that we were all at lunch and my companion was convinced everybody hated him and he didn't want to sit next to anyone with a yellow tie on. I did end up calling President later that night, and we determined to let him know that this kind of behavior is unacceptable, and is the kind of thing that will get him sent home. President spoke with him on the phone briefly, too. Suddenly everything changed. He called up everybody he could think of in the zone to apologize to. He was the first to suggest that we plan ways to get more lessons. He became a number-mongering missionary overnight. 

Things were still a little bit rough. I had to take him to the doctor, sit through 2 hours of Jerry Springer in the waiting room, convince him to buy and take his meds, and listen to him talk to the members about his problems. He got a letter from his parents that basically reinforced everything Pres and I said about him needing to shape up or be sent home, and that was scary for him. But like I said, he tried to be on his best behavior, and when Thursday rolled around, I felt inspired to do everything in my power to hit the Standard of Excellence. And so we did. He couldn't be more thrilled about that. 

The best part was on our way home Sunday night, one of our investigators that we picked up this past week called us up and told us that she wanted her and her children to be baptized in our church. Elder "P" wasted no time in putting her on date for baptism over the phone. Her kids are still in foster care and we've never met them, but she wants to talk to her social worker about being able to bring them to church. So that's pretty good news, in my book. 

Again, I can tell that the prayers of everybody on our behalf are making a huge difference. Thank you so much for caring about me. 

I'm reminded of D&C 35:34.  "Keep all the commandments and covenants by which ye are bound; and I will cause the heavens to shake for your good, and Satan shall tremble and Zion shall rejoice upon the hills and flourish;" When God wants something to happen, he can make the heavens shake for our good.  I feel like I'm sitting under a fruit tree and everybody has been shaking that tree for me, and the fruit just fell out and hit me on the head. Thank you so much.

We were born and raised in a summer haze - 03/17/14

Happy St. Patty's Day! Sickness has overtaken my apartment. Well, mostly just my companion, actually

This week was rougher. My companion seems to be deteriorating. He had a cold/sinus infection for the first part of the week, and now he's worried about the fact that his blood pressure is higher than normal . We stayed inside for most of the day several days this week, because I was feeling ill as well. We've had some really good talks that helped him identify some of his issues and left him feeling pretty good, but those good feelings don't last very long. He's asked to call Prez about going home three times this week, twice on Sunday. I keep trying to talk him out of it.

We had a really good lesson with Derek on Thursday. According to my companion, the best lesson anyone's ever had with Derek. Unfortunately I got distracted by the other unbaptized person in that house and didn't get around to putting him on date and had to run out the door at 9:29pm. I'm going to resolve that man's concerns and commit him to baptism this week if at all possible.

I got a package in the mail from my family this week with lots of pens in it. I was super excited to hand out pens to people. The rest of the zone had an interesting time of things this week. We did a move on Saturday with almost all of the elders in our zone. Our elder's quorum was super excited to see us, because there were 4 members of the ward there, and 10 elders showed up. It was nice to be the one to save the day for once.

The Park Hill Elders had a stalker follow them home to their apartment, and was sending them creepy texts all day long. After some prayer, they decided to call President Smart and spent the night with us at our apartment instead. So we had a sleepover with 8 Elders at my apartment. There were slurpees involved. We also made pancakes for breakfast for everybody, that was fun. That apartment is getting vacated, apparently. This stalker guy must have really posed a threat.

Multizone Conference was on Tuesday! It was really uplifting and really fun. I got to give my outgoing testimony there. Elder "M" says my testimony was the best part of the whole conference. If he liked it better than the food, it must have been a good testimony.

One of my favorite things I took from that multizone was this quote by Joseph Smith: "Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God." I'm doing my best to keep all the commandments of God, and have trust that happiness will follow. 

Did I mention I'm wearing my green tie today? Makes me happy. :D Have a fantastic day guys!

You can check out anytime you want - 03/10/14

I've made a terrible mistake, guys. Yesterday morning, I prayed for patience. So, naturally, yesterday my companion had a breakdown: suicidal comments, wanting to call President, throwing stuff at walls, the whole nine yards.

He's taking his medication most of the time, but he still has had a few missed doses and a couple meltdowns. He told me last night that he feels like nobody understands him and he wants to tell people that he's suicidal but nobody cares. I try to handle him the best I can, and reassure him that God still loves him and that he's capable of dealing with things. In fact a lot of the ward knows about his depression because he's not shy about it, and several of them have offered a lot of support in kind, thoughtful advice and conversation.

So yeah. That's where I'm at. The missionary work is taking a backseat to handling my companion's mental condition, but I'm used to that. I'll keep on chugging along.

I had a pretty happy birthday! It was a p-day, which was nice, so we played a couple rounds of Settlers of Catan. My missionary buds took me out to Buffalo Wild Wings and even paid for my wings. That was fun. Our dinner that night canceled, though, and we didn't teach a single lesson that night. But over the course of the week I got some cool mail, some wicked sweet California socks, delicious girl scout cookies, money (that will turn into computer components someday), two birthday cakes, and a hug from one of the moms in the ward. I consider this a victory. Thank you to everybody that cared!  

Exchanges on Friday were the coolest. The other companionship in the apartment was on exchanges with the APs, and I was with my DL, who is an old friend from Murrieta.  We had a lot of fun that night, and at lunch, and when we met back up at the end of the day. Elder "J" and I did some good work, despite things falling through and plans not working out. But the phone calls that day were the best.

My companion and Elder "J"s' companion called and told us that they had encountered a person that was possessed. Apparently neither one of them knew how to cast it out, so we told them. They were pretty shaken up over it, and we gave them priesthood blessings of comfort that night. Not every day do you get a phone call asking "How do I cast out a demon?"

Well, not even five minutes after that, we got a phone call from the ZL/AP companionship, asking "How do I perform a citizen's arrest?" Apparently they ran into a very inebriated man while trying to contact a referral, and they called the police while following him driving very drunkenly to a taco shop. We were in the area, so we swung by and watched the police show up and arrest the guy. I think I'm going to add a spot in my Preach My Gospel for "people arrested". 

My thought for the day: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things. We had a speaker on Sunday that spoke about how the things we do in the church are to make us happy. We think that taking a few hours or a couple of days to do our home teaching is a huge burden and such a hardship, but really that's what makes you happy! God knows what we need and the commandments are given for our benefit.

I feel like there was another significant thought I was going to add but I didn't write it down and my brain damage is keeping it from surfacing. I'll tell you guys all about it later, I'm sure. Love you all! Thanks again for the mail, it was wonderful!

Relax, said the night man 03/03/14

Happy Birthday to me! Thanks to everybody who sent me happy emails and letters. I've celebrated so far with a couple games of Settlers of Catan. I inherited a copy of the game from an Elder that went home. So there will be lots of Settlers on P-days from here on out. :D

I have to include this little pick-me-up from my buddy Elder "H", who I met in Moreno Valley but is currently serving a mission in Madagascar.

"Hang in there buddy just one more transfer and you're southern free (that's extra free cuz the south is real America)"

That's darn right, Elder "H". 

So, what happened this week? A whole lot of rain. I'm told that we got more rain in the past three days than the entire year of 2013. It came down pretty hard. And instead of feeling like home, because it rains like that a lot in South Carolina, it felt really alien and strange. I've been here for too long. 

Being transferred in-zone is odd, but being transferred within the same ward is even odder. The Elder that took my place in Diamond Valley North is an old companion of mine, and I love him to pieces, but he and his companion are almost as clueless as if they'd both been freshly doubled in. Luckily I live in the same apartment, so they can just ask me when they have questions. But they typically have questions for me right when I sit down and get comfortable. It's kind of comical, actually, how many times I've sat down or laid down, only to be called back into their room to answer a question about zone leader stuff, or the people in the ward, or whatever else, within 30 seconds of getting comfortable. I think this may be what parents of small children feel like sometimes. 

Lest you think I'm not happy with this Elder who's now my zone leader... well, we get along super well. We sit together and talk and he plays guitar and we talk about the good old days in Moreno Valley. Apparently I'm one of the few people in the mission that know he's a closet liberal, and I try not to pick on him for it too much... at least not in front of other missionaries. He says that our three-way companionship in MoVal was actually the best teaching synergy he's ever had on his mission. That made me smile like you wouldn't believe. I do feel a bit bad that he's having to restart a really dead area. Oh well. At least I got one family going for him.

The temple president of the Redlands temple came and gave a fireside at our stake center last night, and it was pretty darn informative. I actually served in the guy's ward and helped him move out of his house when he got the call. But yeah, we got our recent convert to bring her investigator husband and almost-daughter to the fireside, and it was super cool to see them there and have them feel of the spirit of temple work. Thankfully, nobody asked really stupid doctrinal questions during the question-and-answer session at the end, so none of the stuff mentioned made me cringe for my investigators. It was a really great time.

Something that stood out to me was that too often, young people view the temple as something to check off their list to prepare for a mission: dental work, doctor's physical, interviews, paperwork, temple endowment. But it's important to realize how the temple has eternal worth of it's own far above just preparing you for a mission. You don't need to serve a mission to be in the Celestial Kingdom (believe it or not, I heard it from a reliable source.) You do need to be endowed in the temple of God. So don't skim over that, and take full advantage of the power of temple work before you go. I wish I had gone more often.  

But don't worry too much about me! I keep receiving spiritual confirmations that everything is going to be okay. Surely God knows what he's doing with me, right? I sure believe so. Like my grandma likes to say, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

Have a fantastic week, guys. Love you tons. 

I had to find the passage back to where I was before - 02/24/14

Guys, my final transfer could take the most patience out of everything I've faced so far. Remember the depressed elder in my apartment? I'm his companion now. 

This is good news, though! I'm no longer with the companion that drove me nuts. Although now it's a bit puzzling to me as to why I couldn't get along with him in the first place. He genuinely wanted to work. That should have been enough. 

Now I have to worry about another high-risk situation for the next six weeks. It had me a bit stressed out.  I was thinking about it for a while during sacrament when I felt a very strong impression come into my mind: "Was not my sacrifice enough for you?" 

Wow. I guess I'll trust God a bit more. 

We taught a whole lot of lessons this week. But 16 out of 26 of them were to recent converts and less-active members. We did make a little bit of progress with two of our part-member families. But now I won't be teaching them. Oh well. I hope that I can find the love that I need to succeed in this assignment. 

And now for a thought from Shakespeare.

The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed:

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

Sorry for the brevity. I'll try to find time for more thoughts later.