It's been a hot week in Moreno Valley. I've been biking around in triple digits looking for people to teach. And I'm so happy about it! It feels good to be a hard-working missionary again. My companions are superstars, and we are hard at work rebuilding this area.
On Tuesday, we had dinner with our favorite MexSamoan family, as usual. The father there started telling mission stories for the first time since I found out he was a missionary in Glenpool/Jenks/wherever it is in Tulsa that my aunt and uncle go to church. He spent a lot of his time on the mission regaining the trust of members and rebuilding the teaching pools in areas that had been dead to missionary work previously. So he offered some moral support and advice for us when we got to talking about our sad state of affairs. It was really cool.
On Monday, we had dinner at the Bishop's house, and we had an awesome chat with him about families that we could visit and homes that we could strengthen. We were late getting to his house, so very late that he started driving out to pick us up in his truck, but saw us hard at work talking to people on the street right outside his neighborhood so he turned around and went back. I think we are starting to make a good impression on people again.
Most of this week we spent on the street talking to people and looking for anyone interested in hearing more. We had the list of referrals from the bishop, a list of names from the ward clerk from the ward roster audit, and now we have a list of part-member families, so hopefully we can start making a big difference in effective ways. Our Ward Mission Leader is excited about the broadcast and at ward council revealed his draft of the Ward Mission Plan that he's put a lot of effort into, so I'm excited to see how the ward reacts. The Ward Council has decided to discuss it in the individual auxiliaries and come back with revisions and feedback in two weeks. It's a pretty hefty document, so we'll see how it ends up being implemented.
I got a package from home! I'm so glad my parents love me so much.I got to visit my old home in Murrieta yesterday, and that was a lot of fun! My old companion and I got a ride back to the baptism of "DP". We actually got to the church building just before the meeting got out, and I got to see a lot of my old friends! My recent converts "R" and "E" were especially glad to see me. They've been caught up in a lot of crazy rhetoric over the Supreme Court rulings, and they were glad to tell me that despite lots of hate from everywhere around them, their testimonies are still strong and they are active in the ward. "E" was actually teaching a bit on Emergency Preparedness for the combined 5th Sunday meeting when we walked in. So yeah, that made my heart soar to see them so strong still.
The baptism was a lot of fun! I am so glad that I got to be there and get my white clothes wet for the first time in a while. The missionaries that replaced me have been super busy! After their two baptisms last night, they've had 4 baptisms since I left. That's pretty darn cool!
I love my mission president. He sent the following quote to my inbox, and it really warmed my soul.
"I promise you that the time you spend in the mission field, if those years are spent in dedicated service, will yield a greater return on investment than any other two years of your lives. You will come to know what dedication and consecration mean. You will develop powers of persuasion which will bless your entire life. Your timidity, your fears, your shyness will gradually disappear as you go forth with boldness and conviction. You will learn to work with others, to develop a spirit of teamwork. The cankering evil of selfishness will be supplanted by a sense of service to others. You will draw nearer to the Lord than you likely will in any other set of circumstances. You will come to know that without His help you are indeed weak and simple, but that with His help you can accomplish miracles.
"You will establish habits of industry. You will develop a talent for the establishment of goals of effort. You will learn to work with singleness of purpose. What a tremendous foundation all of this will become for you in your later educational efforts and your life’s work. Two years will not be time lost. It will be skills gained.
"You will bless the lives of those you teach, and their posterity after them. You will bless your own life. You will bless the lives of your family, who will sustain you and pray for you.
"And above and beyond all of this will come that sweet peace in your heart that you have served your Lord faithfully and well. Your service will become an expression of gratitude to your Heavenly Father.
"You will come to know your Redeemer as your greatest friend in time or eternity. You will realize that through His atoning sacrifice He has opened the way for eternal life and an exaltation above and beyond your greatest dreams.
"If you serve a mission faithfully and well, you will be a better husband (wife), you will be a better father (mother), you will be a better student, a better worker in your chosen vocation. Love is of the essence of this missionary work. Selflessness is of its very nature. Self-discipline is its requirement. Prayer opens its reservoir of power." (Pres. Hinckley, Priesthood Session, October 1995)
Have a wonderful week guys! Love you.
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