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.