Transfers came around and not much of a surprise...I'll be with Elder Royce finishing my training in Hemet. Unfortunately, one of the other Spanish elders, that lives in our 4-man-apartment, is leaving to go to Riverside. Elder Jensen was an awesome elder to be around and we had just gone on exchanges earlier in the week on Tuesday. We were able to get a few potentials for his area and hand out a few copies of the Book of Mormon. We were on bike that day, which I love doing because it's a nice change from being in a car. It's kind of funny how all of the Bike missionaries envy the missionaries in cars and vise versa. Honestly, the next few days were a little rough. A lot of the investigators that we taught were not willing to progress and keep commitments, so we had to discontinue our teaching with a few of them for the time being. On Friday, we had a lesson with Hermana Police and after what we thought was a great lesson, we weren't able to inspire her to come to church. She pretty much told us that it won't be happening and to not to keep on trying. I felt devastated once we got back to the apartment. I knew I was teaching by the Spirit and I felt that I was bearing strong testimony of the importance of the Sabbath Day and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I felt that I gave it my all in my preparation for her and in my prayers for her. It was disheartening, but the next day, we were able to make some new strides. We were in Idyllwild for a visit with Candy and her family. We taught her, her kids, and her younger brother Nelson. It felt amazing to actually have someone want to listen that week and want us to come back so that they can learn more. Well.... we won't be able to go back anymore because a Spanish Speaking sister missionary is being transferred to Idyllwild/Anza area this next transfer. Previously, it was just two English sisters, so it was our responsibility to cover their area for any Spanish investigators. We are excited for these sister missionaries to get such a great family to teach though!
It's been a great transfer with a lot of learning, teaching, growing.
A lot of people don't want our help anymore, but that's okay because nothing will stop this work.
My favorite part of this week though was Sunday. We had stake conference with a regional broadcast. It was for 283 stakes on the West Coast, so we were able to hear from an Apostle of the Lord, Elder Christofferson, as well as President Nearon of the Seventy, Elder Nattress of the Seventy, and Sister Franco from the General Primary Presidency. All the messages were centered on Service. Before the broadcast started, I said a quick prayer and just started to really tune in. It was one of the most enlightening moments on my mission and lifted me up. We sang "Go Forth with Faith" and "Called to Serve" which are 2 of the best missionary anthems, so once we went back out that day to work, I was pumped up!! My favorite verse that made me think the most about my service was "Go forth to serve and do your best With no thought of reward Then you shall know the boundless joy of serving Christ, the Lord. My favorite scripture from this week is Doctrine and Covenants 112:14, and how it says to "Arise and gird up your loins, take up your cross, follow me, and feed my sheep."
It's been a great transfer with a lot of learning, teaching, growing.
To end on a little bit of a lighter note, some of the funniest/weirdest things from this week were:
1) One of our former investigators telling us that he doesn't want to hear anymore about "Norman Smith." We weren't sure if he was talking about the Prophet Mormon from the Book of Mormon or the Prophet Joseph Smith. But I guess he didn't want to hear about either.
2) We helped someone move a palm tree out of their front yard into a U-Haul.
3) We were doing a short street contact with a guy named James who was walking down the street with a bag of food. He said he had some "grub" and was gonna eat. Elder Royce then navigated the conversation to how "our spirits gotta eat too." Unfortunately, the guy wasn't too interested despite our best efforts.
4) Literally right after we talked to James, we found ourselves in a big group of people who were in front of a house. They were all kind of busy, but that didn't stop us from talking to whoever was listening. Well, Elder Royce started speaking Spanish and then one of the guys just yells, "I have no clue what you're saying!" To be fair, we did hear some of them speaking Spanish, but I guess one of them didn't wanna hear us anymore.
5) We got a "Pause" text from one of our investigators saying "The book of Mormon is your primary source not mine. have a nice windy day brothers in the name of God I salute you."
A lot of people don't want our help anymore, but that's okay because nothing will stop this work.
The best news of the week is that Raquel will be getting baptized February 11th and she is absolutely killing it with her reading in the Book of Mormon and she is keeping all the commandments we are teaching her. I'll keep everyone updated...until the next week!
Elder Moon
Similar to the helmet tilt in lacrosse, I showed Elder Jensen about how to rock a bicycle helmet.
The palm tree we helped with
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