Elder Mason Moon: Light the World

Last Monday, I was able to skype into a lesson with the Jaldin family. They are living in Virginia now and seem to be doing well out there! Later that night, Elder Royce and I had an awesome lesson with a man named Efrain. He wants to get baptized, but has to work on some things to help him be ready, so we challenged him to fast that weekend. It wasn't something we had planned at all to invite him to do, but the Spirit told us to, so we did. Fast forward to Sunday, and Efrain had fasted and was able to take a few small steps in the right direction.

On Wednesday, I went on exchanges with Elder Nielsen. He just came from Riverside YSA ward last transfer and now he is here in the Corona YSA ward, so he is turning things around in his area. We were in my area for Wednesday and we were able to light the fire for the rest of the week. We found a guy named Francisco who was mowing his lawn, but we went and talked to him after it took a good, solid 30 seconds to get his attention. We had a good talk with them and then finished the night strong teaching a recent convert family who had a nonmember friend over.

Thursday: Elder Royce and I were back together for the day and we taught Alicia. We brought over the RS president and one of Alicia's friends who is a member in Anaheim. We talked a lot about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and Alicia will continue to read and is progressing at a decent rate. She came to church as well on Sunday and brought one of her granddaughters, but she'll bring the both of them next Sunday. Anyways, it was pouring that day, which honestly made the rest of the day a lot more fun as we worked.

Friday: I was on exchanges with Elder Pells in the Citrus Hills ward. The hills there are real and we had a decent amount of biking that day, which actually made me want to go back on bike! Elder Pells is a sign language missionary, so I learned a few cool signs, but already forgot about half of them now haha. We had a few lessons fall through, but it really did happen for a reason because we found them their next baptism in their area. We did a home visit with some of the members in their ward and their daughter had a friend over who has been to church a lot, but never been taught the missionary lessons.

Saturday: We went on exchanges with the Assistants. I was with Elder Loveridge for the day in my area and we had a packed day. We participated in the World-wide day of service and made a ton of fleece blankets for a hospice organization. We taught Amy and it was a great lesson and she really does have a desire to bring her whole family back to church. The cool thing is that she isn't even a member yet, but she was able to bring her younger sister to church yesterday, as well as her older brother and niece. We also found a family of 5 that night and shared a lesson about faith and miracles. We were able to show them the Light your faith video and the Book of Mormon. We had a few other lessons with people we are teaching and it was just cool to see everyone let us in that day. Missionary work is a lot more enjoyable that way!

Sunday is always the true highlight of every week. Most Sundays, I get to pass the sacrament with the young men, and this Sunday was sweet because Jesse blessed the sacrament and then Amy and her family came in just in time to be there. Jesse did an awesome job and I felt the Spirit comforting me as I was able to pass the sacrament to these sons and daughters of God. For Amy and her family, some of them are members, but they haven't gone in years. It was really awesome to see them feel the Spirit at church. We ended the week teaching a family who Elder Loveridge and I helped put up their Christmas tree on Saturday. They invited us to come back the next day and we taught this family of 4. All of the kids are really pumped to learn more, so some pretty good potential!

The coolest thing I learned in my studies this week was from a devotional by Elder Maxwell. He said,

"True believers are humble. They are “meek and lowly of heart,” ready to be taught things they “never had supposed,” as was Moses, one of the most meek men upon the earth. They are not easily offended. They do not resist counsel. They don’t see themselves as being “above” the routine duties of Church membership and discipleship, and they don’t reject those duties on the basis of “I’ve done all that before.” How can we pretend to be true believers if we shun the chores of the kingdom?"

Elder Moon