June 19, 2009

Today was good. We started out the day helping the Alamo sisters move into their new apartment. It's always fun to be around the sisters. We had 2 appointments today - one with Ty and the other with Tina. We took Chris (an RM) with us again. He talks a lot, and taught most of the lesson, but it was goo. Ty likes us over and likes to talk about the gospel, but isn't really progressing that well. We met with Tina today at the Doxey's. She brought her kids to play with the Doxeys', while we had a lesson. We talked a lot about baptism. She doesn't think that being baptized twice is right. We talked for about 2 1/2 hours! She is African and doesn't speak English very well so it's kind of hard to teach her, but she is a sweetheart. Tonight about an hour and a half after the lesson to make sure that me and E. Cain weren't sad. She thought we looked sad after the lesson because she can't understand being baptized more than once. I told her that we weren't sad, but just want her to be happy and find truth. She is a sweet lady. Then we also did our weekly planning. I didn't mention this before, but me and E. Cain have the whole apartment to ourselves. We have no roommates. It's kind of weird.

June 18, 2009

Wow, I was doing so well writing every night until now, but I'm getting back into the habit. Well Monday was a great P-day. E. Cain was having a tissy fit the whole day (not sure why) but I had a great day. Our sistrict ate at a place in Danville called The Dog - sausages and smoothies. We though it sounded nasty - so we tried it out - and it was good! We had a great time! I love the sisters in our district. Then we ate dinner and had FHE at the Dunford's - my greenie mission family. I love the Dunford's! They are probably my favorite family in San Ramon. But ya, things are going good - kind of slow it seems, but we have good things going on. I've been struggling with homesickness a bit and my testimony - but just need to keep pressing forward. I talked about it with E. Cain today - and it helped. He also gave me a blessing tonight - it was neat. Tonight we ate dinner at the Campbell's. Sis. Campbell makes the most amazing tacos! The rule is - you can't talk unless a taco is on your plate! Sis. Campbell is a Catholic Mormon. She comes to church, but sometimes also goes to mass. At first I thought it was weird, but President Hinckley did say that the gospel is here to add upon what you already have. She just feels at home in the Catholic church, because that's how she grew up, but knows that the church is true.

June 14, 2009

We had a pretty good Sunday. Church went well. Kiavash and James both came to church. It was awesome because Kiavach came straight from a soccer game. He walked into the chapel in his soccer uniform! He was very confident and didn't feel embarrassed at all. He was very involved in the classes and asked good questions. It went really well. I hope that James and Kiavash felt the spirit. After church we had some amazing appointments as well. We had like 3 dinner appointments in the space of 3 hours! First we went to the Sheffield's to teach Pacific (and it went great) and we didn't know they were going to feed us. We had lasagna and dessert. Then we went straight to our scheduled dinner appointment at the Doxey's. We had Tri tip, potatoes and a bunch of other stuff - the brownie sundaes for dessert. I was so full! Then we went to the Forsyths and had a dessert/lesson appointment with Shawna and Jonathan. I was bustin' at the seams! But our lesson went well. It was a great day, and I'm really glad that I'm staying in San Ramon for a least one more transfer.

June 13, 2009

This morning (and the whole day) was amazing! (But mostly this morning) we got up, did the morning routine then biked to Central Park. The night before we decided that we were going to go to the park and talk to EVERYONE. No matter who they are - to go up and share the gospel. It worked out pretty well! We were a little shy sometimes and didn't talk to literally EVERYONE, but it went good. We also had a good lesson to Ty. We brought Bro. Remington (ward mission leader in the 2nd ward, and institute teacher) to answer Ty's difficult questions. I feel really inadequate teaching Ty, because I'm pretty sure tha the knows more than I do. But it was good, Bro. Remington helped out a lot. Then I finally god to meet Shawna and Jonathon tonight. They have been being taught for a while and they are golden! I love them! We had a great lesson with them. Shawna calls us her guardian angels. She says that when we talk that we glow. She's a sweetheart. They are crazies about organic food and all that jazz. Anyway it was good to finally meet them, after I've heard so much about them. Well transfer calls just came in and I'm staying! Me and E. Cain will just have to tough out another transfer together. All of the sisters are staying except Sis. Aston :( We will miss her. So once again in my district we have no Elders. I better not get used to it! But it should be great. We have some AMAZING things going on in this area and I'm excited to see things happen.

June 12, 2009

Today was a bit crazy, but it was good. It was just a really laid back day. We tried to contact some people this morning, but had no luck. Then we drove clear to Concord to have a "zone banquet" at a restaurant called Cocos. It was fun, but it took like 3 1/2 hours out of our day. It has been a good first transfer and I love our zone. After Cocos we had to run back to San Ramon, to get our suits, then up to Danville to set up for Barry's baptism! It turned out really nice. It was also awesome because I stood in the circle, when we confirmed him and he received the Holy Ghost. (He is leaving for Florida - his home - tomorrow so we confirmed him right after the baptism) It was a new experience for me and I am glad that I had the opportunity. Barry s a miracle. It was neat that I could witness a baptism on my first transfer! We didn't teach him or anything he just showed up and wanted to get baptized! I was really happy for him. He is a great example of faith and is a miracle.

June 11, 2009

So about last week we got a call from Bro. Drysdale (our ward mission leader - in the 1st ward) and he told us that a man named Barry Lebu - who used to live here in San Ramon - is coming back for a week and wants to be baptized! He lived here and was being taught for a long time (went through a lot of missionaries) but moved to Florida with his girl friend that is a member). They were living together here in San Ramon, and that may have been a reason he never got baptized. But they moved to Florida, and last week they were driving from Florida, back to San Ramon to settle some business. On the way there they stopped in Utah and stayed with a senior couple. They had a really good discussion, they prayed together and took them to the Provo temple grounds. The spirit just hit Barry and he decided he needed to be baptized! But he had to get married, so the ward here threw a wedding together tonight and the baptism is tomorrow! It is a miracle. The wedding tonight was really nice. Barry's bride is Laotian and we had a feast of Lao food after the ceremony. It was so good! Today was also our last district meeting before my first transfer. I'm going to miss our district. Since me and E. Cain are the only Elders (with 4 sisters) we call it the sistrict! It has been really good.

June 10, 2009

Wow, I have been really homesick lately, and I can't seem to shake it. The Lord blesses me so much with peace and comfort, but today has been one of the worst for homesickness. I read today in the "Making the Most of Your Mission" book to be submissive to the Lord, and trust that he will bless me with the desires of my heart, when the time is right. I need to have faith in that and be patient. It's hard, but if anything is worth it, it is not going to be easy. Well, my first transfer is almost over, and I'm getting nervous about what could happen if I get a new comp. I hope that he is a hard worker and is obedient. I wouldn't mind staying with E. Cain, just because I know that we would get things done. Me and E. Cain have been getting along better. I figured it out - when he is grumpy I just have to stay positive, and when he gets angry and is rude I just have to be rude back. It works our pretty well. I also hope that I stay in San Ramon, but overall want to do what the Lord would have me do. I have 2 great years ahead of me and a lot to learn, but I know that if I rely on the Lord, and be obedient and work hard, that I can do it. I'll be okay and have a great mission.

Letter to Home - June 8, 2009

It sounds like all of you are doing wonderful. Stansbury High School sounds amazing! I even got a little excited myself, when I read about it! Kenna - that is so cool that you might be a cheerleader! And if you don't, I'm sure that drill team will be just as great! I'm excited to hear what happens.

Well, I'm not going to lie, this past week was rough. We had such a slow week, and couldn't get in with a lot of our investigators. James (who was supposed to be baptized 2 weeks ago), is being a sissy about it. He just needs to commit! But life is full of ups and downs. If life were always perfect, then it would be boring.
Interviews with President Beck went great. He is a great man. During Elders Cains interview, they talked about our apostate roommates, and how they go hot tubbing with girls and stuff. President was so mad! He called them up, and told them to pack their bags, and come to the mission home! I guess he ripped them a new one, but they didn't get sent home. But the bad news is that since about half of our mission is disobedient (no joke its that bad) and is just like our roommates, me and Elder Cain are hated. I don't get it! We are hated for being obedient! It is really frustrating. I think that Elder Cain did the right thing. President needed to know. I really hope that President Wade makes a lot of changes, because he has a lot of cleaning up to do.

Well this week we had our mission gathering! It was great! First, we all gathered together at the temple, and took a mission picture with all 190 of us. Then we all did an endowment session at the temple! I love the Oakland temple! It is beautiful on the inside and out! The view of the Bay from the temple is indescribable! You can see the Oakland and San Francisco skylines, with the bay bridge, and the Golden Gate Bridge. I love it! But in the temple there is a HUGE ordinance room that our whole mission fit into! (well, I'm pretty sure that some missionaries didn't come, but most of the mission). After the temple session we went across the street to the mission home and had a BBQ. It was good to see my MTC buddies again and catch up. The Tongan missionaries put on a performance for us while we ate. It was fun. After the BBQ we went back over to Temple Hill to the Interstake Center. (I don't know why it is called that, but it is basically a huge auditorium, just left of the Temple, and to the right is the Visitors Center). A handful of missionaries from our mission put on a musical portrayal of the Restoration. It was a pretty neat performance! We invited everyone - Members, Non members, Less Actives, Investigators, EVERYONE! We had a good turn out. So that was mission conference!

Well this week could be my last week with Elder Cain. We get transfer calls on Saturday. I think I may be staying in San Ramon, but really I have no idea. I will go wherever the Lord wants me.
I love you all so much! Thank you for your support and your prayers!

-Elder Tom Cook

p.s. oh yea, I almost forgot! This past week, I tried to cut my hair for the first time! Ha! It is kind of a mess. I cut my bangs real nice and short and uneven. Then on the top, there are a few holes where I cut out huge chunks of hair! But oh well! Hair grows!
And I enjoy getting Seth's emails, so keep em' comin! Thanks! Love ya! And I don't need anything yet. I'm doing just fine!


Grandpa and Grandma Smith,
I hope that all is well! I'm doing great and I'm so grateful that I have wonderful grandparents that love and support me while I'm serving! Thank you so much for helping me finance my mission! You guys are the best! It means a lot to me! I love you so much and I'm so grateful for your love, your example, and your support.
Love Elder Cook Jr.

June 7 2009

Today was a rough day. Dang, I feel like I'm struggling. I was pretty homesick today. I miss the fam. and my friends. Being out here has really made me realize that I have the best family in the world. Seriously. I feel like I'm struggling then add the homesickness on top, and it's tough. I really worry about my testimony. I'm really doubting and I feel like I'm losing hope. Like it's not going to get any better. The problem may be that I think/worry too much. Like yesterday (oops I mean Friday) in the temple, I didn't have this huge spiritual experience, so ten I began to worry if I was feeling the spirit at all, plus I was worrying about having bad thoughts - so then I did, and it kept going downhill from there. Then after the frustrating experience in the temple (that was supposed to be uplifting) I start having really bad doubts like if I didn't feel the spirit in the temple then maybe it's not true. This all sounds ridiculous, but I'm trying. I want to be a good missionary, but I don't know what I'm doing. I'm trying, but sometimes it seems like it's getting worse. Not to mention E. Cain is driving me crazy. I'm trying to love him, but it's just not happening. Today was just rough. WE have to have our downs so we can have our ups I guess.

June 6, 2009

I didn't get to write last night because we got home from mission conference at like 11:00 pm last night, but mission conference was great! The whole mission gathered for the day. First we took a mission picture in front of the temple (and it was a beautiful, clear day - you could see the Oakland ans San Francisco skylines really well!). After the picture we all did a temple session. It was really nice. They had a big enough ordinance room to fit all 180 of us! The Oakland temple is beautiful! It is amazing on the inside and out. After the temple session we went up to the mission home for a BBQ. The Samoan missionaries put on a performance. They sang and did native dances. It was pretty cool. After the BBQ we all went back to temple hill, to the Inter Stake Center (a big auditorium just left of the temple) for a musical production of the Restoration that some of our missionaries put on. We invited everyone to it - ward members, non members, less actives, investigators - everyone! It was amazing. E. Kieth (one of my Zone leaders) pretty much wrote the whole thing. James (our investigator, 1 of many) came and I think he enjoyed it. He is being wishy washy about baptism. He just needs to commit, but I'm glad that he came. But I enjoyed the gathering. It was so good to see old friends from the MTC. They are doing good. We all talked about how we are surprised how disobedient missionaries are here. They say that we will be like them when we have been out here longer, but that will never happen.

I still can't believe how disobedient that some of the missionaries are here. During interviews E. Cain talked about our roommates hot tubbing at night with girls. Not only that but they are never home on time or up on time and they hang out with other missionaries instead of working. This isn't just them, but it is mission wide. They didn't get sent home, but I guess half of the mission now hates me and E. Cain. I don't understand. E. Cain did the right thing. President needed to know. It might have been for E. Gonzales and E. Vawdry's good. But we are hated for being obedient and for doing what is right. It makes no sense! Other missionaries have been saying some really bad things about us - but honestly I could care less. I seriously don't care at all! It doesn't matter what apostate missionaries think of me. I'm going to work hard and do my best. I only care about the Lord thinks of me. If I stay close to Him and be obedient, everything will work out. So now E. Vawdry got ET to another area and Gonzales is still living here - but his new companion E. Troff is awesome. He is working hard, despite Gonzales' laziness. He is confident in the Lord's work and is being a great example. But I'm pretty sure that Gonzales hates us.

June 4, 2009

Today was another slow day. Me and E. Cain started off this morning at each other's throat. It was not a happy morning. We yelled pretty good at each other. It all started at the beginning of comp study. He asked what I studied and what I learned. I told him that I learned/read about doing what we need to do as missionaries and then continually improving. I mentioned that we could improve on our companionship prayers and he said "what do you mean?" And I said "that we need to pray for our investigators by name and be more specific about their needs and how we can help them". He said "haven't we been doing that?" (in a rude way) Then I said something like "can't we improve?" Then it went from there. It was a legit argument. He feels like I've acted like I'm never pleased with anything he does, and I make him feel like a crappy missionary. I feel like he has gotten too comfortable in his ways and is not open for improvement, or maybe doesn't want to take ideas from a greenie. I don't know. E. Cain is awesome. He's just different. I know for sure that I need to calm down, be more patient, and not judge him. I feel like I know what kind of missionary I want to be (obedient, faithful, all that god stuff), and I'm impatient and get upset because it's not happening all at once. I have to remember that it is going to take time. Line up line. Well today we did a district service project in Alamo. It was good. We landscaped the yard of a HUGE house. I twas beautiful but just needed some yard work. Then we had a 2 hour talk with Tine (not really about the Gospel but it was nice). Tomorrow is our big mission gathering!

June 3, 2009

Well the roomies probably got ripped a new one in Oakland today by President, but the verdict is - that they are not going home. And the bad news is that one of them is coming back to live at our apartment. They are good people but I guess they just lost their purpose as missionaries. I know that they can be great missionaries - they have the potential, they just choose to disobey. Well, this week has been really slow. This morning got off to a slow start as well. We went to Danville so E. Cain could interview one of Sis. Roger's and Tsai's investigators for baptism. Her name is Valarie. She is an older lady, and is so wonderful! Right when I first met her, she wanted to give me a hug - and it was hard to refuse :( But she is soooo excited to be baptized! It is awesome! She has been prepared and is ready for this. While E. Cain interviewed her, I had a good talk with Sis. Rgers and Tsai. They are awesome. Today we met with James again. We set the plan to meet at this wing place in Dublin to eat lunch. I was cool with that, but when we got there, I didn't realize that it was a bar and grill. There was TV's everywhere and music playing, and it felt kind of weird being in "the world" again. We were supposed to have a good talk with James, but a bar and grill is not a place where the spirit dwells. It wasn't good. We weren't breaking any rules or anything, but I just didn't feel good. But I did eat one of their spiciest/hottest hot wings and it was insane! I was on fire! E. Cain did the challenge and ate 12 of them in under 3 minutes. I was proud of him.

June 2, 2009

I had my first and last interview with President Beck today. It went well. He told me a lot of things and gave me really good counsel. One of the biggest things I took from what he said is to never give up. Keep on going. If I'm having troubles and struggles to not give up, but to push on. It was good. During E. Cain's interview they talked about our roommates, and President Beck was not happy. He called them immediately and told them to pack their bags and come to the mission home. So right now we don't have roommates! Yup, President is pretty mad. We don't know yet if they are going home, or just being Emergency Transferred, but they are not going to have a nice visit to the mission home. After interviews we ate lunch at a burger place called Nations. It was pretty good. Then we went tracting. E. Cain was whining because he didn't want to, but I said too bad, let's go. We met this cowboy named Ken, and talked to him for like 1 hour! He showed us this hunting decoy thing that has like 30 animal in distress calls on it. He put it on the dying crow setting, turned it on and it worked! Almost 30 crows were flying over his house to see what was going on! It was insane! Then tonight we went on team ups/splits with the ward. Me and Bro. Cox went to Sis. Blounts and taught Martha - a less active. I love teaching there every week. I fly solo a bit and get a good experience in an easy teaching environment.

Letter to home - June 1, 2009

Hello Family!
This week has been really good. There is a lot going on here in San Ramon. First off some bad news: James did not get baptized on Saturday. We see it time and time again. Right before someone gets baptized, something wrong happens. So James had problems with his ex wife (she wanted to take their son -who he has custody over- to Vegas for the weekend. He would have been the only kid there and she was going to party it up.) He was really stressed out because he didn't want his 14 year old son alone in Vegas while his mother gets drunk, and parties. So its not like he did anything to keep him from baptism, he was just really stressed out/worried/whatever. I was proud of him for being such a great father. So we are going to baptize him either this week or next.

Like I said there are great things happening right now. Last week we tracted into this man named Chris. We went back over on Saturday, and taught him most of the first lesson, and answered his questions. It went really well, and at the end of the lesson before we could commit him to read out of the Book of Mormon, he beat us to it and asked us, what he could read! We told him to read 3 Nephi 11 (where Christ comes to the Americas), and he wanted more! So we gave him a bit more, and he said "Man, I'll just read the whole book!" (of third Nephi). He told us to come back next week so we could talk about it! Huge MIRACLE!
Another miracle we had this week - We are always trying to look for service opportunities, but everyone here is to dang rich, and don't need any help, and even if they did most of them are to prideful to admit it but this week we found two people who are going to let us do some yard work. We finally get to put on some jeans and a t-shirt, and do some honest to goodness, old fashion yard work! I'm so excited!

And the miracles don't even stop there! I don't know if I have told you about Tina, but she is from Africa, and she has been investigating for about 8 weeks now. Before the missionaries knocked on her door, she said that she would never pray again or speak of Jesus. But yesterday she came to church! Not only did she come herself but she brought her 3 kids! We had a whole family in church, and they stayed for all 3 hours! It was so neat. The kids got to go to primary, and I think Tina really enjoyed it (even though Sunday school was all about emergency preparedness, and 72 hour kits!)

And now for the biggest miracle yet! There is this girl in our ward named Pacific (age 12) that comes to church with the Sheffield's (an active family who always feeds us). Her dad served a mission, but is very inactive and doesn't want anything to do with the missionaries. But he lets her come to church every week. Well, the past week her parents told her that we could teach her! She already wants to get baptized, so we just need to teach her! Its all just a matter of time! She wants it really bad. She reads her scriptures on her own, and loves coming to church. She is awesome!

Oh and to answer your question - we only have zone conferences once a transfer, so once every six weeks.

Tomorrow we have interviews with President Beck. My first and last with him!

We were at the Halverson's eating breakfast this week, and Jeanie Halverson - One of my many "mission moms" got your phone number and email from me, and might contact you that way, or through missionary moms, or something! Just a heads up. She said it would be cool to let you know how I'm doing or something, so ya.

Well it has been pretty mild here last week. We biked around a couple days, to save on miles, and my tushy is pretty sore! On Saturday we biked up this huge hill to an appointment, and we almost died. Then when we finally got there, the lady said that she didn't have time for us today! I know! Unbelievable. But things are going great! I got letters from Caitlin and Alyssa this week. It was great to hear fro them! I love you all so much! Mom - I hope that your ankle is ok. I am so proud of you for running! I saw a group of runners the past week, and remembered what you said about me and you going running together when I get home. Not that I'm thinking about coming home, I am just happy to hear that your running! I hope you get better soon. I love you all! Have a great week!

Dad-
I just had to tell you really quick! A few days ago we were doing yard work for this old guy, and as we were working he had the radio on and was listening to Shawn Hanitty! Working in the yard, listening to good ol' Shawn! "LET FREEDOM RING!..." Ha! Just kidding! But I felt right at home! Anyway I love ya! Have a good week!

May 31, 2009

This morning started out rough! I was finishing my journal entry for yesterday, this morning, and there was a very unfortunate event - my journal fell in the toilet (it's ok, it was clean water) but now my pages are all wavy. It's sad. But the rest of the day went really well. Bi things happened today. Pacifiz Austin - a 12 year old girl who comes to church with the Sheffield's and loves it - asked her parents if she could take the lessons from us and they said yes! So we are going to teach her, and she already wants to get baptized, so it's just a matter of time! Also today - one of our investigators, Tina, came to church today for the first time ever and I think she really liked it. Oh, and she brought not only herself, but her whole family! (excluding her husband). It was so exciting. She looked like she enjoyed, and stayed for the whole 3 hours. After the last class she asked when we could make our weekly teaching visit - so that was a good sign too! Things are going so good right now. Hopefully we baptize James this week. We are really hoping to. He was supposed to be baptized yesterday, but problems arose. His son never went to Vegas - so all that drama is over, but he didn't come to church today (again :( )because his new computer crashed. Things keep going bad, but he will be baptized! Already on my mission I have been so blessed, and realize how many thing I took for granted. Especially my family. I love them and miss them so much, but I am lucky to have the best family in the world! Seriously.

May 30, 2009

Today could have easily been one of the best days of my mission so far. It was so good! We started off with breakfast at the Halverson's in Danville - and we biked up there! It was quite the long ride. Then the day began. We finally got a hold of this guy named Todd that we met like 3 weeks ago. We mowed his lawn for him, and he's letting us come back to help him do yard work next Saturday. I was so happy. Then we talked with this guy named Christ - who we found tracting the other day. Some of his family are members and he already had his own Book of Mormon. We had a really good talk, in his front yard, about the restoration and answered some of his questions. At the end of our conversation/lesson - he asked us what he could read in the Book of Mormon instead of us asking him! We gave him a chapter to read and he said that it's not enough - he wants to read a whole book! We were excited. Then we went to Ty's house. He has a lot of deep questions about Mormon theology and all that good stuff. I pretty much just sat there, because he had some crazy questions - but E. Cain did pretty good answering them. Update on Elder Cain - He is a weirdo, and he thinks that he's such a ladies man. He seems grumpy most of the time too, but he's a great trainer. I have been blessed. He is full of wisdom, and I can learn a lot from him. Well, today was awesome because we got fed breakfast, lunch, and dinner! The Dunford's fed us lunch then we had a dinner appointment with the Eriksen's. It was a great day.

May 29, 2009

We spent the morning in Central Park for Friday weekly planning. We go to the park and eat Pastries (they are so good! We get them from Nob Hill foods). It was good planning. Then we had an amazing meeting with a guy named Kiavash. He is Persian. About 2 weeks ago (when I was on splits in Concord with E. Warden), E. Cain and E. Kieth stopped by because he was a former investigator and right then and there committed him to baptism! So today we dropped by and had a lesson with him to see how serious he actually was about being baptized and it's looking like he is! We talked about repentance, and had a really good lesson. At the end he said that just last night he was thinking about repentance. It was a good experience. Also I found out a small miracle that happened recently. We had a district BLITZ - where we go tracting as a district in one area - in Danville last week. I was with a young man from the Danville Ward and we knocked on a door and from inside heard "Who is it?" We said "the missionaries" and he said "Oh! No way!" He opened the door and invited us in. The apartment was totally bare, because he was moving in. His name is Bro. Clark and he's an active member, but it's a good thing we tracted into him, because we were able to tell him where church is and what time. Then later the sisters went back over (because he is in their area) and found out that his family is having rough times - so they are going to start teaching them.

May 28, 2009

Today was good. We had combined district meeting this morning in Concord. It was good. We learned a bit about how to organize and use the Area Book. It is really important in missionary work, and we can definitely improve. Elder Cain is getting on my nerves. I need to have more patience and charity with him. It just seems like he's grumpy a lot and when I have a good suggestion (like picking up the pace while we tract - like we are told to) he get his panties in a wrinkle and gets all upset. He's a great missionary and I'm blessed to have him as my trainer, but the more comfortable we get, the more we seem to not get along. The other day Sis. Rogers (a Sis. in our district, serving in Danville) gave me really good advice. She said that no matter what happens always make sure that I have a close, personal and strong relationship with my Father in Heaven. This is His work and if I'm always doing everything I can to work hard then I can be satisfied and have joy in the work. Well today we committed Tine (The African lady who prays really cool) to be baptized.  She said that she has already been baptized and feels that her soul will be lost if she is baptized twice. So we talked about being baptized by the proper authority and she said that she would pray about it. She is a great person. I really like Tina. Sometimes it's hard to understand her, because she doesn't speak English very well,but I hope that she makes the decision to be baptized.

May 27, 2009

We had our 1st service opportunity today. It is hard to do service here in San Ramon, because everyone's yard is perfect (they all have personal gardeners), and too well off to need any help (so they think). Well today we got to do some yard work for an old man named Phil. He is a very nice man. He is not in the best of health and his wife passed away a while back. He doesn't seem too interested in the church, but we will see. He is a huge pack rat and has a ton of junk. It was really nice to get in a pair of jeans and help out. Well we got bad news today. James - who is supposed to be baptized on Saturday - is having troubles with his ex wife and wants to push back the date. His ex wants to take their son (who James has custody over) and take him on a trip to Vegas over this weekend. James is pretty upset, and doesn't want his son (who is only 14) in Vegas with his ex, because she's not very responsible. He is a great father and I look up to him for having such great values, but it is sad that it came up right before his baptism. Satan does not want him to be baptized, but it is so important, and I hope and pray that things work out. Today was again a bit rough. It's tough being a missionary. Today I really missed home and am wondering if I can do this. My testimony sucks and I doubt. I'm never going to give up I feel like I need to be here. Got to keep working at it.

May 26, 2009

Ooops I forgot to write yesterday. It was just P-Day. It was fun. We woke up, and first thin in the morning at 7:00 am, Bro. Zapettini took us golfing! It was fun. We just hit balls at the driving range, then puted around but it was a blast. It was at the San Ramon Golf Club. Then we went to the breakfast at the Halverson's - I love them! Then the rest of the day we emailed, did laundry, played Basketball at the church with our district, and went grocery shopping. It was a good P-day/memorial day! Well today was rough. I had a hard time. It seemed really slow. We had to take our car in to get it serviced today (wheels rotated and oil changed). I have no idea, but it took 3 1/2 hours! We sat in the waiting area for 3 1/2 hours. It wasn't fun. Then we had an appointment cancel, and me and Elder Cain got into an argument too. It wasn't a happy day. I got really discouraged and even thought about how I may just be wasting my time out here. I cried and prayed to my Father in Heaven, for help, answers, and direction. I've always heard of times in people's lives when they totally have to rely on the Savior to get through tough times. Well I'm trying to. I have doubts and bad thoughts but I believe that I can overcome them. I need to develop a stronger more personal relationship with Christ.

Letter to home - May 25, 2009

HI Family! I hope that all is well. Things are good here. This past week was my first zone conference! It was amazing! There was so much stuff that I learned, about how to be a more effective missionary. We had it in Danville, at our stake center. It was my first and last zone conference with President and Sister Beck. They are wonderful! I will miss the Becks, but I am excited to meet President Wade. I hope that President Wade is a little more strict. I am sorry to say that our mission is a little disobedient. President Beck has never sent a missionary home, so missionaries here think that they can do whatever they want. At zone conference I got to see Elder Kesler! (my buddy from the MTC). He is doing good, but I feel bad for him. He is a great, hard working missionary, but his trainer just doesn't want to work. He is also in one of the roughest parts of the mission - in Richmond, and he is on bike. I really realized how blessed/spoiled that I am. I am so grateful and blessed that I got a trainer who actually works, and that I can start my mission on a good note (in beautiful San Ramon!). At zone conference we are taught by President and Sister Beck, the AP's and the zone leaders. We also get fed! We had a way good lunch that ward members prepared for us. We get our cars inspected, and Sister Beck awards her coveted chocolate chip cookies to whoever has the shiniest shoes! Its fun.

Well the work is going good. I have my first BAPTISM this week!!! We are baptizing James. I really didn't teach him much, but I am so blessed to be able to attend a baptism on my first transfer! I'm pretty excited! Elder Cain says that I am pretty lucky, because he didn't have a baptism until he was out for a whole year. I'm so blessed. We also have found some people that are interested during tracting. We also met with a former investigator. He has been taught before and has a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon. After we talked, he said the closing prayer, and in his prayer asked if he would find the truth. He is really searching for the truth! He has a lot of hard questions, so I hope and pray that I can do the Lords will, and answer his questions and baptize him! Hes a good one.

Well our roommates are great people, but not very obedient. They break a lot of rules. President has told them that they are going to the San Jose mission, to get a "fresh start", but Elder Cain tells me that he just wants to get rid of all the really disobedient missionaries. They are both from Utah. We really don't see them much because when we leave in the morning at 10am they are still sleeping, and they don't get home until late. It actually makes me kind of mad. Why would you even come out on a mission if your not going to work? I've decided that I'm going to give it my all out here, not waste my time, and be an example of how a missionary should act, not an example of how one shouldn't act.

About the bike situation - There is a member here (he is a recent convert) that is amazing! He is the best! He always takes the missionaries to get ice cream at Cold Stone, and this morning he took us golfing, at this golf club! I don't even golf! But it was way fun. He is very wealthy and had a full set of clubs for each of us to use. Anyway, he is letting me borrow his super nice bike! We have a car in this area, but some days we bike, because we can only drive so many miles a month. So I had to buy a helmet, but I hope that he will let me borrow him bike for like two years or something....He has bad knees and cant ride anyway, but we will see what happens. But I was pretty excited that I didn't have to spend $400 on a bike!

Well. we have dinners about 2 or 3 times a week, plus the members send us home with food all the time. Other than that, I survive off of PB&J sandwiches and granola bars. I haven't cooked anything yet, but I might start soon. I also eat apples and carrots, to try and stay somewhat healthy.

Well our schedule follows the one in the handbook. We tract from 5-7 every single day, then fill the rest of the day with appointments, visits to less actives or recent converts, and meetings (district meeting, ward correlation meetings, etc.) It is good. It is pretty much the same everyday-but very different, because we are meeting new people everyday, teaching different things, and tracting different streets, so it is good.
It was good to hear that preschool graduation went well. Last night I was at a member house for dinner and was playing with their little kids, and I thought about the pre school kids.

The Lord is blessing me so much everyday. It is hard sometimes, but hope to learn everything I need to. I want to truly be converted myself, so that I can teach with power and conviction. It is hard to know when the spirit is talking to me, and when it is just my own thoughts, but I need to remember patience, and have faith that I will be directed. The Lord will bless me and help me to grow.

Well I love you all so much. Being out here, I have really noticed how blessed I am to have an eternal family. I have really taken my life for granted. I love you all so much and am so thankful to have the best family in the world, who loves and supports me.

-Elder Cook
ps -I have talked to other missionaries and they all say that you should just send mail through the mission home, especially any packages. It only takes a day longer to get the letters, and it makes sure that the packages don't get stolen.
Also - are you forwarding my emails to everyone? I don't mind as long as you delete the parts that you think are only for the family.
Holy cow this is a long email!

May 24, 2009

It has been a good day. It started with 6 hours of church. It sounds bad - but I'm starting to enjoy it. I love our wards here. There are great people here in Cali. After church we went to the Wilkinson's for dinner. They are the best. They have 4 small kids that are the coolest. It was a great dinner appointment. After we went tracting. We knocked on a couple doors, and talked to a few people, then we came up to this group of high school girls. When we walked past they asked what we were selling. We told them that we are Mormon missionaries. We got talking a big, when they asked if we wanted something to eat. We felt good about it, so we walked to - I think it was their friends house - where a party was going on. A whole bunch of high school kids were having a party. There was some smoking going on in the back yard, and one girl even invited us to join them. So we just started talking to them on their front porch.They had a lot of questions. Mostly about what missionaries do, why we are out here, why we don't drink, smoke, have sex before marriage, and all that stuff. We answered all of their questions, and taught a lot. We talked for a long time, and it was getting cold so we went into the house (we felt good about it) and sat down in their living room and taught more. At one time there were about 6 or 7 people we were teaching, and answering questions about the church. It was awesome. We left them with pamphlets and hope that they felt something. They were all really good kids - just need direction.

May 23, 2009

Some days are just tough, and today was one of the. I felt really discouraged, and the weather today didn't help at all either - it was cold! I can't even imagine how cold it was on the other side of the hills, next to the bay. It was about 60 degrees (it doesn't sound that cold but less than a week ago it was over 100 degrees - so it seemed really cold!) We did get to teach today. We taught a guy named Ty. He is really searching for the truth. He has read a lot of the Book of Mormon and wants to know if it is true. He's awesome. I hope that I can be in tune with the spirit to know how to answer his questions and help him. I think one of the big reasons why I was so down today is just because I got really overwhelmed. I hate being a greenie! I just want to be a great, experienced, effective missionary now. It's hard. It's hard to be patient and learn. I have to have faith. Faith that the Lord will bless me It is so weird to think that I am actually here on my mission. I don't want to waste time. I want to learn how to be an obedient, effective missionary and help others come unto Christ and receive the restored Gospel. I'm grateful to have an obedient trainer. Me and E. Cain get along pretty well. I think he's pretty weird, but he's good to me.

May 22, 2009

I had my first Zone Conference today. It was AMAZING! I have been spiritually filled. There was so many good things said today. I saw my MTC buddy E. Kesler at the conference. It was really good to see him! I feel bad for him because he's such a good missionary and wants to work hard, but his trainer is a bit lazy. Instead of working they hang out with other apostate missionaries that don't want to do what they are here to do. It kind of makes me angry. Why waste 2 years of your life and not work hard on your mission?! Like our roommates will go hot tubbing (with girls that have about 5 square inches of clothing on), and sleep in and just not work. I don't get it. We are here to work hard and do the Lord's work. Then it really hit me - I am such a spoiled greenie. I have a beautiful area, a car to drive, a great, obedient trainer, a great apartment (safe neighborhood) and 2 awesome wards. The Lord has truly blessed me. Me and Elder Cain are not perfect but we work. WE really need to keep improving but I'm so grateful for what I have. Well this was my first and last Zone Conference with President and Sister Beck. They are awesome. After Zone Conference we went tracting. Elder Cain tried to set up a prank for me with a member (our dinner appointment for tonight), where he acts interested then just harasses me, but the members wife forgot to tell her husband, so it didn't happen. - Tender mercy!

May 21, 2009

Today was alright. It seemed really slow. I don't mean to sound/be prideful, but I feel like I want to work harder and Elder Cain just likes to take things slower. But I did find out today, that a lot of missionaries in the mission are not very obedient. I'm so blessed to have Elder Cain as my trainer because he does work so hard and is obedient - even if he does sing bad! Ha! Just kidding. We taught this African lady this morning, who has been being taught for a while. It went well. Her name is Tina, and she says the most amazing prayers! She sings this African tribal hymn in her native language, then she will go into her prayer. It was interesting. It was a good lesson, but I was so tired! Probably from biking yesterday, and I almost fell asleep in the middle of the lesson. Shameful. We also did our planning today, because we have Zone Conference tomorrow. We set some really good goals. For next week we have a goal to commit 4 people to baptism! It's exciting. We set the goal, and now just pray and ask for the Lord's help and guidance in accomplishing this goal. We had a comp. inventory as well. I've come to the conclusion that I like E. Cain. He is a little weird, but I'm blessed to have him train me.

May 20, 2009

Whoa baby, today was tiring! - In a good way. Today was my first day on my mission on bike! We are in a driving area and have a car, but to save on miles (because we only get so much in a month), we decided to bike today. A member in our ward - Bro. Zapettini - is letting me borrow his way nice bike. He's awesome. We biked like 20 miles today, up and down hills. It was fun and I like being on bike (so far), but it is so tiring. I'm going to be sore in the morning! We spent most of the morning getting bike parts. I bought this sweet helmet, but it cost like 40 bucks but it's pretty awesome. We talked with James today - pretty much about everything except the gospel, like peppers, knives and guns, movies, needles, all sorts of random stuff. It was good to visit, but I wanted him to feel the spirit a lot more. We talked a bit about his baptism - and he still wants to go for it, so that's good. I wish we could have had an awesome lesson, but maybe he needed just a good visit today - I don't know. Today I read an awesome page in "Making the Most of Your Mission". I feel like I have a testimony, but not a big witness that I can say that I know - without a doubt. In there it said that it doesn't come easy - you have to work for it and trust in the Lord that He will bless you with what you need in His time. It was really good and exactly what I needed to hear.

May 19, 2009

This morning started out great, and as the day went on I got kinda pooped. I was just tired. I had a great personal study hour and we had a good companion study too. Then we went to an appointment we had with a former investigator. She was different. She is an over the top animal lover who treats her dogs like children. We talked for about 2 hours - 45 minutes of it was her talking about her dogs and parrot. She loves the Mormon church, but doesn't believe that there is one true religion. It seemed for a while that we were arguing (and when I say "we" I mean E. Cain - I didn't say too much). But she has her free agency. Then we were supposed to meet with James - the investigator that is getting baptized in 2 weeks, but that fell through. I felt like we wasted time today. I started driving - and usually E. Cain tells me where to go (because he knows the area), but he didn't know where we were going either, and didn't say anything, so we took a 15 min. drive through this random canyon and wasted time - but it was relaxing! Then tonight Bro. Zapetiini took us to Cold Stone for ice cream. He is a recent convert and is so cool. He also is letting me use his bike for this transfer - and it is a nice bike!

Letter to home - May 18, 2009

 Hello family! Things are going good. Missionary work is tough stuff! I feel pretty settled in, but being responsible for the salvation of people can be hard work! The Lord has blessed me with a great area. San Ramon is a great place to start. It is a very safe city. I got the package you sent, and the mail man just left it on our front door step. Elder Cain said "Wow, its a good thing we are in San Ramon!" (people are so rich here that they could care less about a mail package, but in Oakland....I guess that's another story). Thank you so much for all the good stuff you sent me! I loved it! I really like the tie you sent - I'm wearing it right now! And my debit card got here just fine - no problems at all. I don't even think that I have used my debit card since I got here. We get fed quite a bit. I love the members here! They are so amazing. Sis. Johnson met us at Costco today, bought some of our groceries, then took us out to lunch. It was great.
> Well last week (on Saturday) I went on a split with one of our zone leaders. I packed up my stuff (everything I needed for 1 day) and spent the night, and the next day in Concord. It was awesome. I was with Elder Warden - from Sandy Utah. It was good to see how he does things, and get to be in a different area for the day. People in Concord seem a lot nicer than in San Ramon. It is not as nice as San Ramon, so the people are a bit more humble. People here in San Ramon are to rich for their own good. A lot of then are really nice but it still amazes me how nice it is here. The "ghetto" of San Ramon is comparable to Stansbury (and that's the part we live in), but the neighborhoods we tract in are crazy nice.
> The weather here has been pretty warm. Yesterday it was 104 degrees! Pretty toasty. The members say that once you go over the hills to Oakland, and your on the Bay, the temperature drops 20 degrees, because of the ocean. If your over here on the other side it can get really hot. I've also learned that Northern Californians, take great pride in being Northern Californians - and not Southern Californians. I guess that Southern Californians call the North "No Cal" (No. being the abbreviation for North, but also implying that its not even part of the state!) There seems to be a bit of tension between the two parts of the state!
> Well the work is going good. Right now I pretty much just follow Elder Cain around, and smile and wave at people, but it is going well. The man with the deep questions (James) is hopefully going to be baptized at the end of this month, but hasn't been at church for the past 2 weeks. I keep asking Elder Cain if we need to call him, and check up on him, but we don't. Sometimes I disagree on the way Elder Cain does things, but I don't want to speak out because, honestly I wouldn't know how to do things anyway! But he works hard, and has sacrificed so much to be here (he is the only active member of his family, and his mom is very, very sick) so I just need to trust him - he knows what he is doing. We have some really good appointments set up for this week, and Friday is my first zone conference! Things are good. Thank you for your love and for your support! I am blessed more than I realize. And I'm fine with emails. A letter every once in awhile might be nice, but emails are just fine! I love you all! Good luck with Pre School graduation, and Kenna - Enjoy your last few weeks at good ol' Grantsville High! Dad - In June we are going to Oakland, and I'll for sure get a temple schedule for you! LOVE YOU ALL!
p.s. That is CRAZY that Cacey got his call here!!! He is going to love it!

May 18, 2009

It has been a great P-day. Today was a really good day. We started the day by being in the gym at 6:40 (it is a companionship goal). I got a good 20 min in, on the stationary bike. Then we had our personal/comp studies. During comp study we got a call saying that the 2 senior Elders were coming to our apartment to do a clean check, so we ran around for 20 min cleaning the place up. We did good, and they were impressed. Then we went shopping, and went to the church to email. Sis. Johnson met us at Costco to take us shopping (because we don't have a Costco membership). She bought us some of our groceries, then bought us lunch. I can't get over how awesome the members are. At 6:00 pm we had an appointment with a recent convert named Zinida. She is from a small island somewhere, and is here in the U.S. for 2 years to work. It was a nice visit. She has a strong testimony. Then at 7:00 pm we met with the Masons. Hazel Mason served a mission, then married a non member and is now inactive. We planned and prepared, and I think the lesson went really well. I hope her husband felt the spirit. She told us before we went over that her husband is sometimes annoyed by missionaries,but I hope that he felt something tonight.

May 17, 2009

Six hours of church is crazy! It can be pretty tiring, but it was really good today. In the 2nd ward there was a farewell. The talks were all really good. It was mentioned that in the pre-existance, we may have told our brothers and sister in heaven, that we would find them on earth, and share the gospel with them, because they do not have the opportunity like me to be born and raised in the church. That really hit me and reminded me that there are people here in my mission that I need to find, and teach. I hope and pray that the Lord will lead me to them. In the 1st ward it was their ward conference, and the topic was the 3 parables that the Savior gave about the sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. How we need to feed the Savior's sheep by sharing the gospel, search for those hungering that need the gospel, and welcome those back who have fallen astray. It was a good Sunday. Me and Elder Cain had a bit of a quarrel today. He got all in a tissy fit because he thought I was blaming him, but I was just wondering what we were doing and asked some questions and he got all frustrated and all that crap. He's a great trainer, and I need to focus on his strengths and not judge him - because we all have weaknesses. But all is well now.

Letter to Home - April 20, 2009

Hello to my beloved family! I love you! I am doing well. The MTC is truly a great place. The spirit is great, and the people here at the MTC (and i mean everyone) are so nice and welcoming. the first days here were good. to my surprise I wasn't homesick at all, when we were keeping busy. I still doing great, but I think it has set in a bit that i am actually a missionary for 2 years - and not just here for a week, for efy or something. I am still excited, but it's just tough at times. I'm learning to have faith, in a way that I have never had, and to trust the Lord to help remove my doubts and fears. But I will not give up. This is a great place to learn and grow. The Lord has already blessed me in so many ways. well, my companion finally came on Friday. His name is Elder Rushing and he is also from Hawaii. So we have 2 Hawaiins and 2 white boys. We have good times and work hard, but I think the lord is testing my patience with my companion. He is a great person, but I find it hard to love him. but since I was companions with Elder Kesler and Elder Waiwaiole for a few days we became good friends, so all 4 of us just kind of hang out. Well, the mtc food is actually really good. And I can have chocolate milk with every meal (there would be an exclamation mark at the end of that sentence, but the computer I'm on is retarded and wont let me us that button) we also have a great zone, and branch president. our branch president is a powerful man, and he sounds like Barak Obama but he is white. So that's pretty cool. Thank you so much for the package, and the letters. Just to let you know you don't need to send me anymore packages while I'm at the mtc, because I eat a ton of food already, and everyone else just eats them any ways. But I love the letters. The letters mean a lot more to me anyway. well I love you all so much. I'm happy to be here and am doing great. hope all is well at home. my p days here are on Monday and my email is tomray at my ldsmail.net I love you.

 -Elder Cook

May 16, 2009

Today was pretty amazing. I spent the day in Concord in Elder Warden's area. We had a great day. I learned so much from Elder Warden in the past 24 hours. He has been out for a little over a year, and he is the missionary I want to be in a year. Today we talked with everyone! I think people in Concord are a lot nicer than San Ramon (not as rich), or E. Warden just knows how to talk to people. We had 2 lessons today. It was great because I've only taught 1 so far - total, so it was good. E. Warden told me to teach the people - not the lesson. It is a lot easier said than done. It will come with practice. I just need to be patient and trust in the Lord. I also had a good talk with him about not knowing - or at least feeling like I'm not 100% sure that this is the true church. He gave me good advice and said that I just don't know that I know. Of course I have a testimony, or I wouldn't be here, but I have doubts that need to be destroyed! But I felt like today was a really good day. We ate dinner at the Cox's tonight (best yet!) and stayed way too long, but we had a really good visit. Missionary work is hard getting used to but eventually it will become a way of life. A way of life that I'll live for the rest of my days.

May 15, 2009

Today was good. We started the day off with weekly planning in the park, with pastries! Yum. It took about 3 hours. We talked about our investigators, and made plans for the upcoming week. While we were tracting today, we found an awesome lady named Pam.She was really nice, and we have a return appointment with her next week. It will be good. Tonight, after tracting, we had dinner at the Broker's house. We had steak and shrimp. It was pretty good, but Bro. Broker is a very intimidating man, and he persecuted me for liking my steak well done and for not eating shrimp. My steak had a lot of fatty pieces on it, but I just chewed right through them steak was amazing, but I almost threw up a little because of the texture of all the fat. But, I cleared my plate the best I could. Missionaries eat all sorts of weird things, and I can barely handle steak fat! Wow, good thing I'm in California! Tonight we are on a team up, so I'm actually in Walnut Creek with Elder Warden (one of our zone leaders) just for tomorrow. Pretty exciting.

May 14, 2009

Today it seemed like we wasted lots of time. As time goes on, I think I'm getting used to missionary work, but I thought that missionaries would be a lot more busy. Today we had district meeting and there was a mix up in communication - the sisters thought we were meeting in San Ramon so they went there, but we were actually supposed to meet in Danville - where we met. So it took a while to sort that out and we lost about 45 minutes. Then E. Cain has his blood drawn and that took a bit as well. After that we had lunch then organized the Area Book a bit more. That was productive, but still felt like we weren't doing much. Then we did our 5 to 7 tracting that actually went really well! We got a return appointment on the very first door we knocked! The street that we knocked was primarily people from India. They are very, very friendly people but are Hindu and didn't seem very interested but were very kind. I've also been worrying (too much) about my testimony. Sometimes I have doubts and worry if this church is true. I've been Mormon my whole life and it's all I've ever known. I definitely have a testimony, but it's not as strong as I thought it was. I've ben praying to know if the Book or Mormon is true and need to be patient in receiving my answer. I guess it's just hard, to invite others to join the church and knock on their doors and be - in some ways - kind of annoying, if I don't have that firm believe in the gospel that I desire to have. I need to keep pressing forward, having faith. Then sometimes when I have doubts about the gospel, I get really homesick. I think - if the gospel isn't true, then I am out here wasting 2 years of my life, away from my family. I want to get rid of these horrible doubts and fears. I will not give in. I'm going to work hard and build my testimony. I cannot do it alone. The Lord has blessed me so much, and I need to recognize His blessings more and rely on my Savior. It's just hard. I am really grateful and blessed to have a good trainer. Elder Cain works hard. He is kind of different but I'm trying to look at hist strengths, not his weaknesses. He likes to sing a lot and most of the time I wish he wouldn't. Wow, I'm a horrible person. Elder Cain is a great guy. Well, San Ramon just keeps growing on me. It gets more beautiful every day. I'm grateful to be here. I hope I can be the missionary the Lord wants me to be. I'm trying to listen to the spirit and strengthen my testimony.

May 13, 2009

Things slowed down a bit today. Elder Cain has some health problems (he might have diabetes - he has a doctors appointment tomorrow), but he gets really fatigued. He is still an awesome missionary because despite of his pains we still get up every morning on time, and go to work. He's a good example. Today we were contacting in the park, we weren't having much luck until we saw these ladies hoolahooping in the middle of the park to the Beach Boys. I wanted to go talk with them and E. Cain didn't. We took another lap around the park and they were still there, so we went over to talk with them. It was a little awkward because we were trying to talk with them and they just kept hoola hooping. It wasn't your regular hoola hooping - it was intense! They had sweet moves. Finally Elder Cain asked if they would teach us and they said sure grab a hoop! So now we are in the middle of this park hoola hooping with these ladies, jammin out to the Beach Boy! But we talked to them for a long time and made a good friendship. We gave them our number and they said they'll probably give us a call. So that was cool/weird. But I hope something good comes out of hoola hooping with ladies in the park for 35 minutes. Then today during tracting, I have never tracted a more rude street. No one at all wanted to listen. We got a lot of doors shut. But all is well.

May 12, 2009

Today was a really good day. This morning in comp. study Elder Cain shared a really good scritpure in Hebrews 11:40. The JST for the scripture is amazing. It really opened my eyes about how we need to struggle in life to learn and grow, but we always know that Christ is there to strengthen us. After comp study we went to the church to use the computers to type up former investigator information, in our attempts to clean up the Area Books. It was kinda boring, but good. Then we did a bit of shopping, came to the apartment, and had lunch. After lunch we had some really good visits. First we visited a less active member named Hazel. She is awesome! She served a mission, but has had some hard times and is married now to a non-member, but still has a strong testimony and is way cool. We talked to her for a bit and set a return appointment with her and her husband. She said her husband isn't "looking" but she would love to have us in her home. So after that visit I got excited. Then we visited a former investigator and set up another return appointment. Her name is Victoria and she has been taught all of the lessons twice, but doesn't believe that there is only one true church. But she likes talking to us,so we will see what happens. Then after our visits, we started our five to seven tracting, and the first person we talked to we got another appointment! His name is Todd and he has a family and seemed interested. I hope that things work out. I think that I'm getting a bit more comfortable here on my mission. San Ramon is absolutely beautiful. It is so green here. Every house is landscaped beautifully and all of the houses are huge. It is a really safe neighborhood. Right now the weather is just about perfect. When I pictured being on my mission, I pictured knocking on doors all over tje ghettos of Oakland! I never pictured such a nice area. I hope that I don't get too comfortable here, because next thing I know I'll be transferred to West Oakland or something! I'll go wherever the Lord wants me to. I'm trying harder to trust in the Lord, and listen to the spirit. It is going to take time and a lot of hard work, but I just need to be patient and diligent have faith and trust in the Lord.

Letter to Home - May 11, 2009

 Hello Family! I loved talking with you last night. It's going to be weird not talking to you until Christmas, because I've called home 3 times in the past 5 days! Well my first p-day is going pretty good. This morning we woke up and went over to a members house to eat breakfast. They feed us breakfast once a week! They are awesome. They have a son getting ready to put in his mission papers (their first one going out). We talked about him for awhile, then I saw his picture on the wall and i know him! He was in my ward at BYU-I, and was at the pool a lot when I swam laps! Crazy huh? It is a small world. I also found out today at our zone activity (we played dodgeball, and the Tongan sisters made us this way good Tongan desert drink stuff), anyway I found out that Sis. Rogers (a sister missionary in our district) is way good friends with Steve (my past roommate at BYU-I)! Crazy again! We shared some good stories about good ol' Steve. But ya, we also went shopping today, and we still have to do our laundry, and clean out the car. Well, I'm getting to know Elder Cain a bit more, and he is a little different, but he is a good missionary, and I hope to work well with him. My apartment address is -140 cedar point loop apt. #513 San Ramon, CA. I don't know the zip code, but maybe you could find it online. Elder Cain says that it is better to just send stuff to the mission home, and then they will forward it to me, but I don't know! You could try sending it straight to my apartment, whatever you feel like. Well I love you all so much! Mom, I hope you had a wonderful Mothers Day!

 -Elder Cook

May 11, 2009

We started out our P-day today with breakfast at the Halversen's. They are wonderful members who feed us breakfast once a week. They were talking to me about their oldest son, and how he is preparing to put in his mission papers soon. We talked for a bit, then I went into their living room and saw a picture of their family and I know their son! Crazy huh? He was in my ward at BYU-I! Small world. Another crazy thing that I found out is that Sis. Roggers (in our district) is good friends with Steve (my roommate at BYU-I)! Crazy again! It's a small world. Well today after breakfast we did a bit of shopping, then went to a zone activity in Walnut Creek. We played dodgeball. It was pretty fun. It was nice to meet the whole zone. The Tongan sisters made this way good Tongan drink. It had watermelon, pineapple, and a whole bunch of other weird stuff, and you ate it with crackers. It was really good. After the activity we went to our ward building and emailed. There wasn't much to write because I just talked to the fam on yesterday (wow, that sounds retarded). Well it has been a good day, and I am tired.

May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was my first Sunday in the mission field. It was good and I got to call home! Even though I just talked to my mom 4 days ago at the airport it was still great to hear them. We talked for about 50 minutes. It was kind of hard at church today. We cover 2 wards in our area so we went to all 3 meetings in both wards! Six hours of church! Yup, it's pretty awesome. The hard thing was, that it was two sacrament meetings dedicated to mothers. I'm a mama's boy. then we sang Love At Home and I wanted to cry. We also bore our testimonies in Relief Society, because they talked about being righteous mothers and raising their sons to serve a mission. Right before I had to get up in front of all these ladies and speak, I felt like if I talked to them about my mom that I would start crying - and I didn't want that to happen. I said a prayer right before and I almost instantly felt peace and comfort and the homesickness went away. It was a neat experience. The members here in Cali are amazing! They are so nice. Tonight we ate at the Ross' house. They fed us steak! It was so charitable to have us over on Mother's Day. I'm still trying to get in the swing of things of how to do missionary work. I need to learn how to listen to the spirit better. It is all about the spirit!

May 9, 2009

Today seemed a lot more productive. We had a plan for the day and that made a big difference. Elder Cain is a good missionary, and I can learn lots from him. I'm still getting to know him. I think that we will get along well. I don't think we'll be best friends, but I don't think we'll have a problem. Today I went to my first teaching appointment! I didn't really say much, but it was great! We taught a guy named James. He's been being taught for a long time. He really likes going into really deep doctrines - like where God began, how the Virgin Mary conceived Christ, ya know, stuff that isn't important for us to know right now. But we set a baptism date with him! So that is exciting. Missionary work is not like how I imagined. I hope Elder Cain teaches me all that I need to know. Tonight was also my first dinner appointment at Bishop Fawson's house. He is the bishop of the 2nd ward here in San Ramon. It was great. I love the members here. I love San Ramon! I guess it's one of the nicest areas in the mission. It is so beautiful. the neighborhoods are super nice, but a lot of people feel that they have what they need, and don't want the gospel.

May 8, 2009

Today was the first full day of the mission! It was alright. We got up on time, at 6:30 am, and went to our apartment complexes gym for a while to bike. Then we got all ready for the day, and had personal study. Elder Cain was pretty tired and slept through most of it. I have set a goal for myself to never waste my personal study time. Then we had companion study for about a half an hour, because we had to leave early because Elder Cain had a doctor's appointment to get blood work done. We drove all the way there and they didn't have his paper work so they couldn't take his blood so we drove all the way back. Then we sat at the apartment, while Elder Cain looked at the Area Books, trying to get them organized while I pretty much did nothing. After lunch Elder Cain took another little nap. Elder Cain is awesome, but it sure seems like we waste a lot of time. I've never been a missionary, so I don't know how everything works so I just need to trust my trainer.

Tonight we met our district. There are 3 companionships in our district. Me and Elder Cain, and 2 comps. of sisters. They are awesome! They just shine. They gave me a "greenie" package with a bunch of goodies in it. We set some district goals, then went tracting. It was a good day.

May 7, 2009

WOW! The first full day in the mission field has been AMAZING! We woke up this morning and ate a delicious breakfast prepared by President and Sis. Beck. Then we had a group scripture study, and a lot of mission orientation and training.Then at 11:30 am the moment of truth came. We met our trainers. My first companion in the field is Elder Cain, from Payson, Arizona. It is crazy because his first name, and middle name is the same as mine! (Tom Ray) And even more our initials are the same - TRC. After we met our trainers, we ate lunch, then packed up and headed to our areas. We had to drop Elder Child and Elder Johnson off in Concord before we went to San Ramon. In the car the trainers (Elder Child and Elder Cain) asked if we liked rap and said they had a Ludacris CD, and put it in. I though oh crap. My trainer is supposed to be the example and be obedient but as the CD played, it was just classical music. I was so relieved, and they had their laughs. After we got to our apartment in San Ramon (which really isn't too shabby), and I got all unpacked, we went tracting. It kind of scared me, but Elder Cain did most of the talking today. I think I did one door, but I would always join in any conversation we had with anyone. People are nice here. One Asian lady told us right when she opened the door that she was Catholic and didn't want to waste our time (because she was not interested) but invited us into her home and gave us a glass of ice water. She said "We are all Christian!" She was so nice. We stayed for about 20 minutes and listened to her talk. After tracting we came back to the apartment and set some goals. Goals for the transfer and goals to be unified as a companionship I love Elder Cain already. He is going to be a great trainer. He is so charitable and very wise. I'm looking forward to learn a lot from him. I'm so excited to be here on my mission. It is going to be great.

Your missionary has arrived!

Dear Parents of: 

Sisters Rogers, Aston, Gardner, Tsai &  Elders Cook, Cain & Candland,

   

My name is Jeannie Halversen and my husband Scott and I have the great privilege of working with your missionaries in the Oakland, California Stake. We serve in our Stake as Gift of Family History reps, and by doing so have been able to work with them through this great program.

  I just want you all to know how much we love your children and have loved being able to serve with them while they have been in our district. We always dread transfers because we get so attached in the 6 weeks they are here, and hate for any of them to go. 

  They are an incredible example to our children and are so wonderful to them and to us. Thank you for having such amazing children!!

With love,

Jeannie & Scott Halversen

Danville, CA

May 6, 2009

I AM IN OAKLAND! Wow, it is great to be here. This morning we got up and finished packing and headed to the airport and 8:00 am. When we got to the airport, we checked in our bags, got our passes and all that stuff. But just being in the "real world" and being a missionary is the coolest feeling. After we went through security we went straight to the phones. It was so good to hear my family! It wasn't hard to hang up because Mother's Day is in 4 days, so I'll get to call back. Next thing I knew we boarded the plane and I was on my way to my mission! Never in my life have I been so scared, and not know what is ahead of me, but at the same time I felt so comforted and peaceful. The flight was about 2 hours. We landed in Oakland around 12:05 pm on a clear day (The Lord blessed me with a clear day, so I could see the San Francisco skyline across the bay! Awesome!) We met with President and Sis. Beck at the baggage claim area. They are wonderful! I love them already. They are so welcoming and charitable. After we got our baggage the AP's and office elders picked us up in the van and took us to In N Out burger for lunch. As we drove there I got my first few looks at Oakland. It is truly a beautiful area! After lunch we all piled back in the van.We drove for a while until someone asked the AP's where we were going. They said "sight seeing" which seemed a little weird. But that's not what it was at all. They took us to Downtown Oakland to place Books of Mormon! I was excited/nervous but we did it! I placed my first Book of Mormon and like 5 pass along cards to the same lady! (Just because she liked the picture of Jesus on it). But it was great! I love the people of Oakland already. They are surprisingly friendly. It also is crazy diverse! You name a culture and Oakland has it, and the missionaries here that speak that language. It's great! Also we were today today that our mission, starting on July 1st, is combining with San Francisco! The new mission will be called the Oakland - San Francisco mission. I'm pretty excited. Well after we got back from street contacting we went to the mission home. It has the most beautiful view of the bay. I think it's probably one of the most beautiful sights that I've ever seen. We got our mission debit cards, filled some papers out, and had an interview with the President. I love President Beck. He is so wise yet so loving. He talked about having discipline and a good attitude. President Monson told him that "attitude determines attitude". After we did all that, we walked over to the temple. It's magnificent! It stands tall over the Oakland hills. President Beck told us that at night, the ships in the bay use it as a beacon to guide them in and out of the harbor. The visitors center there is also amazing. After our little tour, we all sat down together and ate dinner. - By the way, the mission home i BEAUTIFUL! After dinner we had a great fireside. It has been a great day.

Letter to home - May 4, 2009

 Hey Family!

Well I can't believe that this is my last p-day in the MTC! It has been great here. I am so lucky to have a wonderful family at home that loves and supports me. The gospel is a wonderful blessing. Well this past week was elder Rushing's birthday, the big 20! I bought him a card (and had everyone sign it),a picture of Christ, and some candy. I don't think that he really cared, but it didn't hurt my feelings. I'm just trying to love him (and its really hard). Most of the time he acts like a 5 year old. He brings toys to class, and he sleeps a lot. But he really misses home, and I don't know his whole story, but i will just keep trying my best. Being here at the MTC has changed my view about missionary work. I cant wait to get to Oakland, and look back and laugh, when I was disappointed at my call (at first). It truly doesn't matter where we serve, because Gods children are everywhere, and all of Gods children need the gospel. 

Thank you for the package! I love the mini PMG! There is an Elder in our zone who really wants one, so his girl friend is probably going to call you, and ask where you got it, so she can send him one - just a heads up. Well I love you all so much! I know that this is kinda a short one, but I had a lot to read today, and I want to email Tyson. Plus I will talk to you Wednesday and Sunday, and have some stories to tell you! Our flight is around 11:00 am, so I'll call sometime around there. I love you!

May 4, 2009

It's been good here at the MTC, but I've also struggled a bit. I feel like my testimony is very weak, and it has really bothered me. Last night I asked Elder Waiwaiole and Elder Kesler to give me a blessing of comfort, and I felt that comfort today. Even though I'm struggling with my testimony, and I have a big journey ahead of me, I feel that if I go forward, trusting, and having faith in God and my Savior, that I will be blessed, and receive what I need. Well, today was a good p-day (my last one at the MTC!(. It is always good getting an email from home. I get to call home on Wednesday when we are at the airport, and then again just 4 days later on Mother's Day! It will be good. Today in class we practiced door approaches for the first time and it really opened my eyes! It is scary - even when it's fake! I can't imagine what it is going to be like in real life! But I will learn and grow and learn to be the missionary the Lord wants me to be. Tomorrow is the last day in the MTC!

May 2, 2009

Some days seem longer at the MTC than others, and today was one of those days. It was raining all day long too. I still had a great day, but I found it hard to stay focused. We started on the 3rd lesson today. It's a doozey! There is so much great doctrine in it. We also went to the RC this morning and I had some good conversations with people. I even got a minister of another faith to accept a copy of the Book of Mormon. H said that he wouldn't change his religion, but that he would read some of it. Tomorrow our district is singing in sacrament meeting. We practiced and we sound pretty good! We have some talented singers in our district. In our Zone right now we have 3 districts - one of 8 (us), one of 6, and one of 7. We have sacrament with our zone, so it's not like we will be singing to a huge group of people, but it will be fun, I am excited. The MTC has been a great place, and I can't believe that this is my last Sunday here. My testimony has been strengthened and I am grateful for the spirit that is here, and the good friends I have made.

May 1, 2009

Today we had our last TA (teaching appointment). When we got there, our teacher, Bro. Williams, told us that we would be switching companions. We were all very surprised. I taught with Elder Johnson. It was a good appointment. It flowed really well, and I hope I was speaking by the spirit. We used really good scriptures and made all the commitments that we needed to. We still have a lot to learn, but I think that a lot of it will just need to be learned in the field. Today was also Elder Rushing's birthday. I bought him some candy, a card (signed by everyone in the district), and a pictures of Christ. I hope that he liked it, but it seemed like he didn't care - but I don't mind. He got a package from his girlfriend today (it arrived right on time!) and he loved it. He really misses home (mostly his girlfriend) and it really distracts him. I'm glad I don't have that distraction. Today we also watched a video of a talk that Elder Bednar gave at an MTC devotional in 2005. He was very bold, and I think I needed to hear it. In a way I felt overwhelmed at what I need to do for the next 2 years and what I need to become, but I feel comfort that the Lord will help me.

April 30, 2009

Another great day at the MTC! I'm happy to be here. I'm feeling more confident to go out in the field each day. I've grown here a lot, and have a lot more to learn still, but I love the gospel. I'm thankful that the Lord strengthens me and comforts me. I still worry at times and have doubts, but I know the Lord will bless me. Well, I guess there is a scare nation wide of "swine flu". But here at the MTC we are no longer allowed to shake hands! We are missionaries! We shake everyone's hand! So it's been really hard, but that big joke around here is that if you touch anyone you will get the swine! It's pretty funny. Today, I also went for another run, with Elder Kesler. We ran about 2 miles - maybe a little more, but it felt good. I love running and I really needed it after all the crap they feed us here. I actually like the food here, but I just eat too much. They serve us donuts like for every meal! It's a temptation.

April 29, 2009

I love the MTC. I had a couple of great experiences today. This mrning we went ot the RC. I called a guy named Joel Henderson. When he answered he said something like "Trinity Church of Christ", and I thought, oh crap he probably just ordered a copy of the Book of Mormon just to prove it wrong/argue it. Well I said my spiel, and asked if it came in the mail, and he said it did and that he has read a bit. I was excited and asked what he thought. He said it was interesting and wanted to know more. Then I got really excited! I bore my testimony and committed him to read 3 Nephi ch. 11 and Moroni 10:3-5, and asked him to pray about it. He said if he had any questions that he would call, but then I told him that I could call him back next week to check up and he said he would like that. Yea! I was pretty exited. I hope he reads and prays about it. Also today, our teacher, Bro. Williams told us to teach the 2nd lesson and squeeze in the Word of Wisdom in there, but follow the spirit and focus on their needs. So we taught our "fake investigators", and we were told that they had a Word of Wisdom problem. But what we didn't know is that instead of telling the fake investigators they had a Word of Wisdom problem, their needs were that they wanted to know more
a bout Christ. We only had 15 minutes to teach, so we had to get to know them, teach to their needs, and follow the spirit.

Well, as we taught our lesson (thinking the investigator had a Word of Wisdom problem, because that's what Bro. Williams told us), we didn't even talk about the Word of Wisdom, but focused a lot about Christ's Atonement. It was a really neat experience. No one in our district talked about the Word of Wisdom! If we follow the spirit as missionaries, when we teach, we can be led to know what to say, and how to say it to fit the investigator and their individual needs. Every lesson will be different, but it will be just what the investigator needs to hear.

April 28, 2009

It is crazy how fast time flies here at the MTC. Tomorrow we will have been here for 2 weeks. I can't believe how fast it has flown, I have really learned a lot here. Today we had a teaching appointment, with a fake investigator. It went really well. He asked a lot of hard questions, me and Elder Rushing kept up pretty well. I think I followed the spirit as I taught. It felt good. Today we also had our MTC Devotional. Elder Robbins of the seventy spoke. He talked not only about doing what missionaries do, but becoming a disciple. Any missionary can go through the motions, but to truly gain attributes of Christ is the test. It takes time and I hope to become the missionary that the Lord wants me to be. Well, I got a package today! I told my mom not to send anymore while I'm at the MTC, because we have all the cookies, donuts, and all the crap we could ever want here, but she sent one anyway. They also sent me a pocket size Preach My gospel it is sweet!

April 27, 2009

P-Day today, was really refreshing. We started off our day by going to the temple. It was a good session, but I was so tired! I was fighting off the sleep the whole time. When we got back, we had personal study for an hour, then went to lunch. After lunch we had time to read/write emails and letters and do our laundry. When I did laundry today, I lost a sock! (It's kind of a sad thing when losing a sock is one of the more exciting pars of the day). Actually getting letters from home was way excited. After prep time, we had dinner, then class - where me and Elder Rushing studied the second lesson, and prepared for Monday night madness! It's actually not that exciting, we teach other companionships in our zone the lessons we are working on. It went well. We have the doctrine int he lesson down just fine, we need to work on teaching to the investigators needs. There is a lot more that goes into teaching than I thought! I'm glad to be here at the MTC learning so much. It has been a good experience.

April 26, 2009

Today was a great Sunday. Sundays here at the MTC are a lot more relaxing than weekdays. We have a lot of time to study, and no classes - well just meetings. District, Priesthood, and sacrament meeting. Then we have an MTC fireside at 7:00 pm and we can watch church films at 8:00. Tonight we watched the Testaments. I love that movie! Then we said farewell to our zone leaders they leave for India tomorrow morning). We sang the Star Spangled Banner (don't ask why - missionaries are sometimes retarded), If You Could Hie to Kolob, and Called To Serve. Then God Be With You Til' We Meet Again. Good stuff. My favorite part of today, was there were really great talks given. They helped me. There was a lot on faith and how God will bless us and watch over us and He knows us. If we have faith and go forward we can be successful missionaries. Tomorrow is P-day, and we get to go to the temple. It will be great!

April 25, 2009

Being a missionary is awesome, and it keeps getting better. Today it was raining all day long and we studied all day long, but I feel my testimony growing. We learned the second lesson in a hurry and began teaching it today. It went well, but it was hard going to a lesson we knew so well (the first lesson) and had confidence in, to going back to knowing nothing. We know the doctrines good, but how to teach them is a whole different thing. Today in the RC I talked with a lady in California that had very strong opinions that Mormons are not Christian (even though our church is centered on Christ, and His name is on our name tag). She said she wasn't happy with the Mormons because of Prop 8. She had strong words and opinions so I just thanked her for her time and hung up. I felt bad for her. It also was a wake up call that people in Cali are not happy. We are going into the fire! Oakland here I come!

April 24, 2009

Another wonderful day. This morning we went to the TA (teaching appointment). The TA has a lot of rooms set up like living rooms in a real house, but they have "fake" investigators - volunteers who act like investigators. There are also cameras in the room where you teach, so others can observe how you teach and give you feedback. This morning I thought our lesson went great. We taught the best we ever had! There is a lot to improve but we did good. I felt like the spirit just lead my mouth and directed the lesson. It was neat. The lessons were also great today. I felt comfort and my doubts are leaving. Our teachers Bro. Carson and Bro. Williams teach us great stuff. Bro. Williams lesson today introduced us to the 2nd lesson in Preach My Gospel. It's about the Plan of Salvation. He taught about how we should always do God's will and not ours. God's plan is the best. In the beginning Satan thought his plan was better. Who in their right mind would think their idea is better than God's? But Bro. W taught us that we do it all the time. hen we don't follow God's commandments, we are telling him that our way is better.

April 23, 2009

Today was a great day. I feel like my testimony is growing, and my doubts are going away. The Lord blesses us so much! Today we went to the RC and I had a blast. I love talking to real people! I had a few calls (a ton of answering machines) and I asked 3 of them if they would like missionaries over to their houses and they said yes! It's great to be a missionary! We also had gym today. Me and E. Kesler went running outside in the fresh spring air. It was wonderful. Oh, and today we also got our flight plans. We leave for Oakland on May 6th. Our flight is at 11:05 am.

I'm excited to get out into the field, but I'm not ready to leave just yet. There is so much to learn here at the MTC, and a lot of good food to eat! I can't believe how fast the days go by. I have my moments of home sickness, but it doesn't last long. I got my first letter from my Grandma today. I love her so much.

April 21, 2009

Things are still going good at the MTC. This morning I started my day off with a fast after breakfast, that I could not have doubts about my testimony and to know of a surety that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. I have lots to learn, and I'm pretty sure that I need to be more patient and trust in the Lord more. I worry too much and don't trust enough. I'm striving to be as obedient as I can so that I can have the spirit. I need to believe and have faith that if I do my best as a missionary, that the Lord will help me and bless me. Well today I had a great time during our gym period. I ran! I haven't ran ran for a long time and my back didn't bother me. That was a great blessing. We also had our first experience in the Referral Center (RC) as a district. At the RC we have the opportunity to call people who have asked for a free copy of the Book of Mormon, Bible, church produced movies, etc. We ask if they received their free gift and how they felt about it, then have an opportunity to teach and testify. I got a lot of answering machines today but we are going back in the morning.

April 20, 2009

Well I missed 2 nights writing, but it has been for a good reason. We only have about a half hour to write in our journals at night and the past 2 nights Elder Lejohn (from Boise, serving in Honolulu, Hawaii) has been giving me great advice. Elder Lejohn was one of the missionaries that taught us on Friday night (see last entry) and he's really been looking out for me. He comes in our room at night, after we get back from all our classes, and asks how I'm doing, then we get in a half hour talk. I've been doubting and worrying and he gives great advice. His testimony is so strong and he's only been a member for about a year and a half. His dad is even a pastor of another church, and he is out here, serving a mission. What a great example! He doesn't get a lot of support from home, but he has the faith to be here. I'm so glad that he is here, because he's helped me a lot. Last night I was feeling really homesick, and doubting myself. I prayed for help, and in walked Elder Lejohn. His inspired words brought me back up. I hvae also realized how blessed I am to be here while my family back home fully supports me, and prays for me and writes me! Elder Lejohn is a great example of faith to me. He leaves for the field tomorrow. He is going to tear it up in Hawaii! I have learned that the Lord blesses us through our trials. I sometimes don't realize those blessings, because I'm too busy feeling sorry about myself or doubting, but the Lord helps us so much. Sometimes I just want the Lord to fix all my problems, but if He did that, then I would never learn anything. Through my trials here I have had great blessings through Elder Lejohn, my Branch Presidency, Personal study, companion study, and the list goes on. Scriptures that have brought comfort are: D&C 6, D&C 121, and Alma 32:16-43. In my interview with a member of the branch presidency this Sunday, Bro. Robinson promised me that this week I will receive what I need and have a confirmation to my questions if I work hard. That brought a lot of comfort! I'm grateful that we are taken care of here at the MTC.

Well things are going great. It's our first P-Day today. We got to go to the temple this morning and it was a good experience. Classes are good and we are learning lots about what, and how to teach. My companion Elder Rushing, is catching up great! He memorized everything we need to (D&C 4, our purpose, and the First Vision) in half the time than the rest of us. He is a good missionary, but I really have to work on loving him. The Lord is testing my patience. He is just different and really annoys me, but I just have to keep loving him, and keep praying for charity. If I do the best that I can and always work hard, I know the Lord will bless me. I have to work on getting rid of my doubts and worries and go forward with faith. I can do it! I'm not going to give up.

Tonight me and my companion had a great experience. We taught the first lesson - in full, to two other missionaries and we were scared. I was doubting, even before we started, and it was obvious that the spirit wasn't there. We crashed and burned! It was horrible. The lesson was everywhere and at times we were at a loss of words and just sat there! After that bad experience, we went to an empty class room, we opened with prayer and began going through the lesson. We worked on it for about forty minutes, then taught it to another two missionaries.

the difference was amazing! The spirit was there to help us. After our disaster, we didn't give up, prayed for help, then went to work, and the difference was drastic. It was a good testimony builder and I want to keep getting better and better. The Lord is there to bless us. I am also grateful that the experience united us more as a companionship. I hope to have charity for my companion now and all in the future.

April 17, 2009

Today was a little crazy. Two surprises came. First - my companion! Elder Rushing was supposed to come tomorrow but he surprised us today. He's great - he will catch up just fine. He is also from Hawaii. So in our room we have 2 white boys and 2 Hawaiians. The second thing that was unexpected is the weirdest thing - I was brushing my teeth this morning and I turned my head to look in the mirror and my neck cracked and popped and it was not good. So now I can't turn my head a certain way or a sharp pain like none other shoots up my neck. I went to the BYU health center (off the MTC campus! Ooooo!) and the Doc. said it could ahve been  muscle spasm, and could have messed up some muscles/ligaments. So he sent me to physical therapy, but they had gone home for the night, so if it keeps hurting, the next time they are open is on Monday. But I will be O.K., hopefully my neck is healed by then. So today was another great day at the MTC. The spirit is great but I have been having doubts. Doubts about my testimony. I don't want to fake that I know that this gospel is true. I want to know! Without a doubt. When I testify of the true gospel, I want to testify with power and conviction. Today during our evening class I was doubting and fearing and I didn't feel good. I was fighting what was being taught. It didn't feel good. Then part of the class tonight was to break off as companionships and go into separate rooms. Then 2 missionaries (comps.) came in and taught me and my companion. The 2 Elders that were teaching have been here for about 2 1/2 weeks and will be leaving for the field soon. They asked how we liked the MTC and about our worries/concerns. I told them about my worries, and they taught and testified with the spirit. I felt a lot better. As they taught I felt like the words were exactly for me. It wasn't a huge feeling, but I felt better than I did before. I am going to keep being as obedient as I can, and have faith and try hard. I believe the Lord will bless me.

April 16, 2009

My first full day at the MTC is in the bank! It was a great day. I am so grateful that the Lord is blessing me so much here. The comfort that I feel is amazing! I really don't even feel homesick like I thought I would. The spirit is great here. We watched a video in a Group Meeting today and it really got e excited to get into the field and serve. I'm excited to learn lots here.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I don't have a companion! He should be here on Saturday but he is missing a lot, so we will have to catch him up. So right now we have a tri-companionship, until Saturday. But Elder Waiwaiole and Elder Kesler are awesome. We get along great and have good times. I'm excited to meet my companion in a few days.

Well, today was long but it was good. I feel a bit overwhelmed and got a tiny bit homesick, but I just need to remember to work hard and be obedient and I'm sure things will work out, despite my weaknesses and doubts.