September 29, 2009

Things are good. Man, I am learning so much from Elder Czerepinski this transfer. I was always afraid of being comps. with a missionary that only has one transfer left, but it has been really good. He's a great teacher and works hard. Well, last transfer I felt I was getting a little comfortable with being a missionary and thought I was becoming a pretty good teacher, but being with E. CZ has opened my eyes and I still have sooo much to learn! It has also been tough lately being focused because of things at home. My Dad is going to have heart surgery soon I guess. It freaks me out a little - especially because I only hear from home on a weekly basis. But I feel that all will go well. It's important for me right now to stay focused on the work and do my best. If I do my best and always seek the guidance of the spirit then I don't have to worry - I can't go wrong! General Conference is coming this week and, and I am excited. It will be good.

September 22, 2009

Wow, well I haven't written for a while because things have been busy - but that's a good thing, so we're good. Well a big thing that has happened is that Elder Tyson Cook has served an honorable mission and is home! It is a little weird to think that he is home now. I'm not gonna lie it has been hard too. I really wanted to be there when he returned home. It's tough, but I need to do all that I can to be focused. In 2 years when I get home I want to have nor egrets and feel that I gave it my all. Well this past week we also witnessed a miracle! Last transfer E. Ouellette kept telling me about this guy named Jose Vela who was ready to be baptized, then fell off the face of the earth. I had never met him but last transfer we tried to find him but had no luck. We didn't know if he moved or not and he wouldn't answer his phone. Well last Friday me and E. CZ, on a whim, decided to drop by. We knocked and I was so surprised when the door opened! We found him! We had a great talk with Jose and he mentioned "he has some hurdles" to overcome (living with his girlfriend and drinking) but he was praying and telling God that his life wasn't in order and asked for help. It was shortly after that we knocked on his door! We are excited to continue to work with Jose.

September 15, 2009

Cool, 5 months out today, and it's gone by pretty fast. Well things seem to be crazy the past couple days. Me and E. CZ get talking and I don't have any time to write in the ol' journal. Well, Sunday was probably the best day of the mish so far. One reason why it was so good was because Cecilia and Lou came to church! A miracle! They had not been to church in 30 years and they came back! Oh, it made my heart happy. After church we went to Danville to E. CZ's investigator's baptism. It was a good one. Sis. Tsai and Sis. Rogers were there, and it was really good to see them. After the baptism we wen to Oakland to they Why I Believe fireside on Temple Hill. they have this fireside once a month and it's the testimonies of recent converts. It was pretty awesome. We took Denise and Sis. Hansen. After the fireside, Pres. Wade came up and talked with Denise. He asked her when she is going to be baptized and she said probably on her birthday - Nov. 12th. It was cool. After we went to the VC and looked at the BoM paintings. Denise liked them.

September 9, 2009

Well I have my new comp. E. Czerepinski. He is crazy good! He is awesome. This is his last transfer and he still really wants to work hard. I think that I can really learn a lot from him. It's weird because I'm Sr. comp. and I still feel like I don't know what I'm doing! Well today we went by Bro. Cassell (a LA we have been working with) to introduce him to E. Czerepinski. He invited us in and he reeked of alcohol. He was pretty intoxicated. He asked if he could show us his sound system, so being polite E. CZ said yes. He put in a Van Halen concert on the T.V. and blasted it. It was horrible. The scene on the T.V. was bad, the music wasn't good and it all just felt bad. The spirit wasn't there. It was a big difference. Usually we leave a spiritual thought and a prayer but this time I left just feeling crappy. It was no good. Tonight for dinner we ate at a fun restaurant called the Black Bear Diner. It was fun, and it was A LOT of food! Also today while tracting we ran into Sis. Fa'anunu just in time to take in her groceries. She wasn't feeling well and asked if we would give her a blessing. She said that she was glad that we came because she didn't know if she would last before her husband came home. I'm glad we were in the right place at the right time.

September 7, 2009

Today was a great P-day. We spent the bulk of the day running around all over the place so that E. Ouellette could say bye to all his favorite ward members. We both also got a haircut from Sis. Stephenson. She cut me really short! Today was labor day so the library was closed, so we had nowhere to email! We ran around trying to find a member's house where we could email home and finally did, so all was well. But the best part of the day was the AMAZING lesson with Steve. He's doing great! He's so prepared. He chose a date to be baptized! Nov. 7 is the blessed day! The spirit was really there and things are going well. We also had a lesson with Jason and Jenifer Dormer. We just started teaching them. Jenifer is a LA and wants to start coming back to church, but wants to take the missionary lessons first, to make sure she wants to, and that this is the church for her. Her husband Jason agreed to sit in on the lessons. It went well. Well tomorrow I'm Sr. comp.for the first time and I'm a bit nervous. I've got to work on having faith, and trusting in the Lord.

September 5, 2009

Well things are going good. Today we got transfer calls and I am staying in the Marsh Creek ward! Yay! My comp. E. Ouellette is going to S. San Francisco. My new companion is E. Czerpinski. President explained to me that this is his last transfer, but he will be Jr. companion and I'll be Senior. E. Czerpinski struggles a bit I guess and my assignment is to love him, look after him, and make sure that no one picks on him. So it's definitely a change, but it will be another great experience. We have quite a bit going on here in our area and I'm excited to see it go forward. I'm really going to rely on the Lord to help lead and guide me. I've never been Sr. comp before, or even Sr. in the area. It will be fun! Today we found a new investigator named Joe. He is interested in the Book of Mormon and seems like he has a lot of potential We also have quite a bit of other potential investigators. It's going good. I've lately been having trouble with my back. It's really sore, and I hope nothing is wrong with it.

August 29, 2009

Today started out really rough, but ended great. It was just one of those days. We were supposed to go to Oakland for a Visitor's Center trip with the Davis' but they cancelled on us. So that was sad and kinda put a damper on things. I just got really stressed out and frustrated today and felt the weight of being a missionary. Not to mention that it was a blistering 100 degrees today! Yup it was hot. Add humidity to that and it makes it even worse. But, the day ended great! We went to Danville tonight for Pacific Austin's baptism. It was my first real baptism (meaning that I actually taught the person being baptized). It was also good to see members from the San Ramon 2nd ward again and visit for a while. Pacific is awesome. Her entire family is active, but she LOVES the gospel. She eats up the scriptures and loved everything we taught her. She is an amazing example to her family. I can't believe that this transfer only has one week left. It has been so good! I love having a companion that is excited and willing to do the work. I really love this area too.

August 27, 2009

Holy day of service! We had almost a full day of service today. It started at 8:00 in the morning when we went to Knightsen to help Bro. Jepson build some animal barns/shelters things. It was fun. Knightsen is a way cool place! It's totally country - most of it is farmland. After helping him, we went to help out Dave. Dave is a non-member and is awesome! He was A LOT of junk. He has the most random things! Most of it it old engines and motorcycles and things like that, but he needed help moving and cleaning out one of his storage units. He's a fun guy to be around. He is super positive and when he told us he was 50 years old, I couldn't believe it. I asked him if he wanted to come to church with us and he said no. He said he'd come when he is ready. After helping Dave out we went back out to Knightsen to Bro. Loves Ranch (where our investigator Denise is keeping her horses) and we helped him build a fence. It was good. After that we ran home, washed up, and headed to our dinner appointment - and it was sooo good because we worked hard all day long, and we fasted today!

August 24, 2009

I usually don't write on P-days, but today was good! We had a great lesson with Steve at Jennalee's house. We centered the whole lesson on Christ and faith. We watched Finding Faith in Christ and he really felt the Spirit. After the film we shared Acts 2:37-38 and committed him to be baptized! He said yes! He then said he would need a littl more time than what we wanted (Sept. 26) but he has the desire to be baptized! After the lesson I didn't feel excited at all, and I still don't know why. I felt really angry and frustrated. It bugs me that I felt that way. We just committed someone to be baptized and I felt crappy. Well the rest of the night went well too. Earlier in the day we spent the afternoon watching church movies. We watched all the cheesy movies that we hand out (Together Forever, Family Answers, etc...) It was good to hear from home today too. I have the best family!

August 20, 2009

Today went well. We are kind of suffering in with finding people to teach, and haven't had a lot of lessons to investigators. It can get discouraging. So today, after we spent the morning doing Area Book Work (yuck) we decided to spend a big portion of the day tracting. The first door that we went up to there was a man in his garage. It was a very messy garage and I was trying to start a friendly conversation with him but ended up saying the dumbest thing ever. I said "So you havin' a garage sale?" He clearly wasn't, so I have no idea why I said that, and I felt so stupid after I did, but it started out our tracting session with a good laugh! We also had dinner (2nd dinner!) tonight with a complete stranger. Yesterday we were tracting and this lady just invited us over for dinner. She said she wasn't interested in what we had to say but wanted us over. She is a very nice lady - her name is Becky. She can cook too! We had way good homemade pizza.

August 18, 2009

Sometimes missionary work is rough. Today we had 4 good appointments set up and all fell through except for one. It was a hard day, but I did have a great interview with President Wade today. I still love him. He is a great example and is really what this mission needs. Well even though today was tough we pick ourselves up and move forward, doing the best that we can. Yesterday was amazing. We had a lesson with Jennalee Passey and her boyfriend (soon to be fiance - maybe). His name is Steve and he is a non-member. He has recently been through a divorce and feels like he's trying to find himself. We taught the first lesson, and he really liked it! He is excited to learn more and we look forward to watch him progress. The Lord has blessed me with so much. I'm beginning to feel more excited to do missionary work, and feel like my doubts are leaving for good. I feel comfort from my homesickness and have hope to become the missionary the Lord would have me be.

August 15, 2009

Wow, 4 months into the mission today. It still seems like I just got here. Anyway yesterday we had a great day. It started with a great Friday morning planning session. The best part of yesterday though was later that night. We went out to Bethal Island and had another AMAZING lesson with Cecilia and Lou on their tiny house boat. Cecilia and Lou are the best! I love them! Cecilia made us a delicious dinner. We talked about the Holy Ghost and how we feel it, then finished the rest of the first lesson. They are so great. They are so sincere about learning and they ask good questions. I have high hopes for them coming back to church. Before the lesson we were tracting on Bethal Island and ran into this stoneddrunk/angry man who just drove his truck into the Delta. We started to talk with him, but he just kept yelling and spouting out loads of F words and crap. We walked past, but he started to follow us and yell at us. Some members (LA ones) who lived on that street got in their car and followed us to our car because this crazy/angry man was following us. It was crazy.

August 12, 2009

Today was the best Zone Conference I've had so far. President Wade is just what this mission needs. We had some great trainings today, and it was so good to see some of the sisters in my greenie district! Ooops I mean "Sistrict". The topic this conference was planning. President Wade said that if we, as a mission, will plan more effectively and follow the guidelines in Preach My Gospel, that our number of baptisms per month could double. We learned some great ways at how to be more effective with our weekly and daily planning sessions. It was a great Zone Conference and our ward did a great job at providing lunch. Well, things are going great. Missions are definitely learning and growing experiences. I've struggled with my testimony, worrying about home (in my last email from home my mom said she may have breast cancer) and trying to get my feet under me as a missionary. It's been tough, but so good. The Lord is really blessing me and today it just hit me that I need to have more faith. Faith to do my part, ten trust that the Lord will bless me and take care of the rest. I don't have to do it alone - and I haven't been, but I need to develop a stronger faith.

August 9, 2009

Today was a great day. We had a lesson with the Rodriguez family after church today. The Rodriguez's are totally active members (Sis. Rodriguez is the Young Women's president) but the apostles have asked us that we have at least 20 lessons a week and sometimes we have to teach the lessons to the members. It's good though (even though I'm not fond of it), because it helps us to improve our teaching skills and no matter how long you've been a member, a review of the basics is always good. Well, the lesson went really good. It actually turned into more of a discussion but the spirit was felt and I feel like during the lesson/discussion that we had, that a question that I've been struggling with was answered. My question! If this is God's true church, and you have to be baptized (by proper authority) and all that, then why are so many rejecting the gospel? Not even 1% of the world is LDS so is everyone else screwed? I feel like some of the answer to this question comes from the Plan of Salvation or the Plan of HAPPINESS. God wants all his children to be happy, and that's why he's prepared 3 different kingdoms. Some people will find their fullness of joy in the Celestial Kingdom while others will find it in the terrestrial (That is my conclusion. May not be doctrine) But in the end we will receive our reward.