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Body |
| A Preface
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6/15/2009
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This is the Journal Section. I will post my "Journal" entries here as often as possible (that is, every Monday). It is sorted Ascending, so the most recent entry will be a the bottom of the list.
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| Journal - 03/30/09
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6/8/2009
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You noticed that I've been sectioning parts of the email off with Mom: and Dad: and such. Well, I guess I just want an email section for the Announcements part of the website, and in case I'm not talking to anyone in particular. Thus, this section can be shared with everyone if so desired.
This is Week 2 of Transfer 2. I am serving in the Winchester Ward of the Murietta Stake. My Companion is Elder Rex Lee Jensen of Spanish Fork, Utah.
This last week was (like many of the weeks past) mostly tracting. We have about two solid investigators who we try to see, but oftentimes they aren't available so we go out to try finding more people to teach.
On Saturday we tracted into a 7th-Day Adventist who invited us in after he was done with a Bible Study he was hosting at the time. So we returned later and tried giving him the First lesson, which went more or less okay (he wasn't too involved in my opinion) until he decided to redirect the discussion to "Which Day is the Sabbath on?" When that happened, it was like he got stuck in a rut and couldn't pull out. It dawned on me that that was the whole point of him letting us in (I had only just realized where he was coming from), but we humored him anyways, and tried to keep teaching him. His main point was that because God took the Seventh Day (in creation) to rest and made it Holy it should always be the end of the week (which happens to be seven days) period, nevermind if Jesus resurrected on the First day of the week (and had the Sacrament and other things), or that there are more than one calendar, etc. Anyways, I think we left on fair terms and if we ever tract into him again he'll probably let us in for round Two, but, in my opinion, he is too closed minded to accept the gospel at this time. Maybe later... :)
We also tracted into this guy who wanted to talk to us "just to explain a few things." Now, understanding he was a Born-Again and seeing he brought down a packet (about 50+ pages) of what I assumed were anti-mormon information, I felt a little nervous about getting in so easily but his wife (who had answered the door) assured us that he would be, cordial?, when talking to us and it was windy and cold so we decided to go in. I think it was one of the most calm bashes I've been in so far. He wanted to talk about things like the some-place Massacre that Bringham Young ordered and things like Archaeological evidences and such like that, as well as how we got our testimonies of the gospel ("When clearly there is no evidence that the people in the book of mormon even existed"). Needless to say, our conversation was mostly
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| Journal - 03/30/09
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6/8/2009
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You noticed that I've been sectioning parts of the email off with Mom: and Dad: and such. Well, I guess I just want an email section for the Announcements part of the website, and in case I'm not talking to anyone in particular. Thus, this section can be shared with everyone if so desired.
This is Week 2 of Transfer 2. I am serving in the Winchester Ward of the Murietta Stake. My Companion is Elder Rex Lee Jensen of Spanish Fork, Utah.
This last week was (like many of the weeks past) mostly tracting. We have about two solid investigators who we try to see, but oftentimes they aren't available so we go out to try finding more people to teach.
On Saturday we tracted into a 7th-Day Adventist who invited us in after he was done with a Bible Study he was hosting at the time. So we returned later and tried giving him the First lesson, which went more or less okay (he wasn't too involved in my opinion) until he decided to redirect the discussion to "Which Day is the Sabbath on?" When that happened, it was like he got stuck in a rut and couldn't pull out. It dawned on me that that was the whole point of him letting us in (I had only just realized where he was coming from), but we humored him anyways, and tried to keep teaching him. His main point was that because God took the Seventh Day (in creation) to rest and made it Holy it should always be the end of the week (which happens to be seven days) period, nevermind if Jesus resurrected on the First day of the week (and had the Sacrament and other things), or that there are more than one calendar, etc. Anyways, I think we left on fair terms and if we ever tract into him again he'll probably let us in for round Two, but, in my opinion, he is too closed minded to accept the gospel at this time. Maybe later... :)
We also tracted into this guy who wanted to talk to us "just to explain a few things." Now, understanding he was a Born-Again and seeing he brought down a packet (about 50+ pages) of what I assumed were anti-mormon information, I felt a little nervous about getting in so easily but his wife (who had answered the door) assured us that he would be, cordial?, when talking to us and it was windy and cold so we decided to go in. I think it was one of the most calm bashes I've been in so far. He wanted to talk about things like the some-place Massacre that Bringham Young ordered and things like Archaeological evidences and such like that, as well as how we got our testimonies of the gospel ("When clearly there is no evidence that the people in the book of mormon even existed"). Needless to say, our conversation was mostly useless, but it was nice to get out of the wind.
Other than that it's been fun. Now that I had my bike fixed I messed up the alignment on the rear derailleur somehow, so I need to figure out how to do that. Oh well.
So yeah, this can be shared and posted on the website, I'll try to write these every week from now on ;).
My main issue isn't really being rejected as much as teaching when someone accepts us in. It's kind of like stage fright except in a home! :)
Cheers,
Elder Takata |
| Journal - 04/07/09
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6/8/2009
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This week has been a little interesting. I went to a lot of meetings, general conference, and the funeral services of someone named Vaughan Smith (not in our ward). Other than that, all seems to be well.
And so ends another week! :)
Without Wax,
Elder Takata |
| Journal - 04/28/09
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6/8/2009
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Not much is happening here. I'm trying to email pictures, but is seems I need to get a card reader for that. I did however buy a new 8GB Memory card, so that will last a lot longer...
I'm looking for a book entitled "Book of Mormon on Trial", which I heard was a good book for people who want "factual evidence" for proof, but I haven't found any copies yet.
Other than that, i'm still chugging.
Have fun! :) |
| Journal - 05/11/09
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6/8/2009
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Okay, Now that I finally have my planner I can write a few things. The weather here is warming up, most days are sunny now, and even though the actual temperature is less than Arizona's (on average, i'm assuming), the sun is still the sun, and it gets a little warm in black pants! :)
The Ward 20 program is going Ok, some members are bringing people to the discussions.
About investigators... Well, there is the Pineau family, who had a baptism date, but have seemingly disappeared. Oftentimes when we get into contact with them they excuse themselves on account of being busy. I'm not sure what to do about them...
Also we have an investigator named Steven. He's cool, had a hard childhood but has decided to rise above his challenges. He doesn't want to commit to baptism yet (because he thinks that having been baptised three times already it's getting pointless), but he has faith and is still learning.
Thos are our top two investigators so far. We've found a few more but I don't remember a whole lot about them.
Elder Littledike is interesting. He likes sports and not anything technical. He's been out 20 months already, and Winchester will probably be his last area.
That's all for now. Have fun y'all. |
| Journal - 05/18/09
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6/8/2009
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Well, it's the second week since restarting the Winchester Ward. Basically we've started like a clean slate for tracting, and re-committing members for the Ward 20 Lessons plan, so it's been interesting. Other than that, we have been trying to see our investigators as much as possible, but very few are able to keep the appointments we set up with them. One person we saw just yesterday did however, and we spoke with him for a while. It seems that he was watching some things about us on PBS, and came to the conclusion that the reason we have the BoM is so we here in America can feel important, as if the LDS needed a book to distinguish from the Jews. It'll be fun trying to teach him. At least he's not totally against listening. We'll see.
Other than that, it's getting very warm, and it just so happens that there are rarely any clouds for cover. |
| Journal - 05/26/09
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6/8/2009
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We have had cool weather this last week, hope it continues. We met Chris (The person I mentioned last week) again, mostly just chatting.
We are mostly tracting still, although a few people will talk with us. I have finally bought a soldering iron, but when I went to finish repairs on my Cd player, I seemed to have crossed something or another, and now the circuit won't accept power, so I am forced to call it failed. :( Oh well, I tried.
In other news, I also bought a card reader, and I'll be trying to send a few back (most of them aren't about me, of course ;) ).
It's funny, not on Sundays or even Holidays are we allowed to break! :) It's fun though, at least until it gets hot.
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| Journal - 06/01/09
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6/2/2009
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Journal: There were a lot of people that we tracted into this week. Even so, not a lot wanted return appointments. One of the people that we did return to just wanted our testimonies for an essay he was writing for school. It's cool though. Other than that, not a lot has been happening. Many of our investigators just simply aren't home, so we end up knocking doors for the greater part of the day.
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| Journal - 06/01/09
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6/8/2009
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There were a lot of people that we tracted into this week. Even so, not a lot wanted return appointments. One of the people that we did return to just wanted our testimonies for an essay he was writing for school. It's cool though. Other than that, not a lot has been happening. Many of our investigators just simply aren't home, so we end up knocking doors for the greater part of the day. |
| Journal - 06/08/09
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6/8/2009
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It was a little interesting this week. One day when we went out to start tracting, the moment we stepped outside it instantly started to hail! Then it instantly stopped, so we decided to continue out, assuming it was just a random happening. However, the weather disagreed, and we ended up getting soaked by the time we reached our destination. Unfortunately, very few people answered their doors that day, but we did get a little experience on dealing with rain.
In other news, I decided to get a GPS. It is the Garmin Nuvi 200 (which, I guess is discontinued now). It was the least costly portable unit I could find, and it comes with 2010 maps (crosses fingers) so perhaps I won't need to be lost much more.
I weighed my backpack one day and discovered that it can be 20 Lbs with water! My companion says I just carry to much, but I say I'm trying to build my muscles (but it doesn't seem to be working much so far). |
| Journal - 06/15/09
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6/15/2009
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Journal:
Well, today is Transfer P-Day, and I found out (on Saturday) that I am leaving Winchester and going to Palm Springs! Just in time for the summer! :)
My new companion will be Elder Humphreys. More information coming soon!
I had no idea I had so much stuff! I seem to have accumulated at least twice as much as when I first came here. We'll find out if it's needed soon enough I guess.
Other than that, the work keeps moving forward.
An interesting thing happened on Saturday. For breakfast, we (as a zone) had breakfast at a member's house. During this, we (the missionaries) were making guesses to where everyone would be going. The conversation was most animated when they started discussing Elder Sant. It seems that a Elder Tomlinson is morbidly afraid of Elder Sant, and everyone agreed that it would be ironic if they were paired up together. Well, Tranfer Calls happened later that night, and lo and behold, They were indeed to be together. It was quite hilarious, and everyone was rather excited for them. We'll see how it goes.
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| Journal - 6/23/09
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8/1/2009
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Journal:
This area if definatly a change from Winchester. It is quite hot here and (again) most of the people don't like us (aside from members of course).
However we are working hard and there are a few people we are seeing. Many people have money problems here, and also housing.
In other news, Elder Humphreys is from Dallas, Texas, has been out 13 months. He's pretty cool. We went to a baptism from Desert Hot Springs (DHS) for a man named Jason, and also a Wedding (not on the same day), which was cool. Of course, the wedding was semi-coincidental, we were having a Zone-District Meeting in the same building.
Apparently only ~150 / ~800 of the members here are active, so a lot of the work we are doing is reactivating members. Other than that things are going well.
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| Journal - 6/29/09
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8/1/2009
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Journal:
Well, it's been a hot week. We've been focusing on getting the members reactivated, and that means contacting them. One of our investigators is not really progressing, seemingly for some unknown concern or something, but we try to see her every day (almost) because of how difficult it is to find her. Her cell phone can only send/receive texts!
Anyways, all is well.
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| Journal - 7/06/09
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8/1/2009
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Journal:
This last week has been quite busy. There were two baptisms on Sunday (Neither of which were ours) which we helped with. We've also started this month going over on our miles due to Exchanges with the Zone Leaders (They're in Yucca Valley, if I remember right), so driving up there and back instantly set us back a few days on the "Where you should be at today" chart. Other than that, we're still trying to find members. One recent convert, Pete J*, was able to do Baptisms for the dead, and he had a very good time as he tells us.
It's hot here... Once we the thermometer on the car read 114 degrees. That's a lot. One member remarked that the lowest setting on an oven was 125 degrees, and I replied that Elder Humphreys wouldn't let me try making cookies on the dashboard while we were tracting. :)
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| Journal - 7/13/09
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8/2/2009
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Journal:
This last week has been good. We tracted quite a bit and met many of our people. Life's still a struggle, but most are still pressing on.
I made Ice Cream! :) I had to substitute a few things, but it still tasted okay.
Finding less-active people in this ward is rather tough. I'm assuming most of them are just gone to their other home during the summer. The last few Sundays we have also had a lot of visitors from other places, so the chapel didn't look too empty.
The District is going to a member's (small) recording studio today for P-Day Activity, so we may have some sort of music CD next week.
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| Journal - 7/20/09
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8/1/2009
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Journal:
This week has been quite rapid. Although we did not have any of our investigators at church yesterday (made for a quite gospel principles class), we did contact many people tracting. It is said that we get 200 baptisms for every 50,000 contacts, so we put in for that. ;) We also had an attempted runaway from on of the families we are teaching (one of the daughters). She however came home on her own (mostly). We were there to comfort the mom during this (at least a little bit), which was kind of nice.
Other than that, times are still hard with the people, and we continue to offer whatever support we can.
On a side note, my money card was double charged last week because of a mistake from the cashier... :( We'll get that fixed I hope.
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| Journal - 7/27/09
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8/1/2009
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Journal:
This last week has had many abnormal things happen. We did not have a lot of appointments, so we ended up tracting almost every day for most of the day. It was hot, but we got through it. Two of the people we regularly see are in a lot of stress. One of them has associated with someone we now know has multiple warrants for his arrest, and the other is unable to keep her children.
... Much fun here! :) We try as best we can to help them.
Other than that, it's still hot, there were fewer people in church than last week, and it's still hot. :)
Keep Cool y'all!
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| Journal - 8/03/09
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8/3/2009
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Journal:
Second transfer here on the desert, and it's still hot. We did a lot of tracting, and made 192 contacts! I was surprised. But we are finding a few people who may turn out.
We gave a baby a blessing in the hospital. We had to wash our hands for about three minutes each before we could go in. That was cool. We also gave a blessing to a man who discovered he had obtained diabetes (not sure if that's the right word). His blood sugar lever was in the 700's when he went into the hospital, but it is supposed to be in the lower 100's.
Also, our key to the apartment broke (before we went out), so we eventually went and got four new ones (duplicating the key that the Spanish Missionaries had) at Home Depot. It was a little interesting being there, it looked a lot like the one back home, kinda eerie.
Fun stuff :).
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| Journal - 8/10/09
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8/10/2009
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Journal:
This last week has been pretty busy here in Palm Springs.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we went on exchanges with the Spanish Missionaries as well as the Zone Leaders, and on Friday we attended Multi-Zone Conference with the Yucca Valley (that's our zone), Riverside, and Palm Desert zones. We had to drive all the way to Yucaipa, which ended up being more than 40 miles one-way. It was cool though.
We were almost involved in an accident on Tuesday, the light turned green for us, on the left side the first car stopped, and so we began the turn. However, almost right after we got into the lane and we were continuing down the road, a truck failed to stop an barreled right into the car. We didn't really realize what had happened before I had continued on in the next turn, and after we returned less than two minutes later (we had to turn around), the police had arrived and it appeared that things were becoming under control. Unfortunately we were not able to help out very much in that respect, so we continued on our way.
That was the exciting highlight I guess, things are looking up a little so we keep on trying.
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| Journal - 8/17/09
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8/17/2009
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Journal:
A Few interesting things happened this week. On Saturday, we had decided to use our bikes in the morning (to save miles on the car, we being over 130 miles from where we're supposed to be), and during our travels we saw three raccoons run across the street. I've sent pictures. Also that day, because we were on bike, we did not correctly estimate the time for travel, and ended up being an hour late for lunch. Upon getting ready to leave again, I heard water dripping in the kitchen. I thought it was just the faucet overfilling the water filter (which I leave on to fill the reservoir) so I went in to turn it off. Well, the ceiling was what was leaking, so we contacted management (after speaking with the upstairs neighbors). I'm not sure what they plan to do yet, but at least someone else knows. If we hadn't been late getting to lunch I think that we would not have known about the leak (there aren't a lot of evidences yet).
Cool.
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| Journal - 8/24/09
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8/24/2009
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Journal:
We've had a busy week today. We went to the temple and had Stake Conference yesterday. One of our Investigators actually showed up! That was very cool, considering that the Stake Center was almost 50 miles away. We are also pretty excited about them, all things considered. They had moved from Indio and the missionaries there referred us, so that was really nice.
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| Journal - 8/31/09
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8/31/2009
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Journal:
Quite a few things have happened this week. We helped two families move, which was fun ;). Luckily the one family was only moving downstairs across the way, and we didn't need to help unload the other (they were going to oceanside, which is out of the area).
In other news, things are still moving forward with people, if only slowly. Last week we played battleship, and I lost both times. I've attached a picture of the results of one. This morning however, I played against one of the Spanish Elders, and when he placed All of his ships on one place (right next to each other) I inevitably won. It was fun.
My Mister was broken when I shut the door on the valve to it, I'm hoping to fix it with super glue. Maybe.
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| Journal - 9/08/09
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9/8/2009
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Journal:
Well, It has been a hectic last few days. Last week was the last week of the transfer, and so on Saturday we get calls to see who's moving and who's staying. I was a little surprised to find out that I was moving (along with Elder Humphrys, who happens to be assigned to the position of Office Assistant now, completely unexpected), so I was very busy packing and unpacking for the last few days and trying to make sure the new Elders would have enough (current) information about the area to successfully take it over. It also happens that Elder Devore (who is coming to Palm Springs) will be training a new missionary there as well. I hope does well, but I have heard only very good things about him so I don't worry so much.
I'm now transferred to Temecula, Redhawk Ward with Elder Gray (who is also new) on Bike. We are living in a casita of a member's house, so things are a little cramped until I put stuff away. It's good to be out of the heat (relatively), however, there are many hills here, so it balances out I guess.
I had no Idea I had aquired so much stuff! I was just packing box after box, and I filled the bed of a (1/2 length?) truck (including my bike). I ended up leaving almost all of my food (on accident kinda) so the new elder probably won't need to shop very much for a while ;).
The Sister missionaries were here in this area only three months ago I'm told. So far it seems the members here are really cool. We went to an appointment with one of the ward 27 (ohmygosh) last night and committed them to try and have a nonmember with them next time we came, which was neat.
Other than that, things are going well. Elder Gray needs new innertubes for his bike (odd story about that) so we can actually go places, and we are getting along quite well so far.
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| Journal - 9/14/09
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9/14/2009
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Journal:
Well, the first week here was a little slow. Our area is so very small that we will probably finish it by the end of this transfer, so we will be working heavily with the members to bring in their friends.
Church here starts at 12:30! I think we are the last ward in our building. We had an investigator show up as well. We talked about the Holy Ghost in Sunday School and she said that something clicked (not her words) and it made more sense to her.
Other than that, the Ward 20 (which almost seems to be the Ward 27, according to the records sheets) is in full effect here, we just have to find when people are available.
One of the people we're trying to see is on the other side of the hill. I think we actually contacted them yesterday actually... Well, the 'easy' way to get there is to drive all the way up the mountain and then a short way down the other side. However, my GPS found an alternate route on a dirt trail that is a lot easier. Actually, it would be if it were actually dirt! :) A Major part of the road is actually sand, and pedaling through it can be quite tough. Either way certainly helps us exercise.
Toodles!
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| Journal - 9/21/09
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9/28/2009
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Journal:
This last week was pretty mild, we went on exchanges with the District Leader. Most of the day was just tracting, but we met a potential (potential) investigator. She needs a lot of help, but we need to get her more sober first! :( We finally got into one of our investigators' house. They are very busy with their sports (both of the parents coach football and cheer) and so they're not there almost at all. They've been taught "everything" and so it seems that we're just waiting for the season to cool down (or so it seems)..
I've wired up a set of solar panels to my bike lights, which almost everyone was impressed. Hopefully I won't need to buy any more batteries for a long time ;).
We are having dinner with our Homeshare tonight, on the Reservation. Hopefully everything goes well... :)
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| Journal - 9/28/09
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9/28/2009
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Sorry I'm not emailing this week. I'm out of time and the browser crashed before I could send anything.
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| Journal -10/05/09
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10/5/2009
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Journal:
Well, I'm back again. For the week before last, it was very exciting. We revisited one of our eternal investigators, and I used my Ultimate Fix-It-Man skills (courtesy Father ;P ) to help them install a new dryer that they had bought. This greatly improved our friendship and they appreciated it much, not to mention my having fun applying service skills.
Last week we visited a member who had recently moved in. He had had a bicycle accident near his home, and was recovering. He broke seven ribs and his collarbone, but when he visited us he was in high spirits.
General Conference was a Blast! Despite not paying attention to the first two speakers from each of the morning sessions (I tired for a while some reason), I was able to pay attention to the rest of conference for the first time, and it is actually very good!
It's too bad I don't remember most of what was said, but I know I can take a lot from it, especially when we get the Ensign next month.
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| Journal -10/12/09
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10/18/2009
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Journal:
It has been a slow week. We performed service again for Sister Tallent, working her rose-garden-thing. She was very grateful we could help again. She offered that if I wanted to go to college in SoCal that I could stay with her in her house free. I of course had to decline, but she said the offer remained.
The Lord is working miracles again! Two weeks past, a set of missionaries (I don't remember who) OYM'd a lady at the post office, and set up an appointment for us to return (since she was in our area). We had received this referral, but had (almost) completely forgot about it. On the day we were to visit her, she was walking down the street, and our Zone Leaders happened to be driving the same way. She flagged them down and reminded them of our appointment with her, assuming they were us. After that, the Zone Leaders called us (as well as the first missionaries that gave us the information) and we recognized the referral.
Later that evening, she recounted all of this, and we talked about some of the questions she had. It was a really great visit, and the fact that she lives just across from us was rather ironic to us.
I think that was the highlights for this time. Until next week anyway! :)
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| Journal -10/19/09
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11/10/2009
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Journal:
Not to much happened this week, it's the end of transfers but I'm still here in Redhawk ;).
We were at a football game down at a park near our house, but we didn't get to watch almost any of it because we were talking to people. We found a nice couple who seemed a little interested in the Gospel. They were asking questions and such so that we ended up staying the entire 1 1/2 hours talking to them. We will see them again this week (same spot, same time :) ) to see what progress they may have made reading (they accepted a Book of Mormon!). The cool thing is that they actually live in our area. Not sure where exactly, but I'm sure we'll find them eventually.
Other than that, things are going well. I heard that Byu won against California, but it was pretty intense. Almost all of our Ward was there it seems, we didn't even have a dinner appointment! :) Strangely enough, I'm not eating as much Top Ramen as I usually do, mostly because I spend the extra ten minutes making sandwiches. My companion(s) finally convinced me to lay down on the sodium intake.
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| Journal -10/26/09
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11/10/2009
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Journal:
This last week has been pretty busy with Halloween coming up. We were able to carve pumpkins with one of the ward members, which was very fun. Mine was a RIF, with the I being the Borg Logo. Unfortunately, the weather was not favorable for the pumpkins and they melted and dried up. The other pumpkins that the family made became extremely moldy before I convinced one of the sons to toss them (they were all clustered around the door and reeked!).
In other news, I was also able to help remove a paper clip from a computer's CD drive (their kid had gotten a hold of a box and just made havoc). They were really appreciative that I could do it (apparently they were going to send it in to the Geek Squad and get charged money), and were surprised at how fast I did it. This also reminded them about their CD changer, which had had some other foreign object stuffed into the tray by said child. I fixed this as well (it turned out to be a Nerf Dart) and was able to hook up the speakers again as well (apparently the wires were tripped on and pulled out of the speaker boxes). It was a fun night.
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| Journal -11/02/09
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11/10/2009
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Journal:
Things were a little slow this week. Halloween was a lot of fun, we helped set up the Ward party on the 30th. Overall, even though much of the activities that went on weren't totally prepared beforehand, the party as a whole was a large success, and many nonmembers attended (as far as I could see).
We had two new nonmembers at Sacrament yesterday, they were invited by another ward member and finally came. They said they would come again :).
We played a Game called Scatter on Monday. It's kind of like dodge ball except it's free-for-all.
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| Journal -11/09/09
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11/10/2009
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Journal:
It has been a little hectic, getting things settled for the baptism. Everyone's pretty much selected and asked, so we're just waiting now. I helped a member install their new dishwasher, which was fun. Apparently they were supposed to have their old one out for the delivery people to install the new one, but were not told. Luckily I we were visiting and I knew what to do.
Other than that, not much has changed. The two new people we saw at sacrament did not return yet, but we still pray.
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| Journal -11/16/09
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2/2/2010
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Journal:
Not much to report, just a baptism. ;)
Justin was baptized last saturday, along with a friend from another ward. It was very cool.
Other than that, Elder Gray was arrested by his parents on Friday. They were very happy to see him. As a result, I am awaiting my new companion, who should be coming today, as I am with the District Leaders for now.
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| Journal -11/23/09
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2/2/2010
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Journal:
To those confused by what I meant by Elder Gray being Arrested, I meant that he was picked up ;) I wanted a little humor.
In other news, Work here in Redhawk has been a little more difficult, mostly because I was shifted into another companionship instead of another Elder being Emergency Transferred into my area. Everyone agreed that it was for the best overall, but that means that we share appointments with our areas for now. It is rather difficult getting team-ups with appointments during the day, and what with the holiday week now I'm not sure how we'll be.
Nights are getting chilly, but not enough to require (for me anyways) more than the sweater part of my jacket. Next month though, I will be using it more often I think.
We saw the father of our newly baptized member at church, as well as another investigator. I was almost stunned, although that was probably because I was not expecting them :) A pleasant surprise then.
Today's P-Day activity was Bowling with the Zone, minus the Sisters (not sure why they didn't want to come), and we found the new Sonic that members have been talking about. I got a Coney with Fries. It was awesome!
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| Journal -12/08/09
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2/2/2010
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Journal:
Hey y'all. It's been rather busy here in the Office. I'm no longer in Redhawk, but I've been moved into the Mission Office, covering the Woodcrest Ward in Riverside with Elder Higley.
Normally, the first week is very busy (with all of the missionaries coming and going), and the fact that I needed to compile and make the yearly Christmas Slideshow did not help to make it any less stressful. ;) It brought back fond (kinda) memories of the Robotics Build season. It's almost freaky how similar the last week has been; we rarely got to bed before 2am and were constantly working on the project as well as our other duties.
Unfortunately, that meant that we were almost completely unable to work in our assigned area. We did attend the Ward Christmas Party though, and I met a lot of people. Doing Sunday Night Call-ins was quite... interesting, mostly because two of the four of us (OAs and APs) were totally new at it, and one had only been doing it for the last Transfer.
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| Journal -12/14/09
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2/2/2010
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Journal:
Well, we're finished with most of the Multizones now, just one left tomorrow. Phew! And to think of all that's gone on so far. We actually should have time to proselyte this week, as (some) of our most prevalent duties have been completed. Hopefully all of the upgrading and repairing and patchwork will be completed before New Year's.
In the ward, we hope to achieve at least one baptism for December, there are three people who should be ready (according to records), so our fingers are crossed.
Other than that, there's much excitement going on in the office because of the move from our old missionary tab-keeping system to a new internet-based one, and the Christmas packages keep coming in. Just today a whole van full of them came just for us! We predict that we will be making a Christmas-Eve run to all of the missionary residences to deliver it all. We'll see.
I'm taking pics of our apartment, it was decorated by our roomies. We have a running joke about my companion which they also put in the decor. Speaking of whom, he just reached his year mark a few days ago and burned a shirt. That was interesting. I don't think I'll burn any of my things though ;).
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| Journal -12/21/09
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2/2/2010
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Journal:
Lots of things happened this week, sorta. We sent off the mission supplies order for the end of the transfer, which was a trick plus. Our budget was unknown (whatever was left over from the last order) so we just made educated guesses based on previous Zone Leader Requests and average desired stock levels (a process more complicated than it sounds), while keeping the total cost below a certain guess amount. Fortunatly for the next missionaries, this process will become immensly simplified through our learn-by-doing approach.
We also tracted for the first time in forever! :) Even though very few people were out, it felt good to be walking around and not sitting in a chair. One of the few people we talked to informed us that if he hadn't been "born into his faith" he would probably be LDS. Of course, he lives right next to the Bishop.
We also got a baptism commitment, with the help of our Ward Mission Leader. It was cool to see how he led the conversation and bore his Testimony.
We went to the Mission Inn plaza in Downtown Riverside. That was interesting.
The Office Staff gave me a letter that was addressed to me. Unfortunatly, it came incomplete. The meaning was understood however ;).
I think that's most of it for now, catcha soon!
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| Journal -12/28/09
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2/2/2010
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Journal:
Not a lot to report this week, but we did more missionary work this week. Despite everyone not being home, we still managed to talk to quite a few people.
On Christmas Eve Morning I cooked up pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast while everyone (somewhat) slept. They all liked it though.
On Christmas we opened our gifts and quickly went out to visit people that we had set up to see. It was a lot of fun. We got to call home as well, the members we were having dinner with offered the use of their computer so I was able to use their webcam. That was also cool.
Other than that, the office work is finally slowing down, some projects are coming to a close, and we're planning to be able to work more in our area this week :).
I've attached some Christmas Pix.
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| Journal-01/04/10
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2/2/2010
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Journal:
Another fun week. We finally finished the Yearbook, it is awesome. New Years was fun, we were able to clean our apartment. I no longer fear the shower curtains eating me. ;) It's been five weeks and yet only a couple days.
We had to pick up a car that was in an accident. It turns out that in a car vs. 2x2 pole pushing spar, the pole will win. The bad part is that the car will lose :(. Unfortunately, the damage was done on the front fender while backing out, so neither Elder saw it.
We also traveled all the way down to Yucca Valley to get a refrigerator, making stops along the way. It was a long venture, but we did get to listen to most of 2 Nephi to Omni.
We also stacked our beds together in our apartment, which allowed us a lot more room (totally coincidental. The math didn't add up ;P ) I was playing with the HexBug today, found out that Innovation First Inc. makes it! I thought it was really cool, and everyone was very curious about it. We made a little racetrack for it on the table during breakfast. Elder Higley named it Jimmy :).
That's all for now, See ya!
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| Journal-01/12/10
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2/2/2010
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Journal:
It has been another busy week. Fortunately (and unfortunately) our responsibilities regarding several things happening during transfers are rather vague, so new and interesting things are happening. Hopefully we don't miss anything.
Work is still going on here though, we hope to have two baptisms for January.
Other than that things are going well. It's still surprising how fast time moves, but that just means I have to move faster! :)
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| Journal-01/19/10
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2/2/2010
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Journal:
Another busy week here at the office. One of our reporting systems crashed (kind of) because of transfers and it was an uphill battle trying to figure out how to fix it. It rained rather hard today, that was fun.
Transfers went smoother than the last in some ways and rougher in others. This next time should be just smooth though.
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| Journal-01/25/10
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2/2/2010
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Journal:
It's kinda funny how many different people will do similar things within a short period of time. This last week we've had to help two separate companionships break into their truck to get their keys out of it. It was surprising how simple it was, I'm not sure if it would work with too many cars.
Other than that, last week was most of our multizones. The fun part was that it rained rather extremely throughout the week and our part was almost nullified (we take care of the car inspections). Driving out in our area was interesting as well, some of our appointments were in places that were just dirt roads. We tried to help another truck that was sunk deep after they tried running though a puddle-turned-pond, but failed because of the type of mud didn't allow sufficient traction for our tires, even in 4wd.
Well, the work still moves on.
Oh yeah, I have a new Email Address. Stuff sent to the old one will still come through to me however, so I'm not really worried too much.
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| Journal-02/02/10
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2/2/2010
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Journal:
Lots of things happened this last week. One of our investigators has finished the lessons and is ready for baptism! Although the only reason she's called an investigator is because she's already nine. It's good though. Another one of our guys Jesus will be baptized on Valentines day as well for which we are also excited.
Rains stopped for now, so no more fun in the mud. We drove over a virtual cliff the other day! Just kidding, it was just a hilltop, but it looked a lot like the end of the world before we crested it, especially during the night .
We gave a referral to the sisters for a guy we found tracting. He's cool, I think he has a lot of potential.
We are building a brand new way to keep track of Baptisms for the mission, now hoping that our accuracy will increase tenfold.
President has challenged the mission to read the entire Standard Works. It should take about 7 pages a day to do it in one year. Thus far we are supposed to be on page 80 tonight, however I myself am behind about threescore... But, with the advent of modern technology, we can listen to the scriptures in our horse-less carriage!
Yep, I think that's the important stuff for now. Until next time, Ciao!
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