It's another beautiful day here in the Garden State, a balmy 80 or so degrees. The humidity is moving it's way in, and it's about to get Hot, Hot, Hot. This week has definitely been an interesting one, as we are still trying to build the area. Let's see if I can muster up enough details of the week to make it something interesting.
Overall, the area is not looking too healthy. We lack solid investigators, but we do have tons of less-actives to work with. We were able to find a couple of new investigators including a very kind women named Gloria, and the girlfriend of our Eternigator Carlos, Bridget. Yes her name is Bridget (Interesting name for someone from Ecuador right?). We think that this is a big breakthrough though with Carlos. The missionaries have been teaching him for so long, and I think this was one of his huge Iceburgs. I made mention to his Girlfriend that we had been teaching Carlos for a year and a half, and he piped up and said, "well the reason it has taken so long, is because I wanted to see how she felt with the church, and make sure that she felt comfortable with it." That was just a big stream of light to the enigmatism of Carlos. So hopefully now with his Girlfriend being in the states for about 3 months, we can help convert her to the gospel, and in turn help Carlos do the same. This could be a big big step. We watched the restoration DVD with them, and as we left I asked Carlos if he wanted to keep the DVD, to which he answered in the affirmative, and that he wanted to watch it again. Progress!
Last Monday we had the opportunity to go to the Jessop's house for an FHE, and it was so nice seeing a functional American family doing what they are supposed to. You may ask, "Why are you visiting an American Family?" Well Hermano Jessop is an implant from one of the English wards serving as the first counselor in the branch presidency, so technically his family has double residency with us, and the english missionaries. They gave us some delicious left-over Easter dinner which included homemade Macaroni (Just like mom's), yummy potatoes, Roast, etc. It was amazing. After, we taught the lesson, and then played the Guessing Game. You know that one game where if you guess what the person is thinking of, you flick a spoon of water at them. It was a blast, and a really good example to me to see what an Ideal FHE would be once again.
We also had the opportunity to go to a specialized training this week with President and the Assistants. It was a training for the new missionaries and the trainees, basically to have a download session of what was going well, and what wasn't going well, and then a question and answer session. It was interesting hearing some of the struggles some of the other trainers were having with their companions, and it really is such a blessing to be with Elder Jellen. This could be out last week together, depending on if one of us leaves, or if I train again. I guess we'll have to wait till next week...
One thing I'm really excited about this week is the Missionary Department Tour. Two people from the missionary department in Salt Lake are coming to the mission, and they are holding a special leadership training for all the Trainers, Zone Leaders, and District Leaders in the mission. That is going to be a real blessing to help me learn how I can be a better missionary, and I'm so grateful the Lord is providing this wonderful opportunity.
As far as the Temple trip this week... Well it's actually not going to happen. I don't have too many details, but Fausta needs a little more time before she'll go to the temple. So it could be the end of april or sometime in May.
A funny story of the week would be when we were going to visit a member on Thursday. We didn't have a car that day because of the Car Fast, so the member came to pick us up. This member has pretty limited English abilities, so we were surprised when we got in the car that he was listening to "How to speak Mandarine Chinese." And the best part was, he's actually pretty good at it. We learned a few phrases ourselves, and used them around the dinner table, basically phrases meaning "Very Well", or "Not very good". Then it go funnier when we got to put it in practice the next day. We went to go do service at Greater Goods, and the last order we had to deliver was a TV stand to chinese lady that lived nearby. Let me just mention that the TV stand was super heavy, and taking it up the stairs was no picnic, but as we left Elder Jellen put into practice one of his Mandarin phrases, and the lady smiled and gave him a thumbs up. She tried giving him a 5 dollar bill for his help in carrying up the stand. Gotta love the mission.
Everything is going pretty well though, I'm doing well and continuing to improve as a missionary. I've sort of developed a brash attitude, especially when trying to contact people of other faiths that aren't all to accepting. I think sometimes I battle a little to much, instead of just walking away. I'm just curious of how persistent I'm supposed to be with people... Because everyone deserves their chance, but some you can tell pretty quickly that they aren't ready. I just need to learn to be more humble, and less bashy with people.
I'm so grateful for the Gospel, and the principle of "Eternal Progression." In that, we can continually become better. I'm so grateful for the atonement, and the enabling and redeeming power of the atonement. I still have so many weaknesses, and things I need to fix, but I'm grateful that the Lord has provided the gift of the Atonement, so that we can, I guess you could say... Try again. It's tough to understand how the Lord can be so patient with us, and willing to let us try again, and I'm sure I'll never truly understand how he does it until I have my own children one day, and that will be only a small portion. I know that the Gospel is True, and that the Gospel changes hearts. I'm grateful to be a missionary, and the many eternal principles I'm learning, and hopefully I can apply when my mission comes to an end.
I love you all so much! Remember that.
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