Week 46 - First Week Training

 Hello Everyone, hope you are all having a lovely summer. Here's my week summed up!

1. First Week Training

2. Kirk

3. Finding and Expecting Miracles

1. Training has been pretty good! Both good and bad. I think it's been a good learning experience for me so far and it's been fun also. But it's also been kind of hard and slow. The week didn't go by as fast and there were moments during the week where I felt inadequate to train or didn't really know how to best do some things. I spent basically all of Tuesday with some other Elders in our district after transfers. We were temporary comps. Then around 6:30 pm all the trainers went to the Mission office to meet the new missionaries and we had dinner, social time, and then President Merritt and the other leaders told us who would be going with who. It was kinda cool the different process they went through this transfer. They wanted to meet all the new missionaries before deciding. Anyway, my new companion is Elder Johnson from Montana! We took pictures, grabbed luggage and went off to our area. We also came back the next morning for Missionary orientation. I remember my Missionary orientation and that it has been the only time on my mission where I wanted to cry. I was feeling fairly emotional but I held it together because I was in public. By the time I could cry in privacy later that night I was doing ok enough and didn't need to. But, it kind of felt like a blast from the past and it was interesting. For the first half we had training with President Merritt while the new missionaries were trained on some things. I really liked the training and thought it was super helpful. Exactly what I needed because I didn't really know what I was doing. Previously, I don't think the Trainers had a meeting where they got a little bit of instruction so it's that President + Sister Merritts are doing it with their first group of missionaries. I am very impressed with them. So the training was really good, I really just felt like I could stay to hang out with and learn from President Merritt all day. We then had lunch, more training, and that was that. Then we went off to work! Elder Johnson is a good guy. He's pretty mellow and quiet but it's been cool to see him open up throughout the week. When we first got assigned one of my thoughts was that I knew people would say we look alike or we look like brothers or something because we both have glasses and brown hair. We have been told that more than once this week. The Mission department also has a new training program for new missionaries that I think has been good for us as a companionship so far. So, it's been a little hard to lead a lot and have to explain things and be patient as he is learning and trying, but overall it's been good.

2. Kirk is a guy we met this week. Fun little story. We called him and he said we could meet Sunday at a park. So, we went over there and he's sitting at a table with 3 other ladies. They are all members at another church and had some things they wanted to share with us. Before we got too into it, a homeless guy came by and was talking to all of us about something to do with the Articles of Faith. He was most definitely drunk or something but I thought it was funny that Kirk and the other people were confused by what the Articles of Faith were. He also talked about how the ducks at the pond were evil or something and said he had already talked to some other people at the park about something I don't remember. Apparently they called the cops on him so a police lady came by and asked him to go, which he did. After that, one of the ladies came prepared with a little note card that had points she had to bring up with us. It was very polite but it felt like a waste of time. The biggest thing we talked about was the debate about faith and works. We also talked about the kingdoms of glory, becoming like God, etc. I just wanted to get out of there. They didn't really want to hear what we had to say so they were pretty typical bashers. We finally got on with our day, but I was happy for Elder Johnson and his first bashing session.

3. Earlier this week President Merritt talked about how he wanted to have a quick meeting with us and talk about Miracles the New missionaries have seen their first week in the field. I've been trying to seek and expect miracles and follow President Nelson's counsel, but this puts a little bit more pressure. So, we tried a lot of things like going to parks in the morning, walking to lessons, and a few other tips and things to try from other missionaries. I was really hoping for and trying to see miracles with our friends. It didn't feel very good because during the week we had all our friend lessons canceled (except for Kirk), and haven't met anyone new. There were a few little things like we got back in contact with our friends Terry who's just been sick, and William who hasn;t gotten back to us because he feels like he hasn't gotten far enough in the BofM for a visit. But we stopped by and he's read through 1 Nephi 4 which is better than most! But I felt like I wanted more. I knew God could do more, so if he's willing and if I have the faith, it can happen. But I still got pretty discouraged while finding just because I felt like we were doing all we could. But so many people still don't want to listen. But a few days ago I kind of had a refocus or a new way of looking at it. I share the gospel not only when people accept it. But, I try to share it as a witness of how important it is to me. That kind of focus for me has made it easier to keep my purpose in mind and not get discouraged when people don't listen. I have realized that this gospel is really important to me, so I will do what I can to share it with others regardless of whether or not they accept it.

That's pretty much it for this week! Love you!

Pictures:

1. My new comp and I last Tuesday night

2. We made butter at a pioneer day activity

3. Another picture

4-6. A Members house on Sunday night

7-8. Areabook colors before and after

Week 45 - It's Getting Hotter

Hey Everyone, how are things? I don't have too much new stuff for this week.

1. Transfer News

2. It's Getting Hot

3. Spiritual thought

1. First and foremost there's news about transfers! I am staying in Lakeside for a second transfer and I am training a new missionary! I have not met him yet. They are trying something different where we will be meeting and having dinner with President + Sister Merritt, the missionary leaders and the new missionaries. The new missionaries have been spending all day so far with President and Sister Merritt and they will decide tonight when I get to the Mission office on who goes where. So it will be interesting. I'm excited to train, but a little nervous just because I'm not totally sure how exactly I should be doing things with the new Elder. But I think we will do good.

2. August and September are the hot months out here. In East County San Diego it gets up past the 90s. When you hear about San Diego and good weather it's mostly for the areas closer to the coast. It's still pretty good out here, except for August and September. It's been hard to find people in public recently because there aren't as many people out and about because of the heat. For that reason we've been trying to do services in the mornings as well so that we're doing studies during those mid day hours when it's harder to work. We had a service this week which was good because we pulled weeds at this historic place in Lakeside and the lady we did it for put it on Facebook. It was a pretty humid morning. Not the most flattering picture to have out there but it's been good for getting us more involved in the community. The heat is also not good for the reason that Lakeside might be put on bikes soon. It's a normal sized area I'd say. Except we do have this big chunk of mountains but we never go there. But other than that it's normal sized, maybe a little smaller for the areas that we actually go into. However, Lakeside has a lot of hills and mountain areas. We have this segment of our area that's called Eucalyptus Hills. If we get put on bikes we might never be able to go there again unless we get a ride. So, it might happen. Not for a while though because they're still working on a system for the mission of keeping our miles under. Probably because of gas prices.

3. I wanted to share this scripture from District Council that I liked. It's John 6:66-69 

"66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal life.

69 And we believe and are sure that thou are that Christ, the Son of the living God."

Our DL talked about how the words that stook out to him were the words "Will ye also go away?" It was very sad. The amount of people in the world who are striving to follow Christ are very low. There are only some 16 Million members of the church worldwide out of 7.7 Billion. And I don't know how many people within that are active. In most of my areas only around 30% of members are active in San Diego. Although I don't know if 16 Million is for member records, or active members. The point is, Jesus loves and performed the Atonement for everyone. It is so sad to me how many people reject Him or do not follow Him when He loves us so much. It reminds me of Elder Holland"Feed my sheep" (Very good talk btw. Defining moment of my mission). I have a strong faith and hope that Christ does love us and that He needs us to be His disciples. The most heart-breaking thing would be for us to fall or turn away from that. 

I love you all. I hope you know that. By the end of this transfer it will almost be a year in for me which is weird to think about. I hope you're all enjoying summer and will have a good week.

- Elder Wride

Pictures:

1. Service this week. Again, probably one of the worst pictures of me that I originally wouldn't have shared on here, but it's already on the Internet. It was so hot and humid at this point that I didn't really care that she was taking a picture. I just wanted to go home and shower.

2-4. Zone Conference

5. Bench picture

6. Tender moment this week

Week 44 - Brenda and Everts Baptism

Hey All, hope everything is splendid. Here's a rundown for this week.

1. Knife

2. Our people

3. Brenda and Everts Baptism

4. Spiritual thought: Holy Ghost

5. Little Miracle

1. On Friday a member reached out to us and said that her neighbor's Mom just passed away. The Mom was a member, but her son (their neighbor) wasn't. He was giving a lot of her stuff away and wanted members to come by and take some stuff. The member just said that she thought it would be good for us to stop by and say hello. She did warn us that he is an alcoholic. So, we went over there and met Dan, who was this drunk Hawaiian man. It was an interesting interaction but he enjoyed seeing us I think. He showed us some of the stuff and invited us to take whatever (We didn't). We also started talking and he brought up similar things to that of what other drunk people say. He started talking about how messed up the world is with everything going on and we talked about some of the reasons bad things happen. One that we talked about was that people have their agency. To illustrate to us more clearly what a bad decision is he decided to give us an object lesson for a visual. He grabbed a kitchen knife and held it up to Elder Hodes, saying "This would be a bad choice, wouldn't it?". It kinda scared Elder Hodes, understandably, but I was pretty sure he wasn't going to stab him. We assured him that is an example of a bad decision. But, that was a unique moment for this week.

2. We had a lot of people come to church this week which was awesome! We had 5 - Sister Barry (Who comes every week), Sister Clauson (non-member in a somewhat inactive family), The Ames (Inactive Part-member family), and Marcus! We've been working a lot with Sister Barry, I think I've mentioned her before. Sister Clauson and the Ames we've been trying to meet with more and it was awesome that they came to church. And it was our first time meeting Marcus! We've been trying to get in contact with him for a while but he would not respond. He had a really good time at church but is not really familiar with the church. We are meeting with him this week and I am excited for it!

3. The big highlight of this week was Brenda and Evert's Baptism! They were the people I taught in my last area, Otay Lakes. It was really cool because I was there when they were found, up until right before they got put on date, so I've seen a lot of their progress. But it was so awesome and good to see them again. In the words of my old comp Elder Hatch: 

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God... and how great is His joy in the soul that repenteth!" (D&C 18:10,13) My heart is so full of joy today. I find joy in my Savior Jesus Christ. He set the perfect example for Brenda and Evert to be baptized, and it is through His sacrifice that repentance is made possible for each of us. I couldn't be more pleased with Brenda and Evert's decision and the wonderful ward they've become a part of. Ammon said it best: "Behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God". (Alma 25:11)

It was such a joyful evening. It was good to see members of the old ward, old friends and other missionaries, President and Sister Merritt came as well. All in all, an amazing night. I'm so excited for Brenda and Evert. They are such a pure couple and it was a joy to serve them for the 12 weeks I was with them. I look forward to seeing them continue to progress towards the other blessings of the gospel including the temple, reading the rest of the BofM, etc. I love them so much!

4. I also wanted to include my talk I gave at their baptism for my spiritual thought (I forgot to copy it, so I just wrote down some of the things I remember were in it):

- Today I will be speaking on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is something that we are all familiar with. He is the third member of the Godhead, is a spirit, and is the main source by which God communicates His love and peace to us. It is a wonderful feeling common to all who follow Jesus Christ. The gift of the Holy Ghost is when we can have that feeling as a constant companionship. The Savior explained in John 3 "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God". Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost are inseparable. That's why, Brenda and Evert, tomorrow during Church, Priesthood holders will lay their hands on your head and confer the Holy Ghost, and confirm you members of the Church. The covenant of Baptism is explained very well in the Sacrament prayer. In Moroni 4:3 it says "O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may do it in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen". 

- The covenant of Baptism is simply that we begin a new life of commitment to Jesus Christ. Like this scripture says we remember Him, take His name upon us, and keep His commandments. And when we do that, we are promised by God to have His spirit with us. I am grateful that we can renew this promise weekly. We are all imperfect, but we have this opportunity to repent and recommit. But while the Holy Ghost will be given to us, we should continually strive to better attune ourselves to the spirit. 

- I want to illustrate another point by sharing a quick story. One of the greatest joys of missionary work is seeing all the things your family is doing back home. Back in April, my family went to Universal Studios in Florida. My two brothers, Owen and Daniel who are 6 & 5, loved this one specific childrens ride. They loved it so much that they went on it again and again. My brother Wesley who is 17 thought that this was interesting because there were so many other and better rides that they were missing out on. He shared with me that he thinks God looks at us that way sometimes. We have these things on earth that we think are so great: Phones, TV, Money, Social Media, etc. We become so occupied with them, that we deny ourselves things that are much greater and more lasting: Prayer, the Scriptures, Attending the Temple, and the other joys of Christ and His Gospel. These things fill us with the Holy Spirit which is much more filling and joyful. I can't imagine the extent to which the power of the Spirit is felt in Heaven or that we would feel if we followed Christ perfectly. I am grateful we have the Holy Ghost so that we can experience what is merely a foretaste of that eternal and everlasting joy that is much greater than the things of this world. I hope we can continually strive to make the necessary adjustments in our lives to have the spirit with us.

- I love you Brenda and Evert, and I am grateful that I could be a part of your acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and your deepening conversion to Him. I look forward to the great things you two will see and experience as you continue on the Covenant path. I bear testimony that Jesus Christ lives and that this is His church. I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

5. I wanted to share a quick little Miracle again as I am striving to see and recognize them. I like the definition of miracle that mentions that they are events that man could not create or recreate himself. This week, we did our weekly service for Sandra and afterwards I took a picture of us in service clothes for a service ad in the Lakeside facebook group. After posting, we haven't had a ton of people accept or need service, but we've had an amazing influx of support that I haven't seen from a service before. I think that was in part because Sandra also made a gratitude post for us earlier that day and other people liked it too. It was just really tender. A lot nicer than posts I've made where we get people who are anti.

I love you all! I realized I hit 10 months a week ago today which is weird. There was a very sudden shift from when I was around 7 months to now. People instead of saying you're still brand new, all of the sudden people are saying "You're almost halfway!". As I get closer to the end, I am simply going to say "a little over a year" when people ask how long I've been out. When it gets to those last few months people brutally remind you how much you have left. I know because I have been with missionaries going home for about half of my mission, and I am guilty of teasing dying missionaries myself. Anyway, I would love to hear from any of you guys! See you next week!

- Elder Wride

Picture: (I apologize for the lack thereof)

1. Brenda and Evert's Baptism with my former comp, Elder Hatch

Week 43 - President and Sister Merritt

Hello all, hope you're doing well

1. Persecution Then vs Now

2. President and Sister Merritt

3. Sacrament Talk - June 12th

1. This thought came from something at the park this week. We only really have 1 park in our area, Lindo Lake park, and there's this section where it's technically exercise equipment, but it's not very good equipment. It's like the weird equipment that older people sometimes use but it's basically weird playground stuff for anyone else. Well there were some kids on it and as we were walking by they called to us. They asked us "Do you watch Corn?". There are like 5 or 6 kids who are like 11 years old in a group and I do not know how to adequately handle the situation. We were just like no and started walking again. One kid was on a scooter and was riding around. The other kids came up and were asking us what's wrong with Corn? It felt like harassment. We were being publicly persecuted by these 11 year olds and we couldn't win so we kept walking. It's kinda pathetic compared to what the ancient prophets and apostles went through, but that's basically what it is these days. That, and old ladies who say they are not interested rather aggressively. I don't know if Jesus had us in mind in Matthew 5:10-12. They should add a footnote to Children in verse 11.

2. President and Sister Merritt are here. They came in on Thursday and we had interviews with President Merritt on Friday. My first impression is that they are very spiritually powerful individuals. I really had a cool interview with President Merritt in talking about goals for the rest of my mission, what I'm learning and it was really cool. We also had interviews with Sister Merritt which I've never had happen before. We had a cool talk on Miracles. I have been praying for the eyes to see miracles and tender mercies and she bore testimony that I would see them as I did. They are a really cool couple and I'm excited because they're really ready to work.

3. This talk was the one I gave my first Sunday in Lakeside. I asked the Bishopric 2nd counselor if we could have a visit with his family and he was like "How about you speak on Sunday?". It includes a fuller account of my orthotic devices from some months ago.

- Good Morning + Intro

- Today I was asked to speak on a Book of Mormon verse, Alma 1:30. To provide some context, this is soon after Alma the Elder has died. We're at the beginning of the reign of the judges with Alma the Younger acting as Chief judge. The first year was pretty rough for the people of Nephi. Priestcraft and persecution against the church were spreading throughout the land. But despite this, the church moves forward and begins to prosper. In verse 30 it says "And thus, in their prosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were naked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon riches; therefore they were liberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no respect to persons as to those who stood in need". What I find especially amazing about this group of Saints is in verse 27, when the church is experiencing the midst of their trials. It says "And they did impart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely". These faithful members worked together and individually to help one another where and when they could. They turned no one away, but gave freely to any in need. 

- I would now like to jump to the New Testament in Luke 4. This is the beginning of the Savior's ministry where he declares that He is the Messiah to a group in Nazareth. In verses 18-19 it says "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord''. In Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's General Conference talk, "Are We Not All Beggars?", he says "Thus the Savior made the first public announcement of His messianic ministry. But this verse also made clear that on the way to His ultimate atoning sacrifice and Resurrection, Jesus’s first and foremost messianic duty would be to bless the poor, including the poor in spirit.". As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, we also have a call to bless the temporally and spiritually poor. To bear one another’s burdens, "mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that we may be in (Mosiah 18:8-9)". It is a part of our baptismal covenant and it is how we follow the Savior. It is that we do what we can, where we can, as a service to our fellow Brothers and Sisters.

- I would now like to share an example of someone blessing me when I was in need. Something a number of you may notice during my time here in Lakeside, is that I have an unusual problem with my feet. I lean on the outside surface of my feet when I stand and walk. You may notice some wear on my shoes if you pay close enough attention. When I first came out on my mission, I did not know that this was an issue. I barely noticed a little difference in the way I stood and walked, but never thought anything of it. Over the first few months of my mission I wore the same pair of shoes pretty much all day, every day. After walking around doing Missionary work, I saw a growing difference in my shoes. Since I walked on the edge, some of my heel had scraped off on the outer sides. Most of the bottom of my shoe was normal, but if you looked at my shoes from behind you would see an incline from the inner to the outer edge of my heel, of about half an inch through. Pavement, asphalt, and other surfaces that I walked on overtime basically sanded through the heel. While I thought this was unusual, I did not want to focus on it right now. I figured it was not a big deal and my feet did not experience any pain excluding some soreness at the end of a long day. One Sunday at a member's home, the father of the house pointed out the wear of my shoes and the awkward way I leaned on my feet. He could tell because he experienced the same thing. His father was also there that day and he was a Chiropractor. He had taken care of his Son and some of the other family members including himself. Before I knew it, my shoes were off and I was sitting in a chair across from this man, with my feet resting on his knees. He was feeling and examining my feet which felt unusual, but he seemed to know what he was doing. He told me that I had a pretty severe condition, tearing through my shoes like that in 4 months. If I continued, this could lead to more serious problems with my feet and knees and overall performance in walking or running, etc. He invited me to come to his office to see what could be done. I went over a few weeks later. My parents were in support of me getting necessary treatment as we learned the details and expenses. From our previous visit, my understanding was that in the main treatment I would be given what were called Orthotic Devices. They would cast my feet and create a custom bulletproof mold that I would wear in my shoes for the rest of my life. They would improve performance, but would not solve the problem entirely. I talked with the Doctor and learned that the full program that they offer could cost up to $6,000. I was pretty shook because I did not have that kind of money. I had worked the summer before and saved some money for college, but I did have as much as I was hoping to make, and I did not want to spend a significant amount of that for treatment. And while my parents would be willing to help pay for the treatment, they had many other kids and expenses to take care of and $6,000 is a lot of money. While this was running through my head, the Doctor told me that he was going to give me the Orthotic devices for free. He had prayed, asking God what to do with this young Elder, and felt to give than to me freely. It would not include the full program, but it would be enough to be a great blessing. He casted my feet, I gave an inadequate thank you, and I was on my way. I have thought a lot about that experience since. What stands out to me the most was how unconditional the gift was. Be had sought direction from God, and without reservation, blessed my life temporally and spiritually. He provided me with devices I would wear for many years. I received them at such a young age, that they will prevent many years of pain, struggle, and possibly disability to some degree. The soreness and pain that I had previously experienced is something I haven't felt since. But this experience has also grown my faith. It has shown me how personally the Lord is watching over me and I can trust Him. I marvel at all the variables that needed to line up. This Member was not even in my ward. He was just at his son's house for a party. And I remember when we arrived, he said that he had planned to leave earlier. We were running late but we still caught him before he left. Not only that, but me and my companion weren't originally planning to go. We had been invited earlier that day and debated for a whole whether or not we should go. Funny enough, I was the one who didn't think we should. I believe there are many other variables as well. I am very grateful for this act of mercy and the things it has taught me. I am reminded of it every morning as I get ready. I will be forever grateful for this Latter-day Saint and His example of caring for others and following the Lord.

- Brothers and Sisters may we strive to help one another to a greater extent. To magnify our covenant keeping and proactively follow the Savior's example. That we may love one another. My invitation to each of you today is to pray for opportunities to bless others wherever they stand in need. To put real work and effort into that prayer, and follow the impressions that follow.

- I would like to close with the words of a popular primary song "He sent his Son"

How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness?

He sent his Son, a newborn babe, with peace and holiness.

How could the Father show the world the pathway we should go?

He sent his Son to walk with men on earth, that we may know.

How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice, of death?

He sent his Son to die for us and rise with living breath.

What does the Father ask of us? What do the scriptures say?

Have faith, have hope, live like his Son, help others on their way.

What does he ask? Live like his Son.

- It is the Savior's example that we are following. I can't help but believe in Christ, who is the light of the world. I bear testimony of His divinity. I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His New Testament Church restored. I have faith in Him and His chosen servants on earth today. That we may live like Him is my hope and prayer, and I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you all!

- Elder Wride

Pictures:

1-3. Wento the USS Midway Museum this morning which was really cool. 

4. We put up the flag at our church building for the 4th