Week 77 - Good Week

Bonjour!

Good week as usual here in San Diego. This week it has been raining a lot and it's been cold (For California). Didn't help that Elder Aguilar has had a cough for like 2 months and I picked it up for a couple of days this week. It wasn't too bad, just a cough and a runny nose, but it made the days slower. Nevertheless, we went forth and labored with our might.

 

We had a mini Zone Conference this week too. Elder Slaughter from the Seventy came down and talked to us. It was really really good and I took a lot of notes that I'll be thinking about. My favorite note was when he explained a kind of spectrum. He said there's self confidence, and self doubt, and much of the world believes these are opposite. But he said they're both on the same side of the spectrum because they are both products of self-centeredness. The other side of the spectrum, where we want to be, is Christ Confidence. I thought that was cool and I've been trying to be more confident in Christ. He explained how faith grows too. First we Believe, then we trust, then we have confidence, and then we rely. I thought that was really cool and I'm trying to understand how relying on Christ works, looks, and feels like. But I learned a lot from Elder Slaughter. I really do love Zone Conferences because they are spiritual feasts. We have our main Zone Conference tomorrow. 

(I am left middle ish)

We also had a lesson with a member family in our ward this week named the Boons! Brother Boon is the actor for Amulek in the Book of Mormon videos, and he also is in the Fighting Preacher (Buster), and Ephraim's rescue. It was cool to meet and get to know them. 

So, we have been working hard. I'm feeling the last quarter mission desperation and have been trying to work harder. I'm tired a lot, but I feel more fulfilled. We've had a number of good interactions this week, but no one has been progressing too far yet. Highlight of the week was this lady we met named Lupitia. We were trying to visit a Media Referral (Someone who filled out their information for a missionary visit on facebook), but when we got there we realized we had already tried to visit them last week. The property is completely locked and gated, and last time we just tried to clap to get someone's attention but no one came. We just forgot to report on it in the areabook. But this time, just as we got there, a van pulled up and people opened the gate to go in. So we hurried to walk over there to catch them. They told us the person we were looking for didn't live there, but told us where we could find them at another house a couple minutes away. So we went over there, and they didnt answer the door. So, we thought we might continue with the other visits we had, but decided instead to knock a couple of doors. We knocked on the neighbors door which was Lupitias! We ended up having like a 45 minute conversation about the church, her testimony and experiences, the Book of Mormon, missionaries, etc. She is a super nice lady and accepted our invitation to read the Book. She said she actually works in Tijuana and is usually not home a lot, especially at the time that we were there. But I thought it was just really cool that we met her! Especially because of all the things that had to line up. We hope to meet with her again because she's a really cool and smart lady. But she might be busy a lot.

- Anette is struggling more, but she is still set on getting baptized. She just started a new job and has been busy, and because of that didn't make it to church on Sunday. The YSA sisters might push her date back since it was going to be this Saturday since they haven't met with her in a bit. Prayers for her are appreciated!

 

(Temple pictures from this morning)

That's all for this week! We are enjoying the work, and I love you all!

- Elder Wride

Week 76 - National City

Shalom!

This week has been good! It has been my first week in the Harbor ward! We share the ward with another set of Elders. Our half of the ward is basically just National City. It is the area right below the Fairmount/College ward, which is where I was a year ago now. Because of that, a lot of this area seems very familiar. 

But we've had a good week! It has been busy and hard-working which we love. Especially now that I'm coming closer to the end. I haven't completed a Sisters Mission yet, but I will in a couple of weeks. I feel like people and sources all around me are telling me that I am old, but I still have time to go. But we have more work to do here which is good. My new comp, Elder Aguilar, is also a hard worker. He's been out for almost a year and he is a Tagolic Missionary. There are a lot of Filipinos down here, but a lot of them speak English so he doesn't have to use it that much. I'm not really Tagolic, but I feel cooler being around a Tagolic missionary. He's a really good guy. A lot of the work we will be doing is probably going to be member work. We have a ward list of over 900 members, but only like 200 are active. 

The main highlight for this week was for our friend Anette! But first, a little backstory. Saturday the 11th (before transfers), Aguilar and his comp met Anette. They just knocked on her door while they were making some visits and shared a scripture with her. They also invited her to church the next day! She came and she really enjoyed it and felt the spirit. Right after church, they taught her the Restoration, and set up a return appointment for Wednesday. We had transfers Tuesday, and my first day in the area we went over to see Anette. She wasn't home because she forgot, but we gave her a call and ended up having like a 30 minute conversation! She said she's been praying every day since church and has been thinking a lot about what they shared. We talked about missions, baptism, covenants, etc. We invited her to think about Baptism, and we set another appointment for Thursday. On Thursday Elder Aguilar and I went over and taught the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She understood and accepted it all super well, probably better than I have ever seen. We put her on date for Baptism on March 4th! We told her about the YSA ward and invited her to read Alma 32. The next day we had another appointment with the YSA sisters to pass her off to them. We followed up on her Book of Mormon reading, and she read the whole chapter! Twice! It was a super good lesson and discussion. The YSA sisters have been teaching her since. She went to church with them again on Sunday and they have taught her all of the commandments. She said she already pretty much lives the commandments and has accepted them all. She has been super prepared! It is really cool to see and we are excited for her baptism.

There's also these two boys that are recent converts that had some cool legos and lightsabers that caught my attention

 

 

 

Also, we went to a library this week for studies and saw this in the Non-fiction section

For my spiritual thought, I wanted to share the Bible Dictionary section for Miracles. It says: 

I just thought that was really cool. Especially the part where it says that because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, all other miracles cease to be improbable. And that, miracles should be seen not as deviations from the ordinary course of nature, but as manifestations of divine or spiritual power. I think it is really cool to think about God using more natural means to perform miracles. One example is from a talk my dad shared years ago, referring to the split of the Red sea. He said that we often portray the crossing of the Red Sea as very peaceful and amazing. But he thinks that the Red Sea didn't split so magically, but that God sent just massive amounts of wind to split the Red Sea, and that the children of Israel would have been miserable in their crossing of the sea. It is kind of a cool principle to think about. One other part of it that I think is cool is when it says "Some lower law was in each case superseded by the action of a higher". I am trying to get what it means by that and would love to hear thoughts from that.

But yeah it has been a good and fulfilling week and I am really excited for the rest of the transfer. I love the gospel and I love being a missionary! 

- Elder Wride

Week 75 - Bill's Baptism by Water, and Apartment Baptism by Fire?

Hey all, hope everyone is well. I am doing good, but time is creeping up on me. Many sisters who came out with me are returning home. There was even a member we met this week who returned home today, who started the same day as me (September 6, 2021).

We had a good week this week. It is the very last one that Elder Roberts and I will be arealess. Being without an area has been hard but we've seen the hand of the Lord in many ways. Members and other missionaries have been very good to us and make sure we're fed and having lessons. But I think the biggest blessing has been Bill. His baptism was this week!

It was a great program. We got there early to prepare, and the font was already full. The Stake had a couple of baptisms earlier that day so the water was room temperature. We had almost an hour so we decided to fill it more with hot water, and we pulled the plug to let out all the cooler water. 20 or so minutes in we realized that the water was emptying faster than it was filling up so we plugged it in again. A little bit later it still wasn't filling up at the pace we needed so we put the cold water on too to put it at full blast. By the time the program was going to start we realized that despite the plug being on, it was actually leaking! At this point we had enough water for the baptism, and we honestly only needed the water to hold for like 1 or 2 minutes for the actual baptism. We decided to let the water run and to close the doors of the font so that it didn't all leak out during the opening musical numbers and baptism talk. Then we decided right before the baptism we would just run over and turn the water off. It went as planned and the water was deep enough, but we had another problem. I guess we never thought about what might happen if you put two 80+ year old men in a baptismal font. 

Bill asked Jack, the member who referred him to perform his baptism, so he flew in from Florida for the occasion. Jack said he's performed many baptisms, and that he and Bill had rehearsed the ordinance beforehand, so we trusted that. But then, he missed a couple of things. He had Bill put his hands together like in the prayer emoji and then put his own right hand on the back of Bill's head. The ordinance also has its own words. You're supposed to start "Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ'' but he started "By the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood which I hold". I guess he got baptisms and priesthood blessings mixed up. President Merritt was there and went over to make the corrections and then Jack tried to baptize Bill. He lost his grip and Bill slipped about halfway down. It was pretty funny and Bill was a good sport about it. As Bill was floating on his back in the water Jack said "Hold on, we gotta do that again" and Bill just said "Yeah, I see that". He's such a champ. The second try Harrington hopped in and basically helped Bill go down and come back up. He was baptized by two people. My favorite other quote was when President came up to Harrington after and said something to the effect of "Good job on saving the day and going commando. In more ways than one". 

The night before the Baptism Elder Harrington was preparing a homemade apple pie for Bill. He said he was just going to put it in the oven and wake up when the timer went off. We all went to bed figuring all would be well. I woke up the next morning to the smell of what I thought was pancakes. Before I got up Elder Roberts went into the kitchen to investigate and I heard him opening doors and windows. Apparently Harrington slept through the alarm and the pie had been in the oven for like 8 hours. 

My favorite part of this story is that Elder Gudino confessed that he woke up around 4 am due to the smell. He saw the pie was burnt but didnt know how to turn the oven off. He decided he would just open the back screen door for some ventilation. I was dying. It was so funny, like why didn't he just take the pie out? Or wake one of us up? Or push the off button on the oven? It's so funny to me that I can't even be mad about it. Thankfully, despite human error, the Lord intervened and our apartment did not burn down. Harrington made another one that morning.

Other than that this week has been us saying goodbye to a lot of members, both in Ex-Olivenhain, and La Costa people I've met just in the past couple of weeks. There are a lot of amazing people down here. But I finally have the sweet release of being arealess. My new area is in National City in the Harbor ward. The ward is English, but the area includes a Tagolic speaking group. My new companion in Tagalog, but I'm still assigned English. I'll see if I can pick up some Tagalog from him, but I probably won't be a ton of help in our Tagalog lessons. 

 

(Here are a couple of members that we visited yesterday)

For a quick spiritual thought, I'd like to go back to the experience of knowing Bill. For a long time and for many areas I have been really trying to work hard because of how hard it has been to find people. I've essentially been trying to buy a miracle by working so hard. But I've learned that that's not how it works. God asks that I, and all other missionaries, have faith, and do my best, but I will never be a perfectly hard working missionary, and I will never deserve a miracle or deserve someone to teach. That is given by God's grace. I've also developed a greater understanding that this is not about me. If I had kept the ward that I had, I probably wouldn't have met Bill or be able to attend lessons. And yet, even though I did go to lessons, I still was never really his missionaries. But meeting Bill has been such a blessing and it has been cool to be a part of, from a more outside perspective. There were many moments where I just was so full of joy because of what Bill is doing. It is about Bill, and it is about others around me and it is about God. 

Also, if you are interested in some upliftment, Bill shared this video with us that he made some years ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx4oP8mjRDk

Love you all! 

- Elder Wride

Week 74 - Ups and Downs

Hello All!

This week has been up and down, but overall good.

(Me, Gudino, and Roberts)

On Wednesday one of the La Costa Elders got sick. His companion was okay, and they had a full day of lessons so we decided to just go on exchanges. I went with Gudino for the first part of the day, and Elder Roberts for the second half. Being in the apartment for half of the day was not fun, but I was able to go to a lesson with their friend Bill! We had such a good lesson with him. It was basically a big Q+A. I wish you all could meet Bill because he is the sweetest and most wholesome 80+ year old man you will ever meet. He is on date to be baptized on the 11th. We've invited a lot of our friends and hope that they are able to make it.

We also had stake conference this weekend and Elder Gordon Treadway from the seventy came to speak. I really liked his Saturday night message on remembering miracles. As part of his talk, which was the last of the night, he reminded us of the many many miracles that the previous speakers had shared. He also shared some of his experiences and it was a super spiritual time. I just really resonated with that because I feel like I constantly forget miracles or amazing experiences. I journal every day and hope to record all of it. But my favorite part of the night was after the session when the La Costa Elders took Bill up to introduce him to our Mission President. I didn't go with them, but I watched from the back of the chapel. After the good conference, and seeing Bill talk and laugh with President Merritt, my joy was full. I will never forget the moment, it was just like the movies. 

The church system has not updated all the new boundaries. For that reason, our areabook still shows the previous ward. But, since we're basically with La Costa, the APs tried to merge our areabooks with theirs on Thursday. Because of that, all of the records for our friends disappeared. It's rather unfortunate because we now don't have any members or non-members. The only things Elder Roberts and I can do on our own is tracting and social media work. Neither have been very fruitful in this area of rich California. The La Costa Elders help out a lot with lessons and dinners which is great.

(Otter pops after a food bank service)

In other news, I hit 17 months as a missionary on the 5th. All the Sister Missionaries that came out with me are about to go home which is pretty wack. I'm getting closer, but I still have some time. We also have transfers next week, so hopefully I will be put into a ward. One thing I have gained from this experience is increased desire and excitement for when I have an actual ward and area again. 

Also, here are the pictures from Zone Conference that we finally got

Love you all! Talk to you next week