Week 85 - Preaching to the Masses

Good afternoon my friends

It was another week this week

We went to the Swap Meet this week. There is one here in National City, and we have never gone. It was fun and we kept a lookout for good finds. I didn't really see anything worth buying, but it was still cool. You can get a lot of cool stuff for cheap at Swap Meets. There was a member there that also bought us food. One of my favorite parts about it was the street preachers outside the entrance. There was one guy speaking Spanish, who had a megaphone and was probably calling people to repentance. I didn't understand him so I can''t say for sure. They had some signs too and there were some guys that were passing out cards and flyers to people. As we were leaving the swap meet, one of the guys came up to us, with Bible in hand. He asked about who we were and brought up the typical joke about how we shouldn't be called Elders since we're young. He then asked "Who is Jesus Christ?" We responded: "The Savior of the World!" He asked how we are saved and we said "by His Grace, through repentance". He asked a couple of other questions and each of our responses seemed to catch him off guard. I guess he was expecting us to have different answers than what he believed. But it goes to show how similar a lot of our teachings are to the rest of Christianity. I do respect the guy soapbox preaching, even though he could be doing it in a better way. He was just shouting and everyone was ignoring him. I've personally been thinking a lot about finding some busy area, and finding somewhere up high so that I can start preaching to the masses. I feel like missionaries from our church don't do that anymore but it sounds like it could be fun to me. I'm thinking about it, but someone let me know if any of you have done it on your missions or know of anyone who has. But again, I'm very much considering it.

Here are some other highlights:

- We got a new car this week! The mission has been going through getting rid of the old Chevy Equinox cars, and replacing them with new Toyota RAV-4 or Nissan Rogues. Both of which are nicer than the Equinox in my opinion. We got a RAV-4 and it drives a lot more smoothly, has a better turn radius, and doesn't randomly make beeping noises when it thinks we're in danger (Our Equinox did that regularly).

- Thursday morning we got a new media referral, that we contacted, and set up an appointment in 1 hour from then! Her name was Antoinette and she said she found ComeUntoChrist.org when she was searching for baptism. We talked about some of the questions she had and introduced the Book of Mormon. She seemed really elect and said she would come to church. Well, saturday came around and it now sounds like she's going to continue searching for "the right fit" We invited her to still read some of the Book of Mormon and to let us know if we can do anything for her. It was a mega rip because she was really promising.

- All of our recent converts are doing well. We have 4 in our half of the ward that have been baptized in the last year and are trying to get all of them to church. We go over and see 2 of them 2 times a week and they are twin brothers. They are fun to hangout with and share messages with. It was at their house that I took the lightsaber pictures some weeks ago.

- Had a fun FHE activity with the ward at the church. One game that we did was us all gathering in a circle, and the leader would point to us and tell us a random number in spanish or english from 1-40. We then had to say the next number, but in the other language. It's kinda confusing, but I was proud of myself because I did it all the way until it was just me and the bishop, and spanish is his first language! He won, but I still beat a lot of people who are better at speaking spanish than I. 

I also got news that I will officially be going home on August 25th, 2023, which is exactly 4 months from now. It is both exciting and scary.

For my little thought I wanted to focus on the difference between primary answers vs secondary. In life, we go through all kinds of struggles, trials, and things that we want answers to. I personally have been trying to better understand the grace of Jesus Christ, and the idea of Matt 11:28-30. I also feel like I'mm still trying to learn how to do missionary work, and follow the spirit. In short, there are a lot of things that I don't understand or that I wrestle with. And it's hard! But, even though it's hard, these are more secondary questions. Pressing forward is possible because of the answers to the primary questions which are: 

1) Is there a God who is our Father in heaven? Does He know and love us? 

2) Is Jesus Christ the Savior of the world? Did He perform the Atonement and rise from the dead?

3) Was the Gospel restored through Joseph Smith? Was he a prophet? Is the Book of Mormon true?

The answer I have found for each of these questions is yes. And if the answer to each of these is yes, then we know everything will be ok! We may still wrestle with things, and experience trials, but when we keep our foundation sure on the primary answers, we know that everything will workout! 

I love the Lord and I love each of you! I am so grateful for your continual support and I will see you all again shortly.

- Elder Wride

Week 84 - Camping?

Yuvienco was sick on Wednesday. It was tough because there's not much to do otherwise but I was able to stay productive. I did a lot of cleaning, and studying the scriptures, Saints Vol III, and Jesus the Christ. It was a nice day to kind of slow down instead of being out and about all the time.

We also had a zone conference this week, which is always good. One of the big messages was enjoying the work. President talked about the difference between joy and happiness. I feel like joy is a deeper, inner feeling. It can be felt in times of hardship. It means being with Christ. I think happiness is more fleeting, and more in the moment. Both are good, but joy is more constant. Happiness is like eating a burrito, but joy is like feeling the love of Christ.

We also had Exchanges this week. On Friday, I went on exchanges with Elder Hull. We did a lot of finding, without much success, but we had a "One more door" experience. It was nearing the end of the day, but we just kept on visiting people and knocking doors. That's when we met Edgar. Had a good conversation and gave him a Book of Mormon. He's not in our boundaries, so we sent him over to some other missionaries. Not sure how he's been doing since we first contacted him, but we hope he continues to progress. Yesterday, I went on exchanges with Elder Peterson, our DL. He's a good guy and I've known him for a while (We came out on the mission together). We just had a really good conversation as we were going to and from visits about deep gospel principles. It was really fun. We also met a lot of people and set a lot of return appointments. My favorite part of the exchange was a lesson we had with one of their friends Mike. We brought a member from the ward, who he already knew from work, and it was so good. We did a whole Plan of Salvation lesson and answered a lot of his questions like "What happens to those who never have an opportunity to hear about the gospel before they die?". As we taught him about the Spirit world, he said he felt good about it and it made sense. After we taught the whole lesson, the member shared John 14:26 which says "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." After sharing it, he was talking about how we know the truth by the Holy Ghost. He told him that the Holy Ghost is bringing these things to his remembrance, because he already knew these things in the PREMORTAL life which we had just talked about! The spirit was so strong and we were all like dang. That end of the lesson was my favorite part. The whole time Mike was asking questions, marking his Book of Mormon, etc. It was really good to meet him and I hope to see him at church sometime (Us and the other Elders share the same ward).

Last night around 10pm us Elders in the 4 man apartment. thought it would be fun to sleep out on the patio. Our apartment is a small, 2 story thing, and the upstairs room has a really big patio. It was a lot of fun, and I guess it's the closest we could get to camping. That was until about 4 am when it started sprinkling. It wasn't raining very much, but the water was just building up a bit on our mattresses, pillows, and faces. We eventually decided to come back inside, but it was fun. Maybe we'll try it again, hopefully on a night when it doesn't rain. We checked it this time, but the forecast said it was a 5% chance, so we thought we would be ok. But I love being in a quad apartment with the Spanish Elders. I've been in a quad in my last 2 apartments, for the past 6 months. It's like being in "The Best 2 Years"

For my spiritual thought I wanted to share one of my favorite talks from General Conference. It's "The Imperfect Harvest" by Vern P. Stanfill. A big takeaway for me is that we do not need to be perfect in our work. I feel like I have been falling short a lot throughout my mission. And I do fall short. I am not good enough to do this work. But, we don't need to worry about being good enough because it is not our work, nor is it in our hands. God doesn't even need us to do this work, but he allows us to because of the blessings that it brings us. We just have to be sincerely trying and that is good enough for Him.

It has been a good week and I love the work. I still don't want to go out and work sometimes, but I always feel better doing it anyway. I'm trying to cherish every day and make the most out of the experience. I'm grateful again, for all of you guys and your love and support.

- Elder Wride

Week 83 - Easter

Hello everyone

Honestly I don't really have much for you this week, but here are a few things:

- I hit 19 Months

- At a member lesson, Elder Yuvienco got bit by a dog. It just bit his pants, so he's ok, but the dog was really annoying and wouldn't stop barking.

- Yuvienco does a lot of music stuff, which I wish I could do more for. I usually do some extra studies or practice piano. I like playing Piano if we're at the church

It has been easier, in a way, to talk to people because its Easter season. A big focus we had as a mission was to invite people to church on Easter Sunday, since it is the day where most people go to church. We tried to invite a lot of people, and encouraged our members to do the same, but there weren't any non-members that came that we know of ):

But I enjoyed Holy Week. One of the Elders in the apartment got a little banner to put on the wall that showed what happened on each day of the week, and it was cool to see. Especially as a missionary. I have been trying to read Jesus the Christ simultaneously with the last week of Christ's life. I didn't finish it, but it is a really good book. I recommend it. I've also been establishing a good habit of reading the Saints books. I am on book 3, and enjoy learning more about the history.

Most of our lessons were canceled this week. Yesterday especially, we had 3 friend lessons scheduled. None of them confirmed when we texted or called them, and when we tried to show up at their homes, no one answered. 

My favorite lesson of the week was on Easter, after church, we went over to a members house for lunch. They are filipino and the wifes sister was there, who was not a member. We talked for her for some time, while the food was still being prepped, and she was fun to talk to. After lunch, we shared the lesson of the Restoration and did so pretty thoroughly. At the end, the main thing I remember was telling her that this message is an opportunity for her to learn for herself if the Book of Mormon is true. I told her that it's very important that she find out for herself, because if it is true, then that means everything. It means we have prophets today, that the church is true, that Jesus Christ lives, etc. She already has a Book of Mormon, and said she would read it. She lives in Temecula (out of our mission), so we passed her off to them.

For my spiritual thought this week, I wanted to share what I read in Personal Study this morning. I was reading in Alma 30, and came across verse 44. This verse really reminds me of Brad Wilcox's talk "Why do we believe in Jesus Christ?". If you ask that question to a Christian of another church, they may go back to the Bible and talk about how that teaches that He lives. Some may not really know why, except that it is how they grew up, especially here in America where Christianity is a big part of our culture. But, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have many more witnesses that Alma shares in verse 44. We have the Book of Mormon, and the other Standard works. We also have living Prophets and Apostles that know, of a surety, that Jesus Christ lives. If you're looking for spiritual upliftment, I recommend listening to this talk  by Brad Wilcox, or also watching the series "Special Witnesses" which is the leaders of the church sharing their testimonies.

Love you all!

- Elder Wride

Week 82 - General Conference + Friends Update

 Hello dear brothers and sisters. Hope you all had a great weekend of General Conference.

General Conference is always good as a missionary. It is pretty much a holiday because weI don't have my notes and I don't remember everything, but here are some of my favorite talks:

- Elder Allen Haynie who talked about the need for living prophets. Funny and uplifting message

- Elder Braggs talk on Christlike poise. I thought the concept was cool, and I feel like it is one we have not really talked about in the church.

- Elder Mark Bassetts talk about the Fourth day. I think that's a true concept as well. Christ may come later, but He is never too late and He always keeps His promises.

- Elder Vern P. Stanfill: 'The Imperfect Harvest". This one hit a little more home for me, as I have felt pretty inadequate lately. Trying to avoid comparison too, because like he said, it never leads to anything good. It is not the same as emulation

- President Nelson about having charity towards others, and removing contention. Doing our best to be peacemakers. I think this is a good message that we members of the church should really do our best to emulate.

The first week of the transfer with Elder Yuvienco has been good. He and Elder Aguilar are similar in a lot of ways:

- They're obviously both Filipino and speak Tagalog. 

- They also are heavily involved with the music of our mission. If you look on facebook, you will probably see their two faces the most. Yuvienco does a lot of singing and guitar, and Aguilar does the Cello. They're both pretty good and all the stuff you see on the facebook page is pretty much their own arrangements. 

- They both like to have fun and joke around, but also are hard workers.

The work has felt a little bit slower this week. I guess with General Conference, and also Yuvienco has been doing a lot of work for a new arrangement of "How Great Thou Art" which they are going to try and post on the page before Easter I think. While he's editing we're basically stuck in the computer lab, so I try to do Facebook work, Areabook organizing, calls, or even practicing a little Piano. It's not as fun though because we're kinda just stuck inside.

A lot of our friends are also slipping through our fingers

- Annette, who is in the YSA is officially off-date for Baptism. She was supposed to be baptized already a month ago from today, but she's been busy and the YSA missionaries have had trouble reaching her. It's so sad because she was so very elect

- Our friends Cecilia and Joe said they're not interested. They don't think we need the Book of Mormon since we have the Bible.

- Having trouble reaching Rhonda, Joe, Liliana, and Chris

We have a lot of other friends or people that we are trying to work with. A lot of them are media referrals, meaning they just responded to an ad and said they want to learn more, but are also hard to reach. Overall, so many media referrals, when we initially contact them, say they're not interested. And we're like WhAt Do YoU mEaN? You literally have to click on a button that says "I understand missionaries will contact me and will try to share an uplifting message", AND fill out all of your contact information, and now you aren't interested anymore? I don't know what's up with people. Most of the time they either didn't know what they were filling out, and just were responding positively to something about Jesus, or someone else filled it out for them as a prank (That happens a lot). 

However, we do meet people every week and this coming week we are hoping to meet with the following
- Beatriz, who is a referral from the Spanish Elders. She prefers English, and has been taught for many years. We are going over tomorrow and hopefully can figure out why she has been taught for so long without much progress.

- America is a lady we met tracting. She accepted a Book of Mormon and has agreed to meet, but keeps trying to get us to meet her at her church in El Cajon. We can't go out of our area that far, but even if we could, I have got a feeling she is setting us up for a bash with her Pastor. It is not the first time I have been set up. We asked if we could meet closer, or zoom if we can't meet in our area, but we'll see what happens.

- Josie, is another lady who we might be able to visit today. We had a good talk with her last week and gave her a Book of Mormon and everything. We're not sure how far she'll progress, because she has already got pretty set beliefs. But time will tell as to whether or not she will accept more truth.

That's a little run down on the current teaching pool. All good people, but their progression hasn't quite taken off.

Anyways, I think that's all I really have to say. Thank you all for everything! Love you all

- Elder Wride

P.S. I forgot to include photos last week, so here are some