Potato Chip Rock

Dear Mom, and all others reading,

Happy Day After St. Patrick's Day! We actually didn't do anything special yesterday for St. Patrick's day, specifically. Yet we were able to do service for a guy moving out to Oklahoma and for a member here in our area. The guy that we helped is named R. He's in his late 40's, long hair (down to the middle of his back), interesting mustache, potbelly, and a love for Star Wars. I was wearing my new Millenium Falcon t-shirt, so he was quite happy with that. He has three cats, and so when we began moving everything, cat hair filled the air, and Elder I's allergies acted up. His apartment smelled like cats, incense, and tobacco smoke. As we moved his stuff, we found a massive pile of swords and movie replica battle axes. So that was awesome. He had a gaming PC with the G15 keyboard (specifically for World of Warcraft), a gaming mouse, and a high sensitivity joystick for certain RPG's. He had some pretty colorful language when he accidentally broke his fiber optic cable and microwave dish. But, it was still a good chance for service. Later that night, we just helped Hermana F to carry some heavy boards and metal framing up to her apartment. She takes care of her extremely active 99 year old mother, and takes care of her disabled daughter as well, so she needed a bit of help from us.

We had a lesson with our investigators, G and M. They're both about 25 years old and have a son. Luckily they're married. G's brother is a recent convert in one of the English wards, and his conversion story is solid. He was severely addicted to drugs, and one day he had a panic attack. He said that the missionaries had told him about prayer, and being in the panic attack, he prayed with all his might that the Lord would help him. He said that when he finished the prayer, his body calmed down almost instantly, and he felt a warm, calm peace come over him. He said that after that, he knew that those missionaries had told him the truth, and he hunted them down. Anywho, back from the sidestory, we taught the Plan of Salvation to G and M. They both had good questions, and towards the end, the Spirit came down like a mudslide. It was a fantastic lesson. Then, just the other day on Saturday, we had a lesson again, and after reviewing a bit of what we'd taught about the Plan, G went off on some tangent, and told us that if we wanted to talk about the Bible and God, that he was fine with that. He repeated himself about 4 more times. Then, after a bit of discussion, we got onto baptism. He told us that the reason children are baptized is because they are born in sin. Elder V and I looked at each other in exasperation, and out of nowhere, M explains to him about the reason that children aren't baptized, and mentions how people must become as little children to enter the Kingdom of God. She then also asked him about what happens to the babies that aren't baptized. Then, trying to defend his Catholic side, he said "Surely they must be saved as well, right?". She shut him down and asked why they would need to be baptized if they would be saved without it. Elder V and I just sat there with stunned looks on our faces. M: Solid investigator. G: Still needs work.

Potato Chip Rock, Ramona, California

Today, we went hiking up Mount Woodson at 10 AM this morning instead of emailing. It was a pretty steep hike, but not nearly as bad as that hike over by Sardine Canyon. Colesville Peak, I think? I can't remember. My memory is failing me. Anywho, we got up to the top, taking pictures at most of the cool rocks that we came across. E, a recent convert, came with us and showed us some of the cooler rocks to climb. Then, we finally reached the top, and for the most part, the view was pretty good. It was just a bit blurry because of the smog, though. After walking just a bit further, we spotted Potato Chip Rock. Now, the rock is solid enough for people to climb on it to take pictures, and there was a HUGE line of people waiting to take pictures. Since we missionaries are on a tight schedule, the other Elders didn't want to wait to take a picture. So, I took a picture of the rock to let you all know what it looks like. Keep in mind that this rock is hanging out above a 30-40 foot drop, so it's pretty sketchy. Right after we finished the hike, we went to E's house, and he helped us to work out. The other three Elders in the district are all about getting in shape before going home, so they're obsessing over lifting weights. So, by majority vote, I got to work out with them. They're all heavyweight guys with beefy arms 'n stuff, and I'm a skinny, lanky dude with no muscles. The funny thing is that I was lifting the exact same weights as they were.

OOH. Right. I sang in an ensemble at the Mission President fireside this Sunday at the Mission Valley building. I got to see some familiar faces from Chula Vista there, so it was a pretty good experience. We sang "Senor, te necesito", and one of the sisters played the ukelele.

Other than that, we haven't really had much happen to us. We listened to a talk called "They Saw Our Day", and the talk is by a man, (member of the Church), who investigated prophecies from several different cultures. He starts with the Native American Indians, and finds out that they have several prophecies about a white God that came and visited them, and while he was with them, he taught them how to live a good life, and return to heaven. Along with that, this white God gave them signs so that they would know when he was about to come again. Then, this guy that's investigating finds out that there are stone tablets that these Indians have that have prophecies written on them, and that there are three other sets around the world. That's the gist, but the prophecies are pretty amazing.

Well, I'm out of things to write about. Until next week.

-Elder Crook