This last week was fantastic. Big
change from the last ump-teen weeks, right? I'm not sure why, but the Lord
started throwing blessings on our laps like nothing, and we were finally able
to find some new investigators. To start off, we had Missionary Training
Exchanges on Wednesday last week. It goes all day, and ended Thursday morning.
We had another missionary come with us in our area. He's a zone leader, but
quite young to be so. Anywho, as we walked
throughout the day, we contacted everyone we could. We eventually contacted
this 10 year old boy named J, and this other Elder whips out Joshua 1:9,
seeing if he can catch the kid's attention. The moment he says "Joshua
1:9", we hear a woman down the street yell, "I love that
scripture!", and she comes running over to us. J had to go, so we
were left with this woman, and began talking about what we teach as
missionaries. She said that some other missionaries had been painting
a fence, and she thought about how good those boys were. She wished that
she could talk to them. Right then, she saw us walk by her apartment. She
grabbed her kitty-litter box to empty as an excuse to come talk to us. She
then introduced herself as P. We asked her if she ever had any
questions, and she asked,"Why do men cheat? Why do they betray their wives
so easily?" She then explained that her husband had left her and cheated
on her, and how she felt utterly angry and betrayed. We taught about the
atonement of Christ and the power He has to heal us, whether it be sin or
trial. We then bore individual, powerful testimonies of His power to heal us,
and she told us that she thought we were great. Somehow, the San Diego temple
was mentioned, and we showed her a picture. When she saw it, she
exclaimed,"I've been in there! I've been in that beautiful building! I've
never felt anything like the spirit in that building!" We then told her
that she could go back if she wanted. She asked us how, quite confused since
only members can enter. We then explained how one prepares themselves to enter
the temple, and taught about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. We spoke
of how the covenant of baptism cleanses us of our sins, and how the Gift of the
Holy Ghost prepares us to enter the temple and the Lord's presence. She said
she wanted to know more, and even told us that she wanted to get baptized.
Luckily, the English Elders were just down the street eating some elotes
(Mexican corn on the cob), so we waved them over. They came running with high
knees, and we asked her to tell them what she had told us. "Oh! Right. I
want to get baptized and go to the temple." The English Elders' jaws
dropped. They would've just about like to have died. That has to be in the top
2 of the best street contacting miracles of my mission.
On top of that, we went to visit the
less active family C. As mentioned before, Hermano C decided to go
less active because of a conflict that had arisen between him and his leaders.
Remember that when I got to Ramona, he went less active. Remember also that we
taught several powerhouse spiritual lessons to help him see that going to
church is important, no matter what other people do. During the MTE's, we went
and visited them, and ate dinner. While Elder M and I talked with their
daughter about college and her goals, the other Elder talked with the C.
They mentioned the conflict with their leaders, and the Elder told them of how
the exact same thing had happened to him, and expressed his feelings. We then
taught a lesson to them, and asked them how we could improve. We then explained
how important the members are in helping us serve, and how they are blessed.
Then, out of nowhere, Hermano C gets a look on his face and says,
"I'm coming to church this Sunday. It's been long enough. I've been
feeling my testimony wane and my faith diminish. I need to go to church."
This time, MY jaw dropped, BUT I caught myself and made it inconspicuous. We
bore testimony that his choice was the right one. He then asked the other Elder
to give him a blessing, and Hermana C asked Elder M to give her a
blessing, (his first in Spanish). After the blessings, everyone was in tears.
That one visit was such a relief on my part. I was so happy to see that they
would be coming back.
Then, after we dropped the other Elder
off on Thursday, we started the exchanges that night with the zone leaders.
Elder W came with me. He has not changed in the slightest. Not one inkling
has changed about him. He still makes the same jokes, still has the same grammatical mistakes with his Spanish, and is
the exact same Elder W as when I was in training. BUT, I was the one who
had changed, and the exchange went much better than I expected. We managed to
teach a lot of lessons, and talked to a lot of people in the street.
Saturday was hectic with 4 hours of
service and a baptism, so we scrambled to be able to do any proselyting.
Sunday, both of us were quite ill. I had a horrible labrynthitis spell and was
dizzy the whole day, and Elder M was having food poisoning symptoms from
some tamales that he'd eaten on exchanges with the zone leaders. We struggled
all day, and everyone asked us individually what was wrong. There was never a
group of people that asked. I swear, I explained labrynthitis around 20 times
that day.
Yesterday was fun. First of all, it was
Memorial Day, so that meant that most people would have work off, so there was
some good street contacting done. We also had 4 meal appointments. I don't know
what it is, but for some reason, we get all of our meal appointments on the
same day at once, and we have none for the rest of the week. So, we first ate
breakfast with some people at service in the morning, ate lunch for a surprise
birthday party for one of the missionaries, ate lunch again for a Memorial Day
bar-b-que, and ate dinner with some members that live out in the San Diego
estates. During the day, we were able to find a gas station that sold Jones
sodas, so I grabbed a couple to cool me down. We were able to have some really
cool lessons with a less active, and a family of members whose father isn't a
member. And today, we hiked up to Potato Chip rock...again. I tried to do a
Karate Kid type pose on it this time around. Then we worked out. Whoop-dee-doo.
And now we're emailing. So, all in all, this last week was packed with stuff to
do. I'm beat. I just want to nap for a whole day.
Other than that....there's not much
more. Pretty crazy week, right? Let me tell you, I've been doing some prayers
of gratitude like never before. These were some much desired blessings that we
received. We're hoping to be able to keep on bringing in new investigators and
finding these miracles.
I hope you all have a great week!
-Love, Elder Crook
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