Week 65 - Worship

Monday 1/23/2017

In the morning stopped by the store to pick up a few things. We then we to the Palmyra Elders apartment to start our laundry. We then carpooled to downtown Disney we spent a couple hours there with the district then we went to Joe's. We stopped by Elder Hansen/Cook's apartment so Elder Westover could pickup some stuff he left.  We continued our laundry till time to head to P Day activity. We showed up to the church building to find the gym full of lacrosse players having practice so there was a location change. We played the usual pivot and Gator Ball, it was better since it was a smaller gym. We grabbed dinner and picked up Brother Walkers lawnmower then dropped it off. We gave the Sisters their phone that they left at P Day activity. It is kind of hard to get missionaries their phones when they leave them places. 

Tuesday 

After studies we had service at the Dean's house helping make some repairs from getting flooded. They live down a slope and they had some drainage problems with all of the rain. Then we went to help tarp a travel trailer at the Knubals.  Then went back for lunch. We went and saw Armando and talked to him for a while. We then met Joseph while finding. Joseph likes prophets and wanted to learn more. He does better with Spanish so we referred him to the Spanish missionaries. We stopped by the church to get some cookies before we stopped for dinner. We were able to see Paula and setup a time to meet next week. We met Victor and taught him the restoration. He was interested in prophets also. He will be a hard one to catch home. We continued finding and got another appointment set for the week. 

Wednesday 

We started the day with the missionary broadcast in the morning. They announced some changes to our daily schedule to help us be more productive during the day. They also changed our key indicators. We then had a lunch at In N Out for Elder Rubio who is going home early due to his messed up back. We then stopped at Joe's and dropped off Elder Russell/Cook. We got a call from Brother Dean when we got back, he needed help moving some wood. Our dinner was with the Dicus family. We had a lesson with the Kaaiaomnus with Brother Kenny. We taught them the restoration. We then finished the night talking about the creation with Linda and Pedro. 

Thursday 

We started the day after our studies with stopping by the mission office to get a new driving card. We need to use these cards to sign into the cars we drive. We stopped by the doctor later in the day. We had dinner with Sister Kilgore and Antonio. We finished our night teaching about the freedom of choice to Brother Wright. 

Friday 

We finished in the morning and went to a service at Stop Hunger Now or what is now called Rise Against Hunger with Elder Westover/Jones. We helped do some inventory, staging for events, cleaning, pallet breaking and we setup an event that is going to be held at the warehouse. The rest of our day we tried to find some people to teach, but we couldn't seem to find anyone that wanted to talk. We exchanged at the end of the night with the zone leaders. I stayed in the area with Elder Pruitt. 

Saturday 

We did some district finding in the morning after studies. We challenged the companionships to go give out two copies of the Book of Mormon. We were able to meet quite a few people and gave out three. We met some people celebrating the Chinese new year and talked about families. The Sisters found two families and Palmyra found a guy that was welcoming. We went to go and see Angelica, we ended up helping her bring groceries into her apartment. We were walking around and some one said hey. It was the Vargas family they knew Elder Pruitt from when he served in this area. We helped them move their grandmother into her new apartment. The Spanish missionaries are currently teaching them and they seem to be doing well. We went to go teach Omar. We dropped Omar since he is unwilling to act on what we share with him. We saw Mercedes and talked about the Book of Mormon with her. We then exchanged back at the end of the night. 

Sunday 

Early morning ward council. We setup the chairs in the cultural hall for the combined fifth Sunday session. The combined session was cool. They picked some members to tell their conversion stories. They shared some really good ones. They were able to show how important of a role that members take in the conversion process. We had dinner with the Larkins then we had them teach us the restoration. We finished the night weekly planning at the church. 

Worship 

Do we know what worship means? I'm sure most of us think, well we worship when we go to church, right? Yes that is one way that we are able to worship, but there is more. So to worship God is giving him our love, serving him and offering our devotion. So to truly worship him doesn't mean we go and worship him once a week at church. To worship is an everyday thing we need to keep his commandments, pray and follow his example. We should always be worshiping him throughout the week. Alma and Amulek help us understand this principle better in Alma 32 and 34.

Love Elder Caleb S. Bailey

Week 64 - Choice

Monday 1/16/2017

We started our laundry in the morning before we did some shopping. At P Day activity we played some Gator Ball and Pivot. Dinner was with the Haddock family which was fun. They told us about their missions, they served in Russia. They also showed us their collection of arms. We exchanged with Elder Westover/Jones at the end of the night. I went with Elder Jones to his area. 

Tuesday 

After studies we tried some people before district finding.  District finding was in their ward. We went to a neighborhood and everyone did some tracting. We were able to talk to a few people, but that were not interested. We all went to lunch at In-N-Out when we were done. We had service at Mary's kitchen with Elder Beddes/Seiriene/Westover/Wright. After Mary's we went out to find till dinner. Our dinner was with the Day family. We went to the hospital after to give a blessing to what turned out to be a member. We were not given much information when we received the referral. Not much for the rest of the night then we exchanged back. 

Wednesday 

In the morning we picked some things up before President Interviews. In my interview we were able to talk about serving.  He shared some really good stories. Sisters Taggart talked about faith in finding. We then had lunch and went to the mission office to get some paperwork done. We were going to do some finding,  but we got a call from the Sisters, a women wanted a blessing. We had dinner with the Halls,  Brother Hall is very scholarly in his knowledge of the scriptures. We shared a dinner message with him then he shared one with us.  He taught us some things about the everlasting covenant. We finished our night at Pedro and Linda's we taught the word of wisdom. Linda is having some trouble excepting she needs to follow the word of wisdom now. 

Thursday 

In the morning we had district meeting. We discussed working with the members of the ward council. After we did a grab then gather for the zone. We went back to the apartment for inspections. After inspections we went out. We went and saw Nerha and were going to drop her but she has showed interest in coming to church. We are giving her a little bit of another chance missionaries have been teaching her since 2014. We went over and saw Daniel and talked with him and setup a time to meet with him. We had dinner with the Sincock family. We taught them the restoration since they are having kids go on missions and one on a mission. They really enjoyed it. After dinner we went out we met Sister Lemock that is less active. She has no problem she just is married to a preacher and she goes to church with him. We offered her everything we could and she excepted home teachers. We then met a Spanish man and taught him the restoration. We liked it and told us a time we could come back without even asking. We asked him if Spanish missionaries would be better and he said yes so we referred him. We finished the night by seeing Salvador a referral.  We helped him put new windshield wipers on his truck. Then we talked to him for a while sharing some of the restoration with him. He had trouble with it.  We invited him to read and pray about it.  He even talked about the native beliefs of a white God that would come again that we were able to link into the Book of Mormon. We stopped by the church and saw then talked with Brother walker.  We then wrapped up the night

Friday 

We begun the day doing our weekly planning. The rain poured down most of the morning. We went out to visit people but most were not able to meet or were not home. We were able to see Meagan with the Sisters and we passed her to them. We continued till dinner with Sister Ellis she didn't have anyone home so we had the Sisters come. We were able to meet a potential, Mercedes and teach her a short restoration. She was wanting to pay for the book of Mormon at first.  We then met with the Sisters for the weekly coordination email. 

Saturday 

Our day was full of finding but we couldn't seem to see anyone for some reason. All of our lessons fell through. We had dinner at Red Robin with Brother Schwartz and the Sisters. We talked about the Holy ghost with him. After dinner we stopped by the church and there was a wedding going on. We continued our finding till the end of the night.

Sunday 

We woke early to go to ward council. We got there and no one had shown up but then the Bishop comes in, he tells us there turns out to not be ward council. Us and the Sisters didn't get a email from Brother Walker. So we setup chairs and cleaned up the chapel from a funeral. We talked about choice in gospel principles. In elders quorum we talked about Alam and Amulek. We had a ward missionary meeting after church. Brother Walker told us of the success that our ward missionary program has. It is setup different than any ward I have seen, the ward missionaries are previous Bishops, presidents of the organizations and very active return missionaries. We went back to the apartment for lunch and I got some rest. We had dinner with the Lilomaiava family. We taught them the restoration for our dinner message. We then ended the night at our apartment. May be getting sick. 

Choice 

One of the greatest things we are given is the ability to choose or what we call our agency. So we are given this ability and there is two ways placed before us. There is the way that provides happiness and the way that brings unhappiness. The way that brings unhappiness gives the since of happiness,  but in the long run it only provides the momentary feeling of happiness. 

There is always consequence for our actions may they be immediate or delayed there is always a consequence. Our good and righteous choices will bring us happiness, peace, and eternal life. Choices of sin will bring us unhappiness. We are responsible for our decisions that we make. Sometimes people's choices do effect us, but we must remember we are in control of how we choose to react. So let us choose to do good things of our free will. 

The rain continues to come down here. I can now say I was in California that one time it rained. Not a lot of pictures this week. 

Love Elder Caleb S. Bailey

Week 63 - Are we willing to Accept it?

Monday 1/9/2017

We went and started our laundry before we did some shopping.  Everyone was pretty busy with transfers.  We got haircuts from Sister Knubal.  I finally got my new device so we set it up.  At p day activity we played deathbell again we had a lot more tennis balls to throw at people this time.  We then played a few rounds of pivot before it was time to go.  We had dinner with Brother Atkinson at the soup plantation.  While we were there we got surprised with a big group of members from the ward doing a family home evening or something like that.  We finished our laundry and went back in for the night.  

Tuesday 

In the morning after studying we went to the mission office to pickup some things.  We went back for lunch.  We did some finding we were able to get in contact with a good amount of people.  We had dinner with the Dean's at El chef taco. We met Jason a former investigator he was happy to see us and was wondering why the other missionaries stopped coming.  He asked about church so I asked what he was doing Sunday he said nothing so I invited him and are getting him a ride.  We met some more people through the rest of the night till our lesson with Linda and Pedro.  We taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

Wednesday 

In the morning after studies we went for an appointment at the hospital.  I got a MRI to check out my heart. I was in there for two hours not a enjoyable time.  They have you take in breaths and hold to take images. After doing that for a couple hours with a IV in your arm wears you out a little. The technician was cool,  I got to talk to him about my mission a little.  We went back for lunch,  then I took a nap for a while.  We had dinner with Brother Schwartz and the Sisters at Ruby's.  Brother Schwartz is pretty interesting.  He has been investigating for years, but has something stopping him.  He comes to church and everything. His wife died  a while ago who was a member and also all of his kids are members. After dinner we did some finding. We got a few return appointments since they didn't have time to meet.  We met this guy named Alex while trying to find someone else. We taught Alex the restoration and he seemed to enjoy it.  We are going to have trouble catching him home since he has a busy work schedule.  We got a call from the Dean's so we went over.  We helped them find a phone that they dropped under their bed then we shared a message with them.  We tried a few more people then went in for the night. 

Thursday 

The rain has been coming down lately and not the usual little drops it is actual rain.  I forget when the last sunny warm day was. We had district meeting in the morning, we talked about following the spirit in our planning. After district meeting we did a grab then gather for lunch.  We went out and did finding for the rest of the day didn't catch anyone, we did talk to Neyra for a while. After dinner it continued till we saw Brother Wright.  

Friday  

In the morning we started our weekly planning till lunch. Our lunch was at In-N-Out with Mario a guy that was referred to us with little information.  We thought we were meeting a investigator at first then he turned out to be a member.  After we dropped off a lawnmower to the Knubals. We went and saw Meagan and talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ with her. We continued our finding till dinner which we picked up. We saw Brother Wormy and talked to him for while. We finished dour weekly planning at the end of the night.

Saturday 

After studies we met up for district finding.  We went to the Sisters side of the ward. We were able to talk to a lot of people,  but none of them were receptive.  We all met back up then went to lunch at Wendy's.  We went back to the apartment and got ready for the temple walk.  We went to the Christiansens who were driving.  We picked up Linda and we squeezed in the back of the car with Brother Christiansen. There wasn't as big of a turn out for the temple walk probably since missionaries have to get rides from members now.  We got back from the temple walk then went to Red Robin with the Walkers for dinner. 

Sunday 

We got to church and they already had chairs setup so we greeted people as they arrived.  We had a good lesson in gospel principles.  The Sisters brought cinnamon rolls and offered them to everyone.  They invited a young man from the ward to come and he did five push-ups for everyone that did take a cinnamon roll and five for those that didn't. He had to do around eighty pushups.  They were able to relate in to the atonement and the sacrifice that the Savior made for us. After church we headed back to the apartment for lunch and studies. We had dinner with the Larkins.  After dinner we went out finding.  We met Rosie while trying to find a less active.  We taught her a very brief restoration and she decided she is too busy at the moment and it would probably be better for us to come back in a month or two.  Then we met Hannah a Jewish girl that goes to the local university.  We talked about our basic beliefs and cleared up some common misconceptions.  We left her a Book of Mormon and continued finding.  

Are we willing to Accept it ?

The cinnamon roll lesson is a good one.  Jesus Christ was chosen to come to this earth and made it possible for us to overcome sin. The thing is he has already given the gift to us and are we willing to take advantage of it.  We are offered this truly great gift we just need to take advantage of the atonement in our own lives. Well few words this week,  I encourage everyone to study the atonement. Why do we need a Savior? 

 http://jesuschrist.lds.org/wh y-do-i-need-a-savior?lang=eng

Week 61 & 62 - Challenge

Monday 12/26/2016

In the morning we did a zone hike called Black Star. It took up all of our p day so never again. We got back to the church and did some emailing before dinner. We did our weekly planning that night since we didn't get a chance to before the week started.

Tuesday

We had a full day of finding people, but no one was home seemingly. Our dinner was with the Mannion family, they are a fun family.  Brother Mannion showed us his train that he setup for Christmas,  he is quite the collector of trains. We talked with them for a while about missions. We finished the night with a lesson with Pedro and Linda. 

Wednesday 

After studies we stopped by Walmart to get something.  We got a call while there from a companionship in Placentia.  We then were notified or volutold that we had a service in 15 minutes.  So we hurried out of the store after purchasing our items.  We got there and find out the woman we were helping didn't live in our area.  We helped her unload the few furniture items that she needed in the little room she was renting.  We got in the car to realize I didn't have my iPad. So we went back to the store and the result of checking camera footage was it was stolen off of a checkout sadly. That killed our missionary efforts for the day.  

Thursday 

Unable to recall what happened for most of the day.  We did have a lesson with Brother Wright and it went really well.  He came to the realization he needs to start taking action in his progression. 

Friday 

We were able to do our weekly planning. 

Saturday 

In the morning I had a interview with President for the stolen iPad.  He approved that I could get a new device.  Then we talked until more people came to the mission home.  We spent the rest of the day finding.  We talked with Joshua about reading from the Book of Mormon,  he decided he is busy right now and for us to come back in a month.  The Walkers took us to dinner at Honda sushi before we had to head in early for the holiday. 

Sunday 

The meeting times for the wards swapped so we are the first in the building now. We helped setup chairs in the cultural hall before sacrament meeting. Our dinner was with Bishop Watkins and his family. The Sisters brought beanboozald a game were you have the chance of eating bad flavored jellybeans.  

Monday 1/2/2017

Most all of the planned pday activities fell through due to the observation on new years. We did go to the blaze pizza as a district and we got introduced to a new game called death ball. Death ball is where one group is on the stage and one isn't, then the one on the stage throws tennis balls at the one group as they try to get a cross the gym. We played pivot after death ball. We had dinner with brother Haddock.  Then we wrapped up our night.  

Tuesday 

In the morning we had a service at Brother Schwartz house with the Sisters.  We helped him take down all of his Christmas decorations.  After our service we took the car to Placentia to get it fixed.  We got a ride back to the mission office from Elder Beddes/Jones.  We were stuck at the mission office for a while waiting on a car that we could use while ours was in the shop.  Once we got a car we headed to El Chef for dinner with the Dean's.  At the end of our night we exchanged with Elder Beddes/Jones.  I stayed in the area with Elder Beddes. I was up for the challenge of going through an exchange without using technology due to a lack of an iPad.  So we used all paper. 

Wednesday 

After studies we went out finding. We talked with this women that had dementia. That is kind of sad to talk to someone then they will not remember what you said to them. There was a good amount of people out and about for us to talk to.  The day continued to go very well, we were able to teach a Spanish woman then we referred her to the Spanish missionaries. We were able to have a very effective day.  We exchanged back at the end of the night.  

Thursday 

We were able to go and pickup our car from Placentia after district meeting. We had dinner with the Larkins and had a good discussion on the influence of prayer.  At the end of the night we had a ward mission meeting to get all of the activities planned for the year.  

Friday 

We finished studies and I answered the phone it was some other missionaries in the zone saying they got a call from our leasing office and to go check the car.  So we went out to check the car.  We found the car doors all open and pretty much everything cleaned out of the inner car.  They even tried taking the monitoring device that logs driving off the car. So we made all of the proper calls to get things taken car of, then went to service at stop hunger now with the district. We built quite the cardboard fort while packing cardboard.  Lunch at subway then we finished up.  We headed to the mission office to get new paperwork and stuff for the car that was stolen.  

Saturday 

We did some finding in the morning the first house we knocked on was a members house.  We knocked and we hear a man say go away from inside so we turn to leave.  A women then answers the door and yells for us to leave. That is just one of the more memorable doorstep experiences.  We continued finding until district lunch at Bruxies.  At Bruxies they make sandwiches in waffles it is the bold fold. We then exchanged and I went with Elder Jones since Elder Beddes was sick.  I got to go to a lesson with a women that has a good story.  She works at the university in the area teaching a comparative religious literature class.  She uses the Book of Mormon and the Bible in her class. Through her teaching she has found the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.  She has also had many students come to that knowledge too.  The concern she has is she can't join the church because she would no longer be able to use the Book of Mormon in class.  She is now thinking it is time to join.  We then exchanged back later in the evening. 

Sunday 

In the morning we had ward council.  It is fun when you have to wake up earlier than 6:30. It was a good fast Sunday. We taught about our heavenly family in gospel principles.  There was a lot of really great conversation.  We then talked about the restoration in elders quorum.  After church we hit the apartment and got some rest before dinner with the Brewridges. They are talkers. We got to hear about their experience living in the California desert. We went back and did weekly planning till the end of the night. 

Challenge 

Well there has been quite a few challenges to our work for these two weeks. The key to dealing with most things is not letting it effect the work I believe.  It sounds simple to me,  but we are all different some have more patience than others.  I think my companion learned patience from these experiences.  He seemed to be very troubled with it, but I think he learned. I tend to enjoy a nice challenge every once in a while it brings growth.  I did learn to keep even closer watch over the things I carry. It turns out one of the things they stole from the car is a Book of Mormon.  We can hope they take a look at it and maybe even read it.  I do pray for their welfare.  

We often don't know why things go the way that they do. We just need to remember that there is only so many things that we can truly control. We often don't know what our father in heaven has in store for us.  We need to remember that we all are given challenges and we are given them for a reason.  It may not seem like it at the moment when we are asking why is this happening to me.  Usually after we are able to look back and go well I'm thankful for that experience or I learned this thing. If we try to remember that maybe this is happening for a reason,  but I know not why at this time, it can maybe make it a little easier.  

I'm always reminded of this classic talk about the currant bush by Elder Hugh B. Brown. When thinking of challenges and God's will for us.  

The Currant Bush

by Elder Hugh B. Brown

https://www.lds.org/new-era/1973/01/the-currant-bush?lang=eng

The Video version the will of God 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-01-014-the-will-of-god?lang=eng&_r=1&cid=HP_FR_21-10-2016_dPFD_fMLIB_xLIDyI-1_