Week 68 Temptation

Monday 2/13/2017

In the morning we got our usual Pday tasks completed. At Pday activity Elder Pruitt made the zone crepes. We were able to get a floor hockey set from Garden Grove. We played a couple rounds. Our dinner was with the Haddocks. He showed us some more of the relics he has. This time he showed us some Russian coats that are hard to get outside of Russia. We ended our night finishing up our planning for the week. 

Tuesday 

In the morning after studying we tried to do a little finding. We were able to have lunch with Rosa she made us German Lentil soup. We were able to catch Angelica home and we taught about the Book of Mormon and praying to know if it is true. We also invited her to church on Sunday. We saw Daniel outside his apartment and setup a time to meet this week. We tried a less active Brother Diez and met Art in his garage he was a little intoxicated, maybe we will catch him another time, the finding continued till dinner with the Dean's. We saw Sal and Victor briefly before the end of the night. We exchanged at the end of the night Elder Westover came to the area with me. 

Wednesday 

In the morning after studies we went and met the A6 Elders at Nehras. She wasn't home. We did some walking around we were able to catch Brother Esela we talked with him for a while and setup an appointment. After lunch we had service at the Dean's we helped him finish fixing one pipe to discover that we needed to fix another. We had dinner at the Kneubuhls home which was fun. We finished up and saw the Kiakamonu family and taught them some of the commandments. We talked about obedience, scripture study and following the prophet. We finished up and our last lesson fell through so we did finding till we exchanged back at the end of the night. 

Thursday 

In the morning we had district meeting we were able to discuss Repentance and helping the people we teach understand and how to repent. After Elder Pruitt made the zone lunch and we did the usual end of transfer pictures. We went out and went to go to our lessons we had setup but they weren't home which is always upsetting. We did finding till dinner which we picked up from the Larsons. We were able to end our night at Pedro and Linda's teaching them about prayer. We caught Victor too and talked with him before turning in for the night. 

Friday 

In the morning we got asked to fill in for someone at Rise Against Hunger. So we picked up the Red Hill Elders Lindsey/Pehrson. We helped repack bags the while time. They did a big event in Las Vegas and ran out of bags. So we poured the meals out of the plastic bags into the real bags then sealed them. After we dropped them off, we stopped by the repair shop to get an estimate on the repair they need to make on the car. We went back and had dinner with the Perkins. After dinner we finished the night doing a missionary meeting at Ruby's. 

Saturday 

We were able to see Angelica we talked with her about church attendance and how it would help her receive the answer if it is true she agreed that she wants to come to church. We met up with Jason and setup another appointment he got hit with another project. We saw brother Diez and met his wife they fed us these Italian breaded steaks they were good. We had dinner with Brother Zelodon. He made us Filet mignon. After dinner we did some finding we met a guy named Wade he was surprisingly nice and walked up and asked for our number. Turns out he likes the church and lives some where in another ward but told us he hasn't joined yet. We finished the night with transfer calls. They are dissolving our side of the ward and I'm going to the Anaheim zone with Elder Hugie in the Anaheim 5th ward. Elder Wright is going to the Anaheim 1st ward. 

Sunday 

We started the day setting up chairs in the gym. We let the ward know of our departure there were many upset. We got to say our many goodbyes during church. We had a good lesson on the Holy Ghost in gospel principles. After church we took some pictures with the Walkers. I was able to finish my packing and dropped off most of my stuff at my next apartment. We came back and had choir practice. We headed out and went to dinner with the Mooreonis. After dinner we were left with nothing to do so we stopped by to see Linda and Pedro. Linda wasn't happy to see us leave. We prayed with them and talked with them for a while. We finished the night getting Brother Walker and the Sisters up to date on the appointments also the people of the coming weeks. 

Temptation 

As the Apostle Paul prophesied, the last days are “perilous times” (2 Timothy 3:1). The influence of the adversary is widespread and seductive. But you can defeat Satan and overcome his temptations. Heavenly Father has given you the gift of agency—the power to choose good over evil. You can “humble [yourself] before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that [you] may not be tempted above that which [you] can bear” (Alma 13:28). As you willingly obey the commandments, your Heavenly Father will strengthen you to withstand temptation. - True to the faith 

Love Elder Caleb S. Bailey

Week 67 We can be an answer to some one's prayer

 Monday 2/6/2017

In the morning after we started our laundry we carpooled with the Palmyra elders to the hike. There was a pretty good turn out for it. After we grabbed lunch we hit the church for Pday activity. We played a endless game of pivot, it went on for a couple hours. We had to have a winner and we all got tired,  but after awhile we were able to have a winner. We met Brother Lamb for dinner at Popeye's. We helped him go and see his home teaching assignments since he is new in the ward. 

Tuesday 

Most of our lessons fell through for the day, we resulted to finding. We were able to meet Delaware and have an interesting exchange with him. We will see what happens the next time we see him. We had dinner with the Dean's at El Chef. After dinner we met up with the Walkers at Rosa's home and helped take a tv off her wall. At the end of our night we exchanged with the Palmyra elders. I stayed in the area and Elder Jones came with me. 

Wednesday 

We started the day at rise against Hunger with the district. We helped out in the warehouse, cleaning it up and stacking boxes onto pallets. We went and helped the Dean's with a sprinkler pipe that has a root growing through it. Brother Dean while backing up, backed up into the car which is pretty funny. We didn't have enough time to finish with the sprinkler pipe before dinner so it will wait until next week. We saw the Kiakumonus and taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. They really liked it and were excited. We exchanged back at the end of our night. 

Thursday 

We had a five hour zone conference so that took up most of our day. We talked a lot about the changes to our schedule. We also watched sections of a mission presidents broadcast and talked about it. When we finished, it was dinner time. We had dinner with Brother Schwartz at Rodrigo's. After dinner we did some finding till we had Pedro and Linda, where we taught about the Holy Ghost 

Friday 

In the morning after studies we did most of our weekly planning. We had lunch at Rosa's home. She made tortillas and they were good. We went out to see Jason but he wasn't home so we resulted to finding. We saw Nerha while walking down the road. She actually lives in another ward now, just barely. After dinner we saw Tim and he is OK with us trying to stop by, he seems unsure if he is willing to come back or not still. 

Saturday 

In the morning we had district finding in the Palmyra ward area. We were able to talk to Shannon a little and setup a return appointment with her. We knocked around for a while more, ending at Alex. We taught her the restoration and she really liked it. We setup a return appointment for the Palmyra elders. We then went to see Eli a referral from the zone leaders. We talked with him and shared the restoration with him he accepted a baptismal date. And wants to know if it is true. We had lunch with the James at In-N-out. After lunch we did some finding we tried Estaban again we decided to pass the family to the Spanish Elders. We sat down with Ethan later on he was willing to listen to what we said but said he is comfortable where he is right now he will keep the Book of Mormon for the day when he decides to read it, if ever. After dinner we stopped by and saw Joshua and setup a time to see him on Sunday. We tried Alex since we were not able to see him the day before. We shared the restoration with him. His family that are members, actually walked up as we finished. He is a little stuck right now but he is willing or says he wants to keep our commitments. We finished our night with Pablo who is hard to understand with his heavy Spanish accent. We have trouble getting him to answer a direct question. We taught him the plan of salvation. We are unsure of where he will go at this point. 

Sunday 

In the morning was ward council then we setup chairs. It was a good fast and testimony meeting. We actually had a few kids for the University come for their religious sociology class. We were able to meet Tim again after church. Tim still is at an interesting game place he dances around if he is wanting to act or not. He says he likes the diligence but feels he can't come back. He told us to come back. We met up with Joshua and taught him the restoration. He has some trouble with the authority of Prophets. He has a Jewish background and didn't even question Jesus Christ which was different. We had dinner with the Scheffield family. After dinner we tried to see a few people before we ended the night at the Wrights. Brother Wright taught us about the Repentance process. 

We can be a answer to some one's prayer 

So in the stake conference in the previous weeks there was a story shared that helps illustrate we don't always recognize what God is doing. Sometimes we are the answer to others prayers. 

So there was a young father that lived near a mountain in southern California. He decided to go on a hike with his two boys one was 8 and the other was 6. This wasn't a short hike,  he wanted to hit the peak which was a 26 mile round trip there and back. He being a young father thinking to himself my boys can do anything. He decided just to be safe in case they didn't make it he would make a turn back point to make it back home before dark. He went on the day hike with his boys. They were a little way off from hitting the safe to go on point so they turned back to head back down the mountain. This is when his 8 year old son began to seize and his legs swelled. He gave his son a few Priesthood blessings to heal it, it only eased the swelling and the pain. He then thought to himself why isn't God helping us right now, doesn't he know the situation we are in. He then had to carry the son and the 6 year old had all of the day backs strapped to him. It soon got dark and the temperature began to start to drop. He then soon realized in the dark they are lost. He then kneels with his sons in prayer to seek direction of where to go. When they finished his 6 year says we need to go this way. He knew that was the wrong way to go,  but they went. As they were hiking along in the dark they heard some calls for help and discover three young girls. They had wondered away while picking flowers from the camp they were staying at 10 miles away. They continued to hike eventually reaching a road they kept walking seeing some headlights of what turned out to be a search and rescue team. The little girls ran yelling mom and dad as they passed. The parents gave little attention to the three as they passed returning home. He came to realize a couple days later there was a reason that God didn't answer his prayer immediately. He needed to answer the prayer of the parents of the three girls or they would have frozen to death on the mountain. 

Love Elder Caleb S. Bailey

Week 66 The missionary that thought he was a failure

Monday 1/30/2017

In the morning we hit Walmart before we started laundry. We got a Costco expedition put together with Esplanade and the Sisters. We grabbed lunch at Chick-fil-A after. We finished our Pday errands before the activity. We played some volleyball and Gatorball. 

Tuesday 

We were able to see Jason. He showed us some of the work he does out of his garage making molds. He makes molds that get filled with foam that they ship stuff in. He setup a time we could meet with him later in the week. We went and helped the Palmyra Elders with a service at a less actives home. We helped move a dresser and organize some boxes for her. Dinner was with the Dean's at El Chef Taco which is always a good time. After dinner we tried to see some people. We tried to see a less active but it turned out he hasn't lived there for like five years. So we taught the boy at the door the restoration and he says we can probably catch his family home on the weekends. We finished the night visiting Victor and reading the introduction of the Book of Mormon with him. We exchanged at the end of the night, I went with Elder Westover into his area. 

Wednesday 

After studies we got a call to cover for Rise against Hunger. We headed over and washed the stuff from some of their events. We had lunch at Wendy's. We had a pass off lesson with the Zone leaders. The guy was very interesting he likes to approach everything very logically. We had a lesson with a returning member named Patrica. The Bishop came and we taught her the restoration. After dinner we did some more finding. We were going to a house, but as we were walking up the Spanish Sisters were on the doorstep. They were looking for someone else that lived in the same house. We ended the night at a less active members home. We exchanged back at the end of the night. 

Thursday 

Morning Zone Training to start the day. We focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and baptismal dates. Elder Lee brought everyone giant palmelos with faces drawn on them for everyone. The district had lunch at Panda Express. We went to go see Jason he wanted us to come back next week since he is hard pressed with a deadline on a project. We had dinner with the Kenubahls. We got to build some forts while Sister Kenubahl finished dinner. We helped put a tarp back up on the travel trailor. We went out and tried people for the rest of the night. We met these two guys unloading a moving truck we offered our help, but they were just finishing. We stopped by and saw Paula, but didn't get a chance to really talk with her and her busy family. We finished the night at the Wright's with Brother Larkin. Brother Wright taught us about forgiveness. 

Friday 

We went to the church in the morning to do our weekly planning. We were able to finish before we went over to the Palmyra apartment for lunch. We went across the street with the Palmyra Elders to meet Elder Russell/Cook. We helped clean out a apartment that had a small fire and then was vandalized. We were there for a couple hours before we went out to do some finding. We talked to a few people that didn't have a lot of time. We were able to walk by a house where they were cleaning out a garage. We met Tera her daughter and her husband. She actually is a manager of a apartment that missionaries live in, in the Irvine mission. She has a lot of friends that are members. She was open for us to stop by another time. We had dinner with the Walkers at Tulsa Rib. We met Brother Sutherland to try to visit Mercedes, but she wasn't home. We ended the night at the Dunkin Donuts filling out stake missionary papers with the Walkers. The Walkers also helped confirm that Elder Lee gave us palmelos not giant lemons. 

Saturday 

District finding in the morning in the Sisters area. We were able to talk to a few people we taught the restoration to a guy that seemed to except it, but not to the point of taking a Book of Mormon and acting. We had lunch as a district at the round table pizza place. We went to see Esteban but he wasn't there and his mom speaks Spanish. We were going to see Nerha and we caught her they moved the day before. They still live in our area we just have to get the exact address. We went and saw Tim who we found out is a inactive member of 30-40 years. He isn't sure if he wants to come back or not. He said it is up to us. We were able to see Angelica and teach her the restoration. I felt impressed to invite her to be baptized and we set the date of March 11. We saw Pablo and taught him the restoration also. His concern is he doesn't want to change from being Catholic even if he knows it is true. Dinner was with James he showed us his electric powered bike. We went to see Clara, but she wasn't home her mom told us about their crazy schedule. We ended the night with the adult session of stake conference. They focused on family councils and even did a real family council. Elder Kevin Miskin the seventy presiding shared a cool story of a missionary that thought he was a failure from when he was a mission president. 

Sunday  

In the morning we went to stake conference. Elder Miskin shared another good story of him getting lost in the mountains behind his home. After stake conference we picked up our dinner. We went out and tried to see Katerina, but it wasn't a good time for her. We ended at Pedro and Linda's teaching then about the Fall. 

The missionary that thought he was a failure 

So there was a missionary that thought to try to talking to people since that is the charge missionaries are given. He is on his way to a gas station, he prays telling heavenly father he will talk to who ever is on the other side of the gas pump. He gets there and no one is there at first, but then a women pulls up and starts to pump gas. He decides to say to her looking around from the other side of the pump "is the gas better on that side". She then says "don't even I know who you are your a Mormon missionary". She then proceeded to say she knows Kevin Miskin. The missionary then tells her she should call him President Miskin and a argument pursued on what to call him. The missionary left feeling he had failed, he returned home reporting in his home coming talk that he had failed and falling into a depressed state. Well that women actually was neighbors with President Miskin. She left the gas station drove straight home pulled into her driveway and walked to the Presidents home. She knocked on the door, he answered then she proceeded to ask "what is up with the President thing, are you the President of a bike club?". He explained it she pretty much moved on. She soon discovered that all of the people around her tuned out to be Mormons. She would go to sports practice finding out team members were members and various other places. She went to a class looked at a girl and asked 'are you Mormon?" the girl said "yes how did you know?" she responded with "they are all over". Later on the woman was doing President Miskins daughters hair and asked why do all these Mormons surround her. The daughter responded with Heavenly Father wants you to join the church. So that is what she did. Some time after, the missionary comes back to visit. President Miskin is at a conference and gets the impression to go talk to the guy in the back. At the end of the conference he hurrys after the guy that turns out to be the missionary. He stops him as he is getting into his car. The missionary says hello President Miskin. He tells him about how he feels he was a failure and the time he failed talking to the one women at the gas station. President Miskin then tells him of how he isn't a failure. He tells him that the women is actually there and teaching Sunday school. They once again met and it was a joyous reunion with tears. Sometimes we fail to see the results of our actions, quickly making the judgment that we have failed. 

Love Elder Caleb S. Bailey