Week 53 - Repentance a Change of Mind

Monday 10/31/2016 Halloween 🎃

So early in the morning we went on a hike with Elder Sparacino/Lee. There were some issues with people being unreasonable to get it approved. So we had to resort to getting it approved by President. Sometimes we need to move past people when they lack reasoning. After our hike we had lunch at Cali tacos, then went shopping at Costco. The P Day schedule was revised do to Halloween resulting in no activity. We brought Elder Sparacino/Lee to the church so they could email then we dropped them off. We did some shopping before we brought Elder Sparacino/Lee to finish their shopping. We got back to the apartment complex by 6:00 to be in early. We hit up the zone leaders apartment and finished the night. 

Tuesday 

Our day after lunch consisted of mainly finding. We helped the Olsen's move a couch and a love seat into their home. We didn't have any great contacts before dinner with the Olsen's. After dinner we went and saw Daniel, we discussed the Ten Commandments with him. He has been able to cut his smoking and coffee consumption in half in a week already. We had to cut his lesson short so he could prepare for a test. We went back and prepared for an exchange with Elder Henderson/Durant. I stayed with Elder Durrant in the area. 

Wednesday  

After studies we did some walking and finding we got a couple return appointments for later in the week. After lunch we continued the finding. We met a inactive member that talked to us for a while about some interesting things like magical demon elves. We came to the conclusion that his mental state was not in the best condition. We had a lesson with Brother Manning later in the day. We are trying to help him build his faith since he is really struggling. We did more finding until dinner with the Green family. Then the finding continued till we exchanged back 

Thursday 

We had zone training in the morning. We focused on repentance and our focus as missionaries. One point that we were able to highlight during our practice was the opportunity for us to always strive to be better. We will always fall short because we are never perfect, but striving is putting your best effort in. After lunch we did finding till dinner at Bishop Poulson's. After dinner we went to see Daniel, but he is gone till Sunday night in the hospital. We were able to talk to Maria his mother and she was interested in hearing from us. We met a Hindu woman after, but she wasn't interested in learning more. 

Saturday 

After studies we headed over to Brother Larson's house for a correlation meeting. After the meeting we did finding until lunch. We headed over and picked up Elder Dodd/Barnett for the temple grounds walk. We got there and found out that the two people we had going decided to not come at the the last minute. When we were finished we went back to the mission and stopped by Joe's. After dinner we did finding and stopped by Al's house before the end of the night. We were lucky and caught him home. We invited him to church and talked about testimonies with him. If he is able to make it he will not be able to stay long. Then we went back in for the night. 

Sunday

Morning ward council meeting before church. The Wingers had a neighbor come to church with them. We were able to answer a lot of their questions and concerns. After church they seemed to have had a great experience. We tried some people we had scheduled to see but no answers. Our dinner was with the Werner family. After dinner we tried a few people then headed in. 

Repentance a Change of Mind 

The topic of repentance has been discussed a lot lately in our mission. 

When I think of repentance I always think of the Greek translation of the word which means a change of mind or something along those lines. Which is a great way to put it. A great thing is as we continue to exercise our faith in Jesus Christ and stay on the path it will bring a desire for us to repent. I have seen many times where when people begin to follow commandments they just begin to have that desire to change their mind towards God. So if we don't have that desire to continue to follow the commandments and change we might want to check ourselves. Ask What have I not been doing to exercise my faith? Have I been doing my scripture study, prayers and etc. ? Find what is stopping that change of mind. 

I'm also reminded of something that I resonated with recently. When your life is coming to an end. Do you want to say to yourself I wish I spent more time studying the scriptures, praying, spending time with my family and etc.. You probably will not say I wish I spent less time doing those things. 

Pictures from the Monday hike and some pajamas at a target I decided to put on. 

 

week 52 - Faith Requires Action

Monday 10/24/2016 

In the morning we went out and did some tasks that needed completed. We picked up Elder Sparacino/Lee and went to the Redwood park. We walked around till it was time to hit Pday activity. We played a round of sock soccer, before people showed up to play volleyball. Sister Despain gave Elder Rubio and I a haircut. We left with Elder Sparacino/Lee and grabbed some dinner before we dropped them off. We used the little time left in the night to do a little finding. 

Tuesday 

After studies and lunch we went out and did some finding. We hit up a blood drive at the church and got some free food. We were able to see Brother Manning and share a message with him and check on how he is doing. We headed to dinner with the Remington's. Brother Remington's sister was in town so we met her and had a fun time. After dinner we went to see Daniel. We taught him the word of wisdom after he finished his cigarette. He took it very well and knows that he needs to quit, so we are hoping he will be able to work through it. We recommitted him to come to church and setup the logistics. We tried Al before the end of the night, but he wasn't home again. 

Wednesday 

We had service in the morning. The service was with Elder Sparacino/Lee for an investigator of theirs. We helped clean up the backyard for awhile then went and grabbed some Wendy's after. While we were at Wendy's we saw the police bust down the bathroom door and bring out a homeless woman. She was probably under the influence of something. We dropped them off then went out finding. We where able to see Leo. We taught Leo the importance of scripture study. We did more finding until our late dinner with the Daltons. Sister Dalton's brother was over so we shared the restoration with him. He didn't really show interest and wasn't listening fully. We invited him to read and prey to know if it is true. We headed back in for the night once we left the Daltons. 

Thursday 

We had district meeting. We discussed daily Repentance and continuing to be progressing missionaries. We should always make sure we are trying to improve everyday. We talked about daily contact with our investigators. Daily contact is important, every convert I have taught I had daily contact before baptism. It keeps people on track to have those daily reminders. After district meeting we did the usual grab then gather. We dropped off Elder Sparacino/Lee and went out to find people. Dinner was at Elder Sparacino/Lee's, we brought the food and they cooked it. After we did some finding.

Friday

After we finished weekly planning we went out hunting. We weren't able to catch anyone. It seemed like everyone we tried to see had moved. So we are able to clear some names up. We hit Chick-fil-A to grab something to eat since we weren't going to have dinner for a while. We helped setup for the ward fall party. It was a big success, they had quite a few people to talk to that members invited. They had a chili cook off, too bad I didn't enter the contest. After we helped take down everything so we spent some time in the bounce house before we left. 

Saturday 

We had a morning meeting with Brother Larson. We finished up the presentation for the fifth Sunday discussion. We had a quick lunch before we went to see Nyle, but he wasn't home unfortunately. It seemed that no one was home that we went to see. We kept trying people till dinner time. After dinner we stopped by to see Daniel and remind him of church and to setup a ride. He was setting it up to not come so hopefully he will not be sick in the morning. We tried to go and remind Alex about church, but he was out biking in the dark. We were able to catch a few people before the end of the night and setup a few soft return appointments. We crashed a Halloween party while finding I thought about going in to eat some of their food and stuff (they offered). Elder Rubio was resistant and it probably wouldn't have been a wise use of our time. 

Sunday 

Morning ward council before church. Daniel didn't come to church which was expected unfortunately. We led a discussion in the third block, on the importance of missionary work, focusing on the members and their role with the spirit. Our dinner was with the Mangisi  family. After dinner we helped Brother Larson give a blessing to Brother Munez. We went to see Chris which is were the night died. We talked with him for a long while about the restoration. He just couldn't see the fact why he needed to pray about the Book of Mormon. He made the claim many times to be a seeker of truth, but doesn't truly want to exercise his faith. So we left a Book of Mormon with him to read and pray about. We are planning on following up next week, but the concern with Chris is he will not receive an answer unless he truly exercises his faith. 

Faith Requires Action 

So Chris had me thinking about faith. There are some that don't truly know what faith is. Well what is it? Alma tells us about faith “If ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21). Faith is not just something that can be stagnant, with faith comes action. There is something that comes with that action. What comes with the action is power, we can see throughout the scriptures the power of faith. There are many instances were the exercise of faith brought forth mighty miracles. If we exercise our faith in Jesus Christ, we can have the strength to do his will and accomplish the things he wants us to do. Faith is a motivating force that can help us to progress and bring us closer to our Savior. So continue to exercise your faith on a daily basis through the simple things. We must keep our spiritual muscles strong to show gratitude to our Father in Heaven. 

 Some pictures in the redwood park. We are planning on using them for the release of our new album The Woods on Pday coming out next year.

Week 51

Monday 10/17/2016

In the morning we gave Elder Gentry a ride to go pick up his laundry. I made Elder Sparacino breakfast while Elder Fisher went with Elder Rubio to a doctor appointment. We gave Elder Kuehne/Gentry a ride to the mission office to drop off their luggage and to take care of other departure stuff. We went to P Day activity, they played volleyball. It wasn't that great, it was a transfer day. We picked up dinner from the Olsen family. We stopped by and picked up our stuff from Elder Kuehne/Gentry's and then headed back to eat dinner. Finished the night with some finding. 

Tuesday 

In the morning we went to the mission office to go see the departure of Elder Kuehne, Elder Gentry, Sister Johnston and others. We went and stopped by the hospital so Elder Rubio could see the Mission Nurse after studies. We had to get a few things before lunch. After lunch we went out to do finding, we weren't able to see anyone. We had dinner with the Hansen family. We did finding for the rest of the night with no contacts. We stopped by the zone leaders apartment when we got back. 

Wednesday   

After studies and lunch we went out. We decided we wanted to walk for the whole day. We weren't able to get any street contacts while walking. We weren't sure if we should go see the Trasports at the bottom of our area. We had the strong feeling we should go, so we did. We were able to catch them home finally after two transfers of trying to catch them. We setup an appointment for Friday since they were expecting a guest. We tried some more people before we headed to dinner with the Powell's. After dinner we stopped by the Sanders to get some water. Then we saw Daniel and he is going through a hard time which prompted him to want to come to church. We are going to see him again on Friday. Then we walked back home. 

Thursday 

We are having the mission tour this week and Elder Carl B. Cook of the seventy came. He actually spoke in general conference this month and gave a talk titled Serve. It was a good meeting we discussed the topic of our mission motto, the Atonement, helping our investigators repent and many more great things. He shared an experience of Elder Russell M. Nelson telling him that the only thing he thinks of during the Sacrament, is Christ. We gave Elder Nelson/Bauman a ride back to their apartment after stopping by Joe's. We picked up our dinner from Sister Larson's. We had a meeting with the Bishop so the sisters could meet him. After our meeting we went by the Remington's home to let him know what happened with transfers. Brother Remington is currently going through withdrawal, since he is no longer ward mission leader. We tried to catch Alex home but he was busy and that ended our night. 

Friday 

In the morning after studies we had a service in the Brea hills ward. We helped move a older couple into a new apartment. It was a pretty easy move, it took longer waiting for them to get the keys to the apartment. The Elders went to Tony's pizza after for lunch. We went back to the Trasports just as they were leaving to go somewhere. Hopefully we will be able to get something solid with them set. We were able to get some background on them which helped. We had a quick dinner then went back out. We caught Daniel, but he wasn't able to meet with us. We finished the night finding. 

Saturday 

In the morning we had a breakfast missionary meeting with brother Larson. We planned to weekly plan after, but we found that our Area Book was gone. The app that has all of our vital information on the people we see had decided to clear everything. So we made some phone calls to see if we could get a quick resolve. There was no quick fix and we had to wait for people to get back to us. We had lunch with Elder Hugie/Boyle and got some Joe's. Did some finding till it was time to pick up Elder Sparacino/Lee for Stake conference. Elder Gary K. Wilde of the fifth quorum of the seventy attended the conference. The session focused on family councils, and missionary centered efforts. President and Sister Taggart spoke which is always good to see. We stopped President to see if we could get some action on our messed up Area Book, since we had heard nothing back. We dropped off Elder Sparacino/Lee then headed back in. 

Sunday 

President texted us in the morning, he pushed some buttons to attempt to fix our Area Book. It worked mostly. We gave Elder Sparacino/Lee a ride to Stake conference. I think we will be giving a lot of rides this transfer to Elder Sparacino/Lee. A member walked up to me as if she knew me and said hello upon arriving at Stake conference. My response was "I don't know you" not in a mean way, I didn't know her. She then explains she was in the same ward many years ago. So we got a picture for Mom. There was a lot of great talks given. Elder Wilde shared a story of a family being sealed that was powerful. Elder Wilde also shared a story of his orphan Shepard grandfather that was converted in the Middle East. The group of converts in the area left for Salt Lake and he stayed. The group eventually realized he didn't come, so they sent for him to come join them. We as members can't forget those orphaned brother and sisters. We had another meeting with Brother Larson to get ready for the fifth Sunday discussion. We went back and did some fixing of our Area Book. We had dinner with Brother Macefee he is a great cook and always makes sure we are satisfied. We ended the night by picking up some laundry that we are going to do for some other Elders. 

Not a lot of pictures this week. I got killed by a vampire robot kitty on Sunday. 

Week 50

Monday 10/9/2016 

In the morning we exchanged to go on a hike with most of the zone. I went with Elder Kuehne. After the hike we all went to Costco for lunch. Everyone met back up at the church after a while for pday activity. The sisters put together an amazing race for the zone which was pretty fun. Elder Sparacino has been having a car prank war with the Anaheim 10 sisters. So we helped sticky note their car at pday activity. We had dinner with the sisters and Elder Kuehne/Gentry at Marie Calendars that was the end of our night.

Tuesday 

In the morning we went over to the YL3 apartment so we could carpool to Mary's. After Mary's they dropped us off we went back to the apartment then changed. We did finding till it was time for dinner. Dinner was with the Bremer family. They had us playing guess this scent with Doterra oils. We hit Joe's ice at the end of the night with Elder Nelson/Boman and Elder Russel/Sparto.

Wednesday 

We had president interviews around noon we grabbed some Chick-fil-A for lunch. After Elder Kuehne/Gentry stopped by to use our lab. We did finding before dinner at the Underhills. We tried a few more people before seeing Elder Sparacino and Fisher at the end of the night.

Thursday 

We had district meeting in the morning we discussed working with members. We came up with ideas to help members get more involved in their missionary efforts. We had a comprehensive photo shoot, since it was the last district meeting before the end of the transfer. We did a zone grab then gather for lunch. After lunch we went to the mission office to pick somethings up, then headed back. We had dinner with bishop Paulson and his family. We stopped by the church and helped setup for a flu shot drive that will happen. We did a little finding before the end of the night and stopped by the zone leader apartment to end the night. 

Friday 

We had a service in the morning in the Brea hills area. They had a group of missionaries helping to setup a annual school carnival. We were there for a few hours moving, building and etc to setup. They got us some pizza for lunch. We finished up and then picked up Elder Kuehne and Gentry to drive them to a few places. We did some finding before dinner with the Rykieslys. After dinner we tried to go to a lesson but it fell through so we did finding instead. 

Saturday

After studies we went out to do some finding. We had lunch with Elder Kuehne/Gentry at Alohas. We helped them clean their place out in preparation of them going home. We headed to dinner with the Thompsons at Red Robin for sister Johnstons last dinner with them. We did a little finding before we ended the night at Sonic. We met with the sisters and Elder Kuehne/Gentry for transfer calls. We found out Elder Rubio and I will stay another six weeks. So we are pumped.

Sunday 

We had ward council in the morning. We went back to the apartment before church started. They had some good talks during sacrament meeting. I led the discussion in gospel principles on eternal families. After church we had dinner with the Medina family. We went back and did our weekly planning for the week. That is what finished the night. 

Week 49

Monday 10/3/2016

In the morning we stopped by the hospital to go see the mission nurse. We picked up Elder Hugie from the zone leaders apartment then went and got some breakfast/lunch. We dropped Elder Hugie off. Then Elder Kuehne/Gentry came and picked us up. We went to the mall so they could get somethings before pday activity. At pday activity they played volleyball. I played the guitar and made songs for people. We did some shopping before dinner. 

Tuesday 

In the morning after studies I had a appointment to pick up some glasses. After the appointment we picked up Elder Russell and Sparto to go to Sam's club. We grabbed lunch at Chick-fil-A. We stopped by Elder Nelson/Bomans apartment before we went to Joe's. We dropped them off and went to dinner with the Mierua family. We went to see Daniel but he wanted us to come back the next day. We stopped by the church before we headed back to the apartment. 

Wednesday 

In the morning we went out and did some finding we weren't able to catch anyone. Our finding continued till dinner. We had dinner with the Remington's at pick up stix, which was fun. We tried some more people before Daniel. Daniel wasn't available again so we will have to try to catch him again. 

Thursday 

In the morning we had district meeting. We focused on commitments and extending them boldly and effectively. We did a zone grab then gather so we got Chick-fil-A again, it is too good. We got back to the church to find out Elder Rubio forgot his I pad so we went back. The member that works there grabbed and knew who's it was. After lunch we went back to the apartment and did some cleaning for apartment inspections. We passed as always, it is claimed we have the cleanest elder apartment. We went to dinner with Brady Trumbo, he took us to a sushi place. It was a all you can eat place, they served in three rounds like it was a fighting match. So we ate a lot of sushi for a good price too. After dinner we saw Alex and Brother Larsen came. We taught the plan of salvation and committed him to come to church. After we picked up Elder Kuehne and Gentry. Then went to Joe's to meet the new Samoan Elder, that ended the night. 

Friday 

In the morning we went to work out at the church. We then helped the Remington's setup for a funeral. We went back and had our studies and did our weekly planning Elder Hamby or now Johnathan texted to meet up. So we met up with him at the church building. We met the whole family and took a few pictures. We went to Anaheim and got Joe's with Elder Russell and Sparto. We headed to dinner with the Padilla family which is where we ended the night. We exchanged with Elder Hugie and Durant. I went to Elder Durants area.

Saturday 

In the morning we went out finding. We had no luck. We stopped by the Placentia parade that was going on. We saw some members at the parade then went back for lunch. After lunch we went out to find more people still no one. We stopped by the church and got some stuff from the zone leaders. We saw Elder Kuehne and Gentry while there setting up for a baptism. We did more finding up till dinner time. After dinner we did more finding till we exchanged back at the end of the night. 

Sunday 

In the morning we had ward council, then we went back to the apartment before church. We had a great time at church Al wasn't able to make it to church. After church we had dinner with the Trumbo family. We did some finding before we went back to the apartment. Elder Kuehne and Gentry stopped by at the end of the night.