Monday was pretty dang boring. I don't know what it is, I just can't figure out this Pday thing quite yet as a missionary. All the other missionary companionships went off by themselves or together and left me with my companion alone at the church.. Ugh. Thankfully, some Elders from the other part of the zone came to rescue what they could of my Pday. We played basketball, a little bit of chess, and some soccer. It was pretty boring after a while, but playing 1 on 1 with some of the other Elders was pretty fun. The stupid part was that they all forgot to take off their CTR or RWH rings so they all somehow scratched me with the rings all over my hands. I'm branded almost hahaha, jk I'm exaggerating, but still ouch! We ate dinner with the M's and that was really yummy. We ate chicken, potatoes (with ketchup!!!) rice, flautas (which is like a taquito but it's not) and that was really good. We tried to stop by Hector, but he didn't answer the door, probably was sleeping or something. We returned home to the apartment for the night, did the nightly routine, and after drinking some Emergen-C and taking some NyQuil, I conked out.
Tuesday was a pretty packed day. We had a lot of lessons. We first had a lesson with J Taco Truck. We met him in the street a while back and we teach him whenever we can find him working at this taco truck, and he listens. It's really sad though because he flew back to Guadalajara on New Years and he will be staying in Mexico for 2 years, at least. We told him that he really needed to find missionaries in Mexico so that they could pick up where we left off. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon to read, so hopefully he will be good, he is in the Lord's hands now. We then had a lesson with P U again! His wife is doing so much better! We taught the Plan of Salvation and he really liked it. We found out that he is not married to the hermana though... Dang it. So basically she needs to be 100% better before they can be married and be baptized... Prayers!! The wife/girlfriend has gone from taking 12 pills a day of antibiotics to only 3 in about 3 weeks, that priesthood power though! We then stopped by H's house and talked with him a little bit. We taught him the Law of Chastity and we asked him "why would it be important to keep the Law of Chastity?" His reply "Cause that's when all the bad stuff happens".... Ya, pretty much... Sweet! We ate dinner at the Es house and they gave us rice, beans, and this egg mixture that tasted like it had jerky in it... Pretty good. After dinner we biked down to the Jungle and saw G. G has come to church for a while, but her boyfriend cheated on her and now she is planning on moving away, like leaving her family and everything... It's a disaster. We had a very good lesson about our role as missionaries and the importance of the Book of Mormon. That was a lesson that was just, crazy intense spiritually. We finished off the night with a FHE at the Flores house with the M's. We shared a spiritual thought and then played spoons... It was intense. At one point a spoon popped up in the air and I grabbed it mid- air. That game was intense.
Wednesday was kinda a rough day. Some days it's just hard to smile, but hey, gotta keep going right? We walked around for a little bit. We stopped by to see if J Taco Truck had left and he was still there! We talked to him for a little bit. Turns out he is only 16 years old, I thought he was at least 18! It was funny cause he was saying all of his "doctrinal" doubts because he is Catholic and what he thinks is different. We told him gospel truths and you could just see peace come over him as he told us 'now that makes sense'. I freaking love that guy! Why does he have to move back to Mexico? It's so sad because if he were to stay, oh man, that young guy has soooo much potential, he is just so genuine. We then had a FHE with the N family and they surprised us with food (surprised meaning we thought just a FHE but they thought dinner... Whoops) anywho, we ate, read scripture, played games, laughed, it was a blast. We then had to hurry our little bikes all the way down to the bottom of our area (we were in the top corner FYI) for our REAL dinner appointment with the R family, the ones that we skyped with. They are so cool. They gave us pasta which was super good. We also did a FHE style type night with them. Can I just say how much I am grateful to my family for teaching me all these cool card games? I think that was a blessing years in the making because now I have all these card games to teach families so that they spend time together.... One card game at a time;)
Thursday was New Years and we had to be in our apartment by 6:00, so we had to get everything done earlier in the day. We stopped by to see H and his family. H had his court date to see what the verdict would be for his current situation, and we received good news!!! We had a mini lunch with his family and shared a spiritual thought about setting New Years Resolution goals, it was fun. We then went to the E's house because they were coming with us to a lesson with P U and R A. They were amazing! P is still reading as hard as ever in the Book of Mormon, he is already in Helaman 10!!! And R is getting better and better as well. The lesson was really emotional, everyone broke down in tears because of how hard the trials this family is going through are. We just laid those blessings thick from the Book of Mormon reading. I told P that I would keep bringing more friends from the ward and he told me 'don't fail me' kinda jokingly.... Uh oh. They promised that they would come to church and the E daughter (who is an RM from a Utah mission) said she could bring them to church!
Friday I went on exchanges with Elder G and wow, it was a much needed break. We talked to some people on the street, but overall it was a little sad cause they didn't have any set lessons. Elder G burned a pair of pants to celebrate his 18 month mark, even though he really has like 20. We talked for a while and we actually have a lot in common with our families than we realized! We also had ZTM today in which a big announcement was made. Missions are no longer allowed to hold Departing Missionary Firesides. What?? Elder Oaks from the Quorum of the Twelve said that we are no longer allowed to have those Firesides... Ok.
Saturday was fun, we woke up and decided to end the exchange in a cool way, so we went to Chipotle. I had never been to Chipotle before and Elder G loves Chipotle so he told me that he wanted me to lose my Chipotle 'Viriginity'. We switched back and that was sad, Elder G is such a cool missionary, he is going places. We biked down to the Jungle and talked to some people. We stopped by the F family to see how they were doing and we talked with them to set up a day that we can just come by and have a FHE with them. They had some friends over and they participated too! We played spoons with them and the friends, and let's just say, the missionaries never lost! It was pretty funny how that one worked out.
Sunday was pretty good. Our church now starts at 9:00 in the morning, so of course, not a lot of people showed up. Out of the 20 ish people that we teach that showed up to sacrament meeting, about 5 were investigators, 9 were either less active/ recent converts, and the last 6 were the fellow shippers/ our dinner people. Church was good, it always is, at least Sacrament Meeting. P didn't come to church because he was with his family, so he was 'out of town'. We went to see him after church and told him about fasting and how that might be something that could help R, his girlfriend, get better. He seemed super stoked about it. We had some interesting things happen in the ward, like silly things that happen in Spanish wards here in LA. After church we talked to some people in the street and then ended the night with a FHE with the Najera family. We read with them in the Book of Mormon and then play card games, and they always give us food... I like this trade off:)
Something that hit me really hard this week was when Elder G and I were doing a "role play". Role plays are when we practice scenarios of teaching lessons, or just talking to people. What we did is he taught me the Restoration in Spanish and I translated back to him exactly what he said (cause he has grammar problems and doesn't know Gospel Spanish). He saw some grammar issues, it was good, but then came the part about the First Vision. He completely blanked in Spanish and said to me a little ashamed "Elder, I don't know the First Vision". I took a moment, and then asked him "why does that make you ashamed that you don't know it?" trying to help him understand, trying to have a little more patience. And he said "well, cause that's when God and Jesus came to Joseph Smith". I then asked "and why does that even matter?" He looked at me, trying to put together something to say. I think the one lesson that I just love teaching as a missionary is the Restoration, or the "First Vision" lesson. Cause for me, it comes down to this: Without the humble prayer of young Joseph Smith, the church of God would never have been existed again on the earth. The power of God, or the priesthood, would never have again blessed the lives of God's children. We could never have found "the path that leads to eternal life" because the prophets, or the servants of God, had ceased to exist. Thus meaning, that there would be no way to return to the presence of our loving Heavenly Father. There was a need to restore the truth. God knew it, and that is why he answered the prayer of young Joseph Smith. With the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or in other words, with all the truth now on the earth, we can now enjoy all the blessings that come through living the lives that God would have us live.
Now, here is the weekly invitation for all who read this:
Invite PERSONALLY one friend to church. It doesn't have to be someone who is not LDS, it could be your best friend who is active in the church (but what fun is that?) just INVITE someone to come to church with you this week, and do all you can to help them go! I know that I have regrets now that I didn't invite friends to come to church with me, even though I lived in Utah. My philosophy, if you have a friend who was not at church, invite them!
President John Taylor (1880–1887)
“Our duty is to preach the gospel to all men. … This is what God expects of us” (The Gospel Kingdom, sel. G. Homer Durham [1943], 234–35).
I know that missionary work may seem difficult, but there is no growth in the comfort zone and there is no comfort in the growth zone. I can't wait to hear about all the crazy experiences that you all have this week!
Love,
Hugs and squishes,
Elder Roberts
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