Korea Town // Episode II // Scene 4
Monday was a really interesting day. It was the second half of a
heat wave that hit LA and in the morning around 10 AM we had to bike to the
dentist office to repair my bottom retainer. We looked and the dentist office
was about 3 miles away from the apartment... Yay. We biked in the sun and when
we got there we were sweating like a bunch of Neanderthals. Got in there and
the Indian dentist dude was very nice and didn't charge the taking out of the
metal... Even though it was broken, gee thanks bro. Anyways, sorry about that
call, I can only imagine what y'all must've thought when you got it. We then
biked back and that was still really fun... Again, in the sun. We went shopping
at Food 4 Less and I bought some stuff to make some Alfredo sauce and pasta...
So hopefully I don't make it too poorly. We then got back to the apartment and
dropped off the groceries. We headed to the library that we email at, but
because it was around 12 or 1, everyone was there and the wifi was horrid.
Elder B wasn't even able to open anything or even send anything. We then
crossed the street to the McDonald's and sent our emails there... Yay! The
elders that we were planning on going to Little Tokyo with canceled because
they got a text from the mission office to go and give a blessing to someone in
the hospital. They told us that the hospital was huge, and that they got lost
in there really easy. It was a hospital that is run, or paid for, by the Jewish
members in LA. During that time Elder B and I were exhausted from all the
heat and the lack of fun plans that we took a small pday nap to recharge. We
then went to the church to go and play some frisbee with our ZLs and the
Wilshere elders. It was really fun, except that I taught one of the ZLs how to
defend so good that he blocked me... Oh I was so mad. He kept smiling the rest
of the day and he said that it was the highlight for him hahaha. Elder B collided with one of the other elders and so his knee hurt a lot. When we got
back to the apartment all of the appointments that we had planned fell through
and because Elder B's knee was hurting him, we walked around and talked with
people the rest of the night.
Tuesday we had a meeting to go to in the morning. It was the
second quarter training for Elder B, meaning that he is almost at his year
mark. We went there and when I went to another room with all the other
missionaries whose companions were getting the training, I hung out with Elder
P basically one of those cool elders that you both always hear about
each other but you have never been able to serve around them... Ya. He gave me
this talk about a missionary story and it is a real cool story, it's called the
Ricciardi Letter if you want to look it up. Anywho that talk is really
motivational for a missionary and I read that on the way back from the training
and during part of the lunch hour we took after the training. We walked outside
and around the corner when Elder B started to talk to this older Latino
couple that I hadn't seen. We burst end right up their porch and asked if we
could share our message with them. To my surprise they said yes! We taught them
about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they accepted the
invitation to be baptized! The only set back is that they will be in El
Salvador for a couple weeks, but they told us to get a hold of them when they
come back! We then biked to the most northern part of our area and kept talking
with people. A guy that we stopped to talk to was a British man named Ian. He
had a bunch of tattoos, bad teeth, a cigar in his hand a beer by his side. He
said he has been traveling the world forever and recently he just came back
from India. He is an atheist and it was difficult to try and explain the
concept of God to him. The perspective he had was that having a God makes
everything so confined. We explained to him that having a belief in God and
knowing that He is there is a peaceful feeling because we understand the plan
that He has for us. We invited him to check out the temples of the church on
his world tour if he has the chance and he said that it sounded interesting.
Walking a little further there was a Latina lady who needed some help with a
fallen branch. We told her that we could help and basically the branch got
twisted in some rope. Thank goodness for these small hands and fingers Heavenly
Father has given me and scouting cause nobody else was able to get the rope
undone! She thanked us for helping her and we invited her to church to which
she said she might come! We kept talking to people and finally ended up talking
to this lady named A. She is a less active member, more of inactive, and she
was a little different. First off, weird thing, she was walking her dog, a
British terrier, named Ian... Wait... No way. Anywho she is from SLC and
explains that there are "reasons why she doesn't come to church" but
that "she is still doing missionary work by helping people understand that
the church isn't a cult"... Hmm. We were able to have a small bit of
service when a Latina lady came around the corner and the wheel to her shopping
cart came undone. Elder B and I fixed a wheel with a safety pin (hey dad,
wink wink) and a hair tie from A. It was really cool because the Latina lady
was really nice and she is just going to remember the two guys in white shirts
that helped her out one day. We then tried to visit some other potentials, but
nobody was home. A member of the bishopric called us and said that they had
some pizza for us, so we biked home and took our dinner hour at the end of the
day to eat.
Wednesday we had the opportunity to go and do a temple session at
9 in the morning. I had to drive because, well, I didn't want Elder B to
drive. The temple was amazing, it was really cool because I was able to help
another lady in a wheelchair this time. Elder B and I pushed their chairs
because the LA temple switches rooms. It was really cool. I'm at 3/4 videos
right now so that's exciting. It was really peaceful in the temple and I just
realize how fortunate we are to not only be members of the true church of God
on the earth, but to have a more solid understanding of the plan that He has
for us and for our families. We got back to our area and went to go and see a
RC named M. She is a youth and the only problem she has is attending
church. Why is it that it is the most basic thing for people to do, but nobody
does it! Goodness, so frustrating this whole agency thing. Anywho it was really
nice to see her again because she is just always smiley and upbeat, it's pretty
cool. We then tried to contact a couple people, but they weren't home. We had
set up a bishopric visit for our investigator J, but J canceled... So
that was a bummer. We then decided to go and see M B. On our walk we
had a lot of interesting conversations. One guy we talked to was named Louis
and he is a homosexual and an atheist. He was ready and prepared to fight
against us, just because he was. We tried to explain to him the power of the
Atonement and the importance of God's eternal plan for us. I don't think
anything really stuck with him, but I'm sure he was amazed to have a more
pleasant talk with Mormon missionaries. We saw hermano B and it was kinda
awkward. His father recently passed away and so its that awkward, we know
what's going on and we don't know if we should talk about it, type thing. We
ended up talking about the First vision and how the Book of Mormon can really
bless us when we read it to find answers to questions that we have. On our way
back to the apartment, it was a little passed 9 at this time, Elder B wanted
to talk to this guy but we walked right passed him. We decided to go back and
talk to him and it was a pleasant conversation. His name is R and he was
very friendly. He said that we could come back and visit him on another day
during the week next week. It was really cool because he seemed super open,
tender mercy woot!
Thursday was just that day during the week when everything just
fell apart. We had DM and it was alright, the DL in this area is going home and
so the meetings aren't exactly the best or anything. It was really sad because
we had this awesome day planned and even a lesson with J. But the phone
was forgotten and so we could call her to see if she was home. We went by her
apartment and even knocked on her door, but nobody was there, it was really
sad. We went back to the apartment to drop off our bikes because then we were
going to just walk around for the rest of the day. We tried to stop by C C, the lady with the prosthetic leg, but she was feeling really sick and
so she didn't want us to come and visit her. We then walked all the way down to
the Bs house and tried to help J, the son, to go to church. It was
pretty funny because we invited him to come to church and just looked at him
for his response. It was really funny because we were just looking at him in a
smiley way and he took forever to say his response. It was so funny because he
kept looking at us as if we were pressuring him or anything, but really we were
just looking at him and waiting for a response, I think basically he said that
he wouldn't want to go to church because "he can always renew his baptismal
covenants" .... Face palm bro. What he doesn't remember is that part of
the baptismal covenant is to always renew it by keeping the commandments.. Ugh,
it was really rough. We then walked to our dinner appointment with W and
R and their mom. She made us spaghetti and that was good, still missin that
homemade though. It was nice because W is having a stronger desire to
come to church and he is even making plans around his schedule so that way he
can read in the Book of Mormon.
Friday for weekly planning I had all the stuff to make the
"missionary Alfredo" is what I am calling it. Was it perfect... Heck
no. But hey, it was a cheap meal that tasted pretty dang good. Elder B didn't complain about it so it must've been ok. Hopefully the pictures show
just how novice of a dish it really was. We started out the day with a little
bit of a brunch with the C's and L, it was really good.The Hermana made
some good shrimp tacos that at first I didn't know we're shrimp tacos so I
guess that means that they were good right? Anywho it was an awesome
opportunity again for them to share their testimonies with L, the brother of
hermano C. We explained how powerful even a small testimony can be. We
then invited the C's to come with us to go and visit this lady that we had
a lesson planned for. They were all like.. Ya sure we got time! Perfect! We
wrapped up real quick and then we left. We tried the door for the lady, but she
wasn't there. We then swung by another investigator who lived around the block
and luckily he was just coming back from work! His name is S and he is the
guy that we invited to be baptized and he said that he already was baptized in
another church. The lesson was pretty straightforward and the C's shared
their testimonies which was good. Basically we told S when we gave him a
copy of the Book of Mormon that all he has to do is read the book, pray about
it, then he will know the truth. (Drop da mic) it was good. The C's liked
coming with us so that was really good. We then dropped off our bikes and went
to go and get some conversations for the night. We set foot outside and this
hardcore Roman Catholic Korean stopped us and she pulled us aside. She wanted
us to explain to her the reason behind the Book of Mormon, but when we told her
she just went off on a tangent. She basically told us her life story about how
famous she really is and it was really difficult to have charity for her
because she kept bashing on things that we believe in. We would invite her to
read in the Book of Mormon and then she would say that she already has God in
her life. She then went off to say how Martin Luther is the devil and that
anyone who tries to go against the Roman Catholic Church is the devil.. Pretty
intense right? We then went to go and follow up with the As. They brought
one of their friends to the VC because the friend recently had his father pass
away. We called the friend and set something up for Sunday, so fingers were
completely crossed. We stopped by that random cute couple that we found a
couple days ago and we invited them to come to church and we also set a return
appointment with them for Monday, so hopefully everything works out! A random
lady that we stopped was full of potential as at first she seemed disinterested
but once the conversation started going, it was as smooth as butter. We invited
her to church and she seemed excited for that (but when we tried to call her to
remind her about church, we found out that she gave us a fake number). We decided
to stop by our WML home because his family isn't sealed yet and I mean, come
on, they have been members for about 6 years now, so we decided to take
initiative. We taught them about the first Vision and how we need to always be
growing our faith in Christ. We invited them to start saying family prayers and
how that would help them. Hermano R then asked if it would be ok that we
eat with them... It was like 8:30 at night, but we said yes so it was a race
against the clock. Normally we have to be inside our apartment at 9 or 9:30 if
we are in a lesson or a visit. We started eating at about 8:57 so we decided
that we were still good and we ate as fast as we could. Hermano bought us these
gigantic tostadas that are sold on the side of the street late at night and
it's like mini Mexico here in KTown at night. They were really good, taste so
different than the tostadas you make mom. They were about as big as a paper
plate and filled with crazy messiness. I finished mine in less than 10 minutes
and the hermano and Elder B weren't even halfway done yet. Elder B rushed
eating and we left with just enough time to run back to the apartment in time
to arrive before 9:30. Woo!
Saturdays are always long days because nobody ever wants to meet
with us or talk with us. We started out visiting the P family and we read
in the Book of Mormon with them, it was a really good lesson and the two
brothers are so cool. We then went to try and visit some less actives and
investigators, but nobody was home. We talked to a lot of people on the street,
and we got a couple people's information so maybe we can meet with them one
day. It was really hot. We tried to stop by E and E and my goodness,
they have just fallen off the face of the earth I tell ya. We haven't been able
to talk to E in about a month and E has been in Mexico for about 2
weeks. We went back to the apartment for dinner because nobody signed up to
feed us. We remade the chicken Alfredo and it was better this time, so that's
good. We then left for the last part of the night and we were talking with
people, having good conversations and everything. One lady we stopped is
Pentecostal and she asked us a lot of questions. We explained to her simple
truths about the gospel but for some reason she still had questions. The main
thing that "threw her off" if you will, is the fact that we have
stake dances and ward activities. She says that we are not allowed to dance
because it is a worldly thing. Charlie, Emily, I'm sorry... Anywho we explained
gospel truths again and she was not willing to listen at that time, but it's
ok, she has family that are Mormons so at least there is that hope. We talked
with more people and the last lady we talked to at night was just crazy. She is
from the south and man did she have some language! She basically told us her
life story (I've gotten a lot better at listening) and then she tried to
explain what SHE thinks are gospel truths. A lot of her theories had to do with
predestination vs. foreordination. We explained to her that God having a
perfect knowledge of everything is not a determining factor on how they will
end up being. We explained the doctrine of agency and how everyone is given the
ability to choose to serve God or to disobey God. She understood that part, but
still believed in predestination. Basically if everyone could either read the
Book of Mormon, or in this case Jesus The Christ, there wouldn't be any
problems!
Sunday was a full of tender mercies at church. We didn't have to
go to any meetings in the morning so that was really nice. Next, there was like
little to no traffic on the way to church in the morning so it was a really
relaxing bike ride. When we got to church we were not expecting any
investigators to show up because we had lost all contact with J which was
super sad. We sat down behind a member at church and we looked to the doors to
see if we recognized any other members that were there and lo and behold M B showed up! Goodness! There he was with his wife and son walking in like
they were at home, total tender mercy of the Lord. We then started to head
towards the gospel principles class with the Bs when J D, a recent
convert for the sister missionaries who comes out with us on Wednesdays
introduced us to a friend that he invited to come to church and she came! Her
name is E and she stayed for the entire 3 hours of church! What the
miracle right!! We are trying to set up an appointment to meet with her and
J D because J D is just a fireball and his testimony is just
amazing. It was also really nice because we had some less active members come
to church, so that was really good. We sat by M B in the classes and
he likes to make fun of some of the members, which is a good stress relief for
us. Sometimes there are just members in each ward that you are like... Ugh, but
then when the investigators bite back at them... Hehehe. The member doesn't
have anything to say back to the investigator because they don't want to offend
the person and the investigator knows it... Such a lovely moment. We were then
given by the RS president chocolate flan which was super yummy. We ate dinner
with the Rs and I took a picture with them so that way you know what they
look like. We then went to try and talk to people, but something about Sunday's
gives people the heebie jeebies about Mormons I tell ya. We met this Haitian
lady who was into voodoo and she was trying to tell us that we were in the
wrong church... Hard pass hard pass. We ended the night with a FHE at the
A family. I also have a picture with C so I will send that too. We
watched the rest of Meet the Mormons with them and there was not a dry eye in
the room for that family. The less active sister really wanted to change and we
committed her to read in the Book of Mormon. We also found out that Hermana
A when she served her mission in Guatemala back in the day baptized, or
helped baptize a ward member's son here in barrio tercero! Small world right!
It was really cool because that got C, the Hermana A's son to want
to go on a mission and if he goes on a mission, then the job will be completed
I tell ya.
This next week we are going to meet President Haynie... Exciting
stuff!! Hope you all have a good week! Love you tons and bunches
Love,
Elder
Roberts
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