I am leaving! I will be going back to the SouthGate Branch but I
am re-opening up the area that the other elders were in. I am going to be on
bike.
And WHO KNOWS who my companion will be cause I am going to
be
.....
.....
....
A FATHER!!!!
Yes it is a greenie, yes I am freaking out, and yes I am excited
about how crazy wild this is going to be.
Questions
El Segundo // Westchester 3rd (week 6)
Monday was just a really rough day. We cleaned our apartment in
the morning super good because we really wanted to get the fleas out and stuff.
We then made plans with some elders to go to a cool place called The Rodium
which is basically a swap meet. It was fun because we met up with Elder S and Elder D and their companions. It was super fun to walk around and
listen to all the Latinos in Spanish talking and I'm understanding it hahaha.
One guy was even surprised that I spoke Spanish... I'm like a ninja here I tell
ya;) anywho I ended up buying a bag from Guatemala that says Guatemala on it,
bunch of missionaries get this bag, it's just cool to finally get one. I missed
both of those companions so much that it was super fun to hang with them again.
I am now on the hunt for more swap meets and cool Latino stuff! It was a super
hot day though, like over 100 degrees. I think that's what put everyone in a
bad mood. We tried to make some plans to go do other stuff, but for some reason
they just didn't happen. It was really rough cause my companion didn't want to
do anything that day, so he took a 4 hour pday nap.... I was so bored. We set
off the flea fogger and put everything in order to finally kill all of the
fleas, so hopefully everything works out. We ate dinner with the Hs, who
are super cool people, and we were talking about conference. You know how you
like the dresses for Motab? It's you that like the dresses right? Anywho sister
H went off about how awful the dresses are... It was a little awkward.
We then stopped by the Js because Elder O was dropping off his journal
with them.
Tuesday was pretty interesting. We went to the car shop guy to
switch out our car for the loaner car so the repairs could be made for the
scratches that Elder O put on the car. Well the moment we are driving back
in the car, I come down with a cold. I started sneezing pretty bad and then I
just started to feel sick. We had a lesson scheduled with one of the nicest
older ladies you will ever meet named C W. She was a referral and we
set up a time to meet with her. Sister O, the Stake President's wife, told
us that she could come with us to the lesson so that was super awesome!! So we
met with her and found out that she has had some amazing exposure to members of
the church. Her husband and her stepchildren are Mormon (the husband passed
away recently) and the stepdaughter is just awesome. Long story short, C says that her stepdaughter wants her to become a member, and she told us that
she likes the church, she just doesn't understand the Book of Mormon, like the
names and stuff. We are really excited to teach her, she is awesome. She
committed to come to the Saturday session of conference so fingers crossed! We
then had dinner with the Ss. The Ss were mission presidents in New
York, where the Hill Cumorah place thing is. They were also the mission
presidents of Lindsey Stirling. So we ate at their home and they are just so
cool, and so normal.
They made some awesome food and gave us pie afterward. We talked
about missionary work and we asked them if they could come with us to a lesson
to which they said yes. We then went to go and teach B and the lesson was
good. We taught the Restoration and basically President S invited her to
be baptized which was good. We asked B to pray about baptism and we taught
her the need of repentance before baptism and the lesson was awesome. It was a
good way to end the night.
Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder M! He is a super
cool missionary that I have only ever been in the same zone as him, so we were
really excited to go on exchanges, plus he is a Spanish elder so it was super
fun. I was super sick in the morning though. I woke up and I couldn't speak and
I hadn't gotten any sleep the night before so I was just resting before we had
out weird DM. We had DM and I still couldn't talk, but I felt that I was
getting a little bit better. I was the designated driver on the exchanges cause
we went to my area. Well, I hate driving but it was good, nothing bad happened
or anything like that. I had a headache so I ate a pear which helped, I think I
just hadn't eaten all day which was really bad. We had dinner with the
Cs, and oh mah goodness can we just say how much they are so similar to
the Ms? Like scary similar, the house part at least. Their house has SO
much Native American stuff that it is just crazy. They DO NOT have AC (I don't
know why cause hello, it's el Segundo) and so I'm here sick dying of heat and
it was just rough. They are a very awkward couple in conversation. Just imagine
everything being super formal and when someone tells a joke they don't smile or
laugh they just say "oh that's funny" or "that's so
splendid" or something like that, super weird. They are awesome though
don't get me wrong. They are temple workers and they are missionaries wherever
they go. They invite neighbors and non members to come to their house to watch
conference, so they are awesome. We then headed to W and K. We read in
the Book of Mormon with them and had a good lesson. We talked about conference
and stuff like that, so hopefully everything goes well. Towards the end of the
night we got a call from our apartment inspectors!! I guess they haven't called
in FOREVER and they asked if they could come on Thursday!... So Elder M had to help clean the apartment. It wasn't bad, just some organization and tidy
up stuff ya know.
Thursday was a little bit better. We did have the senior couple
come and inspect the apartment and they gave us a 100! Boom, 100 again, no
biggy. We switched back from the exchange and I was feeling better than the day
before and so we went to In N Out to get some lunch and then start weekly
planning. We ate lunch and I wasn't feeling too good so I told my companion
that he could finish my food if he wanted too. Well we had a good talk to each
other about what bugs us and everything and it was good. We ate dinner with our
WML and his family here in El Segundo and they made... Tacos. WHY is it that when
I am serving in an English ward that we have eaten tacos more than when I am
serving in a Spanish ward?? Kinda funny though ;) the food was super good and
that family is just awesome. We had a couple appointments cancel on us, but we
were able to go and see A, who is the sister of M. So as we are
talking to A, M and R walk through. We told them that
transfers are coming up and that we don't know what will happen. A then
says something like "oh you won't be moved, cause you have to stay to
baptize R. You also need to stay for the wedding". We were so
excited that we didn't know what to say. We just look over at M and
R (M has like THE best poker face and never laughs unless it's
hilarious) and R just has this huge smile / grin on his face, so awesome.
Anywho they left before we could say anything and so we kept talking to A.
She is doing good, she just has a lot going on with her life right now and
family drama. She is super awesome though. She is really pumped about
missionary work and she has a calling in the ward that she just loves, it is
going good. My companion had started to feel a little sick throughout the day
and right before we went to bed he said "Elder, I shouldn't have eaten your
food" and then I thought... Wait.. Why?... Oh. I'm sick and he ate some of
my food, stupid me. So I definitely am the one that got him sick.
Friday morning hit and my companion was dying. His throat was
terrible and he sounded like a bear just getting hit with pepper spray. It was
super bad. So I told out DL that he was sick and that Elder O was gonna get
some extra rest that day. I made him a drink with the Emergen-C in it and he
was thankful for that. So that made things a little bit slower than usual. We
then get a call from Elder R who is the senior missionary in charge of car
usage. He asks us whether or not we have the loaner car and we told him that
yes, we did. He then begins to tell us that for some reason we did not receive
a text message on Friday that our car had been fixed and that we needed to go
right then and there to get it because other elders were waiting for the loaner
car because their car needed repairs. So we quickly went there and the elders
were all mad at us for no reason and so me, still feeling a little sick, just
told them basically to calm down cause they really weren't doing anything in
the first place. Then they told us that we owed them lunch to which you just
give "one of those looks". Anywho, we then went back to our apartment
to have our lunch. We then went to go and teach Junior, and we had a sick
lesson. His girlfriend was there. She is a member, but she is a little less
active cause of work. We talked with them a little bit then headed into
teaching the Plan of Salvation. It was awesome. We taught simply and Junior
understood. We were about halfway (a typical stopping point for time sake) and
then L, the girlfriend, asked us a question about after this life so off we
went with the rest. We taught the whole plan and it was understood. We then got
to the moment when we followed up on him praying about his baptismal date. We
asked him how he felt when he prayed about his date and he responded with a
small grin "I'm excited, but I'm nervous" that's when you just want
to shout out as a missionary. Those moments are amazing. He told us of how he
feels and it was pretty cool. We then talked a little more and told him about
transfer calls. He seemed to be pretty scared about what was going to happen.
We took pictures and all in all it was super awesome. We then went to try and
sneak a visit in with W and K, but they weren't home. We didn't have a
dinner from the English ward, so we shyly asked our WML and his wife if we
would be able to eat dinner with them. They took us to Denny's and we talked a
lot with them about what was going on with the work. They are awesome, they are
just so cool. We then had to hurry to a lesson with the Vs family to read
with them and we also listened to a conference talk from the conference before
with them. Because my companion was sick, they helped him out with a bunch of
medicine and stuff so that was really nice.
Saturday was conference and it was a day of mixed emotions. So
conference is always super awesome as a missionary, but it is a little bitter
sweet knowing that it was going to be my last. We decided to send a mass text
to a bunch of people in our phone for a motivational conference text so that
way they would at least watch one of the sessions. It was basically just to
those that we are teaching in the Tongan ward. R texted us back and said
that he was working but that he would be able to watch the priesthood session
one, so that was cool. The first session started and it was awesome, lots of
notes. I thought the first session was a lot about prayer, so I guess that
means that that is something that I should work on more. We went home to go and
get some lunch and went to go and eat some pizza rev. It was good and then we
had to go back. We were really excited for the 1:00 session because some of our
investigators were telling us that they were going to be showing up to that
one. Well, a miracle happened. C showed up at the conference. Now, not very
many members actually come to the church building to watch conference, it was
just a bunch of missionary cars at the church, so when we had told her that
general conference was something really big and that a lot of people watch it,
well she was a little taken back when she shows up and not that very many
people were there. She sat down with us right before it starts and the sound
didn't work for the session! We were sitting there and thankfully a member
called someone and he was able to fix it so that we were able to have sound.
Well she LOVED it. She told us that at first she was skeptical but that she is
REALLY glad that she went. Can I just say how awesome of a lady she is? She
said that she really enjoyed the talk about the Book of Mormon and that she
feels that she needs to find out for herself and read it (do the happy dance).
It was also really cool because the second session was basically a missionary
session, with the songs and the talks just centered on missionary discussions
basically.... It was pretty cool. So then we went to go and do a roundup for
people for priesthood session, but it didn't work. We showed up with nobody at
priesthood cause R figured that he could just watch it at home with his
family and fiancé on their television.... So I mean hey, we were fine with it.
We also asked him when they were moving their marriage date to. Long story
short just so you remember:
R is the investigator. M is his fiancé, and she is
pregnant. She was baptized a little while ago. They had originally a wedding
date for January 20th of next year. Well, after teaching R and helping him
understand the importance of the family and living the commandments, they went
to go and get their marriage license, but it still hasn't been signed yet by a
bishop or judge you know? Anywho so they had told us that they moved the
marriage date to before his baptism! We had forgotten the date (now back to
normal time). We asked him what day was the marriage day and he told us the
23rd of October cause his baptism was on the 25th.... We told him that we
thought that his baptism was on the 23rd of October and so there was an awkward
silence and then basically we said "look, it's your baptism, so whatever
day you are planning on, alright!" So we are really excited for him
because that just showed me how much he really does want to have a family in
the gospel and be baptized! It was a good feeling.
Priesthood was good, it was like a chastisement that was full of
love. Basically calling out home teachers (cough cough) and so that just made
me think of how bad I was as a home teacher... Oh goodness. It also makes me
think of the good home teachers that we had in GJ. I forget their names, but
one of the guys was a little heavier and had turrets or something in one eye,
and I remember one time we were talking about a new washing machine and somehow
the conversation went to him failing a trig test in high school because he
wasn't able to draw a perfect triangle.... Do you remember his name? I don't,
but never mind. The day just went downhill from there. We went to go and see
R and he had fallen asleep right after we left because he had just gotten
back from work... It was a little sad that he didn't watch it, but we shared
with him our notes and he really likes the idea and purpose of home teaching.
We had dinner there because the El Segundo ward didn't have anyone to sign up
to feed us, so K came to save us again. You can truly tell who the
missionaries like to visit because they will ask them for food hahaha.
Sunday was good. Conference was amazing, it was just awesome. It
was sad when it came to a close and I know that I might never feel the same way
about conference than how I have felt as a missionary, but hopefully I still
will. We were invited during the lunch break to go over to a Tongan home for
some lunch which was good. They made a typical Tongan dish called Lu. It is
basically meat and taro leaf, it's not too bad. We then finished conference
which was bitter sweet. We then were invited by K to come over to their
house after conference. What we didn't know is that they had a feast waiting
for us. Pictures are in. Yes that is real. We ate there and then we both felt
sick so then we went back to the apartment and then changed out of our clothes.
We then went to go visit the Js because they are just awesome and we
wanted to say our goodbyes. We talked with them and then we went back to the
apartment for transfer calls!!!!
I just liked conference in general. I think it was awesome just
how President Monson talked about 2/5 missionary lessons from Preach My Gospel
so that was super cool. I LOVE Bednar and so his is always my favorite. I just
like conference. You can't tell me what football play was the best when the
team always wins, I'm just gonna tell you all the plays were good ;)
Love,
Elder Roberts
D&C 15:6
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