Week 87

SouthGate Branch 2 - Week 2 - Dawn of the Dorman

Monday was just crazy. Normally everything is planned out on pday so that way we get a lot accomplished and have some fun too, well that really didn't happen this time. There were some scheduling conflicts with the other elders... I don't know why... And some other stuff that happened so basically Monday was a big chore day for us. We got all of our stuff done and I am really looking forward to this transfer with Elder D, he is awesome. It was so funny because we were fixing a bike that he found for free at a garage, he paid to repair the chain, and we were all hungry. Well, down the street was a Taco Bell and a Pizza Hut (here in LA there are a couple Taco Bell shops that also sell Pizza Hut stuff there). Well I had never been before and the majority of us wanted pizza. So we went to go and get the pizza and I bought pizza. I thought I bought 2 large size cheese pizzas, but really they were these tiny little pizzas, smaller than the totinos you can get at the store for like a 1$. Anywho so that was embarrassing but kinda funny at the same time. We went back to the Lynwood building to email and to play sports and that was fun... Kinda. Elder S was there with his trainee and so we played basketball. One of the elders didn't want to play with the rest of us and he went of to just shoot hoops on his own, it was really weird. We played basketball and let me tell you, it was a rivalry between Elder S and me. Oh my goodness. None of the other elders have really played basketball and so it was terrible once Elder S and I were on the same team, they only ever scored 1 time. It was super funny cause we were doing all these trick shots and you just feel like you are playing with a sibling, it was awesome, I love Elder S! We then went back to the apartment to have dinner and because we had a little extra time, we cleaned up around the apartment a little bit. It was so funny because we got a lot of our cleaning supplies from a 99c store, which Elder D had never been to before. It was really funny because when we were walking through the store he was like "wow! Everything really is 99c!" And I kinda chuckled to myself because ya, it is! Anywho Hermano M then came to pick us up to go and teach the M family. They are the ones that got married. They are super cool. I kinda messed up during the lesson, but it ended out really good and they decided that they want to be baptized on the 30th of this month as a family!! 

Tuesday was overcast, most of the time right now in the morning it's really foggy and somewhat cooler, and then it gets super hot during the middle of the day, then it cools down, it's weird. Well, my companion has technically 2 bikes. One is a mountain bike and the other is a street bike. He got both of the bikes for free. Well, he paid for a new chain on the street bike and I am now riding that bike as a loaner cause hey, it's faster and cooler, plus it's not my bike ;) so Peggy right now is taking a long nap. We went to go and visit this former investigator who said that we could come by, but she stood us up and wasn't home, so that was a really long bike ride for nothing.. Shoot. We then went to go and give some service for Dr. H who is the boss and fellowshipper for an investigator named L. Dr. H is just one of those cranky old grandpa aged guys with health problems but he is really nice when you don't think about all the yelling he does. We picked persimmons and did some lawn stuff for about an hour when we had to leave. We changed in his house, but I had forgotten my tie. I asked Elder L if I could use his, so I did;) we then had to bike like cray just to go and visit S, one of the RC here in the area. Well, my companion had a flat tire so we were going a little slow, but that's ok because S had a pump to help us out! He is so awesome, he is just willing to do what the lord wants him to do, it's so cool. The lesson with S was really good, he really does love his children. He wrote a poem and shared it with us, it was pretty adorable. We then biked to go and see 2 investigators who have baptismal dates. One of them is named R G, or R. Well, we had planned to teach her one of the lessons and as I am getting to know her we had this awkwardly intense moment:

Mind you, the baptismal date is for the 6th of November.

"R, do you believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - Day Saints is the true church?" - yes

"Do you believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God who restored Christ's church and priesthood authority on the earth?" - yes

"The other missionaries told us that you are preparing to be baptized on the 6th of November, do you feel ready for that date?" - ....I was already baptized.

"....... ........ ..... You are a member????" - yes....

"................." - she then shows us her BAPTISMAL PROGRAM FROM 5 YEARS AGO

(Elder Roberts slaps face and thinks) are you kidding me? How could the other elders not know this??? One of the past elders is even Argentinian! Anywho, we were really excited because that means that if we find her records, then we can help her go to the temple!! My companion didn't know what was going on and so he was a little frustrated and said "I thought we were going to teach.... " and then I told him that she was already a member and so we switched the subject to that and he was like "how could the other elders not know that??" Oh I laughed pretty hard.

We then went back to the apartment for dinner. We then went to go meet with Hermana F who is just a sweet lady. We talked with her and the stuff that she is going through, we are really wanting to help her, but it seems like she is slipping away. I don't know what to do to help her.afterwards, we had E R pick us up to go the M family in a surprise visit. They were not expecting us, but we just decided to stop by and get to know them a little more and to read in the Book of Mormon. It was a good lesson and E is an amazing fellowshipper, he is just awesome. The M family even told him that they had a baptismal date for the 30th! E didn't know and so he was very excited when he heard that:)

Wednesday was just a rough day. It was that gloomy morning and we had very little plans. We decided to just go and visit everyone in this one specific part of our area and so we biked there (oh and FYI the seat on the street bike is not as comfortable as on Peggy...) and so then we just walked around for days. It was hot and we found a lot of people who aren't ready for the gospel yet in their lives, but hey, trials ya know. I then decided to call A O and she answered!! It was cool! I asked her how everything was going and that I hadn't seen her for a while. She told me a little bit of what was going on and I told her that I go to the branch still, and that I would love to see her on Sunday, she then said that she would try to make it. I was so happy that she answered the call! I really hope she gets back on her feet and keeps going. We then went to go and visit L R, who basically is a member, but not yet. He is super cool and he shared with us a little bit of his story of his journey as an investigator. He is so cool. You wouldn't think of it, but he has 3 kids. He is just a fireball. Super nice, hungry to learn more, everything. We had to bike our little hearts out to the O house for dinner because Hermana O specifically said not to be late... Which we were. I told her that we were really sorry for being late to which she really didn't care (phew). She gave us spaghetti and some salad which was super good. We then got a ride from Presidente O to the church and we were so excited, until we saw the other elders. Elder L looked horrible. He looked so stressed out and sick that it was almost scary. He is a really good missionary and he always works hard, that's why he is the DL. He looked at me and asked if we could give the RC class (we are starting to give a big class to all the RC) to which I told him that ya, we could do that. He didn't look so good so they went home for him to get some rest. We had the class with S and L, they are the only ones that showed up. We then had to get a ride from S back to the O house (because Presidente O has meetings and we thought that the other elders were going to take us home as always, but they went home a little early). So he was kind enough to take us there and we biked home. I ended up calling President Haynie about L and the process of him having to be reconfirmed in sacrament meeting, basically the last missionaries messed up, but it's all good. And then, he told me the news about Grandpa. I called up my DL and that's when I decided that I was going to call home the next day.

Thursday morning we had to have the gas company come to our apartment to check some stuff that wasn't working right, and so obviously we talked to the guy who was giving the stuff. The other elders picked us up so that we could go to the Lynwood building and do our weekly planning there. Elder L and I talked about some stuff that was going on and stuff that he is struggling with and he just wanted my advice on stuff. It was really good and it just made me know even more that I needed to call home. We then biked for DAAAAYZ! We biked all the way to R which is a long bike ride, but it's ok, no big deal. We then sat down and talked with her and she didn't read in the Book of Mormon:( it was really sad, but we ended up reading with her. She told us of the struggle that she has with keeping the sabbath day holy... And I about went of on a rage, but I didn't. Long story short, she makes food, idk what type, probably tamales, but on Sundays she sells them on the street. "People have told her how amazing the food is and that she should never stop selling them". So basically the inner sarcasm just wants to come out and be like "so random people like your food vs. Heavenly Father's commandments that you promised to obey when you were baptized....".but you can't say that as a missionary, that would be too rude. So you just teach the doctrine and hope that they use their agency well. We then went to have dinner with the Q family and they are super cool and she made us this cool dish that was super yummy. We talked to her sons about the importance of the sacrament and taught it very well, I think that the son that blesses the sacrament blesses it a little more meaningfully now, he doesn't rush through it like he use to. 

Friday we had ZTM and that was really interesting. Things in the mission just are not as organized as they use to be. Anywho, we arrived a little late and everything, but it's all good. One of the new announcements that they had for us was that the missionary calendar for the whole mission is now available to be put on our iPads and so everyone just saw how far the calendar was made to and the transfer that I go home ends on the 8th of February. As a zone we had a goal to have 72 member present lessons this week, I'll let you know how we did later on in the letter. We went to Subway after ZTM with the other elders on our way back and that was good, subway is just so bomb. We got a lot of stuff for our apartment so that way we have nice pots and pans, a nice dish drying rack, stuff like that, so our apartment is getting fixed up. We were right about to head out to go and visit Luis when, he texted us to cancel the appointment. We really really really needed to tell him about what was going on on Sunday about him being confirmed and stuff, so we really wanted to meet with him. We were biking to another area when he texted. Us and asked if we could stop by at 7 that same night. We had a couple appointments around that time, but we figured that if we showed up about 15 minutes early to the appointment and left after about 40 minutes, then we would have plenty of time to have the lesson with L. We went to the random area and started to knock some doors and try some potentials. One of the potential houses has a family of 7 living there and when we walked up to the front gate, boom, they closed the door, and you know that it was meant for you when you hear "mormones" so ya, that one was kinda awkward. We then came across this really frail elderly lady who let us teach her a little bit, and so hopefully we will be able to see her this next week. During this whole time I am dying of heat because I wore a sweater cause it gets a little colder at night when you are biking, so I was dying. Thankfully it was time for dinner with Hermana C. She is such a nice lady and she is like a grandma to the missionaries, she feeds the missionaries every Friday, it's awesome. Well we got to know her a little bit and she told us about a couple of her neighbors that we could go visit!! Boom for the win - Hermana C. We then went to go and see R G and what he told us was really sad. He is still reading and praying and he has bad health so that's why he didn't come to church last week, but what he told us is that he feels lonely :( . He says that nobody from the branch visits him and that because he changed religion that all his friends from before have stopped talking to him... Home teachers... What the heck guys. Anywho we talked about it for a while and he is just the sweetest old guy ever. We then saw L! He is super cool. We helped him out with a couple chores that he had to get done (it's funny cause as a missionary you always ask if you can help with the dishes and they always so no, but this time he said yes, so it was awesome!). We do a lot of dishes as a missionary, so we have a lot of practice;). We then went to go and see the M family with Hermano P. We decided that we wanted to teach about keeping the sabbath day holy because we really want them to be converted and get in the habit of coming to church for the right reason. It was a good lesson and we were able to get to know them a little bit more.

Saturday we went early in the morning to go and teach P and M C. We had originally planned to meet with them at 11 in the morning but then P asked if we could meet around 9:30, so we went at that time. We knocked on the door and he asked us in a funny way "do you guys ever sleep?" He then said how early we showed up because they just got out of bed, we were then like "you told us to come at this time!" Anywho they were chill. We taught them some of the commandments and we realized that they wouldn't be ready for their baptism on the 23rd of this month, so we moved it back to the 30th of the month. They are really awesome though, super nice and really awesome people. We were then going to lunch with a member when I got in a wreck. I was crossing the intersection on the road and a car wanted to turn to the right, well I was in front of it, but because cars go faster than bikes, he kind just scooted me off my bike and I got some scrapes and burns on my arm, everything else is fine. The bike is fine, head, helmet, everything. The chain to the bike was jammed with the wheel and so we figured that hey, we are right by P and M, let's ask them for some help. We called them and told them what had happened and so they were really nice and they helped out with the bike and then they were like "do you want to clean up?" So we went up and they gave me some stuff to clean up with, and they also gave us a breakfast. They then wanted to take us home, but that wasn't going to work so we biked back to the apartment because the bike was still functional and I was ok. We finally had our studies and I told the people that I needed to tell that I was in an accident, but that nothing really bad happened. We had dinner with Hermana A and she made MOLE!!! Mom, that is something else that you need to learn how to make... If you just learn how to make pupusas and mole... You will be a very versatile cook. We then went to go and see A, but he hadn't come back from work yet, so that was a little disappointing. We then went to go and visit a lady named M D. We were walking to try and find the address when we saw two kids, a brother and sister, standing outside a house. The younger brother had NO clothes on... Birthday suit. We looked away then looked at the addresses... It's that house. So we went and we talked to the mom, and the kid is still naked, and we are trying to talk to the mom, but she's not very talkative... It was rough. Kinda funny, but rough. We set a return appointment with her for this upcoming week, so stay tuned. We then got a referral from the other elders about a lady that had stopped them on the street and told them that she wanted missionaries to stop by ASAP. We then decided to stop by. We went and we met with the Ts family. They have a friend who is struggling with life problems right now and they heard that our church is very good at helping people. We talked with them for a little bit and told them more about us and if they would be interested in us coming by another time. They said yes so we set a return appointment with them. It's like a family of 10 I tell you... Amazing. We then had P and M call to ask how I was doing, they are so sweet! I called them back and they were glad that I was ok. A called us and told us that he was sorry his missed the appointment, but that he would try to make it to church the next day (he didn't, but it was nice that he called). We then got a text from the ZLs about how many MPL we had as a zone during the week. The goal was 72 by the end of Sunday and at the end of Saturday we had 76 as a zone!!!! WWOOOOO!!! That's a lot FYI. The week prior we only had 30 or so. That was cool.

Sunday was a really long day. We were taken to the church by presidente O really early in the morning, and so we had a little bit of our studies there. We then had a meeting in which there was a problem with L and what was suppose to happen during sacrament, vs. what didn't happen, vs. what did happen. It's just one of those things that I'll have to remember to say when I get back home;) anywho during church I saw a lot of the members from the other area, so that was nice to see, some have changed and some have the same problems... Ugh. L was sitting by this one girl named A during sacrament meeting and it was really weird... I'll tell you later on. Just know that she was very much a koala on him and he wasn't very much koala back. Church ended and I think the heat and stress got to me because I wasn't feeling to good. My companion made some chili so I ate that, but that didn't help the problem. We walked to go and see R, and ugh! Seriously some people it is just hard to have that good ol charity for them. So R is a member, she was the lady that was baptized and showed us her baptismal program. She is also the person that we have been trying to find her records and everything. We taught her last week the importance of keeping the sabbath day holy because she sells food on Sunday, something that she could completely stop, and she didn't come to church. We asked her what was up and she said that she didn't have any gas in her car to go to church... Really? Good grief. She then explained "how wonderful God is for blessing her with people that she sold her food to on Sunday"... For real?. We then told her that (we didn't say it this way but how we basically wanted to say it):

Look, you need to come to church so that we can find your records because we need your information like birthdate, full name, all that jazz, and it would help out SO much if you came to church 

Response - that's what they told me in the past and they couldn't find me. Over where I was baptized they couldn't find me

(Pause)

Her - the bishop over there even told me that they couldn't find me

Me - well, he was the bishop when you were baptized, and he was there, and he does watch over the people in his ward (and this former bishop is awesome just FYI) so then I asked her: did you go to church when you were there?

Response - (laughs) elder, you are going to make me mad in a little bit

(Pause cause it's getting a little hairy here, but me thinking, so you DIDNT go??) 

She then says that the members in that ward are a bunch of liars and would say that she never went to church and that it's the missionaries fault who baptized her and the church's fault for never putting her in, and that's why she became inactive.

(My thoughts) well look, do you want this or not? Cause if you want this and you really know that it's the true church, then you would come to church and want to participate in the ordinances of salvation... BUT YOU DONT SAY THAT AS A MISSIONARY!

So we just kinda got out of that situation and read with her in the Book of Mormon.... Ya I just needed to vent about that. We then walked to dinner with the H family. When we got there, the worst possible option looked like it was going to happen. The Hermana made... Menudo (shiver). Menudo is tripe, or cow stomach. Missionaries hate it, except for Elder D. My stomach was already hurting so somehow there was a miracle and she had made other food just in case. My companion tried the Menudo and told me that it has a texture of gum and smells like rotten flesh.. He is so funny and exaggerates a lot. We then left and looked at our phone, L had texted us.... Or not us. He had accidentally sent a text to A, the girl, but it got to our phone... Let's just say we are now involved in the middle of a soap opera right now.

That's the week! Hope your week goes amazingly and is full of fun experiences!

Love,

Elder Roberts

Elder Roberts' Grandpa passed away this week.