Week 89

SouthGate Branch 2 - Week 4 - Dawn of the Dorman (BAPTISM)

Monday was a different day. We got our stuff done pretty early on in pday, because the other elders had to go to the mission office for an interview with President Haynie. They dropped us off at the church so that way Elder D could email his family. Elder L, S, D, and P all then came to the church so that way we could play sports with them, mainly just soccer. Well, from the beginning Elder D didnt want to play. I didnt think it would bug him too much, but i guess he just loathes soccer. We played and he was getting really frustrated with himself. It was really hard to see him struggle, especially cause all of us were having fun. So basically it was fun to play, but Elder D hated the entire day. We played some other games and my companion wasn't exactly the most enthusiastic about those games either. We then had to wait for the other elders to come and pick us up (because they had our keys to our apartment and to my bike lock) so we really couldn't do anything. We decided to walk to yogurtland and have that because Elder D had never tried it before. It was good, but it was still a little awkward because it was after soccer and i knew he was in a bad mood... it was a very awkward moment. They picked us up and the car ride was silent, so that didnt help the situation at all. We did go and see the M family to do almost a movie marathon this week, and it was good. Only I was there watching the movie with us, but he really liked the movie and talked about it afterward. 

Tuesday we were able to go and meet J at McDonalds again and get to know him a little more. He is definitely an interesting guy. He has a lot of problems with some stuff that mormons do, like baptisms for the dead and celebrating holidays, but thats just because he studied with another religion in the past. It was funny because the members of that religion were at McDonalds when we were teaching him and they were giving us dirty looks... oops! Anywho, it was really hard to try and explain why Mormons participate in holiday celebrations. J is definitely the guy who whenever he hears something new, he really really thinks about it, prays about it, and it takes him a good while before he is ok with it. He bought us breakfast at McDonalds too so that was really nice. We were able to ask some get to know you questions and he is just a funny guy. We then went to go and see S and oh my goodness. What i love about S is that he just loves to LEARN. As a convert of about 2 months, he has already read the Book of Mormon, the Gospel Principles book, and he is in D&C right now around section 50 or so. He has all this knowledge and he has a strong desire to be an example for his family. He is just an amazing guy. The only sad part is that he has a lot of health problems, so we have to make sure that he is doing ok. We then went over to the A's to have dinner and we made sopes. I took pictures so hopefully they look good. They tasted good so.... ya. It was really funny because the A's are always asking us if we need grocery type stuff, like eggs, milk, yogurt, all that kind of stuff. Well, lets just say that they are hooking us up with that type of stuff so i am loving shakes in the morning:) we tried to go and see M, but she flaked out on us, so we are deciding to leave her to the Lord and letting her become a little more prepared. We then saw L and talked to him about temple work and missionary work. He is super excited. He asked us what it would take for him to be baptized for his father, and for a friend of his that passed away when he was a little kid. We told him what he needed to do and he seemed happy. We then exchanged with the other elders, i went with Elder B and Elder L went to my area with Elder D.

Wednesday I was in my old area, the one that I was with Elder S in. It was really hard not to say sarcastic things to the "elder" that I was with because he was telling me "all about the area" and im just thinking... I already know, I already know. But I just stayed quiet. The day he had planned was just pure tracting... lovely. We knocked the same doors that Elder S and I knocked, but one actually answered! It was a former investigator and his family, the G family. They are super cool. We did the door approach and he just let us in. So cool. We started to do a little HTBT and got to know him a little bit more. Well, he has 3 kids and they all were really nice. We were wrapping up the lesson when his wife walked through the door! We said a prayer to leave and he told us that he had to cook for his family. I asked him what he was cooking and he told me a type of taco, he then told me that if we stayed around for about 10 minutes that he would give us some tacos! I looked at Elder B and im just thinking in my head (we have nothing planned, we are SO staying), which we did. The tacos were really good and we got to know the wife a little bit more, so that was really good. We then went to go and see S, one of my RC in the area. She was home along with her mom and siblings and Elder B had never met them before, so i just went in like i had never left and oh how the mom is so much nicer now that she isn't pregnant! She was actually smiling a laughing and making jokes and stuff! So funny. We then met up a sister at the church and she gave us dinner, and its just how i remembered it. Lots of meat, rice, type of salad, bottle of water... oh i was in heaven! That was good too. We then went to go and pick up the other elders to take them to the church for the baptismal interview and for the RC class that we teach every wednesday night. We picked them up and went and tried to determine who would give the class about the Plan of Salvation. Well, Elder D and i had given the past 2 classes and Elder L had to give the baptismal interviews, so somehow it worked out that Elder D and Elder B were the ones that gave the class (hehehe the newbies). The RC then asked about outer darkness and we had to explain that... that was fun for the two greenies. P and M need a second interview and so we were trying to figure all that out afterwards, and we now know why M only has 1 arm. Afterwards we were thinking of wether or not we needed to postpone the baptism and punch it back to give them more time, or to try and set up the second interview for the same week and rush everything. The whole night i was praying about it, not knowing what to do. I knew that they would benefit from a little more preparation to be baptized, but i wasn't sure what to do exactly.

Thursday i had a very intense personal study. I was just completely focused on P and M and what we needed to do to help them. I wrote down the pros and cons of them being baptized this week and if they were to have the baptism postponed. I was praying very hard that i would know what we should do for them, what would help THEM the most. I had an overwhelming feeling that they needed a little more preparation and that moving the date back would help them more. I wanted to talk to my companion about it and talk to President Haynie about it too. When we called President Haynie, he asked me a couple questions about what was going on and what needed to be done. I told him the situation and he told me to either leave it up to  P and M or to President Vincent, the guy who would give the second interview. The whole day we were worried about this because we were trying to talk to P and M but they weren't responding to the texts. For breakfast i ruined an egg... it was the panels fault! The side of the pan is like death or something! The moment anything touches the side it just starts smoking like its a smoke shop or something, so that was sad cause i had ruined a lovely egg.  We had weekly planning and we tried to set some stuff up for the upcoming week. It then started to rain! Well, sprinkle, but still, it was water from above. I decided that i want to ride death trap again because it is a cooler bike, not mine, its lighter, and so that is why i am riding it. We met with Hermana F and she is going through some rough testimony times right now. It is really hard to know what to teach her because we always meet her at a public spot that isn't very reverent and it is always hard to hear her speak, we need to find a different environment. We then had dinner with the Q family (we were suppose to go visit the M family afterward, but they canceled). The dinner was really good and we talked to the kids a little bit. We watched a church movie with them and that was really fun, the dad was so into it! We then biked home and decided to call P. He answered and him and i talked for a while. Before i could say anything, he asked if we could postpone the baptism for a little bit longer, i told him that it was completely fine to do that and a little more preparation would be good for them. It was an answer to my prayer and i know that Heavenly Father really does know who my investigators are and what they need.

Friday we had district meeting and that was good, some crazy announcements happened, but nothing that affects me really. The new missionaries starting next transfer are going to have Samsung tablets instead of Ipads, which is cool and all, but doesn't really affect me. One of the companionships of sisters in the district lost a bet of how many people we could talk to in a week and so they now have to pay the elders (not us) that won in yogurtland, haha, its funny cause the elders probably wont even want it. We took a district picture and it is really sad being the oldest missionary in the district... super sad. We got back to the apartment and i wasn't feeling to good with my stomach, so that didnt help at all that we had a terrible dinner at C J, i took a picture of it. It was nachos, but not the nachos that we thought we had ordered. The picture says it all, just how nasty it tasted. We had a lesson with A and that was interesting. We decided that we wanted to give him a copy of the book of mormon so that he could read it finally. We explained what the book of mormon was and read with him in the introduction. It was really interesting for a bit because he was trying to tell me that the Mayans and the Aztecs were some of the most peaceful and non violent civilizations ever, and to some extent that is true, but weren't they the people that sacrificed people to their gods or something like that? Anywho it got really off topic and we tried to get it back on a lot. He told us that he would come to church this sunday because he had work off, but he didnt come. We then went to go and see the Cs family, P and M. Lets just say we interrupted their Friday night, so that was a little awkward, the lesson was a set appointment mind you! We decided to go over prophets and the Book of Mormon with them. It was a good lesson and they had some questions about some stuff, so that was good that we were going over the points with them. The C family come over (we invited them, but they came late, but hey, it doesn't matter really) and we finished the lesson cause we had to go see the M family, but then the Cs stayed to just hang out and get to know the Cs family a little bit more, it was super awesome. We then stopped by the M family and everyone was home. We decided to read Alma 36 with them and talk about the Joy of the Gospel. It was a good lesson and it really pumped them up for their baptism on Sunday.

Saturday we had a pretty lame day compared to the other days. We didnt have any set appointments so we decided to walk around and talk to people. Some people are just crazy when it gets halloween time here, there were a lot of people that we just looked at them and thought... yikes. We tried to stop by R G, but he wasn't home, but later on Hermano M told us that he was able to get a hold of him and that he would be giving him a ride to church on Sunday, so that was really good. We were able to stop by Elizabeth's bakery, and Elder D fell in love. When we walked in he was just like "wow" and then we looked around and i told him about some of the food and what there was, and so he was happy and we got some ice cream and donuts, so that was good. He said he would give the place a solid 8.5 so that is pretty good i think. We then walked to try a couple more people but nobody was home. We then got picked up for the ward halloween party and let me tell you, i am ashamed of my own culture right now. So the Branch shares the building with the Downey 2nd ward, which is an english ward. So guess what the "food" was. Nachos and salad, thats it. Now i was going to laugh and take a picture if it was chili, but for real?? That was nothing!! Here we 4 missionaries are, super hungry and all we get are nachos... oh my goodness it was so sad. Then the drinks ran out, and all the food too. Send me back to the Tongans or Samoans please! As missionaries we just switched name tapes cause we cant wear any masks or hats or anything. The main reason why we were even there was to make the baptismal program and to make sure if any of our other investigators showed up to the party. Only the M family showed up, and they even decorated their trunk!! They are so ready to be members it is so awesome. L had brought her kids and her two youngest boys were dressed up like mario and luigi, which was just adorable. Some elders had some candy to hand out so we opened up the trunk and handed out a piece of candy with a pass along card to everyone, and they liked it!! It was just so sad compared to the trunk or treats that we have gone to... man i miss black light, cause that was just sad. I think the closest think was a light that was shining off and on, because nobody had any lights in their car so it was all dark and stuff nobody could see. When we were done for the day and already in our apartment, i asked Elder D if he wanted to do a workout with me. On the ipads we have this workout app and one of the moves that they do is something called "squat and box". Now basically all you are doing is slowly punching your arms and squatting at the same time. I said to Elder D "you ready?" Thinking that it was going to be a funny "improv" type fight but not really cause we would be far apart. Little did i know that all of a sudden he was acting like he was punching super fast and he was all like "i told you i use to box" and im just laughing my guts out because he does NOT look like someone who has ever punched anything. We finished the workout and he went to do his yoga to calm down, he does it every night, and he hates it when i am in the room while he does his yoga.

Sunday was just a day.... yupp. We got a ride to the church at 8 in the morning and sat there for 2 hours before church started. J came to church, but then he wasn't "feeling so good" so he left before the sacrament even started! Ugh, i think he just didnt like the building or branch, idk. Anywho, we had the M family there, just like always, and then the Cs came to church early!!! They were there for all the classes and that was super good. Their friend from the ward before came to help support him and M, but in the end he is the reason why they didn't attend the baptism at the end of church because "they were in town and we want to spend time with them".... oh my goodness. The M family baptism was pretty epic, not gonna lie. Branch members banded together to all have a part in the program, each auxiliary was present that needed to be there, all members of the branch presidency participated.... it was cool. All the missionaries who have taught the M family came back to support them, some even had to take public transportation to come, it was awesome! Everything went smoothly in the baptism, except that the water was cold, but it all went super good. The M family had like 10 family members there... we are totally going to start teaching them! The sister of M apparently knows like half the people in the ward (they are all Mexicans from the same city i guess) and so they were all talking. She then asked US for a copy of the Book of Mormon to read.... ugh YA!!! It was cool. Nothing else really happened after that during the day because it was rainy and nobody was outside and we had no set appointments, but hey! They got baptized!!!!

This week should be an interesting week too, we have interviews with President Haynie and its Halloween today, hope to get some pics next week of your Halloween ADVENTURES.

Love,

Elder Roberts