Week 90

South Gate Branch 2 - Week 5 - Dawn of the Dorman

Monday was a pretty interesting day. The other elders didnt have any extra miles to use for the day, so what we had decided to do, we couldn't do anymore. We just did our laundry and shopping, and got our flu shots. Because it was Halloween we had to be in our apartment by 6:00 and couldn't leave. So we ended up playing some sports with the other elders and Elder A and C who are really cool elders too. It ended up being 2 on 2 basketball with Elder A, C, L, and me, cause Elder B and Elder D didn't want to play basketball. It was really funny cause elder C can dunk and in his words "i have only ever played churchball"... but he is from Logan, Utah, so that means that he knows how we do in Utah with churchball. Anywho, we were on the same team and it was just sad. We then switched it to be me and Elder L (the smurfs here) vs. A and C, both are taller than 6 feet. So naturally i have to guard C and... ya it was just intense, but he didn't dunk on me so thats good. They then took us back to our apartment to be inside and i ended up cleaning a bit (my companion doesn't clean at all) and then i ate panda express while watching the church video about Thomas S. Monson called "On the Lords Errand"... it is SOOO GOOD! My companion then wanted to play chess and so we played. He kept telling me that "he is just messing around" right after i would capture his king... but whatevs. 

Tuesday we got permission to go and get haircuts because we didnt on Monday because of the lack of miles (it resets every month) and so we went to go get them because we had interviews this week, and I was needing a haircut. We did that and then came back to the apartment to finish up our studies and to get organized to head out for the day. Starting things off we went to S F's house. We talked about a lot of stuff and the main thing we were trying to ask him is whether or not the missionaries have tried to teach any members of his family yet. He seemed very defensive about his family and he explained to us that before S was a member, that he wasn't the best guy, so maybe it might be a little hard for them to believe in all "this" because of who he use to be. Its just a tough situation because when we talk to the members of his family, they are really nice and cool, but when we talk to S about them, he is very opposed to us teaching them. Idk, S is an amazing guy by all means, he loves the Gospel and really loves everything, so maybe its just a matter of time. We then had dinner with the A family and that was super good. She loves taking pictures of us and sending them to y'all. I took a selfie with her and this is what she looks like. Her husband is not a member, but they just love helping the missionaries out in any way that they can. They even give us groceries sometimes! They are such nice people and cook such good food! We then went to go and see Hermana F. She has a lot of problems that are a little stressful to think about. First off, she sometimes has to work on sundays, she doesn't have custody of her son and can only visit certain days, she has a coffee problem, she suffers from depression and schizophrenia, quite the handful there. It is also hard because she is starting to think back to her old catholic beliefs. She is asking us what we think of saints, the Virgin Mary, Dia de los difuntos, everything like that. Its really hard because we really want to meet with her on a regular basis, but her work schedule is just so far up in the air that it doesn't help out at all. PLUS she is already a convert of a year in the church and so everyone knows now that she can enter into the temple, but obviously that wouldn't be good cause right now cause she is a little shaky. We then had a lesson with the M family and E came out with us. It was a good lesson and we talked about confirmation and about the aaronic priesthood so that was good too. They are so good that they basically taught us about confirmation, or at least they explained almost word for word how PMG says it! They are really cool and we set up a time to go to the VC with them this Saturday and hopefully we will begin to teach their family members that came to their baptism!!

Wednesday we had a meeting for Elder D to finally get his Ipad. The meeting was pretty fun cause a lot of the missionaries that are training right now I have served around and we always have a good time when we are together. It was a good meeting and there were some fun trainings. Elder D's Ipad was not being nice and it didnt start up the way that it should and it was having a lot of problems, but I think it all worked out so thats good. We then came back from that and had lunch. We set out to go visit the Ts family (E, S, and the rest of the gang) but all that was there was E and P, her nephew. We followed up on what the missionaries had taught them the last time about the Plan of Salvation and they really didnt remember too much about it. We decided to go back over it with them. We drew it out on a piece of paper (cause ya know, you do it all the time in seminary and Sunday School) and we told them to look at it and ask us questions about the parts that they didn't remember or that they didnt understand. It was a really good lesson and they participated a lot in it, so that was really good. The only thing with them is that they DO NOT keep commitments! We have tried so many times to get them to say a prayer during the lesson and they just wont do it! We ended the lesson and then walked back to our apartment to grab our bikes to try and go and see R G. He is a recent convert and he has had bad health recently so it has been really hard to find him and met with him. We FINALLY found him and set up a time weekly to come by to read with him and to teach him. We also told him about the Wednesday classes that we give to people that come, and he seemed so excited! We told him that a member of the branch presidency could drive him (because they are just so cool like that) and he immediately called one of them and asked if he could get a ride. He got a ride. We then ended that lesson and went to go and have dinner with Hermana G. She is one of those ladies that is just so sweet, but that exaggerates a lot. She was saying that at the beginning of the branch, that there was only 8 members who started it (the branch split off from South Gate ward where i was at before, but they split about 4 years ago). She then retold us some stories that she said the last time, but we just kept eating and listening. We met one of her grandsons and he was really sad because his puppy got ran over by a car on Halloween, the grandson is about 30 years old, but hey, the puppy was only 11 months old. We then got picked up to go to the meeting on Wednesdays and when we got there there weren't as many people as we were expecting, but its ok. We taught R and S about ALL of the commandments. It was a good lesson and R understands the Atonement, or at least explained it, in such a clear and simple way that it was just amazing. 

Thursday we had interviews with the Haynies up at the mission office because they wanted us to get started on some Family History and look up cool stuff. We had to arrive an hour early to do it, but we ended up arriving about an hour and a half earlier cause we carpooled with Elder L and Elder B. I didnt realize how legit Family History is. I think i spent most of my time looking up stuff about Aunt Kitty. I didnt realize just how much work Aunt Sue has done for Aunt Kitty. I read a lot about her and it was pretty cool, not gonna lie. It was really funny because I went on Grampy's side of the family and tried to click as far back as I could, choosing which side and all when i hit a dead end, and it went all the way back to Joseph of Arimathea.... Now I dont know if thats right, just cause there were some names that didnt make sense on the line, BUT hey, I mean thats still cool right?? Interviews were good. Sister Haynie and I talked about school and being a trainer. She says that i should try to start in an earlier semester if i can, just cause it would be better. We left from interviews and traffic was SO horrible that i was able to take a 30 minute power nap and we still hadn't even really gotten on the freeway. Elder B was freaking out because the Cubs won the World Series (which is a big deal, but i mean, he doesn't even like Baseball). He was just going off and having Elder L, who doesn't watch baseball, Elder D who doesn't like sports, it was frustrating him that nobody was excited that the Cubs won. Sometimes he just bugs me, but its ok. We then got back at such a late time that the only thing we had left was dinner with the Os and that was really good. Elder D messed up on Spanish though, Hermana O asked if he liked the food and he said "no". The hermana and all of us said that he just didnt know what she asked him, but she still looked a little sad... sad day. 

Friday we went running in the morning because the Haynies told me to do it to help Elder D, so we went running. We live right by a hospital and a park so we ran along that. I put on all the sweats to go running, and oh mah goodness, Elder D about died. We barely went for a light jog and he was panting, little by little i guess. We then had ZTM and that was... different. The mission culture is changing so much and the way the missionaries act has changed so much that it is hard for me to get a handle on some of it. Especially cause the mission is so YOUNG right now. Young meaning that we have a lot of new missionaries. Elder D seems to listen to any other missionary besides me, which is frustrating sometimes. I did get the Fall package and yes, it was pretty epic. All the other Elders were like "you dont need anything! You are going home soon" so i just told them that i guess im not sharing with them then. I loved the ties that you sent, one still had Grandpa's smell on it... that was nice. I got a letter from Charlie and Emily and (talking to them) I think its funny how y'all put your comments about what the card says and tell me to laugh at certain parts, y'all are so funny. We then had almost ALL of our lessons cancel on us. We had this lady that seemed super solid tell us that we could come by, but then never was able to meet with us. The T family even canceled on us too, which is a first for them. We then went to go and have dinner with Hermana C and she is just a funny lady. We then went to visit with the Cs family and had a pretty intense lesson with them. We talked to them about their reading in the Book of Mormon and how they felt about baptism and everything. They were given a HUGE picture and frame of Jesus Christ in red by their friends and it is hanging on their wall for everyone to see... they are becoming members little by little hehehe. We then talked about a lot of stuff with them. We talked about what repentance is, what the atonement is, what praying with faith means, all that. It was a really good lesson and we are pretty sure that they understood it. We told them that we felt that they are not ready yet for baptism, and at the same time M also said that she didn't feel that she was ready for baptism either. We told them that the more we meet with them and the more they read in the Book of Mormon, the sooner they will be ready.

Saturday was just a weird day. We started the day running again, and Elder D struggled. We then went to go and paint the fence of our Branch President's house cause they asked us to. It went from about 8-11 that we did that. What i didnt know is that Elder D has never painted before. I am very grateful for all those times that we painted, whether for Dad's shows or for whatever, weddings... projects... anything. It was pretty fun cause we got to wear normal clothes and that felt weird, but so many more people talked to us while we were painting! It was pretty cool. Hermana O then treated us out to eat at a place called Toms. Toms and Tams are basically the same thing but Tams is more of a fast food place and Toms is more of a restaurant. The food was good, and cheap too, definitely within a missionary budget:) we then went back to have our studies and get ready to go to the VC with the M family. We were trying to find a member to take us to the VC but nobody could. We finally were able to talk to Hermana A who has a truck - van that fits 8 people, which is the exact number that we needed. We then went up with them and had a wonderful time. Sister W and her trainee gave the tour, but the Trainee is an english sister. Half the time Sister W asked me to explain the different parts about the tour because she is losing her Spanish from being in an english area for so long. It was a really good tour and the M family liked it a lot. When we got back to the apartment I felt super sick and woozy. We think its because i hadn't eaten lunch before we went to the VC, so we ate dinner and then finished out the night.

Sunday was just... a day. I dont know why but almost every day is just a rollercoaster. We got to church and did the usual wait and write up our emails, and then the classes started. For Gospel Principles we had about 12 people show up that we are teaching!!!! That was amazing! Thats the second week in a row:) R G came to church too! Remember the lady that I got mad and that she said her records dont exist? Well she came to church and we looked and she actually doesn't exist... so we will have to baptize her again. It was pretty cool actually because Elder D prayed in the morning that she would come to church, but we haven't seen her for over a week, so I didn't think anything was going to happen. We had the campos and the M family show up, plus all of the RC that are in our area, which is AMAZING!!! L is going to get the priesthood next week and the M family were confirmed. We are trying to get a bunch of the RC to go to the temple on November 15th because thats when the branch are all going together. It would be so cool to have 5 RC go for the first time!!! Exciting:))))) this week as the HP zone we have a goal of finding 72 new investigators, and Elder D and I have a goal of finding 5 new investigators. We wanted to get the members more involved and so we let the stake know (because there are 13 companionships in the stake which is the whole zone) and we also let the Branch members know too. We were also told to share our testimonies during testimony meeting. After the confirmation of the M family, and after the sacrament, it was testimony time. Lots of members went up and I kept looking back at Elder L for his cue of when we all were going to go up. I told Elder D that we were going to go bear our testimonies and he looked surprised beyond all belief. He started to panic and finally we all went up. My companion had a really hard time. I felt really bad for him because he shows to everyone how nervous he is. He bore his testimony in spanish and it was SOOO much better than Elder B (so proud, so proud), but thats when it got bad. The moment he ended, he ran from the pulpit and sat down and started to say "shoot, shoot, shoot, etc" over and over again, but in a whisper. I got up and then when I went back down he kept saying it. I didnt know what to do, it was really hard. One of the members bore a powerful testimony though. We told the branch about our goal and invited them to help us with the goal. One of the members said something like this: "I am always amazed at the missionaries. These young boys leave everything behind to go to a foreign place to find a lot of struggles. They have to face rejection and inner struggles and battles with the language. Who am I not to share the gospel when I speak my own language?" I loved it. I don't think Elder D heard it though. It was really awkward because he sat there for about 40 minutes after sacrament meeting ended without moving. Brother G came directly afterwards and tried to talk to him, but I'm not sure that it helped so much. We then had to find transfer rides and got those pretty quick. We got a ride home from Brother G, he is super nice. We then got back to the apartment and there was this super awkwardness... like real bad. We ended up having our dinner at the apartment and then went to go and visit with the M family because they needed to sign the paper that says that they are new members hey had some family over so we ended up watching Meet the Mormons with all of them and that was super fun.

Well, I will be able to respond all day today, so respond back if y'all have the time!! 

Love,

Elder Roberts