A few months ago we realized we needed to concentrate on the member/leadership part of our calling which is important but not where our hearts lie. So we served where needed. But for the last two weeks we have had time to do proselyting which is very exciting to us!
Looking for someone else's address we found three great groups, two Spanish speaking families that invited us back, and a young man named Zach. Zach is a college student who is here on his own. All alone. He was very worried when we met him. His room-mates had all left when school got out and left him with the utility bills, cleaning etc. He had to move from one side of town to the other and had no idea how he was going to do that. Even though it was 9:00 pm, Elder Pack assured him we would help him move the next morning. Sure enough, by 8:00 am he had three trucks and six big strong Elder missionaries at Zach"s apartment. The young man was amazed. And grateful. Of course we invited him to a baptism being held in the Young Single Adult branch the next day-and he came! So then we invited him to church Sunday-and he came!
We are feeding him and the missionaries assigned to his Branch on Wednesday along with giving him the first discussion! And now Zach has a support group and friends.
Elder Pack loves finding investigators. This week he met a man in Costco that said he would like to come to our church! He lives in Mariposa and so we passed the referral on. That always feels like giving the other missionaries a gift.
Today, as soon as we got home from church, our zone leaders called and asked if they could meet at our home with a girl they had just met walking in our apartment complex while they were driving by. Stacia said she needed to keep walking and so they drove along slowly talking to her! She said she had company in her home and that is when they called us. And the lesson went really, really well. It's a joy to watch really devoted, prepared missionaries in action. They carry the Spirit with them wherever they go.
We also did Branch work. We took another new member couple to the temple for the first time and did baptisms for the man's mother and father! It was wonderful. We have great promises if we get new members involved in doing baptisms for their own deceased relatives. Also that week we took some members of the Branch to the temple for a regular endowment session.
We are still busy. And we are still loving it.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Throw a Family Home Evening
Glen and I offered to do a Family Night for a family in the ward and they could invite some non-member extended family members and a non-member friend. It takes planning and co-ordination with the other missionaries and I always wonder why we volunteer to do these things and then they turn out so great that we volunteer again!
This time a niece (sort of, Spanish style) came with her two children and also the friend of the member's daughter came. The teen-age friend has had one lesson with the sister missionaries already but is real new to all of the gospel concepts. She is so excited because she "is learning in order" about God (her quote). It is always such a delight and so satisfying to offer answers to every question. She said she was confused about how you get faith in something and then she went to our Young Women's class that day and the lesson was on how you get faith in something! She says she knows that wasn't a coincidence!
The other lady, the niece, was really quiet. For a Catholic to hear that God is our literal Father in Heaven AND that he has a body of flesh and bones is down right shocking. But her two children just soaked it in. We sang I Am A Child of God. We put a string on their fingers to help them remember things like what they had for breakfast that day. And we told them that they don't remember when they were born but their mother did. Then we said we were going to tell them things about BEFORE they were born and the hints Heavenly Father gives us and the string on their finger would help them remember. Then one missionary read and showed the first two pages of the Children's Old Testament book about our pre-earth life in heaven. Then Glen showed the YouTube video I Am A Child of God. And the other missionary bore testimony about this principle so that the Holy Ghost could witness that what we had said was true.
After, we asked each child who they were and they answered right off that they were a child of God.
Of course we played the candy bar/pencil game after while one missionary sat by the children's mom and explained about the church and the Book of Mormon and gave her one. It was an absolutely wonderful experience.
And then we all had cake because it was one of the missionary's birthdays.
This time a niece (sort of, Spanish style) came with her two children and also the friend of the member's daughter came. The teen-age friend has had one lesson with the sister missionaries already but is real new to all of the gospel concepts. She is so excited because she "is learning in order" about God (her quote). It is always such a delight and so satisfying to offer answers to every question. She said she was confused about how you get faith in something and then she went to our Young Women's class that day and the lesson was on how you get faith in something! She says she knows that wasn't a coincidence!
The other lady, the niece, was really quiet. For a Catholic to hear that God is our literal Father in Heaven AND that he has a body of flesh and bones is down right shocking. But her two children just soaked it in. We sang I Am A Child of God. We put a string on their fingers to help them remember things like what they had for breakfast that day. And we told them that they don't remember when they were born but their mother did. Then we said we were going to tell them things about BEFORE they were born and the hints Heavenly Father gives us and the string on their finger would help them remember. Then one missionary read and showed the first two pages of the Children's Old Testament book about our pre-earth life in heaven. Then Glen showed the YouTube video I Am A Child of God. And the other missionary bore testimony about this principle so that the Holy Ghost could witness that what we had said was true.
After, we asked each child who they were and they answered right off that they were a child of God.
Of course we played the candy bar/pencil game after while one missionary sat by the children's mom and explained about the church and the Book of Mormon and gave her one. It was an absolutely wonderful experience.
And then we all had cake because it was one of the missionary's birthdays.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
pictures to remember
Here are pictures of our Mother's Day Dinner/dance in our Spanish Branch 5/14
It's only fair that the male members of the Branch serve for the Mother's day dinner.
At our Mother's Day dinner we had Branch members go around with their Spanish guitar singing at the different tables.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
These missionaries are really cooking now!
One of the ways to show love to the other missionaries or to the members of the Branch is to feed them. They need it and they love it.
Monday was a zone activity for about 30 of our missionaries. The Monday before was a regular Pday with basketball at the church and Glen picked up some Costco pizzas for them. But this Pday was more elaborate with fun activities planned so we volunteered to do a Bar-B-Q for them after at the pavilion behind the church house. We had hamburgers and hot dogs and beans and potato salad and chips and watermelon and cookies etc. We have another Senior Missionary couple, the Malhums, serving in our zone and they helped us so we had a lot of fun ourselves.
Then on Wednesday we fixed our regular weekly dinner for the missionaries. They go to a member's home for dinner each day and leave a prayer and scripture with the family. They talk with them about the family mission plan and hopefully get a referral of a friend or family member prepared to hear the missionary lessons. Since I am the Relief Society Pres. it is my job to fill their dinner calendar and my privelege to invite them to my home when an appointment falls through. Our four Branch missionaries have a dinner invitation every single night with the members.
On Friday night our Branch had a Mother's Day dinner/dance for 80 people. That meant taking around invitations, planning for the meal, buying the food and decorations, decorating the hall, cooking and serving the meal, arranging the entertainment and of course clean up. However, this time we had help because we had an Activities Chairman! For the first time ever in this Branch. And she did a great job! She assigned people to cook things, shopped and decorated with me, had a man read a mother's day poem and two men went around with a guitar and sang Spanish songs at the tables. And then we had a dance with a regular MC! That still left me with the kitchen clean up because everyone else had brought investigators or less active family members with them for the young missionaries to visit with. But that's a great trade off! And Glen spent hours on soaking and cleaning the tablecloths. He really does so much for so many. The activity was a HUGE success.
Now Sunday is Mother's Day and the young missionaries get to Skype their mothers! Of course none of them have computers or smart phones to do that. So Glen has rounded up six laptops and they are coming over here for dinner and to call their mothers. Some will eat while others talk and then trade.
Right now I'm thinking that maybe we should take a while off from cooking next week. But Pres. Eyring says when you are exhausted you push through it and the Lord will help you. And He always has.
Monday was a zone activity for about 30 of our missionaries. The Monday before was a regular Pday with basketball at the church and Glen picked up some Costco pizzas for them. But this Pday was more elaborate with fun activities planned so we volunteered to do a Bar-B-Q for them after at the pavilion behind the church house. We had hamburgers and hot dogs and beans and potato salad and chips and watermelon and cookies etc. We have another Senior Missionary couple, the Malhums, serving in our zone and they helped us so we had a lot of fun ourselves.
Then on Wednesday we fixed our regular weekly dinner for the missionaries. They go to a member's home for dinner each day and leave a prayer and scripture with the family. They talk with them about the family mission plan and hopefully get a referral of a friend or family member prepared to hear the missionary lessons. Since I am the Relief Society Pres. it is my job to fill their dinner calendar and my privelege to invite them to my home when an appointment falls through. Our four Branch missionaries have a dinner invitation every single night with the members.
On Friday night our Branch had a Mother's Day dinner/dance for 80 people. That meant taking around invitations, planning for the meal, buying the food and decorations, decorating the hall, cooking and serving the meal, arranging the entertainment and of course clean up. However, this time we had help because we had an Activities Chairman! For the first time ever in this Branch. And she did a great job! She assigned people to cook things, shopped and decorated with me, had a man read a mother's day poem and two men went around with a guitar and sang Spanish songs at the tables. And then we had a dance with a regular MC! That still left me with the kitchen clean up because everyone else had brought investigators or less active family members with them for the young missionaries to visit with. But that's a great trade off! And Glen spent hours on soaking and cleaning the tablecloths. He really does so much for so many. The activity was a HUGE success.
Now Sunday is Mother's Day and the young missionaries get to Skype their mothers! Of course none of them have computers or smart phones to do that. So Glen has rounded up six laptops and they are coming over here for dinner and to call their mothers. Some will eat while others talk and then trade.
Right now I'm thinking that maybe we should take a while off from cooking next week. But Pres. Eyring says when you are exhausted you push through it and the Lord will help you. And He always has.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Why I Believe
Last night we went to a fireside called “Why I Believe”. It was really great. One recent convert from each ward in our
stake told how and why they joined the church.
Of course our little 50 year old Spanish sister had to have her
testimony translated but everyone understood the Spirit she felt. Language doesn’t matter for that.
But the best part of the evening came when someone called my
name after and I turned to see Cindy smiling at me. Cindy was baptized about 30 years ago and
after two years she moved and fell away from the church. On one of the first Sundays
that Glen and I were on the mission we went to her ward. It was 30 minutes away
but we were the only missionaries in town at that time so we covered that ward
too. Her married son had recently found
the church in northern California and told her to just go back to church and
look for the missionaries and they would help her. She and her husband came to
church to “look for the missionaries”, except
she was expecting young missionaries and didn’t see any so they left. But Glen chased them out to their car and set
up an appointment to go by their home.
Now her current husband is quite rough around the
edges. He doesn’t want to hear lessons
so we visited and just became friends.
We would visit him on our “P” day when Glen could wear his Levis and
cowboy hat. They have a mini ranch with
geese, dogs, ponies, emus etc. Cindy on
the other hand wanted to come to back church.
She was also rough around the edges.
Her language was hard for us to listen to. She would pray with us and then cross herself
after. But we often visited, ate with
them, and took them to church. Her
husband was diagnosed with cancer and we suffered through the treatments with
him.
But new missionaries were assigned to the ward and we would
text Cindy and stop by occasionally. So
it had been probably six months since we had actually seen Cindy. And she looked so different! We didn’t know if it was her hair or tan or
what. Just very different and we didn’t
know why until we talked to her.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
A Temple Miracle
Before we came on this mission Glen knew very little about finding names to take to the temple and I knew nothing. We also didn't realize how much doing temple work would help strengthen the testimonies of new members and regular members. But the Lord knew and so he told me to have them fill out family group sheets and take them to the family history center.This worked very well and the members were able to do the temple work for their families and actually get sealed to their parents and grandparents! The spirit was very strong at those sealings. That was great, that was amazing! But it wasn't the end.
Glen set a goal of taking the new adult converts in our Branch to do baptisms for the dead. In our Spanish Branch just getting everyone lined up and interviewed for the recommends is an immense project. But Glen also wanted them to do their own family names. Since the Spanish here don't keep records, or know the names or birth dates of their ancestors, that was actually impossible for us but not for the Lord. Glen studied it out, called the Family History helpers, and was led by the Lord. He came up with a couple of birth certificates and worked everyone's memories and he found names for the converts to do.
One sister had her grown son (also a new convert) get baptized for her deceased husband, father, and brother. Another couple did their parents and grandparents. Glen also found names for the Branch president and he was able to baptize his teen-aged daughter for his grandmother and then do his own grandfather. Some came just to do temple names and have the experience.
The miracle is that we still don't know how it got done. But but it got done. For instance, when President Estrada was going to baptize his daughter for his grandmother, he didn't have any idea how to do it. And he speaks no English so the instructors weren't any help. So Glen leaned down over the rail to help him read it without his glasses on and realized that his eyesight wasn't good enough to see it and read it to him. After the initial surprise he looked at the President and then back at the card and discovered that now he could see and read it perfectly!
The members had such sweet testimonies today that they bore in church. They said walking through the doors to the temple was like walking into heaven. They cried as they spoke about doing the work for family members. What a beautiful experience for all of us!
Glen set a goal of taking the new adult converts in our Branch to do baptisms for the dead. In our Spanish Branch just getting everyone lined up and interviewed for the recommends is an immense project. But Glen also wanted them to do their own family names. Since the Spanish here don't keep records, or know the names or birth dates of their ancestors, that was actually impossible for us but not for the Lord. Glen studied it out, called the Family History helpers, and was led by the Lord. He came up with a couple of birth certificates and worked everyone's memories and he found names for the converts to do.
One sister had her grown son (also a new convert) get baptized for her deceased husband, father, and brother. Another couple did their parents and grandparents. Glen also found names for the Branch president and he was able to baptize his teen-aged daughter for his grandmother and then do his own grandfather. Some came just to do temple names and have the experience.
The miracle is that we still don't know how it got done. But but it got done. For instance, when President Estrada was going to baptize his daughter for his grandmother, he didn't have any idea how to do it. And he speaks no English so the instructors weren't any help. So Glen leaned down over the rail to help him read it without his glasses on and realized that his eyesight wasn't good enough to see it and read it to him. After the initial surprise he looked at the President and then back at the card and discovered that now he could see and read it perfectly!
The members had such sweet testimonies today that they bore in church. They said walking through the doors to the temple was like walking into heaven. They cried as they spoke about doing the work for family members. What a beautiful experience for all of us!
Elder Pack worked long and hard to get them their own family names to be baptized for. He even found family names for the President of the Branch. What a night!
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Bursting at the seams!
We had the most wonderful time last week! Jenny and Brett, Dana and Deborah, Lisa and Steven and all of their families came to visit us. That was 21 people in our little apartment and it was wonderful!
We had collected six blow up mattresses and the grandkids loved sleeping on the wall to wall beds together.
Glen and I actually slept at a friends home in peace and quiet with our own bathroom so we were fresh to run with the family during the day.
And run we did! The first day we went to Yosemite of course. It was real nice but the best part was talking while traveling and getting caught up on the family and old friends. The kids were impressed watching Glen doing missionary "finding" even on the tour bus.
The next day we opted for less car time and so we went and played basketball at the church, came back to the apartment and swam in the pool (85 degrees in Merced), and then went to the park for a bar-b-q and Easter egg hunt. The missionaries in our Branch came by and ate and shared spiritual thoughts with the family.
Glen was able to share his testimony one night and I shared mine the next day with the family. Dana translated mine as I was speaking in Spanish. Glen thought I might not cry so much if I just said it in English but really??
It was super fun and we were thrilled to see everyone even for a brief, brief time.
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