Great Conference, Great Week

We went back to the house that we visited that one night last week, and have taught the lady living there 2 more lessons. We committed her to be baptized on the 24th and she accepted. So we should be able to get her and at least one of her 2 sons baptized. But that will be after the end of the transfer. She's a pretty golden investigator. The family of 6 we had a lesson with last Thursday that went pretty well. They still seem pretty interested. We went by last night with the Daily Dose missionaries to give an English lesson. We go back tomorrow to teach them again. We have another 2 investigators in the same ward. His name is Alejandro, and we're teaching his wife too. They both are pretty solid investigators and we're planning on committing them next time we teach them. So, in that ward we have a lot of people we're teaching right now, that seem pretty good for baptism. Then in the other ward we're working in, we don't have that many people we're teaching. But we're going to the temple tonight with one of our investigators in that ward. He's 12 and plays a lot of soccer. We've been trying to get him baptized, and he finally said that he might get baptized in a week or two. That's about it for the investigators we have so far. But the work is going pretty well right now.

General Conference this weekend was pretty amazing. A lot of the talks focused on helping others. With the way the economy is right now it's tough on everybody. But what I got from conference is that we need to treat others good even though the times are tough. I always like listening to Jeffrey R. Holland and his talks. His one Sunday morning was good about the Book of Mormon. We had pretty good seats for most of the sessions. I know that they really are Apostles and Prophets.

Helping Out in the Temple

Well, I don't really have much time, and not too much to update y'all on. On Monday we went to the Temple to do some service. We got to go up to the 5th floor where the Solemn Assembly room is. We set up for a devotional the First Presidency and Quorum of the 12 and Quorum of the 70 are going to have before General Conference. We set up the chairs for them and put their hymn books on the chairs. I got to look through all the 1st presidency and quorum of the 12 hymn books. They have their names on them. And I sat in the First Presidency's chairs in that room. So that was pretty neat. During the set up we got to go down to the 4th floor. That is the General Authority floor. I got to go into the room where the First Presidency and Quorum of the 12 receive revelations. The guy told us a story that when Gordon B. Hinckley was called to be the prophet he stood in front of each picture of the prophets that are on the wall in that room until he received a confirmation. Then I got to go into the most senior Apostles' changing room. There were 4 lockers for the most senior Apostles, and I took a 130 year old table out of this room to the solemn assembly room. We also got to go into the Quorum of the 70's changing room. In this room is the top of the Holy of Holies. So we got to see the dome of it. So that was a pretty good experience I had in the mission.

Later that night I got a reminder of the reality of the work. As we were going to one of our referrels houses, we were talking about the Virgin of Guadalupe, because they have a big figurine of her inside the house and out on their yard. We talked to the person once and they work with someone that's a member and she wanted to know more so had the member refer her. So as we approached the house, it was really dark. All the lights were off, and it was night time, but it looked darker than houses usually look at night. But the car was there so we decided to go try anyway. As we approached the drive way, I started feeling a little bit weird. But we kept going. Then as we passed through the fence the feeling intensified. Then as we stood in front of the door, it was the strongest feeling I've ever had that we needed to leave. As it was increasing Elder Gudino rang the door bell, and immediately after we pretty much ran off the property. It was as if there was an actual being there. After Elder Gudino rang the doorbell his arm went numb and he didn't have much feeling in it. He told me he had the same feeling too. As we crossed the street we felt like someone was watching us/ following us from the house. When we looked back there was nobody there. It was like what Joseph Smith said when it was an actual being from the unseen world. But it was nowhere near what he went through. So we talked to someone on the street then returned to the house. As we were planning, my head started bleeding and Elder Gudino asked me about it. So I went to the bathroom to get a tissue to clean it up. As I was in the bathroom, Elder Gudino felt something walk from in front of him to the side of him. He said he heard footsteps too. But something definetly wasn't right. We both felt weird, and like something was weighing us down. So we called the ZL's and they came over and we had a prayer, and during the prayer it immediately got better. It made me realize that the adversary is real and that he hates me right now. And that he is going to try and do everything he can to stop me. Everything is good now and I think that experience made me better. Well that's all the things I can really think of that happened this week.

I Had A Dream

Well, this week has been pretty good. We had Zone Conference on Friday. So that was pretty fun. President Sonne said that he was trying to figure out how we could have more success in our mission and he had the idea of a perfect month. So in the month of October, we're going to be as perfect/ close to perfection that we can get. So it should be a pretty good month next month. If missionaries are an army, this mission is like the Green Beret's. It's a whole different level. Most missions are "Preach My Gospel" missions, and we moved past that to a "Zion Mission." It's pretty intense here. If we aren't baptizing we aren't doing our job. Then on Sunday we had Stake Conference in one of the stakes we covered. And that one was good too. One of the temple presidents spoke there. And he made the comment that the Sacrament table is the only altar of the church, outside of the temple. Which I never really thought about it that way before.

Let's see... this Saturday we had 2 baptisms. So now I'm sitting at 7 baptisms for the mission. Which is almost 1 a week. BUT.. I had a good experience this week. Saturday night, I had a dream that we were going to teach and baptize a family of 6. So I thought that it was just me desiring it, but on Monday we got a referrel for a person named "Ilda Orozco." And it was a referrel for a Spanish Book of Mormon and was referred by herself at a Temple Square visit. And in the description it said "family of 6 that wants to know more about the Book of Mormon, Prophets, Temples, and the Church." So we went on exchanges yesterday and we contacted them. And when we got there we were talking and I told about Joseph Smith and the first vision. The Spirit was so strong and testifying. So I asked how they felt and they all said "weird" or "different" and I explained that that was the Spirit testifying. So a little later on we asked how long they have in Utah and what brought them to Utah. They said they have lived here for a year and the mom responded with something like this as to why, "I had a dream a few years ago about this valley. I remember seeing every part of it and thinking that it was a beautiful and important place. And that I needed to go there, or someone from my family. I didn't know if it would be me or my husband, but I know someone would come here." And so the missionary I was on exchanges with said that God has a reason for bringing them here and that this is probably it. And so I left them a Book of Mormon and a chapter to read from it and asked when I could come back. And the mom said that next Thursday would work because she wants to read the Book of Mormon and have the whole family there (her husband was working/asleep. I'm not really sure. One of those 2). But they seem like a real solid family, and I see them getting baptized. And I don't know the dream may sound crazy that I had, but it got me to look out for a family of 6. I think that's about all that really happened for this week that I can think of.

Flat Tires

Not much to write about this week. My tires on the bike are flat so we've been walking around for the past few days. But we've been getting more rides from members. We're supposed to have 2 baptisms this Saturday which will be pretty exciting. They fell through last week, but this week they should be good. I'm still working on getting to know the investigators in this area, which is kind of tough. Our mission song is "Up Awake Ye Defenders of Zion." I think it's hymn #248.

This is the baptism we had on Sept. 1st. The Flores family.

First Transfer

Well I got transferred to a new area. I'm no longer in the West Valley Zone, I'm in the Magna zone. Which means I moved to a different part of the city of West Valley. I'm no longer companions with Elder Pearl, but he is my Zone Leader. My new companion is from Michocan, Mexico. His name is Elder Gudino. He's like 5'5" and 19. He's been out for over a year. For transfers we all just went to a building and hung out for a little bit, talked with whoever, and then they called us over to an area where the ZL's were. Then the Zl's held up signs with the names of the people transferred to their zones.

Well our new area is pretty big. We cover 2 stakes, and have a spanish ward and branch. So I don't really know any of the investigators or members in my new area. And I didn't really have a chance to get to know many of the members really well in the last area. We were white washed in, and white washed out. We don't have a car so we have to bike around the area which kind of sucks, because a lot of it is uphill. The house is pretty nice where we live. It's in the basement and we have our own kitchen. The couple that live there are kind of strict, but it's not too big of a problem. My spanish is alright. I think it will continue to get better this transfer though. It will help alot having a native speaker as my companion. More than anything I'll miss Elder Cruz, Morris, and Moors. We were all pretty close, oh well.

Humble Dinner

Well the biggest news to report is that the baptism we were supposed to have on Saturday fell through. The parents moved it back 2 or 3 weeks. But the good news is that 2 of our investigators called us and said they wanted to be baptized. We committed them before, but they said they weren't ready. So last night we had the opportunity to baptize and confirm them. It was a great way to start off the month! I'll try to send some pictures of it. Well for the month of August our zone lead the mission. We ended up with 35 baptisms. Our goal was 37 so we fell short of it but we'll make it this month. This month we have a goal of 45. As a reward for leading the mission we get an all day p-day today, and we got to go to Mr. Mac and get a tie.

We're working with one of our investigators who's seen over 30 missionaries. His whole family got baptized except for him. He said he's almost ready, but I'm gonna try to speed that up. We have a few investigators that are pretty close to being baptized I think. They just need to come to church. It's tough. The members here are awesome though. They help us out so much. Every day we get dinner. And they insist that we eat seconds, if we don't they think we don't like the food. So I should be coming back fat. I feel a little bad though. We have a small branch and so a lot of the families feed us 2 or 3 times a month. And they don't really have much, but when we come they feel like they have to cook a more fancy meal than they usually eat. And they don't really have a lot of money. I had a good experience the other day at a dinner appointment. The person didn't have a man home so we couldn't enter. So we ate on the front steps and she sat inside. She gave us a plate of rice with corn and tortillas. And as we sat there she sang us Christmas songs. It was humbling. It made me think about how it was for the Apostles back in the days of Christ. The willingness and desire of this people to give is amazing. Well we got everything here, the good and the bad.

We've run into a few anti-people. One that got excommunicated and tried to give us proof that the Book of Mormon is false. And then we met a less active lady who said "I believe it with all my heart, I just can't live the standards," as she was drinking a beer. I don't get how she can know it's true, and still not live it. It's tough to see. Well that's about my life. Knocking doors, getting rejected, getting yelled at, and talking to people. That's about all that's going on I think.

A Priesthood Blessing

Well nothing too big happened this week. We've been running into a lot of inactives and less actives lately. It's kind of depressing how many of them there are. Now I have somewhat of an idea of what Mormon was saying in Mormon 6:17-the end.

Well we have one more person on date. She's being baptized this Sunday. The mom runs a foster care home and they adopted her, and she wanted to be baptized so the parents wanted her to take lessons first. It's interesting because we teach her in English and Spanish. The mom is from Puerto Rico, and her Uncle designed the Conquistador. I thought that was pretty cool. Speaking of Puerto Rico, a lot of people here think I'm from Puerto Rico or have Latino blood in me. Puerto Rico and Brazil are the top guesses of where I'm from. Anyway, we have like 4 more people on date in September. So we're finding a way to progress, even though it gets real hard sometimes. Yesterday I had exchanges with the Zone Leaders. Our appointments fell through but we found 3 potential investigators who seemed pretty interested in the gospel. We found a english speaking kid named Seth, and he's a really cool kid. He's 18 and wants to join the church. He's been taking lessons from the South missionaries, but we're meeting with him now too. So that he can talk to us whenever and it's easier for him to meet with us.

Saturday we had New Missionary Training and we went to downtown Salt Lake and had a street contacting competition. My companion was Elder Orton. He's from Orlando. It was nice working with him. We got a long well and our assigned area was 100 s., Which is basically the Gateway Mall area. We met some interesting people there. One of them was an Anti, who told us we sinned every week by taking the sacrament because we say we'll always remember him. We were talking with a recent RM when this anti came up to us and so they started going at it while me and Elder Orton were standing there. But the RM said he repents everynight. And the anti said that if he truely repented he'd be perfect in 10 days because he would forsake the sin. It was pretty entertaining to watch.

Well, I think the highlight of my week came yesterday. We were teaching a part member family. The wife is a member and the husband isn't. They're an older couple, and he's willing to listen and talk to the missionaries but wants to keep his religion. While we were talking to them, we found out that he hadn't had a job for a couple of months. And so we were talking and started talking about how we can give blessings. So Elder Pearl said that we could come by later with the Bishop and give him a blessing of comfort. But I felt like we needed to give it then. And the thoughts came to me that I didn't have to worry about the language, and that I'd be able to say everything that I needed. And that everything would be provided to me. So I offered to give one right then. So we told him it was based on his faith, and then I gave him a blessing of comfort in Spanish. It was a good experience. I think that's about all I have for this week.