Hey all!
Wow, I can't
believe another great week has gone by. It seems that it goes by faster and
faster. I can't believe it. I guess that is what happens, as one grows older.
It's amazing. Sounds like everyone had a great pioneer day back home. Here most
people have no idea what that is. I
celebrated it in my heart!
We played
baseball last p-day and I was sore for about 4 days. I was walking around
looking really stiff. We set some good
goals this week as a companionship and we saw some really good results. On
Wednesday we had an interesting lesson with Liliana. She was supposed to get baptized
this Sunday but because she hasn’t come to church enough she was unable to get
baptized. She told us that she was going to come and then she never showed up.
We went over to her house for an appointment, but we didn't have a male member
with us. So we asked her if we could come back later so we could actually enter
her home, she said yes. We started calling every member we could think of and
then finally a man named Hermano Martinez told us that he could come with us.
We went over and started talking about how she's doing with reading and
praying. She is doing very well there. We also asked her how she felt about
baptism. She brought up some concerns, which is really good. When we started
teaching her she was really closed off and really didn't like to express to us
her feelings. Now that she has been able to participate of the fruit and knows
that this is all true she is actually more open to us. She asked us if she were
to join the church would she have to distance herself from her family since
they don't follow the word of wisdom and the other commandments that we follow.
Hermano Martinez came right in and told her she wouldn't need to do that, but she
could use it as a way to invite her family to come to church and to see what it
is like. He shared how he was converted to the church and how he was able to
invite his brother. His brother eventually joined the church as well. She
really liked that and you could tell that she was more at peace. We talked
about how we wanted to invite her family to church, too. We had a great lesson.
She then expressed how she was nervous and wasn't ready to be baptized yet. She
feels like she needs to change a lot before she can be baptized. Then we discussed
baptism and how it's important that we do our very best to keep the
commandments, but we don’t' need to be perfect to be baptized. If we did then
there would be no reason for baptism. We read with her in 2 Nephi 31:17 about
how baptism is the door that opens up to the path, which leads us to God. We
need to take that first step. Then Elder Robinson came in and shared Moroni
8:25-26 and talked about how she will be clean again. She really loved it and
we moved her date of baptism to the 4th of August. We had another lesson with
her and she was telling us how on the weekend she was sharing the word of
wisdom pamphlet with her friends. They got mad at her and left. She was really
bold in sharing the gospel with her friends, which is so neat. She didn't
come to church again though :( So we will have to move her date again. We have
got to get her husband on board too. We
are going to see them tonight and invite him to listen too. That way he can be a better support to her.
So pray for her. She is soooo close!
We went on
exchanges again in Garden Grove. I went back to my old area. Man it was like
taking a trip back into time. We went back and visited a lot of people that I
taught when I was there because the area is struggling a little bit. In fact, when
we went over to see Anita she told me she was cooking my favorite Mexican dish.
Enchiladas Verdes. She invited us to come back and eat, so we did. We talked
and right now she has no desire to be baptized. I know that she will be
someday, whether it’s in this world or the next, she will. I guess we just have
to give it time don't we? I love that family so much. I baptized her little
boys and they are doing great. It was a really fun day and we had a really good
experience together.
Friday was kind
of a hard day. We had about 5 scheduled appointments that all cancelled on us
right before we were going to see them. We were able to meet a really cool new
guy on Saturday named Gilberto. I guess Elder Robinson taught him on exchanges.
He is the roommate of a less active member in our ward. They taught him the
restoration and they set a baptismal date for the 25 of August. They told me that he is really good. We went
back and he had read the pamphlet, and the introduction to the Book of Mormon,
which is amazing. He was also asking us a lot of questions about his reading. Like
about the Urim and Thumum and stuff like that. We taught him the plan of
salvation and he loved it. He is really receptive and really promising. So we
are excited about him. He didn’t come to
church either. But we will get him.
We didn't have
anyone at church again this week. That was kind of hard. We are going to put a
lot of focus on it this week. That way our investigators can keep progressing. That
is one of the biggest steps for an investigator to take in his/her progression.
Church is so important and if we can’t get them there, then there is no way
they will be able to get baptized. The good news is that Garden Grove had 2
baptisms on Sunday, so our zone is doing very well. I love being a zone leader.
It's a lot of fun and I love serving other missionaries. I love this work. I
love this mission. I was thinking about it the other day... when my time comes
to go home, it's going to be pretty hard. I've come to love the people so much.
I love this stake, the wards, my companions, and everything else. This is my
home. Anaheim will always be apart of me. I love the Lord. I love His work. I
will always do it too. I love you all. Have a great week.
Elder Dallin M. Ollerton
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