So being in a new area is always
SUPER weird until you go to church for the first time. Unfortunately we
get transfered on Mondays. Oh btw I will now be writing on Mondays. In
this area the libraries are actually open on Monday which is P day. It's
been good though. I've got to show Elder Udy the joys of tracting. I
get the sense that he just does it because he doesn't know what else to
do and he thinks that nothing can ever come of it. Bull Honkey! Tracting
is the best thing in the world! I will say that the dynamic has
changed. I went from serving in one of the most Ghetto areas ever to
serving the richest in the world. There are pro basketball players in
our ward, the drummer from Journey, and the Owner of Gap & CEO of
Nike all in our district alone. There's nothing but rich people, and
then a few random apartments that remind me of St Johns. That's it! It's
crazy. people are way nicer here though. We were offered food, warmth,
and a place to stay for a few nights by a non member while tracting in
the pouring rain. It was kinda funny. She gave us a "snack" that could
feed us for three days. Yesterday we got the leftovers from dinner which
included 12 steaks of a large size. How the heck am I supposed to eat
all of those? It's crazy.
So I got to call St Johns yesterday for a phone number
in their phone and I got the update on a few different things. They
taught 20 lessons last week. The troubled 16 year old girl that I talked
to, R. D., asked to be taught 3 times last week and is now being
baptized on the 19th of March, on her Birthday. She really loves the
changes that are happening in her life. I'd think so too if I was
thinking about studying satanism before the missionaries came along.
Hopefully I can go back to that baptism. L. the Marine has a baptism
date for the 16th of March and there are 2 or 3 other baptism dates that
they plan on making this week. All of which are people that I worked my
butt off on. When I heard all this I was so happy. I knew I had really
done all that I was sent there to do. Now I have things that I am
supposed to do in West Linn.
As for our area, we set a baptism date with a guy named B.
He's only had the first 3 lessons, but his end goal is that he wants to
be sealed to his ex wife who was the mayor of West Linn. I wish the
temple was the end goal of all the people that I taught. Their
conversion would be so much more complete! He's now married to a less
active that is now active because of their marriage. They are a
wonderful couple, and as Elder Udy would describe it, "He's one of those
future bishops in the making." He's the nicest guy that I've ever met. That was is also set for March 16th. Looks like I may not be able to see
Loren get baptized.
This last week has been interesting. Elder Udy is definitely
still green. Hopefully I can get him to relax a bit and actually enjoy
the calling of being a missionary. I love it with all the being of my
heart. I don't want to go back to normal life, ever! Today I visited
Wieden and Kennedy, the Ad Agency in Portland that I want to work for to
try and see if I could talk to anybody. The people that walked past me
just looked stressed and unhappy. I'm never going to go back until after
I go to BYU. It just didn't feel right. I never want to have to think
about that stuff again. I don't think anything else, except maybe
fatherhood, could ever measure up to missionary work. I don't know how
to describe it, but I'm sure you RM's know exactly what I'm talking
about.
Other than that, we met a guy in the grocery store today that
thought I was a salesman. Talked to him for a bit. He's really into
healings and feeling the Holy Ghost. He's kind of an eccentric guy, but
we have a lesson with him tomorrow at the church. He said he's looking
for something different. I have a feeling he's going to just soak up the
first vision. Elder Udy said he's never seen street contacting actually
work. That's just the stuff that I'm used to ha ha! That's how it all
happened in St Johns, tracting and street contacting.
I love you all. I hope things are going well for you. I know
what Josh and Steven are going through right now, the wall is about to
hit next week and the week after that, but don't let it. Don't pay
attention to it. Always keep your end goals in mind and work towards
them. It's like our Heavenly Father's plan for us. With the vision of
the Celestial Kingdom in the back of our minds at all times, we can stay
motivated to make the right choice at all times. We can work actively
to build up Zion for ourselves and our families. Christ says to come to
Him. He didn't say look at me, he didn't say meander over, he said come.
It takes consistent effort, but the end result it "... I will give you
rest."
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