WEEK 32: Solvang

May 17, 2021

Today was a good preparation day, we had a Zone activity here in Solvang, because we're pretty much in the middle of the Santa Barbara Zone. Played some frisbee and some volleyball, and had a jolly time. Afterwards we got some burritos from El Rancho and then some Blenders over in Buellton. It was good to unwind a little bit. 

When we were planning on going to Ballard for contact, Elder Peterson had an impression to go to Buellton instead. When we got to the park there, we didn't find anyone to talk to until the very end, and we talked to someone named Bianca. She'll be a referral to Lompoc, but that was a nice confirmation of our faith. New week ahead, going to keep the grind up. 

May 18, 2021

We had a good, productive day, we got a number of this guy who lost 140 pounds in the last 6 months just by walking. We talked to some other people, and we had another lesson with Ray. It's still slow progress, but Sister Schmitter is a huge help. 

We also had a visit with Brother McCurdy, a fairly recent convert. We brought Brother Millett along with us, he used to be a patriarch and has amazing insights into the gospel. He talked a little bit about how Thomas the Apostle doubted the Savior's resurrection, and how the Savior said: "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." I think this passage could help Ray, and Brother Millett also talked about how seeing is one thing, but believing is even better. I wouldn't expect anything less from a former patriarch. 

May 19, 2021

Today we got to have a fun exchange, and Elder Overson came into this area. We talked to some people, but best of all, we had a really interesting contact with some really nice ladies from the local Chumash Reservation. We were talking to them, and none of them were really interested, but they asked if we wanted to make some prayer ties with them. We agreed, and they started burning some sage, tobacco, and other herbs that are indigenous to the area. Then they wafted the smoke over us as they prayed to 'the Creator.' A little weird at first, but they were nice. Then we started getting herbs of the same mixture and bundling them up in 'prayer ties.' Touched a whole lot of tobacco, and got to meet some people in the process. 

The rest of the night was pretty normal, but we did find out our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Saunders, knew Michael Jackson as a close friend and even took him to the hospital a couple of times to get his ankle looked at. 

May 20, 2021

Today was a grind, it's been kind of rough recently, we've fallen out of contact with a lot of people that we've been teaching. But we have been putting in the work, I think we're going to find someone real soon. Sheri hasn't been doing so hot, but she still has really strong faith and is awesome. We had another half-french lesson with the Colin's, and hopefully it helped Elder Peterson out. Keeping up the hard work and also the faith, which I've learned is most important in finding God's children. 

May 21, 2021

Today we had a good district council, we got some good insights into how we can help our people out. We're now down to just two people in our teaching pool, but that means we're just wide open to receive anyone the Lord can put in our path. We had a really good day contacting, we were very Spirit-led and were bold and got some good contacts. We also set up some service for some people that messaged us, so hopefully something comes from that. We also had a visit with Brother Redfern, who is a cool guy and who has done some interesting things like being the shooter for the best human cannonball that has ever been. Good day, things have gone by in a blur. 

May 22, 2021

Had a good day, started off with some service for someone named Richard from Brazil. He's super cool, he plays guitar, and really likes our church. He's also been really cool with the past missionaries, but we didn't know about that because it was so long ago. Hopefully we can start teaching him and his family after some more service. Other than that, we just grinded some finding and had dinner with the Seegmiller's at Bit O'Denmark. I got this super good Monte Cristo that was so rich I couldn't even eat it all. Then we did some Facebook, and called it a day.

May 23, 2021

Today we had a good Sabbath, but we weren't able to get Sheri to church, so that was too bad. We just need to help her understand how much it can help her. After, we stuck around for Elder's Quorum, we had a bunch of studies and then did some contacting, and then had a dinner with the Mathew's. After some more contacting in the parks, we did some Facebook, and then had a visit with Brother Saunders. We talked about faith and how it comes and how it turns into a perfect knowledge. Some stuff that might help Ray progress. It was a bit of a slow week, and we dropped some people, but I'm hopeful for next week.