Week 39: Solvang

July 5, 2021

We had a breakfast with the ward this morning, it was fun. I got to tune Brother Agin's guitar, it was really weird and I realized I am very, very out of practice. But we had some pancakes, French toast, eggs, sausage, strawberries, orange juice, all kinds of good stuff. 

For our district activity today, we did a "picture scavenger hunt" which was fun. It's a game where you run around and try to get as many pictures of different things as possible. 

After a little bit of finding and bike riding, we had a visit with Brother Saunders, and once again, had an enlightening conversation. We talked about how people don't believe in God because they want to do what they want to do, and not anything else. Or also why a lot of people will never join the church, because they want to do whatever they want to do, and you can't do that when you're following God. At least, you can't do it guilt-free. So some people don't want truth, that's why they haven't found it. It's really easy to miss something that you don't want to look for. But we work for the people that really do want truth. "We're looking for the lookers," as Brother Saunders put it. 

We're now heading into the last week of the transfer, should be good. 

July 6, 2021

We got three numbers today, we were very blessed. Talked to a lot of people, had a lot of good contacts. We kept really low on the miles, and got to ride the bikes for a bit. We went by Ali's today, and turns out she actually buzzed her head. That was interesting, but she did listen to the Book of Mormon, so she's keeping commitments. 

We also have been trying to teach someone named Chuck, we gave him a Book of Mormon a few days ago, and he said he's already halfway through 1 Nephi. But he had some "concerns" that kind of show how he's reading it. He said he thought that it seemed kind of like self-adulation on Nephi's part, also that he thought it was important for Nephi to map out his genealogy. So some concerns I haven't heard before, but still concerns that fall like strawmen under the observation of the principles of the Gospel and the scriptures. Nephi was not being self-centered, it's clear that he was probably better than he let on. He does a lot of amazing things but never gives himself any of the glory. And as for the genealogy record, it really doesn't matter. The majority of the prophets of the Bible don't have to map out their genealogy for anybody to take them seriously. And Nephi also wasn't a Levite, so it wasn't even necessary. He brought over text that was important about Jesus Christ, but that's not how we determine Christ was the Savior. Even with no genealogical record to see in the Bible, Jesus Christ would still be the Savior. Some very interesting concerns you can hear sometimes.

July 7, 2021

Had a really solid day today. We did some service for Sister Agin, and then we went over for a last ditch effort to get her back up and starting again. But she is so awesome, I've learned a lot from her. While we haven't been able to contact her, she's been progressing on her own, and she decided to make the jump and move out and stop living with Dan. That's going to be huge for her, and I think that's exactly what she needs. It's kind of bittersweet though, because she's moving to Nipomo, a place out of our area, to live with her sister. So we won't be teaching her when she moves, but she is so faithful, much more faithful than I am. Countless times she has defended her testimony and the Church, and she is very trusting and faithful. She is really good at praying and receiving answers. I'm confident that if she continues like this, she'll get baptized soon. Other than that, we had a lesson with Susan, rode our bikes a lot, and had a good time being missionaries. Life is good. 

July 8, 2021

Today we talked to Nati while he was grilling, and he gave us some to eat. He knows his stuff. The only thing is, he's Catholic, and you know how that can be. We don't know if he's really interested, we'll find out over the next couple of times meeting with him. We did a lot of finding otherwise, and had a good day. Got some potential finding opportunities, and the work rolls forward. 

July 9, 2021

We had CDC with the Zone today, and it was good, spiritually enlightening. Afterwards, we went and had lunch with Elder Dance and Elder Maloy, as per usual. It's always a blessing to have a Panda Express nearby. After that, we did some studies and made some cookies so we could drop them off at some less-active households. We didn't get to talk to many, we had to leave a lot on the doorstep; sometimes that's all you can do. 

We had a couple of lessons fall through, so we made a lot of calls. But it was a good day, a few more days and the transfer is over already. We've done a lot of good work here in Solvang, I'd be perfectly fine to either stay or head off somewhere else.

July 10, 2021

We had a really good lesson with Chuck today. We thought he was kind of a mainstream Christian, but today he proved us wrong. He really has his head screwed on right, and he really is looking for truth. He said he was looking for the meat of the Gospel and for a church to go to. He seems to be sincere, and I think as he reads the Book of Mormon more he'll like what he finds. He's an awesome guy. 

We also just got calls for the both of us. I'm going to be a district leader, and Elder Peterson's going to be a trainer. Exciting stuff, I just really hope that we don't get whitewashed, because there are a lot of relationships we have built here and a lot of good things happening. 

It has been very hot here recently, it's been up to 100 degrees with at least 30% humidity. All day we just sweat, and when we go to sleep we sweat some more. We have some fans that we blast all day, so that's nice. Good times here in Solvang. If I had to guess, I would say I'm probably leaving this area, but you never know.

July 11, 2021

Today we had a good, but really weird Sunday. We weren't able to get anyone to church, but they strangely actually all had pretty legitimate excuses. We made some whitewash sheets, but I really hope that nobody has to use them, because that would kind of hinder the work here. But whatever happens will happen. We had a really good transfer.

Just got the call, and now I'm going down to the Goleta 2nd ward to be with good old Elder Blue and Elder Hernandez. I'm super excited! It's going to be a good transfer, this is going to be fun.