Week 46: Goleta

August 23, 2021

Today we did our shout-outs, got In-N-Out, and played some Spikeball. It was a really great transfer and I learned a lot from so many awesome missionaries and especially from God. We went and said bye to our teaching pool, and said goodbye to some members. We had a good time here, and lots of great experiences. But now I'm on to more things and more growth. 

We also went to this incredible restaurant right on the ocean called Eddie's Boathouse Cafe. So good, definitely have to go there when I come through again. 

August 24, 2021

Had a super busy day, and we were able to find two new people to teach throughout all of it. We had our lessons fall through, but we stayed productive. But the thing was, the new district leader here, Elder Kok (pronounced "kwok") didn't get one of his bags on the transfer train. So we are working on getting his bag with all of his proselyting clothes to him. 

We also had a Zone Zoom tonight, and it went well. I'm just once again on a learning curve, and trying to figure to things out. But it was fun and I think it's going to be a really good transfer. 

August 25, 2021

We kept things busy today, and did some baptismal goal setting with Sister Garner and Sister Sprague, and Sister Mars and Sister Pryor. We talked about the talk 'Good, Better, Best' by President Oaks and how we prioritize what we do as missionaries. We had some lessons afterward. But I was so crazy tired, I was pretty faded for the entire day. But we had fun, and did some good call-ins tonight. It's been a really fun time, this calling brings me to a much higher level spiritually. 

August 26, 2021

Today was another day of some baptismal goal settings. We met with Sister Dahl and Sister Hall, Hermana Erasmus and Hermana Ngalu, and Elder Kok and Elder Jackman. It went well, I've been having a lot of fun doing this. 

We had a lesson with Stewart, who lives in a halfway house. We just didn't have a great lesson and we aren't going to pursue it. But we had a really awesome lesson right after with someone named Haylee. She is so great, she wants to change her life and she has amazing faith. The Spirit was incredibly strong, and she was feeling it too. As Elder Marks put it, we were 'thumbing the baptism scripture.' We were talking about repentance and about how we can become clean through Christ. She is an amazing person, and she is totally going to progress. It was a great day, learning a lot. 

August 27, 2021

We had district council today, Elder Kok is a good district leader, and he's honestly going to be a step-up from what I was doing. We had some goal setting with Elders Merling and Swansen, and Elders Phillips and Jenkins. Did some finding and weekly planning, and got some good work done. I'm trying to be more relaxed and fun to be around, I don't want to get too serious haha.

August 28, 2021

Today we got up at 5:20am so we could get to the Lompoc district exercise on time. We've been trying to support and be close to all the missionaries here, so we can best know how to help them. Then we stayed in Lompoc and did five baptismal goal settings, all one hour each. We did these with Hermana's Medina, Rojero, and Bengerter; Sisters Gowen's and Sperry; and Elders Olsen, Kelly, Slinn, Barnes, Anderson, and Martin. They're all great Elders, going to do great. Then we drove home and had a dinner with the Green's. 

After that, we had a cool experience with someone named Damon. He is such a soft-spoken nice guy, and he seemed really humble and willing to learn. So we read 3 Nephi 14:7-8 and talked about how God will answer his prayers. Then we said a prayer with him (this was on his front porch) and during the prayer, his front door opened. We didn't think anything of it, but when we were walking back to our car, he ran after us and told us that it wasn't his wife or anything and he thought that was cool. So we were kind of like, "uh.. ok." Whether it was a sign for him or not, we'll see. But that wouldn't hurt our chances of teaching him haha. Other than that, nothing too special. We also have Stake Conference tomorrow, so that's exciting. 

August 29, 2021

Stake Conference went really well, we got to hear some great things. The only thing, I was just super tired and kind of faded in and out of some of it. But right after, we had a lesson with someone named Jessica. When we got there, her little sister and her mom were there, and we got to each all of them. We just taught to their needs, and had a great lesson about faith in Jesus Christ, and how they can be sealed to their father who passed away recently. It's lessons like that that make me wish I could be a missionary forever. 

For the rest of the day, we had all of our lessons fall through, but we stayed productive and got some good work done. My first week doing this was really fun, and we were more productive than I've ever been before. A great time, and I think it'll continue. Elder Marks is awesome, really looking forward to working more with him.