Week 48: Goleta

September 6, 2021

Today we had our Zone Activity. After our first two plans fell through, we ended up going down to the Ellwood Bluffs and a butterfly preserve nearby. Too bad there actually weren't any butterflies there. Then we got some food from Kyle's kitchen and we all hung out at the Church.

Then we did our calls and emails and stuff and got started again. We went to a lesson with someone named Stacey, but his friend Ray was very willing to talk with us. When we knocked on the door he opened up and said, "Man, you preachin' the Word of God, let's hear it." So we started teaching him, he's an interesting character. It's always nice when you can make a good use of a Preparation Day.

September 7, 2021

We went to the MLC today, where we talk about the mission and all of our individual goals. All the leadership in the mission get together and listen to discussions that we will re-teach to our Zone on Friday at CDC. I got to see some friends, like Elder Holmstead and Elder Ward, and I also made some new ones. 

That took most of our day, so we only had a few hours to get work done, but we stayed productive. The Mission President and his wife want us to use the Restoration Proclamation more, so that will be fun, there is so much good stuff in there. 

September 8, 2021

The main thing that happened today was going on an exchange with the Assistants, Elder Sotele and Elder Oliphant. I went with Elder Sotele. We went to contact a social media referral of someone named Valerie, and when we got there she said that she didn't send in a request. But she let us in anyway, and we started teaching her, so miracle? Who knows.

We also went to visit Mama Tessy, the sweetest little Filipina grandma you've ever met. She calls missionaries her sons, and it's impossible to leave her home without a smile on your face and a treat in your hand. She's getting ready to be baptized this week. 

I learned a lot from Elder Sotele, especially about how to go about contacting. He's an awesome elder, and he has been an amazing example to me since he was my Zone Leader back in Thousand Oaks. I'm more inspired to keep up the good work, and I learned some new, useful skills.

September 9, 2021

We taught someone named Tim today, and it was one of those where they say "I'm never going to convert, I just want to learn more." So we didn't have super high expectations, but we had an awesome lesson. He was amazed at what we taught him, and he offered to buy a Book of Mormon from us so he could read and talk more about it with us. So we gave it to him for free and started teaching him. Such a nice guy.

We also had lessons with Sean, Jim Benz, and Patrick, who is someone who really wants to, or at least needs to change his life. Things aren't going well for him right now. 

The only other thing that really happened today was our lesson with Oscar. The other elders referred him to us because he kept asking where I was. So we talked about the Plan of Salvation and about a bunch of different scriptures about life. He's an intelligent person, he understands the scriptures pretty much the first time we read them to him We had Brother Pearce there, and he told Oscar that he thinks he is someone who will be baptized. And the best part was, that didn't scare Oscar off at all. So he's probably our most progressing person right now, we just need to be able to meet consistently. So it was a great day, we were able to get a ton done. 

September 10, 2021

We had a combined District Council today in Solvang, and I gave a discussion on teaching and contacting with restored truths. It's hard to help people act on the gospel message if we don't share something they don't know. 

Then I headed back to Goleta with Elder Slinn for an exchange. He's a great, hardworking elder, he served a year in Tahiti and now he's assigned here until it opens up again. It was fun, and we got to start teaching someone named Sam. He was trying to get his screen door back on his window and we helped him out and started teaching him. We had some more good contacts, and grinded the whole day. Elder Slinn is good at being bold and being out there with people. It was a good day, we were able to learn some good stuff with from other.

September 11, 2021

Today for district morning exercise we played frisbee next to the ocean (but not on the beach), and it was pretty fun. We had something called walk-day today, where the mission tries to walk as much as possible to save car miles. Some cool miracles also happened though, we started teaching two new people, and other miracles happened throughout the mission. 

We had a few lessons today, but the most notable was Kathy. She is a born-again Christian, and a really nice, soft-spoken lady. So we had a good conversation with her about agency, and decided afterward to not continue teaching her. We've been trying to teach those that are truly prepared for the Gospel and will accept it. Because there are plenty of people in Goleta that are ready for the Gospel and ready to work towards baptism. But it was a great day, finished off with some member visits. 

September 12, 2021

After church we had a companionship study, and then watched a Face-to-Face with Elder and Sister Bednar. It was really good, they focused on spiritual revelation and on how the Spirit is the greatest teacher, which is very helpful advice for missionary work. 

Afterwards, we went to dinner with the Records and had a visit with them. The only other notable thing was our short zoom lesson with Elijah. We really got to see where he is coming from and he explained his thoughts. He is struggling thinking he could know this stuff, and thinks faith would be easier to work with. So we'll focus on that with him. It was a really good week, learned so much.