Week 73: Newbury Park

February 28, 2022

Had a good day, we got to see everyone in the Zone, and have some good wholesome fun. Went to the park, played some games, went skating, found an awesome sandwich shop. A productive Preparation Day by any measure. We had a good lesson with the Badurek's, and then had a really good lesson with the Boyce's. We had it in the backyard of the McLeod's, they are such an awesome family. We talked about repentance and the prodigal son, and how when we are baptized we covenant to repent, not be perfect. 

We have MLC tomorrow, and it will be the first one in a while at the Mission Office. 

March 1, 2022

Today we had an MLC, and there was some really good things learned. We discussed extensively mission policies and things that we need to get rid of or improve on. We are stripping back everything that we have done that is not in the standards and asked ourselves, "Do we need to do this?" and "How can we improve this?" And the meeting took about two hours longer than usual, but we think it was well spent. 

After grabbing some Cains, like you do, we headed back and did some work. We did some SIM card calling, and had a Zone Zoom where we all shared a favorite scripture. 

March 2, 2022

We had our usual meeting grind today, and we prepared for our upcoming CDC this Friday. The main event of today was getting to do some service. There's this really cool place in town that helps kids going through and leaving the foster system. We took apart a crib, sorted some boxes, just did some good service. It was a good time, you really do just feel better and it's a very pure form of expressing charity. 

Finding has been a little slower than usual lately, but we aren't losing heart. Success is measured differently in different areas. We are also working on getting some consistent member visits, the work in Dos Vientos is going forward. 

March 3, 2022

We had another flurry of tech meetings today in the morning, and I did Stake Reports while Elder Hales took the lead on the meetings. We had another lesson with Natisse, she talks about how the gift of the Holy Ghost just helps her with parenting and helps her stay strong on the rough days. Just teaching her builds my testimony. 

We were able to have a good lesson with a person named Shay, he is solid and has recently experienced a loss in the family, and his heart is hopefully open to the gospel. We had a good day, and things have been going well. Elder Shippen left to Uruguay today, that's a good Elder right there. Looking forward to the temple trip this Wednesday. 

March 4, 2022

We had CDC today, it went well. I learned that I'm going to give a discussion this next Thursday on the Language of Prayer, so that'll be one to figure out. Today I gave a discussion about social media, and another way to find. 

We had a really good lesson with the Boyce's, and talked with them about what they need to know to get baptized. They've all changed so much and are doing awesome! We also set up service with the Nelson's for next week, and that was great, we've been trying to help them out for a bit. God smiled on us today. 

March 5, 2022

We went on exchanges today, I went with Elder Chang and Elder Hales went with Elder Packard. We had a good day, had a lot of time to find. It was kind of windy today, so not a ton of people out, but we still got some good things going. I've been focusing on trying out different approaches, and keeping the momentum of a contact going. 

We had an awesome dinner with the Hull's, in which we had some delicious Elk steak. After some good stop by's, we talked to Robby, he might come to church tomorrow. Elder Chang is really good at listening, and that's something I'm working on now. Good things ahead. 

March 6, 2022

The Boyce's all came to church today! In our lesson on Friday and at church today, I could really tell that they have changed a lot since we started teaching them. They've started to have that glow that comes from living the Gospel. 

We had a good day otherwise, we have been doing well. We've been looking for some diverse ways to find people to teach. There have been a lot of really great things that have happened so far, but some challenges as well. But through Jesus Christ, I've been able to be a better person on the other side and keep my slope moving up.