Surprise Visits

Da week!:

Monday: Literally great day. We shopped at Target for groceries haha kinda weird maybe but it works! We headed just over to T.O go all out, we hit up Burlington and Ross and JoAnn's Craftstore! Stinking party right there!! Haha it was okay I guess. After all that we came back to Moorpark and raced to the church so we could email and play some Basketball. I really love that sport especially recently for some reason. Our dinner with Bishop was awesome cause sister Benton is an amazing cook! I always look forward to going there!! Then to finish the night we saw a movie at the theaters. Avengers was super good!! Haha just kidding!! We can't see no movies! We are staying consecrated!! Haha we saw the Pinneo's and the Scheu's tonight. Two of my favorite families ever!! I also got to see a member from my first area, sister Greding! It was pretty cool to see her and ask about Newbury Park! I really think the Lord blesses is us with so many small miracles. But one by one the small blessings or miracles build up and hopefully we are able to recognize how much God truly does love us, otherwise this life would be absolutely terrible! And some people might still think that life stinks cause it's hard at points but that's just it, life wasn't meant to be a cakewalk for us. So many bad things are in this world that can really tear us down and eat away at our spirit. But like I said God blesses us in little ways and sometimes big ways! Some of the many blessings that I've had are uber influential in my life in helping me become who I am today. Like my family, or the amazing friends I've had. A good education, sports and the many many other privileges I have had that many others may have not. I believe and actually know that God isn't just gonna have a select few that he cares about, he loves us all and blesses us each. We just need to lose sight of ourselves and our needs and look at what we've been given.

Tuesday: Today was pretty great! We had interviews with our mission President and I have decided to come home so I will be arriving in the Idaho Falls Airport next Wednesday..... Haha Just kidding!! President and I had a super good interview helping me to become a lot more comfortable and Gung-ho about the work! So I guess I'll stay out here a bit longer haha. We then did our studies and all that outta the way! Unfortunately today we didn't have a dinner at a member's but that's okay we can always just go out and buy a pizza or something. Our night from 6-9pm consisted of contacting and knocking a few doors but we didn't find it to be super successful. We tried to see Martha and Eric, our investigators but they weren't available. And everyone else we tried to see weren't that interested. I have found that many days out here will be difficult and very discouraging. Knocking door after door, working and trying our best. But come up empty handed. It happens a lot to be honest, but I know that even if we don't see anything happen immediately sometime in the future we will be able to see the fruits of our labors. Just continue to press forward and work, don't dwell on the small things.

Wednesday: Exchange with Elder Goodman!! I was super excited for today. We started by doing some service for Norm, pulling weeds and feeding his cattle. I'm just a farmhand out here haha. Then we got back to doing some good ol missionary work! Our efforts for today were focused towards weeding out potential investigators in Elder Goodman's area. We began with seeing a few people in a wealthier neighborhood and most of them didn't answer or weren't home. One of them did and told us to not come by anymore so we made not of that. Kinda sad but we can't force anybody to listen to the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Coolest member dinner award goes to tonight's, his name is Bob Lundquist. He is a very successful man because he had good friends. Here's why! His friend named Nolan called him up one day way back when and pitched him this business idea. He explained a game you can play on a TV screen electronically, not mechanically. Brother Lundquist at the time was trying to get another job when Nolan asked him this but he turned Nolan down and took the other less risky decision. But Nolan struck gold! This game he talked about was called 'Pong' and eventually Atari was created! And video games were a huge hit! Brother Lundquist missed out yeah but not when Nolan called him up again sometime later asking if he would like to be a partner in this idea of a Rat on the side of a building that talks to people. (Or something along the lines of that) This time Brother Lundquist took the opportunity and became a co-founder of Chuck E. Cheese's. So he was pretty well off. He is a very humble guy that loves the missionaries because he was a convert to the church of about 2-3 years. After dinner our plan was to drop by some members and practice teach them a lesson. We had plans with the Hawker's, and taught them the Restoration. Their son in on his mission in South Africa right now and comes home pretty soon. This was a really good exchange! Tonight we packed up and headed to T.O for an exchange tomorrow with the zone leaders.

Thursday: I went on another exchange today with Elder Clegg! He's from Washington and he is a stud of a missionary. We had a really good day serving in the Thousand Oaks ward area. Our plans today were trying to meet anyone new to teach! And we were fairly successful for the most part, meeting a few potentials just knocking doors in neighborhoods. We had lunch back at the apartment and had a surprise visit from a Missionary that has returned home now, Connor Allison! He is one of my favorite people for sure! Then we went back out and walked a ton working in one specific neighborhood. We didn't find anyone new but we felt good. We had a dinner/lesson with a part member family the Vudmaskas. Brother Vudmaska is not a member but we had pizza with them and other company and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which consists of knowledge that Christ suffered for our sins, Faith in Christ, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. We really wanted to stress Baptism because Brother Vudmaska has been investigating for about 8 years. The lesson went really, really well! The spirit was super prevalent. His only issues are that he doesn't think he is ready yet, and he is not a church goer. But he is definitely ready and prepared. He is to the point where he almost seems to be putting it off. Well we kind of boldly pushed him with love and were able to set him with a baptismal date for July 7th. Which just so happens to be his Grandson's birthday! Coincidence? I think not!! Haha. Well that was the end of the day and it went super well!!

Friday: Today was good we had district meeting! And had lunch with the other Elders at El Tapatio (some super good authentic Mexican food) and we did companionship study and personal study, it was good. We had service with the Scheu's helping build a pig pen for them which took the rest of our day! I love the Scheu's a ton!!

Saturday: Pretty exciting day!! We started with some Weekly planning, and that took up our morning until around 2. Then we had plans to meet up with some members for lunch. Those members were my Brother, his wife, and their son!! My brother is in the area for work and decided to meet up! It was great to see them and finally meet my nephew!! It really boosted my morale!! After that we went and saw Dean and chatted with him. He told us to come by later tonight for some ice cream and to meet one of the people he has told us about. So we head to dinner with the McDonald family!! They are so fun and their kids are super funny. Their kids really tried to be the center of attention haha. By now we were on our way back to Dean's and we get there and meet this guy Dean had told us about a long time ago. His name is Ninja Rick! He is a professional ninja haha. He told us quite a few stories about his adventures. He was fun to visit with, and that was the extent of our day!!

Sunday: Today was pretty good. We had church and had a pretty good meeting today. The speakers were great. We got to teach the youth class and that was pretty fun. It was last second notice but it was alright we can come up with anything in the fly haha. After church we went straight to dinner with the Pinneo's! And we brought Laura as well! I always love going to the Pinneo's!! After that we tried to see a few potentials but none of them were home which was a bummer because each of them seemed pretty promising! Hopefully sometime in the future we can catch them at home. Then we went to Dean's to set something up with his son Eric. We are gonna go to Dojo Boom, a trampoline park, with him so we needed to set up a time!