10/16/2023

Another week and many more interesting experiences.

The sleep and tiredness is slowly starting to catch up to me as I get comfortable in this area. Its really nice and it feels like home.

Monday

On Mondays of course I get to write Emails and talk to family. However I try to write these Emails on Sunday night so I don’t have to worry about it during my P-Day. So with that said, This last Monday was really fun. The District got together and played PickleBall and Kickball. It was really fun and a nice change of pace. Of course I got to talk to my family. In the evening on Mondays we go out with the ward mission leader and find/minister. Brother Jensen is really awesome. He gave me a coin that I have to show him anytime I see him otherwise I owe him food or something.

Tuesday

Tuesday was awesome. The first door we knocked we found someone who may be interested in the church. I got to meet so many awesome ward members and hear so many interesting stories. My favorite story so far is from the Kandanians. This family is really cool. We then found another guy who is really interested in the church. I am so excited to teach him however his English is not the best so we are hoping we can work with each other to teach him English and for me to learn more Spanish.

Wednesday

This day was the day our district had a phone audit. While in the MTC I got access to a certain google drive made by returned missionaries long ago. I of course explored it but it only covered my google drive in it. The person conducting my phone audit was the Assistant to the Mission President. I told him what to expect but it was really funny. I haven’t touched that google drive folder since the MTC but it lingered there. Now my drive is clean and ready for proper missionary use. That night while walking around a pond in a neighborhood it was just so peaceful. I love this world that God has made for us. Sometimes it makes me sad to see people not appreciate this world enough. 

Thursday

Today was mainly just getting to know more of the members here. We spent so much time at one house that we were starting to be late for the next. It was already a 10-15 minute drive but there was a bad car accident somewhere which caused us to slow down a lot and have to take a detour which added half an hour to an hour before we could get there. This family was understanding and was actually also running behind schedule so it all worked out. They have 4 kids and they are so adorable. It really reminds me of myself with some of my siblings when missionaries would come over back in the day.

Friday

THIS WAS THE DAY! 

We had this thing for all the new missionaries called Doctrine of Christ. It was basically the rest of our orientation. This took place in League City which happens to be the location of NASA. Specifically Mission Control. We didn’t go inside but we still got to see the space shuttle on top of the plane outside along with a SpaceX rocket on its side. It was so cool. Doctrine of Christ also challenged me to read 8 pages of the Book of Mormon each day to finish it by the end of the year. I can do this and I invite all of you to do it too. If you want to stay on track with me you need to be on page 24 when this Email goes out. LETS DO THIS!

Saturday

This is the day where things get interesting. Saturday was my first exchange. I stayed in the area and got a different Elder to be with me. We set a goal to OYM (Open Your Mouth) 33 people. This was massive but we accomplished the goal. At the start we found a lot of people just at the park. Many if not all were kind and just kindly declined our message. I prefer this over what came later. Meanwhile we found some people who were promising and we did share some of the Book of Mormon and gave them a copy. Right before dinner we knocked on a door and a lady comes out. We begin our message and then she begins to preach to us. It was bible bashing time.

This was my first time with this. Of course we remained calm and let her speak and then we would tell her what we believe followed by her saying that can’t be true. We shared a scripture from the Bible, Ezekiel 37:16. This scripture and surrounding verses talk about the Bible and the Book of Mormon and how they work as one in the hand of God. Of course she had to disprove that so after that we decided to leave. It was really funny.

Later on that evening we found a couple who have some very interesting beliefs. They believe that the ……….. Earth is Flat. I never thought I would meet a flat earther but here I am. Texas is flat but the lady said she was from the Philippines. This means that she had to have gone on a plane. Maybe she just didn’t get a window seat but bruh. You can see the curvature of the earth form a plane. They said they got this knowledge from the Book of Enoch. I wanted to ask so many questions to disprove because I have watched many videos of flat earthers getting disproven but I bit my tongue. The thing that his me the hardest is when they said that NASA is faking all their pictures and that the moon landing was CGI. BRUH! CGI was not around and or looking that good when the moon landing happened. Its beliefs like that that I just don’t understand. 

Sunday

The day I am writing this. It was just like my last Sunday. We had ward council and the same meeting missionaries go to. I was however asked to say the closing prayer in the Jones Creek ward and the opening prayer in the Pecan Grove ward. Everything else was basically the same. Now it is 10:28 and I am ready to go to bed. 

Main Thought for the Week

We would be lost in this world without modern day prophets. They provide us with so much insight from God. I am so happy that we have prophets otherswise I could be as confused as that Bible basher or those flat earthers. Thinking Celestial is a great thought. Everyone think Celestial and don’t get lost.

Here are the pictures for your enjoyment and reward for reading this far. Sorry for it being only 2. I need to take more.