Week 33 - Delano

This week was pretty good. I am not snoring anymore, maybe once a week. My shoes are holding out pretty well. One pair is falling apart, but it's still in use. I am still tired, and worn out often, but such is the work, I suppose. Our companionship is going awesome.

On Monday we had a zone activity with Nerf wars, and it was fun. We had dinner with a less active named Jorge, and he loves missionaries. He made really good molae. It was awesome. On Tuesday we went up to earlimart, and taught a few investigators there. There's one who is named Jose, and he sounds really promising. Very humble man. On Wednesday we had exchanges with Elder Ruis and Elder Tolman. I was with Elder Ruis, and he is an awesome elder. He also played rugby in high school. We went by a potential named Cynthia and Jose, and that was fun. Later in the week, we teach the first lesson, but this time was a bad time for them. Elder Keeney has taught me personally how to teach simply. It really makes simple doctrines the most powerful and clear and useful. Clear and precious things. On Thursday we did a lot of finding, but no one wanted to hear our message. We were pretty down, so for dinner we went by panda express, and we got fortune cookies. Elder Keeney opened his and shouted "I'm trying! No one wants to!" 

It said "Share good fortune with others". Hahaha. I opened mine, and I got the same fortune! Our Heavenly Father has a sense of humor at times. We went to Esther Cardenas, and we taught her the word of wisdom, and promised blessings. She is in Mosiah 18.

We had another lesson on Saturday about the importance of prophets. It was a powerful lesson, and she was in tears. It was awesome. By the way, something cool is that Ephesians 4 talks about how when Christ came, He had one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. One understanding of the Lord, who He is, and what He does for us: One faith, in unity and brotherhood, one church: One manner or way to baptize. 

How does God accomplish it? In verses 11-14 of that same chapter, it explains it: Prophets! It then says what happens without them, we become "children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine......" 

Also, we are like a power pole:

​Translation: God-Dios, Profetas- prophets, Nosotros- us, sacerdocio- priesthood, fe verdadera- true faith, propio entendimiento- own understanding, fe unida- united faith, sin profetas- without prophets, con profetas- with prophets.

On Friday we had service picking oranges from a tree, and we got to keep a few bags! We had dinner with Lupe Romero, and she made awesome tacos for us! Super good! On Saturday we went by Esther, where we taught the lesson on prophets! On Sunday we went by Margarito, and he is feeling the Spirit in the Lessons. He is super old though. We tried setting him on date for baptism, and he wouldn't accept one. Also, Esther went to church and loved it. Today, at 9, we had a lesson with a man named Gabriel, and he is SO SO ready. We come in, and a few days ago we gave him a pamphlet, and he said he read it and had some questions. The first thing he said, was when he opened up to where Joseph Smith receives the authority from God, and asks about it. He then says, "How can I get baptized? And after getting baptized, how can I stay in the faith, or endure to the end? He then asked, "How can I know if I am truly forgiven of my sins? How can I trust Jesus Christ more?......"? Super awesome. We set him on date. There are miracles in this work. 

I can testify of clear simple doctrines. There is a loving Heavenly Father. He knows us, and He provides His gospel for us as a path to make us happy, when applied personally. They are 5 simple steps! 

Faith in Jesus Christ: Trust He can do what He says He  can.

Repentance: Bring a change of heart and desire to something good and better through Christ.

Baptism/ the Sacrament: Create this Covenant with God that every week, you'll try to be better than the week before. It's a promise of progression, and Renew it every week. 

Receive the Holy Ghost; It is the cleansing agent from our sins, and comforts us to know that for Jesus, we are doing sufficient. He is a light for us.

Endure to the End: Repeat the following steps with full purpose of heart. 

Elder Keeney and I were thinking about prayer, a simple doctrine, but we figured this out:

We pray in the Name of Jesus Christ because we are unworthy to talk to God, but we say "In His Name", because literally without Him, and what He did, we can't have that connection. We say "In the Name of Jesus Christ" or "Because of who He is and what He did, I can talk to you. I remember Him, and I do this in His Name, by His Power." The Atonement of Jesus Christ was not only to save us, but it's so that we can keep that connection with our Loving Father in Heaven. For that reason, we pray in Christ's Name. In the Sacrament prayers, we say,"Remember Him, don't do it for us, but for what He did for us. Don't let what He did be a waste. Let us in for Him, not for us".

D&C 45:3-5 He says in the judgement "Look at me, not them. I suffered so they can come. Don't let that be a waste. Do it for me and for my suffering, not for them. I know they don't deserve it."

I love you all, and I hope all of your weeks this week go well!!!!

Week 32 - Delano

This was a good week! I am doing pretty well these days. I am just super tired all the time, but that's the work. The area is being blessed by the Lord, and we are able to find and work well here. The companionship is also doing well. Elder Keeney is a great elder, and we are able to work well and get work done. Our investigators are doing pretty good. Some aren't, but overall, they're good. Esther read Jacob 5, the allegory of the vineyard, and she didn't understand it, so she read it all again! We were like, "Hermana, we've read that many times, and we don't understand it either." She did find some spiritual connections in it though. She's in the words of Mormon, and she is also very sick. She couldn't come to church yesterday because she just laid in bed all day. We were able to come by Mario, and he's not doing too well. He has clogged veins, and they're going to put in a plastic vein. We went by Leonor, and she is doing pretty well. She'll have her baby in May. Gael's grandpa is in the hospital because he has a clogged heart, and they did an operation that was successful yesterday, and he'll stay in the hospital for the next few days. Language? It's doing pretty good. In lessons, I am trying really hard to find people's needs in lessons, instead of just going through it, God, prophets, Jesus, apostasy, Joseph smith, book of Mormon, prayer.... It'll take prayers. Favorite ward members? Still the gutierez family. They're super funny, and a lot of fun to be around. The funniest moment this week was probably with an investigator we have named Ramon. He loves going on rants any time we ask him a question, and with translating and all, we usually get lost, so we'll say "What does that mean to you?" And he'll just go off forever, and we can't keep up too well, and then he says, "But what do you guys think?" And we just go "Jesucristo es muy importante:)" It's not that bad, but it's funny. A sad moment was when we found out that Gael's grandpa was in the hospital. Pray that he'll be okay. Something happy that happened was teaching good lessons to investigators. There is an awesome lesson I learned from President Layton this week. He said that every week, we should find something we need to work on, however small, and when we go to the sacrament meeting, put it on that "alter of sacrifice". That is how the powers of Heaven are accessed in our daily lives. He then said "We are only a few sacraments away from reaching the highest of our potential". Just a few sacraments away. He also said "When you bear your testimony, He feels like His atonement was worth it." Wow. I love president. The Lord is able to bless us with the things that matter most, and the things that matter most pertain to our truest and highest happiness. Whatever the Lord wants or needs to happen can happen, and He will do it all for us. I promise that is true, and that He will accomplish His purposes. Read Mosiah 7:33. I love you all, and I know this work is of the Lord.

I especially can bear testimony of the sacraments. I love the Lord, and I want Him to trust me. That's one of the goals I've been working on. He comes to know us as we work with Him. 

Week 31 - Delano

This was the first week of a new transfer. My companion is Elder Keeney, and he's a great elder. He did come out with me, and he was with my last companion Elder Chavez while I was with Elder Canul.

Our area is doing pretty well. The week before transfers our numbers all dropped, but this week we picked them up a little, and over the next few weeks we should be able to get them up.

I do still struggle a little with the language, especially with fue and era. My favorite word right now is the following phrase: "Andale, pues, y que les vaya bien". It means "Hurry up, then, and that all goes well with you."

McFarland is now it's own area. It used to be part of Delano East, but we have another set of elders in the district now. The mission schedule is different now because we are able to do comp study and language when we can fit it in the day. We haven't played volleyball on P-Day in a while. That sounds like a good idea now. Our zone is called Bakersfield North Zone. The elders here are awesome! There are a few weaknesses in some, but they're good overall.

Can you pray for Esther? She is an awesome investigator who's in Jacob 5! She has a date for 8 of April. Also, can you pray for Mario, and for Leonor, and Gael, who has a date for 25 March. He's awesome, the chillest kid I have ever met, with a heart of gold. Can you pray that I can readily discern needs and act on it quickly and confidently. It's specific, but I think it's what I and my investigators and area need. Esther has been giving us referrals of people and she says "I think these people right here are looking for the message, or these people." We found a part-member family from her! Please pray that comfort and strength will come to me as I speak as well.

We went on splits with the elders quorum, and that went pretty well. We were able to take out and clean a 50's style kitchen, and it was really fun. It was for a family who's moving in. 

We went to Crystal, and we were teaching the Plan of Salvation, and Elder Keeney took a bunch of her stuffed animals and we basically taught the plan with the stuffed animals! It was pretty great.

We had a pretty good week overall. It's been a lot of work, but a lot of fun. I can promise that when we uphold what we believe, we are upholding the commandments and the Gospel, and that whole path back, and we are blessed that He keeps His promises. I can testify of that. Also, I testify as well that the Lord understands how we feel, and carries us as we open up to Him. I testify of that in the Name of Jesus Christ, amen. I love you all, and I hope this week goes well for you.

Love, 

   Elder Sant

 

 

Week 30 - Delano

This week was a good week! First, I will say that transfers are tomorrow and I am staying in Delano, and Elder Canul will be leaving. He's going to be a zone leader in East Bakersfield. My companion will be Elder Keeny, and he came out with me. He will be district leader, which means that EVERY companion on my mission has been the district leader! My companion is doing pretty good. He still sees his spots and blurs, though. Our area is doing pretty awesome. I had one baptism this week, we baptized Crystal Dominguez Isis. It was pretty awesome. Our investigators are also doing pretty well. Something challenging this week was

Something funny this week was this: We were on exchanges with the Mcfarland elders, and one of them got really sick, like throwing up in the bathroom all night, so he slept in that morning, and we tried to move the couch into the kitchen for him to wake up. Here's a photo. Something good that happened this week was our lessons. 

Can you pray for Crystal. Her mom's a super less active member who didn't come to her baptism, and you can see with her face in the photo. 

This week we went by Esther and taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ on Tuesday. We had Crystal's interview too. On Tuesday we had a lesson with Leonor, and we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ again. We taught Gael the plan of Salvation, and it went well. On Thursday we taught Crystal about the priesthood. On Friday we had our exchanges, and also had a zone training meeting that went really well. We were able to find people we haven't been able to contact in a while, and we had a good time. On Saturday we had Crystal's baptism, and it went well. On Sunday we visited Esther and Elder Canul said goodbye to her. We also had a fireside about missionary work that was awesome. I was the translator for the Spanish, and it was a lot of fun. I really enjoy it. 

That was my awesome week. Can you please pray for this upcoming transfer, and also for Esther, that she can have the experiences she needs, and also Barbera, Angel, and Camila?

Also this week, we had a dinner with full fish bodies! We ate the eyes and everything. It was awesome! Please pray for us this week!