Week 16 - Oildale

This has been a good week. I am doing pretty good. For thanksgiving we went to the Medina family's home, and they are so awesome! A lot of Hispanic members have been threatened to be deported, especially the Medinas. They are super kind, though. My favorite food was the ham. We had and American dinner there. The weather has been weird recently. It has rained three days in a row. My investigators are a slower process than I expected, but the Lord is providing us with miracles.

   Our ward is doing pretty well. There are some interesting things happening, and they might reorganize stake boundaries soon. 

Something funny that happened this week was when, during exercise, we were doing headstands, and for my first try, I held myself for a few seconds, and I tried again, and...

Something sad that happened this week is with our investigators, the Carrillo family, the father is loco. The mother is the kindest person ever, and he believes that we are government agents planning to kill him. He says "If you guys are from the government, tell your boss this and that and this." His girfriend thinks he is crazy, and he'll talk for a while, and she'd say a line, and he'd tell her to shut up. It's super sad. We offered to give them a blessing, and he denied as we brought out the chair for it. We went to the side of the house as we left and blessed the home. 

Something happy that happened was that we have met our zone baptismal goal of 6 this month! The Lord is in this work. I appreciate all you guys do, and I love you! By the way, in December, our mission is going to watch Mcfarland, USA, because that is our mission.

--

Elder Daniel Jacob Sant

"Go and Do"

Week 15 - Oildale

 So, we have some pretty good investigators. On Monday we went by the Monceras with Bishop, and Eddie and him are best friends. It's awesome. He is reading every day, from what we can tell, and he reads to his wife who can't read too well. We got Chris and Kimberly's brother Erik as an investigator, and we have to go super slow with him. He has a girlfriend who is amazing. They both agree that they don't want to do anything before marriage, and they have faith. We are kind of losing Juan Garcia, so please pray for him. Also pray for the Carrillo family. We had the family come to church, and they didn't like it, saying "Where's the statue of Christ? Why aren't they reading from the bible?" and other things like that. We'll have a lesson to explain why we do or do not do certain things. I learned a lot about listening to the Spirit. We hope to start teaching Juan's mom. 

About my investigators, to be honest, without them, I wouldn't be happy as a missionary without them. The Lord has been trying to teach me to love them, and they really keep me happy. 

Speaking of love, there is a thought that I have been trying to apply to my work. So, God has asked that we love our neighbors and our enemies. I have had a thought about loving your enemies or even people you haven't met yet. It made me think of a few years ago when Elder Bednar came down to Louisiana and had a youth discussion. He said "I love you guys. You can say 'you don't really know me, how can you love me?' But I do, and I can. I love you because I know who you are. You are sons and daughters of God." That quote then made me think of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. When He suffered in Gethsemane, He took upon Himself our pains and infirmities and sicknesses of both body and spirit. In essence, He's lived the stubbed toe and the car accident and everything else. Really, He has lived our whole lives, one after the other. With that in mind, He is really in us. When I eat dinner at a family's home, I can see Christ in each of them, and in me. I can see Him in there. When I talk to people on the streets, I can love them for two reasons that I can see; because they are children of God, my brothers and sisters, and because I can see the One I try to love all my life in their eyes. 

At church we listen to the English translation because there aren't enough headphones even for the ones who need them. 

We do go to ward council, and my mission leaders really are amazing. They really care. There are, in total, two sets of Spanish missionaries, and our zone leaders are the only English missionaries. Our district has two sets of sisters and two sets of elders, and the zone has four sets of elders and three sets of sisters. 

I did get my winter coat, and it is getting a little chilly.

Something sad that happened this week is when the Carrillo family left church early.

Something challenging that happened this week was when all of our appointments fell through, but it taught me to pray in faith, and we knocked on doors in promising places! 

Something happy that happened this week was finding out that the Monceras are reading together! Thanks for praying for me:)  I love you guy, and thanks for praying for me. I do have photos this week! 

My comp is awesome.

 

 

 I leaned back too far and while I was studying.

 What I eat.

 What I carry.

The view from my livingroom window.

Elder Homegren was AP legend.  He just went home.

Week 14 - Oildale

The weather has been looking less polluted, but about once a week our neighbor smokes weed and it gets all over our apartment. The first night Elder Chamberlain and I both woke up with headaches and burned eyes because it was just so thick.

Our town has the Highest pollution in the US.

We tract in a town called Oildale, a town literally in the top 10 most dangerous and ghetto cities in the US. It also has the Highest teen pregnancy rate and a high murder and drugs rate. I think going to Woodlawn has prepared me for that kind of stuff, though. It is very interesting to see the kind of stuff that goes on in Oildale, and it is very ghetto. 

When we knock on a door, this is what happens:

*Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock

*Door opens

"Hello?"

"Hello, how are you doing?"

"Fine"

"That's awesome. Well, we're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and we're in the area to share a message about Jesus Christ to people who might need more peace in their lives, want stronger families, or just want to know more about God. Do you know anyone who might need this message?"

"Well, everyone needs that message". 

"Do you think you could benefit from this message?"

"Yeah, what's it about?"

"Well, first, God is our loving Heavenly Father...."

My favorite food is tamales! Have you ever had them? They are really good.

I love talking to people about Jesus Christ.

If I look out my window, I see a big tree, and a street called Real Road. Speaking of that, there is a street called Easy Street in Oildale, but as you might imagine, it probably isn't the one from Annie.

On clearer days, you can see the mountains. There is a ski resort in our mission, a place where it actually snows.

Our investigators are pretty cool. Our big investigator is Eddie and his family, and we have really high hopes for him. He has finally started reading the Book of Mormon, and is taking notes and questions that we'll hopefully answer tonight.

We picked up a family, and the father is just messed up a little. He smoke weed for many years, and just has no idea about who Christ really is and is proud about what he does know to where he won't take any other knowledge, and we're trying to help him with that. His wife is the sweetest lady though. If not married to him, she would be baptized, I think. We're working on them though.

Juan says he feels uncomfortable about leaving his Catholic religion and doesn't want to join the Church, but he hasn't kept any of our commitments either, and that's what he needs to do. 

I got sheets and a blanket when I first came in. 

What I eat every day is, after showering, honey bunches of oats with fairlife chocolate milk, and for lunch I have eggo waffles with nature valley bars with chocolate milk, and dinner often depends on if we have members feed us. But I also drink chocolate milk.

Something happy this week is that Elder Vellvehr and Elder Jacobson set up a lesson plan for devout Christians that will definitely help.

Something sad from this week is that Kim, one of our recent converts, had her appendix taken out, and we're not sure where she's living, possibly with her boyfriend.

Something funny was that as we were walking to an investigator, we saw a home with a home-made sign that said, spelled exactly like the following "BEWEAR OF DOGS!"... I love Oildale.

Something challenging is that Jose has a super strong belief in the Trinity and says "Are there three Gods? No, just the one." We're working on that, though. 

I love bearing my testimony of Jesus Christ the most.

It can be hard to plan things out for the day.

There are many Hispanic families in the ward who feel super terrified about Donald Trump, and some couldn't go to church.

It was a great week this week!!! I left my camera at the apartment a half hour away, but I have this week's and next week's pictures next week.

I bear my testimony that fasting changes lives and brings miracles!! 

I love you all,

Love,

Elder Daniel Jacob Sant

"Go and Do"

Week 13 - Oildale

This was a great week. On Monday we went by referalls and taught the Moncera family. We found an 81 year-old man named Jose Ocampos who is still working in the Grape fields! It's crazy. He is super cool, though and really kind. He can't read, so he says he'll ask his wife to read for him. On Tuesday we went by more referrals, because it turns out that Elder Jacobson has had tons of old teaching records from our area, so we are going by them. We went by Juan and Jorge, and it turns out he opened to a random verse and read it. Our investigators are not progressing, so that little choice he made was big. We went by Jose Ocampos on Thursday and gave him a large Libro de Mormon. On Friday we stopped by Kim and their crew. They are super cool converts, and living with non-members. On Saturday we went to a baptism, and we sang in it. The woman baptized cried. We had Stake Conference that night, which was good. Elder Acosta came from the 70. On Sunday he held a special Spanish session for Hispanics only where he just answered questions. We went by more referrals, and found an amazing person who prefers Spanish to English, so we have to give it to the sisters. We went by Eddie, where the above testimony by Berinese was given. We also went to Kim and their family, and they are doing okay. Monica, the oldest, quit her job, though. We invited her to come to a special session from Elder Bednar where he wants to talk to 18-30 year olds. She might come. Today has been a good day.

Here are some pictures:

Also, thanks for the emails you sent. I love you, and I hope you are all doing well.