Week 107 - Palmdale

Hello everyone! This week has been pretty fantastic. We taught Patricia and she committed to being baptized on the 1st of September, but the only thing was that she was going to be out of town that Sunday, so we fasted this Sunday that her trip would get cancelled. Nevertheless, we were not specific in our petitions and she did not make it to church because of her son with autism. Thus she would be unable to be baptized on the 1st. But we'll see what happens. It's still a possibility. The Lord blessed us to find and talk to a lot of people, like walking up to cars backing out of the driveway to talk to them (safely, mind you), and other such things as that. It was a lot of fun, and sure we got rejected every once in a while, but there was something that we learned. Many people actually listened to the message, and at the end said it was because we were bold, they said they could tell that we had something important enough to be bold. It was a good lesson. We also talked to this one guy who was actually on Facebook live, and we didn't know until about halfway through the Restoration when he said, ":So, I'm on Facebook live, and someone's telling me to tell you guys that I believe in Jehovah, but I don't. I believe in Jesus Christ and God the Father." He then got questions on it like "Was Tupac a prophet?" So our restoration message is somewhere out there. Elder Simpson taught me something. He said that sure, the scripture says "Don't run faster than you have strength", but then he basically said "That doesn't mean we should just walk. We are still expected to work til we drop", and I really liked it.     This week was also my last district council, because next week I'll be going on the departing missionary temple trip. It was good, and in the end I bore my testimony. I just have this last week, and I am excited to see the miracles that come from a final week of a mission. I love you all, and please pray for Patricia. Love Elder Sant

Week 106 - Palmdale

This week has been an extremely fast week. The end is drawing nigh, and I am pushing forward with all my heart might mind and strength. Elder Simpson is legendary as always. He's a great guy. We had a special Zone Conference in the which we had a visit from a general authority. This man is extremely savage. I loved it all. He was just like "Oh, you're sick? Do you think anyone cares? God cares more about the salvation of souls than how you feel." He said that lame missionaries become lame Latter-Day Saints. The Lord will match you with what you give Him". And he's from Germany, named Elder Jorg Klebingat.
He taught us a lot about the premortal life, basically about how we were sent into the most wicked world (Moses 7:35-36) and that we are sent into the midst of it all at the end of the battle. It shows the trust God has for us. We were probably the closest to Him, and when He said "come down to earth" we may have doubted until He said, "But Jesus will come and be there with you". Then we felt for sure that we could do it. He was just our best friend. We trusted Him fully. He then said in essence "I imagine it was the same for Jesus. He saw all He'd have to do, and maybe hesitated until He saw all of us, that we'd go down as well. He then felt confident, thought 'OK, my friends will be there.' It shows us the responsibility that we have to gather scattered Israel. I was thinking about it, and Jesus sometimes calls people His friends. To Joseph Smith He said "You are my friend", and so on with others. What I imagine is that when He calls someone His friend, or when we are His friend, He starts to see a little bit of who we were back then over here. He sees the diligence and obedience and faith that we had there with Him, and He says, "That's the Joseph Smith I know (or the Elder Sant). That's my friend. He's got my back". Elder Klebingat explained that to gain His trust, to be His friend, it is through obedience. It says that there were those who God said would be His rulers (Doc. and Cov. 138:55-56). He says that these rulers are not general authorities or prophets: the rulers are those who keep their covenants, who magnify their office and calling. They're the obedient ones, who do what God says without delay or doubt. Those are His rulers. I could spend pages on these notes I took, and the thoughts that came of what I learned, but nevertheless I will go on explaining the week. 

   There was a lady that we found who accepted a baptismal date, and it was a powerful lesson. She is among the sweetest people I've ever met. I was asked to do a baptismal interview for someone who is trying to get a home in Palmdale, and is living in a hotel for now. I did it in Spanish because the husband, who's a member, only speaks English, but the wife speaks Spanish best. She was super sweet and super prepared. We were on exchanges that day, and my companion Elder Allinson said that he entered the hotel room when we first started, and he didn't feel right about the place, and that they came back after the interview, and he said there was a clear difference in Spirit. I did another baptismal interview, actually, and it was really cool as well. The Lord blessed us with a lot of miracles. We went down this one street, and Jehovah's Witnesses had just passed by, and we felt like it would be redundant to walk through where they just had been, but we felt like we were supposed to talk to the people there, and we did. We got rejected a few times, but then found an amazing family who actually asked us for a Book of Mormon. It was great. The Lord also blessed us when we went tracting, and we started talking with a family, and the husband instantly gave us his number and asked us to come by the very next day. We did, and he asked how many times a week we could come by. It was really cool. 

   The Lord pushed us to our limits this week, and I was very glad to feel that strength come into us. A lot happened this week. We went by Irma, and she apologized for not coming to church, and said she would "make it up" by taking a day off on Wednesday so we could talk. We're not the ones she needs to make things up to, but it's God. If anything she should make it up on Sunday. It was sad to see, but nevertheless, the Lord prepares people in His time. 

   I love you all, and usually I'd have a bit more information on the week, but our area book app shut down, and it makes it a little difficult to write more info.

   Love Elder Sant

  

Week 105 - Palmdale

 This week was huge and just full of things. First, we read the introduction to the Book of Mormón with Ruben and he loved it, wanted us to give an English copy to his son. On Tuesday we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders, and they were not the examples we needed. They didn't talk to anyone and after dinner ended exchanges. It kind of weakened us in our area.

   On Wednesday we went up to Tehachapi for a meeting with President Layton. We then went by Irma because she needed to have the baptismal interview again, and she wasn't answering for about 20 minutes, but then I remembered a story about when someone needed something, a submarine to surface to save him from being stranded, and then he realized "You have the priesthood. Command it to submerge." I did that and not 5 seconds later someone opened the door. After 20 minutes of no one answering, 5 seconds after a light knock someone did.

    But after that, we visited George and Agripina. It was a big mix of the Plan of Salvation and the restoration. George at one point in the lesson said, "so, what church do you guys think is the most correct, the closest to Christ's church?" And we were like "Well, let me tell ya." We're doing English classes, and hna Victoria came, and we were teaching how to pray in English, and she would always say "Heavy Father", which was super cute. We taught the law of tithing to Patricia, and she loved it. She committed to live it. We did service on Saturday, and found that the man we were helping was a part-member family. 

Sunday was a pretty sad day. We called Irma, who still hasn't been confirmed, to make sure she was coming, because she had been sick the past few weeks and was unable to come. If she didn't come this week she would have to be baptized again. It was about 20 minutes before church, and she said "Yes, I'm coming, without a doubt". But then she didn't come. After we took the sacrament we called her three times, and the phone was off, went and visited her, and someone else, who is one of the wives of a polygamist, answered saying she would see if Irma was there. We heard Irma's voice, and the woman came back and said that Irma was sick. We asked if we could just talk for two seconds with Irma and she said we should come by the next day. It was pretty heartbreaking. We then went tracting, and people rejected us left and right. Sunday was just difficult. Nevertheless we talked with everyone that we saw. It was a good day because we gave it our all despite all the rejection.

   In my studies I learned the difference between trusting that God can do all things, and trusting that whether He does or not all will be well. In the story of getting the plates from Laban, Nephi knew that God both could and would provide. I feel like sometimes we think "Oh of course God CAN, seeing that He can do all things", but we doubt whether or not He will. That's when we must learn the Character of God. It's not His character to let us fall. 1 Ne. 2:12 says that Laman and Lemuel didn't understand the dealings of that God who created them. They didn't understand His character. So they couldn't comprehend that He would perform such miracles. It's something that I'm learning, still trying to apply. 

   I also finished My Plan, which was definitely eye-opening. The Lord has big plans for my future. I love you all. This week was full of miracles and trials, a great week overall.

Week 104 - Palmdale

 

Hey everyone! This week was great as always when in the Lord's service. So, to get started, we went by Ruben, who last week when we met him loved talking to us, and as we walked away, asked us to come back and teach his daughter and family as well. We came back this week, and he explained that he had a lot of family problems going on, basically that he and his wife were considering divorce after they both lost trust in each other. He said that they argue a lot, but that ever since we started coming by, he had lost any desire to argue. Anytime his wife yells at him or gets angry he just takes the situation calmly now. We taught the Plan of Salvation, and explained that one day we would stand before God to be judged of our works, and we invited him to be baptized so he can be clean from that. He accepted a date, and when he offered the closing prayer he started to cry. He said he hadn't felt that way in a very long time.

    We also taught Patricia who has her autistic son, and she committed to baptism and coming to church. She actually did, and she loved it. She also accepted a Baptismal date. I was very glad that she came, because just a few months ago, she came to church, and her son was making a lot of noise. Everyone around her was like "Shhhhh!" and "Callense!" But she still decided to come to church. This ward has some judging problems. They tell everyone a dress code that runs off investigators and recent converts.

   There's a new family who moved into the ward, and they invited us to have dinner at their home. They live far out in the desert, but they're super awesome. They have two children who served their missions. We had tinfoil dinners, and baked cakes in an orange peel with the inside carved out. It was amazing.

   We also taught a lesson to Remundo, and he realized that he had to read some of the Book of Mormón before knowing if what we taught was true. He also came to church. The Lord has blessed us a lot in the work. We started testifying to everyone we met with, and it brought success. People who rejected us could at least feel the Spirit, and we could tell. I also learned a lot in personal study. 

    In Alma 60:25-26,28, Moroni did not care what others thought because he knew what was right. He said he would do what he would do and wouldn't yield to another.

    In Alma 57:1-4 Moroni didn't want a city, he wanted his people, the prisoners. He didn't yield, but said he could accomplish his desires. Then, the enemy yielded to him. 

   Alma 43:11-13 and 56:8 They saw it was more important to keep their Covenants than to break them. We often make excuses not to obey, but while obeying the true spirit of the law, we can obey and trust in the miracles of God as we yield not to our enemy. 

    For an activity on P-day, we went to Devil's Punch bowl, and did personal study for the day on the mountaintops.