Subject: Tshooj kawg muaj kev lav ris
Nyob zoo tsev neeg!
Sounds like lots of exciting things are happening out West! Always fun to hear about.
There have been some changes in our district.
The English team that covered the U of M campus, and was in our district has dissolved due to a diminished number of students during the summer. Our Zone Leaders are now the only team that covers campus.
The Saint Paul Hmong elders are still not in our district, and they didn't move with the transfers. In Brooklyn Park are Elders Erickson and Richard Vang. Elder Vang is very happy to be back in the district with all his old friends for his last transfer.
Elder Hill was sent to Minneapolis to fill the gap left by Elder Cutshall, who is now our Zone Leader on the U of M campus with Elder Brown, a 7'0" Spanish speaking elder and a great man.
I am still in Minneapolis, and the Lord has found a way to keep me very focused, busy, and engaged: I am the new District Leader. I am a little intimidated by all of the responsibility, but with the Lord, I can do anything I need to. I am very grateful to the Lord for my new companion, who is exceedingly diligent, and very good at helping me stay organized and on top of things. Sometimes I tend to be an absent-minded professor. He is also a lot of fun. With him as my companion, and all of the great investigators we have, and all the new responsibilities, I won't have any chance to be distracted and coast as some Elders tend to do. This is going to be the best transfer of my mission. Ramming speed!
On the 6th we will have the opportunity to attend a special meeting wherein Elder L. Tom Perry will speak to all the missionaries in the Twin Cities. I wonder what instruction, counsel, or promises he will give us. I am very excited. Right before I heard the news from the Zone Leaders, I was reading Elder Perry's talk about member missionary work with the sheep on the cliff (we are going to share it with John Thao). I thought it was a neat coincidence.
Fu moved his date to the 13th because he was superstitious about 6/6/9 being the date...too close to 666. This is good because he still isn't married, though he did talk to his girlfriend and they are now planning on getting married, they just don't have a date. Fu's fiancée, Nu, should be coming to church with him on Sunday.
We may talk to Tou Choua and Misty about the possibility of Misty moving in with Cindy for the time being. Cindy lives with her grandma in Brooklyn Park, and visits almost everyday anyway. We are not sure how taboo that is, or what other cultural complications that might trigger, so we are going to ask some experts first.
We moved Nouchi to the 6th, but we might move her to the 13th. Not because she isn't ready. She is solid throughout. However, as we were making plans for her baptism, her father asked us if we thought he and his wife could be prepared to be baptized by Nouchi's date too. I think my eyebrows must have dropped their sandbags and lifted off like hot-air balloons. I said I thought so, as long they make it to church this week. He then told us that he had spoken with his kwvtij (relatives) over the weekend during the wedding and helped them understand why he wanted to join our church and that he wasn't rebelling or distancing himself from them. Eventually they were all right with it, and now he wants to be baptized with Nouchi. Nouchi and Mee are ready, but we want to be very sure with Chor because he is so hard to read. For this reason, we plan to have all three of them on the 13th. Hopefully Misty will either be married, or moved out by then so she can go too.
No news yet on whether Yer's parents changed their minds. I'm sure they will. Her father doesn't really care, and her mother loves us and always supports us coming and teaching. I think she (the mother) just misunderstood what baptism is. If all goes well, Yer is scheduled for the 13th as well. That puts everyone on the 13th.
Love you all! Hurrah for Israel!
-Elder Moua Ying
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
From Jon 5/23
Subject: Tus Tswv muaj hwjchim heev
Nyob zoo!
I got a card from the Knapps inviting me to Elder Wilson's wedding! I guess he's just Brother Wilson now. Are these Knapps by any chance related to those from whom we bought our house? They live in Preston, ID. What is Brother Wilson's current address?---Not that you know off-hand, but perhaps you could do some sleuthing ... I've been meaning to write him, but I know not where he resides.
Did I tell you about the awesome lesson with Yer? Last Sunday she came to church, and went to the Mission President's fireside. She loved them both and had her guts fellowshipped out. Before the fireside started, she and Carmen, her primary fellowshipper, arrived early and sat in the chapel alone for a while (they learned after a bit that the fireside would be in the mission home across the parking lot, and not in the chapel). Carmen told her about Joseph Smith and his experience in the grove, something that we had felt impressed not to actually share in detail yet, but had at last felt that it was time and had planned to share it at our next appointment. Yer said that when Carmen got to the part where God appeared to Joseph, she felt tingly and warm, and got goose bumps. A day or two later, at our appointment, we shared the first lesson in Preach My Gospel. Naturally, as with all good stories, the spirit was strong. When we explained the great apostasy, she immediately understood and applied it, which surprised us a little. She got kind of a sad, blank look on her face, and said, "That's pretty sad...that means that Sister Katrina's (the Jehovah’s Witness that has also been meeting with her) church doesn't have all the truth." She didn't seem confused or troubled by this; she understood that Sister Katrina is a good honest person who is doing her best to follow God, but just doesn't know that there is more truth available.
We continued on, and as I began to recount Joseph's experience in his own words, Yer immediately smiled and looked down. For a split second I thought she was smiling because she was amused that I was using the exact same words as Carmen, and that she had heard this part already. I continued, and when I was done, we paused for a moment. She was still smiling. She looked up and said, "As soon as you said that God appeared to Joseph, I felt it again...those same goose bumps." After explaining that it was no coincidence that the feeling came at the same point both times because that is the most important part of our message that God wants her to know is true, we committed her to be baptized on June 13th. She wants to, but is afraid her father may not approve, as he is a Shaman. She will talk to him about it. We know we have Yer's mother's support...she loves us. We are praying that Yer's father will recognize that church helps peoples be better people, and won't object.
Fu has quit tobacco and alcohol, and is looking into marrying his girlfriend, though there are financial issues that may slow down the process. We know the Lord will provide a way for him to keep His commandments. We are praying much for him too.
Misty and Tou Choua are in Wisconsin this weekend for their cultural wedding ceremony. Misty's mom will be coming from California. With Tou Choua's parents and Misty's parents all present for the event, they can have all of them sign the paper work for the license in the presence of the same judge. Evidently they need to all be present in the same room with the judge and witnesses, so everybody knows that everyone is okay with it. I'm sure it's loads easier to get married if you're over 18.
Nouchi has a date set for the 30th, hopefully Misty can be ready by then, and Chor will have stood his ground with his kwvtij (relatives), and they can all share in those special blessings together.
Love ya!
-Elder Moua Ying
Nyob zoo!
I got a card from the Knapps inviting me to Elder Wilson's wedding! I guess he's just Brother Wilson now. Are these Knapps by any chance related to those from whom we bought our house? They live in Preston, ID. What is Brother Wilson's current address?---Not that you know off-hand, but perhaps you could do some sleuthing ... I've been meaning to write him, but I know not where he resides.
Did I tell you about the awesome lesson with Yer? Last Sunday she came to church, and went to the Mission President's fireside. She loved them both and had her guts fellowshipped out. Before the fireside started, she and Carmen, her primary fellowshipper, arrived early and sat in the chapel alone for a while (they learned after a bit that the fireside would be in the mission home across the parking lot, and not in the chapel). Carmen told her about Joseph Smith and his experience in the grove, something that we had felt impressed not to actually share in detail yet, but had at last felt that it was time and had planned to share it at our next appointment. Yer said that when Carmen got to the part where God appeared to Joseph, she felt tingly and warm, and got goose bumps. A day or two later, at our appointment, we shared the first lesson in Preach My Gospel. Naturally, as with all good stories, the spirit was strong. When we explained the great apostasy, she immediately understood and applied it, which surprised us a little. She got kind of a sad, blank look on her face, and said, "That's pretty sad...that means that Sister Katrina's (the Jehovah’s Witness that has also been meeting with her) church doesn't have all the truth." She didn't seem confused or troubled by this; she understood that Sister Katrina is a good honest person who is doing her best to follow God, but just doesn't know that there is more truth available.
We continued on, and as I began to recount Joseph's experience in his own words, Yer immediately smiled and looked down. For a split second I thought she was smiling because she was amused that I was using the exact same words as Carmen, and that she had heard this part already. I continued, and when I was done, we paused for a moment. She was still smiling. She looked up and said, "As soon as you said that God appeared to Joseph, I felt it again...those same goose bumps." After explaining that it was no coincidence that the feeling came at the same point both times because that is the most important part of our message that God wants her to know is true, we committed her to be baptized on June 13th. She wants to, but is afraid her father may not approve, as he is a Shaman. She will talk to him about it. We know we have Yer's mother's support...she loves us. We are praying that Yer's father will recognize that church helps peoples be better people, and won't object.
Fu has quit tobacco and alcohol, and is looking into marrying his girlfriend, though there are financial issues that may slow down the process. We know the Lord will provide a way for him to keep His commandments. We are praying much for him too.
Misty and Tou Choua are in Wisconsin this weekend for their cultural wedding ceremony. Misty's mom will be coming from California. With Tou Choua's parents and Misty's parents all present for the event, they can have all of them sign the paper work for the license in the presence of the same judge. Evidently they need to all be present in the same room with the judge and witnesses, so everybody knows that everyone is okay with it. I'm sure it's loads easier to get married if you're over 18.
Nouchi has a date set for the 30th, hopefully Misty can be ready by then, and Chor will have stood his ground with his kwvtij (relatives), and they can all share in those special blessings together.
Love ya!
-Elder Moua Ying
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Church Fire in Cambridge
You've probably all heard about the fire that broke out in the middle of stake conference in Cambridge. We spoke to Ruth, and she is safe. She lost some stuff in the fire (her violin, scriptures, etc.) but she got out safe. Kind of a traumatic day. This was the chapel we attended when we were students there over 20 years ago. Here's a link to some photos, a few of which are pretty dramatic. We couldn't find Ruth in any of them, though.
From Jon 5/16
Subject: Muaj hnub teem cia
Nyob zoo!
'Twas a grand pleasure to talk to those of you that I could! Good liver sun born (Happy birthday) to Rizzu! Molly (Chor's 3-years-old daughter) turned 3 on the 13th. We went over and gave her some cupcakes, and I made her a balloon hat and balloon dog. She was pleased as punch, all decked out in new Tinkerbelle (tm) paraphernalia, with the Tinkerbelle movie playing non-stop.
We made a small breakthrough with Chor. We discovered that the only real hesitation he has about joining the church is that his relatives are putting on a lot of pressure for him to join their church, and tell him that he is turning his back on his relatives and distancing himself from the rest of them. He just doesn't know how to help them understand. We also discovered that there are some important principles he still doesn't fully understand, which we will review. We did get his permission to baptize Nouchi on the 30th. We hope he will be ready by then too. If not, we'll talk to them about Mee getting baptized with Nouchi on the 30th.
Fu is doing great. We didn't get a chance to have a lesson about marriage with him yet. We are going to start him on the program for quitting smoking this week. It is hard for us to catch his girlfriend at home, but we are trying to get her on board as well.
Yer is more solid than we thought. She had a great experience at the mother's day activity, and now really wants to go to church. We haven't had a chance to commit her for baptism yet.
Last time we visited Ia and Lia (don't know if I've mentioned them), Ia's sister, Jessie (8-10 yrs), was sick. We taught her about prayer, and said a prayer for her to get better. She got better the next day. She's a good kid... I betcha she'll be up for a little eternal life.
We're looking at a good turnout at church this week. Should be Chor, Mee, Misty, Nouchi, Fu, Yer, and possibly Yer's mom, who evidently knows one of our strong relief society pillars. Fu might be able to get his girlfriend to come too. We also hope Neng, Mai Lee, Zoua, and Ia will come, but they might be busy.
The CD we recorded is finished, and Leng is making us copies. I haven't heard it yet. I've been mulling over some ideas for the cover art. ;) Elder Hill suggested a title for the album: "Moua Ying and The Destroyers: Live in Minneapolis". Heh, heh.
Well, thanks for being all you are and doing all you do! Sib ntsib dua!
-Elder Moua Ying
Nyob zoo!
'Twas a grand pleasure to talk to those of you that I could! Good liver sun born (Happy birthday) to Rizzu! Molly (Chor's 3-years-old daughter) turned 3 on the 13th. We went over and gave her some cupcakes, and I made her a balloon hat and balloon dog. She was pleased as punch, all decked out in new Tinkerbelle (tm) paraphernalia, with the Tinkerbelle movie playing non-stop.
We made a small breakthrough with Chor. We discovered that the only real hesitation he has about joining the church is that his relatives are putting on a lot of pressure for him to join their church, and tell him that he is turning his back on his relatives and distancing himself from the rest of them. He just doesn't know how to help them understand. We also discovered that there are some important principles he still doesn't fully understand, which we will review. We did get his permission to baptize Nouchi on the 30th. We hope he will be ready by then too. If not, we'll talk to them about Mee getting baptized with Nouchi on the 30th.
Fu is doing great. We didn't get a chance to have a lesson about marriage with him yet. We are going to start him on the program for quitting smoking this week. It is hard for us to catch his girlfriend at home, but we are trying to get her on board as well.
Yer is more solid than we thought. She had a great experience at the mother's day activity, and now really wants to go to church. We haven't had a chance to commit her for baptism yet.
Last time we visited Ia and Lia (don't know if I've mentioned them), Ia's sister, Jessie (8-10 yrs), was sick. We taught her about prayer, and said a prayer for her to get better. She got better the next day. She's a good kid... I betcha she'll be up for a little eternal life.
We're looking at a good turnout at church this week. Should be Chor, Mee, Misty, Nouchi, Fu, Yer, and possibly Yer's mom, who evidently knows one of our strong relief society pillars. Fu might be able to get his girlfriend to come too. We also hope Neng, Mai Lee, Zoua, and Ia will come, but they might be busy.
The CD we recorded is finished, and Leng is making us copies. I haven't heard it yet. I've been mulling over some ideas for the cover art. ;) Elder Hill suggested a title for the album: "Moua Ying and The Destroyers: Live in Minneapolis". Heh, heh.
Well, thanks for being all you are and doing all you do! Sib ntsib dua!
-Elder Moua Ying
Monday, May 11, 2009
Dr. Bret
On Saturday, May 9, we attended Bret's Doctoral Commencement. On Sunday, he gave us a brief presentation regarding his "doctoral document" (dissertation), which is about ethnic flutes. The clips are him playing penny whistle, bamboo flute, pvc flute, dizi (Chinese), and Native American flute.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
From Jon 5/9
Subject: Vajtswv foom koob hmoov rau wb heev
Nyob zoo!
Thanks for the info about school, Dad.
Remember the experience we had with Zoua and Ia? This week we employed the "Holy Ghost-restoration-baptismal commitment maneuver" on Fwm (...um, I guess the closest way to pronounce that in English is "Foo", so I'll call him "Fu" from now on). Previously he had mostly been stuck on his own ideas and only regarding our visits as informative. During the lesson, he felt the spirit, and knew it. He committed to be baptized, and we set a date, but he has two or three things to get in order first, one being that he will have to marry his girlfriend, with whom he has lived for 3 years and has two children.
We were tracting a few days ago and as we were locking up our bikes, a young man came out of his house and asked us if we had any mini-bibles that we were giving out. He was a 19 -years-old African American attired in gangster garb, and half of his hair was braided, while the other half was a fluffy 'fro. We told him we didn't have any bibles at the time, but we had another book that we highly recommended. We told him a little about it and he seemed rather interested. He asked if he could have one, and we said we would like to come over the next day (when his rowdy cousins weren't over) and give him one, and explain a little more about it. We arrived at the appointed time the next day, and he invited us in. We followed the new pattern (the one we used for Fu), and when we got to the first vision, he was smiling big. "Wait, wait," he said, suddenly excited, "does the Holy Ghost---is it kind of like a-a...huuhaahuuh feeling---like light in your chest?" We were pretty sure we knew what he was talking about, so we said yes. "'Cuz that's what I'm feelin' right now, and it feels great!" We continued with the painting out the blessings and the baptismal commitment. We asked him how soon he wanted these blessings, and he said, "When can I have them?!" We set a date for the 30th. We said a closing prayer, and as we began to speak afterwards, he stopped us suddenly and said,
"Wait, wait...can the Holy Ghost also feel like...like kinda hot, like a fire inside your chest---but it feels good? 'Cuz that's what I feel like! This is the best I've ever felt in my life! I mean---I've felt the spirit a little bit before when my grandma read to me from the bible, but never like this! Excuse me---I gotta go outside!" He did so, and we followed. We found him breathing deeply and fanning his face, smiling, and laughing a little. We are going to have another lesson with the English speaking Elders, then they will take over from there. I hope we can attend his baptism. His name is Derek.
We are not positive when we will be able to call tomorrow. Anytime from 5-8 pm Minnesota time.
We are having a Mothars' Dee activity with the branch today, which the missionaries planned. The primary is going to sing a song as part of it, and the Elders will help. I think someone is going to record it; maybe I can get the clip to you.
I love you all, and I am sending a clap-hug 'cross the plains to ye. *clap*
-Elder Moua Ying
Nyob zoo!
Thanks for the info about school, Dad.
Remember the experience we had with Zoua and Ia? This week we employed the "Holy Ghost-restoration-baptismal commitment maneuver" on Fwm (...um, I guess the closest way to pronounce that in English is "Foo", so I'll call him "Fu" from now on). Previously he had mostly been stuck on his own ideas and only regarding our visits as informative. During the lesson, he felt the spirit, and knew it. He committed to be baptized, and we set a date, but he has two or three things to get in order first, one being that he will have to marry his girlfriend, with whom he has lived for 3 years and has two children.
We were tracting a few days ago and as we were locking up our bikes, a young man came out of his house and asked us if we had any mini-bibles that we were giving out. He was a 19 -years-old African American attired in gangster garb, and half of his hair was braided, while the other half was a fluffy 'fro. We told him we didn't have any bibles at the time, but we had another book that we highly recommended. We told him a little about it and he seemed rather interested. He asked if he could have one, and we said we would like to come over the next day (when his rowdy cousins weren't over) and give him one, and explain a little more about it. We arrived at the appointed time the next day, and he invited us in. We followed the new pattern (the one we used for Fu), and when we got to the first vision, he was smiling big. "Wait, wait," he said, suddenly excited, "does the Holy Ghost---is it kind of like a-a...huuhaahuuh feeling---like light in your chest?" We were pretty sure we knew what he was talking about, so we said yes. "'Cuz that's what I'm feelin' right now, and it feels great!" We continued with the painting out the blessings and the baptismal commitment. We asked him how soon he wanted these blessings, and he said, "When can I have them?!" We set a date for the 30th. We said a closing prayer, and as we began to speak afterwards, he stopped us suddenly and said,
"Wait, wait...can the Holy Ghost also feel like...like kinda hot, like a fire inside your chest---but it feels good? 'Cuz that's what I feel like! This is the best I've ever felt in my life! I mean---I've felt the spirit a little bit before when my grandma read to me from the bible, but never like this! Excuse me---I gotta go outside!" He did so, and we followed. We found him breathing deeply and fanning his face, smiling, and laughing a little. We are going to have another lesson with the English speaking Elders, then they will take over from there. I hope we can attend his baptism. His name is Derek.
We are not positive when we will be able to call tomorrow. Anytime from 5-8 pm Minnesota time.
We are having a Mothars' Dee activity with the branch today, which the missionaries planned. The primary is going to sing a song as part of it, and the Elders will help. I think someone is going to record it; maybe I can get the clip to you.
I love you all, and I am sending a clap-hug 'cross the plains to ye. *clap*
-Elder Moua Ying
Friday, May 8, 2009
Notes from Sam -- 4 May 2009
Dear family,
Hey! Elder McIntosh and I found an Internet cafe that is open on bank holidays. So I can email you today after all!
On Friday we dated Sharon for baptism! In our last lesson with her where we'd talked about the Questions of the Soul she'd told us the question "How do I avoid sin?" was important to her. So we'd planned to teach the Plan of Salvation and focus on sin and how Christ's Atonement allows us to be free of it. When we started the lesson we asked her about that question, and she explained that in the past she'd done things that had set a bad example for her children that she now regretted, and that she wanted to put those things behind her. The Spirit really came into the lesson at that point and we ended up abandoning our plans and teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we taught about faith in Jesus Christ I realized that Sharon really has a lot of faith in Christ, and that it was her faith that was leading her to study the scriptures and come to church every week. When we invited her to be baptized, she thought about it for a minute and then said something like, "I want to be a better person, and maybe being baptized is the only way I can do that." We testified of that and she accepted a baptismal date of July 11th! Right when she agreed to it her boyfriend Richard (who is a member, now semi-active) joined in and testified of just how much Sharon has changed for the better since she started investigating the gospel. It was a great moment. After we finished the closing prayer, Sharon said, "Thanks guys, I've really felt good today." It was a wonderful moment.
We've also been richly blessed in other ways this week, in particular as we've sacrificed for our zone. On Saturday we spent most of our day driving out to one of our most remote areas, working with the missionaries there, and driving home. We put 160 miles on our car in one day! As we left in the morning Elder McIntosh and I were both doubting whether it was worth the trip (I was worried also because we hadn't hit all our goals and had only one new investigator for the week), but we prayed about it and felt a confirmation that we should go. As things worked out one of the missionaries in the outlying area was sick, so I stayed in the flat with him, and Elder McIntosh and the other missionary had a lot of things fall through and weren't able to accomplish much. As we drove home, though, we felt good about what we'd done. And the Lord blessed us so much!
The next day, Sunday, we taught a first lesson to a great lady named Deanne (sp?) who has really been prepared to receive the gospel. Her manager at work recently became a born-again Christian and Deanne has seen a major change for good in her; she's also been feeling like she and her nine-year-old son should start coming to church, and towards the end of the lesson she actually asked us, "When can we start attending your church?" After that lesson, we tracted a street in her neighborhood, and we got in a door and taught three young people. It was kind of a crazy lesson with lots of distractions, but they all became new investigators and we're going back to see them next Sunday! Then, right at the end of the evening, we decided to try by a referral. At about 8:50 PM we knocked on the door, and the couple let us in to teach! One of them was someone Elder Garcia and I had taught back in December (he had just stopped investigating at the time), and the other one became a new investigator. So altogether we had 5 new investigators in one day! Kind of amazing how much the Lord can bless you at once.
We had another great finding experience this week. During our weekly planning session Elder McIntosh and I prayed about a focus area (a place for us to go to do finding during the wekk) and we felt good about a certain neighborhood. That evening we went there and went tracting. That's when we first met Deanne, and Elder McIntosh also street contacted a man named James. He was in a really big rush but offered to give Elder McIntosh his address right away (quite unusual) and actually invited us to come visit him the next day! When we came back and met him the next day, we all sat down on the couch and he said something like "I feel like I've gone astray in my life. I've done a lot of things wrong and I want to get back on the right track. What should I do?" That took us aback a little bit. : ) We taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he accepted everything! When we gave him the Book of Mormon, he committed himself to read it and also to come to church before we had a chance to invite him to do those things. Now I think I know how Aaron must have felt while teaching King Lamoni's father when the king said he would believe all his words. It was great to teach a lesson like that, and I really felt the Spirit as Elder McIntosh testified of the Atonement. James seemed to really appreciate our visit. He comes from a Catholic background and kept on calling us "Fathers" instead of elders. : )
As you can probably tell, I am very happy. Things are going really well in our area and our zone, and I love the missionaries that I am working with. I had the chance to go on exchange with a few of our missionaries this week, including Elder Farley, who is from England and is one of the few people I have met who knows of the verb form "to proselytize," and Elder Bills, one of our district leaders. They are both great. Elder Bills has an amazing story - his family has not been active in the church for most of his life, although they came back to church for a short period when he was a child, during which he got baptized. During the first few days when he graduated from high school and moved out on his own, he was sitting in his apartment in downtown San Diego thinking about his life and what he wanted to do with it, and he felt prompted to read his scriptures. He had never really read his scripures in his life before, but he started reading them and praying. He also got on the Internet, found the nearest singles ward, and went there on Sunday. He told the bishop he wanted to be on a mission within a year, and now here he is. I'm really grateful for all the amazing people I get to meet as a missionary.
I'm excited to hear that Eric Davey will be a freshman at Stanford next year. I'm looking forward to meeting him. One of the other LDS freshmen who will be returning from his mission to Stanford this fall, Logan Ensign, is also from Santa Rosa. Maybe he and Eric know each other.
I'll try and send you some photos. Looking forward to talking to you all a week on Sunday (the 17th).
Love,
Elder Pimentel
Hey! Elder McIntosh and I found an Internet cafe that is open on bank holidays. So I can email you today after all!
On Friday we dated Sharon for baptism! In our last lesson with her where we'd talked about the Questions of the Soul she'd told us the question "How do I avoid sin?" was important to her. So we'd planned to teach the Plan of Salvation and focus on sin and how Christ's Atonement allows us to be free of it. When we started the lesson we asked her about that question, and she explained that in the past she'd done things that had set a bad example for her children that she now regretted, and that she wanted to put those things behind her. The Spirit really came into the lesson at that point and we ended up abandoning our plans and teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we taught about faith in Jesus Christ I realized that Sharon really has a lot of faith in Christ, and that it was her faith that was leading her to study the scriptures and come to church every week. When we invited her to be baptized, she thought about it for a minute and then said something like, "I want to be a better person, and maybe being baptized is the only way I can do that." We testified of that and she accepted a baptismal date of July 11th! Right when she agreed to it her boyfriend Richard (who is a member, now semi-active) joined in and testified of just how much Sharon has changed for the better since she started investigating the gospel. It was a great moment. After we finished the closing prayer, Sharon said, "Thanks guys, I've really felt good today." It was a wonderful moment.
We've also been richly blessed in other ways this week, in particular as we've sacrificed for our zone. On Saturday we spent most of our day driving out to one of our most remote areas, working with the missionaries there, and driving home. We put 160 miles on our car in one day! As we left in the morning Elder McIntosh and I were both doubting whether it was worth the trip (I was worried also because we hadn't hit all our goals and had only one new investigator for the week), but we prayed about it and felt a confirmation that we should go. As things worked out one of the missionaries in the outlying area was sick, so I stayed in the flat with him, and Elder McIntosh and the other missionary had a lot of things fall through and weren't able to accomplish much. As we drove home, though, we felt good about what we'd done. And the Lord blessed us so much!
The next day, Sunday, we taught a first lesson to a great lady named Deanne (sp?) who has really been prepared to receive the gospel. Her manager at work recently became a born-again Christian and Deanne has seen a major change for good in her; she's also been feeling like she and her nine-year-old son should start coming to church, and towards the end of the lesson she actually asked us, "When can we start attending your church?" After that lesson, we tracted a street in her neighborhood, and we got in a door and taught three young people. It was kind of a crazy lesson with lots of distractions, but they all became new investigators and we're going back to see them next Sunday! Then, right at the end of the evening, we decided to try by a referral. At about 8:50 PM we knocked on the door, and the couple let us in to teach! One of them was someone Elder Garcia and I had taught back in December (he had just stopped investigating at the time), and the other one became a new investigator. So altogether we had 5 new investigators in one day! Kind of amazing how much the Lord can bless you at once.
We had another great finding experience this week. During our weekly planning session Elder McIntosh and I prayed about a focus area (a place for us to go to do finding during the wekk) and we felt good about a certain neighborhood. That evening we went there and went tracting. That's when we first met Deanne, and Elder McIntosh also street contacted a man named James. He was in a really big rush but offered to give Elder McIntosh his address right away (quite unusual) and actually invited us to come visit him the next day! When we came back and met him the next day, we all sat down on the couch and he said something like "I feel like I've gone astray in my life. I've done a lot of things wrong and I want to get back on the right track. What should I do?" That took us aback a little bit. : ) We taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he accepted everything! When we gave him the Book of Mormon, he committed himself to read it and also to come to church before we had a chance to invite him to do those things. Now I think I know how Aaron must have felt while teaching King Lamoni's father when the king said he would believe all his words. It was great to teach a lesson like that, and I really felt the Spirit as Elder McIntosh testified of the Atonement. James seemed to really appreciate our visit. He comes from a Catholic background and kept on calling us "Fathers" instead of elders. : )
As you can probably tell, I am very happy. Things are going really well in our area and our zone, and I love the missionaries that I am working with. I had the chance to go on exchange with a few of our missionaries this week, including Elder Farley, who is from England and is one of the few people I have met who knows of the verb form "to proselytize," and Elder Bills, one of our district leaders. They are both great. Elder Bills has an amazing story - his family has not been active in the church for most of his life, although they came back to church for a short period when he was a child, during which he got baptized. During the first few days when he graduated from high school and moved out on his own, he was sitting in his apartment in downtown San Diego thinking about his life and what he wanted to do with it, and he felt prompted to read his scriptures. He had never really read his scripures in his life before, but he started reading them and praying. He also got on the Internet, found the nearest singles ward, and went there on Sunday. He told the bishop he wanted to be on a mission within a year, and now here he is. I'm really grateful for all the amazing people I get to meet as a missionary.
I'm excited to hear that Eric Davey will be a freshman at Stanford next year. I'm looking forward to meeting him. One of the other LDS freshmen who will be returning from his mission to Stanford this fall, Logan Ensign, is also from Santa Rosa. Maybe he and Eric know each other.
I'll try and send you some photos. Looking forward to talking to you all a week on Sunday (the 17th).
Love,
Elder Pimentel
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