Chapter 33: The End of the Redlands District

The missionaries of the Redlands District!

 

2/9/2021

Today we had a District Council and got to practice teaching the plan of salvation to our investigators. I tried some stuff I never had before, and it was a really cool switch, this lesson was a lot better than any I’ve ever taught before. We also got transfer news today and it was one of the biggest reliefs I’ve ever had, I’ll be staying here another transfer. Every time I get more and more nervous about leaving, but fortunately I’m safe for another six weeks.

2/10/2021

Today we finally had a lesson with our Bishop. His kids don’t feel super comfortable with the missionaries, so pulled out our best game (it was a hit with all the primary kids) and used it with their family. The 16 y/o loved it (just kidding, but he tolerated it, so we were very grateful). We really loved our lesson with them. We also got to talk to the Fosters tonight and we felt terrible because we let their girls down, they were hoping that we could come by in person, but we ran out of time so it had to be a Zoom call. We compared the Atonement to skiing for them and it was the cutest thing ever. That analogy was also a miracle because the girls gave us exactly the terminology that I needed and filled in the missing pieces in my brain to help them make this connection. It was very important to Heavenly Father that we teach those girls about the Atonement because He made it work. At the end of the lesson Sister Foster thanked us for the calls we’ve been having with them, she told us her girls had never loved missionaries like they have with us before and the energy we brought to our lessons meant a lot to them as parents. The Fosters are one of my favorite families here so it felt good to hear that they think so highly of us.

2/11/2021

Today was very sad. Elder Bott and Sister Makasini left our district today because of transfers. We were very sad to say goodbye to them, both of them had been here from day one for me, and were the “old, wise members of our district”. We were very sad to let them go, especially because seniority now falls to me; I’m the oldest member of Redlands, having served here for six months now. Honestly it’s pretty cool  to have gotten to stick around long enough in an area to say that, I’ve been moved around so frequently that I never thought that I was going to get to stay in an area as long as I have now. During our work today we had service and a lot of lessons. We ended up being pretty busy all day. The only awkward part was when we had to take two calls in a members driveway because all of our lessons ran overtime and we were behind so we had no time to travel. Also, we had dinner with an older lady tonight and she tried to make food for us, but I don’t think that she remembered to defrost the chicken, so when we looked at the finished product it was very pink. Fortunately we were going to the church and I was able to cook it more so that we wouldn’t all get salmonella and die. We were very grateful for that Sister, though. She always takes such good care of us even though she struggles with most tasks. Her acts are like the casting of the widow’s mite.

2/12/2021

Today was a really good day. We got to go on a walk to pick up dinner, and it ended up being a half hour long venture. Walking was a nice way to destress though, we’ll have to make walks a more regular part of our schedule. We had lessons with Brother Bynum and his family, and it was pretty incredible. We talked about marks of Christianity throughout the ages. One of the coolest things was about Mandarin, and the fact that the symbol for “garden” was a man and a woman being cast out. It’s ingrained in their language, they probably don’t give it a second thought, and yet there it is as a testimony about the truthfulness of Christianity to all the world.

2/13/2021

Today we got rejected pretty hard by the Bangerters, so Cai’ran and Patience are no longer on track for the 20th. I was pretty disappointed for a bit, but decided that this was going to be a Nephi moment, and so after praying for help we made brownies for all of our formers and dropped them off at their houses. We have a couple of pickup lessons scheduled for tomorrow now, and we’re really excited for it. We’re coming down to the wire for baptizing in February, but we’re not out out of the game yet.

2/14/2021

Today we picked someone up! She’s someone who has had contact with the missionaries for a really long time, but it sounds like missionaries were never really able to meet her where she was at. She has a pretty good knowledge of the Bible, though, and so Elder Gomez and I were able to hit things off with her pretty quick. We also had quite the busy lineup of lessons today, which was a lot of fun.

Normally for a spiritual thought I like to share a scripture that's touched me this past week, but today it's going to be a little more about the "Nephi moment" that happened this week. This week I learned the importance of not just complying with all of the commandments, but loving them. Well, a lot of the 'commandments' for us as missionaries involve going and doing. Missionary work can be an incredibly demanding sometimes though, as all of our lives can be. On one of the most disappointing days of my missionary work, by choosing to "go and do", especially when it was difficult, brought some of the greatest of blessings that we could receive as missionaries. I am a witness that those who trust in God and are willing to go and do, especially when it's difficult, are able to receive the highest of all blessings.