"Aggressive Driving"

Dustin Thelander
Aug 17, 2015
5 min read

On Monday, August 17, 2015 12:55 PM, Dustin Thelander <dustin.thelander@myldsmail.net> wrote:

This was an interesting week. We had two major meetings, one on Tuesday and another on Thursday. That took up a lot of time but, at the same time, were super informative and helpful. The first was our Zone Meeting. We got together as a zone and together we had some training and spiritual thoughts. It was also super cool to see the amazing testimonies of two sisters who will be going home next transfer. In every single case thus far, when people are going home or have just come home, they wish for nothing more than to be back on their missions. I can tell for sure that will be me at some point in a couple of short years. I really love it here so far. So, two days ago I hit the one month mark from my MTC report date! Totally crazy- the time is literally flying. The time flying really shows that I have great companions, and the work is going well.

We had some really amazing things happen this week, and they were all a direct answer to prayer. We have, as a companionship, been praying to find a family to teach. So, one day this week when we didn't have any scheduled appointments, we took a bunch of names down that are known as "potential investigators". They are on a list because at some point missionaries have contacted them, but they were not ready at that point for the message we share. So one of these stops took us to a duplex. We had a name for apartment A, but felt we should start with B. We knock on the door and this boy answers and right away says "I'll go get my mom". She then came to the door and without hesitation said- it's hot, come inside. We readily accepted the offer and the water she gave to us (the temp was 106) and we told her we have a message to share. She spoke very little English, so her oldest son of probably 12 years old was our translator. So in her broken English and the spirit as our guides, we dove right into the first lesson, The Restoration. It took a while to convey the information, but after a while this amazing mother began asking amazing questions. The son did a great job translating and asked some good questions himself. After we concluded, we asked her if she would want us to return, and she said YES!!! She really wanted a Spanish Book of Mormon so she could read it and find out the message for herself. We returned a couple of days later and she held The Book of Mormon like it was printed money, and said "I'll read and then call you". She has a true desire to know for herself if the book is true. We prayed for a family, and when we went out to do the Lord's work we got an answer.

Later that same day, we came to the door of another one of the potentials, and the person on the list didn't live there anymore. A Latino woman answered the door and somehow we conveyed to her we have a message. She said in Spanish "I want the message" and we told her we would have some Spanish elders come by and her face just lit up. We got the referral in the system and went our separate ways, I know thought that when she is contacted she will love the message the Elders have to share with her.

There is this investigator named Terrell, and he has been attending the YSA branch. He is an amazing guy who is really changing his life. We would be teaching him, but he lives outside of the mission and only comes to the YSA branch because of some friends he has there. He was in church this Sunday and was loving it. In 3rd hour we had a lesson on sacrifice, and how we may be required to give up everything for this gospel. It really hit home with him, and instead of showing emotion he walked out of class. His good friend and member, Christy, called us and wanted us to talk to him over at her house. We came and he voiced his concerns to us. Through changing his life for the church, he has lost many life long friends, his family does not support him, and his co-workers are wondering what happened to the "real Terrell". We had a great lesson with him and ultimately we told him that while he may be suffering, the church family would for sure fill that void in his life. In many moments during the lesson he came to tears, knowing what he is doing is right. At the end he asked for a blessing of comfort and direction. He had known nothing of priesthood blessings, but he wanted one really badly. Elder Jennings gave a wonderful blessing that really struck home with Terrell. He said to us that our visit had made all of the difference to him, but it really had a huge impact on me as well. Being a member of this church is not by any means easy. I have lost good friends and people have questioned things that I do, and that is really hard to deal with. I know, though, and I have a testimony that the church is true, and that through it we can all be in the greatest of circumstances not only here on earth, but with our Father in heaven after we die. With that knowledge, these trying times seem only but a small moment.

So now for some classic moments. At the big Zone conference we got news that our mission issued cars would be fitted with a "TiWi" device. This wonderful device can and will monitor your speed, rpm's, turning radius and violence, braking, accelerating, and many other things that can be done in a car. Any violation of any rule sends a report to Salt Lake, and then to your mission president. This is all well and good in theory, but there are some major flaws. Elder Jennings is our driver, and he is really good. But, we had one instance where we went over a dip in the road (this blessed area of California had HUGE dip on almost every intersection, built for the rain they never seem to get) and the device spoke up saying "aggressive driving". This bump was taken at 15 mph and the speed limit on the road is 35. So silly, and now Elder Jennings will get a talking to at the next transfer. Every missionary in our mission who drives is now scared out of their minds.

So, last thing. There is a family in the ward who has a couple of sons. One a junior in high school, and another just starting college now. They are both big baseball players, and the older one is less active and just got cut by the Braves in a tryout (apparently he is good, but not major league level yet, he really didn't want to go to college). When we found out he was back in town President Chase of the YSA ward got on the phone with his mom and said "Noah will be coming back to church. How do I know? Well I got this baseball player missionary who was sent here to reactivate your son". So we will meet with him this week, and I'll come along armed with the scriptures and my baseball mitt. Pretty cool answer to my prayers that I would find people that need to hear the gospel from me.

Love you all!!! I miss you very much.

Love,

Elder Thelander