Lego Master

On Wednesday, February 17, 2016 4:23 PM, Dustin Thelander <dustin.thelander@myldsmail.net> wrote:

This last week and a half were amazing- a real breath of fresh air after a tougher week. A miracle happened right off the bat on Tuesday. Germaldo, a less active member, who hasn't been to a church function in years showed up Sunday to Stake Conference. The message was on the temple, and it really hit home with him. Tuesday when we met, he talked tons about it and told us he would be coming much more often and begin working toward being able to enter into the temple. It was really amazing how much that specific message touched his heart. Wednesday was a fantastic day as well. We taught a great lesson to Maxine about fasting. She will be fasting the next time it is fast Sunday, and she just loved how much prayer is involved in fasting. Then we went to teach and play with Kai. He is Chea's son who has autism. He is the most loving kid, and he just loves Legos. So, for the first time in my entire life, I, using directions, built a Lego thing for Kai. He supervised while I built. I then took the time to build him another one, so we could play together. Then we taught him about spiritual CPR. Church, Prayer and Reading. We built up a pyramid with three cans as the base each representing one letter. We then asked him to take one away. The pyramid fell, and he jumped for joy. We then explained that if you don't do all three aspects of CPR together our spiritual tower will fall. He is really sharp, and repeated the whole lesson back to us.

I spent Thursday in the Spanish area again, and this time, more than even last week, really experienced the language barrier. If I know the context of the conversation, I can vaguely follow along, but if not I just nod my head and laugh when everyone else does. It was a great day, and it confirmed to me that we are all God's children, and he loves each of us- no matter our differences. On Friday, we finally got to teach Anthony again, and it went really well. He declined a lesson at first, so we just talked to him about his career for a while, and eventually he let us in to teach him. Then, we began a really really long bike ride to dinner. Chea has a client that she has become friends with who lives up on 21st street in Upland. We began our ride on 7th. It is all uphill. It took us 45 min to get there, but the house was amazing and the meal fantastic. Then we biked home in 4.5 min hitting 40 mph. I called this day Le Tour de France. The only thing of great worth that happened Saturday is that we spent some money given to us by friends at Outback. It was a great meal- that is for sure.

Sunday, we had the chance to hear from some general authorities as we had a regional broadcast from Salt Lake for Stake Conference. The messages were fantastic, and I really took from some of them things that I will apply into my life for sure. Then that night we had a great lesson on the Plan of Salvation with our recent convert, George. He had lots of great questions and is so willing to learn.

Monday's p-day was average until we got to hit in some batting cages. Oh- it was glorious! It was one hour of complete joy, and for being really rusty, I hit the ball really well. My hands are torn to shreds, but hey, totally worth it. Then Tuesday, we had a great district meeting which was the last one for this transfer. I have absolutely loved the missionaries in my district and will miss that group. Transfers being soon, the group will not be the same when some missionaries move to new areas. Heck, I don't even know for sure if I will stay here, though I would be shocked if I am moved. Then, we took some time to rest as Elder Honeycutt was feeling terrible. After that it was up to Hesperia. I was blessed to be able to attend the BAPTISM of Michael and Milea. They are the kids of Sandra Rosado who we began teaching a couple of months ago. They are the family that sent me off from Hesperia with a great gift and some tears. The service was amazing, and the spirit was so strong there. They have worked so hard to be able to make that first big step back toward their Father in Heaven. It was an amazing night.

Scripture of the week is from Alma Chapter 13 verse 28, "But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering."

Love y'all so much. Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Thelander

Photos- (above) Me with Kai and the legos. (below) Me with Elder Infanger and Michael and Milea at their bapstim. (bottom) My hand after the hitting session...