Feeling Pretty Stinkin Sick

On Monday, April 18, 2016 12:59 PM, Dustin Thelander <dustin.thelander@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Somehow this week turned out to be pretty awesome. On Wednesday afternoon, I felt the sickness coming on, and then the next morning Elder Parry and I were all stuffed up. But Tuesday before that was great. District meeting was fantastic, and as well as that, we did some great service at the Thrift Shop. This time through we vacuumed the entire place. I am glad we did because the dust bunnies needed removing. That was pretty much all we did there. The store managers are so grateful to have us each week. Then after the rest of the day of having nothing work, we taught Maxine. She is really funny, and this night she was a bit emotional. Japhet, who is her caretaker, gets a little uptight with her sometimes because she is very into his business. So, he banished her to her room, and when we got there she just broke down and said "J is mad at me and I don't know why, and he sent me to my room". This may be a little mean, but I just had to turn around and crack up laughing because this sounded just like a toddler when sent to their room by a parent. So, we helped the two of them talk it out and then we re-watched President Monson's conference address. I love the line, "May we ever choose the harder right, than the easier wrong."

Wednesday was the day of sickness beginning. That being said we still had a great visit with Brother Kaplan. He is doing worlds better than he has in the past, and he is just looking to stay busy as his knees forced him into early retirement from the police force. Then we had a wonderful grill out at the park with the Spencers. They made us some hot dogs, and after we ate there were a ton of them left over. So we went over to the kids playing some bball at the park and told them to come and get some. You would have thought it was Christmas. Each of them got a hot dog and some soda to drink. It felt great to serve them, and it led to some great conversation. On Thursday, we did some more service at the library for the Veterans memorial. We laid down some more paper to protect the existing concrete and separated rocks from dirt. That evening, we met with Bro Hotzinger and Bro Reed. Both are wonderful men, and the lessons went well with them. Just as important in missionary work as finding new people to teach is helping those lost back into the fold. We, like the Savior, need at times to leave the 99 and find the one who needs saving. That has been a majority of the work I have done here in upland- helping the lost come back. I am honored the Lord has entrusted me with that important work to do. On Friday, we helped Brother Eklof take down a tree, and then after that we planned for this week. Following that, we had dinner with a cool member Troy. A little rough around the edges he is- but super, super nice. Then we gave later Brother Cook a blessing as the next day he went in for a little operation for a removal of a lump in his upper body. Pray the results back for that are positive.

On Saturday, we did some great studying on Mormon.org and lds.org. I was able to rewatch a bunch of the talks from this last general conference. It was wonderful to hear the words again. It is like when you see a movie for a second time, you catch things that you didn't before. Also, the same words can have a totally new meaning to you depending on what the Savior wants you to learn. While at dinner we got a text from a number we didn't recognize. This person was a member who got our number through church HQ. They needed some help moving a couch, but that was a secondary purpose for the visit. She is the only member of the church in her family, and while she was on her mission her father ran into some bad missionaries and was super turned off. So she wanted to show him we are good people and that his one experience was out of the norm. The visit was wonderful, and we prayed with them at the end and the spirit was so strong. That was the great miracle of the week. Then we went over to a member's house who rents out some rooms. The two that we know there are members, but a new roommate is not. We had a lesson with him. His name is Tony, and he is....interesting. Some of his comments were a little left field, and in the middle of the lesson he just decided to remove his shirt. It was weird. But, all in all it went really well, and he came to church on Sunday. Other than Tony coming to church on Sunday, a miracle, we didn't have all that much going on. Hopefully this week is just as good.

Scripture of the week is from Alma chapter 57 verse 21, "Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them."

I have a little plug here. I love the verses that I share because they are power packed. But, I don't have the time to explain the context or the situation that they are said. If any of you have questions about the verses, I invite you to search them out in the Book of Mormon and read the chapter that they come from. I love you all so much. Have a wonderful week!!!

Love,

Elder Thelander

Photo- me with my companion, Elder Parry and the two sister missionaries who also serve in our ward.