Totally Drunk Guys in the Ghetto

On Monday, May 9, 2016 1:22 PM, Dustin Thelander <dustin.thelander@myldsmail.net> wrote:

After sending my email last week, I was able to head down to some batting cages. Oh- it was so fantastic! And considering the time off, the ball came off the bat pretty darn well. So, after that little bit of time spent in heaven, we got some Tasty Goody for dinner. This place literally stuffs as much food as possible into a take out container and then you have a meal for the next three days. Tuesday, we had probably the most spiritual district meeting I have ever been in. We discussed the Book of Mormon reading assignment we are all taking part of which is really great. It is amazing how many different insights and things stick out to different people from the same passages of scripture. Then I asked the question that really made the meeting great. I asked everyone to share a time where they know for sure that they felt the spirit in their lives. Every single person shared a great example of how the spirit has blessed their lives. The spirit was so abundant in the room, I really feel that I will remember that day for a long time. In fact, if the question is ever asked again when I have felt the spirit for sure, I will probably point at that meeting. After that we served at the thrift shop (attached will be a picture of me there), and I found some great looking glasses. I don't look creepy in them at all... After that in the evening, we met with this guy, Ted. We ran into him about a month ago, and he has been hard to catch since then. We caught him at home, shared a message about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration, and he invited us back.

On Wednesday, we did some more service for the Family Foothill Shelter organization (they own the thrift shop), and we organized a bunch of food. My task was to make the canned fruit shelf look wonderful. They were overstocked, so this was a challenge, but I accomplished my desire and played a good game of Tetris. We then taught a lesson to Brother Kaplan and his boys. They have an apartment full of cool animals. Three turtles, a snake, spider, saltwater fish, and a dog that lives off site. The coolest fish was their new lion fish. Thing is funky looking. The topic we taught was family history. We got these new pamphlets that are super amazing at explaining the temple, family history, church organization, and service. They will be a really good resource for us in the future. Thursday was for sure our miracle day. We saw Grimaldo and were able to let him know that the Lord will help him through the good times and the bad. We all at some point reach a crossroads in our lives, and the perfect person to lean on in these situations is the Savior. Then we had success in the finding area. We went looking for a potential investigator named Christina, but we ran into her husband Hieman and we taught him and introduced him to the Book of Mormon. Then right after that we ran into James. He was taught months ago, but he has been MIA for the last little while. We knocked at his door, and he actually answered. He is going through a really hard time, and he let it all go to us. He overall just wants to make a change in his life, and we testified to him that Jesus Christ can give him that help. So in this week we have found more new investigators than in many of the previous weeks combined- such a blessing.

I would now like to take a moment and tell you all that you matter, that you are all loved and can all do amazing things. A less active member of our church we have been working with felt really down this week and felt worthless. It was really sad, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that we are all loved and valued. Though we may feel down and in a corner alone, the Savior is always by our sides, ALWAYS. So never feel that way. That is Satan trying to make you lose hope.

On Saturday, I was in the Spanish speaking missionaries' area with Elder Babcock. We had a lot of good stop by's with people and spoke some Spanish that I didn't come close to understanding. Here we go- story time. We were in this neighborhood talking to some people and this visibly disabled man came walking toward us. He spoke in broken/slower English. He stated that he loves the Mormons and that he wanted a Book of Mormon. His mom didn't seem too happy that we were talking with him, but we carried on. We got him the book, and he wanted us to meet his mom. So we went up to the door, and she stormed out and said we can't bother them any more, no come back. In some middle eastern accent she said this. The boy, Julian, told us his Mormon father had passed away recently. So, we left there dazed and confused wondering what just happened and why we couldn't come back. Then we came to Sunday.

Church was amazing. The mothers were well taken care of, and they had some cheesecake given to them after church. We got back to our place, got out of our suits, and walked over the to Spencers. It was there the Skype call began. Before that they fed us some lunch. My whole Skype call was amazing. The family is doing so well. I loved it so much. It was a great Mother's day treat for all. My mom is amazing- what can I say. Then that night we taught Ty, and picked him up as a new investigator as well. Sunday night also, we ran into these totally drunk guys in the ghetto. They called us over and we talked with them for at least a half hour. The one guy was super loud and preached to us the whole time in many moments getting within 3-4 inches of our faces. They loved us, and they respect our love for God. That was a classic time. Sunday, successful. Week, successful.

Scripture of the week 3 Nephi chapter 13 verse 24, "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon."

I love you all so much! Another Happy Mother's day to all of you great moms.

Love,

Elder Thelander

photos- thrift shop with the glasses and more hitting in the cages