5 Guys in Ties

On Monday, May 16, 2016 1:23 PM, Dustin Thelander <dustin.thelander@myldsmail.net> wrote:

This week was pretty cool, and it all began after email Monday. We went up to a smaller church building to play our zone activity. It was a small gym, and we played some intense indoor soccer. It was really fun, and it was a great work out. I was only slightly out of breath... Then in the evening, we tried to teach old old Maxine about Christlike love. She took well to some parts and not so well to others. See, she grew up in an era of segregation, and she was taught some racist habits. So, teaching about loving everyone was a newer concept for her. But, she really is super nice and is a great work in progress. Tuesday, we had our zone meeting. It was a bit longer but full of really good topics. This month's topic is the Book of Mormon. So, we got trained on how to best use it to respond to rejections, and the best way to study out of it. After that, we headed over to the Thrift shop and did some great service over there. We were well fed in the evening by the Felix's- steak and mashed potatoes. If you know me, you know that made me really happy.

Wednesday, we were disappointed by getting to the library to study off of mormon.org when we discovered the wifi was down. So, we read and reacted and got going on another activity. In the evening, we got together with members of the church and went out and visited people. I got to visit a Brother Smith, and he is an extremely active and cool 87 year old man. He hasn't been to church in a while, so we will now start meeting with him from time to time. On Thursday, I was on exchanges with Elder Gomez. It seems that on the days that exchanges happen either the day is amazing, or it is just a dud. This was an amazing day! We did service at the library in the morning to clean the veterans monument. It was clear then that it would be a hot day. After lunch, we got to work and the work went well. We saw less-active Brother Soloman, our blessed friend. He keeps saying he is willing to come to church, but he never delivers. Hopefully, we can keep helping him build his testimony to the point where he just wants to come. Then we taught Christina and Hieman. They are the couple we met a week or so ago and they are really cool. This time we got a lesson in and picked them up as new investigators. Christina is literally due with her baby any hour. It is a great time to introduce the gospel- here comes into the world a new baby, a spirit fresh out of heaven, and as a mother she really wants what is best for their baby. The gospel really does teach the importance of families and how special those relationships are. We later saw Brian, after a month absence, and we set up our teaching schedule again, so we will see him tomorrow. All of those things are amazing tender mercies. But, a real miracle came right before dinner. We decided to knock on some doors in an apartment complex. We tried a number of doors with no success. Then it came time to go, but there was time for one door more. We walked up and a lady answered and just said, "Wow this is amazing- incredible!" She proceeded to tell us she has some Mormon friends who have been so good to her and her sons. She goes to a church and just feels a lack of support from them. She told us that she is ready to wave the white flag on that and give the LDS church a go. Amazing! And she gave us her phone number right off the bat, so we could contact her to set up lessons. We will see her tonight.

Friday was really cool as well. We saw Brother Cook and had a great chat with him. He is doing very well. Then after that, we got ready to go do something really fun. We somehow got permission to attend the evening portion of the Father and Son's campout that our ward was hosting. Our only restriction was that we be back home by 9. So, we went and ate some food, threw a football around, and watched the San B SWAT team come and tell us about their work. There were some youth that came that are not members of the church so we got to talk to them, so hopefully good will come from that. The purpose of this campout is to mark the restoration of the priesthood to the earth to the prophet Joseph Smith. That restoration marked the end of the priesthood drought that occurred on the earth after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the death of his apostles. It was a great night, and a miracle we got permission to go. No complaints here!!

Saturday was spent doing service. At the local post office we helped all the mail carriers unload their trucks as they came in. The post office held a massive food drive throughout the city. We were dressed on our shirts and ties to help, but it made a big difference. We were called by the camera guy there, the 5 guys in ties, and tons of the workers asked what church we were from. It was a great time. Sunday was great as well- sacrament meeting was conducted by the seminary students. They, like I did, have the early morning session, so these are great kids and they gave a great message. The evening was great, too. We ate dinner with Chea at a woman named Sandra's house. Some other friends were invited as well and we had a great time. We laughed a lot, mostly due to my funny impersonations and voices :) and we told them of mission life. Many of them were not members of the church. The rule of Sandra's house is that if you eat there, you perform. So, I hopped on the piano and Elder Parry and I sang "Nearer My God to Thee". Woah, I used the piano, and sang at the same time. It was cool to share the gospel through music.

Scripture of the week is from 2 Nephi, chapter 31, verse 20, "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all man. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."

I love you all so much. Have a fantastic week.

Love,

Elder Thelander

photos- cleaning the veterans' memorial and missionaries in my zone