Big Ed is Dead

On Monday, June 13, 2016 1:27 PM, Dustin Thelander <dustin.thelander@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Hello Family and Friends,

I am a missionary, so I cannot lie. This week was awesome!!!! There was one bad thing, however- Elder Mitchell and I went to go get a haircut after email last week and a sign on the door read "Big Ed is dead, cancer sucks". Super sad, I had seen him in the hair cut shop just 6 weeks before. So, the haircut will have to be today instead.

On Tuesday, we had a zone meeting, and it was awesome. Elder Mitchell and I gave a training on "Perfect love casteth out all fear". I love that line. If we have perfect love for someone, we will have no fear in sharing the gospel, helping them, and giving the aid. We helped out on the thrift shop, and I got an amazing picture with a way oversized fan (picture is below). The rest of the night was pretty lame, but we made good use out of it. Wednesday we had a pretty good time- we did some amazing work in the afternoon. We taught old blessed Brother Soloman. We got to hear a lot about his upbringing. He is pretty amazing. Grew up in Georgia on a cotton farm which he had to run by himself from the time he was 14. Made it out of there and eventually became a cop in Cali where he retired, and now he lives in Upland. We also taught our new investigator Sylvia again. We taught to her the message of the restoration. She enjoyed the material and asked us a lot of good questions. She told us a little bit about the Catholic faith as well. She belongs but is not active. Cool to learn about other faiths from the mouths of their members. We also chatted with a guy named Wyane. We had a great conversation about religion. Then after we finished, he asked me to coach him up a little bit on his softball swing. So we went out back, and we hit a few softballs around. He had a small yard, so I had to swing at about 10%- it was classic.

Thursday I spent the day with Elder Babcock. He is a flipping awesome person and missionary. We got to talking overnight and talked till like 2:15 am, but I'm glad to report that we still got up right at 6:30 am and had an amazing day. He is like the funniest person and an amazing teacher. Now that I am done talking up Elder Babcock, here is what we did. We started the day off at service cleaning the monument at the Library. While there, a homeless man named Michael started talking to us, and we eventually got on the topic of the Priesthood, or the power from God to act in his name. We had a great time talking to him, and he invited us to talk to him again. After that great lesson, we had a chat with Jay. He played semi-pro hockey for 13 years in the AHL, and he loves hearing from us. The lesson was ok, but the conversation was better. Overall he likes the scriptures we share out of the Book of Mormon, but prefers to stick with his Bible. We invited him to pray about the Book of Mormon, because you can't come to know that it is true unless you ask God to tell you if it is. By doing so you open up the road for the Holy Ghost to take to confirm that truth to you. Jay simply needs to do this.

Saturday was one of the better days I've had in Upland. It was also one of my biggest eating days, and not by design. We had lunch, and I literally took the last bite when Brother Hotzinger called us to have us help him move some stuff. Afterward he insisted he take us to lunch. So we ate again. Immediately following that we had a guy flag us down, and we began talking to him. He just asked we pray for him, and then he asked us what message we share- Music to a missionaries ears! We taught him some about the Book of Mormon and prayed with him. We will meet with him next week. Then we went to the ward Luau which was great. Much food was provided by some islander families, and it was fantastic. I ate my fill. While there a member of the ward, Brother Cable, asked if I wanted to play catch with him...ummm yes!!!! So we tossed the ball around for a while, and he even brought a catchers mitt for me :) the arm felt good, and Brother Cable was pumped to play catch with me. After this we got back to our apartment complex when a guy called out for us. He is Dana, and I had talked to him with Elder Babcock days before. He invited us to come eat some food with his family. So we did, and he prepared us some great tacos and we got to talking. He has a daughter who is 7 and goes to an LDS church with her grandma. So Dana and his wife Brianna know a lot about the church. Dana committed to take off work next Sunday so he can come and bring his family to church. People found us this week! It was amazing.

So, Fathers Day is coming up, so it is time to totally give my dad total props for being the best dad in the world. I know no one who works harder to provide, coach, and love me like my dad does. He is one in a million, and I am so lucky that he is my dad. Sorry all other dads, mine is the best. Happy Fathers day to all.

Scripture of the week is Moroni, chapter 8, verse 16, "Wo be unto them that shall pervert the the ways of the Lord after this manner, for they shall perish except they repent. Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear."

Love you all,

Elder Thelander

Photos- me with the thrift shop finds and me teaching wayne how to hit