Kaboom!

On Monday, September 12, 2016 1:39 PM, Dustin Thelander <dustin.thelander@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Well, it has been just a short three days since my last email, so not all that much to report. The rest of the day on Thursday went really well. We got some money for dinner, and the other elders didn't have a dinner so we treated ourselves to some In-N-Out. We then taught a lesson to our investigator Va'a. He is doing very well, and as of now we just need to figure out a date for baptism for him and his 8 year old brother. Hopefully we can figure that out this week. Thursday, we also played some basketball and during the process Elder Pooley tweaked his back and was pretty much unable to move.

So Friday morning, we made a trip out to the chiropractor. A member of the church happens to be a chiropractor, and he got us in right away- it was very nice. And he did his job, as my email title states when he pushed down on Elder Pooley's back it went- ka-boom! I'm sorry for the lame email title. I had to stretch a bit for that one... my creative juices just aren't flowing today. After we got Elder Pooley fixed, we made a trip into North Adelanto to visit a referral we received for a less-active member who recently moved in. We got into the door with Antionette and had a great lesson with her. She was baptized a year and a half ago and has 4 little kids, the oldest being 8. She has a great conversion story and loves the missionaries that worked with her who I happen to know very well. After visiting with her, we had a wonderful dinner with Fuli Mau'u. They made us up some good steaks and this really good rice dish. Last stop of the day was to Brother Roe. He is doing much better, but suffered a bit of a foot setback by walking on it too much after his surgery. He loved our thought from Ether 12:27 stating that weak things can become strong.

Saturday was a really good day. In the morning we met up with the leadership of our ward to go on visits with them. The purpose was to assure each family has their food storage (something we are taught to do at church- to be prepared for whatever disaster or situation life throws at us). This gave us a great chance to visit with each of them and see how they are doing. We also, with each family, shared a message on Christlike Love. We were in total able to see about 15 families. Our dinner was with the Jackson family, and they are really cool. We lift sometimes during the week with Cencere, one of the Jackson boys. Then we saw a less-active member, Brother Davis. He is awesome, and we had a great scripture read with him. He shared some great insights, and then he acted on it and came to all three hours of church on Sunday. It was great to see him there, and the ward really welcomed him back with open arms. On our way home from there we came to an intersection and notice a pretty bad car wreak had just occurred. Someone just didn't see a stopped car and ran right into the back of it. I looked closer and totally recognized the car. It was the Tualia family who had been hit. We stopped and went over to make sure all was well. We beat the cops and ambulance to the scene, so it had just occurred. Sister Tualia was alright and the two kids in the back were fine as well. Daisy the oldest daughter was pretty shaken up, she hit her head and was freaked out. They are all okay now, and we're thankful we stopped to help them. It's moments like this where you are glad the Samoans, and all Polys really drive massive trucks. Her car had a dent and the car that hit her was compacted to the drivers seat. The two in the other car were more banged up and needed to visit the hospital for sure.

Sunday went really well. We went for some meetings for the Adelanto ward for the first time in a while as we had some things to discuss. So we were at church from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. A long day but a good one. Dinner was with the Mau'u family (different Mau'u family, there are 4 Mau'u families in the ward). Then we went to try some more referrals that have come to us. The highlight of the week really was our visit with Danique. She was so open to us and really willing to listen to our message. Just when I thought that she couldn't be happier, I mentioned that we would love to teach her 9 year old daughter as well. She wants to understand more about God and Jesus Christ, but she just doesn't understand scripture very well. We have an appointment to teach her this week on Wednesday. Today is P-day and we have nothing special planned, but we will find a way to make it awesome.

Scripture of the week is from Moroni, chapter 7, verse 48, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."

Much love everyone, have a great week!!!

Love,

Elder Thelander

photos- with some other missionaries after a meeting and a bunch of us at In n Out.