On Monday, May 8, 2017 12:55 PM, Dustin Thelander <dustin.thelander@myldsmail.net> wrote:
This last Monday I made it out to the batting cages which was awesome. Not awesome was that my hands got destroyed, and 6 blisters later they were not too happy. But, the ball came off the bat nice, and that was the positive side of things. All of said wounds are now pretty much healed. On Tuesday, we had our weekly district meeting, and I really loved the topics of one of the trainings. The district was encouraged to look to heaven for inspired questions. We are promised that if we listen to the spirit that we will be given the words to say right when we need them. So, that has been a focus of mine this week. I have seen a difference in my ability to feel the spirit. We went to meet with the new bishop of the Los Serranos ward and while waiting for him we saw the youth of the church starting an activity. It was bubble soccer. Seeing all this in the gym was a sight to behold. There were people flying everywhere, and I mean flying. The video I captured didn't do it full justice. It was really funny to watch. We then met with Bishop Hawes, and I can tell he will have a good focus on missionary work which is way positive. We then also ended up meeting with Bishop Taccone as well, and that went great. His worry is our little YSA ward's numbers. He really doesn't have enough people to do everything that needs to be done without over burdening those who do come. We have work to do in both wards, so we are excited about getting to work.
On Wednesday we didn't have a ton going on. We helped the Rasmussen family do some service in the early afternoon. We moved a bed, took some things to the street for trash pick-up, and helped in the small back yard a little bit. Update: the destroyed sprinkler (that I ran over with the lawn mower last week) was fixed at almost no effort and cost to them- all is well. They were grateful for the help and fed us afterward. We are going to skype at their house on Mother's Day which they are very excited about. Later, we had a great contact with someone we met last week. We helped him carry some stuff from his car to his apartment and then found out he is a lost member of the church. We talked about his conversion a little bit, and he for sure has had some spiritual experiences. In fact, he almost went on a mission. He is married now to a non-member of the church. We talked briefly about how families can be together forever, and he remembers that as one of the points of the church he loved and has even talked to his wife about it. She likes the idea, so we set up to meet this coming Saturday. Hopefully, we can rekindle his faith and light the fire under hers.
On Thursday we had our monthly Mission Leadership Council meeting in Rancho Cucamonga. This one was a bit different. They held it at the mission home where President and Sister Taylor live. She just loves to host people and insisted we go there. Well, it had slightly mixed reviews. Most of it was outside, in the shade, but it was still a bit hot. Also, no tables, so notes were taken on the lap. These are petty things, but overall it was a fantastic meeting. I learned a lot, and we have a great info to pass to our zone members. For dinner on the way back home, we ate at the newly opened Cafe Rio, oh yeah, it was fantastic. In the evening, we met with Brother B. We shared on how much God loves us- so much so, in fact, that he is willing to bear our burdens if we let him. He really felt the spirit, and I felt the spirit work through me to make that message applicable to his soul.
Friday was a big ole planning day. But, before we sat down to do that we met with Veronica. She had been in Utah and really loved the trip. She visited old friends and connected with some sister missionaries at Temple Square. We taught on tithing and fast offerings to clear up a little confusion that she was having with it all. All is cleared up, and she is doing really well. We then planned. It was a cooler day, so we went to the pool area and sat in the shade to plan. It was nice to be out of the apartment. Session one was planning for the upcoming week, and this week was no different than most. We made some really solid plans to help us find new people to teach and help the people we currently see. Then we had to plan for our upcoming zone conference. It will be on Wednesday, and we will be in charge of running our 90 min break out session. We got it all ready to go and hope it will be a spiritual experience for all involved. We had dinner with the Oliver family, and they are way funny. Burgers there, and a heavy dose of laughter. There were a couple of young men from the ward there as well, and we had a good time with them. I also, for the first time, stepped onto one of those hover board things. Well, they brought out the cameras expecting an epic fall they could post to youtube. Well, I conquered the thing and rode it just fine. A little bit of jelly leg syndrome, but it was a successful ride.
Saturday was slower as well. We met with Christian Zavala, our ward mission leader in the YSA, and had a great talk with him. We aim to help the ward help us in finding new people to teach. Then we had some time and were driving by a little airport in Chino and there was an airshow going on. So, we pulled over for a bit to watch. The part we saw was a WW2 tribute, so lot of old legends were in the air. We moved along to Pomona and tried some people there. We ended up on campus and tried by an address of a person we didn't know. It happened to be a dorm area, and we got in and then, well left. I had a pretty bad feeling about being there. Turns out it was an all female dorm complex, not the place for a missionary. Glad the spirit got us out of there. So, now we know that pretty much a third of the people on our list live there, and we don't really want to go there. We will try to call them, and then hope that the phone numbers they gave the church are good. We met with the whole Los Serranos bishopric in the evening. We talked about the creation of a ward mission plan. These men know how to do it: no crazy high number goals, nothing too crazy that people won't be able to do, just some suggestions on how to be a good member missionary.
Sunday we had church all day. It was amazing. I felt so close to the Lord. I bore my testimony in the YSA, and I talked about my testimony of our covenant or promise to always remember Him. I have been generally happy for all of my life. But this was week or so has been extremely happy. Nothing outwardly has changed- in fact, it was a pretty slow week. But I focused on the source of all happiness, our Savior Jesus Christ. That has made all the difference. I had a better church experience, the sacrament meant more to me, and I was positive and happy to everyone. So if you want to be happy, focus on Christ.
The scripture of the week is from 2 Nephi, chapter 31, verses 6-8, "And now, I would ask you, my beloved brethern, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfill all righteousness in being baptized by water? Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments. Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove."
Love,
Elder Thelander
