On Monday, June 5, 2017 4:28 PM, Dustin Thelander <dustin.thelander@myldsmail.net> wrote:
I totally forget that I emailed on Tuesday last week. But since then we have had an amazing week!!! Best in a while for sure. The rest of the night on Tuesday basically consisted of eating dinner at the Zavala's. On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to teach the Hayes family and Ovionna. She is doing great and is really excited for her baptism which is on Friday of this week!! What was really amazing about this visit is it confirmed to me that the Holy Ghost really impacted the way that I went about teaching her and preparing her and the family for her baptism. From the beginning of my time in the ward, I have felt really strongly that we need to get her baptismal interview done. Also turned out that this was the hardest thing to do with them. After we got the interview done we just saw a light about Ovionna. She was really happy. So, in our lesson, her mom told us that the baptismal interview was the single biggest obstacle in getting her baptized. I know that the Lord knew that and helped me make that a priority so we can help this wonderful daughter of God enter the waters of baptism. Later in the evening at our Book of Mormon class, we heard the door open and a middle eastern woman came on in with her daughter. We talked for a little while and came to know she is Christian. She just wanted a peaceful place to pray and saw our church. We invited her into the chapel and she left after spending some time there. She said she was so thankful for our help and the good feelings she had.
On Thursday we made our weekly supply run up to Rancho, and we couldn't have taken a worse route to get there. Let me explain. We go up this street called Haven, which happens to be the same street the Ontario airport is on. So, every week we drive by the airport and I can only think... soon. It is the weirdest feeling of all time. We did that and then we headed to the Farm Store to do some service. We mopped the walk-in refrigerators and then reorganized a shelf with some really flipping hot sauce. It was a lot of fun. Then we were able to visit the "T" family in the evening. They are really interesting. They talk a ton, but even more interesting is that they are large players in a Renaissance fair. They run a little book shop and act as traditional characters. It's a bit odd, can't lie, but we have a great conversation about it every time we go. The husband is a non-member and he has begun really participating in the lessons a lot more, so there are some good prospects there. On Friday we had a couple of good lessons. We talked with our buddy Jose who we haven't seen in a while. We had a great talk about prayer and repentance with him and he committed to coming to church. It was one of our best lessons with him. Spoiler alert, he came to church on Sunday. We did our weekly planning session with Elder Paxton and Richins, and it was a great time. We got some Snowy Village and then planned our week to come.
On Saturday, we had a lesson in the morning fall through, and I happened to know that a really big car show would be going on at a place called Boy's Republic. It was called the Friends of Steve McQueen car show and it had some amazing cars there. The magic began when we walked up. A member of our church saw us and insisted they pay the entrance fee. So we got in for free. Then another member of the church (many members of our church sit on the board of the school which is for troubled boys) picked us out and gave us free lunch tickets, so we got free lunch. We then got to talking to a non-member who has family who are LDS, and he insisted he buy us some frosted lemonade. It was a really fun time. Included will be a picture of a green Jaguar, which is valued at an estimated 30 million dollars, that's right, you read correctly, 30 million. Later that day, we taught this guy named John. He was baptized about 2 years ago and now wants to come to the YSA exclusively. He has a huge heart. He helps coach special needs children in baseball and soccer each year. He is a great addition to our ward. Sunday was amazing. Usually, I don't really tell people what I fasted for, but I had such an amazing day I have to tell. I fasted that I could find joy in the gospel by living it now and in the future. It just seemed throughout the day that everything that was said was so profound and brought me happiness. I know the Lord answered my prayers yesterday and I feel the joy of the gospel today so strongly. We also had a miracle day at church in the YSA. A girl named Donna called us in the middle of the week looking for a YSA. We got her some info and arranged a ride for her. She is from China but has been in the States for a good while. She came to church and we found out she is not a member and would like to be taught. Then a guy named Brother Berrett came, and he is a returned missionary who felt the kick to get back to church. He will be a great strength to our ward, and as previously mentioned Jose came as well. It was a wonderful day!!! Today we picked up our new companion who will be with us 10 days until I fly away. He is Elder Schmidt. He stands six foot eight, and is a complete stud of a missionary. We will have a blast here as I finish up.
Scripture of the week is from Mosiah, chapter 2, verse 16, "Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God."
I love serving God so much. I know this is His work, and it has been amazing to serve Him.
Love,
Elder Thelander
